If you visited City Point mall recently, you likely spotted striking workers distributing flyers outside Alamo Drafthouse. Good news: after nearly two months, the strike has ended with a victory for the union!
The Alamo Drafthouse New York strike began in February 2025 when workers protested what they described as unlawful layoffs. After 58 days of collective action, an agreement was reached to rehire all laid-off staff members.
This represents a huge win not only for the Alamo Drafthouse workers but also for our Downtown Brooklyn community. Great work, everyone!
Many loyal moviegoers (myself included) canceled their Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass subscriptions to show solidarity during the strike. Now that workers have been rehired and the dispute resolved, it’s important to renew your support by reactivating your membership.
Important note: Resubscribing cannot currently be done through the Alamo app. To reactivate your Season Pass, you’ll need to email their support team directly at [email protected].
Fulton Mall, arguably the “Main Street” of Downtown Brooklyn, is about to be greener and more pedestrian friendly thanks to a joint effort between the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the NYC Parks Department, and the city’s Department of Transportation.
The program is expected to take a little more than a year (with a scheduled completion date of fall 2025) and will bring more trees/greenery, seating areas, and re-designed sidewalks to Fulton Street between Flatbush Ave and Boerum Place.
It will be completed in nine phases and contruction is planned to take place overnight (between 8pm and 6am) to minimize disruption to people’s daily lives.
These changes are a welcome addition to the neighorhood, which has seen an influx of new residents since the 2004 rezone of the neighborhood. The plan sounds great in terms of minimizing disruption.
Now, if only we could get some attention on Fleet Street, the pedestrian walkway between Albee Square and Flatbush Avenue. That sidewalk has been mostly blocked off due to the consturction of the tallest building in Brooklyn, 9 Dekalb, for eight years now. Please, just give us back our sidewalk…
Watch the video for more details about the upcoming project from Pix 11 News:
Get ready, Brooklynites! A brand new cafe is coming to Cadman Plaza Park in Downtown Brooklyn, and it’s going to be absolutely amazing. The NYC Parks Department is currently accepting proposals from businesses interested in setting up shop in the circa 1950s concrete maintenance building near Cadman Plaza West and Tillary Street.
The chosen concessionaire, who must have experience in the food service industry, will be tasked with turning the current structure into a cafe that adds to the ambiance of the park and provides a much-needed amenity to park goers. And the best part? The successful bidder will be able to expand the current 450-square-foot building and add tables, chairs, and umbrellas, as well as seating on the surrounding lawn if decking is installed and on the park’s center oval (pending Parks’ approval, of course).
But that’s not all! The twin building opposite the cafe site will also be converted into a comfort station at some point in the future, so there will be a place to freshen up after all that caffeine. And if you’re feeling a little tipsy, don’t worry – the cafe will be able to sell alcohol “to complement the food service,” as long as they get a license from the State Liquor Authority.
So if you’re a business owner with a passion for coffee (or alcohol) and a love for all things Brooklyn, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Don’t miss out – proposals are due on February 15. We can’t wait to see what amazing new cafe will be coming to Cadman Plaza Park!
Gage & Tollner was one of the sadder Downtown Brooklyn stories, with the grand re-opening scheduled for just days after the city shut down due to the Coronavirus in March 2020. Seriously: March 12th was my (and many other’s) last day working in an office, and their opening was scheduled for March 15th. Oof.
Prior to that, there had been a lot of well-deserved hype around the re-opening. Gage & Tollner is one of Brooklyn’s original fancy restaurants, and had operated for more than a hundred years before shutting down in the mid-90’s.
The space was purchased by some well-known restauranteurs, who wanted to restore it to it’s former glory, as the building is now landmarked and much of the interior was left intact despite several transient tenants in the mean time.
The main restaurant was to be an oyster and chop house, joined with a tropical-themed cocktail bar. Which is pretty badass.
With so many restaurants disappearing, I was worried that Gage & Tollner wouldn’t make it. Which is why I was so excited to get an email from them announcing the launch of pickup and takeout! This new hype isn’t just coming from me, the New York Times is also getting the word out.
From the founders St. John, Ben, and Sohui:
As you know, off-site dining was not part of our original concept. We wanted every Gage & Tollner meal to take place in our landmarked dining room. But the world has changed, and demands that we change with it. We truly believe that our new delivery concepts carry the original spirit of Gage & Tollner into the pandemic age, and we hope you agree.
Ordering is available online from both the chop house and the Sunken Harbor Club. Food prices from the Tiki bar are about what you’d expect if you’ve been running up that Doordash bill this past year. Most dishes are between $10 and $20, and cocktails are $15.
But what’s really speaking to me are the “At-Home Dining Experiences” from Gage & Tollner proper — meal kits designed to feed entire families. For $180 you can feed four to six people a Braised Heritage Pork Dinner.
Photo from Gage & Tollner
Currently, my household is just two (my wife and me) so I don’t think we’ll be ordering one of these experiences. But I may have to splurge on a cocktail or two for my upcoming birthday at the end of March. Hooray for a second pandemic birthday!
The New York State Liquor Authority recently sent underage decoys to retail establishments holding liquor licenses to ferret out those that illegally sell to underage persons. The underage decoys went to 756 businesses where they attempted to buy alcoholic beverages.
Of the 756 businesses State-wide, 200 sold alcoholic beverages to the underage decoys, including a few in Downtown Brooklyn. The Downtown Brooklyn offenders included a 7 Eleven at 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension, the Brooklyn Deli at 115 Willoughby Street, and Khim’s Millennium Market at 111 Lawrence Street.
Ali Mohammed, the Manager of Brooklyn Deli, stated that the business would need to be more careful. The 7 Eleven and Khim’s Millennium Market did not provide a representative for comment.
The remaining 556 businesses refused to sell to the underage decoys. Locally that included G & Wine & Spirits Inc. at 48 Willoughby Street.
With a vote of 32-1 on Wednesday night, the Community Board 2 rejected the 80 Flatbush project. This vote by the full board follows the vote by the CB2’s Land-Use Committee which also voted against the project.
These votes are part of the ULURP rezoning process for the development for 80 Flatbush which includes residential, office and retail space in a 74-story building and a 38-story tower. It doesn’t bode well for the multi-use project that boasts bringing an additional 700 market-rate apartments and 200 affordable apartments.
What’s next? Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams needs to issue his recommendation on the project. (Adams held a public hearing late last month. Then the NYC Planning Commission will review the project and and the process ends with a vote by the New York City Council.
Rain, a sustainable South African soap and skincare shop comes to City Point Brooklyn.
Soon you’ll be able to get all the artisanal soaps your heart desires at City Point. Rain, an au naturale soap, skincare, and fragrance company is opening up their first Brooklyn storefront in July.
The bougie self-care brand is known for incorporating sustainably harvested African botanicals into their luxury bath bombs and body scrubs. Makes sense since Rain originally began in South Africa and is recognized for their Fair Trade practices in Africa and Europe. They currently have one other NYC location in Rockefeller Center.
Despite the rain yesterday evening, a couple hundred folks lined up in Brooklyn Borough Hall to voice their opinions on the controversial 80 Flatbush Towers. It’s been a heated subject among residents of Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill.
Last year, after a vote to unionize, they were shut down. Apparently, that made WNYC sad, so WNYC brought them back. They launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money and rally the troops. And today, they’re officially back.
I couldn’t be happier. I missed them. I know this isn’t directly related to Downtown Brooklyn, but Gothamist is a fantastic resource for all New Yorkers. So I had to celebrate here.
The Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn is one of ten locations of the chain to be getting HDR (high dynamic range) Projectors, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This fancy new projection technology makes for whiter whites and blacker blacks, which I’m sure all the film-o-philes will love. They’re partnering with CinemaNext to get these new projectors in theaters.
The exciting part isn’t necessarily the HDR projection, which isn’t totally new (AMC and Dolby teamed up for Dolby Vision a few years back). The exciting part is HDR projection coming to such a badass theater. I mean, have you been to Alamo Drafthouse yet? I don’t really want to go to other theaters anymore.
Personally, HDR isn’t really that exciting to me. But I don’t really get exciting for IMAX or 3D movies either. I’m sure a lot of people will be thrilled.
No idea when it’s rolling out, but it’s coming. Are you excited?
