HIDDEN PLACES vol.2 by HiddenPlaces

— Po rtrai ts —

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INDEX Masthead. . ......................................................................... 6 Editor’s Letter................................................................... 8 Swoon............................................................................... 10 E.R. Butler. . ...................................................................... 16 Baked. . ............................................................................. 20 Sweet Life in Red Hook.....................................................24 Sanba.............................................................................. 40 King & Sullivan................................................................44 Steve’s Key Lime Pie.........................................................54 Uhuru. . ............................................................................ 60 Norbert Kimmel.. ............................................................. 66 Uncouth. . ..........................................................................72 Widow Jane & StillHouse.................................................78 Blk Wd............................................................................. 84 Waterfront Kitchens. . ...................................................... 90 Gridhaus......................................................................... 96 Lehigh Valley No 79........................................................100

Special Thanks to Our Contributors PHOTOGRAPHERS Adam Krause, Michael Mundy, Tyler Sparks, Brandan Parker, Tori Sparks, Rachel Fawn Alban WRITERS Dena Ghieth, Kelly Bartnik, Angela Ward EDITORIAL TEAM Michael Mundy, Genevieve Espantman

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HID D EN P LAC ES Publisher Patty LaRocco / Sanba

Editor-in-Chief Patty LaRocco

Editor Kelly Bartnik

Creative Director Risa Knight

Art Director Xander Vinogradov

— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — H IDDEN PLACES

P H O T O B Y T O R I S PA R KS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Hidden Places 2 is dedicated to Red Hook, Brooklyn. I love that this neighborhood is an organic work in progress, defined by an eclectic and unique mix of industry, open space, and residential enclaves - all infused with a special sense of urban pioneering. It’s the same sense of pioneering I felt when I moved to Tribeca in the mid 1980’s. Every morning I wake up to breathtaking views of the vast New York Harbor. Walking down cobblestone streets with an astonishing view of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan, I get the thrill of discovering a well kept secret of Brooklyn. Red Hook has a character all its own. It’s the Big City imbued with the flavor of a small New England maritime town. The eccentric mix of artisans, musicians, beekeepers, gardeners, artists and entrepreneurs is a community I relish coming home to after a hectic day in the city. Each day brings a special experience in this neighborhood, whether it’s hearing MGMT at Dustin Yellin’s Pioneer Works, watching Paris is Burning at Valentino Park, or running into friends at Hometown BBQ while listening to live bluegrass music. I met Aldo Andreoli and Matthew Goodwin from AA Studios when I began working on the new development they are designing at 160 Imlay. They shared the same love and passion for Red Hook as I did; and together with Alessandro Zampedri, a charismatic real estate developer with a passion for race car driving and architecture, they purchased a perfect parcel on King Street running a block all the way through to Sullivan Street. With the commencement of the groundbreaking project of the Townhouses at King and Sullivan - 22 in total boasting five unique façades, I feel extremely grateful to live in Red Hook and exceptionally blessed with the opportunity to sell these very special Town Homes. I would like to extend a very special thank you to Kelly Bartnik and my wonderful team of writers and photographers. I guess the secret is out now: the best view of Manhattan is in Brookyn. Patty LaRocco, Editor-In-Chief

——PoSwo rtrai o nts——

Dangerously Impermanent WO R D S B Y k e l ly b a r t n i k / P H O T O B Y t o r i s pa r k s

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When I first knowingly came across Swoon’s artwork, it was in the form of intricately displayed wheat pasting portraits exhibited on the exterior wall of Pioneer Works in Red Hook. I was certain I’d seen similar markings elsewhere, but couldn’t put my finger on it. These images have a distinct quality to them; a ‘bold delicacy’ was my immediate reaction. They were personal portrayals of presumably real people; rendered in an exquisite lace-like desing; their existence seemed perfectly natural yet dangerously impermanent in their surroundings. In further researching Caledonia Dance Curry, the artist known as Swoon, for this article, I realized why her work was familiar: I had seen her exhibition entitled Submerged Motherlands at the Brooklyn Museum several weeks earlier with my mom when she was visiting town for the weekend. In now knowing the connection, the similarities are obvious, but the execution is drastically different. The wall pastings are discreet yet inviting in their placement - one-dimensional at first glance; but once you take a moment to invest your attention, the detail and personality emerge to speak volumes of an untold story in perhaps an unexpected location. The installation, on the other hand, in its pure massiveness, was a beast that could not be ignored and occupied the space like a thousand year old tree planting roots into its modern surroundings (literally, in the case of this work’s 60 foot centerpiece). But ultimately, the fundamental experience of her work was the same: once I moved beyond the initial impression of a layman’s admiration, there were endless additional layers to peel away and discover.

— Swo o n —

When I caught up with Swoon recently, she was taking

Hook) and she is thoroughly part of Jeffrey Dietch’s camp.

some forced down time due to being sick – the result of an

Naturally, the scope of her work has exponentially expanded

incredibly intense schedule of her many ongoing and varied

as well. In addition to her political activism in Haiti and

projects. Graciously, she offered some insight into the

her much talked about nomadic collaborative project, the

trajectory of her artistic career.

Swimming Cities of Serenissima, she has created large-scale installations for the New Orleans Museum of Art and, more

After moving to New York, Swoon originally studied

recently, Submerged Motherlands at the Brooklyn Museum

painting at Pratt Institute – a traditional path taken by many

of Art.

artists as they try to find their place and calling. Ultimately she had a self-described ‘breakdown’ and knew that there was a

Submerged Motherlands, in several capacities, has

larger picture to the work she wanted to create; thus evolved

the qualities of what some may view as being a pinnacle of

the street art with which she established a name for herself.

her career thus far. This homecoming of sorts is her largest

She wanted to create work that was “part of the language

installation to date and incorporates elements of previous

of the city.” New York has a stark quality that is inherent,

works, including the boats used to travel in Swimming Cities

and her street art was a means to interact and complement

of Serenissima, which just prior had traveled the world

the city environment in unexpected ways. Presented

and were caught in customs right up until the moment of

around Red Hook and in various other neighborhood, the

installation. Experiencing Submerged Motherlands is like

“the process of their decay is part of the reason why I chose to do this kind of work” majority of these works feature portraits as a centerpiece –

being on an acid trip and watching one of her wall pastings

usually people she knows; sometimes people she has just

come to life before your very eyes.

met. Some stem from a personal place, while others hold

element of this work is the depiction of her dying mother,

a stronger narrative in the surrounding layers she chooses

completed shortly before her death and prior to the opening

to complement the portraits. These stunningly detailed

of the show. It seems an appropriate full-circle experience

works take her about a month to create. They are drawn

as an audience member that I was able to view this work with

out, then sketched on linoleum and then refined and carved.

my mother.

Sometimes a location informs the content of the work; other

The most intimate

Ultimately, the deepest connection I feel to Swoon’s

times the work comes first and location is determined later.

work is in its fleeting nature. Street art decays; installations

Regardless, the result is an intimately crafted composition

get taken apart; our loved ones pass and the only reality

that clearly speaks from a personal relationship and is

exists in the present moment and the past experiences

presented publicly for any passerby to witness. As with all

that shape our perception. In my humble view, there is no

street art, the impermanence of these works is also a defining

pinnacle to an artist’s career. There is only continuation and

factor; when asked if she ever went to revisit the pieces that

I can’t wait to see what she does next.

she’s displayed, Swoon answered, “Occasionally, but the process of their decay is part of the reason why I chose to do this kind of work.” As her work developed and she continued to make a name for herself, her circle of fellow artists and supporters expanded; Dustin Yellin is a long-time friend (hence her contribution to the exterior of his space Pioneer Works in Red

PHOTO BY Rachel Fawn Alban

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— Swo o n —

PHOTO BY Tori sparks

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PHOTO BY Rachel Fawn Alban

— E.R . Butler —

Form & RedHook’s Function Hardware Impresario

WORDS BY angela ward The formidable Rhett Butler let me into his lair – an

Village among many places, Rhett had been leasing on

imposing 130,000 square foot compound originally built

Spring Street in Manhattan, where he had two floors

as a foundry in 1887 and now impeccably, painstakingly

amounting to approximately 12,000 square feet. It’s

renovated by Rhett, the namesake and head of E. R.

wasn’t enough, however, and he began searching

Butler and Company, into a vast but methodically

everywhere in the city for a larger space and was seriously

organized, labyrinthine space from which he reigns as the

considering the Superior Ink building on the West Side

indisputable king of architectural hardware. Comprised

Highway. Over the next two years, his search led him to

of seven structures that vary in height from one to four

Red Hook, where as he says, “We found this. It’s a really

stories, his sprawling Red Hook Works is composed

beautiful building, but it needed a lot of work. The other

of many different but fluent parts - factory, archives,

building [Superior Ink] was not so beautiful and didn’t

offices, and inventory. (Not to mention a garden, bar,

need a lot of work. ”

and roof with hot tub). The unparalleled proprietor of architectural hardware - be it glass, wood, or any and every type of metal - Rhett is a true pioneer not only in his field, but also in the neighborhood of Red Hook, in which he has worked and lived for the past 17 years. Born in Charleston, South Carolina (Rhett is a family

“Superior Ink wasn’t it. It was too much of a box, ”he says. The Red Hook building, however, posed a frightening but fertile opportunity for Rhett to realize his “passion in architecture and building and restoring, which is what I do anyway, just on a larger scale. ”

name, he confirms with a wink) and raised in the East

PORTRAIT BY Adam Krause / PHOTO BY BRENDAN PARKER

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— E.R . Butler —

In 1997 though, the building was a mess. “It’s got

WOW. That was probably ten years ago. ”

great bones, but it was covered in s--t, literally. ” The run-

Back then, he says, “The only thing that we had was a

down sprawl was populated at that time by a motley crew

bodega. That’s it. There was nothing. So I’ve watched every

of tenants, including a garbage company, Olde Good Things

single restaurant, grocery store, Fairway, brewery, wine-

(the architectural salvage people), and a space that Long

making, all of that. It’s been cool. I think it’s just going to

Island College Hospital was renting out which was filled with

continue. I think the people out here really love being out

old stainless steel surgical appliances, so “it looked like

here. ”

something out of a horror film. ”

Once he was here, there was no moving back to

He began ripping out floors and putting in new ones,

Manhattan, and when he does have to go into the city now

and over the years, he has created a meticulously renovated

to visit his showroom on Prince Street, he can’t wait to get

structure that befittingly serves as the headquarters for his

back to Red Hook: “I’m in the city so often for work, it’s a

dynamic business, which encompasses the creation and

relief to leave and get out here. I love New York. Hands down

manufacture of everything from custom fit doorknobs

“A client can come in and basically dream up whatever they want and we make it for them”

and light fixtures to candlesticks, bird cages, erotic accoutrements, even jewelry – basically anything a client or collaborator can imagine, Rhett can make a reality. Still, he says, “I don’t think what we do is this insane cornucopia of things. We design. But it’s all very much for a very specific thing. And to do it in a custom way, which is the way we do it, where a client can come in and basically dream up whatever they want and we make it for them, you just need a lot of supporting equipment and knowledge and tools to make that happen. ” And it happens here in Red Hook, the heart of the operation. Rhett had originally planned to merely move his business out to Red Hook, but it didn’t take long before he moved himself out, as well. “In coming here with the frequency that I was coming out to get things organized and set up, I really fell in love with it. I went to school in Texas for graduate studies at Rice University in Houston. And Red Hook feels like Texas. Just the open sky. There’s a lot more light. It’s very clean because it’s right off the water. ” Indeed, he has truly fallen for the neighborhood’s maritime charms. “Sundays, for example, when I’m out here and it’s quiet, I can hear the buoys ringing out in the harbor. ” “And you have a wind that comes across the water and into Red Hook, and it’s really fresh air. And it’s clean air. I don’t think you really get that in the city because it’s just coming over from New Jersey across the Hudson. That’s not a big body of water. This is a huge body of water. ” When Rhett relocated to Red Hook, the neighborhood wasn’t entirely desolate. “But, ” he says, “it wasn’t like it is today. I can tell you that. I distinctly remember the day I saw a woman jogging by with a three-wheel stroller. It was like, 20

H IDDEN PLACES

is faxed to Bill Murray’s character).

it’s the best place I’ve ever been and I travel a lot, but it feels a lot more stressed to me in the last 20 years, like something

The hardware impresario is also currently collaborating

fundamentally has shifted. Everything is more congested

with architect Aldo Andreoli on the hardware for two new

and more stressed out. ”

developments that are changing the landscape of Red Hook

Rhett’s work does indeed find him travelling the globe,

in a big way: 160 Imlay and the King/Sullivan Townhouses,

as he performs design work for companies across Europe

of which there are 22 in total. Of this experience, he says,

and collaborates with other artists and manufacturers to

“It is a pleasure for me to be associated with a project and

Asia and back. But, he says, “Whether that’s done in Italy or

an architect whose work I appreciate, and a man I can admit

Germany or Austria, that starts here and ends here. ” Rhett’s

I adore. Aldo is very passionate about what he does, and

home base in Red Hook affords him the arena in which he

it shows. Having a graduate degree in architecture myself,

can realize daily the architecture of his imagination. “On

it was a treat to be invited to Aldo’s studio to review his

average, we design and manufacture a new item each and

portfolio, life’s work, and see, from his perspective, the

every day. ”

future of a part of the Red Hook landscape, particularly as it is so close to our facility. After waiting for almost two

“I don’t see very much difference between a door handle

decades, it’s nice to see the neighborhood become the

and a gardening tool, or a door handle and a candlestick for

destination that it has become, in it’s own way. I think Aldo’s

that matter. There is form and function in everything that we

work on 160 Imlay and the townhouse project will only serve

do. ” And these days Rhett is busy doing a bit of everything,

the community in a positive way. ”

including a new collaboration with sculptor Christopher Kurtz, who has designed and made a series of hand-carved

A pioneer of his trade and his nabe, Rhett Butler

sculptures consisting of intricate “needles. ” He’s also

continues to weave his metallurgical magic into the fabric of

working on Roman Polanski’s film Carnage (Rhett is no

the ever-evolving Red Hook landscape.

stranger to film work. If you’ve seen Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, you’ve seen Rhett’s logo on the stationary that

— Baked —

GentlemEn Bakers A Neighborhood Spot with a National Brand WORDS BY Dena Ghieth On a hot summer day in Red Hook, spending some time at the Baked coffee shop is a bracingly cool reprieve from the city’s sweltering sidewalks. While you might notice that the café’s two owners, “Gentlemen Bakers” Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, both exude the radiant warmth of men who love dessert, everything about them and their flagship bakery feels like a tall drink of water – or maybe, in this case, a perfectly iced coffee. As much a low-key neighborhood café as it is a wildly successful national brand, Baked opened in January 2005 as a celebration of classic American baking, and a refreshing departure from the ‘cupcakery’ trend that has swept the confectionary landscape in the past decade. Nothing against cupcakes, they’ll insist, but “American desserts are so much cooler than that, ” Lewis says. “We thought, you know what? Chocolate chip cookies are cooler, three-layer cakes are cooler. Let’s do something like that. ” And thus the unlikely brainchild of two advertising executives was born in Red Hook. With Poliafito’s design background and Lewis’s marketing expertise, the duo combined their shared love of coffee and baked goods into a pitch-perfect concept in Baked, with its decadent menu and rustic urban vibe. “It’s a little tongue and cheek in its aesthetic, ” Poliafito says, perhaps referring to a taxidermy pheasant perched on an overhead shelf, or the plastic moose heads mounted near the wood accent wall. “Ten years ago, this was the inception of the outdoorsy Brooklyn movement; we really feel like we were a part of that. ”

PHOTOS BY Adam Krause

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— Baked —

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Still: despite its undeniably popular appeal, opening

kaleidoscope jars. Between the coffee shop and their robust

the neighborhood’s first coffee shop ten years ago was a

wholesale business, the bakery might whip up as many as

daunting venture.

ninety cakes on a busy weekend.

“We spent so many months building this space out, that

With their first expansion planned for Tribeca in

by the time we opened I had spent so much time standing

September, Lewis and Poliafito have given a lot of thought

outside, just looking around, ” Lewis recalls. “Wondering

to the neighborhood where it all began. “Our vision, if we do

where all the people were, because no one was walking

open multiple Bakeds, ” Poliafito says, “is for each one to

around. There was no foot traffic. Nothing was here. ”

be representative of the neighborhood and the people that visit it. ”

But, Lewis continues, those days are long gone. “That first day we opened, people I had never seen before started

“Red Hook felt very new frontier-like back then, ” Lewis

wandering in. ” And it appears they’ve never left.

adds. “But we love the direction it’s grown in. It’s still got character, and doesn’t feel corporate, but has the feel of an

“The whole idea for Baked was to be a neighborhood

old beach town, where you get these mature artists, and

coffee shop, ” Lewis says, “and we were fortunate enough

eccentrics, and really smart people that have been here for

to be on both ends of the spectrum, where we could be a

generations. ”

neighborhood spot for our locals but also a national brand

“I love the moments of solitude you can still find here. I think Red Hook will always have that.” for people who are coming from elsewhere. So we’re really

“The benefit that Red Hook has, ” he goes on, “is that it

excited about that. ”

is changing at a slow, very organic pace. It took a decade to get to this point, where really cool things are happening. ”

There’s plenty for them to be excited about. With appearances on almost every major television network

For example: the free weekend ferry service from Pier 11

from Martha Stewart to the Style Network, four bestselling

in lower Manhattan. “I hope they extend that, ” Lewis says.

cookbooks to date, and a line of vintage glass bakeware for

“It sets the stage for how you approach Red Hook; you take a

home cooks, the duo’s brand has become something of a

ferry, you walk, you take your bike, or your car – whatever. It’s

household name. “It was all about redeveloping traditional

a destination. And, ” he adds, “it still feels quiet, which you

recipes for a more sophisticated palate, ” they explain about

kind of crave when you’re in the city. I love the moments of

their signature desserts, like the popular ‘Brookster’ – a cup

solitude you can still find here. I think Red Hook will always

of brownie batter that holds a puck of chocolate chip cookie

have that. ”

dough, baked together so they meet but do not mix. The same certainly can’t be said of the neighborhood patrons mingling in the café; the pair seems to know most them, handing out smiles and waves as our conversation is peppered with friendly interruptions. In the background, a glass window overlooks the white-tiled kitchen, its countertops a wonderland of cake decorations in

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PHOTOS BY MICHAEL MUNDY C R E AT I V E DI R E C T I ON R i s a K n i g h t

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opening spread G A B White Dress Shirt & Black Pants B E N S H E R M A N Black Leather Shoes F E R R A G A M O M I Z U O Black and White colored blocked Dress C A R A R A E Black Leather Pumps C H R I S T I A N L O U B O U T I A N B E L L A Black Lace Dress F R E E P E O P L E Black Ballet Flats B U R B E R R Y Q U Y E N Stripe Dress & Black Flats Z A R A M A X Black Short Sleeve Shirt T O M M Y Y H I L F I G E R Chino Pants G A P K I D S this spread Q U Y E N Black Tee shirt and Poka Dot shorts G A P K I D S M I Z U O Grey Silk Slip J O H N N Y WA S M A X Navy Tee shirt and Pajama Bottoms G A P K I D S B E L L A Black Tank Top and Leggings A M E R I C A N A P PA R E L

— Sweet Life —

Q U Y E N Red Polo Dress R a l p h L a u r e n Black Ballet Flats B U R B E R R Y M A X Navy and White Stripe Hoodie H + M

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G A B Cream Cotton Henley W R KÂ M I Z U O White Knit Cardigan Sweater G A P

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B E L L A Navy Raincoat R A L P H L A U R E N Black Rubber Rain Boots M A R C JA C O B S G A B Light Blue Button Down W R K Kaki Denim F R E D P E R R Y

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H IDDEN PLACES G A B Red Short Sleeve Button Down I N C Q U Y E N Stripe Graphic Shirt & Suspenders H + M B E L L A Navy Stripe Dress R A L P H L A U R E N M A X Short Sleeve Check Shirt G A P K I D S Denim L E V I â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S K I D S

— Sweet Life —

G A B Navy Marled Sweater & Grey Knit Pants V I N C E M A X Navy Knit Sweater B R O O K S B R O T H E R S K I D S B E L L A Black Knit Sweater S P L E N D I D Grey Denim Pants L E V I ’ S G A B Navy Marled Sweater & Grey Knit Pants V I N C E Q U Y E N Black Oversized Sweater B L U E M A R I N E

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Fashion Editor: G E N E V I E V E E S P A N T M A N Make up: S A C H A H A R T F O R D for Make up Forever Hair: D A V I D C O T T E B L A N C H E for RedMarket Salon Models : G A B R I E L C H Y T R Y @DNA Models – M I Z U O P E C K M A X C O T T E B L A N C H E @New York Models – I S A B E L L A M U N D Y – Q U Y E N M U N D Y

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“What at first may appear as incoherent and chaotic, reveals, after a closer look, layers of hidden beauty, to be found in the historic industrial landmarks and in the rows of town houses aligned on the sides of Coffey and Pioneer Street.” —

ALDO ANDREOLI

—

K I N G & S U L L I VA N

— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — H IDDEN PLACES

P H O T O B Y T O R I S PA R KS

— Po rtrai ts —

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SANBA “ Peripheral

areas and urban outskirts are, indeed, the city of

the future, the places that attract human energy. ”

— Renzo Piano —

WORDS BY Dena Ghieth

You might first experience Red Hook as an extraordinary series of contradictions: the heady expanse of overhead sky, found on the unlikely edge of New York City’s most populous borough; the disarming charm of a small seaside hamlet, within arm’s reach of Manhattan’s towering skyline; the array of modern urban amenities, clustered along antique cobblestone streets; or your own personal thrill of discovery, experienced as you walk through a neighborhood inhabited since the Civil War. Red Hook’s sensory pleasures are timeless, evolving from its rich history as a magnificent maritime machine in the 1900’s, to becoming a mecca for artists and artisans who were drawn to its wideopen spaces and the legendary light slanting off the New York Harbor.

PHOTO BY Adam Krause

— Sanba —

It was this rare, heterogeneous mélange that

of Brooklyn, where it can be challenging to do something

sparked design real estate development firm SANBA’s

new because areas can be limited by the Landmarks

love affair with Red Hook, where they saw the opportunity

Commission. “We noticed that there was a collection of

to add their own contemporary new development, the

rich architectural styles because of how the neighborhood

King and Sullivan Townhomes, to the neighborhood’s

arose organically, and we were inspired by that.”

historically diversified architecture. SANBA, a

“We designed King and Sullivan to visually fit into the eclectic character of the neighborhood”

Brooklyn-based design real estate

development company, is comprised of architect Aldo Andreoli, designer Matthew Goodwin, and real estate developer Alessandro Zampedri, a former professional Indycar race driver who brings an adventurous streak to SANBA’S extensive portfolio of real estate investments, developments, and hospitality venues. The idea of folding many practices into one, had been appealing to all three partners. When they found the site for the King and Sullivan Townhomes in Red Hook, they immediately knew this was the type of project they had been yearning to create. Having worked in Red Hook over the past four years,

As for King and Sullivan’s unbeatable location within

the SANBA team was aware that there were limited

Red Hook, it doesn’t get much better: “It’s walking

areas zoned for residential development. While there

distance from the water and the main area where you

are many attractive stretches off Van Brunt Street that

have stores like Fairway Market, and restaurants, and

comprise the residential districts of Red Hook, they

all the neighborhood life,” says Zampedri. “In general,

largely consist of 3-4 story multi-family buildings, along

we feel that creating a space for 22 new homes will bring

with the old townhouses for longshoremen and fishermen

a positive change to the landscape and dynamic of the

dating from Red Hook’s maritime period. So when they

neighborhood.

found King and Sullivan’s tract of land that held several warehouses from the 1970’s and was located in the heart

It seems a vibrant renaissance has arrived on Red

of a residential block, they knew it would be an ideal site

Hook’s shores, building on the historic tides that have

to add townhomes that echoed the neighborhood’s turn

ebbed and flowed here for centuries and creating an

of the century architecture to the residential fabric of Red

enclave of waterfront living at its finest. “There is a lot

Hook.

of new energy in Red Hook,” Zampedri says, mentioning the Brooklyn Greenway bicycle path that starts here and

“As a typology, the townhouse is very interesting to

continues along the Brooklyn waterfront, “and Valentino

us, because it’s so iconic of an American, and specifically

Pier, where people can go fishing, or just hang out and

New York City, way of life,” says architect Aldo Andreoli.

have a picnic, not to mention all the arts and culture taking

“We think that many people like the idea of living in an

shape in the neighborhood. There’s so much happening

independent space, so it’s becoming even more popular

here that many people don’t yet realize. And being so

now. And by making a collection of facades different from

close to the water gives the neighborhood a very special

one another, we designed King and Sullivan to visually fit

vibe. Even though you are just minutes from Manhattan,

into the eclectic character of the neighborhood.”

you feel like you’re on vacation.”

“In Red Hook, there is a lot of creative potential,”

If happiness is a place, don’t be surprised if you never

says Andreoli, comparing the freedom found here to the

want to leave.

constraints often encountered in Manhattan or other parts

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Former professional Indycar race driver Alessandro Zampedri brings and adventurous streak to Sanbaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extensive portfolio

— Ki ng & Sulli van —

22 new townHOMES in Red Hook.

E S S AY B Y A L D O A N D R E O L I

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These are artist renderings and may be subject to change.

— Ki ng & Sulli van —

EXCLUSIVELY MARKETED BY PATTY LAROCCO DOUGLAS ELLIMAN / 212 460 0677 48

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ARCH Most of the bays of the historic warehouses have round-arched window openings. Round arches were often used in nineteenth-century industrial architecture because they both provided and expressed strength.

STEEL This strong and malleable metal was molded to create the beautiful and strong structure supporting, among other structures, the Brooklyn Bridge.

BRICK The material of choice for most of Red Hook buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s facades and supporting walls.

WOOD The majority of the buildings in this area were built using wood, from heavy structural timber in the historic warehouses to dimension lumber in the construction of private homes.

CORTEN Weathering steel, best known under the trade-mark of Cor-ten (it resists to corrosion and to tension). It was used in the Barclays Center here in Brooklyn.

These are artist renderings and may be subject to change.

— Ki ng & Sulli van —

Four years ago a dear friend introduced me to Red Hook: it was love at first sight. Since then I’ve been involved in many projects in this area of Brooklyn and my interest is growing together with the excitement to be part of its transformation. We designed the conversion of one of the two New York Dock Buildings, (under construction right now) and we are in the process of designing the renovation of 202 Coffey, a historic warehouse standing in front of Valentino Park. These projects gave us the chance to learn about Red Hook history and geographical configuration. We also recognized the opportunity and the responsibility to design projects at urban scale in such a delicate and sensitive environment. In light of these considerations the design and the construction of a development consisting of 22 town-homes in the centre of Red Hook is definitely one of the most interesting projects that our design and development team has ever undertaken. In recent years townhouse living has been a very sought after form of urban dwelling throughout the world. The typology of the townhouse is in large demand, because of its human scale and because it represents a very comfortable and independent way of living in the middle of the city. Young people are attracted by the vitality of urban living and the townhouse represents the perfect compromise when choosing between suburban single-family homes and the urban density of small condominiums. In Europe one of the most important example is Amsterdam’s Eastern Docklands, a newly renovated area of the city built almost entirely with modern townhouses. Today, this loosely defined region also known as the New East, the New Amsterdam, or Eastern Islands has become more of a destination for modern-design buffs. Shipwright Street on Borneo-Island is one of the most interesting samples of contemporary townhouse design in the world. Nine years ago, 60 narrow plots of land were parceled out to buyers, each of whom was encouraged to use a different, innovative architect. Though each home is on the water, measures exactly the same width, and incorporates tall windows, the designs are remarkably varied. The architecture overall appears proportionate and organic, like a contemporary rendition of an old village in the south of France or Italy. 50

H IDDEN PLACES

These are artist renderings and may be subject to change.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ki ng & Sulli van â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

These are artist renderings and may be subject to change.

H IDDEN PLACES

This project was a great source of

We created five different facade models for the project, as a contemporary rendition of this spirit. The proportions

inspiration to us, together with the

of each facade have been designed in order to complement

fact that we kept on finding amazing

each other but will be different enough to be immediately recognizable.

parallels between Amsterdam and Red

Each design was, in one way or another, inspired by

Hook: after all most of Red Hook land

some architectural elements present in this area. Each

was taken from the ocean and originally

townhouse will have a similar floor plan, designed with family living and efficiency in mind.

this area was inhabited by fishermen

The design includes an individual parking spot at

and ship builders.

street level, a fenced garden in the back and a private roof

It seem that the Dutch are the ones that gave the name

terrace. The first floor will be lifted above the flooding level

Red Hook to this area, because of its rusted color soil. In

determined by FEMA (in our case 3â&#x20AC;&#x2122;-0â&#x20AC;?) and will not include

the past many important architects experimented with

a basement.

townhouse design, inclusive of Le Corbusier and Mies van

We made sure to include an approved curb cut for

der Rohe.

each town home in order to provide private parking legally accessible from the street. After all, Manhattan is only a few

One of the finest examples is Pierre Charreau Maison de

minutes driving distance through the Battery Park Tunnel.

Verre, built in Paris in 1929. Designed with a steel structure and a facade of square glass blocks, this structure has

New Yorkers have always been thirsty for private outdoor

been a source of inspiration for generations of architects

space, a commodity that is rare and often a privilege of few.

fascinated by Charreau use of industrial materials in a

The yards of our town homes will be big enough to grow a

residential setting.

vegetable garden and to plant a tree.

New York City and Brooklyn show several samples of

The terraces at the roof level will be very usable space,

townhouses in the finest tradition of northern European

especially in an area where the views are unobstructed by

architecture. Many of these structures were converted to

tall buildings. From these terraces the skyline of downtown

multiple-family dwelling after the Second World War. In the

Manhattan will be perfectly visible and we made sure to

past twenty years this process was reversed and many of

provide a planting area in order to create a small green roof.

these buildings were restored to their original single-family

Storage has always been a problem rarely addressed by

design.

developers, eager to squeeze as many rooms as possible

A few development projects include modern townhouse

within the floor plan. In our design, we created a storage

construction, some of which in Brooklyn, but none as of yet

area accessible through a garage door that is deep enough

in Red Hook.

to store, among other things, a kayak or even a motorcycle.

Red Hook urban texture provides a very interesting

In conclusion, we designed these town homes with

mixture of building typologies. What at first may appear as

efficiency as our guide, aware of the context of where they

incoherent and chaotic, reveals, after a closer look, layers

will be constructed, but with freedom to explore our creative

of hidden beauty, to be found in the historic industrial

inspiration.

landmarks and in the rows of town houses aligned on the sides of Coffey and Pioneer Street. We believe that this diversification constitutes a great opportunity to design a creative project, allowing for a freedom of expression hard to realize in other part of the city.

— Aro und R ed Hook — — Po rtrai ts —

P H O T O B Y T O R I S PA R KS

“The typology of the townhouse is in large demand, because of its human scale and because it represents a very comfortable and independent way of living in the middle of the city” —

ALDO ANDREOLI

—

K I N G & S U L L I VA N

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— Steve’s Key Li me P i e —

Little Slice of Key West

A Service to Mankind To the uninitiated, finding the colorful oasis by the

service to mankind, ” he says. He may be half-joking

entrance to Valentino Pier can feel a lot like a treasure

when he says it, but this key lime pie – named one

hunt: you might first notice a quirky, hand-painted

of America’s ten most unforgettable pies by Yahoo

sign high up on a telephone pole at an otherwise

Travel, and featured on CNN, the New York Times, and

unassuming corner of Van Brunt Street, pointing past

the Food Network – really is that good.

an unruly tangle of flowers. As the pavement erodes to reveal the cobblestones below, the overhead utility lines stretch toward a vanishing point at the water, like relics from a forgotten world. You’ll know you’re on the right track when you come across another sign: splashed on a concrete wall like a vintage postcard from the Sunshine State, a bright wheel of lime on a candy pink background promises Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie at the end of the block. Head past the Dead End sign at the end of Van Dyke Street, and you’ll notice a patchwork of rainbow picnic tables across the lot – welcome to a little slice of Key West,

“Our product has actually gotten better over the years, ” Steve says, “because as we’ve grown we’ve gotten better purchasing power. ” Whereas he and his wife, Victoria, used to tirelessly open each can of condensed milk by hand, they now import it fresh from a Wisconsin dairy farm. The few ingredients they use are carefully sourced; each pie is still hand-made onsite, with fresh-squeezed key limes, cage-free eggs, and a trans-fat free crust. They’re gluten-free, too. “We don’t charge any extra for gluten, ” he deadpans. A Red Hook fixture for thirteen years, Steve got his start supplying three pies a week to a Manhattan

right here in Red Hook. If it’s your lucky day, the shop gate will be up, and you’ll find Steve Tarpin, the salty purveyor of Red Hook’s famous sweet treats, hanging out behind the counter. While the bakery is primarily a wholesale operation, Steve keeps the storefront open “as a

restaurant, making each one by hand in his studio apartment. As the business has steadily expanded into the commercial enterprise it is today, it remains a small, family-run operation that is committed to upholding “the keys” to making a great pie: “individualism, integrity and authenticity, ” all of

WORDS BY Dena Ghieth / PHOTOS BY Adam Krause

H IDDEN PLACES

— Steve’s Key Li me P i e —

which have contributed to his successful establishment this far off the beaten path, and seem very much in keeping with the neighborhood’s unpretentious, artisanal vibe. Spend a short while at his Red Hook bakery, and you’ll witness a parade of visitors passing through; everyone leaves happy. Amid the cluttered shelves of Florida kitsch at the entrance – a lone goldfish swimming in a bowl, an alligator head, photos of fishing trips tacked up on the wall among old maritime maps of the Keys – conversations at the counter seem like vignettes from a small seaside village. “How was your lunch, ladies? ” Steve asks a grandmother visiting with her daughter-inlaw, before bantering with a pair of out-of-towners about the peculiar stench of paper mill towns. A hip young couple walks in to browse: “This looks really delicious, ” the woman remarks. “It’s really fresh, ” Steve says, as he rings them up at the register. “Any fresher you’d have to slap it. ”

“You don’t find a place like this, it finds you.” A food tour led by ‘Famous Fat Dave’ walks in; after four hours of eating their way around the city, they look around and suddenly still have room for dessert. The people from Oklahoma and Australia have never heard of key limes or their namesake pies, which gives Steve and Dave an opening to steer them away from buying the processed versions usually found on supermarket shelves. “A lot of the time you get key lime pie, and it’s green, ” Dave says. “They put coloring in it. ” Real key lime pies “are yellow because of the egg yolks. Lime juice doesn’t really have a color, ” Steve explains. “If you see a green one, I wouldn’t even eat it. That stuff will make your teeth itch. ” A purist at heart, Steve doesn’t compromise on quality - or protocol, for that matter. To a woman who asks for one 8-inch pie cut in half, he answers, “No, I don’t cut anything. ” After a momentary silence, she unsurprisingly decides she’ll take the pie anyway. No one leaves here empty-handed. With store hours that are erratic at best - according to their website, they are “partially closed Monday/Tuesday, partially open Wednesday/Thursday, ” on account of their wholesale production and Steve’s afternoon nap schedule – sinking your teeth into one of Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies can feel transcendent, as though you and this pie were destined to be brought together by some deliciously sweet, fateful stroke of luck. Steve seems to like it that way. “When people visit me at the bakery in Red Hook, ” he’ll tell you, “they often ask me how I found the space. My answer always is: you don’t find a place like this, it finds you. ”

H IDDEN PLACES

— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — P H O T O B Y PAT T Y L A RO C C O

Teasing History from the Elements WORDS BY Dena Ghieth PHOTOS BY ADAM krause

Materials with an Interesting Story

In a warehouse at the northeastern end of Red Hook, history is being transformed. The former boat engine repair shop at 160 Van Brunt St, occupied for several decades by Golten Marine Co., has also been the headquarters of multidisciplinary design firm Uhuru for ten years, making the site as much a part of the founding duo’s story as each piece of salvaged and repurposed wood in their third-floor workshop. Drawing inspiration from found objects and materials “otherwise rejected from their original function, ” owners Bill Hilgendorf and Jason Horvath have firmly established themselves at the vanguard of contemporary furniture design. By sourcing sustainably harvested wood from uncommon places, the two graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design often discover their design concepts by gently teasing history from the elements and giving them new life. What results are exquisitely detailed furniture pieces, each one reincarnated into its modern shape as though by a turn of the karmic wheel. Hilgendorf was first introduced to Red Hook twelve years ago as an intern, and was immediately hooked. “Back then it still felt really wild, ” he says of that summer. “It wasn’t quite lawless, but there was a different rhythm than in other parts of the city”. After finishing a final year of school, he immediately returned in 2002 to make the neighborhood his home, and was joined by Horvath shortly afterward. For Horvath, the extroverted yang to Hilgendorf’s quieter yin, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. “It took a few years for New York to grow on me, ” he says. “But now I love it. Red Hook really fits our identity, in terms of how we like to live our lives. The quality of life down here is pretty high, with the water, the parks, and the pier…”

— Uhuru —

The team started Uhuru out of a shared garage space on Summit Street, turning it into a design/build studio. “Our

“We will always be keeping our presence here. This is our home.”

first line was from a lot of objects we found on the street, and we would design stuff around that, because we didn’t really have a lot of money to develop anything, ” Hilgendorf explains. “Then we started getting recognized as guys who like to use materials with an interesting story. ” That reputation has served them well. Their 2008 Küpe Line was handcrafted from used Bourbon barrels from Kentucky, where Horvath is from. Drawing on the

For all the interpretive archaeology that goes into their

contrast of new white oak and the barrels’ charred interiors

designs, the team at Uhuru remains resolutely focused on

that impart flavor to the bourbon, they dismantled them

the future. Framed by the louvered windows and dramatic

into their disparate parts and reconstructed them into six

proportions of the old shipyard building, their Van Brunt

contemporary designs with distinct textures, while the

Street workspace buzzes with the playful energy and

“sweet scent of bourbon permeated the process” in their

optimism of a Silicon Valley startup. Plans for the company

Red Hook shop.

include opening a retail store in Manhattan and eventually one in the Los Angeles Arts District; possibly branching into

In 2009, their follow-up Coney Island Line was made

a larger, satellite manufacturing space in another state; and

from the demolition of the iconic boardwalk, and based

continuing to expand their interior design and branding

around its forms and landmark structures. Using Ipe wood

portfolio into new markets. Having recently completed

that had weathered sun, salt and snow for seventy years,

the restaurant Saul in the Brooklyn Museum, a sleek café

the design “is inspired by the duality of Coney Island – its

in the lobby of the New Museum, and Rucola in Boerum

whimsical, colorful summers and melancholy winters. ”

Hill, Horvath says, “we feel like we’ve barely scratched the

Their sleek, uncluttered designs are riveting. This is

surface in New York. ”

furniture that makes you look twice, and is as haunting as

Also on their to-do list: a big move. Their current building

the desolate dreamscape that gave rise to it; it would seem

was recently sold, so – after grappling with the possibility of

equally at home in a museum or private residence. As it

having to relocate out of Red Hook – they will be transferring

were, the strikingly modern yet classic Coney Island Lounger,

their operation to a new space by Valentino Pier, upstairs

with its undulating wooden slats and steel base rendered in

from local favorite Steve’s Key Lime Pies. “We thought it was

the famous crosshatch pattern of the Cyclone rollercoaster,

really important for us to stay in the neighborhood, ” Horvath

was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum for

says. “But were sad because we didn’t think it was going to

its permanent collection.

be possible. ” But, he continues, “We got a ten-year lease

Later series in their repertoire have similarly resurrected

on the new space, which is very exciting. So we’re definitely

a nostalgic past. In 2011 the pair salvaged reclaimed teak

going to be here. ”

from the deck of the decommissioned USS North Carolina;

Hilgendorf agrees. With every indication that the sky is

built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the battleship is, to date,

the limit for this design team, it’s a good thing there’s a lot

one of the most decorated in US naval history. To come up

of it in Red Hook. “We will always be keeping our presence

with the resulting Warcraft Line, Hilgendorf and Horvath

here, ” he says. “This is our home. ”

undertook extensive research. “We went to the Intrepid, and put together these big photo essays, ” Hilgendorf says. “We like to really dig into the material and the history around it. We’ll each come with our own concepts and then find them collaboratively. ”

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— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — — Po rtrai ts —

P H O T O B Y PAT T Y L A RO C C O

H IDDEN PLACES

— No rbert Ki mmel —

Sum of Its Parts The Complexity of Sculptured Elements WORDS BY Dena Ghieth Behind the roll gate on a one-story brick warehouse on Wolcott Street, Norbert Kimmel’s sculpture garden sits like a tiny, idiosyncratic pocket park in its industrial surroundings. Inside the open-air courtyard, the artworks on display seem animated by an unseen force on a quiet morning: willowy plant shapes sprout gleaming from the gravel like underwater fronds, and steel cows bob their heads almost imperceptibly. If you listen carefully, you can hear small, whispered creaks as the sculptures shift and rustle in place, responding to the elements as though in constant tension between the soft, organic curve of their shapes and the unyielding metal that forms them. The simplicity of Kimmel’s artwork belies the depth and complexity that goes into it. “My work is based in mathematics and geometry, ” he says. “Even with the plant pieces, there’s progressive numbering behind it. It’s a different way of building things, but that’s really how nature builds on a microscopic level. ” To illustrate, he shows me his latest series, “Tensegrities”, for which he drew on the mathematical theories of Buckminster Fuller and Kenneth Snelson in the 1950s. Comprised of varying sizes of geodesic domes, the seemingly lightweight metal sculptures are held together solely by their tensile components; out in his studio’s courtyard, they almost seem like they could float away in the breeze.

PHOTOS BY Adam Krause

H IDDEN PLACES

— No rbert Ki m mel —

Born and raised in a small industrial town in Germany,

reason to leave Red Hook these days. “It’s nice when you

Kimmel came to Red Hook slowly, by way of an itinerant

can live near where you have a workshop, ” he says. “So, you

existence that took him all over the world. “That’s where my

know, you don’t have to commute. I just put my coveralls on

inspiration comes from, ” he explains, his English still heavily

in the morning and walk a couple of blocks and it’s so easy. ”

accented after 26 years here. “After backpacking through

Nowadays, he is focused on researching and playing

India, Pakistan, Thailand, Iran, Brazil… when I came to New

with new ideas for his metalwork, often spending hours in

York I saw it as a real good mixing ground, and that’s why I

his studio poring over dog-eared books on arcane topics like

ended up staying here. ” He initially set up a woodworking

‘Mokume Gane’, a Japanese process of layering precious

shop on the Lower East Side in the 1980s, eventually

metals together, and Damascus steel, an ancient, Middle-

branching into metals by taking on custom work for the retail

Eastern swordmaking technique that produces distinctive,

spaces that were cropping up in lower Manhattan.

woodgrain-like patterns.

“That’s how I started out, making fire escapes, railings…

“I like to figure out specific things and try to execute

window gates, ” he says, then laughs. “Window gates were a

them, then move onto the next subject, ” he says, standing

big item in the 1980s in New York! ” But as the Lower East Side

next to a stainless steel pillar that extends upward like a

changed around him, Kimmel found it increasingly difficult

geometric cactus. “This one was a nightmare, ” he says, about how difficult the material is to work with. “I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. ” But, he laughs, “I’m a bit nuts

“Eventually you kind of know everyone, and it becomes like its own little village.”

sometimes, because that’s exactly why I wanted to do it. ” Strolling through the studio doors, Kimmel explains how a commission he once installed in the Green-Wood Cemetery inspired the idea of having an outdoor sculpture garden. “An Italian guy asked me to make an eternal flame for his son’s grave, and I thought, Wow. That is a really nice thing to be doing, ” he recalls. “It was kind of surreal, because a cemetery is like the ultimate sculpture garden, because

to run an industrial forge in the neighborhood. “That was a

graves are never going to go away. And I was really happy

problem on Ludlow Street, ” he says. “You know, with all the

that someone wanted to have some of my work there, ” he

French restaurants opening, and your steel truck is coming in

continues. “It always stuck in my mind. ”

and competing with deliveries for French pastries… You can’t

Back out in the courtyard, Kimmel surveys his work,

do that for very long. ”

stopping to pet some of the pieces like a proud parent.

Always a nomad at heart, Kimmel viewed his move to

“Yeah… I really like them, ” he says softly. “It’s like they are

Red Hook thirteen years ago with relative equanimity. “I

growing by themselves. Whatever happens with me, I think

don’t know, sometimes it isn’t planned out how you end up

they will find their spot. I have a feeling. ”

in places, ” he muses. “I moved here more out of necessity,

As for the neighborhood he calls home, it’s apparent that

but it’s very comfortable here; you get things done, and

Kimmel could add it to his far-flung list of inspiring places.

can actually work on your creative ideas. When it’s getting

As he painstakingly experiments with ancient techniques

too busy, that’s not so good for being an artist or doing

of layering and fusing different elements together to create

your work, because then there’s so much distraction going

new patterns in his studio, it all seems a fitting metaphor

on, ” he continues. “The familiarity of people living here is

for Red Hook, where the unique community that emerges is

because of the remoteness. Eventually you kind of know

distinctly greater than the sum of its parts.

everyone, and it becomes like its own little village. ” With an apartment nearby on Coffey Street, Kimmel seems content in his neighborhood orbit, rarely finding

H IDDEN PLACES

“Sometimes it isn’t planned out how you end up in places. I moved here out of necessity, but it’s very comfortable here; you get things done, and can actually work on your creative ideas.”

— Po rtrai ts —

H IDDEN PLACES

— Po rtrai ts —

H IDDEN PLACES

Spirit of Independence

The Magical Potions of Uncouth Vermouth WORDS BY Dena Ghieth

Strange things are afoot behind a sign on Van

bronze and shipped to Oklahoma, whereupon this

Brunt Street, featuring a silhouette drawing of

front room of her store will become a new tasting

a woman from the Empire Period with her finger

room. But Miraglia’s deeply principled, rebellious

stuck unceremoniously up her nose.

streak doesn’t stop there; you’ll taste it in the

The first thing owner Bianca Miraglia says when she pokes her head through a crack in the

“magical potions” she’s brewing under the name Uncouth Vermouth.

door of her storefront is, “I should warn you - my

Vermouth, an aromatized, fortified wine that

friend is working on a super-secret commission…”

was popularized in the 1700s, by definition includes

before taking me inside. With the smell of fresh

the herb wormwood according to European law;

paint still hanging in the air, the space seems very

American law makes no such distinction. Free

much a work in progress - in no small part because

from such limits, Miraglia creates her vermouths

we are suddenly standing face to face with an

with the deft wizardry of an apothecary, steeping

unfinished, life-sized statue.

locally sourced wines from the Red Hook Winery

It isn’t for her, Miraglia explains. The piece was commissioned from her sculptor friend to be displayed in front of the Oklahoma State Capitol, so she provided cover for him to build it, hidden from view in her vermouth workshop. Intended as a First Amendment protest against the statue of the Ten Commandments that was placed there in

with a vast assortment of herbs, many of which she forages from the remote wilds of Long Island. What results are complex, layered tinctures that, much like Miraglia herself, tacitly acknowledge their place in historical tradition while exhibiting a fiercely modern, sometimes playful, spirit of independence.

2012, the sculpture is days away from being cast in

PORTRAIT BY ADAM KRAUSE

— Unco uth Ver mo uth —

“It’s about family and heritage to me, more than trying

to dive deeper, expanding her homegrown knowledge of

to recreate a specific era,” Miraglia says, explaining how she

edible plants and spending her days foraging in untouched

came to make vermouth for a living. “I always say reflectively

areas instead of buying ingredients, often driving back

that I was meant to do this. My father was a drinker, and one

to the city with the backseat of her car filled with found

of my earliest memories, around three years old, is sitting at

herbs like mugwort and applemint. She initially started

the dinner table with my own wine glass.” Her mother, on

the company in a corner of the Red Hook Winery, but lost

“It’s about family and heritage to me, more than trying to recreate a specific era” the other hand, “is a plant whisperer, and she’s really into

her entire launch production when Hurricane Sandy hit.

growing everything she possibly can,” Miraglia continues.

Like many others in the area, Miraglia got back on her feet

“She’s the person you can go on a hike with and she’ll give

with grants from ReStore Red Hook, a fund started by local

you the Latin name of every single plant underfoot. So it’s

residents and business owners to funnel outside donations

kind of a combination of digging in the garden with my mom,

into rebuilding the neighborhood. The experience left her

and growing up drinking wine; I think that must be why I do

reeling, but eternally grateful for the community she was

this.”

a part of, and she remained committed to reestablishing Uncouth Vermouth in Red Hook.

Miraglia comes across as an artisan deeply connected to her product, infusing the wines with a sense of social

“I searched for an entire year around here before I found

purpose along with all those esoteric herbs. “There’s no

the space,” she says. “My landlord was really compassionate

bullshit in these,” she says; just wine, plants, and brandy.

about me not having any money, but really wanting to be

“I’m literally the only producer on the planet who doesn’t

here.” Miraglia’s new location includes retail space, a

add sweeteners. I do make a sweet vermouth, but that will

workshop where each seasonal batch of vermouth is made

be because it’s a sweet wine base, with late-harvest grapes

onsite, and, perhaps most importantly, a backyard where

where there’s more residual sugar,” she continues. “There’s

she can keep getting her hands dirty. “I feel like, especially

no reason to add anything else. I’m very conscientious about

as city dwellers, we really overestimate the amount of land

the fact that people are ingesting every single thing I’m

you need to grow your own food,” she says. “So something

putting into the vermouth and, because I make so little, I can

I really want to do here in the future is work with people who

really take every ingredient super seriously and respect it.”

want to learn more, myself included, about edible plants.”

After spending her twenties exploring the world of

Being naturally positioned at the intersection of the

winemaking, first at a vineyard in Oregon and later as a

slow food movement and craft cocktail resurgence, Miraglia

sommelier and consultant in various restaurants around

has quickly found a willing audience in Red Hook. “I think

New York, Miraglia found herself disillusioned and unhappy.

it’s the right neighborhood for this,” she says. “People are

“I was so disconnected from nature, and I wasn’t particularly

more open to weird shit here.”

latching onto the ‘be an asshole to your employees because

Although with no plans to dramatically expand

they’ll work harder’ lifestyle in New York. It just wasn’t me, “

production, and an almost perpetually sold-out brand, her

she says. “I’m a very independent worker, so I was just like

“uncouth” vermouths are an increasingly rare, and special,

‘fuck it.’ I’m never going to have a boss again.”

find – a lot like the neighborhood they were made in.

That departure led to a stint with a group of people throwing pop-up cocktail parties, at which point Miraglia began making her own vermouth. Eventually, she decided

H IDDEN PLACES

— Po rtrai ts —

— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — P H O T O B Y T O R I S PA R KS

— Wi do w Jane & Van Br u nt Stillho use —

Experimental Spirit

Widow Jane & Van Brunt Stillhouse lead Red Hook’s Artisanal D istilling Resurgence

Ever since New York State laws regulating

Those historical influences are evident in the

distilling began to loosen in 2002, Red Hook has

launch of their first product, Due North Rum, which

once again been on the frontier of an industrial

draws its name from maritime lore. “Rum has a real

renaissance. Two of its homegrown operations, The

nautical history to it, and we wanted to celebrate that,

Van Brunt Stillhouse and Widow Jane, anchor the

” Schlesselman says. Sailors on the high seas used

Brooklyn Spirits Trail and take up the mantle of the

to rate their rum rations using cardinal directions; an

borough’s artisanal resurgence.

‘easterly’ ration, for example, was mostly water. “But if you were going into battle, or had just come out of

At the Van Brunt Stillhouse, husband and wife

a storm, the captain would reward you with a pint of

team Daric Schlesselman and Sarah Ludington

pure rum, ” he explains. “The sailors called that Due

helm the fledgling enterprise; both brim with the

North, so we wanted to make reference to that. ”

energy of their new venture, fluidly multitasking while discussing the minutiae of craft distilling.

They have since branched into an extensive line

Schlesselman, a home-brewing enthusiast and video

of products, including four signature whiskeys –

editor on ‘The Daily Show’ by night, bought a home

Malt, Bourbon, Rye and American. The recipe for the

still about five years ago, and eventually decided to

latter defies categorization, somewhat; Schlesselman

open a business with Ludington, who is an architect

recalls developing the four-grain spirit after being at

by training. Having moved their family to Red Hook

a bar with over twenty bourbons on the menu, and

more than a decade ago, both are well aware of the

deciding to create something that fell outside the

history of distilling in the area: Shlesselman speaks

typical market. He must have been onto something

fluently about the rise and eventual fall of distilleries

– each one sells out so quickly, it’s difficult to know

in the nineteenth century, and a newspaper article

which is the bestseller.

about a moonshine still that was busted on nearby

They also produce grappa and moonshine onsite,

Richard Street hangs on their office wall.

so the two have their hands full. “It’s almost unheard

WORDS BY Dena Ghieth / PHOTOS BY Adam Krause

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— Mike Dirksen WIDOW JANE —

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“Every distillery across the country for the most part had been using the yellow corn you get in the Midwest, so Daniel started developing this really fun, unusual type of corn” —

Mike Dirksen —

D I R E C T O R O F SA L E S, W I D OW JA N E

— Wi do w Jane & Van Br u nt Stillho use —

“It’s almost unheard of for a distillery as young, and as small, as we are to have five distinct products” —

Sarah Ludington & DARIC SCHLESSELMAN — STILLHOUSE

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of for a distillery as young, and as small, as we are to have five distinct products, ” Ludington says. “It’s an ambitious portfolio, so we have quite a bit of growth to do. ” Ludington handles all of the sales for the Stillhouse, “literally just pounding the pavement, ” to get it to market, she says. “We decided we wanted to self-distribute, which I think was a good move. If it was the right marketplace, most people were very excited that it was one of us showing up. ” With so many products already in the works, “Daric is always chomping at the bit to do more. He’s a very creative distiller, and really good at experimentation, ” Ludington says of her husband. “He’ll make a barrel of something, and we’ll bounce it off a lot of people. Well, friends and family, ” she clarifies. “But the neighborhood is like a big family. ” A few blocks away at Widow Jane, that experimental spirit is also all in a day’s work. Founded by inventor and

Series, ’ using carefully researched heirloom and ancient

former aerospace engineer Daniel Preston, the Conover Street

strains of corn, like the Bloody Butcher, Hopi Blue and

compound was initially constructed as a parachute factory

Wapsie Valley varietals that are also cultivated in Rosendale.

that he sold to Boeing before converting it into Cacao Prieto,

“That’s what the Widow Jane Distillery was based

the combination chocolate factory and distillery that it is

on when we founded it, ” says Mike Dirksen, the brand’s

today.

Director of Sales, gesturing at the dried kernels on display

Preston likes to make things. The impressive shop space

in the picturesque tasting room. “Every distillery across the

hums with machinery he holds patents for, like the ‘Vortex

country for the most part had been using the yellow corn you

Winnower, ’ which separates the cacao bean shells from the

get in the Midwest, so Daniel started developing this really

nibs used in their chocolate and is now used by about 60% of

fun, unusual type of corn. ”

the world’s chocolate manufacturers; the still used for their

The company has expanded significantly out of the New

rum and bourbon was similarly designed to his specifications.

York market, and has big ambitions for the future. “We have

The Widow Jane story really begins in Rosendale, in the

plans to raise capital to build a new distillery right into the

Hudson Valley, where the namesake mine that supplies the

side of the mine, ” Dirksen says. “Since we grow all of our

distillery’s limestone-rich water can be found. Its legacy is

corn in the Hudson Valley as well, hopefully we’ll eventually

“vertically integrated” into their product, as they might tell

have everything up there. And the Red Hook outpost will be

you – from the stencil typeface in the spare Widow Jane logo

more of an experimental plant. ”

that brings to mind a hardscrabble frontier town and feisty,

Either way, it seems like a good time to be drinking in

strong-willed women, to the illustrious history of the limestone

Red Hook.

itself, which was used in the construction of the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the base of the Statue of Liberty. The mine was abandoned in 1950; Preston, who owns land nearby, eventually bought a section of it. Since its launch in 2012, Widow Jane has had a meteoric rise to its current celebrated status. Initially using Kentucky bourbon that was brought to proof with water from the mine at their Red Hook facility, they recently put several of their own small-batch distillations on the market as the ‘Heirloom

— Po rtrai ts —

Signature Pieces WORDS BY Dena Ghieth

The Self-Taught Simplicity of Blk Wd The duo behind fledgling furniture design company BLK WD, Adam Taylor and Arturo Contreras, like Red Hook so much they decided to name many of their signature pieces after the neighborhood’s streets. The handsome furniture on display in their Van Brunt Street showroom often pairs wood reclaimed from nearby construction sites with forged steel fixtures, demonstrating an acute attention to detail and a considered versatility that make these items a natural fit for urban living.

PHOTO BY Adam Krause

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— Blk Wd —

Taylor and Contreras met as employees at another

product gets, the more robust it can be.” That sensibility

furniture design studio at 202 Coffey Street, and eventually

is in full effect in their minimalist showroom, where pieces

decided to strike out on their own, first landing in a nearby

like ‘The Sullivan’ are made from raw construction pallets

space on Sullivan Street before settling into their current shop

hinged together to form a coffee table; it opens like a piano

on Van Brunt Street. “We’ve been working together for about

lid to reveal an ingenious compartment perfect for storing

three years now,” Contreras says, “but we weren’t satisfied.

books and magazines. The ‘Coffey Table’ continues their

We wanted to do a higher quality product, something that

lighthearted nod to Red Hook’s role in their story, as does

we could take our time with and really just design ourselves.

the ‘Imlay’, another design featuring recycled pallet wood,

We felt we had some ideas, so after we left that company we

with a lower tier of vintage chicken wire glass.

just went ahead and did our own thing.”

Just a few months after forming their business in early

As a team, the pair seem contemplative and focused,

2014, things are looking good for the BLK WD team. A series

as though they might spend hours immersed in the minutae

of lucky breaks led Taylor and Contreras to a key investor

of their craft – they speak of the simple pleasures of doing

who liked their work, and provided enough financial backing

quiet work, like mowing lawns, or fishing off the pier with

to set them up in their new shop space on Van Brunt Street

their Red Hook neighbors and grilling up whatever they’ve

while affording them a welcome foothold into working with

caught. Taylor’s deep southern drawl has barely eroded

some of the new real estate developments taking shape

during his four years in New York, and becomes animated

in the area. With their knack for dusting off found objects

“We wanted to do a higher quality product, something that we could take our time with and really just design ourselves” when he talks about barbeque; Contreras, who hails from the

and repurposing them into sleek, contemporary designs,

west coast, shares his appreciation for the neighborhood’s

it’s likely they’ll be furnishing Red Hook’s more modern

mellow, quirky vibe.

offshoots for quite some time.

Both men approach furniture making with the DIY enthusiasm of self-taught artisans who are eager to take on new challenges and expand their knowledge of the craft. Woodworking “is just something I’ve always done,” says Taylor. “I didn’t ever want to hire someone to do anything, so I would just figure out how to do it myself.” Conteras, who handles most of the team’s metal work, has a similar backstory: “I’m also self-taught.

I’ve been pretty much

making stuff since high school. Not necessarily furniture… mostly just like, if I want to do something, I’ll learn it,” he says. “I learned how to sew, mostly because my mom was a seamstress. And my dad fixes TVs… so we both grew up as craftspeople and we just picked it up from there.” Of their design philosophy, “Simplicity is really the key to what we do,” Contreras says. “We’re never aiming to add complexity to the product. We feel the simpler a

— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — P H O T O B Y T O R I S PA R KS

— Waterfro nt Ki tchens —

One-man Operation

A Solo Venture in Customized Problem-Solving WORDS BY Dena Ghieth George Monos knows a thing or two about kitchens. When you step into his showroom and find yourself standing in the kind of kitchen New Yorkers often dream about, you’ll be personally greeted by the gregarious owner of Waterfront Kitchens, who answers the phone, offers refreshments and gives advice on ceiling fans with equal parts enthusiasm and a freewheeling expertise cultivated over twenty-plus years in the home design industry. That textured backsplash you like on the display? Too hard to clean; he’ll suggest something more practical, while giving you a fluent summary of the variations in American and European cabinetry, from the technology used in production to the vast array of custom finishes available from each line. Monos brings a savvy blend of construction, architecture, and design knowledge to Waterfront Kitchens, his first solo venture in the field of home interiors. “I’m kind of an anomaly in the business,” he says, “because I have design training and construction knowledge. Most people have one or the other.” A one-man operation, he admits to being a bit of a control freak – one who clearly relishes the opportunity to give clients his undivided attention, customizing each design to adapt the spatial constraints of an apartment to meet their lifestyle demands, and seeing their kitchen projects through from start to finish.

PHOTO BY Adam Krause

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— Waterfro nt Ki tchens —

“It’s basically problem solving, like a puzzle,” Monos

still stands relatively aloof from the greater geography of

says of the challenges unique to his line of work. “There are

Brooklyn; here, the sky seems bigger, though the space

a lot of limitations to deal with in New York City, in terms

between people smaller, as the twin engines of resilience

of the age of the architecture, or you might have building

and rebirth have forged a tight-knit community that is its

systems that haven’t been upgraded in forty or fifty years, if

own center of gravity.

ever.” He continues, “So you get these huge apartments that

“People who live here are generally a specific type of

have 150 square foot kitchens in them, and you have to fit

person,” says Monos, who rarely leaves the area except for

all of these things inside, but you have a gas meter hanging

work. “Not having a subway is a big filter, so they’re people

out of the ceiling, and you have a beam on this side, a tiny

who want to have control over their lives, and want to shape

window… so even getting in and out of buildings can be

how they live their lives.” For creative and independent

incredibly difficult, in terms of the elements you can use.”

types it’s a great place to be, he says, frequently citing the

“It’s sort of high stakes,” Monos goes on to say. “But

network of friends and neighbors he and his wife have as a

you get to really see how people live, and you get to make it

trademark feature of the Red Hook way of life.

better for them. And that’s what’s so addictive about this.”

“You really get to see how people live, and you get to make it better for them.“ Clearly not one to shy away from a good challenge,

“I work by myself, which is awesome. I mean, it can get

Monos opened his Red Hook storefront four years ago, on

lonely sometimes, but it’s Red Hook, so friends walk by all

the ground floor of a building he owns and lives in with his

day long and wave, or come in and sit down and have a beer,

wife, Denise. Like many of the neighborhood’s residents

“ he says, then laughs. “Well, that can also be a problem

and business owners, he easily references a time when the

sometimes!”

landscape here was less forgiving. Indicative of the area’s

Although certainly not a bad problem to have.

storied past through decades of boom and bust times, their building has had its own colorful history. It was bought and converted into an artist’s studio in the 1980s, before becoming the “blank canvas” that Monos would design and sculpt into his current residence and place of business. “When I opened here, I had no concept that this was actually going to be a mercantile strip,” he says, though in the intervening years Waterfront Kitchens has become a successful anchor of a block of Van Brunt affectionately dubbed ‘Unnecessary Row’ by the locals. When you stroll past the charming window displays at shops offering letterpress stationery and tea towels, handmade bags and bicycles, the spirit of artisanal resurgence here seems well underway; you’d have to squint hard to see the vestigial remnants of the neighborhood’s tougher past, though they remain inextricably woven into the fabric of life. Red Hook

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PHOTOS BY CRAIG LACOURT

— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — P H O T O B Y A N G E L A WA R D

— Gr i nd haus —

Desired Experience Inside the Grind of a ‘Dorky Little Restaurant’ WORDS BY Dena Ghieth If there is a single quality that could really be pinned down as the quintessential essence of Red Hook, you might settle on resilience. In a Brooklyn enclave where local hot spots like Fort Defiance and Hope & Anchor draw visitors from around the city, if not the globe, their names would give you a hint of the defining spirit of a neighborhood that seems to boldly – even defiantly – resist the opposing forces that often distinguish life here from anywhere else.

With successful new restaurant Grindhaus taking its place among

them on Van Brunt Street, owner Erin Norris brings an upbeat new attitude of “availabilism” to the Red Hook dining scene. Norris, a former music publicist and retired dominatrix, spent six grueling years trying to open the restaurant. When she tells you the tale, she might begin Grindhaus’s backstory with a comedic aside: “I signed the lease on April Fools Day. That was my first mistake.” But as the story continues into an odyssey of almost biblical proportions, an undercurrent of raw emotion sometimes breaks through the surface. After taking on a small, abandoned ground floor space in 2008, Norris spent several years addressing the building’s structural problems to get a Certificate of Occupancy; it took every cent she had. Once those had been dealt with, she eventually scraped together enough money to outfit what was intended to be a sausage restaurant with the best equipment she could afford. But, Norris says, “the space dictates what it can and cannot do,” so the original concept had to be almost immediately jettisoned; gas burners would

PHOTO BY Adam Krause

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— Gr i nd haus —

not be an option in the tiny kitchen, and she wouldn’t have

I had before fit into what I’m doing now, and it’s like… with

enough room, or refrigeration, to grind and stuff sausages in

the music PR stuff, I just always wanted to turn somebody

bulk. So she revised her idea and forged ahead.

on by something that I got really excited about.” And about that dungeon? “Well, that is also about the hospitality-slash-

Inside Grindhaus, thankfulness is woven into the décor

service industry, if you’re doing it correctly,” she says. “It’s

the way other neighborhood denizens might repurpose

giving somebody what they’re seeking, much like serving

antique wood into furniture: aside from the blue waterline, a

good food. You’re delivering an experience that is desired.

“Wall of Gratitude” frames the entrance, where the names of

And I feel like people who have come here,” she continues,

everyone who contributed on Kickstarter were stenciled into

“took a chance and came to a little remote corner of the

a mural. Elsewhere, the restaurant has the easy, haphazard

city… and had kind of a mindblowing experience.”

style of a friend’s apartment, with paintings by Norris’s father on the walls, cookbooks arranged on a shelf in the dining room and flower sprigs stuffed into glass jars as though they

“I always want to see people get satisfied by something that is going on here.”

were herbs sunning on a kitchen windowsill. In tribute to her original concept, several of the dining room tables have small sausage grinders clamped to their ends. Dominating the offbeat restaurant interior is a taxidermy horse head on the bar with flowers and tree branches sprouting from its mouth; like everything else here, it also has a story. “That’s Sarah Jessica Celine Ann Parker Dion Coulter,” Norris says, laughing. “I had her made back in 2000, but it took about three years because we had to wait for the right carcass to show up.” The throat opens up to reveal a cabinet for drug paraphernalia Norris has collected from the turn of the century, like handwritten prescriptions for morphine and cocaine; if form follows function, the old mare probably keeps things from getting too serious around here. Whereas other establishments might use terms like ‘locavore’ or ‘farm-to-table’ to describe their menus, the concept of ‘availabilism’ has wider implications for Norris. “Everything about this whole project has been about that. It’s like, what can you do with what you have?” she says. “I would say it relates to the spirit of Red Hook as a whole, but it also rings true about what is available seasonally at the market.” Norris describes the food as “vegetable forward,” with a focus on seafood and local ingredients; under Chef Aaron Taber, who singlehandedly works miracles out of a thimble-sized kitchen in the back and has received glowing reviews from the New York Times and New York Magazine, the menu changes almost every day. As Grindhaus nears the end of its first year in business after such a long road, Norris seems both humbled and thrilled by the attention her “dorky little restaurant” has garnered. “I always want to see people get satisfied by something that is going on here,” she says. “People ask me how all the jobs 10 0

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— L eh i gh Valley No. 79 —

The Ship’s Keeper Lehigh Valley No. 79 Framed by Lady Liberty and the Freedom Tower,

running up saying, ‘Where’s Julie, where’s Gopher?’”

the 100-year-old Lehigh Valley No. 79 stands sentry

When the disco craze took over the cruise ships, David

before the vast New York Harbor. Number 79 is the only

set off for the prestigious performance school L’École

surviving, all wooden Hudson River Railroad Barge

Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris,

still afloat, and aboard her resides David Sharps,

where he found his first experience living aboard a

President of the Waterfront Museum and the “owner,

houseboat on the Seine.

caretaker, night’s watchman, ship’s keeper” of the barge. This crimson behemoth could carry up to 300 tons of cargo from the harbor to the western-bound railroads during the first half of the 20th century, but when David discovered it in the Hudson River mud flats of New Jersey in 1985, the barge was mired eight feet deep in 300 tons of muck, uninhabitable and immovable. David purchased the boat for $1 (actually it was $500, but the receipt he retains to this day

When he returned to New York to start life as an entertainer doing circus gigs, David heard about a famous film producer who owned a houseboat in need of a caretaker. Before long David had purchased the Lehigh Valley No. 79 and formed the Hudson Waterfront Museum, and he was looking for a permanent port of call (men with crowbars chased him out of one port in NJ). Red Hook was calling.

reads “$1 and Other Considerations”), and almost ten

David came out to Red Hook with his wife Sarah

years later after several stops in New Jersey along the

and their child (and another baby on the way) in 1994,

way, David landed here in Red Hook.

and Greg O’Connell showed the entertainer around

From a young age, David was “hooked on all things maritime,” and after college in the late 70’s, he became a juggler and entertainer aboard Carnival cruise ships around the world. “When I started, it was before Love Boat, and then all of a sudden people are

his various waterfront properties. Despite the open vulnerability of the location and decrepit state of its rock jetty, David knew that the Conover Street basin - with its extraordinary views of the entire harbor, Statue of Liberty, and Manhattan – was the perfect spot to call home.

WORDS BY angela ward / PHOTOS BY Tyler Sparks

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"I'm a big fan of seeing a neighborhood come together."

10 4

Back then, David says, “There were some people here. Sunny’s Bar was here.” That was about it: a maritime watering hole and a handful of artists on the Red Hook waterfront that were the genesis of the thriving and intimate artistic community that is Red Hook today. It was quiet back then, as it still is today, but it was never dangerous or scary, he says. “What was dangerous,” David says, “Was the wild dogs.” “There was a pack of wild dogs that ate three of our cats,” he recalls. “You didn’t want to get on a bike and go the wrong way because there would be dogs nipping at your heels.” And next door to David’s barge, in what is now the Fairway Market and the luxury rental lofts above it, 275 Conover Street was vacant; its only tenants at the time were feral cats. Wild dogs and cats, and a maritime community populated by a few pioneering artists: “That was just Red Hook.” Twenty years later, things are quite different. Sitting on the front of the wooden boat and enjoying the pleasant breeze blowing in off the water, we see a large Carnival cruise ship sail by, and the one-time cruise ship juggler says, “Now cruise ships are docking at the end of the street.” At this point in our conversation, David’s phone – a landline – rings. It strikes me as amusing that the only person in New York whom I know who has actually has a landline lives on a boat. It’s David’s wife, and he offers, “Let me know if you want something over at Fairway.” Only in Red Hook can you jump off your boat to pick up the groceries for dinner. As for the transformation of Red Hook in the past few years with so many new shops and restaurants, David says, “It’s great. I’m a big fan of seeing a neighborhood come together.” He continues, “There is something about Red Hook. I like it here. It’s still got some edges to it that are fun, and it’s got a wonderful artistic community. It’s got a mix of people of all shapes, and sizes, and colors, and incomes, and all of that. And that’s a community that my family wanted to be a part of. “

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— Aro u nd R ed Ho ok — P H O T O B Y B R E N DA N PA R K E R

— Po rtrai ts —

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— Po rtrai ts —

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