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This popular affordable grocery store just opened a location in Two Bridges
Lower Manhattan residents, rejoice: affordable supermarket Brooklyn Fare Kitchen & Market just opened at 227 Cherry Street by Pike Street in Two Bridges, right where Pathmark used to be over a decade ago.
You’ll find the massive, 25,500-square-foot, all-glass storefront at the base of luxury condo One Manhattan Square. Inside, the chain’s largest market ever is filled with both fresh produce and prepared foods, all at pretty decent prices.
“We are beyond thrilled to be opening on the Lower East Side. Not only is it our first store on the East Side of Manhattan, it’s also our largest store to date,” said Moe Issa, Owner and Founder of Brooklyn Fare, in an official statement. “What is even better is that we are providing a much-needed service to the residents of the Lower East Side, and that’s just awesome: to be able to bring great food and grocery items at affordable prices to the neighborhoods in which we serve. That’s what Brooklyn Fare is all about, and that’s why we do what we do.”
In addition to “traditional” grocery store products, you’ll also get to grab a cup of coffee from the on-site cafe, plus freshly made bread, sushi from a specialty counter and tons of frozen food. It’s basically the only market you’ll want to shop at when in the area.
But we don’t really need to sell you on the awesomeness that is Brooklyn Fare. Since first opening in NYC back in 2009, the market has garnered a pretty solid fanbase that has allowed the chain to set up a number of locations in the West Village, Hudson Yards, Lincoln Square and Downtown Brooklyn.
If you don’t buy your groceries at the various shops, you have at the very least heard about the Michelin-starred restaurant that opened inside the Brooklyn location of the supermarket back in 2009 but now operates from the Hudson Yards address of the company at West 37th Street: Chef’s Table.
The debut of Brooklyn Fare in Two Bridges has been a long time coming: the Pathmark that was operating on site closed back in 2012 after thirty years of business so plenty of neighborhood folks have been complaining about the lack of proper shopping destinations in the area since then.
It’s taken a lot of time, but we’re happy to see locals’ wishes come true.
This entire NYC neighborhood has turned into an art gallery
Painter Sonya Sklaroff is known for turning NYC neighborhoods into art. And now an NYC neighborhood has transformed into a gallery of her creations.
The new event, NoHo Art Nexus: Outside In, features Sklaroff’s paintings in 17 locations throughout Noho. The artworks are on view through May 28 at local stores, cafes, and bars in the neighborhood, making for a perfect DIY art crawl (keep scrolling for the full list).
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Sklaroff’s oil-on-canvas works capture the dreamy dusk hours downtown. Buildings are silhouetted against darkening skies while colorful windows illuminate the scene and inspire curiosity. Who lives there in that Manhattan apartment? What are they doing inside? You’ll catch a glimpse of intimate everyday moments—a woman preparing for bed, a couple sharing a quiet moment, friends dining together.
The artist’s paintings invite viewers to stand outside and peer into private worlds. Now thanks to Art Nexus, the paintings also inspire New Yorkers to step inside local businesses they may have never experienced.
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Participating businesses will offer maps and passports, so you can collect stamps along the way. Those who complete the artistic trail can enter to win prizes, including a signed catalog, prints, and other gifts.
The NoHo Business Improvement District invited Sklaroff to transform the neighborhood into her own personal gallery for the month of May as a way to “invigorate the neighborhood with its unique charm.”
Sklaroff’s work captures the magic of NoHo.
“For over 50 years Noho has been a haven for artists inspired by the unique architecture and urban fabric of the neighborhood,” Chandler Forsythe, the nonprofit’s director of operations and community engagement says. “Sklaroff’s work captures the magic of NoHo.”
In one work, titled “NoHo neighbors,” two water towers stand silhouetted against a vibrant blue evening sky while nighttime scenes unfold in an apartment building. In “Stained glass apartments,” an intricate iron-clad fire escape pops against a red dusk sky.
The NYC-based Sklaroff has exhibited work across the U.S. and abroad. You may have seen her paintings featured on LinkNYC’s 4,000 digital kiosks across the city or heard her name in Sex and the City. Last year, she painted New Yorkers’ secrets.
For her, New York City makes a perfect muse.
“As dusk envelops the streets, my gaze drifts upwards, drawn to the striking silhouettes of New York City’s iconic architecture against the evening sky. Each window emits a vibrant glow, casting a kaleidoscope of colors in a mesmerizing dance. And within each illuminated pane lies a miniature world of human activity. From the warmth of shared meals to the solitude of reading or watching TV, these scenes unfold inside, hidden within the urban landscape,” she says. “Through my paintings of NoHo and beyond, I strive to capture these moments, inviting viewers into the lives of the strangers who occupy our collective metropolis. These anonymous faces populate our surroundings, at once familiar and enigmatic. As we look from the outside in, I imagine the stories of these strangers-yet-neighbors, embracing the anonymity of city life.”
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Here’s where to see her work this month:
- ATLA – 372 Lafayette St.
- Away – 10 Bond St.
- Bleecker Street Bar – 648 Broadway
- Bond 07 by Selima – 7 Bond St.
- Cozy’s Soup n Burger- 739 Broadway
- The Evolution Store- 687 Broadway
- Haven Spa – 250 Mercer St.
- Il Buco Alimentari – 53 Great Jones St.
- Lafayette – 380 Lafayette St.
- LINES NYC – 302 Bowery
- Little Market NYC – 637 Broadway
- M&D Shapiro Hardware – 7 Great Jones St.
- ORA Space – 9 E 4th St.
- Rooq – 13 B E 4th St.
- Sabah – 56 Bleecker St.
- Slowear – 333 Lafayette St.
- Wildlike – 49 Bond St.
Upstate chainlet Moonburger is bringing meat-free patties to NYC
vegetarian hamburgers—piled-high creations each made with a griddled Impossible patty, double onion, dill pickle, crunchy lettuce, special sauce and optional American cheese on a Schmidt’s potato roll—oat milkshakes and “hot fries” (flavored with “a secret spice blend with a not-so-secret kick”). To make sure Moonburger’s offerings appealed to both veggievores and meat lovers alike, founder Jeremy Robinson-Leon put together a strong panel of culinary personalities to advice on the menu, including cookbook author Alison Roman, Bon Appétit editor Amiel Stanek and Strange Delight restaurateur Anoop Pillarisetti.
The team parlayed that patty popularity into a few more New York locations, including in New Paltz and Poughkeepsie. And now Moonburger is officially touching down in New York City, with a location set to open this July at 126 Bedford Avenue and North 10th Street in Williamsburg, Eater reports.
And Brooklynites can expect all of the Moonburger menu favorites, which you can get a la carte or as a “Full Moon Combo” (classic cheeseburger, small fries and a soda.) Along with the main food options, popular extras like the brand’s homemade Cooper Sharp cheese sauce and dairy-free drinks like the MB Brownie Batter Shake (homemade chocolate ganache spun with Oatly milk) will likely be making the move to the big city.
The various locations of Moonburger all sport a kitschy-fun space theme, so we’re hoping for something truly out of this world decor-wise for the Brooklyn outpost. Stay tuned!
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It’s official: New York City rents are rising way faster than wages
We obviously don’t need some groundbreaking study to know that living in New York has gotten way too expensive, but sometimes it’s nice to have some hard, cold data to back the claim up.
According to a report by StreetEasy that analyzed extensive data from Zillow, rent increases in about half of major metro areas throughout the country have grown at a faster pace than wages, but New York takes the cake when it comes to disparities between the average person’s salary and how much their apartment is costing them on a monthly basis.
RECOMMENDED: This popular affordable grocery store just opened a location in Two Bridges
Among its many shocking but also not that shocking findings, the report found that NYC rents grew far faster than local wages—boasting the largest gap in the country as a whole. While wages here grew just 1.2% between 2022 and 2023, rent prices have increased seven times faster.
The report attributes some of these disparities to surging demand for renting in New York with low vacancy rates, a situation that allows landlords to jack up prices and finding willing tenants.
That will hopefully soon change: last month, the local government approved legislation to combat dramatic rent increases and will allow tenants to challenge any escalation that surpasses 8.5% year to year, per Gothamist. Still, enforcement may be tricky.
Back to the report: according to the outlet, upfront costs when looking for a home in New York reach an average of $10,500 because of extremely high broker fees, deposits and other factors.
The news wasn’t all bad, though—if you don’t live here. In some cities, wages have actually increased faster than rent prices, including San Jose, Houston, Salt Lake City, Austin and Raleigh.
Before you pack it up to try and make a life for yourself in North Carolina, though, it seems like the market is finally, albeit slowly, starting to moderate in some parts of the city. Shockingly, median asking rents in Manhattan for February 2024 dropped 4.6% compared to February 2023, according to StreetEasy. Even more shockingly, though, median prices in Queens have skyrocketed by 13.5% during the same time period, with competition being particularly rough in neighborhoods like Long Island City, Astoria and Sunnyside, according to the data.
In conclusion, you’re not wrong: you’re not getting paid enough.