January 31–February 6, 2020 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 3
More than picnics
Restaurant concession planned for McCarren Park
Warby Parker opens in Park Slope
THE BROOKLYN QUEENS
CONNECTOR (BQX) is a
City investment to provide
better points of connection
for communities with limited
transit options.
These public workshops will
provide an opportunity to learn
about and discuss the BQX
planning work that’s been done
to-date, as well as the process
moving forward.
Attend one of the workshops
below from 6:30 – 8:30 pm:
February 6
Downtown Brooklyn
February 13
Red Hook, Brooklyn
March 3
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
For more information, and to register, visit:
BrooklynQueensConnector.nyc/events
For questions, or to request translation services at these events,
please email: info@brooklynqueensconnector.nyc
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
The Parks Department is
partnering with the former
owners of the recently shuttered
Brooklyn Night Bazaar
to open a restaurant at Mc-
Carren Park that will help finance
a $1.2 million renovation
of bathrooms and other
facilities there, according to
one of the restaurateurs.
“As a father of two young
boys, I go to McCarren Park
and enjoy it on a regular basis,”
Aaron Broudo told members
of Community Board 1 at
a meeting on Jan. 14. “I personally
have an understanding
of how important it is to
have good, clean bathrooms
… to also have healthy snacks
for families and friends and
for everybody enjoying that
space.”
Broudo and his business
partner Belvy Klein will open
their new eatery in the rear of
an ailing structure called the
McCarren Park House, where
patrons will be invited to dine
inside or at one of two patios
located within a bush-lined
courtyard when the restaurant
opens in spring 2021,
according to Parks Department
spokeswoman Anessa
Hodgson.
Broudo and Klein, who operated
an entertainment venue
in Greenpoint until their landlord
gave them the boot in November,
plan on serving alcohol
and the project will require
approval by the State Liquor
Authority before it moves
ahead.
The McCarren Park House
dates back to 1911 and was de-
signed by the Gilded Age architecture
firm behind Manhattan’s
old Penn Station
McKim, Mead, and White,
and the revamp will focus
on bringing the structure back
from decades of neglect, according
to the architect of the
project, Jonathan Chesley of
Greenpoint firm Inca Architecture
PLLC.
The renovation includes
doubling the amount toilets
from three to six, adding
two changing stations, fixing
the peeling paint on the
facade, replacing the windows
and doors, and making
the building compliant with
Courtesy of Inca Architecture
the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act, according
to Chesley.
Board members had some
critiques of the city’s plan, and
one man said a storage room
the city plans on installing
next to the 109-year-old building
should be relocated to a
space nearby the park’s tennis
courts, claiming the addition
would detract from the building’s
charm.
“This is such a beautiful,
historic, pristine, naturalistic
park and I feel like that
structure is going to hit people
like a ton of bricks,” said
Steve Chesler.
A rep for the agency said
the storage facility’s chosen
location would make things
easier for workers, and said it
was designed to be as inconspicuous
as possible.
“It’s meant to not really
draw attention to itself and
the restoration that we’re getting
in the existing building
is definitely intended to grab
your focus,” said the rep, who
didn’t give his name.
And the chairman of the
board’s Liquor License Committee
said he was worried
about the restaurant’s open
plan, saying patrons may
wander off into the park —
cocktails in hand — a concern
which previously led operators
of Tacocina in Williamsburg’s
Domino Park to install
a fence there to keep drinking
diners inside.
“Tacocina had to close off
its space so people didn’t go
wandering out of their restaurant
with their margaritas —
now you’re saying this space
is just wide open for people,”
said Tom Burrows.
They owners said they
would hire a security guard
to keep patrons in-line and
Chesley added that the aforementioned
bushes clearly
demarcate proper drinking
boundaries.
“We do have a defined
area there, you see the way
the bushes are wrapped, so
there’s basically a contiguous
space between here and
that patio and there’s only one
point of entry between those
bushes and that is the way that
we will be controlling,” Chesley
said.
The owners of Brooklyn Night Bazaar plan to open
a new restaurant concession at the rear of the Mc-
Carren Park House while financing the building’s
renovation. The concession will have two outdoor
seating areas leading to the park.
By Jessica Parks
Brooklyn Paper
Manhattan-based eyewear
company Warby Parker will
open its third Brooklyn location
on Jan. 25.
The new Park Slope outpost,
located at 208 Flatbush
Ave. between Dean and Bergen
streets, follows the opening
of a Williamsburg location
in 2019 and a Boerum Hill
storefront marked the company’s
first venture into the borough
in 2016.
“Brooklyn is home to so
many designers, entrepreneurs,
and artists cultivating
an incredibly supportive community,”
says co-founder and
co-CEO Dave Gilboa. The new
location gives customers the
chance to try on eye and sunglasses
frames, and patrons
can arrange in-store exams
and contact lens fittings, as
well as eyeglass repair and
adjustments.
The price of frames hovers
around $95 — albeit, with
some higher value collections
— which if paired with prescription
lenses can be ordered
in-store and mailed to
your home.
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
link
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
link