Powerhouse bookstore opens
new outpost in Industry City
BY ROSE ADAMS
Brooklyn’s bookworms can
now fi nd all the hottest literary
titles at Industry City,
where the family-owned chain
bookstore Powerhouse opened
its third outpost on Nov. 20 —
bringing a wide-ranging selection
of curated fi ction, nonfi
ction, cookbooks, and art
publications to Sunset Park’s
industrial complex.
“We are excited to join
Industry City’s tradition of
makers and innovators in the
midst of craft food purveyors,
drink makers, and creative
studios, workshops, and industries
of all stripes,” said
Susanne König, who has coowned
Powerhouse with her
husband since 2006.
After opening their fi rst
retail location in Dumbo in
2006, and a second storefront
SHOPS
Powerhouse Bookstore (220
36th St. between Second and
Third avenues in Sunset Park,
www.powerhousebookstores.
com) Open everyday from 11
am to 6 pm.
in Park Slope in 2012, the new
space will feature a sprawling
children’s section — allowing
it to become a meeting point
for the neighborhood’s young
bookworms, said König.
“Our beautiful open new
space — brilliantly designed
and developed by the Industry
City design and architectural
team — will allow us
to produce stellar and immersive
COURIER L 34 IFE, NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2020
readings and kids’ events
(when the world returns to normal),
and, at the same time, offer
a curated indie bookstore
experience,” she said.
The new 2,300-square-foot
space in the waterfront complex,
which saw its opening
delayed due to the COVID-19
pandemic, features the same
open layout and colorful stylings
of the other stores — although
it boasts a much larger
Spanish section for children
and adults, inspired by Sunset
Park’s large Latino community.
In addition to selling a
broad collection of books, the
store also plans to host events
focusing on design, food,
drink, arts, and entertainment,
as well as “Story Time”
for kids, which will eventually
utilize the pink-lit stage located
in the new kid’s section,
according to the owners.
BY BEN VERDE
City greenspace bigwigs
announced an $8.9 million
facelift for the iconic Soldiers
and Sailors Memorial Arch at
Grand Army Plaza on Friday,
promising to restore Brooklyn’s
architectural crown
jewel with construction starting
in late 2021.
“Grand Army Plaza has
long been a central hub in
Brooklyn, but in these past
few months it has become
even more beloved as New
Yorkers fl ocked to the park
for socially-distant recreation
and socializing,” Park Slope
Councilman Brad Lander
said in a statement. “I’m looking
forward to seeing the Soldiers
and Sailors Memorial
Arch and the Plaza restored
to their full splendor.”
City Hall and the Prospect
Park Alliance unveiled
the plan to replace the roof of
the iconic archway, clean and
repoint its bricks, repair sections
of the monument’s interior,
and upgrade the stone
shrine’s exterior lighting.
Parks honchos will also
revitalize the surrounding
plaza — including by removing
invasive shrubs, trees,
and vines, as well as replacing
the cracked bluestone and
limestone around the Bailey
Fountain and the John F.
Kennedy Memorial.
The cracked stone tiles in
the plaza will be replaced.
Prospect Park Alliance
The restoration plan
comes as the just latest in a
series of renovations over the
arch’s 128-year history.
After falling into such a
sorry state of disrepair in
1975, the statue of Columbia
fell from her chariot onto the
sidewalk, leading to a multiyear
repair effort to renew
the landmark. Decades later,
the Parks Department’s Monuments
Conservation Program
helped reinvigorate the
structure’s bronze statues,
which sit both atop the monolith,
as well as on both legs of
the arch.
Just last winter, chunks of
debris fell dozens of feet onto
the ground, causing park
stewards to close the area underneath
the arch — which
will also reopen once construction
work wraps up.
When work is fi nished,
Brooklnites will also fi nally
be able to once more climb to
the arch’s observation deck,
which has been closed to the
general public for over a decade,
but will soon be open on
special occasions.
The remodeling work
comes as the Prospect Park
Alliance is in the process of
restoring many other architectural
gems on the northeast
corner of Prospect Park,
including their recent unveiling
of the restored Endale
Arch just off Grand Army
Plaza.
“The Alliance is incredibly
excited to restore this
space to its original grandeur,”
said Prospect Park Alliance
President Sue Donoghue.
“Our award winning
team of architects and landscape
architects has undertaken
the restoration of many
important park destinations,
from the Carousel to the Le-
Frak Center at Lakeside, and
this work is central to our
mission.”
Stacking up
City reveals designs for iconic
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Arch
BROOKLYN
Plaza sweet!
CITY OF BOOKS: A new outpost of the family-owned bookstore Powerhouse Books opened in Sunset Park on
Friday. Powerhouse Books
GRAND FUTURES: The Soliders and Sailors Memorial Arch at Grand Army
Plaza is getting an $8.9 million facelift. File photo
/www.powerhousebookstores
/www.powerhousebookstores