New spot to open on Greenwood Heights’ Fift h Ave
BY REYNA IWAMOTO
& JESSICA PARKS
Greenwood Heights residents
will have a new spot
to soak up the summer fun
when Sandy Jack’s opens on
Fifth Avenue — and the duo
behind the saloon are looking
to bring more than just a new
watering hole to the Brooklyn
neighborhood.
Michael Thayer and Kevin
Valenza, both teachers and
members of the same pool
league, fi rst discussed the idea
before the pandemic hit. The
co-owners had played pool
games in the area and had gotten
familiar with it.
Thayer, a shared owner of a
bar in Carroll Gardens named
Camp that closed last year
during the pandemic, said
that when the space in opened
up, it presented itself as an opportunity.
“We were familiar with the
place that was here before — the
customers, clientele, and we love
the physical space, the backyard
is unbelievable and it is a great
neighborhood,” Thayer said.
“We’re getting an advantageous
opportunity especially just coming
COURIER L 54 IFE, JUNE 18-24, 2021
out of a pandemic.”
The bar will have a pool
table, pinball machine and a
jukebox. Aside from Happy
Hour every weekday, Sandy
Jack’s will also play live music
on Thursday evenings, movies
and sports games.
“We want it to be about the
experience — it’s not just a
bar,” Thayer said. “We want
this to be something different
where there’s always something
new going on.”
The outdoor area behind
the bar will also serve as an
opportunity for activities
such as “sip and paints,” garden
parties and live performances.
“We want this to basically
be like the neighborhood
hangout,” Valenza said.
Thayer and Valenza said
that from specialty pizza popups
to drag performances,
they want Sandy Jack’s to be
a space and experience that is
open to all communities.
“Really it’s a place where
whatever line you walk, you’re
going to have something to do
here,” Thayer said. “Everyone
is welcome.”
The bar is named after
Thayer and Valenza’s dogs:
Sandy, Valenza’s yellow labrador
retriever and Jack, Thayer’s
mini chihuahua mix.
In keeping with the namesake
of the bar, Sandy Jack’s
will be dog-friendly, and will
even have dog treats behind the
counter for any furry visitors.
The bar’s menu will include
Brooklyn’s own Table
87 pizza, craft beer and three
specialty drinks that are also
a reference to Thayer and
Valenza’s dogs, with a drink
named The Sandy, The Jack,
and The Sandy Jack.
Sandy Jack’s — located at
683 Fifth Ave. — is set to open
sometime this summer.
Although Thayer and Valenza
originally envisioned
opening in June, they are still
waiting for the approval of
Michael Thayer and Kevin Valenza are the owners of Greenwood Height’s
soon-to-be-coming bar Sandy Jack’s. Photo by Jessica Parks
their liquor license. “Once we
get our liquor license, we want
to be opening our doors the
next day,” Thayer said.
Despite the waiting, this
time has given Thayer and Valenza
the opportunity to continue
to “tinker” and plan for
their soft and grand openings.
Following their soft opening
of a three-hour open bar
with family and friends, the
co-owners then plan to have a
grand opening, for which they
have set up a GoFundMe.
“This is an opportunity for
people to make an investment
right away,” Thayer said. “We
just want to get people in the
door and have them feel it’s
their bar.”
Investors are offered different
perks based on the amount
of money they donate, such as
getting a free drink for $10, a
three-hour open bar of wells,
drafts and wines for $100, and
a free private party for up to
ten people for $1,000 donations.
BY REYNA IWAMOTO
What a treat!
A massive bulldog sculpture
made out of dry kibble at
Williamsburg’s Domino Park
aimed to showcase the enduring
shelf-life and processed
nature of the dry food.
Over the weekend of June
12, “One Sad Kibble Dog”
was on display at the North
Brooklyn greenspace, where
it served as the centerpiece
of a promotional event for pet
food company Freshpet. The
company says the sculpture
was erected as testimony to
the “overly processed” dry pet
food industry, exhibiting the
“unnatural staying power”
of kibble and why pet owners
should turn to fresh food.
The company, which prides
itself on offering “fresh, real
food” to pets, teamed up with
sculpture Will Kurtz to bring
the colossal canine to life.
The nine-foot-tall sculpture,
meant to portray the benefi
ts of fresh food over kibble,
has the likeness of an overweight
and lethargic dog to illustrate
the way a pooch that’s
fed kibble might feel.
“We tried to pick a dog
that was looking kind of sad
and that embodied what a dog
would feel like if it ate kibble
its whole life,” Kurtz said.
“That was the inspiration for
this — to show the negative aspects
of kibble but at the same
time showing the positive aspects
of fresh food.”
The sculpture is three-anda
half times the size of an actual
bulldog, weighing more
than 200 pounds, and was created
using more than 10 bags
of kibble.
Kurtz spent close to two
months building the sculpture,
and told Brooklyn Paper
that, after handling the kibble
as material, the dog food no
longer felt like food at all.
“It felt like gravel almost,”
he said. “I didn’t associate it as
being food at all, it was more
like a material that I just covered
my sculpture in.”
Kurtz, an animal lover, has
previously built sculptures of
dogs. Last year, his installation,
“Doggy Bags” — a collection
of six large dogs made out
of plastic bags and duct tape —
was featured in the city’s Garment
District.
“I’ve always loved dogs all
my life and a big part of my body
of work is dogs,” Kurtz said.
Freshpet’s content marketing
manager, Karina Delaine,
said Kurtz was a “synonymous”
fi t for the project, due
to his passion for animals, as
portrayed in his past work.
“We found out he was feeding
his pet fresh food as well
and switching to a fresh diet
was something he was passionate
about,” Delaine said.
Kurtz said he recently
started feeding his dog, a chihuahua
and shih tzu mix, fresh
food and that he understands
fi rsthand the benefi ts of switching
to a fresher diet. In just a
year, he says he’s noticed that
his dog has more energy and
that her fur is thicker.
“I just feel like she’s much
happier and healthier now,”
Kurtz said.
Neighborhood bar
Artist debuts dog sculpture made
out of kibble in Domino Park
BROOKLYN
Not fi t for a dog?
Artist Will Kurtz with his kibble bulldog. Photo by Will Kurtz