Brooklyn’s oldest
street fair will
return to Atlantic
this October
BY JESSICA PARKS
A new Greenwood Heights
watering hole is gearing up for
its long-awaited grand opening
on Aug. 27, offering locals
a new joint to kick back with
a cold brew.
Sandy Jack’s, located on
Fifth Avenue between 20th
and 21st streets, was dreamt
up by two city public school
teachers, Michael Thayer
and Kevin Valenza, who both
are in the same billiards
league, and got familiar with
the neighborhood when playing
in the area.
Brooklyn Paper fi rst reported
on the incoming bar
in early June and the co-owners
didn’t know when they’d
be allowed to open due to licensing
issues with the State
Liquor Authority.
Now, though as summer
nears its end, the pair got the
approvals, and they immediately
Brooklynites will fl ock to Atlantic Avenue for the return of the beloved Atlantic Antic. File photo
COURIER L 40 IFE, AUGUST 20-26, 2021
announced a grand
opening for Aug. 27.
The grand opening is
planned to showcase what
the brand-new bar has to offer
sprinkled with specialties
for that night only, like
outside food vendors and
free prizes, said Thayer,
who previously co-owned
Camp in Carroll Gardens
before it closed during the
pandemic.
Sandy Jack’s will open for
its fi rst day of business at 3
pm in time for its full Happy
Hour when drinks will be
served up buy-one, get-one
free until 7 pm — with the
drink special starting two
hours before what was originally
planned back in June,
the owners told Brooklyn Paper.
On one of the taps will be
their own brewed beer, SJ
Lager, and the menu will include
two specialty cocktails,
named the Sandy and the
Jack — an homage to their
dogs, who the bar is named
after.
“We will have the typical
stuff behind the bar, but we
have some elevated cocktails
and some elevated spirits,”
Thayer said.
Sandy Jack’s will regularly
serve Brooklyn’s own
Table 87 pizza, as well as beef
patties and a nacho platter —
with plans to add more pickins’
as the co-owners get a
taste for what their patrons
are looking for.
BY BEN BRACHFELD
One of Brooklyn’s oldest,
largest, and most beloved
street fairs is set to triumphantly
return this fall.
The Atlantic Antic Festival
will return for its 46th iteration
this October, bringing
with it small businesses vending
all sorts of paraphernalia
and all manner of performances
on a stretch spanning
10 blocks of the namesake avenue,
from Fourth Avenue
near the Barclays Center to
the Brooklyn waterfront.
The festival, like most
events, had to be canceled last
year due to the coronavirus.
The annual affair, hosted
by the Atlantic Avenue Local
Development Corporation
(AALDC), has brought revelry
to the stretch since 1974.
The event will take place
from noon to 6 pm on Oct. 3,
rain or shine, organizers announced
earlier this summer.
“The return of the Annual
Atlantic Antic is special because
the community can
once again come together to
celebrate the community, cultures,
tradition, and food, all
in one place,” AALDC said in
a statement.
Organizers are encouraging
all attendees to be vaccinated,
and to wear face masks
when inside crowded spaces.
New Greenwood Heights bar, Sandy
Jack’s, plans an August 27 opening
BROOKLYN
Please be seated!
Michael Thayer and Kevin Valenza are the owners of Greenwood Height’s soon-to-be-coming bar Sandy Jack’s.
Photo by Jessica Parks
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