SPRING AHEAD
What we are looking forward to in 2020
By Bill Roundy A new year looms ahead, full
of promise and potential,
and honestly, it can be a
little overwhelming. But here are
the events we are most looking
forward to this spring:
New year, new beers
Three breweries have
announced plans to open taprooms
in Brooklyn this year!
Greenpoint Beer and Ale
Company had to close its original
location in 2018, and its new spot
— which boasts a rooftop bar —
has been slowly inching its way
towards opening since the spring.
If all goes well, we can toast the
new taproom in 2020!
(1150 Manhattan Ave. between
Ash and Box streets in Greenpoint,
www.greenpointbeer.com).
Wild East Brewing, which
began producing farmhouse ales
in the summer of 2019, has also
faced some delays in opening its
taproom, but the Gowanus spot
hopes to open in early 2020.
(623 Sackett St. between Third
and Fourth avenues in Gownaus,
www.wildeastbrewing.com).
And Sixpoint Brewery, which
has been in Red Hook since 2004,
has announced plans for a massive
new brewery, taproom, and
rooftop beer garden in Gowanus,
at the corner of Second Avenue and
Ninth Street. The plan is to open
the space in May 2020, but we’ll
see how that goes!
Ninth Street at Second Avenue
in Gowanus, sixpoint.com. May of
2020.
Seeing double
Artist Kehinde Wiley —
who painted Obama’s official
presidential portrait — gained his
fame with “Napoleon Leading the
Army Over the Alps,” an image
of a black man in contemporary
street clothes, painted in the same
pose as Napoleon Bonaparte in the
19th-century portrait “Bonaparte
Crossing the Alps,” by Jacques-
Louis David.
Check out Wiley’s painting
and its inspiration when the two
appear side-by-side in a new
exhibit, “Jacques-Louis David
Meets Kehinde Wiley,” coming
to the Brooklyn Museum on Jan.
24, along with a video showing
Wiley’s process.
Brooklyn Museum 200 Eastern
Pkwy. at Washington Avenue in
Prospect Heights, (718) 638–5000,
www.brooklynmuseum.org.
Jan. 24–May 10. $16 suggested
donation.
Classy dining
The famous 19th century
chophouse Gage & Tollner,
once considered Brooklyn’s
best restaurant, is ready for its
resurrection. An all-star team of
Brooklyn talent, including St.
John Frizell from Red Hook’s Fort
Defiance, and Ben Schenider and
Sohui Kim from barbecue spot
the Good Fork, have taken the
landmarked interior and spent the
last year preparing to open the
spot again. The group is currently
hiring staff, so the Fulton street
landmark should be back by
February, if all goes well.
372 Fulton St. between
Smith Street and Red Hook Lane
Downtown, (973) 715–5156, www.
gageandtollner.com.
Dino-might!
The “Jurassic World Live Tour”
might be the silliest concept ever
to come to Barclays Center, but
COURIER L 22 IFE, JANUARY 3-9, 2020
your inner 6-year-old will never
forgive you if you miss the sight
of 20 puppeted and animatronic
dinosaurs stomping across the
stage, chasing scientists through
a minimal plot, and threatening
members of the audience.
Barclays Center 620 Atlantic
Ave. at Flatbush Avenue in Prospect
Heights, (212) 359–6387, www.
barclaysc enter.com. Feb. 20–23.
$25–$40.
O Canada
The new album from glam-rock
band Of Montreal, “Ur Fun” will
not be out until Jan. 17, but you
can already get tickets to see the
group’s show on March 5. And you
should get your tickets soon, before
they sell out!
Of Montreal at Elsewhere (599
Johnson Ave. between Gardner and
Scott avenues in Bushwick, www.
elsewherebrooklyn.com). March 5
at 8 pm. $30 ($27 in advance).
Running joke
Political campaigns use
laughter to raise cash
By Ben Verde They put the fun in fundraising!
This is an election
year, and upstart campaigns are
bringing their message to the
people — and to the comedy
club! Three comedy shows in
Brooklyn this month will raise
cash for political campaigns.
The power of laughter can help
unite voters from all walks of
life, according to one event
organizer.
“Comedy is a great
equalizer,” said Heidi Vanderlee,
who helped put together “How
I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love Fundraising,” a
comedy show at Bushwick’s
Elsewhere on Jan. 8 that will
benefit upstart State Assembly
candidate Emily Gallagher, an
activist who is attempting to
topple 46-year-incumbent Joe
Lentol in District 50.
Events in hip neighborhoods
might attract young liberal
voters, but comedy can draw
in a wide array of people, noted
Vanderlee.
“I think it does a good
job at appealing to young
progressives, but it appeals to
everyone,” she said. “I think it
appeals to folks who just want
to sit down.”
And the light-hearted
fundraising method can help
take some of the weight out of
the grueling process of running
for office, while providing
an alternative to corporate
fundraising, according to
Gallagher.
“Grassroots funding is
an absolutely crucial part of
running a race that challenges
the status quo in Albany,” she
said.
For the show, organizers
have assembled a group of
comics, some of whom hail
from the same neighborhoods
that Gallagher hopes to
represent — Greenpoint,
Williamsburg, and Clinton
Hill — including Kelly
Bachman, Josh Gondelman,
and Shalewa Sharpe, among
several others.
Another show happening
the same night at Gallagher’s
event has a larger target. “No
Turning Back: A Storytelling
Show to Flip The Senate” at
the Bell House in Gowanus
on Jan. 8, will feature a lineup
of comedians, storytellers,
Working blue: Emily Gallagher,
who is running for the Democratic
nomination for the State Assembly’s
District 50, will host a fund-raiser
featuring north Brooklyn comedians
on Jan. 8 at Elsewhere. Emily
Gallagher for State Assembly
and musicians, telling stories
about turning points in
their lives. All funds from
the event will go to Swing
Left, an organization focused
on swing states in the 2020
election.
And another show a
week later will focus on a
fairly distant race, but it has
a personal component. “An
Evening of Comedy in Support
of Ohio State Representative
Phil Robinson,” at the Bell
House on Jan. 16, will feature
comedian Phoebe Robinson,
best known as one half of the
podcast “Two Dope Queens,”
and the sister of the Ohio State
Representative.
“How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love
Fundraising” at Elsewhere
(599 Johnson Ave at Scott
Ave. in Bushwick, www.
elsewherebrooklyn.com). Jan. 8
at 7 pm. $25.
No turning back: A
Storytelling Show to Flip
The Senate at the Bell House
149 Seventh St. between
Third and Fourth Avenues in
Gowanus, (718) 643–6510, www.
thebellhouseny.com. Jan. 8 at 7
pm. $35 ($60 VIP).
Phoebe Robinson and Special
Guests at the Bell House (see
above). Jan 16 at 7 pm. $25–$40
($250 VIP).
A horse, of course: Kehinde Wiley’s painting will return to Brooklyn Museum on
Jan. 27, alongside the 19th century painting that inspired it. Brooklyn Museum
Feeling Blue: A velociraptor examines
an audience member in the familyfriendly
show “Jurassic World Live
Tour,” at Barclays Center in February.
Feld Entertainment
Brewmasters: Wild East Brewery
founders Lindsay Steen, Tyler March,
and Brett Taylor hope to finally open
their Gowanus brew space in early
2020. Photo by Trey Pentecost
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