People were out this week. Drinks on stoops, parties on rooftops-the kind of weeknight energy that usually takes until August to arrive. We've been walking the Carroll Street Bridge lately, and the scene around the canal has been something else: kids roller skating around the new buildings, neighbors out with drinks, everyone making the most of a long June evening. The nights are staying light, and nobody wants to go inside.

Standing by the canal, we kept thinking about what this stretch will feel like when both sides are open, and you can walk the whole thing. It's coming. Not tomorrow, but it's coming.

In the meantime, we have a packed week. We're looking forward to Jo Firestone at Bell House Tuesday night and whatever Maribou State does to a Saturday afternoon at Public Records. If you're around, we'll see you out there.

Now Open / Coming Soon —  Coffee is coming to 3rd Avenue, plus two neighborhood spots worth adding to your rotation

The Big Story — Next Saturday is the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn. Here's a preview.

Things to Do — Maribou State at Public Records, the Gowanus Yearbook signing, Brett Goldstein, Jo Firestone, The Good Liars, and more

The Local — Sixty-five years on Smith Street, and Paisanos is still the real thing.

Development Watch — The Majestic tops out, affordable units come online on 4th Avenue, and excavation starts at 590 Union

Quick Hits — A national shuffleboard tournament came to Gowanus, Urban Outfitters is done in Brooklyn, and a scavenger hunt!

A Coffee Shop Is Coming to 3rd Avenue
East Light Coffee
3rd Avenue at 12th Street
Coming Soon
A new coffee shop is taking shape on 3rd Avenue near the 9th Street subway stop. No opening date announced yet. We'll have more when they do.

The Wine Shop That Feels Like a Neighborhood Amenity
Gowanus Wine Studio
257 3rd Avenue
Wed–Sun
Aimee is a sommelier who opened a shop stocked with small-batch natural wines from women-led, family-run, and New York producers. She holds weekly tastings and rotates local art on the walls. Exactly the kind of place this block needs.

Puebla-Inspired Mexican Worth the Trip on Its Own
Siempre
255 3rd Avenue
Tue–Fri 1pm–10pm · Sat–Sun 11:30am–10:30pm · Closed Mon
Puebla-inspired Mexican with homemade corn tortillas, birria tacos people come back for, and a mole that is a must-order. The room is relaxed and chic, the cocktails are good, and happy hour is worth knowing about.

Among the major battles of the American Revolution, the Battle of Brooklyn tends to get overlooked. It shouldn't. On August 27, 1776, British and Hessian forces outmaneuvered George Washington's army across what is now Park Slope, Gowanus, and Carroll Gardens. Thousands of soldiers fought and died on the streets you walk every day. In our busy lives, it's easy to pass by the plaques that mark that history without stopping.

The battle itself was a near-catastrophe for the American cause. Washington's forces were outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and pushed back to the shores of the East River with nowhere to go. What saved them is a story worth knowing, and one we'll tell in full next week. It involves a Maryland regiment, a moment of extraordinary luck, and one of the most remarkable escapes in military history. All of it happened here.

Next week, Issue 22 goes deep: the battle, the neighborhood it shaped, and the places you can visit right now that connect to that history. We built a walking tour you can do yourself. Issue 22 lands next Saturday, July 4.

The Nursery: Maribou State at Public Records
233 Butler Street
Sat June 27 · 1pm
The Ninja Tune electronic duo plays the outdoor garden series. With gabby cocco. One of the more quietly impressive bookings of the summer.

Gowanus Yearbook Signing Party at The Van Alen Institute
303 Bond Street
Sat June 27 · 2–4pm · Free
The Van Alen Institute made a community photo book about Gowanus: the people, the stories, the memories. Come sign it. Come see if you're in it.

Brett Goldstein and Mo Welch at Bell House
149 7th Street
Sat June 27 · 7:30pm
Ted Lasso's Roy Kent does standup. Mo Welch opens.

The Nursery: Ritual at Public Records
233 Butler Street
Sun June 28 · 4pm
Colored Craig, CTRLZORA, and Doula in the outdoor garden. The Nursery season is running hot.

Jo Firestone: Sex on Murder Island at Bell House
149 7th Street
Tue June 30 · 7:30pm · Every ticket includes a signed copy of the book
Absurdist alt-comedian Jo Firestone celebrates the release of her murder mystery sequel with a chaotic variety show. Presented with Books Are Magic. Special guests TBA.

The Good Liars at Littlefield
635 Sackett Street
Mon July 7 · Doors 7pm
The political prank duo known for ambushing rallies and going viral brings their live show to Sackett Street. Look them up before you go.

Habibi Festival at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn at Lena Horne Bandshell
Prospect Park, 141 Prospect Park West
Fri July 10 · Free
A night of music from Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, and beyond. Tunisian-American artist EMEL headlines with theatrical electronic and rock. The house band is led by French-Tunisian saxophonist Yacine Boulares, with Tunisian cellist Nesrine and Sudanese singer-songwriter Mai Elgizouli. Free, outdoors, and genuinely unlike anything else on the summer calendar.

Soul Summit x Shelter: Day-Into-Night at Public Records
233 Butler Street
Sat July 4 · All day into night
Soul Summit Music, Niyah West, Madre Guía, Timmy Regisford, and more. The answer to what you're doing on the Fourth.

The Ark at Powerhouse Arts
322 3rd Avenue
Through Aug 30 · Thu–Sun 12–6pm · Free
89 animal sculptures curated by Eric Fischl. On view all summer.

Free Canoeing on the Gowanus Canal at Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse
165 2nd Street
Every Saturday · 11am · Free
It's summer. The canal is cleaner than it's been in a century. Go.

Paisanos Butcher Shop
162 Smith Street
Mon–Sat 8am–7pm · Sun 9am–5pm

In the early 1960s, Antonio Affronti, Poppa Tony to his family, opened a small Italian-style butcher shop on Smith Street with his brothers. He had immigrated from Italy in the late 1940s, and the shop was the kind of place you opened when you knew a neighborhood and wanted to feed it. The selection was serious from the start.

In the early '90s, his son Mike took over. Poppa Tony still drives in on Sundays to say hello to customers. The shop has been here ever since: through every version of this neighborhood, through the white tablecloth era on Smith Street, through the wave of closures and the wave of openings that followed.

What makes Paisanos worth knowing about now, sixty-five years in, is the selection. Dry-aged porterhouse, housemade sausages, and a rotating cast of specialty cuts that can include elk, kangaroo, rabbit, and wild boar, depending on what Mike feels like ordering that week. The regulars know to ask what's good. Great meat, attentive service, and a staff that genuinely knows what they're doing behind the counter.

With grilling season in full swing and the Fourth right around the corner, it's a good week to stop in.

The Majestic Tops Out at 540 Degraw
540 Degraw Street
The Domain Companies announced this week that their 10-story building at 540 Degraw Street has hit structural completion. The project brings 255 rental apartments (25 percent affordable) plus roughly 14,000 square feet of retail and office space, a rooftop terrace, fitness center, and coworking space. Domain now has over 600 residences across two Gowanus properties. Completion expected in 2027.

Affordable Lottery Wraps at 282 4th Avenue
282 4th Avenue
A 14-story building at 282 4th Avenue just closed its affordable housing lottery, offering 13 rent-stabilized one- and two-bedroom apartments. Two-bedroom units started at $1,238 per month for households earning 40 to 60 percent of AMI. Another sign that rezoning-tied affordable units continue to come online along the 4th Avenue corridor.

590 Union Street: Excavation Underway
590 Union Street
Excavation is progressing at 590 Union Street, an 8-story, 24-unit project from Trifecta Equities and StudiosC Architecture. The site sits next to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que on the north end of the canal.

Over 100 competitive shuffleboard players from across the country gathered at Royal Palms last weekend for the third annual national tournament. One team came from Hamburg, Germany. New Yorkers Mike Dunlap and Mike Brady took the title on their home court.

Urban Outfitters closed its last Brooklyn storefront on Atlantic Avenue this past Sunday, June 23, ending a 17-year run at 166 Atlantic Avenue. The Williamsburg location went in April. The space doesn't appear to be on the market yet.

Books Are Magic is running a city-wide scavenger hunt through July 31 with the Whitney Museum and artist Anastasia Inciardi. Pick up a map at either location (225 Smith Street or 122 Montague Street), collect stamps from five Inciardi vending machines around the city, and bring them to the Whitney for a limited-edition soccer art mini-print.

The pucks are still sliding at Royal Palms. See you next Saturday.

If something's happening out there, we want to know about it. Email, photo, neighborhood gossip. We'll take it.
[email protected].

Exploring Gowanus · Every Saturday