get to
know
your
NEIGHBORS
Map the coolest shops, eats, and events in and around Gowanus—and discover the exclusive perks of living local with Brodsky.
Because your address is so much more than the place you get your mail, Brodsky Neighbors exists to make it easier for you to connect with the community you live in so you can truly make yourself at home. We work with the coolest restaurants, stores, and services in the neighborhood to get you exclusive discounts, we host yoga and Pilates classes in your building just for residents, and we keep you updated on a curated mix of local events, all so you can get to know your neighbors while doing the things you love.
Find out more about your resident perks on Brodsky Neighbors.
ASSEMBLY LINE
ASSEMBLY LINE
373 Atlantic Ave,
Brooklyn, NY 11217
347.689.2562
assemblyline.co
@assemblylineshop
Tues—Sun 11am—6pm
Brodsky Neighbors perk:
15% off first-time purchases
Filling a need:
For fourteen years, Colin Stief and Sarah Zames have been leveraging their expertise in architecture, furniture, materials, and lighting via their full service interior design studio General Assembly. In the process, they’ve built a reputation for creating upscale and elegant interiors tailored for everyday city life. Their projects are large scale, the studio not really set up to offer smaller targeted services—but when Covid hit, they saw an opportunity to try something new.
“We realized that there was this gap,” Stief says. Customers wanted quality materials and furnishings they couldn’t easily find. “We opened the shop as exactly that—as a way to give these people access to things that we use in the studio”—especially the products and designers they keep returning to. “We just know what works really well in a New York apartment because you can’t move the junction box from the ceiling…. There’s a lot of New York problems we’re very familiar with.”
Décor Tip: Focus on the big stuff.
Whether you’re tackling a room or a full home remodel, “Always think about going from big to small,” advises Colin Stief, co-founder of Boerum Hill-based interior design studio and store General Assembly and Assembly Line. “Let’s just say it’s your living room. I would start with paint color, [then] rug, furnishings, lighting—go from the biggest things to the smallest things.” Why? “I think it helps with making decisions,” Stief explains. If you start with the areas that will have the most impact, it’s easier, he says, to “find the next thing that works with it, and then keep layering.”
COLLIER WEST
COLLIER WEST
377 Atlantic Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718.254.9378
collierwest.com
@collierwest
Mon—Sun 11am—6pm
Brodsky Neighbors perk:
10% off products
Décor Tips:
1. Trust your taste.
There are no rules—let your aesthetic lead. “I usually just start with ‘What’s your vibe?’” says Mary Jo Pile, founder of Collier West Home, Rugery, and Studio 369 art annex. “Is it mid-century? Victorian? Is it contemporary? Is it traditional? Is it farmhouse?” When you find a style you gravitate toward, she adds, “you can go from there.”
2. Choose key colors.
Pile suggests picking out a few shades or a print to build your décor around. “For example, with pillows, here’s three colors plus a neutral, and try to stay within that so your house has some kind of harmony.”
R&D GOODS
R&D GOODS
600 Vanderbilt Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238
347.897.6202
rdgoodsbklyn.com
@rdgoodsbk
Mon—Sun 11am—6pm
Brodsky Neighbors perk:
10% off products
Hosting Friends with Less Stress
If you love hosting dinners for your crew, and love a theme even more, you’re on the right page. But if the idea of entertaining a group in your home has you taking short shallow gulps for air, we’ve got you, too! We asked chef, author, and R&D Goods co-founder Isabel Rosen, and her style-astute daughter Isabel who co-manages the R&D stores, for their dinner party hosting hacks. Read on for the revelations that freed them from overworking—and overspending—to get everything “perfect”.
THE SIX BELLS
THE SIX BELLS
221 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
917.909.1385
thesixbells.com
@thesixbells
Mon—Fri 12pm—6pm
Sat—Sun 11am—6pm
Brodsky Neighbors perk:
10% off in-store products
A note from the owner:
“I wanted to create a space that felt like stepping into another world,” says Audrey Gelman, founder of The Six Bells, a lifestyle brand nostalgic for a time when candlesticks, cake stands, and ruffled pillows were the style du jour for home interiors. Taking its cues from yesteryear-English-countryside-chic and an American prairie aesthetic, these designs are thoroughly modern vintage you can wear or decorate with for an ultimately timeless effect.
Every piece at Six Bells has to feel like it belongs in an imagined country house—one that’s been layered over time with objects that tell a story. That means I look for things that feel timeless, tactile, and a little bit offbeat. I source from antique fairs, independent makers, and small-batch artisans who share our ethos of craftsmanship. But ultimately, an item is “Six Bells-worthy” if it sparks a feeling—if it has that bit of magic that makes you want to reach out and touch it, learn its history, or make it part of your own home.
Décor Tips:
- Small details make a big statement, especially when you’re hosting guests. Lay out handcrafted soap on an artisan-made soap dish and your bathroom has instant charm.
- Not a master chef? Elevate the simplest servings with a beautiful bowl.
TOAST
TOAST
367 Atlantic Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718.290.2661
us.toa.st
@toast
Mon—Sun 11am—6pm
Brodsky Neighbors perk:
15% off first-time in-store purchases
Hailing from Wales, and new to New York City, the sustainable lifestyle label TOAST is focused on making more of the things we love last longer. That means offering free mending services, hosting clothing swaps, selling and repairing vintage items, and educating customers about the ways we can keep our favorite pieces in our wardrobe or home—or in someone else’s.
A Noble Mission:
TOAST is on a journey to create a more thoughtful way of being in this world. We bring together like-minded, creative individuals through a series of events, talks, and workshops both online and in person. Each week we also host live styling conversations, talks with our makers, and guided tutorials led by the TOAST team. We believe in fostering thought and in enriching others. On our online magazine, we publish articles on the arts, culture, travel, and literature. The design aesthetic of ease, functionality, richness of texture and thoughtful contemporary design sits at the heart of the TOAST brand and is reflected across all our collections. We endeavor to create pieces that are unique, designed with great care, made of natural materials, and to present them in simple and inspiring ways.
Housewarming Gifts That Can’t Miss
You’re invited to the celebration of their new home, but you barely know your new client, or you’ve only met your partner’s boss once. You have no clue what kind of present will best reflect your presence long after the party is over. We get it. So do our neighborhood experts.
1. Decide whether you want an edible or permanent gift.
Isabel Rosen of R&D Goods suggests narrowing down the category of your gift so you can the focus on picking something unique. Think, an artisan olive oil or a handmade textile dishtowel.
2. Focus on items anyone can use.
You can’t go wrong with a pair of mugs or a handcrafted soap, especially if they have an inspiring maker or story behind them.
3. Don’t forget candles.
Candles come in so many unique scents, not to mention interesting shapes and shades. “They’re great,” Isabel says, “and if someone really, for some reason, doesn’t like them, you burn it, it’s gone, it’s done.”
Gowanus has always been home to movers, makers and shapers, yet when Brooklyn began enjoying a new wave of notice in the late 1990s, Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carrol Gardens got all the love. Totally skipped over, it was probably a good thing: As tabloids screamed about celebrity residents, and lifestyle mags shot gorgeously-lit editorials name-checking these other neighborhoods, Gowanus—which shares a border with each enclave—got to grow outside the glare.
Building on its manufacturing and design roots, veteran artists and mom-and-pops reveled in their pre-war architecture and fiercely guarded the authenticity of their community. Later, lured by the neighborhood’s avant art shows and vintage shops, a new class of creators, tastemakers and culture lovers flocked to join them—all coming together for the love of Gowanus’s you-can’t-get-this-everywhere energy. All rooting for each other’s flourishing.
Today, this heart of Brooklyn’s hubs is the perfect place to plant yourself and build organic connections, all while creating a home that reflects you, and makes room for your crew.