With all the recent talk about job loss and unemployment, it’s easy to get discouraged. But for one Boerum Hill resident, losing her job was an opportunity to follow her passion.
Jessica Pichardo grew up in the Bronx and moved to Brooklyn four years ago. She worked as an investment banker for 10 years after she graduated college, but was laid off last year. She decided not to look for another job in a field she wasn’t passionate about.
“I always saw myself opening up a restaurant... you know, after I have children, once life is a little calmer, kind of as a side project,” she said. But after losing her job, she said she realized, “I had nothing but an open opportunity to chase my dream. I still have youth on my side, and I said, ‘Now’s the time to do it.’”
So she set to work on a concept, found a location, and after about a year of planning, Pichardo opened the Linger Café and Lounge last month.
Linger is “first and foremost a really cozy neighborhood spot for people to feel that they can come here throughout the course of the day,” Pichardo explained. During the week (except for Monday), she opens at 9 a.m. for morning coffee and pastries, offers lunch and then small plates for dinner, closing at 10 p.m. On the weekends it is open until 1 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
She saw a need in her own neighborhood (she lives four blocks from Linger, which is on Atlantic Avenue between Third and Fourth avenues) for a place to go that was relaxed and familiar, to hang out or have a drink. “I’m offering a really chill, sort of comfortable environment for you to just unwind and relax.”
Pichardo didn’t just want her new endeavor to be welcoming, she also wanted it to be as low-waste as possible.
“I’m doing my best to run a green operation here. We have energy-saver equipment, low water usage in the bathroom, all of our packaging is biodegradable and fully compostable,” she explained. She also arranged with a trash company that picks up food scraps to compost them off-site.
“We have a minimal waste kitchen. The only things we throw out are rubber bands and maybe some wood from crates. Everything else is either recycled or composted.”
Everyone who works at Linger lives in Brooklyn, all the artists to be featured on the walls are local, and live music on Saturdays is provided by local bands. Pichardo purchases produce from farms upstate, tea and coffee that is fair trade and organic, and only offers local wine and beer.
“If there are little things I can do, why not? You want to make a positive impact on the world, it’s important to pass down some good information, because otherwise what’s the point?” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s really important to me to leave this world a better place than when I entered it.”
Because the food is local, the menu changes often, and Pichardo (who cooks all the food) wants to be flexible. “One of the most important things that I’m doing is remaining adaptable: getting customer feedback, interacting with people, hearing from them what they like, what works and what doesn’t work,” she said. “If people want more of something, I’m going to do it and I’m not going to stick with something if its not working.”
Pichardo is confident that this adaptability and the absence of anything like Linger in the neighborhood will ensure its success. Her concept is symbolic of a larger trend: The fast-paced attitude in the country has become slower now that so many people are forced to re-evaluate their lives.
“In the last few years you have all this corporate greed, the whole economy basically coming to shatters because of the financial industry — it forces people to really stop and realize, ‘Hey, why am I chasing the dollar? What is that getting me at the end of the day?’” Pichardo said. “It’s definitely time to stop and smell the roses.”
Pictured above, left to right: Jessica Pichardo with Jessica Waterman, Melissa Detroy and Janessa Williams, three of her staff members.
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Eagle reporter Harold Egeln attended the opening of a new art gallery in Clinton Hill, a 19th century brownstone that was converted into an arts venue. The first exhibit at the gallery is focused on the environment. Comprised of works of art by Jonathan Levy, the solo show entitled "Style of Nature" encourages people to look at the natural world around them and separate themselves from their everyday lives.
Fifty percent of the sales of Levy paintings sold from this exhibit will be donated to the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC).
Pictured above is Levy with a "Humming River" painting. Read Harold's full story here.
Photo by Harold Egeln
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In response to Governor Paterson's goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in New York State by 80 percent below the levels emitted in 1990 by the year 2050, Mayor Bloomberg issued the following statement:
"I applaud Governor Paterson for taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New York State. The Governor and the Public Service Commission are already important partners with the City on PlaNYC, including our initiatives underway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New York City. I look forward to working with them and the new Climate Action Council as they create a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide and then implement initiatives to achieve it."
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The Waterpod is currently docked at Brooklyn Bridge Park (pictured above). It will be open to the public at Pier 5 Friday through Sunday this weekend: August 14, 3:00pm – 7:00pm; August 15 and 16, 11:00am – 7:00pm. Visiting is free!
Photo by Don Evans
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DUMBO-based company Dynomighty Design has released its popular — and 100 percent recyclable — Mighty Wallet in seven new patterns, such as an old postcard, a diner menu, or a world map. Also just released is the design pictured here, with a helpful (and sometimes much-needed) reminder.
Check out Dynomighty's web site here.
Image courtesy of Dynomighty Design
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This Saturday, seven miles of New York City Streets will be absent their most frequent users: cars. It marks the kick-off of Summer Streets 2009, a three-Saturday event held by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in which cars will be replaced by people biking, rollerblading or walking along a route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park.
Since the Summer Streets route is in Manhattan, biking advocacy group Transportation Alternatives (TA) will hold round-trip rides from the outer boroughs and Inwood to the event. The ride from Brooklyn will begin at Grand Army Plaza and will be a safe, escorted trip. Participants will meet under the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch.
Noah Budnick, TA senior policy advisor, says bikers can expect a lot of fun from these rides. “It’s a nice quiet route into Manhattan,” he said, noting that the ride will travel along streets with bike lanes or light traffic. “We’ll ride at a really comfortable pace.”
TA’s rides will depart at 8:30 a.m. from Grand Army Plaza all three Saturdays of Summer Streets. Riders will reconvene at noon at the rest stop at Lafayette and Spring streets in SoHo, to return to Brooklyn.
This is the second year for Summer Streets and for TA’s connecting rides. “We do it to invite New Yorkers to come out to this really special event,” said Budnick, “to show them the experience of riding through city streets with no cars and to see how much public space there is.”
Budnick went on to say that TA hopes participants in their rides will experience Summer Streets and want something like it in their own boroughs.
Though TA’s rides leave at 8:30 and end at noon, the larger event will be from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The route stretches from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park via Lafayette Street, Fourth and Park avenues, and 72nd Street.
“The idea behind Summer Streets has always been simple: create an appealing public space for people to enjoy, and New Yorkers would do the rest,” said DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “Thanks to the incredible response from New Yorkers, Summer Streets has already become a real New York tradition. Some 50,000 people came out to the streets on each of the three Summer Streets weekends last year, and with hundreds of new activities from salsa lessons to junior tennis lessons to bike share, there are even more reasons to come out for free fun this year.”
Highlights of the Summer Streets will include: bicycle valet parking by TA, bicycle helmet fittings offered by DOT, classes and tutorials about bike riding and safety, Latin dance classes, games and activities for families, a photo contest, and classes by Crunch gym.
This year, Summer Streets has been complemented by nearly 50 other smaller-scale street events in 13 communities citywide known as Weekend Walks — temporary pedestrian areas on weekends ranging between one and seven blocks in length.
These events, which began in June and will continue through September, have been sponsored by local BIDs and community groups throughout the city and have been a real boon for local businesses, which see a major increase in foot traffic.
Upcoming Brooklyn Weekend Walks are in September. “Move About Myrtle,” on Myrtle Ave. between Clinton Street and Emerson Place, sponsored by the Myrtle Ave. Partnership, will take place on four Sundays — September 6, 13, 20 and 27 — from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. “Pitkin Saturday Plazas,” on Pitkin Avenue between Strauss and Thomas Boyland streets, will be on three Saturdays — September 12, 19 and 26 — from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., sponsored by the Pitkin Avenue BID. “Montague Summer Space,” the last Brooklyn Weekend Walk, on Montague Street between Hicks and Clinton streets, will be on Sundays September 13, 20 and 27, from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and sponsored by the Montague BID.
“Weekend Walks build on efforts to leverage streets as great public spaces that communities can rally around, be active and experience New York City’s streetscapes in creative, exciting and healthy ways,” said DOT spokesperson Nicole Garcia.
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Brooklyn Bridge Park has announced the arrival of the Waterpod at Pier 5 (Furman and Joralemon streets) yesterday afternoon, one of several stopovers on its journey through the waterways surrounding the five boroughs of New York City. The Waterpod is a sustainable sculptural art and technology habitat where four artists will live, work, and hold events to further the artistic, ecological, scientific, and cultural richness of New York through October 2009.
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