offManhattan

Merrill Garbus—the one woman powerhouse behind tUnEyArDs–spent the last month preparing for her sold out Sounds Like Brooklyn show this weekend, a European tour this month, and an upcoming spring tour with experimental band, Xiu Xiu. She’s a human tuner whose vocal fretwork of soulful howls has the spontaneous tenets of imaginative artists like Kaki King, Jamie Lidell, and Animal Collective. The Oakland-based performer discusses how she feels about being the industry’s current D.I.Y star, what she intends to do with her music muscle, and why her voice is the instrument she plays best.

As President Obama takes off tonight for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, we turn our attention to the environmental efforts underway in New York City this week. On Tuesday evening, downtown at the Wired Holiday Pop-Up store, we celebrated the launch of SHFT, a website pedaling green products like $2,200 folding bikes, $90 recycled cassette tape ties, and $40 woolen wine racks. And so, as we follow discouraging news out of Denmark and reports that there will need to be “seismic shifts to really close a deal” we have found some reassurance in Adrian Grenier’s latest project. Along with producer Peter Glatzer and founding partner Stonyfield Farm’s Gary Hirshberg, the star of Entourage has developed a refined, down to earth vehicle through which people can easily “shift their lifestyle, shift outlooks” for the good of the planet. 

She bikes, she lives in Brooklyn, and her roller derby name is Green Eggs and Slam. In 2010, Samantha Brown celebrates 10 years as a host on the Travel Channel. And no, she’s not leaving the best gig in the world anytime soon. (Trust us, we asked—twice.)

From home base in Park Slope, the star of Great Weekends spoke candidly with us on the phone about her time off camera, what’s planned for the big anniversary, and where we should head for our next weekend getaway near New York City.

oM: We recently started following you on Twitter. What is the most remote place you’ve ever Tweeted?
SB: I Tweeted in Vietnam, in Ha Long Bay. Beautiful place on the ocean populated by 3,000 people. There are these striking limestone cliffs, like something out of a movie, maybe Lord of the Rings. I was just waiting for the dragons to appear.

oM: Sounds like you just answered our second question; Where was the last place you felt truly inspired by your surroundings?
SB: Same place. Something I never knew that existed. You felt you had been transported to a fantasy land where sorcerers lived. We’re usually very focused when we’re filming, but all of us, even Will the camera man, had to pause to take it in. Really the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen. It’s a floating fishing village, people live on the water, children go to school on the water. There are about 200 communities, all protected by the limestone cliffs.

Although the travel industry has hardly escaped being marred by bad economic times, a new website meant to motivate “heritage- and culture-rich experiences” thinks this is a great moment to launch. Gozaic.com (go-zay-ik) offers insights and guided tours on destinations around the world—from the Maya Ruins to San Francisco to the Cape of Good Hope.

With beach bumming behind us for now, we met up with Gozaic’s Amtrak-roving president and CEO John Williams for his top winter recommendations on public transit accessible “places that matter” near NYC.

Two weeks from today, the Brooklyn Academy of Music will screen a series of Public Service Announcements by over 80 artists who contributed creative documentaries, narratives, and animations in support of Biking Rules, the latest campaign from Transportation Alternatives. At a time when money is tight and the climate is suffocating, biking has become more popular than ever, both as a leisure activity and an easy, cheap way to get around town.

The organization that promotes cycling with an almost contagious exuberance has a new mission to curb the traffic deaths and reinforce the importance of being civic-minded in New York City. Ahead of the event at BAM, we caught up with Wiley Norvell, TA communications director and Fuji single speed owner, to get the skinny on bad bike habits, the top three most important road rules, and to spread the word that biking is not some “rosy bourgeois Copenhagen sort of thing.” Got it?

For the July 4th weekend, offManhattan chose to brave the crowds at the beach rather than on the banks of the Hudson River this year. And while the three wimpy fireworks that we managed to see in the Hamptons were disappointing, the setting at Social Life Magazine’s Gatsby Under the Red, White, and Blue soirée was anything but.

Poolside, with Peronis in hand, we chatted up celebrities like Twilight star Kellan Lutz and 90210’s AnnaLynne McCord while MJ songs blared through the speakers. In the backyard of a 10,000-square-foot pink mansion in Watermill, we found out who used to bring a whip to set and the best place—we verified—to get breakfast in Southampton.

Read on to find out what guests had to say.

This is the fifth of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

Shop: Private Stock

Wares: Affordable modern clothes, footwear, and merchandise.

Location: 458 Bergen Street

Woody Pierre, what was the motivation behind Private Stock? There was a big demand for contemporary men’s clothing in the area, and we always had men’s clothing at our women’s location La Vedette, which was a little cramped up. So we decided to branch off and open up a men’s clothing store.

This is the fourth of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

Shop: Bump

Wares: Contemporary designer maternity clothes for the pregnant urban shopper

Location: 464 Bergen Street

SaSaDi Odunsi and Hannah Macdonald, how long has Bump been in business? Two years this June.

What were you doing beforehand? I worked in wholesale jewelry, and then I took a break to be a mom, and then ultimately met my business partner [Hannah Macdonald] at Mommy Baby Yoga in Park Slope. The two of us decided that this area needed a maternity store and Bump was born.

What do you think was the biggest challenge opening the store? Well for one, getting this together as new mothers became a family endeavor. Trying to figure out the best neighborhood to open the store in for another. And we were ultimately the first store to open up on this block. We took a leap of faith.

This is the third of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

Shop: Babeland

Wares: Toys, lubricants, prophylactics, DVD’s, and more for both genders.

Location: 462 Bergen Street

Claire Cavannah and Rachel Venning, how long has Babeland been in business? 15 years.

What were you doing before Babeland? I was working odd jobs, in construction, at a coffee shop, and in film production.