offManhattan

Don’t let the rope outside rub you the wrong way; there’s nothing pretentious about Chef Ricardo Cardona’s creatively reimagined Dominican food. Nestled inside what used to be an auto shop, Gabbana is an open, two-level space with cozy, dark blue leather booths, live Colombian music, and a chimichurri dish to moan over.

The man who made Barack Obama an even more dazzling candidate for President with his “Hope” “Change” and “Progress” posters, has been busy with a campaign of his own. Shepard Fairey’s latest street piece, “Providence Industrial”, is located on Aborn between Washington and Westminster. Although the notorious artist took a commission of $5,000, raising money for AS220, a non-profit, grassroots community arts space, is the impetus behind the design.

oM exchanged emails with the Rhode Island School of Design graduate about his new 38-foot-by-80-foot mural, his old stomping grounds in the “Creative Capital,” what he plans to paint next—and if his hands will make a return to the walls of NYC.

· The MTA wants to give you the nostalgic ride of your life this Saturday. [mta.info]

· A bike rental program rolls out onto Grand Army Plaza. [HOB]

· A bassonist and a violin player walk into a bar. . . find out what happens next Friday night at Sycamore on Cortelyou Road. [TONY]

· Take your creative kid to an inspiring event on Saturday, when young writers from NY to Jamaica will share their work at the Fort Greene Summer Literary Festival. [BrooklynBased]

· Join in the Brooklyn hullabaloo for a good cause on Sunday at The Farm to Folk Fest. [greenpointers.blogspot]

· Taste and judge 20 beers from Brooklyn’s top 20 homebrewers on Saturday. [brooklynwort]

· Bring your bike onto Metro-North (no permit needed) for this Hudson Valley ride over the longest pedestrian bridge in the world, past historic mansions, and ultimately to Dutchess Community College for a mountain bike stunt show; you’ll get a free t-shirt too. [bikenewyork.org]

· Kick things up a notch at your next party with some new summery herb and spice-infused cocktails; learn from a drinks maestro at Ger-Ni’s Culinary and Herb Center on Friday night. [CulinaryHerbCenter]

For the past month, a new, free public kayaking program has been operating out of Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

It’s May, on a bright, breezy afternoon, Charlie O’Donnell is giving the founders of offManhattan.com a tour of the developing site where two blue shipping containers and 16 one and two-person kayaks will be docked. On the sloping lawn, kids are running around picnic blankets while other locals lie supine in the grass next to their bikes. We’re walking the perimeter with O’Donnell, a triathlete and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at First Round Capital, and it’s hard not to stop and marvel at the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge.

Great things await travel in our future: jetpacks, floating walkways, miles long pneumatic tubes—all prophesied by the futurists at Hanna-Barbera—but what about the near future? In what ways can intercity travel become more convenient and efficient for us today? It’s a question we’ve asked and answered. It’s the bus.

More to the point, it’s Megabus. The Chicago-based company launched in 2006 as a subsidiary of Coach USA, and has since put itself at the vanguard of high-quality, low-cost city-to-city travel, servicing 19 Midwest and 14 Northeast cities in the United States. Later this summer, Megabus will introduce a new bus from New York City to Providence.

After the jump, learn about their big incentive for visiting the Creative Capital of Rhode Island.

The good news is there are still 37 official days of summer left for the beach retreating and rosé swilling. In the meantime, it doesn’t put a damper on that nice tan to pencil in a few of these six fall events near NYC for your September agenda.

At the tip of the Rockaway Peninsula on Jamaica Bay, Breezy Point in Queens, often rhapsodized as the “Irish Riviera,” is a seaside community still overlooked by most New Yorkers planning their quick summertime escapes, which is good news for people who like a peaceful beach or bike ride—without losing sight of the Manhattan skyline on the horizon.

· The Brooklyn Kitchen presents the Raw Food, Fast and Easy class this Sunday, August 15, so come hungry for Thai coconut smoothies, chia pudding, veggie wraps, and chocolate truffles. [thebrooklynkitchen.com]

· Eco-Fashion: Going Green exhibit at FIT explores the industry’s relationship to the environment. [fitnyc.edu]

· Brooklyn’s got a brand new beer garden. [loreleynyc.com]

· Summer streets is back this Saturday, August 14 so enjoy the free bike and skate rentals on the 6.9 mile car-free route between Brooklyn Bridge and Park Ave.  [nyc.gov]

· Celebrate a new brew, the Brooklyn Detonation Ale, and nibble on dumplings from The Dump School, with Brooklyn Brewery at the Lullwater Lounge in Prospect Park. [prospectpark.org]

· The 2^nd Annual NJ Beer & Food Festival will include beer seminars and a Sam Adams dinner at the Crystal Springs Resort this weekend. [crystalgolfresort.com]