I learned on Daily Slope that Schnack, a raved about hamburger joint in Red Hook is about to open an outpost at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Fourth Avenue near President Street.
Here’s what Schnack has to say about itself on their website. Interestingly, there is no mention of opening in Park Slope there. Apparently, there was something in Time Out about it.
Schnack is "about" serving authentic food at a good price. In Red Hook Brooklyn that means $1 burgers and $1 dogs. Our regular menu is available online and we have a large selection of seasonal specials. We serve Soups, Stews, Mac N’ Cheese and Braised Ribs in the colder months. In the summer, we have roasted corn
(street style), fresh fish specials every weekend, and lots of other great stuff. Our milkshakes are hand dipped and we proudly serve RC Cola, Ginger Ale and Grapefruit soda from our fountain machine and ice cold bottles of Boylan Root Beer, Orange and Black Cherry soda. We always have 4 great tap beers as well.Schnack is a partnership between Alan Harding, Jim Mamary and Harry Hawk. To learn about what’s going on at Schnack just drop by our location at 122 Union St, Brooklyn.
We are located between Columbia and Hicks along the Columbia Street Waterfront area. Some people call it Carroll Gardens, some Red Hook, we called it Schnack.We’d like you to know a bit about us. Schnack is a collaboration project between Alan and Jim who have partnered on a variety of Brooklyn eateries including Patois, Uncle Pho, The Red Rail, The Zombie Hut and the Gowanus Yacht Club and Beer Garden.
One person writing on the Daily Slope Message Board had this to say about the new Schnack at the Brooklyn Lyceum.
Oh, no disrespect towards Schnack’s food in any way. I hear it’s great
and really a good homage to the old school new your deli stuff that is
all but gone.But from a foot traffic point of view, the Brooklyn Lyceum is not
as casual diner friendly as one might think. And that horrid
scaffolding is just pathetic.But here’s a silver lining. It seems like the guy who owns Schnack
and all those other places on Smith Street is also buying up property.
I have no inside track on anything, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the
guy is eyeing buying the Brooklyn Lyceum and putting it to good use.
And that this little Schnack outpost is the first steps towards that
space finally getting the respect it deserves.
I guess the bigger story here is what’s happening at the Brooklyn Lyceum and WHY is it so underutilized? I suspect someone (and I hope it’s not some developer like Ratner) has plans for it. I hope it’s someone smart and creative.
come on guys…
it appears that this “blogdoesntknow” and that the”blogdoesntresearch”.
a cursory review of the events at the lyceum at the bizarre name of brooklynlyceum.com probably wouldnt turn up much.
not.. the brooklyn underground film festival
not…mum
not…cyro bptista(two runs)
not…the circus of vices and virtues(docuumentary on the bbc)
not…duck baker and marc ribot
not…dance theater workshop
not…the polyphonic spree
not…asbury shorts of new york
not…cmj music festival (2002 & 2005)
not…marshall arisman exhibt for 3 months
not…several weddings
not…fundraisers for a number of groups and schools.
not..the improv summit where the best improv groups in the city perform
not..the 6 month run of too much light makes the baby go blind.
not…the 500 people who visited it during open house new york 2005
not…posters for shows that have at times laminated park slope and ft greene and williamsburg.
maybe a perusal of one link on the brooklynlyceum.com website such as http://www.brooklynlyceum.com/before might shed some light
maybe a perusal of another link http://www.brooklynlyceum.com/RE/photos
maybe a litsearch on nytimes.com for “brooklyn lyceum” or “public bath #7”
maybe read one of the banners or signs or posters on the exterior of the building.
as for the scaffolding, until such time as we get a good contractor/architect combo up to the task, it will remain in place. a bit of an eyesore, but get a grip folks. of all the things in life to have an opinion on, isn’t that a pretty superficial one. to come up with all that negative conjecture without ever visiting the buiding or its website and denigrating its based on its exterior and having no clue that it is a theater that has been attended by over 100,000 patrons in the last five years is pretty pathetic.
maybe the folks running the lyceum(me plus one other person) have figured out that the glib brooklyn faux-journalists are not the target market. the lyceum has been open for 5 years and has had over 75 productions and over 500 nights of events. and it is still here.
think about it. the tough marketing-phobic skin that park slopers have precludes many different experiences. a friend of mine nailed it several years ago when we were discussing the differences betwen new york and chicago. Chicago is a theater town, new york is a fashion town. paraphrased, chicagoans enjoy the hunt for art, new yorkers refuse to hunt. that is changing as new york is invaded with the rest of america, but not in time for you.
reviews and listings in the times, new york magazine, time out new york, the new yorker, the voice and others have completely passed beyond your view. more likely is that without a million dollar ad capaign to search you out you are completely unable to navigate culture at the sub-broadway, non bar-band levels.
i always find it humorous when i get european tourists who visit because they have seen footage of it on the bbc.
the lyceum is a wonderful building and a cultural resource in a resource starved region. too bad you missed it, you might enjoy it. but more likely those who supplant you in brooklyn will.
Back in the mid-90’s, Eric Richmond bought the Lyceum for an amount in the 400s. (which was quite idealistic at the time) I remember there was a contest to put art on the exterior of the building and one painting went up of a black Neptune (don’t recall the artist, sorry). It was expected to become a kind of arts center. I guess Richmond isn’t the swashbuckling kind of real estate developer so the building as remained rather low-key even after all these years. I don’t know if he still owns it. but here’s his website: http://www.gowanus.com/
Wether he still owns it, I don’t know.