"Back in 1996, the Williamsburg/Greenpoint borderlands was a place where lots of fun stuff was happening … but it was a very different neighborhood then, and taxis weren't exactly lining up to take you there." Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver said that in August, as the brewery got ready to leave the North 11th Street taproom it had used for 30 years.
That taproom closed at the end of August. Its replacement at 1 Wythe Avenue is promised for this fall. As of early October, the brewery's own site still says the Williamsburg home is temporarily closed and asks visitors to wait for an opening announcement. So this October the north end is waiting on a brewery. A block of Broadway is about to be named for the co-founder of Baby's All Right, and Smorgasburg is down to its last Saturdays on Kent Avenue. Several of the places that made Williamsburg a destination are changing shape at the same time, and each one is staying on or near its own block to do it.
Why the brewery is only moving four blocks
The move was first announced in November 2022, when Greenpointers reported the brewery would relocate from 79 N. 11th Street to 1 Wythe Avenue, four blocks away. The original target was summer 2024.
The reason it could stay that close says a lot about how the neighborhood works. CEO Eric Ottaway said at the time that growing commercial development was putting pressure on manufacturers. The brewery was able to secure 1 Wythe Ave. because of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Industrial Business Zone. The same forces that made a 1996 taproom hard to keep also made room for a bigger one, and a zoning tool decided the distance. As a result, the brewery is still a short walk from the old door on North 11th Street.
It did not leave quietly, either. Brooklyn Paper reported a goodbye party at the original location on Aug. 29.
What 1 Wythe is promising, and what it hasn't said yet
The new building is much bigger. Brooklyn Paper puts it at 41,000 square feet, nearly four times the size of the North 11th Street space, spread across three levels. Based on reporting from Greenpointers, Brooklyn Paper and The Greenline, here is what the brewery has described:
- A ground-floor "Main Hall," with an outdoor terrace bar on top
- The brewery's first full kitchen, designed with Chef Michael Ayoub, founder of Fornino at 849 Manhattan Ave.
- A menu focused on Neapolitan-style pizza and food meant to go with the beer
- Cocktails as well as beer
- A professional demo kitchen that can livestream
- Better sound and video for DJ sets, live music and talks, plus more room for tours, tastings and the small-batch lab
Ayoub described the kitchen as open-ended. He mentioned trying beer or spent grain in the pizza dough and working with visiting chefs "from the neighborhood or around the world."
The date is still open. In June, the plan was a soft opening in late summer and a grand opening in the fall. The Greenline's Oct. 2 report still says only "in the fall." Until the brewery announces a date, it's safest to treat the opening as forthcoming. The brewery's website is the place to watch.
A block of Broadway takes a name
The second anchor is changing its sign, not its address. On Oct. 18, the city will rename the stretch of Broadway between Bedford and Driggs avenues, in front of Baby's All Right, as Billy Jones Way. Jones co-founded the venue and died in 2025.
Jones opened Baby's All Right in 2013 with longtime business partner Tom Moore. Before that, he booked shows at Sin-é, Elvis Guesthouse and The Dance. According to Brooklyn Paper, the club became a home for Brooklyn's indie and experimental music scenes and has hosted Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Lorde and Charli XCX. Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez of District 34 sponsored the renaming.
"Billy Jones didn't let a soul forget for one second that a concert was about having fun, taking a chance and knowing that anything could be the start of a story."
Tom Moore, owner and CEO of Baby's All Right, speaking to Brooklyn Paper
Brooklyn Paper lists the ceremony at 5:30 p.m. outside the venue. A free party follows, with live sets and DJs from a lineup of artists tied to the club's history that hasn't been announced yet. The council post embedded in the same article says 5 p.m., so it makes sense to arrive at the earlier time.
The brewery and the club tell the same story. One is a 30-year business taking a bigger building a few blocks from where it started. The other is a 13-year-old venue getting its founder's name on the curb outside its door. Both stay on familiar ground.
The October calendar
Four weekends hold most of what's left of the month:
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 9–12 | L train suspended between Lorimer Street and Eighth Avenue, Friday 11:15 p.m. to Monday 5 a.m. | Lorimer St to Eighth Ave |
| Saturdays through October | Smorgasburg, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. | Marsha P. Johnson State Park, 90 Kent Ave |
| Oct. 18 | Billy Jones Way dedication, then a free party | Broadway between Bedford and Driggs, outside Baby's All Right |
| Oct. 31 | Spookysburg, Smorgasburg's Halloween market | Marsha P. Johnson State Park |
The first L outage, Oct. 2–5, runs through this weekend, with the same Friday-night-to-Monday-morning hours. The MTA's Weekender for that first outage lists shuttle routes and transfer options. Smorgasburg's 2026 season began in April, and Time Out's season preview says the weekly markets run through October. Smorgasburg hasn't called Oct. 31 the final Williamsburg market. Still, Spookysburg is the last date it lists for the park this month, and its current events page shows no indoor or winter market for Williamsburg.
Where the new tables landed
The brewery's closed taproom, the street renaming and the end of the market season all fall in the same few weeks as a run of restaurant openings. Most of them are south of the brewery's blocks, along Grand Street and Havemeyer Street.
Mythily, chef Rasika Venkatesa's Tamil and South Indian restaurant, opened Sept. 30 at 129 Havemeyer Street. It's the newest opening here. The rest of the late-summer arrivals, in order of opening:
- Ritual Bar, a Japanese tea tasting space inside Matchaful at 92 Berry Street, opened Aug. 5.
- Ugly Baby reopened Aug. 27 at 364 Grand Street, between Havemeyer Street and Marcy Avenue.
- Food Street opened Sept. 10 at 617 Grand Street, at Leonard Street.
- My Friend Duke opened Sept. 12 at 90 S. Fourth Street, at Berry Street.
- Ferguson's Country opened Sept. 12 at 732 Lorimer Street, at Bayard Street.
Some longtime addresses went dark over the same months. Antica Pesa closed its location at 115 Berry Street in July and said it plans to reopen somewhere else. It hasn't named a new address. Mesiba, inside the Moxy at 353 Bedford Avenue, announced in July that it was closing, and the space is still offered for private events. Barano, at 26 Broadway, reported its final service for Aug. 30. Sweet Chick's original Williamsburg location at 164 Bedford Avenue also closed. Its Union Square and Prospect Heights locations are still open.
Antica Pesa's plan to reopen is a smaller version of the brewery's move. Both are closing one door with a promise of another, and only one has said where. Until 1 Wythe opens, a North Brooklyn evening this month is more likely to start on Grand Street or Havemeyer Street than on North 11th.
When a landmark like Brooklyn Brewery moves, even four blocks, it changes the reference points people use to describe nearby streets and buildings. If you own near North 11th Street, 1 Wythe or Grand Street and want to know how this fall's changes affect your home's value, Kay Moon can walk you through it calmly and in detail. What's Your Home Worth?