Those "Darn Donuts" Are Coming to 4th Ave!

Darn Donuts [8723 4th Ave] is sure to bring that much more excitement to the 86th St BID & 4th Ave corridor.  (It's actually closer to 88th St)  Work is already under way to bring more doughnut goodness to Bay Ridge. The signage just went up today as we noticed no signs present over the last couple of days.

Gourmet Fit Opens on 3rd Ave

Gourmet Fit Kitchen [6819 3rd Ave] which we wrote about earlier this month, opened their doors to lunch-goers today after some paperwork-related delays.

Health-conscious and tasty are often two words that are fairly hard to come by.  Gourmet Fit, (pardon the pun) fits that bill well by going organic, and all-natural, a healthy combination few restaurants can claim, even in Manhattan. We'll have some more details to share with you later this week. For now, you have the option of dining in, taking out, and/or delivery.

FedEx Office Coming to 86th St

FexEx Office [526 86th St, Corner of Gelston] will be slated to open Q3 in the storefront once occupied by chain retailer Motherhood Maternity (shuttered in late 2013). FedEx Office, once known as Kinko's is a chain of stores that operates in the printshop/full-service copying services market.

Feature: Honeybee Pâtisserie, French Pastry Shop Opens in Bensonhurst

While we don't often cover happenings outside of Bay Ridge, we do want to bring attention to some remarkable things happening throughout Southern Brooklyn.  North Brooklyn gets all the culinary attention, let's face it, and while there are great restaurants to be found throughout communities like Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, and Bensonhurst, it takes mass media forever to catch on.

Caffé Bene Progress

Work continues on Caffe Bene's new Bay Ridge outpost [8614 5th Ave] as reported last week. Plywood has been taken down to expose floor to ceiling glass windows/doors and wood, consistent with their overarching theme. A sharp contrast to the coca-cola red from Entertainment Exchange but a welcome one. What isn't clear yet is when they plan on installing their new awning and/or wood themed signage.

Town Hall on Substance Abuse Issues

As reported by Bay Ridge Journal, an important town hall around substance abuse is scheduled for later today (5/14) 7-10pm at Our Lady of Angels Church on 7320 4th Ave.  It will be headlined by none other than Senator Marty Golden and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. Guest speakers also include Donna dePola, director of the Resource Counseling Center [408 77th St].

Caffé Bene Coming to 5th Ave (off 86th)

 (Pictured: Caffé Bene cafe/bakery in Ditmars-Astoria)

This vacant storefront [8614 5th Ave] didn't sit long on the market before being snatched.

CeX 8614 5th Ave

With the shuttering of CeX (electronics retail chain) this past winter, we know now that slated for opening 2H'15 in its place will be the rapidly expanding franchise upstart, Caffé Bene. No timeline has been specified but we expect this may take a few months since the former store was an electronics retailer, and Caffé Bene is a cafe/bakery.

Too Cool Shutters

Too-Cool Clothing Store

Too-Cool [457 86th St], the fashion/clothing store nestled among chain stores, Aerosoles, Radio Shack (shuttered in March) which began in 2006, closed its door at the end of April when their lease ran its course. Nearby retailers Century Twenty One, Flavour, Nothing Fits, and Pretty Girl may have proved worthy competition in this cutthroat clothing retail gambit. This location was once home to Sterling Optical in the years prior.

This storefront joins the three other spaces vacated within the last two months along the coveted 86th St. BID, two of which were once mom-and-pop stores (the other was a temporary Sprint store). Only a handful of independents remain amid the proliferation of chain retailers. Too-Cool's other store along 5th Ave in Sunset Park remains.

Update: Apparently, Too-Cool is open once again. Further inquiries into this matter were returned without a response.

Briefs: New York Congressional District 11 May 5th Special Election

Chances are you may have heard there's a Congressional special election tomorrow to fill the seat vacated by former Senator Michael Grimm. We'll cut to the chase since we don't cover politics.

Three candidates are running for this seat:
Democratic Councilman Vincent Gentile, Republican S.I. District Attorney Dan Donovan, and Green Party candidate James Lane.

Brooklyn Daily ran the story on Friday to walk you through the highlights, but if you're in any way dissatisfied (or satisfied) with the way things have been going in your district (yes, this includes Bay Ridge and Staten Island), vote now or forever hold your peace. Ballotpedia runs through a summarization of the issues, and NYC Campaign Finance Board looks to be the most comprehensive. If you don't care about all that and you're set to cast your vote, make your way to a polling site 6am-9pm (need help locating one?)

Gourmet Fit Opening to Make 3rd Ave Healthier

Gourmet Fit Kitchen [6819 3rd Ave] is set to open within a week according to the owners.  This brings a made-to-order health-conscious option to 3rd Ave, geared not only to athletes or active person(s) in mind but folks interested in partaking in a healthier lifestyle, starting with their diets.  This is still quite a rarity in Bay Ridge, and a welcome one at that.

Former Third Ave Mobil Lot Set For New Construction

The Mobil gas station [8101 3rd Ave] operated for years.  When their lease ran out in 2011, the 11,000ft² lot was empty for years until Brooklyn Market had it paved over and turned it into a parking lot.  Little did we know that this was not meant to be for long.