North 5th to Metropolitan (continued)
This might be surprising but the mall at the corner of North 5th and Bedford is one of our favorite spots. It’s this little heterotopia that has a fun mix of shops, a chabad house on the second floor and even an internet cafe, the last of a dying breed. On the first floor, Awoke Vintage carries carefully curated vintage clothing. You could spend hours in Spoonbill and Sugartown Booksellers taking in the art, architecture and design books, which are its focus. There’s also the funky and appropriately named Hello Beautiful Salon where you can get your hair cut by a fashion “badass.” You can top it all off with cotton candy at Handsome Dan’s Snocone and Candy Stand.
Spoonbill and Sugartown Booksellers
Awoke Vintage
Also on this block is the tiny, beautiful shop Catbird that’s been on Bedford for a decade specializing in jewelry and gifts. Amarcord Vintage boutique with Italian designer finds, and the Bedford Cheese Shop which wins for best storefront with its black cast iron columns and bay windows, round out this block.
Taking up three-fourths of the block between North 3rd and North 4th is the former factory that houses The Brooklyn Bagel. Today, the arched windows and chimney make the building a distinctive landmark on Bedford Avenue. The Robert James studio and boutique is in this building, with locally made clothing for men that blends a historic New York influence with edgier rocker style. Fun fact: one of the head freemasons in New York State once owned a baking business in the building during the 1890s. This block is going to get pretty busy though, with a Whole Foods planned and potential Apple Store.
At Metropolitan Avenue sits the Metropolitan Recreation Center, a former city bath house built by architect Henry Bacon who also designed the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Both projects were completed in 1922. Public baths were the city’s physical solution to the lack of indoor plumbing in underserved neighborhoods. In 1895, a state legislative act mandated the construction of free public baths in cities of 50,000 people or more. Today the recreation center houses a pool, which explains the scent of chlorine on the street, a fitness room and community space.
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