On Saturday, December 5, Original Story's One of a Kind Holiday Market opens at 64 Dobbin Street. The next day, the Greenpointers Holiday Market fills the fifth floor of 67 West Street, while the Shop Small Greenpoint Retail Crawl runs through its final day in the shops nearby. Earlier this year, that same weekend was the first of three tentatively scheduled for a full G suspension between Court Square and Bedford–Nostrand Avenues.
The suspension is off. Greenpoint's holiday calendar has collected on the dates that were nearly lost, and the businesses on that calendar spent most of 2026 measuring what a dark weekend costs them.
Why December 5 Went Back on the Map
The MTA put the December closures on the calendar after finding that the Greenpoint tube under Newtown Creek, damaged during Hurricane Sandy, needed more work than originally planned. In late September the agency told Brooklyn Paper that crews had finished more than 6,400 feet of grouting and leak mitigation in that tube, and that the work "facilitated the removal of weekend outages in December." Time Out New York described it as a holiday miracle that arrived early for a neighborhood served by a single subway line.
The cancellation came after months of pressure from people who run storefronts here. Earlier in the year, local business owners sent the MTA a letter asking it to reconsider the closures planned for June and December. At an August 20 rally covered by Greenpointers, State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez asked the MTA to move the December work to January, and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher also spoke. The agency's stated reason for dropping the outages was the finished tunnel work.
What a Dark Weekend Costs a Manhattan Avenue Shop
Shop Small Greenpoint, the volunteer group led by Perri Salka of The WonderMart, put numbers on the problem. Its July 2026 impact report surveyed 36 local businesses about shutdowns between July 2025 and June 2026. The findings:
- 91% reported lower sales during shutdown periods.
- The average decline was 22% overall, ranging from 20% to 24% depending on the period.
- 39% cut employee shifts or hours.
- Food and beverage businesses took the hardest hit.
The report quotes owners from The WonderMart, Pueblo Querido Coffee Roasters, Bagel Joint, Edy's Grocer, Woods Grove LLC and FSC Guitars NYC.
December matters most in those numbers. Salka has said holiday shopping brings in a quarter of The WonderMart's annual revenue. After the cancellation she told Brooklyn Paper that "our shop owners can count on a full, uninterrupted holiday season this year." A 22% weekend drop in a slow month is painful. The same drop on the weekends that make a quarter of a shop's year is why December became the date the neighborhood fought over.
The Calendar That Now Sits on Those Dates
The holiday events are clustered tightly. The Retail Crawl starts on November 28, and its final two days line up with both markets.
| Event | Where | When | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop Small Greenpoint Retail Crawl | Participating shops across Greenpoint | Nov. 28 to Dec. 6, 2026 | Passport pickup at any participating shop |
| Original Story's One of a Kind Holiday Market | Dobbin St., 64 Dobbin St. | Dec. 5 and 6, 2026, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Listed on Eventbrite |
| Greenpointers Holiday Market | Greenpoint Loft, 67 West St., 5th Floor | Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026, 1 to 7 p.m. | Free |
The crawl runs on a passport. Pick one up at any participating shop, and every $10 spent earns a stamp. Three stamps get a limited-edition tote, and eight enter you in a drawing for a local gift bundle worth more than $500. New this year are weekday-only discounts at select shops on the crawl map. Those discounts reward people who live within walking distance, since they are already on Manhattan Avenue on a Tuesday. The Shop Small Greenpoint site will carry the 2026 participant list, and its directory of brick-and-mortar shops is already up.
The Greenpointers market is also a fundraiser for the neighborhood's own news outlet, with the slogan "Shop local. Support local news."
The Café Map Changed Before the Season Started
The good December news came too late for some businesses. Kaleidoscope Coffee at 151B Nassau Avenue, open since July 2022, will serve its last day on Sunday, November 15. Co-owner Adam Stamper told Greenpointers that the shutdowns were one of the reasons: "It's the only train out here, and weekends are most of our business... On a shutdown weekend you can feel it right away." The shop is throwing a farewell party for its regulars.
Other familiar names closed this fall. Ashbox Cafe at 1154 Manhattan Avenue closed after 18 years. Vamos al Tequila at 162 Franklin Street, a family-owned restaurant open since 2010, has also closed. Lingo at 27 Greenpoint Avenue, which earned Michelin Guide recognition, served its last dinner on October 25. Owner Misako Hsu told Greenpointers she hopes to reopen in the same space "this coming April" as a Japanese-inspired all-day café and food counter "with a stronger focus on the neighborhood and everyday dining."
The openings have mostly come from operators who already know the neighborhood:
- Matches, 560 Manhattan Avenue. Opened August 14 in the former Bar Bruno and Enid's space, from the team behind Greenpoint Fish & Lobster and Rounders. The name nods to the former neighbor Bar Matchless.
- Santa Chiara Caffè, 227 West Street. Soft-opened in late August. It is the Long Island City gelateria's first Brooklyn location, run as an all-day Italian café, bakery and gelateria.
- Ayune, 664 Manhattan Avenue. A hand-roll bar in the former Botbar, soft-opened September 2 by Robby and Cristin Wijaya, who formerly owned Wasabi. It also brings back a simplified version of the Wasabi menu.
- 148 Noble Street, at that address. Chef Gabriel Borges, formerly of Chez Ma Tante, took over the former wine bar The Noble. The Infatuation has reviewed it.
- Halal Munchies, 694 Manhattan Avenue. Ismat Popal's late-night restaurant soft-opened in late September in the former Ramen, Rice and Noodles space.
One more opening could land during the holiday stretch. Bistro Cat, a modern Filipino bistro from the team behind Flower Cat at 162 Noble Street, is under construction at 837 Manhattan Avenue in the former Sakura 6. The team is aiming to open by the end of the year.
So the restaurants reaching December with full weekends are mostly new rooms run by familiar teams. Several of the long-running places, and one café that named the G as a reason for closing, will not be part of it.
The G Between Now and the Crawl
The reprieve covers December only. The signal modernization behind the closures since 2024 is still underway. A September 2026 release from Sen. Gonzalez's office puts completion in 2028. An earlier MTA release from June 2025 projected the third quarter of 2027.
The MTA's G line service-change page, last updated September 30, lists changes only through October. No November suspensions appear there, and the agency says it will post further dates as they become available. If you're planning a weekend around the crawl's opening on November 28, check the MTA's planned-service alerts that week. When past weekend suspensions did happen, as in July 2026, the MTA ran free shuttle buses between Court Square and Bedford–Nostrand Avenues that stopped at every G station.
Weekend transit is something a Greenpoint homeowner deals with every week. Whether the G is running on a Saturday affects which blocks feel close, which shops stay busy, and how easily guests get to your door. If you're thinking about a home here and want to talk through how the G and the waterfront blocks fit your routine, the Limitless LMK team knows Greenpoint block by block. Arrange a Private Viewing, and we'll plan it around a weekend when the trains are running.
