The Park Sloper
Issue #6 · July 9, 2026
Park Slope this week: a $5 billion plan to finish Atlantic Yards, a Georgian wine bar on 5th Avenue, and a new Thai spot on 7th
Down at Atlantic and Flatbush, the state unveiled a $5 billion plan to finally finish Atlantic Yards, two decades after the first renderings promised a neighborhood that never quite arrived. Whether this version lands is its own question.
Closer to home, summer is doing its usual turnover. A Georgian coffee and wine bar just opened on 5th Avenue, a Thai spot is taking over the old Lemongrass Grill space on 7th, and Celebrate Brooklyn has the bandshell going Friday night. Here's the week.
Victor, founding editor
01 · This week
The state's $5 billion plan to finish Atlantic Yards
Empire State Development and developers Cirrus and LCOR unveiled a plan on June 30 to complete the two-decades-unfinished megaproject: seven new buildings on six sites, 5,600 apartments (about 1,242 of them affordable), and 8.5 acres of open space, with $700 million in state money for the platforms over the rail yard. Environmental review could start in September; construction as early as 2028. Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon has already flagged that the affordable units skew moderate-income, not low-income.
6sqft · unveiled Jun 30
Sakul, a new Thai restaurant, is coming to 7th Avenue
Sakul Thai Noodles is going into 61A 7th Avenue between Union and Berkeley, the space that housed Lemongrass Grill and Spice before it. Owner Tenzin Shamphel and his husband, chef Treerawat "Tree" Rachakeaw, say the name means "lineage." No opening date yet.
Park Slope Walk · 61A 7th Ave
Prospect Park is getting a new pavilion building
A foundation permit was filed with the Buildings Department this week for a new one-story restroom and storage building inside Prospect Park. The filing calls it the Northeast Pavilion. Anyone who has walked the park's north end with a small child knows this is front-page news.
DOB NOW filing · Prospect Park
02 · Worth a visit
86 5th Ave · opened Jul 2
Lileo, a Georgian coffee and wine bar on 5th Avenue
Lileo opened July 2 at 86 5th Avenue, between Warren and St. Marks: specialty coffee and pastries by day, Georgian wines and cooking by night. Owner Tamar named it for an old Georgian folk chant to the sun. Georgian wine is one of the oldest traditions in the world and one of the newest things on the avenue; go find out what amber wine is.
03 · One vetted pick
Best for brownstone and landmark restoration · HIC license active · from our women-owned contractors guide
While the state plans seven new towers, most work here is the opposite: keeping 140-year-old houses standing. Burda Construction, Yveta Burda's firm on the Boerum Hill border, has spent 30-plus years on exactly that: landmark restoration, brownstone facades, stoops, and historic windows. The HIC license (#1194287) is active through February 2027; we checked. Skip them for a fast, budget kitchen refresh. Careful period restoration is neither the cheapest nor the quickest path.
This week's pick is from our women-owned contractors guide. Every builder on it is confirmed women-owned (by city record or the firm's own filings), holds an active NYC Home Improvement Contractor license, and shows recent DOB permits. Nobody paid to be there.
See the pick →04 · The calendar
Fri Jul 10 · 6pm ET · Lena Horne Bandshell, Prospect Park · Free
Celebrate Brooklyn: the Habibi Festival
The free summer series at the Lena Horne Bandshell hands Friday night to Arab and North African music, headlined by the Tunisian singer-songwriter EMEL, with Nesrine, Mai Elgizouli, and a closing set from Yalla! Party Project. Free, outdoors, in the park.
Sat Jul 11 · 6pm ET (also Thu + Fri) · Green-Wood Catacombs, 500 25th St · $90
Beethoven in the Green-Wood catacombs
The Poiesis Quartet, one of the New York Times' performances of the year in 2025, plays Beethoven's final string quartet plus the world premiere of Jeff Scott's Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified in the catacombs, with a Via Carota cocktail reception beforehand. Runs Thursday through Saturday night.
Sun Jul 12 · 2-10pm ET · Freddy's Bar, 627 5th Ave
An eight-hour Jaws marathon in the back room of the South Slope's most reliable dive. Bring nothing; the shark does the work.
Sun Jul 12 · 7:30pm ET · The Bell House, 149 7th St, Gowanus · Ticketed
Matt Parker: An Evening of Unnecessary Detail
The stand-up mathematician hosts rapid-fire talks on obscure facts, scientific curiosities, and engineering mishaps at the Bell House. For the household that argues about bridge design at dinner.
Thu Jul 9 · 12-6pm ET · Lefferts Historic House, Prospect Park · Free
Battle of Brooklyn pop-up exhibits at Lefferts Historic House
Two free America250 exhibits on the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn: a replica of the Battle Pass installation, and Black People and the Battle of Brooklyn, on the soldiers, spies, and fort builders history skipped. Thursday afternoon, in the park.