Trader Joe's Signs Lease at City Point in Downtown Brooklyn

City Point is pleased to announce the addition of #TraderJoes as our anchor grocery tenant! #ByBrooklynForBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/w4cbGwy5Fm

— City Point (@CityPointBKLN) September 16, 2015

Trader Joe's is coming to Downtown Brooklyn, just about a mile from its popular location at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street in Cobble Hill.

Acadia Realty Trust and Washington Square Partners announced on Wednesday that Trader Joe’s has signed a lease at City Point, located at Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue.

Slated to open its doors to the public in 2016, Trader Joe’s will be located on City Point’s concourse level, according to Real Estate Weekly.

It will be adjacent to DeKalb Market Hall, a 26,000-square-foot food hall offering between 35 to 55 food purveyors.

Trader Joe’s, DeKalb Market Hall and the anticipated restaurants "will serve as Brooklyn’s most comprehensive food destination," says REW.

The 675,000 square foot retail center's tenants will be anchored by Century 21 Department Store, CityTarget, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and the food purveyors.

Downtown Brooklyn is one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the country, City Point says.

Trader Joe's also plans to open a Williamsburg outpost in Alliance Private Capital’s planned mixed-use development at 206 Kent Avenue, the Commercial Observer reported.

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Brooklyn Petitions: LICH, Pier 6, Schools and TJ's

Like to sign petitions? Here are four Brooklynites may be interested in:

- Sign a petition for year-round ferry service to Pier 6 in Brooklyn.

- Sign a petition to keep Long Island College Hospital open.

- Sign a petition to build a new elementary school in Downtown Brooklyn.

- Want a Trader Joe's in Sheepshead Bay? Sign the petition.

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Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Recall: Salmonella Outbreak -- UPDATED

The New York City Health Department advises New Yorkers to discard Trader Joe’s Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter (sku 97111) following a national outbreak of Salmonella infections linked to the peanut butter.

Trader Joe’s is removing this type of peanut butter from its stores. Nevertheless, the product may still be available for purchase at some New York City locations or on the internet.

UPDATE: The recall has been widened to include Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds (sku 98927) and Almond Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds (sku 94079).

The Health Department has detected at least one case in New York City, bringing the total to 29 cases in 18 states. The Department is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in this ongoing investigation.

Salmonella is a bacterium that can commonly contaminate foods. Symptoms of illness usually begin 12 to 72 hours after infection and include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. In most people, illness will resolve in a few days and does not require antibiotic treatment. If you experience symptoms of stomach illness, contact your health care provider and ask him or her to test you for Salmonella bacteria.

DOH Recommendations

New Yorkers who ate Trader Joe’s Valencia Creamy Salted Peanut Butter made with sea salt and have symptoms described above should see their doctor and ask to be tested for Salmonella.

New Yorkers should not eat and should discard all Trader Joe’s Valencia Creamy Peanut Butter with sea salt in their home.

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Uncle Sam Shops at Trader Joe's

Uncle Sam may want you -- but he also wanted some all-American Thai chicken pizza from Trader Joe's on Independence Day.

Photo by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Trader Joe's Upgrades Its Crime Sign

After more purse and cell-phone pilferings, Trader Joe's has freshened up its sign warning customers to keep an eye on their belongings. Above is the 2012 model -- maybe just a bit sleeker than the older model shown below, put on display after a well-publicized crime wave in 2010.

DNAinfo reports that there have been five reported thefts this year from unattended shopping carts at Trader Joe's, including two within several minutes last month — cash from a bag set up in a police sting and a cell phone from a woman's purse.

The commander of the 76th Precinct said that he had sent officers to the store several times to implore Trader Joe's to install cameras -- but the cops were rebuffed, according to DNAinfo.

Photos by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Mama's Voodoo Magic; Protest at Trader Joe's; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- A third of Brooklyn's hospitals are sick, and another third are on life-support. Crain's NY

- Brooklyn mama's voodoo magic can't save drug-dealing son from getting busted at JFK. Gothamist

- There's going to be an unusual protest at Trader Joe's this Saturday. Brooklyn Eagle 

- Writing's on the wall at Empire stores in DUMBO. Brownstoner

- Boycott: Schweddy Balls. Problem: It's selling like crazy. Gawker

- Community Board 10 "has declared war" on sidewalk food vendors in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. Brooklyn Eagle  

- Nicholas Contogianis, a resident of Boerum Hill, is missing. Carroll Gardens Patch

- The Ragamuffin Parade takes place this weekend, for the 46th year. Bay Ridge Eagle

- Glenn "violent revolt" Beck wants you to boycott Levi's jeans because their ad campaign "glorifies revolution." NY Magazine

- Not verified yet . . . but neutrinos may be time travelers. Huff Post

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Some Trader Joe's Salad Dressings Contaminated with Salmonella

Make sure you don't eat Trader Joe's Cilantro Dressing with a sell-by date of Feb. 9, 2011, or Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette with a sell-by date of Jan. 9, 2011.

The cilantro ingredient is contaminated with salmonella.

Other products sold in different states are also contaminated.  More information here.

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Trader Joe's Brooklyn Warns Customers About Crime Wave with Nice Hand-Letterd Sign

 Just a reminder from Trader Joe's to keep an eye on your stuff. (Or as Gothamist so aptly put it, keep an eye on your stuff "when shopping at the crime-ridden hellhole that is Trader Joe's.")

Photo by MK Metz

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Inside the Mysterious World of Trader Joe's

 Fortune spent two months digging inside the mysterious world of Trader Joe's (whose management is said to be "obsessively secretive"). Fortune's Beth Kowitt spoke with former executives, competitors, industry analysts, and suppliers, most of whom asked not to be named.

Few customers realize the chain is now owned by Germany's ultra-private Albrecht family, says Kowitt. (The original Joe, now 80, opened the first Trader Joe's 43 years ago in Pasadena.)

Brooklynites are crazy about their Cobble Hill TJs. Read here to see behind the Trader Joe's veil.

Photo by MK Metz

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The Brooklyn Man Who Turned His Backyard Into a Farm, Now a Book

We first heard about Manny Howard, the Brooklyn man turned urban farmer with a vengeance, from New York Magazine back in 2007.

The magazine described Howard's backyard farm as: "An experiment in Brooklyn-style subsistence farming, starring smelly chickens, an angry rabbit, a freak tornado, a vegetable garden to die for, two psyched kids, and a marriage in the weeds."

Now there's a review of Howard's new full-length book "My Empire of Dirt: How One man Turned His Big-City Backyard into a Farm" in the Brooklyn Eagle.

As described by reviewer Michael Astor, "Howard throws himself at this Quixotic endeavor with such gusto that it hardly bothers him when he slices off a finger, nearly wrecks his marriage and suffers from some very funky food poisoning. The ensuing trail of dead bunnies, ducks and chickens is merely collateral damage."

Brooklyn. Farmer.
That's why God made Trader Joe's.

Photo by MK Metz (on our own little urban farm here in Brooklyn).

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Barneys Co-Op Coming to Cobble Hill in September

Barneys New York will be opening a Barneys Co-Op at 194 Atlantic Ave. near Court Street in September, according to NBC New York.

194 Atlantic (shown above) part of the recently-built Cobble Hills Mews just west of Trader Joe's. Urban Outfitters is just down the street, at 164 Atlantic Ave.

According to an earlier NBC article, the Barneys Co-Op offshoot focuses on "coveted mid-range labels like Shipley & Halmos, Loeffler Randall, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang."

Photo by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Trader Joe's, 8 a.m.

Apparently not that many people know that Trader Joe's now opens at 8 a.m., at least in Brooklyn. The TJ's experience without huge, jostling crowds is somewhat unnerving.

But we got used to it.

- Trader Joe's Expands Hours in Brookyn

Photo by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Trader Joe's Having Trouble Restocking Shelves After Holiday Rampage

We tried shopping in Trader Joe's right before Christmas. Whoa! Words can't describe the mob. We never actually got into the store.

Went back yesterday and discovered that the store is still out of quite a few items -- whole wheat pita and frozen Naan bread, for example. 

This post on the Pardon me for Asking Blog provides photos of the even emptier shelves earlier this week.

Anyway, we recommend the new early 8 a.m. shopping hour. The store was blissfully uncrowded and the lines almost nonexistent. We loaded up on the items they did have, including some pretty convincing imitation meat stuff, crab cakes and vegetable gyozas.

Photo by MK Metz
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Trader Joe's Expands Hours in Brooklyn

We've been saying this ever since Trader Joe's opened in Brooklyn: "Why don't they open earlier?"

Now, as if by wizardry, a sign appears: Trader Joe's is now open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Their old hours were 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.) Yay! We can get the shopping done in the morning now.

Some previous Trader Joe's posts.

Photo by MK Metz
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Get Your Dresses Off the Hippie Truck In Front of Brooklyn Trader Joe's

What is drawing women to the graffiti-covered hippie truck parked in front of Trader Joe's? It's the lightweight, colorful all cotton dresses and tops made in India being sold off the truck.

The truck belongs to Wolff's Clothing (based in NYC and in Phoenicia, New York), and the proprietors say they'll be parked in front of the Brooklyn Trader Joe's every day unless it rains.

The dresses are priced $20 and up; blouses are $10 and up.

Photos by MK Metz

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Weird Little Green Guy in Trader Joe's, Brooklyn

Correspondent MF sent this photo in, saying:

"This is just weird. I finally downloaded my Trader Joe's pictures from St. Patrick's Day. I was taking a picture of the bread aisle. I swear this little green guy wasn't in the picture when I took it . . . "

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A Run On Crab Cakes At Brooklyn's Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is another retailer that seems to be coasting through the recession. The frozen food coolers were half wiped out Sunday about 5 p.m.

We were there to load up on crab cakes and vegetable gyoza, both gone. Shrimp and chicken stir-fry, chicken tempora, various vegetable blends and deli items were also out.

Workers were refilling other bins, so perhaps they just didn't have time to refill these items.

The lines, as usual, wrapped around the store, but they do move quickly.

- Gristedes' 'Trader John's' vs Trader Joe's
- After Gristedes and Trader Joe's, What's Next for Downtown Brooklyn?
- Frozen Meals Return to Brooklyn's Trader Joe's
-Trader Joe's Warehouse Fire: Frozen Food Meltdown in NYC, Brooklyn
- An Insecure Fruit Stand Guy in Brooklyn's Trader Joe's Territory
- Brooklyn Hulas To New Trader Joe's

Photos by MK Metz

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Frozen Meals Return to Brooklyn's Trader Joe's

Brooklyn's starving masses rejoiced Monday to find the freezer compartments of Trader Joe's appear to be 80-90 percent restored with ready-to-eat stuffed chicken breasts, spinach pizza and crustless quiche.

Just about the only thing we discovered missing was the frozen gyoza -- which was what we were after, but never mind.

As we posted previously, a fire broke out in a Trader Joe's warehouse earlier this week, wiping out the frozen food departments of Brooklyn and Manhattan TJ's.

According to Racked, the warehouse was in California, and the fire consumed "mass quantities of the frozen meals, fruits and veggies."

Here's what you won't hear from TJ's: According to a post from Osama bin Laden on Newsgroper, the Trader Joe's warehouse fire "was no accident."

-Trader Joe's Warehouse Fire: Frozen Food Meltdown in NYC, Brooklyn
- An Insecure Fruit Stand Guy in Brooklyn's Trader Joe's Territory
- Brooklyn Hulas To New Trader Joe's

Photo by MK Metz

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Trader Joe's Warehouse Fire: Frozen Food Meltdown in NYC, Brooklyn

The vegetable dumplings and and other frozen Trader Joe's delights were thawed out well before their time when a fire broke out in a Trader Joe's warehouse earlier this week. The sign above was posted in the Brooklyn Trader Joe's, but Manhattan is also out of freezer items.

We believe the fire erupted Wednesday -- someone send more details if you have them. A Twitter post says that it was an electrical fire.

UPDATE: Saved!

- An Insecure Fruit Stand Guy in Brooklyn's Trader Joe's Territory
- Brooklyn Hulas To New Trader Joe's

Photo by MK Metz

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An Insecure Fruit Stand Guy in Brooklyn's Trader Joe's Territory

In every battle, there are winners and losers.

For years before Trader Joe's opened on September 28, this fruit stand did a stand up business on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street in Cobble Hill.

That was then.

Sure, some people still grab a tomato on the way home from work, and there certainly are bigger crowds.

But this guy used to own this corner (along with the occasional pickup truck loaded with watermelons). Now the Big Guy owns the corner, and the future looks less certain.

- Brooklyn Hulas To New Trader Joe's

Photo by MK Metz

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