Heeb Magazine Moves to Dumbo


The guys at Heeb Magazine moved recently from their SoHo office to Dumbo Brooklyn. According to their press kit, Heeb was first conceived “as a response to the real need for a periodical for young Jews. With Heeb at the forefront of the recent wave of similar cultural expressions, it has become recognized nationwide as a reflection of contemporary American Jewish identity.” Heeb is spreading cultural goodwill and having fun doing it. We caught up with Heeb Magazine Publisher Josh Neuman and writer Brian Abrams:

Heeb Magazine was started in Brooklyn in 2002 and recently moved your office to Dumbo Brooklyn. Why Dumbo?

We’re glad you said “move” to Dumbo, rather than “occupy” Dumbo. We’re sensitive about that sort of thing….Honestly, we hate to play into stereotypes, but we moved to Dumbo cause we found a space in where the price was right.

How did Heeb start?

Jennifer Bleyer founded Heeb in 2002. At that time, the editors of the magazine were meeting a couple of nights/week in the basement of a decrepit, old synagogue on the Lower East Side. We wrote about our friends in the magazine. We created fake ads to make Heeb look like the other magazines on the newsstand. We took turns standing on line at the post office to mail subscriptions. Come to think of it, not much has changed since then.

How would you describe Heeb Magazine to someone who hasn’t picked up an issue yet?

It’s basically a Carnival Cruise to the Garden of Eden with all-you-can-eat cheesecake. To steal a line from Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, “You know the Holocaust?…The opposite.”

Heeb targets today’s young Jewish Americans and has a large influence on media, but what can non-Jewish Americans learn from Heeb?

That’s a funny question. If you ask our critics, they’d tell you there was very little Jewish content in the magazine. Our upcoming Christmas edition (The Goy Issue) is dedicated to them.

Any plans for events in Brooklyn?

We did a music fest this past summer called “Diamond Days,” a four-day celebration of ’60s-inspired psych and progressive rock with nearly 50 bands. We’re talking to 3rd Ward about doing an art gathering there at some point soon. Oh, and we’d like to do the Mermaid Parade too (with hot Jewish chicks dressed up as smoked white fish).

Check out Heeb Magazine online at heebmagazine.com or pick up your copy at a newsstand near you.

18 Comment