DUMBO Startup Lab (not to be confused with the Dumbo Incubator) launched for business last month. DUMBO Startup Lab is a an affordable, flexible and convenient communal work space for entrepreneurs, freelancers and startup companies. Similar to other co-working spaces such as Loosecubes, the goal is to create a synergetic atmosphere for innovative thinkers and developers. As Dumbo becomes the base for more and more startups, the DUMBO Startup Lab fosters the entrepreneur, freelancer, and designer collaboration. They also host community meetups, networking events, panel discussions and creative workshops.

DUMBO Startup Lab’s rates are lower than similar co-working spaces found throughout New York City. Portable desk rates start at $200/month and stationary desks start at $300/month. There’s no deposit or binding time commitment. Another great option for co-working space in Dumbo.

DUMBO Startup Lab (dumbostartuplab.com)
68 Jay st. #415 Brooklyn, NY 11201

Wednesday, December 21, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and State Senator Daniel Squadron joined Brooklyn elected officials and community and business leaders to rally in support of the New York University and Polytechnic Institute proposal for an applied sciences campus at 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Creating a hub for science and technology that connects the budding tech community in Dumbo and the surrounding neighborhoods with NYU-Poly’s proposed Center for Urban Science and Progress, as well as City Tech and Poly’s existing campuses would be a major step for Brooklyn and Dumbo’s NY Digital District and Digital Dumbo.

NYC is aiming to build a world class applied sciences and engineering campus, called Applied Sciences NYC at Roosevelt Island to be competitive with other tech centers such as Silicon Valley. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Cornell University, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology announced an historic partnership to build a two-million-square-foot applied science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. (also on NYTimes).

In addition to the Applied Sciences NYC, building on Dumbo’s tech community will attract and retain the creative entrepreneurs that will drive innovation for NYC. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said in a statement, “With today’s announcement behind us, let’s now look ahead to the new year and make the case that New York deserves more than one first-rate applied sciences school and that serious consideration be given to New York University’s partnership with Polytech proposed for 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn—home to more college students than Cambridge, Massachusetts—as well as Carnegie Mellon’s plans for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which along with DUMBO, is part of our borough’s emerging new Silicon Valley. Both locations offer a unique opportunity to create a job-creating epicenter of learning, research and innovation. I normally don’t celebrate Brooklyn being a runner-up in anything, but considering the importance of this center to the future of Brooklyn and New York City, in this case I would happily make an exception.”

Dumbo Improvement District Executive Director Alexandria Sica added, “DUMBO is home to more than one hundred technology firms, digital and creative start-ups that are growing—some at a faster pace than there is talent available. NYU-Poly’s proposal for 370 Jay Street would provide these companies with a highly skilled workforce in their backyard. Furthermore, having an applied sciences school at 370 Jay Street will help DUMBO and the greater Downtown Brooklyn area to continue to grow as a location for tech-based companies that choose to be here around like-minded companies and innovators.”

The Wall Street Journal published an article on Dumbo’s tech yesterday. The article mentions “Tech startups and digital advertising companies have flocked to Dumbo throughout the past decade, drawn to the neighborhood’s industrial lofts that eschew Midtown’s buttoned-down culture. Now Dumbo’s tech scene is about to get bigger.” Polytechnic Institute of New York University will open a new incubator in Dumbo that could house as many as 20 small companies at 20 Jay Street. With innovation fueld by the intersection of creativity, media, and technology in Brooklyn, the community should be looking forward to more private and public partnerships.

(Photo by Kathryn Kirk)

The underground dining scene is about knowing the right people and meeting like minded people to experience something unique. Part DIY, part enabler, and all serious-food-start-up site, Underground Eats gives you access to these professional chefs, food lovers, and unique dining seekers. Underground Eats provides diners keys to culinary experiences by offering access to exclusive and interesting dining events. Underground Eats enables chefs to generate new revenue while broadening their fan base and raising their profile in the industry. Diners enjoy specialty meals and events with the kind of access previously reserved for VIPs.

The NYT published an article about an underground dining experience aboard the L subway, where the diners had a thrill of a fine dining experience on a train. While Underground Eats may not (or may) have listings for a secret subway dinner experience, the site brings like minded people together for an experiential event. While for some, the location of a restaurant with a particular chef is important for dining, every diner and chef will treasure is the “WHO” they experienced with – and this is what Underground Eats facilitates.

We caught up with founder of Dumbo-based Underground Eats, Harris Damashek about his new venture:

DNY: We’ve been to a few ‘underground’ dining events in Dumbo in the past. If I hadn’t known the organizers or the chefs, I would never hear about them. Unless you work at or attend classes at Brooklyn Kitchen, The Meat Hook, or 3rd Ward, these culinary events aren’t very public. Do you see more events happening in Dumbo, and Brooklyn in general?

Harris: The amount of activity in this genre of dining is accelerating quickly, and with good reason – Especially here in Brooklyn. The borough is a hotbed of creativity in New York and as a result of the creative capital based here, and the energy they bring to their endeavors it is an especially hospitable environment for innovative dining. These experiences encompass so many categories: everything from one-night-only pop-ups, to regularly occurring supper clubs, to larger community and philanthropic events, to festivals, competitions and to smaller friends and family events. It is clear to us that the be-all and end-all of dining is certainly not your home or local restaurant.

DNY: What’s your vision for Underground Eats?

Harris: Our goal is to evangelize and empower chefs and diners to find each other and interact in new, exciting and experiential ways. Chefs don’t belong behind a swinging door to the kitchen. Diners want to interact. Food has always been, and always will be a galvanizing force among people. What we have seen is that Underground or Alternative Dining cultivates an experience that is so much larger than a meal. People forge bonds, find common ground and usually laugh. A lot. To us, this is the glue of civilization and humanity at its best. We want to lead by example and be the shepherds of a new era of dining — one that is more than the sum of its parts. But food is always the central organizing element, because at the end of the day, you don’t really get to know someone before breaking bread together.

DNY: UGE hosted a pop-up event on September 20, called BDGA Kitchen, a collaboration with the new visionary restaurant in Bedstuy Brooklyn, Do or Dine. It was a one-night-only exclusive experience celebrating the intersection of fine dining and the keystone of every NYC neighborhood: the bodega. Not only did Justin Warner, the brilliant chef of Do or Dine create a memorable 10 course meal, but he performed his signature rap about the wines (YouTube video from another event). UGE’s business model is not necessarily about hosting pop-up dining events, but encouraging others to push the envelope on how food is prepared and presented. How can you top this pop-up dining experience?

Harris: Our launch event was a revelation. After months of preparation and going to all kinds of food events, and gaining some girth in the process, myself and the team went to dinner one night at Do or Dine. For someone reason, we just knew these were the guys to create our first experience with. They were new enough, fun enough and visionary enough to match our goals. We settled on the BDGA Kitchen concept not only because we thought it was a somewhat irreverent and intriguing concept, but also because one of the facts of city living, particularly in nabes like Bed-Stuy, is that people often shop at bodegas out of necessity. It isn’t bad or doesn’t have to be, I guess was the commentary. We had Colt .45s, paired cocktails like the Gin ‘n’ Juice, canapés and six courses of insanity that the team at Do Or Dine dreamed up. We had Uni on Plaintain Chips with orange soda and Slim Jim gastrique, Hamachi TiraDoritos featuring Cool Ranch Doritos and Scallops with Cherry Brown Butter, crystallized vanilla and Lime Cool Aid. We had a DJ, a bodega photography exhibit, a custom-made bodega fully-stocked with candy and loosies and a video installation, not to mention a rousing rap rendition of Chateau Neuf du Pape by Chef Justin Warner (to the tune of “Drop it Like it’s Hot), which was as much history lesson as alcohol-fueled hilarity. We had journalists, bloggers, chefs, foodies, friends and fiends. All I can say is we ran out of Colt .45 in the first hour and ran — where else? To a bodega to restock!

For our next events we’re thinking of all kinds of things and talking to all kinds of chefs. I think for now, all we can say we are “bullish on castles.”

(Photos of the BDGA Kitchen event courtesy of Underground Eats)

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Congrats to the team at Underground Eats! We’re looking forward to the formal launch of the website in early 2012. To get access to innovative food events when they launch, sign up on Undergroundeats.com.

 Dumbo Streetart (Photo by petroleumjelliffe)

According to an announcement today by AT&T, it has added or upgraded cell sites in Brooklyn this summer, including sites in Borough Park and Sunset Park, and earlier this year in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Navy Yard, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Red Hook, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Bushwick, Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, Canarsie, Brownsville, Cypress Hills and East New York, “as part of its 2011 initiative to deliver the nation’s most-advanced mobile broadband experience. AT&T has spent $200 million improving its wireline and wireless networks in New York State the first half of this year alone.”

AT&T was a sponsor during this year’s Dumbo Arts Festival and of course Apple launched their new iPhone 4S last week, so there’s anticipation on the customer’s part to see improved mobile network service in Brooklyn.

“Our goal is for our customers to have an extraordinary experience. As part of the Brooklyn community, we’re always looking for new opportunities to provide an enhanced customer experience, and our investment in the local wireless network is just one way we’re accomplishing that,” said Tom DeVito, vice president and general manager for AT&T in New York and New Jersey.

Have you seen an improvement in AT&T’s network in and around Dumbo?

Press Release: AT&T Invests in Brooklyn Network to Deliver Most-Advanced Mobile Broadband Experience, 10Oct2011

Loosecubes is a community that connects members with an empty desk, studio, or sofa with other members who need a productive and inspiring place to work. They have been hugely successful in getting individual freelancers, remote workers, and travelling staff to connect with like-minded people online to co-work offline (or “in real life”). Loosecubes makes it easy to find the right people to share your workday with. They are based in Dumbo so we caught up with founder Campbell McKellar, Anna Thomas (Chief Happiness Officer), and Anthony Marinos (Captain Awesome) at their cool looking 20 Jay Street office.

Q: Congratulations! Loosecubes is now in 454 cities and 58 countries in only 14+ months. When you first started Loosecubes, did you imagine that the coworking community would be this open to sharing their space with others?

Thank you! We’re so thrilled that our members can work around the world. When our Founder and CEO, Campbell McKellar, first had the idea for Loosecubes, she wasn’t entirely familiar with the coworking movement. It wasn’t long before she became a member of New Work City (NWC), a collaborative coworking space in Lower Manhattan, and experienced the magic of coworking first hand. At NWC, Campbell was afforded the opportunity to make incredibly valuable connections with professionals and resources in the local community that she may never have been able to make otherwise. Moreover, the more people she met in the coworking community, the more their value of openness became apparent. Members of the coworking community are open to learning from each other and sharing ideas, and being inclusive rather than exclusive. As Loosecubes, we’re excited to be the platform that helps coworking spaces around the world connect with independents and entrepreneurs in their communities and beyond.

Q: In today’s world, knowledge can be accessed anywhere and everywhere it lives. The cost of bringing in expertise and people have dropped. This globalization, with cloud computing (sharing of computing resources online), and virtualizing people and office locations have changed how business is done. How has your view of coworking changed business? And how will Loosecubes shape this change?

At Loosecubes, we want to bring the act of coworking everywhere. Empty desks in company offices, sofas in people’s homes, spare easels in shared art studios, even commercial kitchens with one too many stoves! We really believe that opening up one’s office to the local freelance community, fellow entrepreneurs, and business travelers is a great way to build a stronger business and can ultimately lead to new jobs, partnerships, referrals, and friendships. We want to help facilitate valuable connections through shared workspaces that would otherwise be left up to serendipity, and help boost our economy by doing it.

Q: The Loosecubes culture reads like being at an ideal company. Based on other Loosecubes featured around the globe, there seems to be a similar vibe. Is this self selection or a shift in how traditional organizations need to be to succeed?

We’re trying to change the way people work, so we figure it makes sense to start with our own company. Because of this, we do our best to convey our values throughout our site, in our email communications, and in person. Many of the companies who are sharing space on our site embrace a similar work ethos, and understand the implications that a forward-thinking set of company values can have on their employees and business health. We’ve seen that even traditionally conservative organizations are beginning to consider the productivity and happiness effects of a more open, flexible work culture. It’s really exciting to play a role in this work lifestyle shift.

Q: Loosecubes is located in DUMBO Brooklyn, a neighborhood with many startups and entrepreneurs. With Loosecubes in DUMBO, how has it affected your culture?

Loosecubes is proud to be a DUMBO-based business. The culture of the neighborhood and the people in it has had a tremendously positive influence on our company and our brand. The community in DUMBO is very tight knit, and everyone is always up for helping a fellow neighbor. Our employees enjoy walking to work, eating lunch in the triangle, and being able to meet other creative professionals without having to leave the neighborhood. We wouldn’t want to be based anywhere else!

Q: What are your top 3 recommendations on how to be an awesome Loosecuber?

To be an awesome Loosecubes, check out our three Community Guidelines:

1. What happens in Loosecubes stays in Loosecubes. Loosecubes is a community based on trust. When you’re coworking, it’s extra important to take confidentiality seriously. If you have to share, tweet about how cute the dogs are or how nice the Aeron chair is you’re sitting in.
2. No one likes a chatterbox. We’re all here to work, so be respectful of others in your environment who are hard at work. There are always awesome opportunities to connect later while grabbing a cup of coffee or even a beer after work.
3. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat your work environment as you would treat your own home. Pitch in to clean the dishes, don’t take things from the fridge that aren’t yours without asking, and try not to overuse the printer. Leave your space exactly the way you found it.

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Thanks guys for your service on behalf of Dumbo, those looking for co-working space, and those offering co-working space! If you’re interested in a few Dumbo based listings, check out some of the following (for example):

• Red Antler, Main Street
• Jay Street
• Flushing Avenue (near Navy Yards)
• 68 Jay Street
• The Digital Zone, Main Street
• Jay Street

Of course you can search in any of the 454+ cities around the globe.

Loosecubes HQ: loosecubes.com/listings/369
20 Jay Street, Brooklyn NY 11201

DAMN Digital Studio is hosting a meet-up tonight, Friday August 5th at 6:00pm at their studio location (45 Main Street, Suite 410, Brooklyn, NY 11201) to which all residents and businesses from the New York community are invited to take part in. This event will be centered around “Pro Tools Music Production” and will be hosted by their very own Composer/Audio Engineer Jay Simmons. This interactive seminar will be the first of its kind to take place at their studio and will showcase Simmons’ technical insight and innovative presentation to all who attend.

A bit about DAMN Digital:
We are an interactive advertising agency located in DUMBO, Brooklyn, where newness and artistic visions boom on the streets everyday. Inspired by the go green culture, DAMN Digital strives to kindle a cultural shift to the digital lifestyle and ultimately eliminate the everyday use of paper. This is our company’s mission, and our lifetime goal. Our efforts will work to accomplish our vision of a world where all communications take place via digital platforms, and the reckless slashing and pillage of trees and paper-wasting habits can come to an end, once and for all.

Yes, we are the new kids on the block. You may have heard of us Digital Defenders/advocates of the paperless, digital lifestyle, but most of you have not. So today, we introduce ourselves-the DAMN Digital Team.

As we set off on our go-digital campaign to stimulate the digital (r)evolution, we seek your support. Thinkers and idealists alike, we welcome you to champion our cause. Visit our website www.DamnDigitalStudio.com and look out for our upcoming mini web series called “The Digital Zone,” which will illustrate the animated lives of 6 individuals as they transition into the digital lifestyle.

To contribute, go to our KickStarter and donate your dollars-hugs are accepted too. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/damndigital/you-are-now-entering-the-digital-zone?ref=live

Welcome DAMN Digital to the New York Digital District!

Three digital companies have signed leases in Dumbo last week, according to a Two Trees representative. Official.FM (20 Jay Street), North American Ideon (45 Main Street), and Breakfast (55 Washington Street) have joined the New York Digital District, the neighborhood that offers free wireless access and the Dumbo Business Incubator.

Official.FM U.S.A. Inc, is a company that offers artists, labels and music media a website to share their music. They signed a lease for 1,590 square feet of space in 20 Jay Street. This will be their U.S. office location and they will continue maintain a presence in Europe.

Ideon Financial Solutions, a company that produces software and provides support for financial institutions, is based in North America and Europe, with the main headquarters located in Madrid. North American Ideon, L.L.C., the North American division, are based in New York City with additional offices in San Antonio, Texas and now DUMBO with the acquisition of 1,436 square feet of space at 55 Washington Street they are leasing.

Breakfast are innovators who create and develop new digital products and custom technology. The company will be renting 1,436 square feet of space at 55 Washington Street.

Welcome to Dumbo, the New York Digital District!

Previously:
{Lease News: 4 Digital Firms Sign in Dumbo, 28Jun2010}

Following the prior announcement of the free Dumbo wi-fi last week, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), and Two Trees Management today announced a new City-sponsored business incubator to support the development of technology startup businesses in Brooklyn. The DUMBO Incubator, located at 20 Jay Street – one block from Brooklyn Bridge Park – will accommodate technology entrepreneurs in the downtown Brooklyn neighborhood and across New York City over the next three years and is expected to be fully operational by the fall of 2011. NYCEDC provided a $250,000 grant to establish the incubator, the ninth sponsored by the City as part of a plan to encourage entrepreneurship within a variety of economic sectors. NYCEDC President Seth W. Pinsky and Tucker Reed, Director of Special Projects at Two Trees Management Company, announced the DUMBO incubator during an Internet Week NY panel on the City’s “Digital Corridors.”

Dumbo will be the ninth incubator in NYC and NYU-Poly signed a three-year lease for 6,440 sqft with Two Trees Management. The Incubator space will provide approximately 30 dedicated workstations, and additional co-working stations, targeted to New York City-based startup businesses and entrepreneurs across various industries, including financial services, media, green, bioscience, and fashion, with a focus on technology. Tenants will be able to access educational programming and services, such as business counseling sessions, workshops, and networking events on relevant topics. Two Trees principal Jed Walentas noted that “Many of the startup businesses in DUMBO such as Etsy, Carrot Creative, Huge, Brooklyn Digital Foundry, Big Spaceship, and SawHorse Media, which hosts the annual Shorty Awards for best Twitter content, have grown tremendously, while other digital and creative businesses continue to be drawn to our ‘state-of-the art’ community.” This is great news for Digital Dumbo and New York Digital District.

(note: Sawhorse Media is no longer in Dumbo. However, the Shorty Awards did start in Dumbo and founder Gregory Galant is still involved in the Dumbo tech community.)

Read the full press release in PDF format here (153kb).

 

US Senator Charles Schumer kicked off Internet Week NY 2011 this morning with a keynote speech. In his speech, he mentions Dumbo as a place for internet companies to thrive as part of the NY Digital District, and could incubate “the next Google or the next Facebook”. Last week, free wireless connectivity was made possible through a deal between Two Trees Management, Dumbo’s largest real estate developer, NYC Wireless and the DUMBO Business Improvement District.

This is what Senator Charles Schumer had to say:

“To me, the perfect example of the transformation of this sector in New York is what is happening right across the East River, in Dumbo. Fifteen years ago, Dumbo was a community of warehouses and underused industrial buildings, many of which had been languishing for decades. Now, it is one of the most vibrant mixed used neighborhoods in the city. It is a neighborhood transformed. And what is the main industry in Dumbo? Internet companies. The largest employer is Huge, a company that builds digital platforms for some of the biggest companies in the world, and has over 300 employees in Brooklyn. At the same time, there are more and more small start ups and midsized companies that have found affordable collaborative work spaces, creating exactly the sort of synergies that give rise to companies with similar growth potential. I wasn’t surprised when last week when it was announced that the first public wi-fi network in the city is in Dumbo. And I would not be surprised if the next Google or the next Facebook is born in one of these Dumbo buildings.”

Thanks to DUMBO Business Improvement District for the tip.

Dumbo Brooklyn First to Offer Free Wireless Access, 02Jun2011

DUMBO Business Improvement District (BID), Two Trees Management Company, and NYCwireless announce that Dumbo is now New York City’s first neighborhood to offer wireless internet access on streets, in its parks and plazas. DUMBO Wi-Fi is made possible by a public-private partnership between the neighborhood’s largest real estate holder, Two Trees, and the entity most directly responsible for guiding the development of public space in the Dumbo community, the Dumbo BID.

“We are encouraging people to step out of their offices and homes and engage with one another and the neighborhood in new and different ways,” said Alexandria Sica, Executive Director of the Dumbo BID. “Dumbo is the epicenter for digital start-ups and production companies. Wi-Fi is one more way to inspire the workforce we have and help attract new talent to the Brooklyn Waterfront. In DUMBO, you can put together a proposal while gazing at the Brooklyn Bridge and all of Manhattan. Creativity can literally flow into the streets. Businesses will be born in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The next Etsy could be thought up right under the Manhattan Bridge!”

The building, installation, and maintenance of the Wi-Fi network is executed by NYCwireless, a non-profit organizations that builds, supports, and advocates for free, public Wi-Fi Internet access in New York City.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was in Dumbo today for the announcement at The Archway. He said, “For the first time in New York City, an entire area has become a hot spot – a haven for bloggers, Tweeters, emailers, Facebookers and everyone else who thrives on the internet. One day, mark my words, this area will rival Silicon Valley in terms of high tech ingenuity – so it’s only natural that Dumbo is the first neighborhood to be truly connected 24/7.”

The Dumbo BID has provided free wifi at the Brooklyn Bridge Park (Main Street Lot) since 2006 and was the first Brooklyn park to do so. Today’s announcement by the Dumbo BID may pave the way for the 64 other Business Improvement Districts in NYC to offer internet access for their residents and businesses.

{Using Internet Outside? In Part of Brooklyn, Free Wireless Access Arrives, 02june2011, NYTimes}
{Press release from Two Trees (610kb PDF file)}