If there is one thing Brooklynites love, it is Brooklyn.
And the holiday season is the perfect time to push your passion for Kings County onto your friends and family, thanks to the borough’s many artisinal gift makers, who have hand-crafted a large range of hyper-hyper-local goodies. So tick every name off your list with our guide to the best of Brooklyn’s parochial presents.
I saw the sign
It is gone but not forgotten. Get a scale model of the dearly departed Kentile Floors sign for your favorite landmark lover. Bushwick model-maker Boundless Brooklyn sells 1:100-scale mock-ups of the monument to asbestos and American manufacturing so you can enjoy the cathartic rush of erecting — rather than dismantling — a Brooklyn staple.
From Boundless Brooklyn (www.boundlessbrooklyn.com). $20.
Neck of the woods
Your neighborhood can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling — literally. Clinton Hill clothiers the Brooklyn Block make scarfs specific to some of the borough’s hipper ’hoods. Company founders (they’re Pratt grads) created a program that turns film footage from just outside your front door into a pattern that “represents colors, layers and textures of that neighborhood.” So you can totally blend in the next time you’re in Dumbo or Park Slope by wearing a $90 scarf.
From the Brooklyn Block (www.thebrooklynblock.com). $90.
Versed in style
Pining to rep’ your favorite Brooklyn poet but still wary from all those high-school beatings? Hide your inner nerd in full view with a Brooklyn poet baseball jersey from literary organization Brooklyn Poets. These tees feature names of borough wordsmiths — including Walt Whitman, Hart Crane, and Marianne Moore — but otherwise look like your little league duds. When your dilettante friends ask who “Whitman” is, just tell them he played for Brooklyn back when we had a ball team — you’ll be sort of correct.
From Brooklyn Poets (swag.brooklynpoets.org). $35.
Totes cool
It is the ultimate expression of north Brooklyn. Garb chain J. Crew is selling custom tote bags with a map of Williamsburg slapped right on there (Southside not included). Swag! Your fashion-forward friends will never get lost on their way from Starbucks to their $3,000-a-month N. Eighth Street apartments again. This hip sack is only available at the Williamsburg J. Crew, and it is catching on fast — so snap one up before the French tourists do!
From J. Crew [234 Wythe Ave. between N. Third and N. Fourth streets, (718) 384–3027].
