The sun broke abruptly through an Elsa-whipped sky of rain and clouds and we jumped in the car eager to book a spot at the Faurschou Foundation in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We’d tried to visit the oddly-sited private museum once before, only to find it closed, and feared it could happen again. Located on a sleepy street of warehouses, black glass apartment towers and low-rise homes of red brick or wood, it was indeed open, and we were greeted by a hipster who was both gate-keeper and cheerleader. In less than twenty minutes we were transformed by the exhibit of sculptor Christian Lemmerz.

Clearly we were witnessing the future in the eerie power of five marble human forms chiseled by computer, in the way I imagine one experienced the power (or divinity) in Michelangelo’s “David” ages ago. Whereas the latter embodies the grandiloquence of the human body, Lemmerz subverts the human form into figures that feel at home in “the night of the living dead” and yet possess unimaginable grace and religiosity (although I am certain the German-born artist would scoff at that word). And yet. Lemmerz works in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Pietrasanta (Italy) where we coincidentally are headed this summer. Maybe we’ll run into him at the quarries in Carrara. The Faurschou Foundation, headquartered in Copenhagen and Beijing, was established in 2011 to exhibit important works of contemporary art and foster dialogue between the East and West. It opened in this “becoming” area of Brooklyn in 2019. The museum is free and will, next year, house a restaurant by a well-known Danish chef. Coincidentally, there is a timely article in the New York Times today about technology, robots, and the future of sculpture.

If you’re hungry now, at it’s 5 p.m., head over to Madre’s, around the corner on Franklin Street (and next to the tony Franklin Guesthouse, who knew?). Lurking behind two imposing wooded doors, is a trendy place to dine on croquetas with gruyere, black truffle and vinegar powder, fluke ceviche with coconut leche de tigre, artic char with spring onion dashi, fava beans & wild mushrooms, chicken with papas bravas, spiced jus & salsa verde, accompanied by a great selection of drinks.

Or, if you’re ready to party in a huge outdoor patio with pink flamingos, sofas and tents, a food truck, Tivoli lights, and a welcoming GREENPOINT mural, try The Springs “inspired by the retro oasis vibes of Southern California.” You can have a Aperol slushy and a side of guate-yucca fries. Why not.

More our speed (since we are probably decades older than most who hang out here), was shopping at AS Warehouse, a Polish authentic-as-they-come smoked meat-smoked fish herring-kielbasa-fresh sauerkraut-homemade pickle-food emporium. It made us so hungry we shared a stuffed cabbage in the car and bought a mess of sausages, porky and aromatic, strewn with sweetly cooked peppers and onions, atop a mound of fresh-cooked buckwheat groats to take home for dinner. Three hours in Greenpoint.

Faurschou Foundation/ 148 Green Street
Madre /214 Franklin St
The Springs/ 224 Franklin St.
AS Warehouse/276 McGuinness Blvd.