We used to make things in America, or so at least that’s what cartoonish politicians grasping for manliness and Sam Elliot beer commercial voiceovers are always telling us. The thing is, maybe those people should pay a visit to New York City, aka Real America, where we still make all kinds of shit. In fact, now would be the perfect time for them to visit, because BLDG92 (63 Flushing Avenue) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is hosting three free discussions with Brooklyn makers in diverse fields over the next two weeks, so that you might learn from their wisdom.
BLDG92’s “Making it in NYC” program is exploring all the useful stuff and successful people behind said stuff that are coming out of New York. Up first in the program, Etsy’s Dana Mauriello will talk with entrepreneurs in home goods, fashion and networked manufacturing about their best practices and what they’ve learned about making successful products, tomorrow at 6pm.
The next week, BLDG92 will host two more panels with industrious New Yorkers. The first, on June 10 at 6pm, will delve into New York’s booming business in the alternative energy and environmental disaster response fields, which is an especially interesting one given our coming environmental collapse. That discussion will be led by Micah Kotch from the NYU Polytech School of Engineering and will include David Gibbs from Power Rockaways Resilience, who’s probably a guy who knows a thing or two about starting a business built around alternative energy and environmental disaster.
Finally, on June 12 at 6pm, stonemason Christian Herrmann will talk about what it’s like to be a stonemason in this age of pre-fab construction, 3D printing and other easy ways out beyond the raw awesome power of carving things from stone. Plus, he can probably tell you a few things about how to become a brickmason and make a lot of money, unless of course stone and brick masons have some kind of “cops vs. firefighters” rivalry we’re unaware of.