Mattress-Stuy is getting a brand new residence for books, tradition and dialog beneath the path of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Hannah-Jones is teaming up with New York entrepreneurs Rotimi and Ayo Akinnuoye and Baldwin & Co. proprietor DJ Johnson to open The North Star Books + Bar, which wil lbe inside the previous Macon {Hardware} storefront at Macon Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard, as Brownstoner reported. The objective is easy: Create a gathering place the place literature, group and nightlife meet.
Nikole Hannah-Jones is maintaining Mattress-Stuy’s legacy alive
The challenge is deeply tied to neighborhood historical past. Macon {Hardware} stood for generations as one in all Mattress-Stuy’s longest-running Black-owned companies. Conserving the constructing in group fingers mattered to Hannah-Jones, a Mattress-Stuy resident for practically 15 years who has hosted studying salons in her residence and spent years scouting a public house. After a earlier lease fell by means of, she set her sights on possession. A “on the market” publish led her to 339 Macon Avenue, the place she made her case to proprietor Warren Hayes to go the keys to somebody rooted within the neighborhood.
“Mr. Hayes was very joyful to have the ability to promote it to somebody who’s in the neighborhood and cares in regards to the group and can create a terrific group house,” she mentioned in an interview with Brownstoner. “I’m very a lot conscious of the historical past, and really a lot honored to maintain the constructing Black owned, frankly.”
Macon {Hardware}’s legacy stays central. Open since round 1930, the store turned a neighborhood anchor beneath the Hayes household after Peter and Clara Hayes bought it in 1987. Clara ran the shop after Peter’s passing. Following her loss of life in 2022, there wasn’t a relative of the couple to maintain the enterprise working. Their son determined to promote it, marking the top of an period for a spot many thought of an iconic group hub. The sale was accomplished in 2024 with financing from the Self-Assist Enterprise Fund, and Hannah-Jones famous it served as a bridge mortgage together with her because the constructing’s proprietor.
What is going to the North Star Books + Bar supply Mattress-Stuy?
The idea is an element bookstore, half bar and cafe. Hannah-Jones, who can be a Howard College professor and co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, desires the venue to be a magnet for the inventive world.
“I’m very plugged into the author group, I’m mates with a whole lot of nice writers, and wished to have the ability to deliver these writers into our group,” Hannah-Jones defined. “Each time you could have huge ebook occasions within the metropolis, they’re not at Black bookstores they usually’re not in Black neighborhoods, so I actually wished to deliver that to Mattress Stuy. Individuals ought to anticipate all of their writing heroes.”
Programming will stretch past writer talks. Patrons can anticipate performances, ebook golf equipment and writing workshops designed to tug in each neighbors and guests.
“I actually, actually need it to be an area, particularly in these occasions, the place inventive of us can come collectively and change information, concepts, literature, artwork,” Hannah-Jones mentioned.
Plans are to open the bookstore in early 2026
The 2-story brick nook constructing sits inside the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. Residences upstairs will host micro-residencies that give visiting writers a spot to remain and a method to plug into group work. Inside, a intestine renovation is underway to channel a Harlem Renaissance spirit with an Artwork Deco contact.
As Hannah-Jones put it, “The house pays tribute to Black writers of all eras and of all kinds.”
Moreover, she and her staff plan to function the bar and cafe in-house. A full kitchen is being constructed now, with cooks consulting on the menu.
With The North Star Books + Bar, the companions are constructing on that legacy slightly than changing it. Hannah-Jones framed it as a spot designed to be “a draw for excellent Black writers and creators from throughout the globe.” She hopes it will likely be prepared for patrons in early 2026.
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