Fort Greene Heads Into Winter: What Just Opened, What's Still Coming, and Why Some Streeteries Will Stay Up

What will DeKalb Avenue look like the first week of December? Other years you could answer from the calendar. Roadway dining sheds came down after Thanksgiving weekend, the sidewalks got their width back, and any new places waited for spring.

This year the calendar doesn't decide much. A city law signed in August means restaurants can keep their curbside tables through the winter, but only if they hold the right license. At the same time, the new spots announced for Fort Greene this fall are each opening on their own schedule, and several are still behind paper. Your corner in December will depend on choices made one storefront at a time.

The dates that matter between now and spring

Three of those dates come from businesses and three from City Hall. The rest of this post runs in that order.

Two big openings already changed the DeKalb and Adelphi corner

The largest new arrival is Million Goods. It's a menswear shop and natural wine bar that started in Greenpoint in 2024, and its second location opened on Thursday, September 10, at 201 DeKalb Avenue between Carlton Avenue and Adelphi Street. Eater NY describes the Fort Greene space as larger and two stories, with a separate wine bar that pours more wines by the glass than the original, plus a listening room, a retail floor, and a garden. Eater also says it will host frequent music and cultural programming, as the Greenpoint store does.

A block or so away, 27 Club Coffee opened its third location at 47 Adelphi Street, near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The shop belongs to the musician MGK, and Eater NY's October news roundup reported it open as of Sunday, October 18.

On Fulton, the changes over the summer were less flashy but useful day to day:

• Anya Yoga opened in late July at 900 Fulton Street, next to Do It Best hardware, according to FAB Fulton's September newsletter. Clinton & Greene reported that founder Tochi Anueyiagu built a schedule covering yoga, Pilates and sound baths, with classes from Kundalini to Sculpt. DeKalb Dispatch listed drop-in classes at $28 when the studio launched in August, with multi-class and monthly unlimited packages also available.
• Olivino Wines is back on Fulton after a long renovation of its building's storefronts. FAB Fulton says it was the first tenant to reopen. FAB lists the shop at 903 Fulton, while Clinton & Greene lists 905, so check the door before you tell a friend to meet you there.

One more piece of good news is about a place that isn't new. Clinton & Greene noted in mid-October that Sailor landed at No. 7 on The Infatuation's list of the 25 best restaurants in NYC. The newsletter singled out the French toast at brunch and the Caesar salad. If you were planning to book a winter dinner there, the list probably makes tables harder to get, so book early.

The storefronts still behind paper

Each spot in Fort Greene's fall pipeline is moving at its own pace. Some have announced a season and some haven't announced anything. Here they are by block, with the latest public word on each as of late October.

1. Triangle, 87 S. Elliott Place. The team behind Strange Delight is turning the former Island Shack space on Fowler Square into a "neighborhood bar and grill," with food by Strange Delight chef Ham El-Waylly, according to DeKalb Dispatch. Clinton & Greene reported 24 seats at tables and seven at the bar, planned hours of noon to midnight daily, a "fall/winter" opening window, and a promise of Guinness.
2. Laobra Cafe, 664 Fulton Street. DeKalb Dispatch describes it as a cafe and wine bar. According to FAB Fulton, it took the historic ironclad storefront next to Candor Candy and was working toward a fall opening. Clinton & Greene reported its liquor license filing in early September.
3. Capiz, Fulton Street at South Portland Avenue. A Filipino bakery and restaurant is preparing to open in the former Oma Grassa space. FAB Fulton has not announced a date. The liquor license application was also filed in early September.
4. La Mestiza, 154 Carlton Avenue. It's planned as a Latin American bakery and cafe by day and a vinyl and wine spot at night. As of late October, its website still read "Coming to Fort Greene this Fall." The menu preview in DeKalb Dispatch is a good reason to keep checking. It includes Ecuadorian chocolate croissants, guava-and-cheese donuts, pasqualina, passion-fruit cake and flan.
5. 235 DeKalb Avenue. The team behind Miss Ada, Theodora and Thea applied for a liquor license at the address of Luanne's Wild Ginger. When DeKalb Dispatch reported the application in August, there was "no word at all yet" on a concept.

All five are small rooms with mostly indoor seating, opening as the weather gets cold. Triangle will have 31 seats in total. That matters for the next section. In a winter where outdoor seating is optional, the new places will be indoor rooms, and whatever stays on the curb will be there because an existing restaurant chose to keep it.

Why some streeteries will still be up in December

Since the Dining Out NYC program started, roadway cafes have run on a fixed season. Setups were allowed from April 1 through November 29 and had to come down from November 30 through March 31. Sidewalk cafes could already operate all year.

On August 31, Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed Int. 0655, sponsored by Council Member Lincoln Restler and enacted as Local Law 135 of 2026. It took effect immediately. The law sets up two kinds of roadway cafe license, seasonal and year-round, and defines the year-round version this way.

"Year-round roadway cafe. The term 'year-round roadway cafe' shall mean a roadway cafe that has been granted a license and revocable consent by the commissioner to operate on any day of a year, including any day between November 30 and March 31."

A seasonal roadway cafe is still limited to April 1 through November 29. A restaurant that already had a roadway cafe can apply online for a one-year interim license for year-round operation, which costs $630 on top of its regular roadway cafe license. A year-round license costs $1,050 per license period, the same as the seasonal one. From November 30 to March 31, the law lets a year-round roadway cafe add vertical winterization coverings, which can attach to an overhead covering.

NYC DOT's Dining Out NYC page says year-round roadway dining is now legal with a year-round license, that applications are open, and that existing participants can upgrade by paying an extra fee. Further down, the same page still describes roadway cafes as allowed "April through November," which is the old rule.

The detailed rules for running through the winter are still being written. On the city's rulemaking site, DOT's amendments are listed as "Proposed." They cover winterization and design standards, snow removal, year-round operating requirements, and the interim license process. The public hearing is on Monday, November 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and comments are due the same day. You can email comments to [email protected].

So on November 30 there will be two kinds of streeteries in Fort Greene. Some will close for the season as they always have. Others will stay because the restaurant paid for and received year-round authorization. When FAB Fulton announced the law, it noted that participating restaurants would no longer have to take down their setups for the winter and said to look for more outdoor dining options on Fulton as the program rolls out. Which spots on DeKalb, Fulton and Myrtle opted in won't be clear until the end of November.

This is general information about a new city rule, not legal advice. Restaurant owners deciding which license to get should confirm the details with DOT or their own attorney.

What to look for on your block after Thanksgiving

A streetery still standing on Monday, November 30, belongs to a restaurant that chose to keep serving outdoors this winter. If the shed has new side panels, that's the winterization the law now allows. The open questions are the papered windows at 87 S. Elliott Place, 664 Fulton Street, Fulton and South Portland, 154 Carlton Avenue and 235 DeKalb Avenue. Triangle has the most specific target of the group, a "fall/winter" opening with noon-to-midnight hours, so Fowler Square is the first place to watch.

If you'd like a running list of where to get coffee, wine and dinner as these places open this winter, Claudette Rolling and the team keep track of Fort Greene block by block, and we're always glad to share what we're seeing. Say Hey — Book a Free Consultation.