Downtown Brooklyn

Ignite Brooklyn Made Grant & Pitch Competition
2026-04-14 17:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Brooklyn Made invites you to Ignite Brooklyn Made, a live pitch competition celebrating Brooklyn’s most promising entrepreneurs.
Funded by Wells Fargo and administered by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce through Brooklyn Made, Ignite Brooklyn Made is a new access to capital and advisory services program supporting the growth of small businesses across the borough.
What to Expect: Live pitches, founder meet-and-greets, shopping, & light bites
About the Event: After a competitive process that drew more than 200 applicants, ten Brooklyn-based founders were selected to receive $25,000 growth grants and participate in an intensive advisory program designed to strengthen their business strategies and prepare them for this live pitch event.

The Center for Fiction Presents Louise Erdrich on 'Python's Kiss' with Lauren Groff
2026-04-14 19:00 - 21:00
Join The Center for Fiction for a virtual discussion with beloved Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich on her new short-story collection, Python’s Kiss.
In Python’s Kiss, one of America’s most significant authors explores the connections between humans, animals, and the environment in her first short fiction anthology since 2009. Written over the last two decades, Python’s Kiss features an incredible breadth of characters, including small-town journalists, immigrant farmers, folk-singing thieves, and fraught families—all primarily centered around the fictional small town of Tabor. Suffused with magical realism and a blurring of the line between ordinary and mythological, the book is also a multimedia exercise in connection, with illustrations by Erdrich’s daughter, Aza E. Abe, interwoven throughout.
Erdrich will be joined in conversation by celebrated author Lauren Groff (Brawler, Fates and Furies). In addition to being fellow indie bookstore owners, Erdrich and Groff are longtime admirers of each other’s work. Aza E. Abe will also join midway through the event to share how she approached creating visual art for the stories.
This event is co-presented with Groff’s bookstore, The Lynx.
This is a virtual event.

THE FAMESICK TOUR: An Evening of Stories and Togetherness
2026-04-14 20:00 - 21:30
Celebrating her first book in over a decade, Lena Dunham returns to the stage for a night of fearless storytelling and no holds barred conversation. A candid, funny, and bracingly honest reflection on illness, fame, sex, and everything in between, Famesick marks a bold return from the award-winning creator of Girls and Too Much.

"How Black Music Took Over the World" with Melvin Gibbs and Stephon Alexander
2026-04-15 18:00 - 19:30
Join FourOneOne and Sound+Science in celebration of producer, bassist, and author Melvin Gibbs’ new book How Black Music Took Over The World, which will be published by Basic Books on April 14th. Gibbs will be in conversation with Stephon Alexander, theoretical cosmologist, jazz musician, and author of The Jazz of Physics and Fear of a Black Universe. This event kicks off FourOneOne’s multipart residency with Gibbs, which explores the themes of the book through a series of conversations and live performances.
In How Black Music Took Over the World, Gibbs discusses the musical inheritance of Africa. Beginning with two rhythmic building blocks he calls the cell and the frame, Gibbs shows how those tools can transport listeners to “a realm where sounds become vehicles for human movement.” Reforged in the African diaspora in the Americas, they are played today on church organs, electric guitars, computers, telephones, or a simple gourd. Kool & the Gang called Black musicians the “scientists of sound”—and Gibbs shows how they discovered the world’s music.

CBH Talk | The Alchemy of Movement Building
2026-04-15 18:30 - 20:00
Join a panel of writers, organizers, and elected leaders for a powerful and urgent conversation about how movements are built quietly, locally, and out of public view, before erupting into collective action. Moderated by Saul Austerlitz, author of How to Assemble an Activist, this program explores the sparks that turn private alarm into public action. Drawing on his own journey from political observer to engaged organizer, Austerlitz offers a compelling case study of how ordinary people step forward, find one another, and begin the long work of change.
Austerlitz will be joined by Council Member Alexa Avilés, graphic artist and political zine-maker Megan Piontkowski, and senior national political manager at Indivisible and co-founder of Hands Off NYC Molly Sandley, whose voices are grounded in the day-to-day realities of grassroots work. Together, they will pull back the curtain on what happens beneath the headlines: the patient community-building, the creative interventions, and the sustained collaboration that allow movements not just to ignite, but to endure.

The International Library Presents Olga Ravn on 'The Wax Child' with Audrey Wollen
2026-04-15 19:00 - 20:30
Join The Center for Fiction for an evening with Olga Ravn, the acclaimed author of Booker Prize finalist The Employees and My Work, as she introduces her haunting new novel, The Wax Child, translated by Martin Aitken.
Set amid the witchcraft trials of seventeenth-century Denmark, The Wax Child follows Christenze Kruckow, an unmarried noblewoman accused of sorcery, and the women who share her fate. Their alleged crimes—stealing happiness, consorting with a headless Devil, and wielding un-Christian powers—place them in peril of the stake. Narrated by a wax doll crafted by Christenze herself, The Wax Child is a chilling meditation on fear, power, and the brutal mechanisms that govern communities.
Drawing from court records, spells, letters, and Scandinavian grimoires, Ravn blends meticulous research with genre-bending experimentation, building a collage-like narrative that is as unsettling as it is mesmerizing. She will be joined in conversation by artist and essayist ​​Audrey Wollen for a conversation about The Wax Child, its source material, and the enduring allure of stories that illuminate the darkest corners of our past and present.

Sound + Fury Trivia Nights
2026-04-15 19:00 - 22:00, 2026-04-22 19:00 - 22:00
HOW IT WORKS:
• 4 rounds of 5 questions each.
• Wager 1, 2, 3, or 4 on the first 4 questions.
• 5th question is worth a fixed amount.
• Each question has a song clue to help you or maybe throw you off.
RULES:
• NO CHEATING. Cheating is for suckers.
• SUBMISSION IS ALL DIGITAL. Be sure to bring a charged phone.
• TEAMS are limited to groups of 7 or less.

Exhibition Tour, The Battle of Brooklyn: Fought and Remembered
2026-04-17 15:00 - 16:00, 2026-04-24 15:00 - 16:00
Join the Center of Brooklyn History for a free tour of The Battle of Brooklyn: Fought and Remembered.
In August of 1776, the first and largest battle of the American Revolution took place in what is now Brooklyn, NY. The Battle of Brooklyn: Fought and Remembered uses primary source material from the Center for Brooklyn History’s collection to relay the story of this turning point in American history, sharing the events of this battle with new relevance.
On this in-depth tour of the exhibition, visitors will get a tour of the exhibition, featuring artifacts, archival documents, artwork, and exclusive access to rare maps that bring the summer of 1776 alive, 250 years later. This tour will also offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process of putting together this exhibition at the Center for Brooklyn History.

Spring Open Houses: BASIS Independent Brooklyn
2026-04-18 09:40 - 12:00, 2026-04-25 09:40 - 12:00
BASIS Independent Brooklyn is presenting its Spring Open Houses! These events are one of the best ways for families to experience the BASIS Independent community, hear from teachers, and see firsthand how they are redefining education across the school’s two Brooklyn campuses.
Spring Open House:

Saturday, April 18 (PreK-Grade 2)
Saturday, April 25 (Grades 3-12)

For both Open Houses, doors will open at 9:40 AM ET, and the event will last approximately until 12:00 PM ET. Students are encouraged to join us as well.

Downtown Brooklyn Car-Free Earth Day 2026
2026-04-18 12:00 - 15:00
Join us for Earth-friendly and car-free activities including music, fashion, bike lessons, and more. Albee Square West will be closed to traffic, so bring your bikes or roller skates, and enjoy activities and music at Albee Square. Here’s what’s happening:
On Albee Square West
12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

In partnership with Elian Electronics Recycling, we invite you to dispose of your e-waste in a free, convenient, and ethical way. For more information on what you can bring, visit here.
Test your strength, focus, and endurance! Join [solidcore]’s plank competition where you’ll push your core to its limits one second at a time and prove to yourself how strong you really are. Enter the challenge for a chance to win prizes and enter a raffle for a chance to win a new client two-week unlimited package. Register here for the following time slots, 12:15pm, 12:45pm, 1:15pm, 1:45pm, and 2:15pm.

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Learn to ride a bike with Bike New York! Bike New York will teach kids 5-14 how to ride safely along Albee Square West (which is closed to traffic for the day), while parents and guardians cheer them on! Register here!

at albee square
12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

DJ Boogie will spin throughout the event with sets inspired by nature’s elements.
Learn to hand sew using repurposed fabric with Black Girls Sew.
Brooklyn FC, Brooklyn’s premier soccer club, will be on site to share details about their exciting season lineup.
Make art from reused materials with Materials for the Arts, NYC’s premier creative reuse facility. Build puppets and other art projects with upcycled goods!
Rejin Leys invites you to make recycled paper while creating awareness about our environment.
Create eco-friendly lanterns with Artsy Anxious Girlie.
Write poetry with Poets in the Park.
Dave & Buster’s will be on hand with their “Prize Drop” Plinko Game. Play to win fun prizes.
Learn, celebrate and discover with Petits Poussins Brooklyn. Stop by to plant your very own seed in a pot and bring it home to watch it grow. While you’re there, make your mark on the Earth Day pledge poster!
Powerhouse Arts invites you to weave with repurposed materials! Drop in, get creative, and make something meaningful for yourself or a loved one.
Savor a variety of delicious and healthy snacks provided by one of Downtown Brooklyn’s finest grocery stores, Fresh Grocer.

1:00 PM – 1:45 PM

Trashaganza! by Bash the Trash weaves together fun interactive songs, cool science, and timely environmental messaging about plastic pollution and climate change.

at city point bklyn
11:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Help support local families by donating baby supplies and gently used children’s clothing for Little Essentials, a local organization that offers families living in poverty urgently-needed children’s supplies. A simple way to give back and help neighbors in need. In partnership with City Point BKLYN.

Rare Form + Building Beats present DONUTS ARE FOREVER 20
2026-04-18 20:00 - 2026-04-19 01:00
An annual tribute to the life and legacy of a Detroit music legend.
What began as a small gathering of friends to honor their musical hero in 2006, has grown into a cornerstone of New York City’s hip-hop community. Now in its 20th year, Donuts Are Forever (DAF) continues to celebrate James “J Dilla” Yancey’s unparalleled influence on beat-making culture, while serving as a vital fundraiser for the next generation of creators.
BRIC has announced the return of Questlove and DJ Spinna, two DJs who have supported Donuts Are Forever as it has grown over the years. Rare Form’s own DJ Tara will also make her return to the DAF stage, with DJ Bles-sed, with deep vinyl crates that have rocked crowds and the airwaves.
Please Note: This event is 18+.

Hamlet
2026-04-19 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-04-21 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-04-22 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-04-23 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-04-24 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-04-25 13:30 - 15:30
Kicking off an ongoing partnership between BAM and London’s National Theatre, director Robert Hastie (Operation Mincemeat) brings his witty, fearlessly contemporary take on Hamlet across the Atlantic for a four-week run. Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) stars in this sharp, darkly funny reimagining of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

Make It in Brooklyn: Play Jam & Tech Showcase
2026-04-21 17:00 - 20:00
Join Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) and NYU Tandon School of Engineering for the Make It in Brooklyn Play Jam & Tech Showcase at WC Art and IPRC. This evening spotlights the work of current Game Design Future Lab (GDFL) cohort members, giving attendees a rare opportunity to see the program progress at the six months mark. The event will also feature projects from the NYU Game Center Incubator, showcasing Brooklyn’s most innovative emerging game creators.
What to Expect

Cohort Showcases: Short demos from GDFL and NYU Game Center Incubator members, featuring games, interactive projects, and experimental work.
Community Mixer: Connect directly with designers, industry professionals, and fellow attendees.

About the GDFL companies
CYBRLICH Studios – Building CYBRLICH and the Death Cult of Labor, a narrative-driven, hand-animated first-person shooter offering a fresh take on genre classics.
Made in Brooklyn Games – Creators of the hit VR game Don’t Look Away, building rich experiences with emerging technology and social commentary.
Munity Games – A cooperative studio creating Shootlanzer, an arcade shoot-em-up game.
Remixing Reality – Building a no-code platform for creating and deploying AR experiences across any AR device.
Sapient Technology – Developing scalable GenAI tools integrated within Unreal Engine to streamline game development workflows.
about the NYU Game Center Incubator Participants
Abigail by Games for my Computer
In this narrative-focused game, Abigail must navigate her splintered friend group and explore vibrant handcrafted neighborhoods, each with their unique way of playing the ubiquitous folk game Azulejo.
coalescent | tidal rapture by Games for my Computer
A hypnagogic 3d swimming/entanglement adventure game about harmonizing and want. Dive into a world of merpeople who are transforming and discovering casual relationships through the eyes of a floater who’s just been dumped and refuses to evolve. Told in 3 chapters.
Mutagen by organzola
Explore an alien ecosystem that reshapes itself each time you die. Mutate to reach new areas and adapt to your surroundings. Find your own way to brave the planet’s dangers and unearth its deepest secrets.
DBP’s Make It in Brooklyn is dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship and supporting Brooklyn’s innovation ecosystem through its series of pitch contests, meet-ups, and panels. These initiatives have united hundreds of entrepreneurs and provided over $100K in seed funding, along with invaluable pro-bono professional services.
About NYU Game Design Future Labs + NYU Game Center Incubator
NYU Tandon’s Game Design Future Lab focuses on digital game design, development, infrastructure for games and emerging media with the aim of increasing video gaming production, business growth, and supporting NYC entrepreneurs and digital game developers. Since 2025, its incubator program, backed by NYCEDC, has been helping a select cohort of companies in their mission to develop sustainable growth in NYC.
The NYU Game Center is part of the Department of Game Design at the Tisch School of the Arts. Since 2014, the NYU Game Center Incubator has helped transform small independent game projects into polished, launched games. With the help of faculty and a dedicated group of industry advisors, the program provides time, space, guidance and resources to help set teams up for success.

A Night of Irish Storytelling with Colm Tóibín
2026-04-21 19:00 - 21:00
Join Center for Fiction for an evening with Colm Tóibín, the award-winning author of Brooklyn and Long Island, as he visits The Center with stories written by himself and the late, under-recognized Irish American author, Mary Lavin.
Tóibín has earned international acclaim for his precise, compassionate prose and his ability to illuminate the private edges of history. A regular contributor to the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and the New York Review of Books, and a professor at Columbia University, he has shaped contemporary Irish literature while mentoring and inspiring generations of writers. His newest collection, The News from Dublin, marks a long-anticipated return to short fiction.
Spanning Ireland, Spain, and America, these stories trace families caught in the currents of loss and longing, from a mother delivering devastating wartime news to a brother fighting for a dying sibling’s chance at survival. Spare yet emotionally expansive, they demonstrate Tóibín’s unmatched gift for rendering ordinary lives with extraordinary depth.
Alongside his new work, Tóibín will also introduce An Arrow in Flight, a curated selection of stories by Mary Lavin, the Irish-American writer once hailed as a master in the lineage of Chekhov and Wharton. Widely celebrated in her time yet now under-recognized, Lavin wrote with sharp humor and profound emotional intelligence about marriage, family, and the pressures of mid-century Irish life. Tóibín’s advocacy helps restore her rightful place in the canon, shining new light on a writer whose influence can still be felt in contemporary fiction.
Join Tóibín as he reflects on the intimacy, rigor, and enduring power of the short story and on the voices, past and present, that continue to shape Irish literature.

Free Plants for E-Waste on Earth Day
2026-04-22 14:00 - 17:00
Trade in your electronic waste for a free plant. Greenery NYC will be supplying the plants and Liquid Technology will be collecting the waste. Grab a plant while supplies last!
Banned items include: Refrigerators, ACs, and kitchen appliances.

The Center for Fiction Presents Genre-Defying Authors Patrick Cottrell and Jordy Rosenberg in Conversation with Andrea Lawlor
2026-04-22 19:00 - 21:00
Join The Center for Fiction for an evening with Patrick Cottrell and Jordy Rosenberg, two of contemporary literature’s most daring, genre-defying voices, as they discuss their brilliantly unconventional new novels Afternoon Hours of a Hermit and Night Night Fawn with Andrea Lawlor, the author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl.
Cottrell’s latest book follows Dan Moran, a Korean adoptee, trans writer, and reluctant teacher, five years after the events of Sorry to Disrupt the Peace. When a mysterious envelope arrives containing a childhood photo of his deceased brother, Dan returns home against his better judgment. What unfolds is an existential noir infused with absurd humor: mistaken identities, detective fantasies, unsettling encounters, and an aching search to understand the gulf between who we are and how we’re seen. Cottrell, a Whiting Award winner, delivers a profound, restless inquiry into identity, memory, and the strange alchemy of making fiction.
In Night Night Fawn, Rosenberg (author of Confessions of the Fox, a 2018 finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize), presents a deathbed confession like no other. Terminally ill and high on opioids in her cramped Manhattan apartment, protagonist Barbara Rosenberg chronicles her life with ferocious, unfiltered candor. There’s her smut-loving late husband, her failed stabs at stardom, her unhinged theories on gender and politics, and the two great heartbreaks she cannot outrun: her estranged trans son and a lost friend whose betrayal still burns. Blurring memoir and fiction, diatribe and manifesto, the novel is a darkly funny portrait of intergenerational conflict and the messy, impossible work of love.
Don’t miss this stirring conversation about family, identity, finding the humor in despair, and the radical possibilities of form-breaking fiction. A book signing will follow the event.

Dear Everything
2026-04-22 19:30 - 20:10
When the adults in a small town try to sacrifice the nearby forests for money, teenager Sophia galvanizes her fellow young people to stop it—endowing them with a sense of empowerment they never thought possible. With an electrifying rock score, Dear Everything is a thrilling, raucous call to collective action addressing the most pressing issue of our day.

Public Brooklyn NOW: How Public Spaces Shape Neighborhood Life
2026-04-23 18:30 - 20:00
This panel explores how public space in Brooklyn is shaped not only through design, but also through policy, community advocacy, and the forces that determine who a space is truly made for. From parks and waterfronts to sidewalks and under-elevated corridors, Brooklyn’s shared spaces are continually contested and transformed. The conversation brings together planners, designers, and advocates to ask what it really means to design for belonging.
Brooklyn NOW! 2026, presented at BPL’s Library for Arts & Culture, celebrates the design forces actively shaping our borough today. Opening in April 2026, the exhibition highlights how architects, builders, and visionaries are reimagining Brooklyn’s streets, homes, and civic spaces. The exhibition will be accompanied by five in-person public programs, including a gallery opening that invites visitors to engage directly with the ideas and people behind the work.

2026 Tandon Research Excellence Exhibit
2026-04-24 13:00 - 16:00
The Tandon Research Excellence Exhibit is an annual event featuring student and faculty projects that demonstrate the scope of engineering at Tandon, and its potential to improve the world. This year’s Exhibit will celebrate the incredible academic contributions of our community and how they connect to Tandon’s impact areas. The most exciting work being done in our labs and prototyping facilities comes alive for spectators of all ages.
Stop by the Tandon Research Excellence Exhibit to experience incredible projects, and enjoy giveaways, food trucks, a photo booth, and more!

1:00 PM – Welcome Remarks
1:15 PM – Exhibits Open
3:30 PM – Exhibit Winners Announced
4:00 PM – Research Exhibit Concludes

Word. Sound. Power. 2026
2026-04-24 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-04-25 19:30 - 21:00
Word. Sound. Power. returns with a celebration of women in hip-hop culture, amplifying femme voices across generations and communities. Join BAM for a showcase featuring amazing emcees, spoken-word artists, and a special guest co-host along with MC Baba Israel and the unparalleled DJ Reborn. Let the music move you, and share in the powerful tradition of channeling hip-hop and poetry into an immediate, exhilarating message for the moment.

BKO Volunteer Day: Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
2026-04-25 10:30 - 12:30
Brooklyn Org’s Annual Day of Service brings together community members to roll up their sleeves and work alongside the incredible nonprofits that support our borough. You’ll get to learn about the day-to-day work of these amazing organizations and lend a helping hand.
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project – Phone Banking Advocacy event is just one of over a dozen volunteer opportunities available throughout the borough taking place from 8:15am to 3:30pm. Click the “Info + Registration” link to find out more.
