UrbanGlass

 

4

127

one n.

Brooklyn, NY

Wow! What an interesting place and right here in Brooklyn!  I am amazed.  

I have heard of this place for over ten years and have never --until now, had the chance or time to inspect the place.  This past week, I went upstairs and checked out what is happening on the third floor of the BRIC building.

For starters:   Go inside the building, sign in the book on the first floor--there is a security guard down there. And that is a good thing!  Take the elevator upstairs to the third floor.   As you enter the third floor you will see kind of a glass partition one way and another glass room another way.  

WOW! Stepping right off the elevator you can see the glass blowers in action right in front of your eyes.  But you are safe because they are behind glass.   There is a receptionist behind the other glass partition and she will answer all of your questions.

They have a beautiful display case of some of the home-made glass items that were manufactured right there in this third floor studio.  I had to ask, 'Where ALL these made here"?  Yes, the answer is Yes.  Everything inside the display cases was manufactured there on the third floor.

And another surprise, these items are actually for sale.  This is the coolest place.  This is a nice place to do your holiday shopping and avoid the malls!    And, there are two vending machines where you can buy soda, water, and ice tea things like that, right there outside the glass partition.

Staff--friendly, professional, polite, informative and extremely helpful.

DOWN SIDE:   If you have allergies or severe asthma or breathing problems, this might not be the event that you want to go to.  Be forewarned that to me, the air seemed a little bit heavy --near the glass blowers.  So, healthy people will enjoy it and probably have no hard time with the air.  

For those needing pure fresh air, you might do better visiting the BRIC or BCAT studios  --where there are no glass furnaces in action.

Parking is the same for all three places, BRIC, BCAT and URBAN GLASS as they are all in the very same building.  I really liked this place.

UPSIDE: They offer classes here and they even offer special open hours events on certain days in 2008, 2009, and 2010.  Check with the receptionist for the dates that you might be interested in.

AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD:  Right near by--around the corner  and down a block or so, there is a small take-out Chinese restaurant.  Right next door to the studio is a new club restaurant that is open in the evenings and by day sells some fries and beverages for take out.

Parking lots are all over the place --check prices first before entering. You can comparison shop.  

A few blocks away , there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dunkin Donuts and many other stores on Fulton Street.

This place is interesting, convenient and definitely a place to visit this year.

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8

84

Daniela B.

Brooklyn, NY

Clean facility, good instructors, and close to just about every subway line that comes into Brooklyn. If you want to learn glassblowing, come here!

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4

24

allen c.

Brooklyn, NY

I took couple classes there and yes the place is amazing. At first glance you might think the price on the courses are high, but no, they are not. I love the 10 weeks programs and the instructors are extremely helpful ( most of them are full time artists, so you get to see some crazy stuff they make for their clients) in many ways. The place contains a hot shop where you deal with got glass for blowing or sculpting, a neon shop/ jewelery shop, a casting shop, cold shop, lots of kilms, annealers and a gallery. You can rent studio time with a good price, if you are a student there you can even get a discount!

Take a look, you will defiantly be amazed.

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