The best new Brooklyn spots: Where to find cool new venues in Brooklyn

RECOMMENDED: What's new and what's best in Brooklyn

These Brooklyn business owners opened their venues for various reasons: Helen Williams-Nurse of TracyChambers Vintage wants to celebrate the culture of Bed-Stuy, while Alec Duffy of Jack saw a need for a cultural space in Clinton Hill. Learn more about these new Brooklyn spots and find out why the owners chose to put down roots in Kings County.

Bushwick indie bookseller Molasses Books

RECOMMENDED: What's new and what's best in Brooklyn

What it is: Located in the middle of a residential block in Bushwick, this used-book store, which opened in July, is “50 percent retail space and 50 percent social space,” according to owner Matthew Winn. Disenchanted by coffeeshops he frequented, Winn came up with the idea for Molasses while selling used books on the streets of Park Slope. “Now, whenever you go to a café, it’s just like a sea of laptops,” he says. “There’s no longer this communal feeling.” Molasses, on the other hand,  has the air of a comfy neighborhood café, with locals sipping coffee along the bar while leafing through the shop’s latest gets.

What to expect: Most books are between $5 and $20, although the store stocks a few pricier finds. Molasses is also a place where artists from the ’hood (most recently a videographer and a sculptor) occasionally show their work.

What’s happening: Winn expects to serve beer and wine (and to expand his hours) come early October, once the space gets its alcohol license. “There’s a relationship between liquor and literature that makes sense to me,” he says. Soon enough, you can nurse a cold one while reading books by Carson McCullers, James Joyce and other scribes notorious for exploring that very relationship. 770 Hart St between Knickerbocker and Wilson Aves, Bushwick, Brooklyn (facebook.com/molassesbooks)—TL