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11 last-minute, affordable gifts to buy from local NYC artists and stores
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The Brian Lehrer Show
Published Dec 13, 2023
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Courtesy of Lara Tomlin
By
The Brian Lehrer Show
Published Dec 13, 2023
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We get so many original gift ideas from our endlessly creative audience at "The Brian Lehrer Show."
One listener sells baby tuxedos — yes they are tuxedo onesies! From another, you can buy the gift of horseback riding lessons in Muttontown, Long Island.
Did you know that the New York City Department of Records and Information Services lets you order prints of vital documents and historical photographs of buildings?
We know this thanks to our annual holiday tradition called Shop Listener, which we started around 2009 to build community among listeners from different parts of our area.
This year, we did five call-ins on the live show and built a buyer’s guide with an interactive map to bring sellers and buyers of holiday gifts from our community together for an extra little bond, and some financial support to boot.
Below is a list of 11 local gifts from this year’s Shop Listener, selected by producers and editors at WNYC.
You can shop local and support your community and delight loved ones without breaking the bank. How’s that for spreading holiday cheer?
Get great wine from a woman-owned business in Harlem.
The Harlem Wine Gallery is one place where I’ve bought holiday gifts in the last few years, after learning about it on Shop Listener, says host Brian Lehrer. Black- and woman-owned, they also spotlight wineries owned by women and people of color.
“They’ve been very nice, fast and thorough on orders for delivery or shipping too,” says Lehrer.
You can order online at their website and the store can deliver locally or express ship orders. If you’re stuck on what to get, co-owner Daneen Steele says “this is the time for bubbles, from Crémant to Champagne, or a nice, big, heart-warming red.”
Harlem Wine Gallery
Courtesy of Harlem Wine Gallery
Commission a portrait of a beloved pet.
Producer Esperanza Rosenbaum recommends gifting a dog portrait by Lara Tomlin, a professional artist who paints originals (about 4 inches by 4 inches each) of pets, working off pictures.
Though she specializes in pups, Tomlin has painted horses, rabbits, donkeys and even cats. She says that after years of refusing, the cat community finally broke her down.
All portraits are $250, including shipping. Tomlin also offers gift certificates. You can learn more at The Painted Pup.
An original dog portrait by Lara Tomlin
Courtesy of Lara Tomlin
Buy a memento of Brooklyn history.
I was excited to hear The Center For Brooklyn History in Brooklyn Heights get called in to the Shop Listener guide, says producer Meg Ryan. I stopped by, did a fun interactive exhibit about Brooklyn with my son, and picked up this gift: a glass tile, for $20. You can learn more about the center’s collections, special events and hours at their website.
The Center for Brooklyn History has an array of Brooklyn-themed gifts.
Get candles, smudges or wall prints for the witchy people in your life.
**“**I have a lot of witchy people in my life,“ says producer Zach Gottehrer-Cohen, “so this queer-owned home goods shop — featuring candles and smudges and wall prints and puzzles and tarot decks — is going to get a lot of my Yule dollars.” Lovewild Design has a brick-and-mortar store in the East Village, and you can also find a fun selection of gifts for under $30 online.
Surprise and delight your weed-enthusiast friends.
Getting stoned should be fun — kind of the point, right? Lots of cannabis products are no-frills, no-fun THC delivery systems. Enter Burner Babe, a women-owned business in Brooklyn that sells “smoking accessories for babes who burn.”
Its most popular gift so far this year has been the Pretty High set of papers, says owner Marel Ravdin. Orders placed on or before Sunday, Dec. 17, should arrive in time for Christmas.
Courtesy of Burner Babe
Buy a beautiful rug handmade in Brooklyn.
“When I’m shopping for holiday gifts, I like to think about lovely, not 100% utilitarian things I’d love to buy for myself but don’t feel like spending the money on,” says senior producer Mary Croke.
In that vein, she has her eye on these small, colorful rugs by Lisa Ventry for her mom and her sister. The rugs are handmade in Brooklyn, and Ventry posts fun pictures of her process for making the rugs on her Instagram page.
Small rugs are approximately 17 inches by 30 inches and sell for $150, not including shipping. To buy one, contact Lisa on Instagram. Or, if you’re near the Textile Arts Center in Gowanus on Saturday, Dec. 16, or Sunday, Dec. 17, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., you can buy one in person from the artist herself.
A rug by Lisa Ventry
Elevate their handsoap game.
Soapply is “soft and subtly scented,” says Zach Gottehrer-Cohen. “I was so sad when we ran out and reverted to lesser hand soaps.” Products are packaged in recycled glass rather than plastic so you can refill or recycle them.
For $45, you can start with the Liquid Hand Wash Bundle, which includes soap made from coconut, olive and jojoba oils.
A Soapply gift set
Get an original artwork of your favorite NYC place.
For another truly unique gift, producer Amina Srna recommends ordering an original artwork from local artist Jen Toth, who illustrates beloved and iconic NYC spots, including Strand Bookstore, Veselka and Peter Lugar, to name just a few. A few years ago, Srna commissioned a print as a gift and says it “came out better than I could have ever imagined and remains so dear to both of our hearts. Bonus: The pricing was great for my budget and the turnaround was super fast!"
Spice up your life with Hattwood Hot Sauce.
For the person who loves to add flavor to their food, opt for a $12 bottle of Hattwood Hot Sauce – a gift that will keep on giving.
Hattwood’s bestseller is the GreenGo (tomatillo-jalapeño green verde sauce), but spice lovers might prefer the XXX (ghost pepper, caramelized onion and Cajun trinity). The company is based in Flatbush and Pennsylvania, and offers almost a dozen sauces on its website.
The owner, John Munnelly, is Irish and married to a Caribbean woman; he says he derives a lot of inspiration from living in Flatbush and visiting family in Antigua. He says his sauces are intended to be enjoyed by all, and, though some are hot, you won’t find any so spicy that they’ll “kick you down the neighborhood.” They can deliver some orders to New York and New Jersey.
Hattwood Hot Sauce
Make your friends laugh with tchotchkes of great thinkers.
“We have discovered that people seem to really like the giants of our culture reduced to little finger puppets, mugs and witty jokes,” the Unemployed Philosophers Guild says on their website.
The Brooklyn-based company isn't kidding. There you can buy a Frida Kahlo finger puppet, a Nietzsche watch or a Jane Austen planter bust.
Perennial favorites include the Banned Book Mug and their eclectic line of hair pins, with designs ranging from Bob Ross to sharks. Order by Dec. 18 with expedited shipping to receive your gifts by Christmas.
A Friday Kahlo Little Thinker Doll
Courtesy The Unemployed Philosophers Guild
Give the gift of becoming a better writer.
Whether you’re looking to inspire a kid who loves writing or get a grownup to pursue their dream, the Writers Circle can help. It offers a range of courses and workshops, including some to help you finally start your novel or unleash your inner writer. Based in Summit, New Jersey, the Writers Circle offers courses in person and on Zoom ,and you can buy gift certificates at their website.
For more local ideas, you can check out The Brian Lehrer Show’s interactive map, and filter your search by neighborhood if you’d like to shop hyper local. Go get ‘em!
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The Brian Lehrer Show
Brian Lehrer leads the conversation about what matters most in local and national politics weekdays at 10 a.m. on WNYC
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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