A Last-Minute and Local Gift Guide for Anyone Stressed About The Holidays

By Rae Witte

If the holidays managed to sneak up on you again, don’t worry, you’re not alone out here scouring for last-minute gift ideas. But let’s close that ChatGPT tab, and lean on the great fortune of living in an inconceivably dense concentration of gifted makers, vendors, markets, grocers, designers, curators, and craftpeople, and let them guide you to eleventh-hour glory. After all, there’s nothing wrong with asking for a little help, and no amount of “prompting with purpose” that can replicate the touch, taste, and authoritative recommendation powers of a local.

It’s not lost on us, though, that some of you may not be sure where to start. So, below you’ll find 10 items made, found, designed, or, at the very least, tangentially tied to Brooklyn that will make for either a stellar, final-hour present, or inspire the one that turns you into someone’s holiday hero, and put Santa to shame. For some extra fodder, you can also check out our list of locally-sourced and/or accessed White Elephant gifts. And if you or someone you know is feeling the pinch this holiday season, refer to some of these community organizations and events running toy drives and giveaways right up until Christmas.

Courtesy of Edy’s Grocery

A “Build-Your-Own” spice kit from Edy’s Grocer
136 Meserole Ave.

If there’s someone in your life who loves to spend Saturday afternoons in the kitchen, or always pulls up with a platter, Edy’s Grocer has just the thing. The “Build-Your-Own” spice kit is, just as it sounds, a highly customizable batch of seasonings from the Lebanese market in Greenpoint, where you can pick one up and treat yourself to a breakfast plate while you’re knocking out the holiday shopping.

Courtesy of Head-Hi

A copy of Dust & Grooves: Vol. 2 from Head-Hi 
146 Flushing Ave. 

Bless the bookshelf or the coffee table of the active or aspiring audiophile with the second volume of Dust & Grooves from author and record collector Eilon Paz, who speaks with and photographs dozens and dozens of elite crate diggers in these glossy, gorgeous pages, many of whom are probably your neighbors or DJing somewhere in the borough as you read this. An increasingly rare copy is available at the Head-Hi book and coffee shop in the Navy Yards.

Photo by Michael Gonik

The Secret Coffee x Arena Yankees Hat from Secret Coffee
687 Broadway

Secret Coffee is a tiny coffee nook in a small business mall beneath the J/M/Z lines with exquisitely curated beans and some pretty elite merch. Specifically, this embroidered Yankees cap, which is a collaboration with local stitch shop Arena Embroidery and might make even a Mets fan turn their head. There were only 50 made, so grab one while you can.

Courtesy of Second Hand Records

This mint copy of Miles Davis’ Live-Evil from Second Hand Records 
23 Lawton St

For the jazz-head-in-training, taking their first few steps down the rewardingly challenging path of live Miles Davis recordings, grab this pristine pressing of the trailblazing trumpeter’s 1971 album from Second Hand Records in Bushwick. And when they inevitably ask, “What’s with the name?”, inform them that the earliest sessions for Live-Evil date back to just months after someone attempted to assassinate Davis outside of The Blue Coronet, a high-key legendary Bed-Stuy jazz bar that used to be on Fulton Street.

Courtesy of William Ellery

The fleece “Clava” from William Ellery
Online or wherever they’re popping up next

If the last few months in New York are any reliable metric for what we can anticipate from winter proper, we’re fucked. But you can make it a little more bearable for at least one person you love with an expedition-oriented take on the venerable balaclava silhouette from NYC-based wool wizards William Ellery, which can be found mostly online, for now, or occasionally in pop-up form (recently spotted at the Snow Peak holiday market in Williamsburg).

Courtesy of BLK MKT

A vintage Paula Abdul t-shirt from BLK MKT Vintage
Online

Their Bed-Stuy brick-and-mortar may have closed, but BLK MKT founders Jannah and Kiyanna Handy are still slinging an extensive collection of A-1 vintage online. The shop features secondhand literature, vinyl, art, housewares, furniture, and, of course, clothing, like this straight-up marvel of a Paula Abdul (tour?) tee from 1988.

Courtesy of LQQK Studio

The hand-tooled leather lighter case from LQQK Studio
148 McKibbin St. or Online

For the friend who either has no lighter or seven on them at once, a quietly lavish, hand-tooled leather case that should make them think twice about where they stash the torch. Sure, it’s the priciest thing in the guide, and obviously meant for a very specific strain of human, with a very specific affliction, but look at this thing—it’s gorgeous.

Courtesy of Cooper-Hewitt

The commemorative t-shirt for Devon Turnbull’s new sound system installation at Cooper Hewitt
2 East 91st St or Online

Devon Turnbull, the Brooklyn-based man behind the sound machine at Public Records (and now countless other systems all over the world), just debuted a new hand-crafted build in the Carnegie Library at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design. HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3 is installed until July 19, 2026, and, as with many of Turnbull’s museum exhibits, it has a mid-weight companion tee available in limited quantities, with a sketch of the system on the back and a top-right chest hit of Turnbull’s OJAS banner on the front. Grab one online today, or better yet, pair it with a proper trip to the Carnegie Mansion to experience the system for yourselves.

Courtesy of Four Horsemen

A copy of The Four Horsemen: Food and Wine for Good Times cookbook from Friends NYC
56 Bogart St. 

Four Horsemen has a lot of lore to go with that Michelin Star they earned in 2019 (and have maintained since). The Williamsburg restaurant, co-founded and operated by LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, is highly regarded for both its food and (James Beard Award-winning) wine program, and to let you in on some of the method madness, the team behind the madness published some of their secrets in this book. You can pick it up at Friends NYC in Bushwick and support two local businesses in a single purchase.

Courtesy of Marché Rue Dix

The Macramé Tote Bag from Marché Rue Dix
1453 Bedford Ave. 

For the love of god, give the canvas totes a rest and pick up this Macramé Tote Bag from Marché Rue Dix. And while you’re there playing Santa’s helper, grab a snack and comb through the Senegalese cafe, salon, and shop’s shelves and racks, all properly stocked with curated vintage, independent designers, and artisanal goods.