From “The 1619 Project” to the Ida B. Wells Society, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones has built a career on honoring and preserving Black stories. Now, she’s turning that mission into a physical space in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood with the upcoming launch of The North Star Books + Bar, a literary salon, bookstore, and bar designed to celebrate Black literature and culture, The Grio reports.
Partnering with Bed-Stuy entrepreneurs Rotimi and Ayo Akinnuoye, the husband-and-wife duo behind the neighborhood favorites Bed-Vyne Wine, Bed-Vyne Brew, and Bed-Vyne Cocktail, along with DJ Johnson, owner of New Orleans’ Baldwin & Co., Hannah-Jones is bringing her vision to life in a location that already carries deep community roots. The North Star Books + Bar will take over the former Macon Hardware space at the corner of Macon Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard, a building that’s long been a neighborhood anchor.
“I’m very plugged into the writer community, I’m friends with a lot of great writers, and wanted to be able to bring those writers into our community,” Hannah-Jones told reporters.
“Whenever you have big book events in the city, they’re not at Black bookstores and they’re not in Black neighborhoods, so I really wanted to bring that to Bed-Stuy. People should expect all of their writing heroes.”
Before closing in 2023, Macon Hardware stood as one of Bed-Stuy’s oldest Black-owned businesses, known for its friendly advice and old-school charm. Hannah-Jones says she’s honored to keep the building’s legacy alive and, just as importantly, to ensure it remains Black-owned. In a community that’s faced decades of gentrification and displacement, the project feels both restorative and revolutionary.
“Mr. Hayes was very happy to be able to sell it to someone who is in the community and cares about the community and will create a great community space,” she said of Warren Hayes, whose family owned Macon Hardware for decades. “I’m very much aware of the history, and very much honored to keep the building Black owned, frankly.”
The Hayes family’s connection to the building runs deep. Warren’s father, Peter Hayes, began working there when he was just 12 years old before purchasing it with his wife, Clara, in 1987. After Clara’s passing in 2022, Warren made the bittersweet decision to sell, choosing a buyer who would carry on the building’s legacy as a Black-owned establishment.
The North Star Books + Bar is envisioned as more than just a bookstore; it’s a cultural hub. The two-story brick building will feature a bar and kitchen on the first floor and apartments upstairs that will serve as micro-residencies for visiting writers. Those residencies will allow authors to live, write, and host community readings and workshops right in Bed-Stuy.
“We’re not going to have a huge menu. It’s hard enough to make money on books, but we will have the capability to offer a full menu whenever we’re ready,” Hannah-Jones noted.
The space will draw aesthetic inspiration from the Harlem Renaissance, featuring a vintage Art Deco feel and tributes to the literary giants who paved the way, including Zora Neale Hurston and James Baldwin, as well as contemporary writers who continue to shape the culture.
“In early 2026, the renaissance will be reborn in Brooklyn…At a time when Black stories and histories are under attack, The North Star recalls the elegance and striving of the Harlem Renaissance literary salons, providing a sophisticated sanctuary for Black literature, artistry and creative resistance,” a statement from The North Star Books + Bar posted to social media reads.
Hannah-Jones, who has called Bed-Stuy home for nearly 15 years, has been curating private reading events in her home and dreaming of a public literary space for years. When a previous lease fell through, she decided it was time to buy instead of rent. After spotting the property at 339 Macon Street online, she reached out directly to Hayes and made her case.
“I really, really want it to be a space, especially in these times, where creative folks can come together and exchange knowledge, ideas, literature, art,” she said. “The space will pay tribute to Black writers of all eras and of all forms.”
With The North Star Books + Bar, Hannah-Jones is not only preserving Bed-Stuy’s Black history but also creating a new chapter, one where storytelling, ownership, and community all share the same page.
Cover photo: Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones Is Opening a Bookstore in Brooklyn, Paying Homage to Black Writers/Photo credit: Mary Inhea King/ELLE