Bed-Stuy is getting a new home for books, culture and conversation under the direction of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Hannah-Jones is teaming up with New York entrepreneurs Rotimi and Ayo Akinnuoye and Baldwin & Co. owner DJ Johnson to open The North Star Books + Bar, which wil lbe inside the former Macon Hardware storefront at Macon Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard, as Brownstoner reported. The goal is simple: Create a gathering place where literature, community and nightlife meet.
Nikole Hannah-Jones is keeping Bed-Stuy’s legacy alive
The project is deeply tied to neighborhood history. Macon Hardware stood for generations as one of Bed-Stuy’s longest-running Black-owned businesses. Keeping the building in community hands mattered to Hannah-Jones, a Bed-Stuy resident for nearly 15 years who has hosted reading salons in her home and spent years scouting a public space. After a previous lease fell through, she set her sights on ownership. A “for sale” post led her to 339 Macon Street, where she made her case to owner Warren Hayes to pass the keys to someone rooted in the neighborhood.
“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 in an interview with Brownstoner. “I’m very much aware of the history, and very much honored to keep the building Black owned, frankly.”
Macon Hardware’s legacy remains central. Open since around 1930, the shop became a neighborhood anchor under the Hayes family after Peter and Clara Hayes purchased it in 1987. Clara ran the store after Peter’s passing. Following her death in 2022, there wasn’t a relative of the couple to keep the business operating. Their son decided to sell it, marking the end of an era for a place many considered an iconic community hub. The sale was completed in 2024 with financing from the Self-Help Venture Fund, and Hannah-Jones noted it served as a bridge loan with her as the building’s owner.
What will the North Star Books + Bar offer Bed-Stuy?
The concept is part bookstore, part bar and cafe. Hannah-Jones, who is also a Howard University professor and co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, wants the venue to be a magnet for the creative world.
“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 explained. “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.”
Programming will stretch beyond author talks. Patrons can expect performances, book clubs and writing workshops designed to pull in both neighbors and visitors.
“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,” Hannah-Jones said.
Plans are to open the bookstore in early 2026
The two-story brick corner building sits within the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. Apartments upstairs will host micro-residencies that give visiting writers a place to stay and a way to plug into community work. Inside, a gut renovation is underway to channel a Harlem Renaissance spirit with an Art Deco touch.
As Hannah-Jones put it, “The space will pay tribute to Black writers of all eras and of all forms.”
Additionally, she and her team plan to operate the bar and cafe in-house. A full kitchen is being built now, with chefs consulting on the menu.
With The North Star Books + Bar, the partners are building on that legacy rather than replacing it. Hannah-Jones framed it as a place designed to be “a draw for great Black writers and creators from across the globe.” She hopes it will be ready for customers in early 2026.