Brooklyn Clay Industries

I've scoured the internet looking for a one-off pottery class, and Brooklyn Clay Industries is the best I could find!

Some highlights:

- The people running the place make or break an experience. Reuben and Elsa at BCI are incredibly kind and loveable people. They went out of their way to accommodate us on our special day. They also let me check the place out before booking a class. Reuben was very patient with us, explaining the process while also keeping it interesting with some history/trivia/conversation.

- The place has a beautiful view of the Navy Yard basin and the Williamsburg Bridge. If you can get there for a session around sunset, that'd be perfect. Contrary to the reviews online, the place is extremely easy to find. Google Maps Pin is accurate. Just navigate. Use any of the two metal doors and get to the 3rd floor. And if you dig the 'back to the past' industrial look like I do, this place is for you!

- Probably the only place that offers one-time classes midweek/most weekdays!

- From what I checked, BCI has the best price point for a 2 hour class in Brooklyn/Manhattan. They had good equipment and materials. From a beginners perspective, the clay/wheel were easy to work with.

- They also have ceramics for sale. Proceeds go towards sponsored school programs.

- Interesting places to check nearby. I have no idea what Newlabs is, but it's beautiful! They also have a café inside. Transmitter brewery is worth checking out.

Would definitely return.

I took the two hour intro class and found it fun and informative. My suggestion would be to add another helper instructor when there are that many beginners in the studio!

Loved! My friend and I tried the intro to pottery class and it was so fun. Reuben is an amazing instructor! He thoroughly explained each step and was very attentive to anyone having issues. Can't wait to go back!

Fun experience. The instructor was very patient and explained the process very well. Would go back again.

We had so much fun at the Friday night Pottery Wheel class! What a fun, socially distanced activity. The instruction was top-notch and I really learned so much from Rueben. We felt safe with social distancing (3 couples, ample space) and we had an absolute blast!!! Highly recommend! Plus it was fun to bring a bottle of wine! I recommend keeping your nails trimmed and wearing clothes you don't mind getting messy or bring an apron. Enjoy!

We took a Creative Hand Building class and we loved it so much that we decided to have a private birthday party at the studio! We had 18 people (all couples) and we were able to have a class using the wheel. It was a lot of fun. Though, we had to take turns and wait for our partners to finish their pieces first. While 9 people were working on the wheel, the other 9 were just mingling. Those mingling people took lots of pictures! So it all worked out perfectly. It's also a BYOB place. We had drinks and everyone had lots of fun. The instructor and staff are very nice, respectable, and understanding. They accommodated our party and provided the best service to us. As an organizer of this party, I was very pleased with all the communication we have had. I would definitely recommend this place to everyone looking to do something artistic and fun, by themselves, with a friend or with a group of people. Everyone in our group loved it and wanted to come back for another class.

The instructor was going too fast when he started and finished his clay for teaching demo, perhaps forgetting that he has an audience watching him and grasping to learn. As a result when we started our own project, we were lost how to start it, but he did walk around and helped each one of us so that was a plus.

We came in 15 mins early but it was empty and when it started, we started 30 mins later because we waited for late comers because everyone got lost. Entering this place was hard to find. Of the 8 people that registered this day, only 4 managed to find the place.

You would need a BARCODE to enter the yard complex (which they email to you) and then you have to find the building which maybe hard for some people especially on winter night.

From our experience, instead of a 2 hour session, we only had slightly less than 1 hour. Teacher appears to be preoccupied to finish another project because he had something else he was doing in the back.

We were told to come back 8 weeks later by appointment only to pick up our baked and glazed project. Too long of a wait and maybe they need more help with the glazing project as 8 weeks is too long for some people to wait.

The good: dedicated teacher but perhaps too fast, small classes, personal help one on one when class is small.

The bad: old empty large building felt like a zombie apocalypse, you had to clean your own machine with sponges after you are done, hard to find complicated location in the dark, 8 weeks to wait to get your project finished, parking space are not designated and it maybe busy if construction is present, difficult to find the exit out of the premise because many exits out were closed when we were done, machine felt like it would scrape your palm if you are not careful, my particular chair was set much higher than the machine (i could not lower it down further that would allow me better body posture), no coffee or food eatery inside the yard however we saw a construction of a large eating complex being built closeby inside the yard (early December 2018) so this will change

If you are a local, it is not a bad place to visit but if you live far like us, it's a challenge