And the 2013 Awardees are…

As is tradition, every year at the DUMBO Improvement District’s Annual Meeting, we honor individuals and organizations in DUMBO who have contributed to the neighborhood in a significant way with a Magic Feather, and highlight those doing fascinating and impactful work in their industries with a DUMBO Dozen Award.

The 2013 Magic Feather Awards will be bestowed upon:

• United Photo Industries. Creators of the (Super)Heroes FENCE project + Photoville.
• Situ Studio. Creators of Heartwalk at the Pearl Street Triangle.
• Emily Colasacco and Wendy Feuer, NYC DOT Urban Art Program. Great partners on DUMBO's public art projects.

And the following will be crowned the DUMBO Dozen:

• Alloy. Architects and developers behind the beautiful DUMBO Townhouses going up on Water Street, sell out apartments at 185 Plymouth Street, and the winners of the John Street development site for Brooklyn Bridge Park.
• Andrew Sloat. Local artist whose work "First Amendment" was shared with the world as part of Time Square's Midnight Moment this year.
• Brooklyn Roasting Company. Our local favorite coffee spot had a major growth spurt in 2013— doubling their space, opening a 2nd shop on Flushing, hiring 30+ new employees, and adding pop-up cafes on the East River Ferry and in the Brooklyn Museum. Check out our Q+A here.
• Carrot Creative. One of DUMBO's longest standing digital agencies, Carrot had a pretty epic 2013. They announced a merger with VICE Media (a deal that was covered by the New York Times), received the Social Media Agency of the Year Shorty Award, and were named one of Inc.'s 500 Fastest Growing Companies.
• Christopher K. Ho. This local artist had three solo shows in 2013— at the Fyord Gallery (Philadelphia), the Y Gallery (NYC), and the Forever and Today Gallery (NYC). Ko also launched a major digital art project with Storm King.
• Michal Pasternak, Huge. As the Chief Experience Officer at Huge, Michal led the redesign of NYC.gov, which launched in 2013, giving New Yorkers and visitors an improved experience. Michal was also recently named one of Adage's 40 under 40. Check out our Q+A with Huge here.
• Pensa. Not only did Pensa's Street Charge hit dozens of park locations throughout the City this year, their DIWire wire-bender also had major Kickstarter success and won Engadget's "Insert Coin Competition." Check out our Q+A here.
• POV. To name a few of the accomplishments of the great documentarians of 20 Jay this year: POV's "Act of Killing" is up for an Oscar, their "American Promise" won at Sundance, and they were awarded a major grant from the MacArthur Foundation.
• STOKED. This non-profit has been teaching NYC kids how to design, market, and enjoy skateboards and snowboards, engaging more than 200 mentors and increasing kids' enrichment hours by 32% this year. Check out our Q+A here.
• Studio KCA. These designers won the Governor's Island design competition and installed "Cloud Pavilion" on the island for Summer 2013. The project, constructed out of milk containers, also won Interior Design's Project of the Year award.
• Tina Roth Eisenberg. Not only did Tina, aka swissmiss, grow Tattly and Creative Mornings into global enterprises this year, she was also tapped to deliver the keynote at SXSW Interactive 2013— a terrific talk that can be viewed here.
• Tinybop. This new company launched their first app, The Human Body, in August and by the end of September it had already been downloaded more than 5 million times in 108 countries. Expect more gorgeous and educational kids' apps in the coming year. Check out our Q+A here.
• Katie Hunt-Moor, Etsy. By day, Katie is the Social Responsibility Manager for Etsy, but in her spare time she runs Jiamini, a non-profit she started which raises money to support education for children in Tanzania. This year, Jiamini supported 70 students by providing them with scholarships, books, and computer programs.