#3 -- OCCULTER (NEW YORK)

Honeycomb necklaces made of gold, scrimshaw pendants fashioned from salvaged piano keys, a rare book collection installed to seemingly defy gravity—the things that Derrick Cruz creates look like they come from some magical old-world place. But in discussing his newly opened store at 83 1/2 Orchard Street, the artist and jewelry designer explained thatocculter is in fact the term for “an instrument used to block the view of a bright celestial object, allowing the careful observation of a fainter one.” Such a description could just as easily describe Cruz himself, his vision always clearing space for others to expand theirs.