Cypress - Northwest Houston Scoop — Issue #57

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Today's joke: What do you call a duck that gets straight A's? A wise quacker!

Good morning, Cy-Fair. ☕ Feel that? That's the sky finally hitting pause. After a week of driving into puddles and negotiating with your windshield wipers, Thursday hands us a mostly-dry morning, a warm-back-to-normal 91°, and storms that have the courtesy to wait until you're already home. Big day inside the issue, too: a family pizza empire that's been flying its dough in from New York for 20 years just planted flag number twelve, nine national-team volleyball stars are (mostly) coming back to a Cypress gym, and Harris County wants your opinion on a $129 million problem. First, though, one story we're handling gently. Let's go. 👇

Today's weather: Cypress, the umbrella gets a day off — mostly. We open mostly cloudy and muggy, climb to a very seasonal 91°, and the rain odds drop to a modest 30%, with any showers or thunderstorms mostly holding until after 4 p.m. Translation: the morning's yours, the late afternoon might get grumpy, and a soft south breeze at 5–10 mph is the only thing moving that thick July air. Mow early, hydrate like it's your job, and know that Friday's cranking back to 93° with a 103° heat index — so enjoy this “cool” spell while it lasts.

In this issue:

Dollar-denominated accounts — 401(k)s, IRAs, savings — are fully exposed to inflation, currency debasement, and government policy. Most financial advisors won't tell you that, because most of them don't profit when you know. Here's what's actually available to you:

Send me the free kit

Two decades ago, a family from New York decided Houston deserved a real slice — and flatly refused to fake it. When Brooklyn Pizzeria opened its doors in Humble back in 2006, it carried more than a pizza oven across the country; it brought a family tradition rooted in New York City and a stubborn commitment to authenticity that still defines the place today. Now, celebrating 20 years of New York-style pizza in Houston, this family-owned operation is opening its 12th location and showing exactly zero signs of slowing down.

The secret to lasting this long in a market drowning in chains? They never took the shortcut. “We import all of our ingredients from New York every single week for that true, authentic New York-style pizza,” says Jordan, general manager at Brooklyn Pizzeria. That's not a marketing line — it's personal. Jordan and his brothers run the shops alongside family members you'll find in the restaurants daily, continuing the tradition their father started decades ago. “Many people may see us as a one-off, you know, mom and pop shop,” Jordan says, “but in reality, we are a multi-generational family of restaurants that has experience serving our neighborhoods for, including our father's restaurants, greater than 40 years.”

That single Humble shop has grown into a dozen pizzerias spanning Atascocita, Baytown, Spring, Cypress, Sugar Land, Missouri City, Sienna, Fulshear and Kingwood — and yet it still runs like the corner spot that remembers your order. Here's the part the corporate competitors simply can't replicate: the person tossing your pie might recognize you, because they live here too. “When you come in, staff will recognize you because they're members of our own community,” Jordan notes. “That personal recognition with each and every customer really has us standing out, because we truly are a part and feature of the communities that we open in.” He takes particular pride in watching customers grow up alongside the business: “Watching people who used to come into our restaurant just dating, and now coming in with their family and two kids — you can really see how not only has our community supported us, but how we have also supported our community.”

As the 12th location gets ready to open, the excitement is genuine — and pointed at the neighbors who've been driving out of their way for years to get a slice. “I think we're excited the most about being able to serve a community that has for a long time been driving to come support us just because we were not close enough or convenient enough,” Jordan says. “I think it'll be really nice to serve those people who have been begging for us to move over there.” Whether you're chasing an authentic New York slice or just want a family-friendly table where the staff knows your name, that's the whole promise — 20 years in, and still delivering both.

→ Find a location near you at Brooklyn Pizzeria

Two of our neighbors are in critical condition this morning after a shooting inside the Fairfield Marketplace Kroger at 20355 Cypresswood Drive on Wednesday afternoon. Harris County Precinct 4 deputies responded shortly after 2 p.m., and both men were hospitalized in critical condition. Our thoughts are with them and their families as they recover.

Deputies say the two men may have known each other, and that the person believed to be responsible was quickly detained and is also receiving medical treatment. Precinct 4 emphasized there is no ongoing threat to the public. It's an unsettling thing to happen at a store many of us shop every week; if you were nearby and saw something, contact Constable Precinct 4, and take care of each other today.

→ Read more at ABC13

Before the county decides what your tax dollars fix next year, it wants to hear from you — and the math giving it a headache is steep. Harris County is staring at a projected $129 million gap in its Fiscal Year 2027 budget (a number that balloons to $257 million if commissioners hold the line on the no-new-revenue rate). That squeeze touches nearly everything a resident actually touches: neighborhood roads, bridges and sidewalks, park and trail upkeep, deputy patrols, public health, animal control, libraries, and emergency management.

The county has opened an anonymous online survey — it takes about three to five minutes — asking residents to rank what matters most before Commissioners Court sets the numbers. It's open through August 7, and for once “they never asked us” isn't an available excuse. If you've got opinions about Cy-Fair roads or park mowing, this is the cheap seat with the loudest mic.

→ Read more at My Neighborhood News

Cypress doesn't just watch elite volleyball — it hosts it, and the band is getting back together. LOVB Houston, which finished atop the League One Volleyball standings last season, is keeping its championship-caliber core intact for 2026-27, and a chunk of those home matches land right here at the Berry Center. Leading the returners: reigning league MVP Jordan Thompson, two-time Olympic medalist setter Micha Hancock, Olympic libero Justine Wong-Orantes, and reigning Middle Blocker of the Year Amber Igiede.

Add national-team talent from Slovakia, Germany, Bulgaria and Ukraine, and the roster reads more like a mini Olympics than a local sports listing. The 2026-27 schedule hasn't dropped yet, but file this away now: world-class volleyball, twenty minutes from your driveway, no flight required.

→ Read more at My Neighborhood News

Cypress, your fancy-dinner calendar just got a date worth clearing. Marvino's Italian Steakhouse is throwing a four-course Italian Wine Dinner on Thursday, July 30 at 7 p.m., pairing each plate with a pour from the celebrated Banfi portfolio. We're talking melon and prosciutto to open, fried burrata, parmesan-cream linguini with shrimp, a wood-grilled filet mignon with charred romesco, and an olive oil cake to land the plane — each with its own Italian wine, from a sparkling rosé to a Super Tuscan.

It's $109 a person (plus tax), which for five courses of curated food-and-wine theater is less than a plane ticket to Tuscany and considerably less jet lag. Seats are limited and reservations go through the restaurant at 832-220-7200. Consider it date night with a sommelier's homework already done.

→ Read more at Hello Cypress

If you'd rather shape the budget before it's final than complain about it after, Jersey Village is handing you the mic next week. The city has scheduled its Fiscal Year 2026-27 proposed budget public hearings for Monday, July 21 at the Civic Center Auditorium, 16327 Lakeview Drive — the utility districts step up at 6 p.m., and City Council's hearing follows at 7 p.m.

This is the once-a-year moment when the line items that decide your streets, drainage, parks and trash service are still up for public comment. Show up, listen, speak if you're moved to — it's the most direct local democracy gets without running for office yourself.

→ Read more at City of Jersey Village

For investors with $1M+ in retirement accounts, the tax code allows specific strategies that can reduce your tax exposure once RMDs begin—but only if used before then. 

The window is open for anyone within ten years of 73. A fiduciary advisor can review which may apply, at no cost.

Get Matched Today

The rain's stepping aside just in time — and the back half of this week is stacked: opening-night circus, live music on the water, a farmers market, and (yes) the actual World Cup final. Here's the run.

Today · Thursday, July 16

Tomorrow · Friday, July 17

Saturday · July 18

Sunday · July 19

Looking ahead

Monday brings Jersey Village's FY26-27 budget hearings (6 & 7 p.m., Civic Center Auditorium, 16327 Lakeview Dr) — see the story above if you want a seat at the table.

Business news in 5 minutes flat. Morning Brew breaks down markets, tech, and the economy — clearly, quickly, and with serious personality. 100% free. Join 4M+ Readers.

That's the Scoop for a (mostly) dry Thursday — a little heavier on heart and history, and one story we hope has the happiest possible ending. If Brooklyn's 20 years made you hungry, or the budget survey made you opinionated, do the one thing that keeps this whole thing rolling: forward this to the one neighbor who still says “nothing ever happens out here.” Got a tip, a new opening, a milestone, or an event we missed? Hit reply — we read every single one, and the best stuff lands in a future issue. Forwarded this yourself? Subscribe here so tomorrow's edition skips the middleman.

— The Northwest Houston Scoop team (real humans, powered by imported New York dough and stubborn optimism about the weather)