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November 6, 2009

Closing Bell: Flea Fun In The Fall Sun

Phew. It's been a rough few weeks of dodgy weather (and weather reports) but it's finally looking like we have back-to-back dry days coming up this weekend. With the hard part out of the way, we can just step back and let The Flea vendors do their thing! Joining the usual cast of characters this weekend are the folks behind Atlantis in Red Hook, an online purveyor of curiosities, a vinyl-head known as the Record Grouch, an antiques dealer from the Chelsea Garage and a new Red Hook Food Vendor serving up arepas and chuzos. All good, baby. All good. The Brooklyn Flea is held on Saturdays from 10 to 5 at the Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene (176 Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt Avenues; take the C or G trains to Clinton-Washington) and on Sundays from 11-6 in Dumbo underneath the Brooklyn Bridge at the corner of Water and New Dock Street. Map and directions here.

Development Watch: Pratt Myrtle Gets Glassy

Pratt's new seven story academic and studio building at 524 Myrtle Avenue is moving along at a steady clip. When we checked in back in July, there were three stories on steel framing up and now all seven are up and there are some windows to boot. Sounds like a Fall 2010 opening is a lay-up.
Development Watch: Pratt Myrtle Rising [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: Rat at Pratt [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: Pratt Myrtle [Brownstoner] GMAP
Pratt Starts on New Myrtle Project [Brownstoner] P*Shark
Pratt Reveals Plans for Myrtle KFC Site [Brownstoner] DOB

StreetLevel: Cafe DuCharme Opens on President

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Cafe DuCharme opened earlier this week on President near the corner of 5th Avenue. The small cafe, which gets its handle from the last name of its Swiss owner, is open from 7 to 7, and in addition to fair trade drip ($1.25/cup) has a variety of sandwiches (a prosciutto combo, eg, for $8.75) and breakfast fare. The shop's proprietor previously had a coffee shop in Old San Juan.
Two New Eateries Coming to Slope's President Street [Brownstoner] GMAP

From the Forum: Wooden Cornice Ornaments

The vertical wooden ornamented supports holding our cornice is damaged. The details resemble acanthus leaves, rolls and dolphin tails. Does...More >

Open House Picks

house Boerum Hill
80 Hoyt Street
FSBO
Sunday 12:30-3:30
$1,495,00 was $1,780,000
GMAP P*Shark

house Clinton Hill
147 Vanderbilt Avenue
Corcoran
Saturday 12-1:30
$995,000
GMAP P*Shark

house West Midwood
735 Rugby Road
Mary Kay Gallagher
Sunday 1-2:30
$890,000
GMAP P*Shark

house Stuyvesant Heights
480 Macdonough Street
Brown Harris Stevens
Sunday 11-12:30
$649,000
GMAP P*Shark

Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Comment: At least deals are getting done.
Open House Picks 5/8/09 [Brownstoner]
Previous Six Months Later Posts [Brownstoner]

Roddick Condo Hunting in Brooklyn?

Just saw this Page 6 item...Andy Roddick and wife spotted at J Condo in Dumbo!

Restaurant of the Day: Chickadee Chick

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"This diminutive storefront specializes in free-range chicken that’s butterflied, steeped in a lemongrass marinade overnight, and set on a char grill that’s visible to customers and passersby. The chicken is sold by the whole, half, or quarter, and you can also get 'bon bon wings' in spicy chili sauce," writes Daniel Maurer for New York magazine.

The school desks on the sidewalk aren't the most romantic place to enjoy a chicken burger, let alone a whole on-the-bone bird (which is priced at $11.95) — so take-out is the main attraction here. Yelper TV writes, "Wasn't INCREDIBLE but better than fast food chicken...The chicken sandwich I got was very good, the fries were a little soggy but the flavor was good and I had a black and white milkshake that was GREAT." How would you rate Chickadee Chick? Any word on their frozen custard?

85 State's Roller Coaster Ride

The pricing of 85 State Street in Brooklyn Heights sure has been interesting to watch, and now that the renovated five-story townhouse's sale for $3.4 million has been recorded in public records, a trip down memory lane seems in order:

9/2005: The house trades hands for $2.5 million in an estate sale.
3/2006: Only 6 months later, the 5,000-sf property flips for $3.2 million to a developer.
1/2007: The house is placed on the market by Corcoran for $5.8 million.
5/2007: Brown Harris Stevens takes over the listing and prices it at $5.95 million.
1/2008: The listing jumps to Halstead and is priced at $5.75 million.
2/2009: A series of price cuts brings the asking down to $4.2 million.
6/2009: Warburg takes over marketing but doesn't cut the price further. Listing now says: "Offered at less than cost! Stunning XXX mint Brooklyn Heights townhouse...the home has just undergone a complete renovation from top to bottom."
10/2009: The house finally sells for $3.4 million.

House of the Day: 85 State Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
85 State Street [StreetEasy]

From the Forum: Leaking Radiator?

First time posting, any help, suggestions, experiences would greatly appreciated. Oct.2007 winter heating fine, Oct.08 winter fine, spring 09, saw...More >

The Albemarle Renovation Blog Launches!

We're thrilled to announce the launch of a new renovation blog which will be called the Albemarle Reno blog. As the picture above shows, the house itself is incredible but there's lots of work to be done; this is also the first non-rowhouse we've featured as well as the first house in Victorian Flatbush. So please give a warm Brownstoner welcome to the Albemarle Reno bloggers and go check out the first post which just went up!

Flea Blog: What's New This Weekend?

Beatrice ran the esoteric antiques and furniture shop Atlantis (above) on Van Brunt St. in Red Hook, which was...More >

DOB's Stalled Site List Passes 500 Mark; BK Still on Top

The Department of Buildings' latest tally of stalled construction sites counts 531 pits of inactivity citywide, up from 453 in its last report. As it has since the DOB started making a list of no-go construction, Brooklyn leads the way in the five boroughs, with 246 stalled sites. (Back in the summer, when the DOB first started releasing these reports, 63 were counted in all of Brooklyn and only 143 in the whole city.) Dubious honors for second and third place go to Queens, with 147 sites, and Manhattan, with 80 sites. In Brooklyn, the area covered by CB1, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, continues to have the most stalled sites, with 80 properties making the list this time around. No other area in Brooklyn comes close to CB1, though there are significant numbers in CB2's zone (21), CB6's (14), and CB7's (16). Meanwhile, there are still obvious omissions from the tally. For example, long-dormant 333 Carroll is nowhere to be found, and neither are a couple of 4th Avenue sites where nothing's been doing for a long time. Click though to see the full list.
Stalled Construction Sites [DOB]
Williamsburg Ranks #1 in City's Stalled-Site Sweepstakes [Brownstoner]

Continue reading "DOB's Stalled Site List Passes 500 Mark; BK Still on Top"

Fulton Sports Bar Signage Revealed

There's been a lot of speculation (in a neighborhoody, chit-chatty sort of way) about the sports bar that's going to be opening soon on Fulton Street between Vanderbilt and Clinton Avenues in Clinton Hill, so we were interested to receive the photo at right yesterday of the new signage being installed. Just to make sure they we're only going to 11, we rode by this morning to regard the handiwork ourselves and, sure enough, the name's "Chance 11"—anyone have any ideas what that might be a reference to? The sign might be a little flashy for our taste but at this point we're 100% rooting for any business that can generate foot traffic and stimulate the local economy in this part of town. On a related note, this block as a whole has really come a long way in the last few years, hasn't it?
Streetlevel: Sports Bar for Fulton [Brownstoner] GMAP

Affordable Housing on Tap

It may seem like there's not any affordable housing available, but, reports The Brooklyn Eagle, there are 700 units currently up for grabs through one non-profit development company alone in Brooklyn. The Housing Partnership Development Corp. which has created 30,000 units of affordable housing over its 25-year history, is currently offering "moderate-income" apartments at the newly-developed Bergen Street Co-ops at 1509 Bergen Street in Crown Heights (at right). The Partnership is also involved in other projects like 320 Sterling Street, which is about three-quarters done, and Atlantic Terrace next to the Atlantic Center (at top), which just started making applications available.
700 Affordable Homes, Apartments in B'klyn Now Available [Brooklyn Eagle]

From the Forum: Furnace or Thermostat Issues

My furnace is not turning off. The temp is kept at around 68-70. Two days ago, I woke up to...More >

EDC's Deal for Wonder Wheel Park Goes Through

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The Economic Development Corporation's purchase of the Coney Island land that Wonder Wheel Park sits on was recorded in public records yesterday. The EDC announced it had gone into contract with the property's owner, Ward Realty, last year, and that it would pay $11 million for the parcels, but the purchase price ended up being $9.75 million. According to an EDC spokeswoman, the Ward family agreed to reduce the purchase price in exchange for closing at an earlier date. In a press release about the purchase last year, the EDC said that Wonder Wheel Park would remain a tenant on the site through 2020 and that "the deal is the first of what NYCEDC expects to be a series of land acquisitions in the coming months as the City proceeds with its vision to create a 21st century entertainment destination and protect Coney Island’s amusement legacy in perpetuity."
Deed: 1025-27 Boardwalk West, 1102 Bowery, 3001 Jones Walk [ACRIS] GMAP
Photo by OMG! Ponies!

Open Thread

New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap

In October, a Department of Transportation panel narrowed the list of potential designs for the new Kosciuszko Bridge down to three finalists, including what The Brooklyn Paper calls the front runner, above. In addition to a new look, the bridge of the future will have nine lanes instead of six (yay!) as well as a bike and pedestrian lane; the whole thing will be set at less of an incline than the current structure because tall boats no longer go underneath. All this good stuff won't come cheap though: We're looking at a $1 billion price tag. Sounds like a lot of dough to us, but apparently that's what it takes to get bridge builders out of bed these days. “For a bridge that is a mile long in New York City, $1 billion is the going rate,” said DOT spokesman Adam Levine. The Feds will pay 80% of the freight, leaving the state with the rest. But the state is now talking about slashing its transportation spending, so it remains to be seen of the bridge, over which 160,000 vehicles pass every day, makes the cut.
The Billion-Dollar Bridge! [Brooklyn Paper]

Weekend Events

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Cobble Hill Bike Ride
The Cobble Hill Association and Brooklyn Greenway Initiative are hosting a 10-mile casual bike ride that will start at Cobble Hill Park and pass through Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, the Columbia Waterfront District, Red Hook, and Carroll Gardens then loop back to Cobble Hill. The weather might be chilly so dress warm! Sunday, November 8. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Free with RSVP to cobblehillbikeride@gmail.com. Verandah Place at Cobble Hill Park.

The Dogs of Brooklyn
The Dogs of Brooklyn is Susie DeFord's fresh poetic narrative about her colorful life as a dogwalker accompanied by vibrant photos of Brooklyn and the dogs by Dennis Riley. Susie DeFord, Melissa Febos, and Vijay Seshadri will be reading poems and stories about Brooklyn and its "wildlife." All are welcome to attend. Friday, November 6. 7 p.m. Free. 7th Ave & Lincoln Place, Ozzie's Park Slope.

Brooklyn Flea
The Brooklyn Flea takes place in Ft. Greene on Saturday and its historic Brooklyn Bridge location on Sunday. Both locations feature a great mix of vintage, antiques, jewelry, and food. Saturday, November 7. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt Avenues. Sunday, November 8. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. In Dumbo, underneath the Brooklyn Bridge at the corner of Water and New Dock Street.

Please send your events listings to events@brownstoner.com

Continue reading "Weekend Events"