Monthly Archives: June 2005

In the NY Times today, writer David Gonzalez waxes eloquent on the desolate beauty of Northern Greenpoint while ruing the inevitable loss of innocence that is sure to accompany the new rezoning plan:

A certain postindustrial beauty still haunts the blocks along North Brooklyn’s waterfront, where a Hopperesque panorama rendered in rust and brick stretches from Williamsburg to Greenpoint. Frozen in time and twisted in shape, some of these streetscapes once abuzz with factories are now better known as generic urban backdrops for cop shows…While few would argue that the largely fallow waterfront was being wisely used before, the adjoining inland blocks are another story. They have long been home to scores of small factories that make everything from cabinets and candles to frames and food. As nondescript as they were affordable, their future is in flux as rezoning could allow landlords to opt for the big bucks by turning factories into loft homes.

On New Waterfront, A Place for the Old [NY Times]

June 28, 2005, NY Daily News — The long-shuttered S. Portland Ave. entrance to the Fulton St. stop on the G train in Fort Greene is expected to reopen to the public next month, transit officials said. The entrance leads to the Queens-bound platform of the G train at that stop. The reopening means straphangers using that platform won’t have to walk two blocks underground and through a tunnel that stinks of urine to get to an exit, residents said. Residents said the entrance – which was never manned by a token-booth clerk – was closed because of high crime in the area in the 1980s and early 90s. Crime in the local police precinct has dropped 68% since 1993, NYPD statistics show. Still, some residents had reservations about the reopening. “The best thing they ever did was close it,” said Joel Murray, who has worked at a deli on the same corner as the shuttered entrance since 1968. “It was smelly; guys were sleeping [in the entrance],” Murray said, adding, “This is the fastest, easiest way for muggers to escape.”
G! This is Progress [NY Daily News]

Most houses were built between 1900 1910, it had been farm land before that and was planned by two developers, who built the majority of the houses. Many families have restored the homes to their natural beauty with lots of detail. Victorian, Arts and Craft and Victorian Gothic just incredible! The tour offered about 30 houses open to the public, with a tour guide. I had an opportunity to speak to some of the owners, many of whom had bought their homes in the 70′s and 80′s for $50,000 – $80,000.

The Victorian Homes of Flatbush [City Rag]
Victorian Flatbush [Gothamist]

Wrapping up what will heretofore be known as class warfare week on Brownstoner…We followed Set Speed’s post on Tuesday about the punk rock ass crack phenomenon (huh?) and wound up reading this excerpt from Hip Hop Diary that was written back in February in response to the Clinton Hill profile in the Times:

If the median income in this area is a bit over 40 grand, and the median price for a small-ass condo is half a million and it’s over a million for buildings, who’s buying property here now? And what does that bode for the neighborhood’s celebrated “economic and cultural diversity?” You know what I see when I walk around here now? Tons of not-exactly-fresh-outta-high school Pratt students (getting an MFA must be the same as getting an MBA was 20 years ago). Rich white dads with baby backpacks. People standing in front of the Clinton-Washington stop asking for directions to Myrtle Avenue. Nannys wheeling children in expensive strollers. And lots and lots of Volvos. They’re already swarming. I’ve gotta get out of here.

Comment: Hey, don’t look at us, we’ve got a used Subaru.
Biggie Shoulda Been Buying Real Estate [Hip Hop Diary]
Recurring Ass Crack Theme [Set Speed]