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Friday On The Record
Brownstone, Prospect Heights. Photo by Frank Lynch.
This Weekend in Brooklyn
Real-Life War of the Roses in Borough Park
That’s Such a Cute Baby You’re Wearing!
We’re Not in Brooklyn Anymore…
12/29/2006 1:31 PM
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Outlook 2007: Longs and Shorts
Note: We’re moving this post up from yesterday to encourage more input.Welcome to the third annual installment of our market prognostications. Last year, we picked Prospect Heights and Carroll Gardens to outperform and Williamsburg to slump, which in retrospect look like pretty good calls. As for next year, our eyes will be on the areas bordering Prospect Park that have the location and housing stock on their sides but have yet to attract widespread interest from the gentrifying crowd. We’d also be front-running the newly Brooklyn-focused Landmarks Preservation Commission by looking in spots like the soon-to-be-designated Crown Heights North. On the downside, it’s hard to see how increasing supply of run-of-the-mill condos coming on line in Williamsburg won’t continue to put downward pressure on prices. We’re not as wary about the effect of Atlantic Yards on surrounding real estate as some and continue to think that Prospect Heights has a lot to offer. As has been mentioned before, quality brownstones should continue to find buyers while those in more marginal neighborhoods and lacking architectural detail will likely have a tough time. Looking back on last year’s post, we can be thankful that we got our wish of a gourmet market (sorta) in the form of Choice. Now if we could just get a friggin’ cheese shop we’d be really psyched.
Market Predictions for 2006 [Brownstoner]
12/29/2006 11:44 AM
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Some More Feedback, Please
One more discussion topic before the year’s out: To date we’ve kept pretty tight reins on the editorial content on the main page of Brownstoner. As the site and community (hopefully) continue to grow, there are numerous initiatives we could be working on aside from just writing posts (events, new service features, etc.). Assuming that our voice remained the dominant one and we kept a careful eye on quality control, how would readers feel about some new perspectives on the main page of the site? For example, do you think the blog would benefit from having some neighborhood and topical specialists writing occasional posts, e.g. a weekly report from a deputized Victorian Flatbush reader? Or do you think such a move would risk diluting what has made the site successful to date? (Remember, there was some grumbling when we ran the Set Speed Condo Report for a few months last year.) Or as a middle ground, maybe there’s just a better way to formalize the process for receiving tips from readers. Either way, we’d like our neighborhood coverage on Brownstoner (and Brooklyn Record) to get broader and deeper, ideally with the help of readers. Very interested to hear everyone’s reaction and ideas.
12/29/2006 10:33 AM
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Taking Stock at the Two-Year Mark
Note: We’re moving this post up from yesterday to encourage more input. It’s that time of year when we ask you to tell us what you’ve liked and haven’t liked on the site over the past year and what you’d like to see more and less of going forward. We’ve said it before, but we’d like to have more architectural appreciation posts. Given our own lack of formal training, we’d be interested in hearing from anyone who would be interested in writing occasionally about the borough’s architectural past and present. Other than that, we have an exciting (we think) new feature coming out in January that will being some order to the service component of the Forum. Also on our wish list: Video house tours of brownstones. And while there are times we wish there were less bashing of new developments on the site, we feel duty-bound to continue to hold bad developers’ feet to the fire. And, of course, we wish people could be a little nicer to each other in comment threads, but that comes with the anonymity of the medium.
12/29/2006 10:13 AM
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Unhappy Ending for Sidewalk
It looks like the sidewalk on Washington Avenue was, unfortunately, not repaired with bluestone. We’re kinda curious whether this was a financial decision or whether the mere size of the roots made it impossible to lay newly cut slabs down. Certainly ain’t much to look at, is it? Anyone know?
Beware the Wrath of the Tree Roots [Brownstoner]
12/29/2006 9:37 AM
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Broken Angel Now For Sale
Wow. Unbeknownst to us (and many of you, we assume), the Broken Angel and an adjacent lot has been being stealthily marketed for sale by Massey Knakal’s Michael Annunziata. As a result, the listing is not up on the web but we’ve seen the tear sheets on the prop. The Angel itself is at 4-6 Downing Street and sits on a 40-by-100-foot lot zoned for R6. At 13,000 square feet, the current building is actually overbuilt by about 4,000 square feet. The empty lot next door at 8 Downing is 20-by-100-feet. The properties are asking $1,400,000 and $425,000, respectively. One can only surmise that the cost of bringing the structure up to code has turned out to be too great for the Woods. Maybe they couldn’t get a loan against the property for some reason or maybe they just became overwhelmed with the whole thing. Regardless, the big question now is whether the person who ends up buying it will try to salvage some of the design and spirit of the former trolley factory or just erase the symbol of artistic freedom forever. Interested parties can contact Michael at 718-238-8999 x 6526.
Photo by silkcut.
12/29/2006 8:58 AM
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Friday Linkage
Pilings, Williamsburg Waterfront. Photo by i’mjustsayin.
Two New Residential Towers for Myrtle [Downtown Star]
Hoiday Hell for PH Tenants [Downtown Star]
Boiling Kettle Coming to Myrtle [Clinton Hill Blog]
Dumbo Top 10 of 2006 [DumboNYC]
Affordable One Bedrooms in the Slope? [Brooklynian]
Steam Radiator Problem [Forum]
12/29/2006 8:34 AM
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Thursday On The Record
Stained Glass, Stuyvesant Heights. Photo by ambienttraffic.
Today in Brooklyn
Brooklyn Pork-Barrel Spending Revealed
Bye Bye Blimpie
A Lifetime of Celebrity Stalking
12/28/2006 1:20 PM
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Co-op of the Day: 101 Lafayette
Though we’ve never been inside, we’ve always dug this old prewar apartment building on Lafayette and South Oxford Street. It’s about as Bing-and-Bing as you’ll find in the area. Judging from the photos of this studio, not all the apartments share the grandeur and scale of the building’s exterior. Too bad. This 400-footer is priced at $275,000 with a $356 maintenance. Can anyone who’s been looking at this end of the market weigh in on what kind of a bang for your buck this is?
101 Lafayette Avenue, #8L [Corcoran] GMAP
12/28/2006 11:52 AM
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Luxury (Or, More Likely, Not) On Adelphi Fringe
Gotta say we’re a little nervous about what’s going to get built at 120 Adelphi right next to this old woodframe house, despite the fact that nothing has happened since we look at it three months ago. A sign on the plywood fence says “luxury condominiums” but we’ll bet these aren’t exactly Richard Meier units. In fact, much of this block between Myrtle and Park appears to be at risk. At least someone is trying to save another old woodframe further down the block (photo on the jump).
Adelphi Action [Brownstoner] GMAP (more…)
12/28/2006 11:30 AM
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Pinpointing Biggie’s Crib
A reader steered us to the photographs from a 2003 exhibition at the Robin Rice Gallery in the West Village. The photographer Micheal McLaughlin took a number of atmospheric black-and-white photos of Brooklyn scenes and landmarks, including the childhood home of Biggie Smalls and the Brooklyn Heights apartment of Truman Capote. We know that Capote’s place was on Willow Street and we’ve always been under the impression that Biggie lived on St. James Place in Clinton Hill. Can anyone i.d. the exact address of this apartment building?
BKLYN: Micheal McLaughlin [Robin Rice Gallery]
12/28/2006 11:12 AM
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Development Watch: Myrtle and Steuben
Not far from the three new projects on Grand Avenue, this rather large (especially for the area) corner development is going to really transform the landscape on this otherwise low-slung stretch of Myrtle. Its immediate neighbors include a car service, a porn store and the Pratt book store, suggesting that this building could be something of a tipping point. Anyone know what it’s gonna be? GMAP
12/28/2006 10:54 AM
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Bye Bye Blimpie
It’s official — the Blimpie on the corner of Lafayette and South Elliott in Fort Greene is closed for good. Its opening back in the summer of ’05 prompted a ton of controversy on Brownstoner, but the market has spoken, and now all the Blimpie-haters can rejoice because this fast food chain has been removed from their landmark district. But where’s the best place to get a sandwich in this neighborhood, anyway?
Blimpie Is Coming, Like It or Not [Brownstoner]
The people have spoken… [Set Speed]
Blimpie’s Closed [Brooklynian]
Photo by Set Speed
12/28/2006 10:35 AM
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Just Sold in Brooklyn
MIDWOOD $187,000
1155 Ocean Avenue
One-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 843 square feet, with dining area and renovated bath; building features laundry and live-in super. Maintenance $551, 47 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $208,000, on market 36 weeks. Broker: The Developers Group.
WINDSOR TERRACE $1,260,000
1706 11th Avenue
Three-family, two-story brick house, on a 26-foot-by-100-foot lot, with three-bedroom, one-bath unit under two two-bedroom, one-bath units; home features rec room and two-car garage. Asking price $1,340,000, on market 10 weeks. Broker: Elliott Arkin, Brooklyn Heights Real Estate and Dowling Realty Group.
Just Sold! [NY Post]
12/28/2006 10:12 AM
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When Fiction Is Fact and TV Reality
In a fiction piece in the current issue of The New Yorker entitled Demolition, Louise Erdrich describes a particularly loathsome (and cuckolded) contractor:
Ted had built many of the newer houses in Pluto. He was also responsible for most of the least attractive buildings in town. He bought up old properties — graceful houses just beginning to decay and churches that had consolidated their congregations or lost them to time — then he stripped them of their oak trim or carbed doors or stained-glass windows and sold it all as salvage to people in the cities. He tore down the shells and put up eightplex apartment buildings that were so hideous — aluminum-sided or fake-bricked, with shingled mansard roofs or flimsy inset balconies — it was a wonder the town council couldn’t see it.
Sounds like Ted would fit right in here in Brooklyn!
Photo by MaRkoP
12/28/2006 9:32 AM
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Thursday Links
Norwood Avenue. Photo by Joseph O. Holmes.
Home Sales Rose 3.4% Last Month [NY Times]
Can THis Living Room Be Saved? [NY Times]
Italian Restaurant May Become Coney Housing [NY Post]
Buying in Blue Collar Brooklyn [NY Post]
Impact of PS 321 on Property Value [Forum]
Detailed Clinton Hill Map [CH Blog]
Where Does Downtown Brooklyn Fit? [Brooklynian]
Allstate Cancels My Homeowners Insurance [ROTC]
2006 Residential Awards [Architect Magazine]
12/28/2006 8:35 AM
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Wednesday On The Record
Coney Island Fog. Photo by neat_no_ice.
Today in Brooklyn
Wednesday Food and Drink Round-Up
The Magic Ingredient at Clinton Hill’s P.S. 11
Bakery Divorce Spawns New Park Slope Pastisserie
12/27/2006 1:50 PM
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House of the Day: 391 Classon Avenue
We noticed this house on Classon between Greene and Clifton over the weekend. Turns out it’s another listing from Flateau Realty (which we’re going to make sure we start checking more often). Actually, it looks like it has been owned by the Flateau family for several decades. The three-story brick house supposedly has some lovely detail intact, especially on the parlor floor. The asking price of $850,000 seems a bit steep given that it’s only got three stories but given that you’d have to go further east to find a house for less and that this doesn’t need a ton of work, we bet it will go for within $50,000 of the ask.
391 Classon Avenue [Flateau Realty] GMAP P*Shark
12/27/2006 11:42 AM
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Bakery Divorce Spawns New Park Slope Pastisserie
Divorce may be ugly, but these macaroons look just lovely. They come from Zana Café (on 7th Ave. near 9th Street), a bakery that was born when the once-married owners of Delices de Paris (321 Ninth St. at Fifth Ave.) split and ex-wife Rosana Rosa decided to open up her own shop. “At her new joint, she sells French-Italian pastries and European products — just like Delices de Paris,” the Brooklyn Papers reports. “And her walls are painted happy yellow — just like Delices de Paris.” Ex-husband Michael Martin, who is still working at Delices, isn’t happy about the copycat move — he posted a sign saying that he has nothing to do with Zana’s. This seems a bit odd, since Zana’s is already getting rave reviews — and certainly doesn’t seem to be tarnishing the Delices reputation. According to local blogger Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, the lattes and macaroons at Zana Café are as delicious as they were at Delices. Has anybody else tried the new pastisserie?
Le Divorce… Bakery-Style [Brooklyn Papers]
Photo of Zana’s macaroons by lunchboxandgirl
12/27/2006 11:41 AM
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Much Ado on Formerly Dead Stretch of Grand
The block of Grand Avenue between Myrtle and Park hasn’t exactly been a destination spot in the past (in fact, we’d never set foot on it until last weekend), but that should soon change with the advent of three new developments on the block, one conversion and two new-builds. We know nothing about any of them. Do you? GMAP
12/27/2006 11:11 AM
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Feb 06, 2012 | 12:32 PM