Blogs

Tonight the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest takes place at Powerhouse Books in Dumbo. Organized by Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, the event will feature a panel discussion called “Why We Blog” as well as several small break-out sessions led by various local bloggers. Also in the line-up: a video about the borough’s photobloggers, the blogger shout-out and Flea vendor Whimsy & Spice. Doors open at Powerhouse Books at 37 Main Street in Dumbo; the after-party will be held across the street at Galapagos.

The opening sentence of the cover story of this weekend’s NY Times Real Estate section sets up the article with a false premise: “As unsold properties proliferate and encounters with the scalpel fail to move them, some New York City sellers are being undermined by an often nameless enemy.” See, we’d argue that the sellers aren’t being undermined at all (except in the case when actually false information is put forth). Rather, in our view, sites like Curbed, Brownstoner and StreetEasy are just expediting the process of bringing sellers’ expectations in line with the market—and calling lazy brokers to task for providing insufficient information and sub-par photographs. Input from thousands of other market-savvy readers can also help to bring much needed transparency and frankness to the process, all of which—hopefully—makes the market more efficient. People are asking questions they can’t ask their broker, and they’re really interested in the qualitative perspective, in getting opinions of people,” said Dawn Doherty, the vice president for strategic development at StreetEasy.com. While there have been instances of brokers and owners identifying themselves and countering criticism successfully on Brownstoner in the past, some brokerages are clear gun-shy, and probably with some reason. We basically do not allow our agents to post comments without prior approval, because we think it’s a can of worms, said Diane Ramirez, the president of Halstead Property. Unless something is egregiously incorrect, it’s almost better to let it die, because if you comment on it, it takes on a life of its own. Some brokers realize that, more often that not, the benefits of publicity are worth the price of a few online pot-shots.
Snark Attack [NY Times]

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The popular list serve Park Slope Parents (which is up to 13,000 members) announced yesterday that it plans to start charging $25 a year per household. Not surprisingly, a debate is raging on the list. We’re curious to know what you think of that. Please take this super-quick survey we put together here to weigh in.

A memorial gathering to honor the memory of Robert Guskind, the beloved Brooklyn blogger who died earlier this month, will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 4 at the Brooklyn Lyceum, 4th Avenue between Union and President Streets in Park Slope. Please RSVP, as space is limited. If you’d like to make donations in Bob’s memory, four charities have been designated.

The Post’s article today about blogging for a living isn’t online as far as we can tell so we uploaded a pdf here. Update: Okay, turns out it is online after all. Here’s the link.

We twittered about this a few days ago, but we’d like to open it up for discussion: What can we do to improve the overall the quality of comments on the blog, to encourage lurkers to get involved without alienating some of the more active and, um, spirited commenters? We hear quite often from regular readers who feel uncomfortable, even intimidated, with the prospect of commenting. This isn’t surprising given the verbal beat-down one new commenter received from a gang of regulars a couple of weeks ago. Nor is the level of discussion going on in today’s Open Thread really where we’d like it to be. Short of active comment moderation, which really isn’t a practical option, what do you think we can/should do to elevate the quality of discussion and make newcomers feel more welcome? We’d be particularly interested to hear from some folks who usually hang back on the sidelines. It’s in the best interests of the blog and everyone who reads it to have as many people contributing their knowledge and opinions as possible.
Thanks,
Mr. B

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Gowanus Lounge is back online. Following the death of its founder, Bob Guskind, a few of his close friends have been given access to the site and plan to post information about obituaries and a memorial service.

We’re at home in bed with the flu thing that’s going around so it’s looking like we won’t be able to make our usual rounds this weekend. As a result, we could really use some Development Watch and Streetlevel tips (or anything else that catches your eye) with photos! Please send ‘em along to brownstoner@brownstoner.com.
Thanks a lot.
Mr. B

It’s going to be a nice weekend for getting out of the house, so why not bring your digital camera along with you and snap some photos for Brownstoner! We can’t be everywhere at once and rely upon tipsters to keep the interesting posts coming. Don’t be shy…email your photos of development sites, store closings and opening, public works and infrastructure as well as quality of life issues to brownstoner@brownstoner.com.
Thanks so much.
Mr. B

You may have noticed that the site was a little glitchy yesterday afternoon. Everything should be running smoothly now but please let us know if you encounter any problems commenting or searching.
Thanks,
Mr. B