Open House Picks: Pressure Drop Edition

I can't determine which thread (if any) suits me best, so here goes nothing:

Several years ago I joined the Clinton Hill Society after being floored by their biennial house tour. I am a mere impoverished Manhattan renter (and thus, perhaps, an interloper on this magnificent site) who is disproportionately fond of the Manhattan Valley, where I have lived since 2002. But I have always been an historic preservationist manque and since I am currently trying to locate a modest new rental home, I figured posting to this site could only help me avoid encountering more "property rapist" landlords and ignorant brokers (of which I have unearthed droves in the past two weeks). If I could find a modest studio or one-bedroom unit with any hint of authentic pre-war charm, welcoming to my friendly sixty-pound shepherd-retriever and located in a safe section of Fort Greene or Clinton Hill, I would be in heaven. Any advice for me short of plowing through Craigslist?

Second item of concern: I was shown an intact one-bedroom apartment last week in a circa 1905 building which is, sadly, located in one of the last truly sleazy areas of Harlem (St. Nicholas Terrace at 128th Street). The indifferent (and as yet unidentified) landlord had already ripped out kitchen cabinets from the 1920s. If the area had been a tad less decrepit and urine-soaked, I would have snatched up this rental, but I felt I could not live there safely. Meanwhile I have been urgently trying to find ways to salvage the cast-iron clawfoot tub, 1930s toilet and basin and crackle tile (with one-inch ledge) that the landlord is about to rip out of the enchanting dilapidated bathroom. Plus there's a marble-topped cast iron table in the kitchen which the broker told me I could have if I took the apartment. You should have seen the patina on it. Surely this building (really a pair of apartment houses) is full of other antiques which are in imminent danger of destruction.

One salvage operation, Irreplaceable Artifacts/Demolition Depot, did return my call, and I discreetly gave the address and apartment number of this building to their demolition contractor. Is anyone else interested in helping me figure out who the landlord of this building is and whether he might be prepared to sell off additional clawfoot tubs, porcelain bathroom fixtures, latched cabinets and anything else in his unfortunate possession? He obviously has no idea that these objects have any value whatsoever. Surely they could be had for a song!

Many thanks for your time and interest.

Rebecca

Posted by: Rebecca Hirschfield at October 25, 2005 8:10 PM