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February 3, 2006

A Growing Consensus: 11 2nd Place Ain't Bad

building
Blogger A Brooklyn Life stumbles across 11 2nd Place three months after we did and comes to the same conclusion we did: The building's a little out of scale but not half-bad:

I kinda like it. The stone matches well with many area buildings and the very expensive-looking and Frank Lloyd-esque windows add a nice touch. I'm not saying there isn't room in the neighborhood code for a height limit, but height limits certainly don't stop monstrosities.

Check out the rest of the post to see why A Brooklyn Life thinks maybe we should have height minimums too!
What's Ugly? [A Brooklyn Life]
Stumbling Across 11 Second Place [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 8:55 AM | Comments (15)
Categories: Development

Comments

i thought this place was sold out, but there are 2 units on sale on the newly-designed corcoran site!

Posted by: ltjbukem at February 3, 2006 8:54 AM

ABL and I have been stumbling across 11 2nd Pl for a while now. It's grown on us and we feel it could've been much worse. The building it replaced was definitely worse. I still think the new building is too tall.

Posted by: Dennis at February 3, 2006 10:08 AM

A fairly handsome building like this is far better than a "scale appropriate" Fedders building.

Posted by: DN at February 3, 2006 10:16 AM

I like this building a lot. It's something you would see in a posh nabe in Montreal. Because of the setback, the height is a non-issue. I agree with Dennis, it's much better than the Fedder buildings with parking in the front yard that are sprouting up all over CG.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 3, 2006 10:33 AM

See, we don't hate everything!

Posted by: Brownstoner at February 3, 2006 10:41 AM

see... new development doesn't have to suck.

Posted by: adn at February 3, 2006 12:35 PM

By spring, with leaves filling out the trees, the height will be a non-issue. Nice looking building. I'll take a taller, discreet building over a short fedders building anyday.

Posted by: Mr. Minerva at February 3, 2006 12:37 PM

adn, brownstoner - much of your 'new development sucks' talk was related to the quality of the construction/materials -
This building was built using the same sheetrock on frame construction w/ 1 layer of brick 'skin' that everyone here has denounced as "shoddy" "crappy", "cheap" etc....

I admit that this new building is reasonably attractive (and IMHO many others arent) but the shoddiness of the construction cannot be determined by the relative attractiveness of the skin.

BTW I am not saying this is shoddy construction - I maintain my original premise which is that new construction is generally stronger and better than anything built 50+ years ago

Posted by: David at February 3, 2006 2:21 PM

I live around the corner from the 2nd Place building, and i like it - it is much more attractive that most new construction, and, other than for the hight, i think it blends well. I think too much is made out of height, when the focus should be building aesthetic. You can't regulate taste, but I think taste usually trumps height. Muy building is new construction, and 6 stories (Not out of character because it is boardered on all sides by BQE and parks, and the school on the corner is pretty tall). One of the sellign points was that it was an attractive new building, designed nto to stick out liek a fedders building.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 3, 2006 2:56 PM

u guys are nuts, the things sticks out like a sore thumb... the biggest thing for blocks... it just does not fit in!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 4, 2006 6:28 PM

Regarding 11 2nd Place:

Of course you people like it.

Most of you carpet baggers have arrived here twenty minutes ago. You offer your opinions
on this city like you're Fiorello LaGuardia or someone, forgetting that you're within earshot of some people who (hold on to your hats) actually happen to have been born here.

Oh dear God, thank you so much for Smith Street because before you people got here we didn't know how to eat in Brooklyn. Thank you so much.

Can't wait for that Ikea? Think you have trouble parking your Volvo now?

Hey, check out Bed-Sty for that bargain fix-it-upper. I'm sure there's still a few working class families that you can displace.

Aren't you happy about the Dunkin' Donuts on Court and First? Now you have yet another place to let little Madison and Hopper run amok because (like your parents before you) you have no idea how to raise a child.

Once you people and your blood-sucking realtors get your claws fully into Red Hook, Fourth Avenue and Gowanus, the total transformation of Brooklyn in Hicksville, LI will happen.

The two of you who lament the passing of all things "authentic" in NYC will be living and raising your children in one giant strip mall.


11 2nd place is indicative of everything that's wrong with this city and it's new population.

11 2nd Place thumbs it's nose at the neighborhood. "Look at me", it says, "Man, what a good day the market had, huh?".

("State of the art living in Carroll Gardens"? What exactly is that supposed to mean? Are some of us still hand washing our clothes at the lake or reading by gas lamp?)

11 2nd Place is a arrogant, pretentious eyesore. It's unwelcome, out of scale and out of place much like the current population of "brownstone Brooklyn".

Posted by: please go home at February 5, 2006 1:01 PM

This "out of scale" talk is such nonsense. This entire area was farms two hundred years ago. Let's bring it all back to scale and raise all the buildings.

Posted by: JoshK at February 5, 2006 4:56 PM

"Madison and Hopper"--that is brilliant--you made my day!

This fad speaks volumes about our society....

Posted by: Anonymous at February 5, 2006 9:13 PM

As a neighbor says, 11 2nd Place looks like an office building. I'm surprised so many people find it attractive.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 12:00 AM

"Raise the buildings"?

The scale 200 years ago was horizontal, not vertical.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 2:23 PM

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