June 2006
June 30, 2006
Open House Picks
Park Slope
105 Sterling Place
Brooklyn Properties
Sunday 1-3
$1,795,000
GMAP P*Shark
Prospect Heights
390 Park Place
Deborah Graves
Sunday 12-2
$1,600,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bushwick
747 Bushwick Avenue
Prudential Douglas Elliman
Sunday 2:30-5
$1,060,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bedford Stuyvesant
353 Macon Street
Tiwana & Michelle
Sunday 2-4
$699,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bad Form: Unpacific on Pacific
It's becoming positively de rigeur on Pacific Street to demolish old buildings, in whole or in part, under the guise of safety. First, there was Bruce Ratner's backhoe incident at Number 620 and 622; now Number 402 is in the process of being torn down by owner Issa Moneer. Supposedly, Moneer received a big thumbs up from the DOB to destroy portions of the landmarked building but neighbors allege the contractor has been proceeding in an irresponsible manner: No masks, no netting, and no bracing of building to protect the public. In addition, they contend, the contractor has been parking on the sidewalk, failing to hose down the demolition work and being generally rude. In addition, there's been a great deal of contention about whether the buildings actually posed a safety hazard in the first place and some fear it's just a trojan horse to enable him to ultimately tear the whole building down. Yesterday, DOB issued a stop work order (#62906C0201DP) and Moneer was heard uttering as he walked off the site, "That's alright, I'll be back in an hour." Sure enough, at 5 pm the stop work order was taken down and the "removal of stop work order" was posted on the building. Just minutes ago, a new crew of workers began assembling a scaffolding.
Brownstone Brouhaha [NY Daily News] GMAP
Just Sold in Brooklyn
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $850,000
41 Pierrepont Street
Prewar two-bedroom, one-bath floor-through co-op, 1,400 square feet, with two wood-burning fireplaces, washer/dryer, eat-in kitchen, original details, built-in bookcases, parquet floors, renovated bath, window AC and N/S exposures. Maintenance $1,016, 70 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $825,000, on market three weeks. Broker: Leslie Marshall, The Corcoran Group
PROSPECT HEIGHTS $450,000
4 Butler Place
One-bedroom, one-bath condo, 690 square feet, with renovated kitchen and bath overlooking courtyard and fountain; Butler Plaza features doorman, roof deck, gym and storage. Common charges $309, taxes $95. Asking price $425,000, on market three weeks. Brokers Mitch Wexler and Jorge Murillo, The Corcoran Group
Just Sold! [NY Post]
Broken Angel: A History Lesson
We have yet to see anyone reading the Daily News Brooklyn supplement nor is it available online as far as we can tell, but we now have proof of its existence in the form of a faxed story from a reader. The subject: Everybody's favorite architectural lark, Downing Street's Broken Angel. Artist Arthur Wood, now 75, bought the 1864 building for $2,100 in 1979 and then proceeded to turn it into arguably the largest piece of public art in the city. Over 27 years, he has built 8 lofty spaces rising 108 vertical feet into the sky. The feat he's targeting to cap it all off involves creating a huge whale out of an old helicopter and hanging it from the building. We get a huge kick out of the building but are a little curious about how he's managed to elude the wrath of the DOB.
Photo by Scott Dyer via Curbed
GMAP
Older article on Broken Angel:
A Broken Angel Lifts Its Eccentric Wings [NY Times]
Friday Links
Lights (Almost) Out, Prospect Heights. Photo by Tracy Collins
Fed Scales Back Talk of Inflation [NY Times]
Landmark Status for Whole Foods Building [NY Post]
Street Honors Bob Marley [NY Daily News]
A Piece of History on Brooklyn Bridge [NY Sun]
The Pavilion Bites the Dust [Curbed]
Mortgage Rates Up Over Week [MarketWatch]
June 29, 2006
Thursday On The Record
Ironwork, Fort Greene. Photo by ultraclay!
Events: Today in Brooklyn
NYPD Steps It Up in Clinton Hill
3rd & 3rd Gets Landmarked
Broken Social Scene at the Hook
Cyclones Off to Worst Start
Summer Fun in Red Hook
We Love Brooklynites
HOTD: Broker Switcheroo at 777 Rugby Road
When 777 Rugby Road last popped up on this blog, it was asking $950,000 and being listed with Mary Kay Gallagher; now the price is $975,000 and Corcoran has taken over the job. We're a little surprised that the property hasn't sold yet, but a commenter on the Open House Picks thread suggested some reasons:
The other reasons the house could be priced under the 1 million mark is that West Midwood stretches all the way down to Avenue H, has a lot of active red-bricking in that part of the nabe, and is quite a ways from Prospect Park and the ever improving amenities of Cortelyou Road. You need your car for groceries, etc..., whereas Ditmas Parkers and Park Westers, PPS residents and the Beverley crowd can easily get away without one most of the time.
Nevertheless, seems like an odd strategy to bump up the price on a place that hasn't moved yet.
777 Rugby Road [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Open House Picks May 5 [Brownstoner]
Catching Up With The Terraces on Court
The building's not much to look at in our opinion and the interiors look like many other developments to hit the market in the last couple of years, but that hasn't stopped about half the units at 529 Court Street from selling, though we can't recall how long they've been on the market. It looks like the remaining units are priced at around $600 a foot which doesn't seem outrageous. It just makes us wonder again about how all the new condos are going to be absorbed in the weakening market. There's a finite supply of nice prewar apartments, so we'd expect those to hold up much better as things cool off.
The Terraces on Court [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP
Listings [529Court.com]
Upping the Ante: Gates Reno Launches
We told you a couple of weeks ago that we were going to be upping the renovation component of the site and now we're delivering. After announcing the launch of the Bed Stuy Reno on Monday, we are pleased to introduce the Gates Reno today. Amy and Omer closed on their Gates Avenue house, affectionately known as the Flinstone House because of its distinctive facade, about two months ago and are now embarking on a renovation while they and their two children live in the house. It's gonna be interesting!
Gates Reno [Brownstoner]
Dumbo Condo Guide Not a Big Hit
Hmmmm. Not a lot of takers.
Before Brownstones: A Loft Remembered
Apartment Therapy's post on this East Williamsburg loft (above) made us a little nostalgic for our former place in Chinatown. In early 2000, we rented an 1,800-square-foot raw loft above Ferrara's on Grand Street. The views on three sides from the sixth floor were amazing and the concrete floor and 12-foot vaulted ceilings made for a great party space. We had to build the entire place out on a budget of $20,000, which on an amortized basis added about $500 a month to the $3,000 rent over the three and a half years we lived there. At the time, there were plenty of frustrating things about living in such a raw space. As time passes, however, the memories get more and more romanticized. As they should.
Elliott and Mark Adapt, Live & Work [Apartment Therapy]
Developers Bribing DOB Inspectors? Never!
June 29, 2006 -- Investigators arrested three Brooklyn men yesterday and charged them with trying to bribe a city building inspector. The arrests of the men, David Safir, Gennadiy Bronsteyn and Arkadi Shapiro, came after Mr. Safir offered a building inspector $3,000 to revoke a stop-work order on construction at a Brooklyn property he owned, said Rose Gill Hearn, the city's investigation commissioner. The Department of Investigation, which worked on the case with the Department of Buildings, said Mr. Safir then referred the inspector to Mr. Bronsteyn and Mr. Shapiro. The two men later offered the inspector $10,000 to erase citations for violations on a pair of adjoining properties they owned, investigators said.
3 Charged With Bribing Inspector [NY Times]
Turning Up The Pressure on Grand and Putnam
Yesterday was a big day for our favorite drug-dealing hot spot at Putnam and Grand. First, the New York Sun ran a big story by Brad Hope about the escalating problems on the corner that we thought did an excellent job of framing the historical problems as well as the current resolve of community members to solve them. (As it is subscription only, we provide the entire text on the jump.) At the same time, as detailed at greater length over on the Brooklyn Record, members of the 88th Precinct were closing off the block, posting fliers and parking themselves right outside the drug dealers' doors. After all the lip service given to the topic at last week's town hall meeting, we were certainly encouraged by the show of force. It shows that the police can marshall the resources when they want to (or if DA Hynes wants them to, as the case may be). As many readers who don't live in the area may be disappointed to hear, we're going to keep holding them accountable to the extent that we can. Let's hope this is the start of a real sea change in action and attitude.
Addendum: We just heard from a reader who spoke to one of the cops this morning who told her they'll be there for months! Go, cops. We'll be sending over coffee and donuts. We suspect that DA Charles Hynes deserves a lot of credit for getting this moved up the priority list.
Police Pledge Crackdown in Clinton Hill [NY Sun]
Continue reading "Turning Up The Pressure on Grand and Putnam"
Thursday Linkster
Wall, Brooklyn Heights. Photo by Rachel Dale
In Brooklyn, Future of Shipping Shaky [NY Times]
Appeal Sought in Atlantic Yards Case [NY Times]
Landmark Status for Two Queens Buildings [NY Daily News]
'Teardowns' Have Critics Torn Up [USA Today]
A Coney Island Spectacular [The Real Estate]
New Downtown Czar Surveys Territory [Brooklyn Papers]
Don't Mess With The Demolition Man [Park Slope Courier]
Conversion Mystery on Meserole [Curbed]
June 28, 2006
Wednesday On The Record
Insured by Smith & Wesson, Flatbush. Photo by Vern Kousky
Events: Today in Brooklyn
Weekly Food and Drink Round-Up
Bob Marley Boulevard Update
Requiem for Tony at Timboo's
Brooklyn Hip Hop Re-Cap
Beating the Heat in Fort Greene
House of the Day: 87 St. Mark's Avenue
This house was an Open House Pick back in mid-May and despite not selling yet has held its ground on the $1.6 million asking price. This makes sense to us. Although the 4-story brownstone is technically on the Prospect Heights side of Flatbush, the condition and level of detail make it worth the price, we think. Moreover, the house is 21 feet wide and on an extra-deep lot. So, overall, we think the sellers are right to hold their ground on price. This listing also provides an interesting context for thinking about the gut rehab candidate at 34 St. Mark's Avenue which is currently asking $1.1 million. Another twist: Both properties are being marketed by Corcoran.
87 St. Marks Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
34 St. Mark's Avenue [Corcoran]
Condo of the Day: Family-Sized on Wyckoff
This condo on Wyckoff between Bond and Nevins isn't our style but we suspect that the combination of location (Boerum Hill), size (1,100 square feet) and price ($749,000) will end up making sense for a small family who wants the convenient location and access to a decent public school. As for the design, the interior is lacking in charm (it really has no personality at all) but the open layout is a plus as is the deck that appears to have great views. What kind of building is this apartment in?
248 Wyckoff Street [Corcoran] GMAP
Development Watch: Myrtle Place Rising
A lot's happened since we stumbled across the massive vacant lot at the corner of Nostrand and Myrtle last summer. Dubbed Myrtle Place, the 74,000-square-foot Scarano Project is humming along. At this rate, we'd guess they're shooting for a Fall 2006 completion. Has anyone heard anything? Timing? Prices?
Massive Bed Stuy Condo Development [Brownstoner] GMAP
Ebay Salvage Watch: Victorian Pier Mirror
Someone down in Virginia is looking to unload this Victorian pier mirror made of light walnut. It's in excellent condition and has lots of detailed woodwork. If you could get it anywhere near the starting price of $1,200, it'd be a deal. We're no experts, but we bet you'd pay at least $5,000 for this in New York.
Victorian Pier Mirror [Ebay]
A Woodie On, And For, MacDonough
As we paused in front of 336 MacDonough to soak up the architecture and charming front yard, an older gentleman emerged from the front door. When was thehouse built? 1860s, he replied. How long have you lived here? Since the Eighties. And so it went. His wife emerged from the garden to join in. They love the block and were particularly pleased when the owners of Brownstone Books around the corner purchased the old frame across the street last year (photo on the jump). Turns out our new acquaintance has been dabbling in real estate recently. He's got a couple of brownstones for sale right now in the area — one at 603 MacDonough and one at 635 Macon. Since the firm he works for doesn't have a website, these probably qualify as under-the-radar in our book. Interested? Give Edward a call at 718-953-3254. GMAP
Buried Workers Rescued from Gowanus Site
Two brothers who had been buried while working on a construction site near the Gowanus Canal yesterday were rescued from a ditch by firefighters and EMTs with some help from a powerful Con Ed vacuum. By the end of the day, DOB had issued three violations to Brooklyn 13th Street Holding Corporation, the company running the construction project. Andrew Feinman, the contractor and owner of the site, was unavailable for comment. Anyone know anyone about this guy?
Two Workers Trapped at Gowanus Site [Brownstoner]
Two Rescued from Cave-In in Brooklyn [NY Times]
Weekly Food and Drink Round-Up
Coney Island Shortcakes, a new food-related blog, is run by the owners of a strawberry shortcake stand in Coney Island. Mostly, they just take pictures of their customers chowing down on strawberries and whipped cream.
Brighton Beach Bargain: $6 Lunch Special at Primorski
"There's a don't-miss bargain at Primorski in Brighton Beach, which for 25 years has served up hearty Russian and Georgian chow — plus nightly floor shows and free-flowing vodka. At lunchtime, $5.98 buys an appetizer, a main course, terrific cabbage salad, and coffee or tea." [Chowhound]
The Hungry Cabbie Eats: Waterfalls Cafe
"Along with typical Middle Eastern vegetarian dishes like falafel with babaghanouj, hummos, and tabouleh, Waterfalls offers more exotic selections like cabbage stuffed with cracked wheat, chick peas, mint, and salad." [Gothamist]
Existing Home Sales Decline in May
June 28, 2006 -- Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell in May to a 6.67 million annual rate, a 1.2% decline from April, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Meanwhile, an improved outlook for the economy's performance over coming months helped lift U.S. consumers' mood in June, amid a mixed outlook for the jobs market. NAR chief economist David Lereah said rising interest rates are affecting home sales. "Although mortgage interest rates remain historically low, the uptrend in interest rates this year is affecting those buyers who are at the margins of affordability," Mr. Lereah said. The level of resales in May was above Wall Street expectations. Analysts predicted a 6.64 million rate of sales of previously owned homes. Analysts said this is a classic pattern for a cooling housing market with sales starting to lag under the impact of rising mortgage rates. Mr. Lereah said he expected sales to fall by 6.8% from last year's record pace.
Existing-Home Sales Post Decline [Real Estate Journal]
Wednesday Linkster
Brooklyn-Bound N Train. Photo by Travis Ruse
Rent Board Sets 7.25% Increase [NY Times]
Bill To Make Co-op Prices Public [NY Times]
G'point Fire Suspect Sticks to Alibi [NY Times]
East Flatbush NYPD Captain Suspended [NY Post]
Raising a Rent Ruckus [NY Post]
Red Hook's Port Hopes [NY Daily News]
Tour of W'burg Waterfront [Curbed]
June 27, 2006
Tuesday On The Record
Large and Small, East Williamsburg. Photo by Tien Mao
Events: Today in Brooklyn
Drinks in the Name of Art
Brooklyn's Best Outdoor Eats
Bloomberg's Slip of the Tongue
Dark Side of 80 Hanson Place
Smile Brooklyn
Two Workers Trapped at Gowanus Site
Two workers are trapped under a trench after a collapse at a worksite near the Gowanus Canal. The Fire Department is on the scene. Developing.
Update (2 pm): Both construction workers have now been pulled to safety and are receiving medical attention. They were working on a site at 11th Street and 3rd Avenue.
Two Trapped in Construction Site Collapse [ABC News]
Both Construction Workers Now Free [ABC News]
House of the Day: What Price PLG Perfection?
Even though $1.395 million is a lot of dough for Lefferts Manor we think this new listing won't even be around to see the fireworks next week. If you're into period perfection this place will knock your socks off. (On the flip side, if you're not, it'll make you gag.) It's got the full monty: parquet floors, carved wood paneling, leaded stained glass. The 20-foot detached house sits on a 37-foot-wide lot on the neighborhood's (arguably) best block. For $100,000 less, we think this is looking like a better buy than 68 Midwood despite the latter's many positive attributes. Think we've got that right?
77 Midwood Street [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP P*Shark
Crain's Poll Update: Ratner Narrows the Gap
The forces of FRC are getting out the vote. Now only 2/3 of the roughly 12,000 voters say they disapprove of Bruce's plan for Atlantic Yards.
Do You Agree with AY Plan? [Crain's]
Your Own House in the Slope for Only Half a Mil!
Wow, the market must really have cooled if houses in Park Slope are selling for less than $499,000! This beauty boasts a 13-by-24-foot floorplate and a 3-foot yard. In addition to the vinyl siding, the ad also takes pains to note that the lucky buyer will inherit floors that are "tiled and carpeted." All this for only $800 a foot. What are you waiting for?
One Family House All Yours! [Fillmore]
Ebay Salvage Watch: Victorian Marble Fireplace
As of last night, this marble fireplace from the 1880s had no bids on it and could be had for $750. Although it comes from a brownstone up the Hudson River, we think it would fit right in somewhere in Brownstone Brooklyn. Better hurry though — the auction ends in about three hours!
American Victorian Marble Fireplace [Ebay]
BSA Makes a Mockery of Itself in Two Rulings
The Park Slope Courier calls bullsh!t on the BSA's recent gift to developers in the South Slope who've done nothing but flout the law and give the finger to the community. While finding that neither 400 15th Street (top) nor 639 6th Avenue (bottom) had its foundation substantially complete--the condition for being vested under the old zoning laws--the Board only confirmed the public perception that it is in developers' pockets by allowing the projects to go forward under claims of hardship. Basically, the developers got a free pass because the Board was worried that they wouldn't make enough money if they had to play by the rules. Grassroots community groups weren't the only ones who opposed the variances. "Clearly the foundations were not advanced in both cases, and we felt they should not have been vested," said John Keefe, a representative from Assemblymember James Brennan’s office, who testified against the developers’ requests.
Park Slope Zone Busting! [Park Slope Courier]
Brooklyn Olympic Sport: Beat the Downzone [Curbed]
State Approves Tax Credits for Preservation
Sometime after midnight on Thursday, before heading off on summer recess, both houses of the New York State Legislature passed a measure (A.11987/S.8392) providing a State Income Tax credit for the rehabilitation costs of historic commercial and residential structures. Governor Pataki, who has supported this initiative in the past, is anticipated to sign this bill into law within the next 45 days. Under this new legislation, approximately 11,000 State and National Register-listed, owner-occupied residential structures in distressed areas would be eligible for a New York State Income Tax Credit covering 20% of exterior rehabilitation costs, up to a credit value of $25,000. National Register-listed or -eligible commercial properties that qualify for the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit would also qualify for a New York State Income Tax Credit covering 30% of rehabilitation costs, up to a credit value of $100,000.
Preservation Tax Credits Approved [Preservation League]
Photo of the Reverend J. Edward Nash House, Buffalo, NY.
Breaking: 9 Out of 10 People Against Ratner Plan
Bruce Ratner's taking a whacking in the court of public opinion over at Crain's. Roughly 90% of the more than 6,000 people who've responded so far to the question "Do You Agree with AY Plan?" have answered a resounding "No."
Do You Agree with AY Plan? [Crain's]
Brooklyn's Best Outdoor Eats
Red Hook's own Alma (187 Columbia St., at Degraw St., 718-643-5400) tops the list of New York Magazine's favorite outdoor dining spots. We have to agree — up on Alma's roof deck, a breeze from the East River cuts the humidity, and refreshing cucumber margaritas pair perfectly with the carmarones asados — DIY shrimp tacos served with mango salsa, pickled onions, and chipotle aioli. Habana Outpost in Fort Greene, Tatiana in Brighton Beach, and Smith Street's Gowanus Yacht Club, the Grocery, and Robin des Bois, made the list as well. If packing a picnic basket is more your speed, they recommend the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where members are invited to picnic on Wednesday nights, and the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Dumbo.
Dinner With a Side of Sky [New York Magazine]
Municipal Art Society Tour of PLG
For those who hadn't gotten enough of PLG on the house tour a couple of weekends back, the Municipal Art Society organized an architectural walking tour last Sunday led by Joe Svehlak. PlanetPLG.com tagged along and gives us the play-by-play, with some photographic assistance from Bob Marvin, on his blog.
Svehlak pointed out the various architectural styles in the neighborhood, from Romanesque-revival in the earliest houses (on the north side of Lincoln Road), through Beau Arts in the late '90s and 1910s, through colonial and Tudor revival in the years after World War I. He pointed out that construction stopped with the 1929 depression, except for a few '50s houses built on the "Todd Yard", land owned by the Todd family (of ship building fame) across Maple Street from their large mansion.
For the more celebrity obsessed, Shlevak noted that Christine Todd Whitman had been born in the neighborhood and pointed out the house at 55 Midwood Street where Alice Walker had lived.
MAS Tours PLG [Planet PLG]
Breaking Ground and Going Green at 164 Kent
Mayor Bloomberg broke out his shovel yesterday at 164 Kent to usher in a new era: The first housing development to be built under the new inclusionary zoning program, which gives developers more square footge for their projects in return for making at least 20 percent of all new units affordable. Though it had been reported earlier that the development would have 180 units, The Times now says that the waterfront project in Williamsburg will consist of a market-rate complex and a mid-rise building with 113 moderately priced apartments. Another positive aspect that we've not seen mentioned before is the plan to create a green roof for the building. Question: Is this the Toll Brothers project that Polis discussed back in April? GMAP
Ground Broken for Brooklyn Housing Development [NY Times]
Photo by Jakob Lodwick
Tuesday Linkeroo
Salute, Bushwick. Photo by bluejake
DOB Taking to the Air [NY Post]
Bard of Brooklyn Savages Gehry Project [Guardian]
Governors Island Tours All Summer [Newyorkology]
Poll: Do You Agree with AY Plan? [Crain's]
Crain's Poll Misses the Point [Atlantic Yards Report]
House Evacuated for Fear of Collapse [ABC News via Gothamist]
Isac Asks Why Not? [Politicker]
Up the Meds & Stay in Brooklyn [Figlet]
June 26, 2006
Monday On The Record
Sunrise, Greenpoint. Photo by ustiR*s
Events: Today in Brooklyn
Mermaids on Parade
Brooklyn Heights Sex Scandal
Always a Reason to Celebrate
The Curmuedgeon: Silence Mr. Softee!
P.S. 107 Builds a Library
House of the Day: A Lesson in Poor Marketing
Cardinal rule of real estate marketing: Don't use a photo that implies that a property has been sitting around on the market for six months. People are going to get very suspicious. Is the price too high? Is the interior a disaster? Is the seller a crook? These suspicions are only compounded when there is a coincident lack of interior photos. Which brings us to today's house of the day at 230 Greene. The 3 1/2 story (we're only giving that mansard-roofed top floor half credit) house at Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill looks nice enough from the outside. But that's all we've got to go on--except for our festering suspicions. We're guessing that this is about $100,000 overpriced, though it could be more if it needs more than a tune-up.
230 Greene Avenue [Craigslist] GMAP P*Shark
Also listed here:
230 Greene Avenue [Aguayo & Huebener]
Co-op of the Day: Crack is Whack (Even in Slope)
Are these guys kidding? The sponsor of this post-war apartment building on 8th Avenue between Garfield and Montgomery is trying to get $715,000 for this one bedroom. This falls into the "What Are They Smoking?" category. We know of a similar apartment on Park Avenue in Manhattan that's been having trouble moving at $550,000! The broker, Terry Lawler, is experienced enough that we suspect this is a case of a client getting his mind set on some unreasonable price and not listening to his broker. Pie in the sky, baby. Pie in the sky.
8th Avenue 1 Bedroom [Craigslist] GMAP
Development Watch: Adding to Chaos in Dumbo
Ever try to park on the street on a weekday in Dumbo? Humanly impossible, due in part to the lack of parking spaces and in part to the massive amounts of construction going on. Dumbo has a lot going for it, but we don't know how people are going to put up with living on a massive work site for the next five years, albeit one with an increasing number of charming amenities. Adding to the chaos is this new building going up on Water between Adams and Washington. Anyone got the 411 on the project? GMAP
Introducing the Bed Stuy Reno Blog
If you were at your computer over the weekend, you might have noticed the disappearance of the Cambridge Reno Blog and the appearance of the Bed Stuy Reno Blog. Given all the difficulties Shahn's been having getting everything wrapped up with Landmarks, he decided it would be better to hold off on any more public displays for the time being. Into the breach step an intrepid man named Peter and his wife, G, who recently closed on a wonderful old house in Bedford Stuyvesant. The "before" pictures remind us eerily of our own house back when we bought it in 2004. So we're particularly excited to follow along over the next year as they take us along on their renovation journey. Welcome!
Bed Stuy Reno [Brownstoner]
The Last Days of Red Hook Dry Dock
We couldn't resist running these photos that appeared on Gothamist on Friday of the Todd Shipyard Dry Dock which is currently being demolished to make way for the Red Hook Ikea. Neat links to other photos of the dry dock and schematics for the store on the link.
Inside the Dry Dock [Gothamist]
Photos by Gowanus [Flickr]
It's Good To Be The Commandant
Christopher Gray gives it up this week for a "secret secret" of New York City, the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Commandant's House. Formerly known as Quarters A, the house is one of the city's finer examples of the Federal style, from the detailing of the roof and cornice to the mantelpieces that dot the house. Originally built in 1805, the house was added to in 1905 and fell into private hands in 1964. Its most distinguishing architectural feature: An oval dining room said to be modeled on the White House's Oval Office. In 1872, a reporter from the Brooklyn Eagle commented that he house had "a look that makes one feel that it must be a pleasant thing to be the commandant." Indeed. Anyone been inside or know who owns it now?
A Federal Style Gem [NY Times]
No End in Gravesend
Clockwise from top left
459 Avenue S $5 million
2,500 s.f. house sitting vacant
450 Avenue S $11 million
teardown plus lot
replaced with 10,400 s.f. house
469 Avenue S $2.5 million
teardown, new 8,700 s.f. house
We knew there was some crazy $#!% going on out in Gravesend but, man, this is something else. In the end, it's just a microcosm, albeit an exaggerated one, of the forces of supply and demand that have driven up prices of real estate across New York City over the past decade. With a limited number of lots and a rising prosperity among the largely Syrian Jewish community, Gravesend has seen per square foot prices approach what only the best Manhattan nabes could command. "This market is not dictated by interest rates or the price of real estate as a whole," said Frank Lupi, the president of Wolf Properties, a real estate agency in Gravesend. "The houses over here, they sell very quickly, and you're almost naming your price at this point." While the aesthetic wouldn't fly in most of brownstone Brooklyn, we' re unaware of any local movements promoting a down-zoning of the area. Not being familiar with the area, we're curious as to whether there are any pockets of older architecture that are threatened by the McMansion trend sweeping the area. Or is it just unremarkable houses from the last thirty or forty years being torn down and replaced with larger monstrosities?
Paying Any Price to Live Here [NY Times] GMAP
Monday Linkage
Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn. Photo by Joseph O. Holmes
A Compromise with Three Days to Spare [NY Times]
Spying on Development from Above [NY Post]
Turning a Home Into Cash Flow [NY Post]
15 Hurt in Bushwick Fire [NY Post]
McZoning Laws Hailed [NY Post]
Manufacturers Squeezed for Space [NY Daily News]
Future of Fort Greene Bodega [Curbed]
Why Is This Still on the Market? [Set Speed]
June 23, 2006
Open House Picks
Park Slope
361 11th Street
Townsley & Gay
Sunday 2-4
$1,995,000
GMAP P*Shark
Clinton Hill
51 Cambridge Place
Corcoran
Sunday 12-1:30
$1,299,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bay Ridge
448 79th Street
Jabour Realty
Sunday 1-3
$949,000
GMAP P*Shark
Cobble Hill
14 Warren Place
Prudential Douglas Elliman
Sunday 12-2
$899,000
GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 10 South Portland Avenue
Charles Lockwood once told us that he thinks South Portland Avenue is the best block of brownstones in the city. Which doesn't mean you can charge $3.5 million for a brownstone yet, something the owner of #10 found out recently. Now on the market for $2,495,000, the five-story house with excellent details is probably in the range of where it will sell given that identical four-story houses on the block have gone for $2 million-plus. However, one commenter in the Forum noted that the upper floors of the house are chopped up into a "rabbit warren"--though that is something that can be easily and inexpensively remedied. From the photos, the interior appears to be in decent shape, but it looks like the same guy has owned the house for the last thirty years which usually doesn't bode well for things like electrical and plumbing infrastructure, which are more expensive to fix that sheetrock walls. The listing on the heretofore unknown (at least to us) Harris Veilson website does describe the seller as motivated, so we'll be interested to see if this moves quickly. We bet it does.
10 South Portland Avenue [Harris Veilson] GMAP P*Shark
$1 Mil Drop at 10 South Portland [Brownstoner Forum]
Forgotten Advertising
Lamenting the fact that "from the time Minuit swindled the island away from the Weekquaeskeeks (or perhaps the Lenape) New York City has always been about making money and tough s!it about anything else," Forgotten NY celebrates the accidentally preserved advertising on the sides of buildings that have yet to be torn down to make way for newer, fancier digs. This sign for Masons, for example, is on the side of a building on St. John's Place in Crown Heights.
Old Advertising [Forgotten NY]
EDC Plan: Something for Everyone to Bitch About
Seeking to strike a delicate balance between commerciala and residential interests, the EDC presented a preliminary plan for the 1.1 miles of Red Hook waterfront that runs from piers 7 to 12. The land in question includes the pier 12 ship terminal, a container port run by American Stevedoring Inc., as well as two warehouses at 160 and 162 Imlay Street. EDC's proposal included plans for another cruise terminal at pier 10 with adjoining hotel and convention space while piers eight and nine Pier 7 would be occupied by Phoenix Beverages, which distributes Snapple and Brooklyn Beer. Piers 8 and 9 would be reserved for more undefined industrial uses. Pier 10 would get a second cruise terminal along with adjoining hotel and convention space. From the comprehensive recap on the b61 productions, it sounds like just about every consituency found something to bitch about in the plan, with particular emphasis on jobs to traffic. Much more on the link.
Lines Being Drawn on Pier Plan [b61 productions]
Recently Sold in Brooklyn
PARK SLOPE $649,000
493 13th Street
2-bedroom, 1-bath, 850-sq.-ft. co-op in a postwar building; eat-in kitchen; step-out deck; laundry in building; maintenance $650, 43% tax deductible; listed at $649,000, 1 week on market (broker: Orrichio Anderson)
PROSPECT HEIGHTS $805,000
535 Dean Street
2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,342-sq.-ft. condo in a prewar factory building; elevator; renovated kitchen with maple cabinets; common roof deck, gym and playground; common charge $649; taxes abated; listed at $805,000, 6 weeks on market (broker: Brooklyn Properties of 7th Ave.)
WINDSOR TERRACE $379,000
135 Prospect Park Southwest
1-bedroom, 1-bath, 750-sq.-ft. co-op in a prewar building; elevator; windowed eat-in kitchen with upgraded appliances, high ceilings, renovated bath; laundry facilities in building; maintenance $400, 46% tax deductible; listed at $379,000, 12 weeks on market (broker: Coldwell Banker Hunt, Kennedy & Garfield)
Residential Sales [NY Times]
DUMBO $665,000
70 Washington Street
One-bedroom, one-bath condo, 700 square feet, with Bosch dishwasher and microwave, Sub-Zero refrigerator, Jacuzzi, glass walk-in shower, bamboo floors, walk-in closet and central AC; building features concierge, parking, gym and roof deck with private cabanas; buyer purchased cabana for $200,000. Common charges $232, taxes $11 (10-year tax-abatement). Asking price $665,000, on market 9 months.(broker: Nest Seekers)
Just Sold! [NY Post]
Appreciating Stuyvesant Heights
Tuesday's House of the Day discussion got a lot of people talking about Stuyvesant Heights. One reader who lives in the neighborhood sent these pics in to give a visual taste of the neighborhood.
Friday Links
Borough Hall, Downtown Brooklyn. Photo by Frank Lynch
Housing Fury at City [NY Post]
Brooklyn Firebug in Bail Bid [NY Post]
Spitzer Tackles Greenpoint Spill [NY Daily News]
What To Paint Brownstone Trim? [Apartment Therapy]
Economy Slows Further in May [Inman News]
Late Payments Not Widespread Yet [Bankrate]
Brooklyn Bridge Park Rumble [Gothamist]
June 22, 2006
Thursday On the Record
On the Waterfront, Williamsburg. Photo by justiNYC
Events: Today in Brooklyn
Spiderman 3 Descends
DA Hynes Hits Town Hall Meeting
Making Brooklyn More Bicycle-Friendly
Spider-Watch: Lights, Camera, Action?
Foraging for Salad in Floyd Bennett Field
Find the Asian City Council Member!
Spidey Watch: So Long, Cobble Hill Theatre
Red Hook Journal: The Pier
Foraging for Salad in Floyd Bennett Field
Those who shop at greenmarkets cut out the supermarket middleman by buying their produce straight from the farmer. Lois Pinetree, a member of the Floyd Bennett Garden Association (and self-proclaimed "advocate for the wild plants that are being murdered wholesale"), cuts out the farmer, too — she shops for salad in Floyd Bennett Field, and recently took a crew along to demonstrate her foraging skills. "How would we find anything edible, I wondered, as we roamed the park's unkempt paths and vacant lots?" JJ Goode of Epicurious reports. "But there we were, in Brooklyn, plucking shepherd's purse, lamb's-quarters, mugwort, the flowers of purple clovers, rose petals, fennel fronds, and onion and garlic scapes (the part of the plants that grow above ground and give that lovely culinary aroma to your lawn)." It sounds unlikely, but according to JJ, a friend of ours with impeccable taste, the weed salad was delicious.
A Weed Grows in Brooklyn [Epicurious]
Wild Salad [The Floyd Bennett Garden Association]
House of the Day: Gut Rehab Candidate
If you're feeling adventurous, this shell on St. Mark's Avenue in Park Slope may present an interesting opportunity to arb the market. The asking price for the 4-story house is $1.1 million. If you could do the reno for $500,000, you'd probably create $200,000 or so of value. Of course, in the meantime, who knows what the market will do...
34 St. Marks Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Co-op of the Day: Affordable on Beverley Road
Five blocks to the North of Monday's House of the Day, this attractive one-bedroom looks like a great first apartment to us. With an asking price of $185,000 and a monthly maintenance of $532, we guessing pre-tax monthly costs of about $1,600; after-tax probably closer to $1,200 or $1,300. Not bad for a real one bedroom with a separate dining area in a pre-war building. How close is the nearest subway?
Beverley Road 1 BR [Mary Kay Gallagher] GMAP
78 North 9th: Could Be Nice
When it comes to lofts, we'll take this kind of a building over a new development any day. As far as we can tell, the developers paid $3 million for this place last year. Clearly, there was some unused FAR floating around. GMAP P*Shark
Grand & Putnam Gets Lip Service, Maybe More
There was a big turnout--over a 100 people, we'd guess--at last night's Town Hall meeting to discuss the problems of drug dealing, gambling and violence at the corner of Putnam and Grand in Clinton Hill. Tish James and Captain Cosgrove of the 88th spoke for the first 45 minutes or so about recent crime stats and the historical efforts to combat the entrenched lawlessness in this particular hotspot. (What do you know! There just happened to be a squad car, shown below, parked on the corner before and during the meeting.) In particular, Cosgrove expressed frustration at the inability to purge 435 Grand Avenue despite numerous raids and busts; he also admitted his frustration at how quickly those arrested reappear on the corner. Numerous people stood and told their own stories--mostly of being intimidated by thugs and of being treated rudely by police.
Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes showed up about half-way through the evening and promised to pay special attention to the corner, pointing to the mass arrests in the Red Hook Houses as proof of his resolve. When we got our chance we made two comments: (1) we told Cosgrove that, regardless of the degree to which it has basis in truth, his precinct has a massive p.r. problem with the community that needs to be addressed and (2) we put on the table the idea of installing a surveillance camera, something which several of us in the neighborhood formulated as a top priority a couple of weeks ago. It turns out that there may be a way to fund this privately, though it's unclear what it would cost (possibly as little as $18,000). A show of hands revealed that more than 90% of the room was in favor of a camera. Hynes said he had no problem with surveillance cameras but cautioned the audience not to look at them as a panacea.
The message that all three speakers kept hammering home was that the residents have to stay vigilant in reporting crimes and working closely with law enforcement. It's hard to argue with such advice, but many of the people in the audience who've lived in the neighborhood for a while have endured years of feeling helpless and ignored by the police; they are also aware of the potential repercussions of taking too high a profile stance against the drug dealers. It seems like there's a lot of momentum among residents now and we hope the efforts to clean up the nabe and hold the public officials' feet to the fire will not recede along with the memories of the recent shootings.
One suggestion that came up in conversation after the meeting was to bring in the Nation of Islam as private security. This has never occurred to us, but supposedly they did a fantastic job cleaning up Coney Island (who knew?). Does anyone know anything about how that would work?
DA Hynes Hits Town Hall Meeting [Brooklyn Record]
At a Certain Point, Size Does Matter
If anyone can point us to a smaller house in Brooklyn, we'd love to see it. As for this Fillmore listing in Carroll Gardens, $949,000 would seem to be a stretch--we'd be very surprised if this place were more than a thousand square feet. Probably more like 800.
Listing #612130 [Fillmore]
City Looking for Proposals for Piers 10, 11 and 12
June 22, NY Post -- The Queen Mary 2 may be getting some neighbors in Brooklyn. The city is fishing for ideas about how to develop a 17-acre inlet of New York Harbor off Red Hook - right behind the piers where the massive cruise ship docks. The Economic Development Corp. this week put out a request for development schemes on the Atlantic Basin, an inlet cradled by Piers 10, 11 and 12 - the much-celebrated QM2's new $52 million New York terminal. Among the ideas already floated as possibilities for the basin are a marina, water-borne transit hub or marine repair and refit facility. "Revitalizing Brooklyn's waterfront with maritime activities and public access is a high priority for the Bloomberg administration," said EDC's interim president, Joshua Sirefman.
Piers Need Hull of an Idea [NY Post]
CG'ers Don't Want No Stinkin' Bars
Rumors are swirling that Al's Grocery, a longtime fixture a the corner of 3rd Street and Hoyt, is about to be replaced by a jazz bar. "Ours is a quiet residential block with a lot of young families recently moved in and far removed from the commercial bustle of Smith Street," writes one concerned neighbor. "We're not looking forward drunks sitting on our stoops or pissing in our already-truncated front yards." Word is that the beer and wine license is a non-issue because it transfers with the lease. Anyone have more deets? GMAP
Thursday Linkerati
Data Processing Building, Williamsburg. Photo by justiNYC
Study Shows Dwindling Middle Class [NY Times]
City Can Oppose Riverfront Lawsuit [NY Times]
Two Buildings Declared Landmarks [NY Times]
Preservation Fight Over Crow House [NY Times]
State to Sue ExxonMobil Over Creek [NY Post]
Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest [NY Daily News]
Downtown Parking Plan Intro'd [NY Daily News]
Bloomberg to Park Opponents: Sue Me [Brooklyn Papers]
Morrone Tour of Grand Army Plaza 6/29 [MAS]
Quinn Opposes Rent Hikes [Metro]
Majority Think Bubble Will Burst in '07 [AOL]
June 21, 2006
Wednesday On The Record
Grain Silo, Gowanus. Photo by JGNY
Events: Today in Brooklyn
Movies: Spiderman To Swoop Over Smith Street
Dining: Weekly Food and Drink Roundup
Sports: Rough Opening Day for Cyclones
Block Association Kick-off Party in Bed Stuy
Old Lighthouse May Open to Public
Sour Times for the Sweet Cherry
House of the Day: Adelphi Frame on the Sly
We were visiting some friends on Adelphi Street last weekend when they mentioned that a frame house down the block was for sale. The price? $1.7 million. We were intrigued because we hadn't seen it listed anywhere. A check-in with Property Shark reveals that the four-story house is on the small side at 23-by-35 feet and on a shallow lot (75 feet) as well. But this is one of those houses where square footage is less important than the architecture, in our opinion. We're interested to hear from the peanut gallery, but from what we gather the house is in great shape on the inside. Anyone know how long it's been on the market and whether, in fact, it is listed with any broker?
GMAP P*Shark
CLEXCY Kicks Off New Block Association
Block associations are the best vehicles for bringing about local change that we know of. One such group that's starting to take some control over the quality of life in its corner of Bed Stuy is the newly formed Classon Lexington Quincy (CLEXCY) Block Association. The group introduced itself to the nabe by hosting a block-long stoop sale and BBQ last Saturday. We expect to see the number of window boxes double and the amount of petty crime cut in half by this time next year!
Condo of the Day: (Very) Shiny and New in PS
So you're a developer turning an old brownstone in an upscale neighborhood like Park Slope into condos and you say to yourself, "I think I'll put the ugliest, cheapest floors in possible!" Nice one, guys.
159 Garfield Place [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP
Mosaic Building With Troubled Past Hits Market
We've been obsessed with the mosaic tile building on the corner of Adelphi and Greene since we first moved to the area. We've never gotten a satisfactory explanation of how or why the building came to be covered in thousands of mosaic tiles — one of the few examples of an interesting alteration of a brownstone facade in the pre-Landmark era. After years of vacate orders and tax liens, however, the building is finally on the market. We were unable to find any info on the Massey Knakal website but look forward to details emerging. GMAP P*Shark
North 11th Street Rising
After playing tennis in McCarren Park on Sunday and hitting the Renegade Crafts Fair, we noticed this building going up at 178 North 11th Stret for the first time. Anyone know anything about it? GMAP P*Shark
Weekly Food and Drink Round-Up
Free Pizza at the Crocodile Lounge
"How is it, you ask? Well, whaddaya expect for free? At least your beer was good, right? And after enough hooch, almost any pizza tastes good." [Slice NY]
Gone Fishing Boozing at Trout
"The BBQ pulled pork sandwich ($5) was moist and messy, the corn on the cob ($2) sweet and glistening with a 'touch' of butter and the steamed littlenecks with chorizo, onion, garlic and beer (market) were the perfect foil to our pilsner." [Gothamist]
Coco, Not So Rosy
"You’d think the quick turnover [on Smith Street] would scare new spots into putting some effort into their enterprise, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Coco Roco, a branch of the Park Slope Peruvian restaurant." [The L Magazine]
Important Clinton Hill and FG Meetings Tonight
There are two very important meetings taking place tonight — we hope as many Clinton Hill and Fort Greene residents as possible attend at least one of them:
Town Hall Meeting re: Safety and Quality of Life
Along the Grand Avenue Corridor
Letitia James, DA Charles Hynes and 88th Precinct Captain
966 Fulton Street, 7 to 9pm
Pratt Area Community Council 42nd Annual Meeting
Brown Memorial Baptist Church
52 Gates Avenue, 6 to 8pm
Update: One Prospect Park Rising
All this talk of $1,200-a-foot sales prices got us thinking about that other high-high-end project in the works — Richard Meier's glass-clad condo at One Prospect Park. Last we looked it was a hole in the ground, so imagine our surprise last weekend on our way to the greenmarket to see that the building has already risen four stories high.
One Prospect Park: Affordable Glass? [Brownstoner]
Making Green by Building Green
Charles Lockwood, who made his name writing about brownstones, tackles a larger topic this month in the Harvard Business Review, green architecture:
Just five or six years ago, the term “green building” evoked visions of tie-dyed, granola-munching denizens walking around barefoot on straw mats as wind chimes tinkled near open windows. Today, the term suggests lower overhead costs, greater employee productivity, less absenteeism, and stronger employee attraction and retention. Companies as diverse as Bank of America, Genzyme, IBM, and Toyota are constructing or have already moved into green buildings. Green is not simply getting more respect; it is rapidly becoming a necessity as corporations—as well as home builders, retailers, health care institutions, governments, and others—push green buildings fully into the mainstream over the next five to ten years.
Fascinating.
Building The Green Way [Harvard Business Review]
HBR on Building the Green Way [Treehugger]
Wednesday Linkage
Laundry, Red Hook. Photo by Alexis Robie
Renters Get Slugged [NY Post]
Permit Parking Requests Grow [NY Daily News]
Building Obits from MAS [The Real Estate]
12 Websites That Define Cool [Newsweek]
Charles Lockwood Comes Full Circle [PAW]
Summer on the Roof [A Brooklyn Life]
Fortress of Rectitude [Crazy Stable]
June 20, 2006
Tuesday On the Record
BQE Wine and Liquors, Williamsburg. Photo by Bluejake
Events: Today in Brooklyn
Restaurants: Provence en Suck?
Shopping: Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket
Culture? Babes in Brooklyn
Property: Lethem Lets Gehry Have It
Fine Dining: The Poop on Chuck E. Cheese
A Moment of Zen in Red Hook
House of the Day: Stuy Heights Gem
Another beauty from Stuyvesant Heights by way of Craigslist. The 4,300-square-foot two-family is configured as an owner's triplex over a garden rental. By all appearances (and the broker's flowery prose) it sounds like this is one of those jaw-droppers, complete with original restored woodwork, wainscotting, and pier mirrors. The 1899 house also has a center stair with an "intricate oak basket weave design" on the railings and restored golden oak lattice work overhead. Located on Bainbridge off Lewis Avenue, the house is only a couple of blocks from the A train. If all this is true, the asking price of $1,235,000 seems a little lower than we would have expected. What say ye?
Bainbridge at Lewis Ave [Craigslist] GMAP
Checking In On The BPL Plaza Renovation
The plaza renovation (done in tandem with the creation of a new auditorium) at the Brooklyn Public Library is moving along. Designed by Vincent Benic Architects, the new plaza will provide better access for baby strollers and wheelchairs; it's also bound to become a mecca for laptops users, given the free wifi network that will be provided. The big question: Will the plaza be open by the Fall as scheduled?
Question Mark on Vanderbilt Ave
Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights has tons of potential in our opinion. It already has a fun vibe and eclectic mix of businesses and we suspect more bars and restaurants will continue to be drawn to the strip. This storefront at 595 Vanderbilt is a big question mark. Does anyone know what this will be? GMAP
More Condos for Broadway?
The developer of this building on Broadway (#26?) between Wythe and Kent must be hoping to get to market before Herman Badillo builds his 28 towers in the Burg. Given how well Schaefer Landing sales have gone, and the Gretsch before that, there's no reason to think this place won't have buyers lining up. Anyone know who the architect or developer is?
36 Broadway [Kutnicki Bernstein Architects] GMAP P*Shark
Admiring the Loew's Pitkin Theatre in Brownsville
We enjoyed reading about the Loew's King Theater on both Planet PLG and Curbed last week. Turns out this ain't the only old Loew's theatre of interest to the architecturally minded. The Loew's Pitkin Theatre at 1501 Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville is a real throw-back to the good ole days of Art Deco grandeur. Built in 1929 by Thomas Lamb, the Pitkin went out of business in the 1960s and was later used as both a church and a department store, according to Forgotten NY. Is it too much to hope that the rising real estate tide in these poorer nabes will lift these beautiful old boats?
Loew's Pitkin Theater [Bridge and Tunnel Club] GMAP
First Train to Brownsville [Forgotten NY]
Provence en Suck?
Professional restaurant critics tend to give new eateries a couple of weeks to settle in before they descend upon them, but some Chowhounders start criticizing freely on opening day. A post titled Provence en Suck (referring to Smith Street's new French spot, Provence en Boite) spurred a 17-post debate last night, but as of this morning, the Chowhound police had cut down the thread significantly. The general consensus is that their croissants are good, the service is shaky, and the place could use an air conditioner, but the restaurant owners deserve some time work out the kinks. Has anyone been in yet?
Lethem Comes Out Swinging at Gehry
Author and lifelong Brooklynite Jonathan Lethem has drafted a personal letter to Frank Gehry that appeared in Slate yesterday. Here's an excerpt:
[Your design is] a nightmare for Brooklyn, one that, if built, would cause irreparable damage to the quality of our lives and, I'd think, to your legacy. Your reputation, in this case, is the Trojan horse in a war to bring a commercially ambitious, but aesthetically—and socially—disastrous new development to Brooklyn. Your presence is intended to appease cultural tastemakers who might otherwise, correctly, recognize this atrocious plan for what it is, just as the notion of a basketball arena itself is a Trojan horse for the real plan: building a skyline suitable to some Sunbelt boomtown. I've been struggling to understand how someone of your sensibilities can have drifted into such an unfortunate alliance, with such potentially disastrous results.
The other zinger: "Your prestigious presence in this mercenary partnership reminds me of Colin Powell giving cover to the Cheney-Rumsfeld doctrine: If he’s on board, we’re meant to think, it can’t be as bad as it looks." Ouch. Read on.
Brooklyn's Trojan Horse [Slate]
Tuesday Links
Brownstone, Prospect Heights. Photo by PDBerger
NYPD Beefs Up Flatbush [NY Post]
Tenants: Ax Rent Hikes [NY Daily News]
The Juice on the Jewish Press Building [NY Daily News]
Magic Says Condos Are a Good Deal [FG Courier]
Commercial RE a Bright Spot [Hot Property]
Rising Rates Push Buyers from ARMs [Delaware News Journal]
Late Mortgage Payments Drop Sharply in Q1 [MSN Money]
28 Highrises for Williamsburg [Curbed]
June 19, 2006
Making a Stink
Smith Street's pungent new cheese shop also stocks smoked meat, fresh bread, cookies, condiments, olives, and pickles — making it a perfect one-stop pre-picnic shop. I explained that I like a creamy cheese but didn't want anything that would melt on the way to Prospect Park, and they had just the thing — a grassy French cow's cheese called St. Nectaire. I left with a little more than a quarter pound of it ($2.36), some Mazzola's olive bread ($3.75), and a bag of madeleines ($6.50) for dessert. The best part was the sticker used to seal my cheese — not only did it include a suggested wine pairing (the store owners also run the nearby wine shop, Smith & Vine), but also an endearing tag line: "Stinky Bklyn. We love you. Really. We do."
Monday On the Record
Signage, Red Hook. Photo by Dan Eckstein
Events: Today in Brooklyn
Culture: Brooklyn Takes Center Stage
Sports: Bargain Baseball in Coney Island
History: NYPL's Maps of Old Brooklyn
Restaurants: Clinton Hill's Vini & Olii
Arts: Irony Big at 2nd Annual Renegade Craft Fair
Shopping: Making a Stink on Smith Street
House of the Day: Victorian in East Ditmas
We're not sure if this house is technically in Ditmas or Midwood, but it's a well-preserved corner house on what looks to be an attractive block. Is it worth the $939,000 asking price? No idea. The fireplace is a little random, but otherwise quite nice details. There was an open house yesterday so hopefully we'll get some first-hand feedback.
642 East 18th Street [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP P*Shark
Restaurant Review: Locanda Vini & Olii
It's fair to say that we don't get out as much as we used to, what with kids and all. Sometimes a little creative scheduling can go a long way though. Take last Thursday for example: while Mrs. B talked the babysitter into staying half and hour later than usual, we ducked out of the office a few minutes early. Our rendez-vous point: Locanda Vini & Olii on Gates and Cambridge. This Italian restaurant--our favorite in the borough--has been a Clinton Hill staple since long before its brownstones cleared the $1 million mark. We started with a bottle of the house white, a crisp 2004 Plozner Tocai Friulano, while Mrs. B ordered up a green salad and her usual branzini baked in parchment paper with organic spinach while we went for the sardines to start followed by the papardelle with braised rabbit. While sharing a dessert of flourless chocolate cake, we struck up a conversation with the pair at the next table, an artist from Toronto and a real estate developer from Gowanus, before rushing off to relieve the babysitter. Locanda Vini & Olii is located at 129 Gates Avenue in Clinton Hill; 718-622-9202.
Co-op of the Day: Price Cut at 277 Washington
Here's an attractive pre-war two-bedroom on Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill. After sitting on the market for all of two weeks, the price was cut this past weekend from $645,000 to $630,000 in time for yesterday's open house. The ad doesn't say, but we're guessing the apartment's about 1,100 square feet which would suggest it's priced at between $550 and $600 a foot. We're liking the floors and the plaster moldings on the bedroom walls. (Luckily, the sellers will be taking the drapes with them!) Other amenities include apart-time doorperson, live-in super, bike room and laundry facilities. Anyone make it to the open house this weekend? Have other units in this building turned over recently?
277 Washington Ave [Halstead] GMAP
More Raw Development Material on Fulton
It's getting harder to find a parking space in Downtown Brooklyn...Just down the street from the Flatiron site discussed last Thursday sits this former parking lot on Fulton and Rockwell Place that looks like it's getting teed up for some developer to sink his teeth into. GMAP
Flip-Side of Prohibitively Expensive Windows
We know first-hand how expensive it is to replace the extra-long parlor floor windows having done it last year ourselves. (For those fortunate enough not to have had to do it, it's a couple thousand bucks or more per window.) So it's not surprising that many houses took short-cuts over the years, using standard length windows and just filling in the difference. The patch job at 211 Carlton Avenue is particularly crude though. GMAP
Baltic Street Update: Chan Engages Critics
The latest word from Baltic Street, where residents have been up in arms over plans for a 118-foot tower, is that developer Joe Chan has made some conciliatory moves recently that suggest he may actually be taking some of the community feedback to heart. From what we gather, Chan had a meeting last week with Richard Bearak from Marty Markowitz's office to which he brought his new "design architect" and "community liaison" Peter Himmelstein. According to Himmelstein, the team is doing a new zoning analysis and rethinking all their options. This could be a giant p.r. stunt for all we know, but it certainly seems like a positive development (no pun intended).
Negotiation a Tower on Baltic [Brownstoner] GMAP
$1,200 is the New $1,000
First comes word that the penthouses at One Hanson Place are set to fetch $1,200 a foot; now word that an ex-Goldman Sachs banker has plunked down $5.8 million for two lofts at One Main Street in Dumbo that add up to a combined 4,790 square feet. Jokes about how this is the end of the neighborhood aside, this is serious stuff. $1,200 a foot? The sellers bought one of the units in 1999 and then picked up the other one in 2004; the combined price of the two units when the building went condo in 1998 was $1.55 million. As David Walentas, the building's developer, and current resident of the iconic 6,000-square-foot clock tower apartment, said with characteristic modesty: "I made a lot of people rich. I'm happy for everybody." Hard to argue with that.
Elsewhere in William Neuman's weekly column, follow-up news on the Harlem real estate deal worthy of a Wall Street derivatives desk. The Times had already reported on that Yale prof John Geanakoplos had created an unorthodox structure for his purchase of a Harlem townhouse earlier this year. Now more details: He paid a minimum amount at closing at which time he also escrowed some more cash; if the price of homes in the area rose over a pre-determined period of time, the seller would get paid more; if not, the buyer would get the escrow returned. As another Yale professor, Robert Schiller. put it: "People don't want to buy a house at the peak. They feel bad about that."
Lastly, Neuman touches on last week's rumors that Lev Leviev and Shaya Boymelgreen had had some kind of falling out. Officially, this is not the case. Their five-year exclusive relationship is just drawing to a close so they're branching out.
Dumbo Is Humble No More [NY Times]
Designs for Fort Greene Tower To Preserve Mansion
Set Speed alerts to news from the Brooklyn Eagle that strongly suggests that the site of the 320-foot tower designed by Scarano Architects is likely to be the large lot at South Oxford and Hanson. The tip-off? Word that the design for the tower "preserves an existing three-story 1830s landmark mansion on the site." Well, the 8-bedroom house that Belgian artist Marc Lambrechts occupied for years before unloading for $13 million certainly matches that description. If true, the preservation of the house is great news. It will be interesting to see how it fits in with the overall design.
South Portland Tower Revealed [Set Speed]
Silver Phallus to Tower Over Fort Greene [Brownstoner]
Monday Linkster
Tank, Greenpoint. Photo by Frank Lynch
Man Charged in Warehouse Fire Denies Confessing [NY Times]
Badillo Pushing 28 Stories for W'burg [NY Post]
Traffic Chaos for Brooklyn Arena [NY Post]
Magic's Luxury Condos Ripped [NY Daily News]
City Rent Board To Get An Earful [NY Daily News]
What's Next for Cursed Retail Location [Brooklyn Record]
Helping FCR Come to Brooklyn [NYC Sporting News]
Sidewalk Cafe on Flatbush [Daily Heights]
June 16, 2006
Open House Picks
Cobble Hill
26 Bergen Street
Prudential Douglas Elliman
Sunday 2-4
$2,375,000
GMAP P*Shark
Boerum Hill
123 Nevins Street
Nancy Mckiernan
Sunday 2-4
$1,399,000
GMAP P*Shark
Crown Heights
1211 Dean Street
Yvette Braham
Saturday 1-3
$899,999
GMAP P*Shark
Bushwick
369 Menahan Street
Corcoran
Sunday 11-2
$549,000
GMAP P*Shark
Prospect Lefferts
237 Empire Boulevard
Alexis Finigan
Sunday 11-2
$525,000
GMAP P*Shark
83 Downing Sheds Another $130,000
The owners of 83 Downing in Clinton Hill have sliced another $130K off their asking price. While the first price cut from $1.55 million to $1.425 took three days, this one took three months. Back then, we said we thought that $1.3 was where people would start taking a serious look; it will be interesting to see whether the foot-dragging has hurt them, i.e. whether the market has moved down on them in the meantime.
83 Downing Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Efficient Markets at 83 Downing [Brownstoner]
HOTD: 83 Downing [Brownstoner]
Time for Neighborhood Close-Ups Again
We're going to be heading out of town for a week in July so it's that time again when we ask for readers to volunteer to blog about their neighborhoods. This time around we'd like the theme to be about how your neighborhood has changed in the last several years. Each day during the week we're gone will be devoted to a single neighborhood and blogger. We assume the posts will be photographically-driven with some first-person commentary. We're looking for five volunteers. Please email us at brownstoner @ brownstoner.com if you're interested. You'll have until July 4 weekend to submit your content.
Thanks!
Recent Sales in Brooklyn
EAST WILLIAMSBURG $805,000
24 Conselyea Street
2-family, prewar wood-frame house; 2 bedrooms, home office in primary unit; 1 bedroom in other; dining room, 1 bath in each; full basement; 25-by-75-ft. lot; taxes $1,789; listed at $825,000, 3 weeks on market (broker: Kline Realty)
KENSINGTON $325,000
811 Cortelyou Road
2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,200-sq.-ft. co-op in a prewar building; elevator, renovated eat-in kitchen, high ceilings, hardwood floors; south and east exposures; laundry facilities in building; maintenance $810, 44% tax-deductible; listed at $325,000, 4 weeks on market(broker: Brooklyn Properties of 7th Avenue)
Residential Sales [NY Times]
RED HOOK $1,065,000
105 Pioneer Street
Renovated two-family brick 17-by-60-foot house on a 17-by-100-foot lot, with one-bedroom, one-bath unit over three-bedroom, one-bath duplex; home features exposed brick, tin ceilings, hardwood floors, deck, finished basement and through-the-wall AC. Record sale for two-family home in Red Hook. Asking price $1,100,000, on market three months (broker: Fillmore Real Estate)
CLINTON HILL $355,000
149 Clinton Avenue
Prewar two-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 500 square feet, with new galley kitchen with Corian countertops, stainless-steel appliances, hardwood floors and window AC; building is pet-friendly. Asking price $349,000, on market 11 days (broker: Corcoran)
Just Sold! [NY Post]
Marketing PLG a Century Ago--And Now
Bob Marvin comes through again! Our discussion of 68 Midwood Street on Monday prompted the hardcore brownstoner to scan this ad he had in a frame on his wall. The advertisement shows 68 Midwood and its neighbors at top and some smaller houses one block over. The former were offered for $11,000 and the latter $7,500. According to our calculations, if 68 Midwood Fetches its asking price of $1.495 million, the house will have appreciated at an un-bubblicious annual compounded rate of just under 5%.
In other PLG news, The Post gave the nabe a glowing profile yesterday:
If you're panning for real-estate gold, you can strike the mother lode with Brooklyn's Prospect Lefferts Gardens. It's an increasingly popular neighborhood full of gorgeous townhouses, but it's also a place where real-estate bargains still exist.
The article pegs price ranges for Lefferts Manor at between $1 million and $1.6 million and $625,000 and $875,000 for greater Prospect Lefferts. It also notes that there are currently NO condos in PLG--though some are in the works.
HOTD: Midwood Not Mid-Priced [Brownstoner]
PLG: Hot Prospect [NY Post]
Size Matters: How Long Is Your Loan?
A year or so after Fannie Mae introduced the 40-year mortgage, an obscure bank in California has upped the ante with a, get this, 50-year mortgage. Statewide Bancorp of Rancho Cucamonga began offering the loan back in March and has received "quite a few applications." The bank is touting the 50-year loan, which adjusts after an initial 5-year fixed period, as an alternative to ARMs and interest-only loans. Not surprisingly, some people are skeptical. "If a person is considering something like that, they're probably trying to squeeze into too much house to begin with," says Jason Flurry, president of Legacy Partners Financial Group in Georgia.
50-Year Mortgage Debuts in Cali [Bankrate]
MAS Voices Criticism of Current Plan for AY
The Municipal Arts Society expressed significant concern over several aspects of the current proposal for Atlantics Yards at its forum last night, saying the plan would "overwhelm" surrounding neighborhoods and cause major traffic problems for the area. "Does this project work for Brooklyn?" asked Kent Barwick, the society's president. "As it currently stands, we don't think it does." ABout 300 people heard Mr. Barwick lay out five suggestions--including avoiding the elimination of some existing streets and making the proposed park space more accessible by nearby residents. If any readers attended, we'd love to get some color on what the tone of the meeting was.
Group Calls for Major Changes at AY [NY Times]
Friday Linkage
Fire Escape, Brooklyn Heights. Photo by David Gardiner Garcia
Less Housing for Average Pay [NY Times]
Greenpoint Arsonist Indicted [NY Post]
City Adds Credit Meters [NY Post]
Brooklyn Blazes Unconnected [NY Post]
HDC Approves $179M for Housing [NY Daily News]
Natural Home Store to 688 Washington [Set Speed]
Clinton Hill Co-ops Go Green [Brooklyn Record]
Fabric to the Rescue [Design*Sponge]
House of the Day: Windsor Terrace Frame
Here's an interesting one: A two-story frame house with a double garage for $850,000 on East 2nd Street in Windsor Terrace. Granted it's not huge (and it is on the southern edge of the nabe), but if you want to be within walking distance of Park Slope and Prospect Park for under a million bucks, this could be worth a look. The first floor looks like it has some nice touches--original door frames and floors--but the second floor looks pretty generic and charmless. And, not surprisingly, the kitchen's not winning any design awards.
Listing #5196 [Warren Lewis] GMAP P*Shark
Condo of the Day: Prospect Something?
We hadn't noticed this condo listing on Fillmore until this morning. Evidently still under development, the building has at least two 950-square-foot 2-bedrooms offered for $675,000. The only clue to location is that one of the photos has "prosp" in its name. Is this Prospect Place? That might make sense--judging from the surrounding buildings, this looks more like parts of Prospect Heights than Park Slope. Who knows where this is?
Listing #638077 [Fillmore]
Revisiting the Site of Brooklyn's Flatiron Building
When we discussed the Clarett Group's proposed design for a 28-story triangular tower a couple weeks back, we said we thought it would work given the site's context a few blocks from where leafy-green Fort Greene really starts. But just to be sure, we trekked over to Ashland and Fulton earlier this week to take another look. Sure 'nuf, while there are a handful of brownstones on Ashland that are going to suffer from being in the tower's shadow, overall we think the location can handle the scale of the building.
Triangular Tower for Fort Greene [Brownstoner] GMAP
Board of Ed Building Sales "About to Start"
Two Trees Management's PR machine is going into high gear in anticipation of the impending sales launch at 110 Livingston Street. ("Sales About to Start!" the latest press release reads.) The stately former Board of Ed building (shown here under construction last year) has had a four-story glass addition built atop the original McKim Mead and White design. Designed in 1926 as a clubhouse for the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the building is getting the requisite high-end makeover, complete with name-brand appliances and sigh-worthy bathrooms. Another bonus: On-site parking. The development will have 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments, with the cheapest one starting at $400,000. One wonders whether Walentas will be able to match Magic Johnson's asking prices of $1,200 a foot at One Hanson Place. Which do you think is a "better" location?
110 Livingston Street [Dumbo-New York]
$1,200 a Foot at One Hanson [NY Post]
Board of Ed Conversion [Brownstoner]
FCR Sued, Issued Violation for Pacific Street Demo
Forest City Ratner was given a violation yesterday in connection with a Stop Work Order issued on Saturday at 620 and 622 Pacific Street. DOB found several code violations on site--including a defective safety fence--when it visited the site last weekend after calls from disgruntled neighbors at 624 Pacific. The rent controlled tenants at 624, at least one of whom is a member of DDDB, had filed a civil lawsuit last week over alleged improper usage of a backhoe during demolition work. The Atlantic Yards Report wrote yesterday that the residents would be seeking to file a criminal complaint in upcoming days. As for the violation, the maximum penalty is $2,500 which must really be keeping Bruce up night.
FCR Cited for Not Stopping Demo Work [NY Times]
Criminal Complaint to be Filed [Atlantic Yards Report]
Photo by David Gochfield
Condo Plan for 160 Imlay Thrown Into Question
Another twist in the 160 Imlay Story: Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Lewis sent developer Bruce Batkin back to the drawing board when she ruled that the BSA's original decision back in December 2003 to grant a variance to convert the building into condos despite the manufacturing zoning was "irrational, arbitrary and capricious, and not based upon substantial evidence." Tom Russo, founder of the Red Hook Gowanus Chamber of Commerce, which sued the city over the decision in January 2004, hailed the ruling as "a victory for the small businesses of Red Hook" while Batkin vowed to fight on.
Judge Halts Condo Plan [NY Daily News] GMAP
Photo by Cornershots
Alibi for Man Accused of Starting Greenpoint Fire
The man sitting on Riker's Island accused of starting the largest fire in New York City since 9/11 may have an alibi after all. Zbigniew Sarna, a mason from Pond Eddy, N.Y, has come forward to say that the accused, Leszek Kuczera, was in Upstate New York at the time doing contractor work for him. Tom Cleary of the Legal Aid Society said it will check out Kuczera's alibi. "If it's strong enough, we'll try to get him released." The NYPD declined to comment. The conspiracy theorists must be buzzing.
Investigation of Warehouse Veers Upstate [NY Times]
No Way He Set Brooklyn Fire [NY Daily News]
Homeless Man May Have Alibi [NY1]
Wrong Man May Be In Custody [WNBC]
Thursday Links
Ironwork, Clinton and Dekalb. Photo by Newell the Jewell
Cost of Living Rising Fast [NY Times]
Brooklyn Brownstone B&B's [NY Daily News]
Brennan AY Bill Likely to Die? [Park Slope Courier]
No Manhattan-Style in Boerum Hill[Brooklyn Papers]
A Red Hook Cruise to Nowhere [Brooklyn Record]
Kitchen Makeover Suggestions [Apartment Therapy]
MAS Forum: Can Atlantic Yards Work? [The Real Estate]
Ganja Stashed in Home Depot Sinks [CNN via C&H]
More Tales of Bad Landlords [Bad Advice]
House of the Day: East Flatbush Under $600K
This house sure looks cheap to us at $585,000, but, frankly, we have no idea what this block of East 32nd Street between Beverley and Cortelyou in East Flatbush is like. It seems like there must be a catch. Given that it's a three-story, three-family, the layout's probably not ideal for a family buyer; on the other hand, there are original floors and moldings as well as a bay window that sweeten the deal. The footprint of the house is large--20 feet by 53 feet--and, as the listing points out, there's another 1,500 square feet of buildable FAR as of right. Whether this is a "deal" or not hinges on what the immediate nabe is like. Help please?
3-Family Bow-Front Limestone [Craigslist] GMAP
Stomping Out Flowers in Carroll Gardens
Not everyone in Carroll Gardens has a garden, but even on the streets where cement front stoops stand in for landscaped front yards, many residents brighten their sidewalks with flower-filled planters. Apparently, though, somebody at the Transportation Department isn't a fan of the pansies and marigolds. Inspectors have been threatening green-thumbed residents to remove their sidewalk planters — or face $1,000 fines. "I'm really upset over it," said Elizabeth Hillery. "Here we had pride in our little gardens, and now they want us to take 'em down." If crowded sidewalks are the issue, what's next? The removal of elderly Italians parked in lawn chairs? In this neighborhood, the transportation department better watch their step.
Planters Now No-No on Clinton St. [NY Daily News]
Development Watch: Activity on Carlton
It looks like things are starting to happen at the future home of the new townhouses at 233 Carlton. As far as we know, though, Landmarks hasn't signed off on the project yet. In addition to the bulldozer and dumptruck, we spied an impressive pile of salvaged timber in the yard that must have come from inside the church. We hope they'll find a way to incorporate these into the new townhouses. They look like the joists in our house.
New Row of Townhouses on Carlton [Brownstoner] GMAP
Bulldozers Gone, Cranes are Next in Fort Greene
Here's a massive lot at 174 Vanderbilt/181 Clermont between Myrtle and Willoughby that's all teed up for some major development. We haven't heard what's planned for this site but we bet dollars-to-donuts that one of you has.
GMAP
Lean and Green in Cobble Hill
The recent coverage of our own garden reno has prompted one garden blogger to come out of the woodwork. The blogger behind Lean and Green rents in Cobble Hill and has to climb out the window to access the garden. She's pround of the "ramshackle deck" she's put together with plywood, rubber and a $30 tent from Target. She derives particular satisfaction using only plants she's been able to get for free. Judging from these lillies, she's not doing too badly!
We Have Achieved Lilly [Lean and Green]
St. Felix Street Twins
This pair of buildings, at numbers 54 and 39 St. Felix Street, look like they belong a few blocks further West around the Fulton Mall rather than on a brownstone block, albeit one of the less impressive ones in Fort Greene. The building on the right is a little worse for the wear, having been stripped of much of its original facade. Nevertheless, it still has what may be our favorite element--the original barn-style doors. When do people thing these were built? 1890s? GMAP
Weekly Food Review Round-Up
V-Spot
"It's a welcome addition for the vegetarian- and vegan-minded... Best of all, at least until blazing summer sun renders it hot at midday, the restaurant has a great patio in the back." [Gowanus Lounge]
Court Pastry's Italian Ices
"I would rather eat the chocolate Italian ice here than have gelato or ice cream anywhere else — that is how good this Italian ice is." [A Brooklyn Life]
Steve's Key Lime Piesicles
"This unique delicacy is served out of the freezer as a whole miniature pie, complete with a round crust of Graham crumbs and smooth key lime filling." [Gothamist]
More On Harvard's Benign Outlook on RE Market
More news from the Harvard housing study we mentioned earlier. According to Eric Belsky, executive director of Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, we're not headed for a major crash:
Strong household growth, combined with record incomes and wealth, will lift housing investments to new highs next decade. Each generation is achieving higher homeownership rates, incomes, and wealth than the one ahead of it, with the leading edge of the echo baby boom now in their 20s and the baby bust now in their 30s starting off on especially high paths. This is despite the fact that each younger generation has successively higher shares of foreign-born and minority household heads with lower average incomes than same-age native-born whites.
Undermining the soft-landing thesis, the study also notes that of the 149 largest metropolitan areas in the country, the number in which median house prices are at least four times the median household incomes increased from 13 in 2001 to 49 in 2005.
Soft Landing Seen By Harvard Study [MarketWatch]
Wednesday Linkster
Discount Liquors, Williamsburg. Photo by Run With Scissors
Fight to Preserve E. Village Church [NY Times]
$1,200 a Foot at One Hanson [NY Post]
NYT Launching Real Estate Mag [Crain's]
Melting Queens' Iron Triangle [Village Voice]
Five Ownership Tax Myths [Bankrate]
Opportunity for Artists in Greenpoint [Curbed]
Lillie's Bar Closes in Red Hook [Brooklyn Record]
Dimitri's Garden Center [Apartment Therapy]
Craigslist RE Ad Pricing [Sellsius]
Apartment Hunting Pointers
Whether you need a new apartment, workspace or office, parking space, or temporary sublet, the search for space can be even trickier here in Brooklyn than it is in Manhattan. There isn't some magic database out here that gives you all the units and sizes and management companies attached to addresses, like there is across the river. It can become even more complicated when you consider that there are sometimes cultural, linguistic, and religious barriers that can stand between you and that space you just have to have (that is, if you can find it). Unless you are teaching yourself Yiddish during your lunch break or Polish after work, chances are you are going to need a little help finding a place to sleep in Brooklyn.
In order to find the perfect space, you'll have to work at it — usually with a broker that knows the turf, unless, of course, you have already lived here for years, or are that rare lucky case that strikes gold on the first Saturday of your search. Nevertheless, if you are setting out to tackle the search on your own, here are a couple of great places to start.
House of the Day: Carroll Street Cutie
After knocking around the same family for more than three decades, this 4-story brownstone at 170 Carroll Street has hit the market. This is an unusual case of the interior being nicerthan the exterior. There's some serious original wood work (arch, pier mirror, etc.) going on as well as a charming parlor-level bay window. The agent is either a great photographer or the 18-footer is deceptively wide. The two-family house is currently configured as a double duplex. Solid location too--between Henry and Clinton. The price? $1.9 million. Has anything comparable sold on this block recently?
Carroll Street Brownstone [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Angles, Setbacks and Windows on Adelphi Street
There's a new 5-story building going up at 184 Adelphi Street between Willougby and Myrtle. It's too early too tell whether its angular modernism will be successful or not but we're curious to know how residents are feeling about it. We're just happy to see some decent-sized windows for a change! The building was designed by Michael Marshall Architecture. Ever heard of 'em? Just for kicks, we include a photo of a beautiful woodframe house--of mid-19th century origin, we assume--across the street at Number 183.
Not for Sale in the Sticks
Driving through rural Connecticut this weekend, we saw first-hand that the pressures of "greedy developers" are not limited to our urban confines.
Spike's Gone But 40 Acres and a Mule Lingers On
Spike Lee's wife may have persuaded him to move to the Upper East Side a few years ago, but it's good to know that the film director most associated with Brooklyn hasn't completely abondoned the borough. In addition to filming his recent hit "Inside Man" at nearby Steiner Studios, Lee has kept his 40 Acres and a Mule headquarters at 124 Dekalb Avenue at Brooklyn Tech Place. Judging from the graphic emblazoned on the front door of his studios, he's not planning on going anywhere any time soon.
Walentas: Duke of Dumbo
How much is David Walentas worth? "Three or four hundred million. I don't know, really," he told Reuters. "We made $200 million alone on one building last year." As far as we're concerned, he deserves every penny for the risk he took in placing his bet on Dumbo over 25 years ago. His strategy of offering free rent to store owners and art galleries has been an effective strategy; and now he's talking about building a $30 million park and donating it to the State. His own one-of-a-kind 6,000-square-foot loft in the clock tower isn't on the market, but if you've got $25 million to spend, he says you're welcome to it. Of course, it wasn't always this good for Walentas. "For years I couldn't pay my taxes and couldn't service debt," he says. "But the mortgage company didn't even want to foreclose."
Brooklyn Developer is Duke of Dumbo [Reuters]
Inside the Strong Place Church
The Open House at the Strong Place Church in Cobble Hill made for a fascinating afternoon, according to attendees (we were out of town at a family reunion). One visitor who spoke with the architect reiterated the team's intention to salvage as much as possible; unfortunately, the plaster ceiling won't make the cut, as recent rain has damaged it beyond repair. Another interesting bit of news is that Landmarks OK'd a small addition to the back left side of the church that won't exceed the current height. Contrary to LPC's original directive that the addition should be modern, it will be done in contextual materials.
One Last Look Inside [Brownstoner]
Top Two Photos by Benjamin Arnow
Next Three Photos by Anne Bernstein
Bottom Photo by John Young
What's New on Smith Street?
Spring is here and Smith Street's budding storefronts are beginning to bloom. A Brooklyn Life offers a photo tour of the new spots. Sapodilla, a restaurant, bar, and lounge, announces itself with a hand-written sign tacked up on the old Village 247 space, Provence en Boite replaces Baluchi's, and Porchetta, yet another French bistro, fills Banania's old digs. Stinky Brooklyn offers cheese, sweets, and cured meats, while Bird promises pretty little numbers for the ladies — at sky-high prices.
Everything's Green on Smith [A Brooklyn Life]
Always Something New on Smith [Brooklyn Record]
James, Hynes To Host Grand/Putnam Town Hall
We were pleased to see a police car standing guard at Putnam and Grand on our way home from the office on Friday; and we gather that they've assumed a similar position at various times since the shooting two weeks ago. Of course, we haven't seen them there at night. Nor have they been there in the mornings when we walk past on our way to work. In fact, on Friday morning we asked a cop who was standing guard on the busy subway platform full of dangerous businessmen and women on their way to work why he wasn't over on Putnam and Grand instead. He muttered something unintelligible and then said something about how there might be a greater presence there when the new class of recruits comes aboard in July. Hmmmm.
In the meantime, there is some reason for hope. On June 21 at 7 p.m.. Letitia James, DA Charles Hynes and the 88th Precinct Captain will host a town hall meeting at 966 Fulton Street to specifically address the "quality of life issues" at Grand and Putnam. It's unusual to get this line-up of higher-ups for such a local forum so we hope there will be broad attendance from the community--not just the block. Does this represent a change in attitude from the political and law enforcement leaders who have ignored the magnitude of the problem in the past? We can only hope. We also hope that they come to the meeting with more than pat answers about how they are working on long-term solutions with undercover cops and how there aren't enough resources. If so, the members of the audience (aka the voters) won't be buying it. As we've said before, this is going to become a single-issue point of accountability for all the leaders in the neighborhood. Let's hope they rise to the occasion.
Will The Cops Show Up Now? [Brownstoner]
One Month Until Scarano's Day in DOB Court
What is causing the DOB to finally focus on architect Robert Scarano's conduct? If you believe the man himself, it's jealousy. "We’ve changed the face of what Brooklyn buildings look like," Scarano told Brooklyn Papers recently. "With change comes resistance." On the heels of this winter's charges of self-certifying designs that were larger than what zoning laws allowed for, Scarano has more recently been accused of negligence at three job sites in Brooklyn and one in the East Village. In particular, he's charged with failing to adequately oversee excavations that made adjacent buildings "structurally unsound." Scarano will have a chance to defend himself--and try to prevent his self-certification privileges from being revoked--when an administrative trial convenes July 12.
More Charges Hit Architect [Brooklyn Papers]
DOB Turns Up Heat on Scarano [Brownstoner]
Tuesday Linkage
Porches, Windsor Terrace. Photo by Frank Lynch
Record Price for Red Hook House [NY Post]
$1 Billion Property Tax Rebate [NY Post]
Piano Man House-Hunting in Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
Violations on Ratner Demo [No Land Grab]
Striking a Pose on the Brooklyn Riviera [Brooklyn Record]
Bicytaxi Comes to Town [Gothamist]
Vegan In The Slope [OTBKB]
Welcome to BQE Shortcut Land [Amy Langfield]
Retail Shop Incubator in Fort Greene [Set Speed]
House of the Day: Midwood Not Mid-Priced
This four-story limestone on Midwood Street in Lefferts Manor is the real deal but, man, $1.495 million is a lot of dough for this nabe, isn't it? It looks like the extensive woodwork in the house (including several fireplaces) is in excellent shape. As usual, we're not loving the kitchen reno, but that is what it is. The house, which is of a grander scale than many in the area, also boasts inlaid parquet floors, pocket doors and stained glass. Still, $1.495 million? What do the locals think?
Update: This is 68 Midwood Street--the identical twin of #55. Both were built by W.A.A. Brown and were originally priced at $11,000 when they hit the market a century or so ago. According to Bob Marvin, the reason for the dumbwaiter is that these houses were built with TWO dining rooms--an informal one in the ground floor front and a formal one, over the kitchen, in the parlor floor rear.
Midwood Limestone [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Condo of the Day: Something to Gretsch About
We remember last year when some people started advocating cubic feet as a better metric than square feet when talking valuation. This makes some sense, given that a 1,000-square-foot apartment with 14-foot ceilings is, all else being equal, worth a heck of a lot more than the same apartment with 8-foot ceilings. Which is probably the logic behind the pricing of today's Condo of the Day, a 1,473-square-foot ground-floor loft with 26-foot ceilings one either the third and fourth or fifth and sixth floors. The price? A cool $1,250,000. We'd be curious to know what these units originally sold for, not that it really matters. What does matter is how much of the stated square footed is mezzanine space. It looks like about a third. In the end, the deal might hinge on whether you could convince the boys at Marlow & Sons to deliver oysters on a regular basis.
60 Broadway Condo [Prudential Douglas Elliman] GMAP
Brooklyn Record Launches
As Brownstoner has grown in size and scope, we've come to realize that there's a need for a blog that covers a broader range of Brooklyn topics and that incorporates a broader range of voices. So we've put together a new site called the Brooklyn Record that will cover Arts, Restaurants, Events, Politics, etc. while Brownstoner stays focused on Real Estate, Renovation and Architecture. (We've got two new reno blogs coming down the pipe.) Brooklyn Record also has a Drudge-like section of links to daily hard news in the borough. We've got a group of seven or eight writers and bloggers who will be contributing the lion's share of posts, but we hope the site will evolve to incorporate even more voices over time. We've been publishing in stealth mode for a couple of weeks so there's a backlog of items to check out in addition to today's fresh daily content. Like Brownstoner, the Brooklyn Record will be exponentially more fun and useful if readers contribute ideas and tips. We look forward to your suggestions and feedback as the site and its writers get their sea legs. Enjoy.
Brownstoner
Homepage [Brooklyn Record]
Victorian Flatbush House Tour Recap
Here are some pics from yesterday's Victorian Flatbush House Tour. We'd love to hear from everyone who attended what they thought were the highlights.
Victorian Flatbush Tour on Sunday [Brownstoner]
House Tour June 11 [Flatbush Development Corp]
Photos by Nelson Ryland
Rethinking Grand Army Plaza: Safety and Utility
In addition to making us aware of one of the more interestingly-named pieces of Brooklyn History--the Death-O-Meter installed in Grand Army Plaza in 1927--this weekend's article in The Times addressed the growing movement to remedy the user-unfriendliness (in addition to safety issues) of one of the borough's most prominent symbols. A coalition of existing groups and activists, led by Aaron Napstarek, have already brought in Jan Gehl, the prominent urban planner, to study the traffic patterns and pedestrian potential for the circle. We're certainly excited about the idea of making the area around the arch a destination spot . As the Grand Army Plaza Coalition's Napstarek puts it, "The plaza was really designed to be one of the world's great urban civic squares." In the near term, though, there are myriad studies to be done, meetings to be held and bureaucratic processes to navigate. But we have a hard time envisioning who would be against something like this, so there's reason for optimism.
The Circle Game in Park Slope [NY Times]
Fixing Grand Army Plaza [Curbed]
Photo by Subliminal Rendezvous
U.S. Market as a Whole Pretty Ugly
We all know all real estate is local--and that New York City is its own unique market--but it's still interesting, and probably wise, to keep one eye on what's going on nationally. A particularly good snapshot of this is available now on the economics blog The Big Picture. In addition to this chart which shows the unprecedented number of new homes hitting the market, the piece from a couple of weeks ago discusses the rapid decelleration of price gains, the drop in existing single-family home sales and downward trend of mortgage applications. Overall, a pretty ugly picture.
Recent Housing Data [The Big Picture]
Monday Linkage
Keep Bushwick Beautiful. Photo by Royal Shyness
Finding an Architect for Working-Class Housing [NY Times]
For Brooklyn's Beacon, The Luxe Life [NY Times]
Architect Who Shaped Upper West Side [NY Times]
Rent Bill Errors Hit in Queens [NY Daily News]
Controversial Landmark Appointment [NY Daily News]
John Starks Hit 99 Gold Opening [The Real Estate]
Letting the Contractor Use Your Bathroom [The Walk-Through]
Northeast's Most Expensive Homes [Forbes]
Stranger Ringing Doorbells [Daily Slope]
June 9, 2006
Open House Picks
Park Slope
92 Prospect Place
Rita Knox
Sunday 12:30-2
$1,950,000
GMAP P*Shark
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
251 Lincoln Road
Corcoran
Sunday 12-2
$1,149,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bedford Stuyvesant
156 Quincy Street
Ryan
Sunday 12-3
$955,000
GMAP P*Shark
Park Slope
239 8th Street
Orrichio Anderson
Sat & Sun 12-2:30
$899,000
GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: Round 3 for Cambridge Mansion
We're not sure whether the owners of 86 Cambridge can't make up their minds or whether they just keep over-pricing their 7,000-square-foot house, but either way we're starting to get a bad case of real estate whiplash. This is the third time in the last couple of years that this place has been on the market. Given other prices in the area, $2.3 million wouldn't seem to be crazy (or is it?), especially given the double-wide garden plus garage, but as we mentioned last time around, some questionable layout decisions and the extent of repairs needed are clearly holding the house back. These pictures look pretty good though. Any bets on whether this sells this time around?
86 Cambridge #H86 [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP
Rambling Vic in Clinton Hill [Brownstoner]
Original Use of Dean Street Muslim Center?
Last weekend, on the same stroller tour that turned up the Pacific Blue condos, we came across an impressive building that had theretofore escaped our notice. Currently the headquarters for a group called the Nigerian American Muslim Integrated Community (quite a mouthful!), we can only guess that 801 Dean Street began its life as an armory of some sort. Any architectural historians out there who can clue us in? GMAP P*Shark
If This Fan's A-Rockin'...
Over on the home improvement blog Charles and Hudson, they've got up a little video primer on how to stabilize a wobbly ceiling fan. Which reminds us: We still need to get some ceiling fans. What do people recommend?
Fixing a Wobbly Ceiling Fan [Charles and Hudson]
Residential Sales in Brooklyn
FORT GREENE $651,799
6 South Portland Avenue
1-bedroom, 1-bath, 900-sq.-ft. co-op in a brownstone; private deck; maintenance $895, 40% tax-deductible; listed at $635,000 (multiple bids), 3 weeks on market (broker: Aguayo & Huebener) GMAP
Pretty sure this was the totally done-up apartment on the Fort Greene House Tour that we wrote about here. Not surprised there was a bidding war.
WINDSOR TERRACE $425,000
202 Seeley Street
2-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,000-sq.-ft. co-op in a postwar building; maintenance $530, 40% tax-deductible; listed at $469,000, 9 weeks on market (broker: Orrichio Anderson) GMAP
From the print edition of yesterday's New York Times.
Victorian Flatbush House Tour on Sunday
Tis the season...The Victorian Flatbush House Tour will take place on Sunday, June 11, from noon to 6:00 pm. Highlights this year include 1505 Albemarle and 115 Buckingham; the latter, a 1900 shingled house with gambrel roof, has been described by Christopher Gray as "spectacular". To purchase tickets in advance ($16), email admin@fdconline.org. On Sunday, you can buy tickets ($20) at Flatbush Congregational Church at 424 E. 19th Street (Marlborough and Dorchester Road), which is where the tour begins.
House Tour June 11 [Flatbush Development Corp]
Photo from Victorian Flatbush: An Architectural History
One Last Look Inside the Strong Place Church
The Strong Place Church, shown at right in a photo from 1930, has been gradually damaged by water and time over recent years, despite being of great concern to Cobble Hill preservationists. Now the structure is slated for an extensive residential conversion by developers James Plotkin and David Yerushalmi along with Manhattan-based Baxt Ingui Architects. "We could not be more pleased" said C. Murray Adams, President of the Cobble Hill Association. "One of most important churches in the Cobble Hill Historic District has been saved from almost certain destruction by thoughtful, careful adaptive re-use." We're all for adaptive re-use but are a little worried by the photos on the architects' website. There's nothing to suggest they have any experience actually salvaging and re-using building parts (to the contrary, the apartment shown on their site is downright cheesy), but an email we received said that there will be an attempt to re-use salvageable details. Regardless, the owners are being good sports and holding an open house on Sunday from 1 to 4 for architectural history buffs to get one last look at the interior. Admission is free.
Strong Place Church [NYPL]
Home Page [Baxt Ingui Architects]
Friday Links
Three Noses, Gowanus. Photo by e-liz
Fire Suspect Held Without Bail [NY Times]
Housing Aid Mostly Helped Rich [NY Post]
BB Park Fight Moves Online [NY Post]
Manhattan Prices Up 13% in Q1 [NY Post]
$130K Rent Scam in Queens [NY Post]
More Bike Lanes for Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
Brooklyn Bridge Backyard? [Greenpoint Star]
Bed Stuy Building Left in Dark [WNBC]
Giving the Finger the Finger [Curbed]
Bad Case of Garden Envy [Gowanus Lounge]
Brooklyn-Queens Day, Qu'est Que C'est [Gothamist]
Memorial Ride for Elizabeth Padilla [OTBKB]
Bank Loans for Small Co-ops [Daily Heights]
Catholic Church and City Stick It to Fort Greene
Here's a rumor straight out of The Da Vinci Code...The eight-story pre-war building on the corner of Clermont and Greene has been home to a group of priests for years. According to a tipster who lives nearby, the priests began moving out last week to make room for the building's new occupants: 155 juvenile delinquents. The Catholic Church reportedly has leased the entire building to the City which obviously feels that Fort Greene is getting too nice. After a neighborhood has spent a couple decades pulling itself up by its heels, why not throw up another roadblock. Anyone have further details?
Update: It appears that the Church is partnering with a non-profit group called ANCHOR to create an urban boarding school, 15 or 20 of whose students will be housed in this building. It's unclear if the rest of the building will continue to house priests.
House of the Day: Fort Greene Ground Zero
This place is pretty much a dump, but the price of $1.2 million for prime Fort Greene reflects that. The property clearly has been rental building for some time, with cheap kitchens and no love given to the old details. (Our favorite one is the small round skylight at the top of the stairwell.) We bet the ultimate buyer will convert this place into condos, using the remaining FAR to squeeze out a set-back addition on the roof and maybe a small extension on the rear of the ground floor. Maybe some of you who've converted buildings like this before can weigh in on whether the numbers work at this price. Shahn?
92 Lafayette Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Filling In The Blanks in Park Slope
Who knows what's going on at the Southeast corner of 5th Avenue and 13th Street? GMAP
Supersizing Grandma's House
Back in the winter of 2005, this was a charming, albeit run-down, old house that Corcoran was advertising, catchily, as "Grandma's House." It was on the market for $599,000 and we can only assume that's about what it sold for. Unfortunately, the house falls outside of the Clinton Hill Historic District and it looks like it's getting getting its FAR maxed out the wazoo. Sure it will be charming.
Grandma's House in Clinton Hill [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark
Ghosts of Buildings Past
We thought this photo of a building in London was a wonderful piece of urban archaeology. A floorplan in cross-section. Great colors too.
Photo by mappamundi
Boerum Hill House Tour on Sunday
The semi-annual Boerum Hill house tour takes place on Sunday. Tour go-ers get a chance to look at ten different houses through-out the nabe. The tour begins and ends at the Bishop Mugavero Center, located at 155 Dean Street at Hoyt. There will also be a post-tour reception at the Mugavero Center with free food from local restaurants and shops. Tickets are available at at www.boerumhillbrooklyn.org or at Tarragon Home & Garden at 407 Atlantic Avenue and One Girl Cookies at 68 Dean Street. Tix are $20 in advance and $25 day or tour. Please send us pics!
House Tour June 11 [Boerum Hill]
Photos by Carla Licavoli
Postcard from The Hook: Million-Plus Club
According to a marketing postcard from Fillmore, the brokerage's "Red Hook Team" of Nicole Gallucio and Marsha Yarde just set a record for the booming nabe when they sold a two-family house at 105 Pioneer Street for $1.065 million. This doesn't sound so surprising to us but maybe it is a first. Thoughts?
Gallucio's Sold Listings [Fillmore] GMAP P*Shark
More Evidence of Fairway's Effect on RH [Curbed]
Falling In Love With--and Wooing--An Old House
The Post writes of a love story with a happy ending this morning. After living in Morningside Heights for three years while attending Columbia Law School, Lucy Lang fell in love with a Greek Revival house on West Harlem. Heartbroken when she found out that the owner already had another offer, Lang wrote a heartfelt letter to the owners about how she had fallen in love with the space; she was able to push the right buttons because her mother had researched the house's past at the New York Historical Society. Surprisingly, it worked. The 25-year-old lawyer got the house and moved in last March. We hadn't realized law school paid so well!
In another segment of the same column, Stephen McGill, who's owned an 1899 neo-Renaissance house in PLG since 1987, points out that enjoying historic details doesn't come easy: "We spent about 12 or 13 years renovating," he says.
It's All in the Details [NY Post]
The Last Supper at Mr. Souvlaki
Owners Harry and Anna Kilimitzoglou have closed Mr. Souvlaki in Downtown Brooklyn. After 33 years of serving moussakas, spinach pies, and gyros, they said tearful goodbyes to their many loyal customers. The couple plans to spend their retirement relaxing on their boat and traveling to Greece.
Famed Greek Restaurant Closes Doors [NY Daily News]
Homeless Men Responsible for Greenpoint Fire
You've probably already heard by now, but the police arrested a one homeless guy and charged him with arson, burglary, reckless endangerment and petit larceny in last month's massive fire at the Greenpoint Terminal Market; an accomplice was being sought. Supposedly, the fire started when the men tried to burn the insulation off some copper wire so they could resell it. Meanwhile, Joshua Guttman, still no angel in our book, was charged with 434 counts of "failure to maintain privately owned waterfront property" along with his son and four of their related companies. Guttman "feels vindicated in the fact that it's now known he's not the person who had anything to do with the fire," said his attorney, Israel Goldberg.
Homeless Men Blamed for GTM Fire [NY Times]
Homeless Man Arrested in Massive Fire [WNBC]
Photo by Fabian 17
The Warehouse 'Firebug' [NY Post]
Thursday Linkerati
Ages Word, Greenpoint. Photo by Adam Brock
Weekend Homes in Brighton Beach [NY Daily News]
Mr. Souvlaki Closing Downtown [NY Daily News]
Baltic Street Tug-of-War [CG Courier]
Compromising on Old Floors [Apartment Therapy]
Rise in Green Housing [Inman]
Dub Pies on Columbia Street [423 Smith]
PBS Documentary on Green Building [Architectural Record]
House of the Day: Bring Your Bathing Suit
Here's an interesting one for discussion. A four-story brick townhouse with charming mansard roof on 3rd Street between Smith and Hoyt, just up from where we were on Sunday. Only a couple blocks from the Gowanus Canal (not sure whether that's a selling point or not), the interior of the house appears to have lost much of its original charm, judging from the fact that the one indoor photo is of an exposed brick wall. Additionally, the old parlor floor windows, which used to go to the floor, have been replaced by smaller aluminum windows. The most notable feature (once again, not sure whether it's a good or bad thing) is a swimming pool that takes up the entire back yard. The listing first grabbed our attention because the price looked pretty low for 3rd Street. After mulling it over, now we're not so sure. Any good comps for this place?
19 Third Street Townhouse [Brooklyn Bridge Realty] GMAP P*Shark
Washington Avenue: This Could Be Huge
This mama is big! Given its pivotal location on the heretofore slow-to-improve stretch of Fulton Street, we're hoping this is going to be something nice that can counterbalance some of the less desirable activity that has been known to go on along this stretch. Who's got the 411?
GMAP
First Farm Share of the Season
CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a partnership between farmers and their neighboring communities. Members of the Cobble Hill CSA cough up $378 each May in return for 23 weeks of fresh produce from the Green Thumb Farm in Water Mill, Long Island. By paying up front, this Brooklyn group gives a family farm a financial boost to make it through the season.
Those interested in joining the CSA often ask how much food you get for $14/week. Due to the time of year and weather conditions, the amount varies. This week's haul included a few stalks of rhubarb, one giant leek, a large and loose head of lettuce, a fragrant bouquet of peonies (I pay an extra $66 to receive 11 fresh-picked bouquets throughout the season), a bundle of chives topped with round purple flowers, a mini-bale of dill, and best of all, a pint of impossibly sweet strawberries.
Forgotten NY in the Back Streets of Green-Wood
When his first attempt at leading a tour around Green-wood Cemetery was foiled last month by wet weather, Kevin and a few hardy souls set about exploring the less scenic (to some) streets of Green-wood Heights and Sunset Park. Among the industrial buildings and shadows of the Gowanus Expressway, they turned up some gems, like these old trolley tracks from the Bush Terminal and this charming bay window on Third Avenue, from which one used to be able to look up the hill at the cemetery.
Green-wood Heights [Forgotten NY]
How's The Reception in Greenpoint?
Time Warner's got its work cut out in Greenpoint, huh?
Photo by justiNYC
Play-by-Play from the PLG House Tour
Planet PLG has a fantastic slide show of last weekend's house tour of Prospect Lefferts Gardens. As a rule, these house tours don't allow interior photos, but Plant PLG got special permission. As a result, we all get to see the beautiful wood-paneling and inlaid floors that distinguish so many of these houses. It's also a fun opportunity to see how the owners have decorated their houses, from grand pianos to funky basement speak-easies. Cheers!
House Tour Slide Show [Planet PLG]
99 Gold (Finally) Hits the Market
After a few delays over at 99 Gold in Dumbo (er, Vinegar Hill), buyers are finally getting a chance to step up to the plate. Or make that free-throw line. Units at the 100,000-square-foot former toy factory are hitting the market on Thursday. Potential buyers of the building's 88 residences--which range in size from 672 square feet to 1,550 square feet--will also get a chance to shoot some hoops with Knicks legend John Starks on the building's private basement court while sipping a glass of pinot grigio at tomorrow night's opening bash. The standard apartments will start at about $550 a foot, we hear, and supposedly will be ready for occupancy in the Fall.
Developments [The Developers Group] GMAP
Postcard from Dumbo [Brownstoner]
ARM Threat Overstated, At Least in Near Term
Writing in the Business Week real estate blog Hot Property, Peter Coy calculates that only about 4% of homeowners will have their mortgages reset in 2006. He arrives at this number by crunching some data from the recently released Harvard 2006 Housing Study:
Here's the math: Only about two-thirds of homeowners carry a mortgage at all. Of those, only about one-quarter have adjustable-rate mortgages. And of those with adjustable-rate mortgages, only about one-quarter are scheduled to reset their rates in 2006. That's one-quarter of one-quarter of two-thirds, which Excel tells me is 4%.
In addition, Coy notes that only 3% of people have less than 5% equity in their homes and 87% have at least 20%.
Only 1 in 20 Rates to Rise [Hot Property]
Wednesday Linkage
HSBC Bank Building, Williamsburg. Photo by Tien Mao
One Killed in Construction of Mikvah [NY Times]
Asthmatics Protest Bushwick Building [NY Daily News]
Parking Strollers to Stomp Arena [NY Observer]
Broken Promises in North Brooklyn [NY Observer]
More Bike Lanes for Brooklyn [1010 Wins]
View from Schaefer Landing [Curbed]
DDDB Addresses Insensitive Comments [No Land Grab]
Dan Zanes Rocks Brooklyn [Bumpershine]
I Like Brooklyn? [Flying Conundrum]
Weekly Food Review Round-Up
Pies 'n' Thighs
"Mr. Tanner and Ms. Buck have cobbled together a restaurant that makes their loves clear: good Southern cooking and great baked goods. (And since every time I saw Mr. Tanner he was wearing a Led Zeppelin T-shirt, we can assume they love Zep, too.)" [NY Times]
Good Fork
"Smoky and tender, the slow-braised Berkshire Pork ($14) induced a rhapsodic look in my dining companion; I scoffed, but then tried it and agreed. Ravioli ($12), filled with arugula and ricotta and sprinkled with toasted pine nuts, had an effortless grace." [The L Magazine]
Original Vegetarian, Cheffy's Jamaican Cuisine, and Nick's Bakery
"On Crown Heights' Nostrand Avenue, a corridor of impeccable Caribbean cuisine, there's a block-long stretch I call the Bermuda Triangle of Patties. Here is where hunger is lost to half-moons of flaky crust bulging with heavily spiced fillings, like a calzone taking a Jamaican cruise." [NY Press]
Photo by Shannon Greer for The New York Times
Dressler, Wheelhouse Pickles, and Gravy after the jump.
Co-op of the Day: Henry Street Duplex
We always have a tough time coming to grips with co-ops and condos that have been carved out of brownstones. Regardless of the attractiveness of the apartment in question, our mind immediately jumps to how nice a house one could get further out for the same dough. Which really isn't the point. There are plenty of people who'd rather have a smaller place in a more convenient or gentrified area. So what about this place? We think the interior decorating is working against this listing. The Ethan Allen look makes the space feel crowded and cramped--as do the apparently sloping ceilings in the bedroom on the top floor. The saving grace on that count is the living room which appears to have cathedral ceilings. The apartment, which does not have outdoor space, is 1,600 square feet. The asking price: $1,100,000. Not for us, but not a crazy price, considering that $2.2 million would be reasonable for an entire house in the area. Of course, then you'd also have a yard and wouldn't have to get someone else's permission if you wanted to pain the hallways.
363 Henry Street [Prudential Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark
Development Watch: Ambitious Plans on Pacific
Both 925 and 935 Pacific Street are being developed by the same group and share the same architect, Loading Dock 5. Number 925 (top) is the larger of the two, but we were only able to find info on Number 935 (bottom two photos). According to the architect's website, Number 935 is a 10-unit, 14,000-square-foot residential development. If you've ever been on this stretch of Pacific, East of Washington, you will probably share our surprise at the ambitious nature of the project and be surprised to learn that, in addition to a rooftop terrace, the building will feature a spa in the cellar.
Previously: Contractor's About Done [Brownstoner] GMAP
Brownstoner Garden: Planting Gowanus Booty
Here's how the garden looked on Sunday afternoon after doing the first wave of planting.
Previously: Contractor's About Done [Brownstoner]
A Changing Skyline in the Lower Slope
Here's the view back up the Slope from Gowanus with the Fourth Avenue skyline just starting to take shape. Wonder what this view will look like in, say, three years?
Big Changes In Store for Coney Island
A three-block-long section along Coney Island's boardwalk is awaiting a $1 billion renovation. Residents express concern about losing some local color in the process, but the man behind the project is Brooklyn native Joe Sitt, who hopes to preserve the neighborhood's character while turning Coney Island into a year-round attraction.
"The developer hopes for a final plan by July 1, with a variety of projects including a high-end hotel (perhaps shaped like a roller coaster), a water park, retail outlets and residential property," writes Larry McShane of The Associated Press. "Some things will remain untouched. The Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel and what's left of the Parachute Jump are all designated landmarks."
This project isn't slated to take shape for at least a year, but in the meantime, this summer's visitors can look forward to some extra food options on the beach — Snack Dragon, which was recently dismantled on Avenue B and Third Street in the East Village, is opening a Coney Island outpost. (And if you're a looking for a summer job, they're hiring. Tattoos and punctuality recommended.)
$1 Billion Revival in Works for Coney Island [Post-Gazette]
Image by Adam Sandy
Garden Fever: It's Catching
We're loving A Brooklyn Life's photos of her garden spruce-up that's been underway. We were surprised to see such a nice garden in a rental! Do other renters have such sweet set ups? More pics on the link...
Into the Garden [A Brooklyn Life]
What's Going On (And Up) at 888 Fulton?
Who knows what the plans are on Fulton between Washington and Waverly? GMAP
Bed Stuy's Star Continues to Rise
According to The Sun, things got so bad in Bed Stuy back in the 1980s that one local precinct spray-painted (officers tagging?) the words "The Alamo" on the wall of the station house. Two decades later, crime is down and property values are up, though not everyone--including long-time renters and property owners who resent newcomers benefiting from what they see as the fruits of their labors--think the trade is worth it. Crime's down 70 percent or so since 1990, roughly in line with city-wide trends, while brownstone values have just about doubled since 2003. "People don't feel quite as safe as the police reports, but they feel a lot safer than five, ten or fifteen years ago," said Colvin Grannum, head of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Project. Change is coming from out as well as within: In addition to the Home Depot that opened last year, spots like Bushbaby, a gourmet coffee shop started by a Bed Stuy native, are starting to replace the nail salons and bodegas.
Renaissance Comes to 'The Alamo' [NY Sun]
Tuesday Links
Pole, Bed Stuy. Photo by Saki-sempai
Eminent Domain Evictions in New London [NY Times]
Rent Control Lawsuit in Brooklyn [NY Times]
Marketing Condos in Noisy Areas [New York Magazine]
A Little Help Pulling Nails [Lifehacker]
Suozzi Against Atalntic Yards [The Real Estate]
Less Traffic for Prospect Park [NY1]
Fight to Landmark Domino Sugar Factory [Curbed]
The Shops of Lewis Avenue [Urban Change]
The Smith Both Luxe and Pop [justiNYC]
House of the Day: Prospect Heights Mystery
It's killing us that we can't figure out where this house is located. The listing says Prospect Heights but other than the one-story taxpayer on the left of the photo there aren't a lot of clues. If there are some details as the listing says, and the inside hasn't been too butchered already, this could present an interesting opportunity to get a lovely looking (from the outside, anyway) brownstone in a hot area for under a mil. Granted, when you consider it's only three stories, it start to look like less of a bargain. Has anyone seen the inside of this place? How bad is it?
Prospect Heights Townhouse [Weichert]
Turn Here: Neighborhood Vids
For the past year or so, web-based video company Turn Here has been cranking out short films about neighborhoods in New York, San Fran and LA. The big difference between their videos and our own is that theirs are made by pros who hopefully spend more than the half an hour we're able to muster to produce ours. Brooklyn is well represented in the mix, with spots like Williamsburg's Union Avenue (above) given the up-close-and-personal treatment. Enjoy.
Union Avenue Movie [Turn Here]
New Nabe? It's All About The Taint
How's this for a new neighborhood name? Taint. As in, "T'aint Clinton Hill and T'aint Williamsburg." For some reason, the area between Classon and Broadway on the East-West axis and Myrtle and Flushing on the North-South doesn't really fit into either neighborhood. Increasingly, however, in addition to the Hasidic specials in the area, more developments aimed at displaced hipsters are popping up. On Friday, we looked at 609 Myrtle. We also noticed a smaller-scale reno underway at 195 Classon between Myrtle and Park.
Flower Shopping on Sunday
On Sunday, we needed to get a new gas tank for the grill, so we headed over to Home Depot in Sunset Park. It also gave us a chance to look seriously at the garden offerings. Not particularly inspired, we stopped by the Gowanus Nursery, where we dropped $180 on plants and flowers. We found some time in the afternoon to do our first plantings (ever!). We'll post the results tomorrow.
State of the Market: Identity Crisis
The big-picture take-away for us from The Times' state-of-the-market piece this weekend is that real estate in New York City right now is in a state of purgatory. There's a collective breath-holding going on while everyone tries to come to grips with the big x-factor: interest rates. On the one hand, inventory and days-on-market figures are up; on the other, brokers note a tangible pick-up in the last couple of months over the end of last year, in part because of the flow of bonus checks into the high end of the market. Some new construction is flying off the shelf--others can't be given away. With more and more inventory coming on line, "sales are inconsistent and properties that lack the essential combination of location, amenities and attractive price will not sell." The flip side for property owners is that demand for rentals is rising, which means incentives are starting to disappear. As long as inflation is a threat, though, it appears that more marginal and first-time buyers may continue to tread water on the sidelines.
Rentals Strong, Rich Keep Buying [NY Times]
Rental Rates: Apples to Apples
The best deal the NY Times found in its recent survey of rentals around the city was $1,100 for an L-shaped one-bedroom in Victorian Flatbush for $1,100. In Bed Stuy, that $1,100 didn't go quite as far, requiring a prospective tenant to settle for a bathroom in a closet. Looking at all the different types of apartments is like comparing apples and oranges though. A better approach, we think, would be to use a more consistent yard-stick: The garden-level floor-through of a brownstone. Obviously, these vary in size and shape, but let's assume a standard front room and back room with a bathroom and kitchen as well as yard access. In Clinton Hill, market rate for this is $1,400 to $1,500 a month. How about other nabes?
What You Can Rent for $1,000 [NY Times]
Kiddie Rocker Dan Zanes Tears It up For DDDB
The rain on Saturday didn't put a damper on the Develop Don't Destroy fundraiser at the Hanson Place United Central Methodist Church in Fort Greene. Dan Zanes, the ex-Del Fuegos front man who's reinvented himself in recent years as the Bard of Brooklyn, entertained 1,400 of his fans, young and old, to raise money for DDDB's fight against Bruce Ratner's proposed Atlantic Yards development. We'll be interested to hear from people in the audience about the non-entertainment portion of the event. Were there many speeches other than Buscemi?
Dan Zanes Packs the House [DDDB]
Monday Linkage
Off Nevins, Gowanus. Photo by Frank Lynch
Skyline For Sale [NY Times]
Monorities Pay Higher Rates [NY Times]
New York Written In Stone [NY Times]
Habitats: The Gift of a House [NY Times]
$350K Raised for BB Park [NY Post]
Liars Out of Rent Control [NY Post]
Grand Army Plaza Plan [NY Post]
Ocean Steals Seagate Land [NY Daily News]
New Precinct House in Flatbush? [NY Daily News]
Testy in Carroll Gardens [Gowanus Lounge]
Brooklyn's Desu Designs [House & Garden]
June 2, 2006
Open House Picks: On The Cheap Side
Park Slope
380 6th Avenue
Aguayo & Huebener
Sunday 1-3:30
$1,450,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bedford Stuyvesant
124 Clifton Place
Corcoran
Sunday 1:30-3
$885,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bay Ridge
641 74th Street
Fillmore
Saturday 12-2
$795,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bedford Stuyvesant
439 Bainbridge Street
Corcoran
Sunday 2:30-4
$749,000
GMAP P*Shark
The Horror: Small Windows in the Morning
Another pimple on the ass of Brooklyn: 786 Kent Avenue.
Checking In With The Greenpoint Terminal Market
Here's an update on the Greenpoint Terminal Market from justiNYC who swung by earlier this week. Looks like Dresden.
Brownstoner Garden: Contractor's About Done
As planned, the rest of the sod was laid yesterday and the bench that helps separate the concrete portion from the rest of the yard--and will provide a place to perch during barbecues--was constructed. There are probably a few finishing touches for the Jonathan and Ryan to do (we haven't had time to do a "walk-through" yet) but from here on in, the rest of the work, i.e. the planting, is ours. If anyone's interested in our crew's services, you can reach Jonathan Yevin at 917-692-2054.
Previously: Garden Update [Brownstoner]
Clinton Hill Forum on Monday Chance for Action
We just got an email alerting us to the fact that there will be a Candidate's Forum on Monday night at 6:30 at Brown Memorial Church at Washington and Gates. Our source says she thinks Roger Green (State Assemblyman who lives on St. James) and Tish James (who lives on Lafayette) will both be there. Maybe this would be a good time for an initial show of resolve from the community regarding the drug/crime issues in Clinton Hill. Any have creative ideas for how to best organize something impactful for the event? Anyone know for sure which pols will be in attendance?
Residential Sales in Brooklyn
Cobble Hill $990,000
205 Warren Street
2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,300-sq.-ft. duplex co-op in a prewar loft building; dining room, renovated eat-in kitchen, 16-ft. ceilings, oversize windows, home office, library, north exposure; common roof deck; maintenance $906, 60% tax-deductible; listed at $1.025 million, 11 weeks on market (broker: Citi Habitats) GMAP
RED HOOK $590,000
364 Columbia Street
2-family, 3-story attached prewar brick house; 2 bedrooms, 2 baths in primary unit; 2 bedrooms, 1 bath in other; eat-in kitchen, high ceilings, hardwood floors in each; needs work; 18-by-86-ft. lot; taxes $1,220; listed at $600,000, 34 weeks on market (broker: Harlem Homes) GMAP
WINDSOR TERRACE $300,000
147 Prospect Park Southwest
2-bedroom, 1-bath, 700-sq.-ft. co-op in a prewar building with live-in superintendent; eat-in kitchen, high ceilings, parquet floors; needs work; maintenance $595, 60% tax deductible; listed at $315,000, 8 weeks on market (broker: Orrichio Anderson Realty) GMAP
From the print edition of yesterday's NY Times.
PLG Houses and Fort Greene Gardens On Sunday
This weekend is a great chance to immerse yourself in the glorious architecture of Prospect Lefferts Gardens. On Sunday from noon to 5 pm, the 36th Annual PLG House & Garden Tour will take place. Houses on display include a 1909 neo-Renaissance limestone, a 1922 Flemish bond brick and a fully restored 1899 townhouse. As a bonus, you'll get a chance to check out an exhibition of Bob Marvin's photography. Tix are $15 in advance and $20 day of. For more info call 718-462-0024 or 718-284-6210 or check out the link below.
In other tour news, the annual Brownstone Brooklyn Garden Tour will also take place on Sunday, from 11am to 5pm. This is a chance to see 15 private and 10 community gardens in Prospect Heights, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. You can pick up tickets ahead of time for $15 and $20 on the day of. Tillie's is at 248 Dekalb. 718-707-1277.
Annual House Tour [LeffertsManor.org]
PLG House Tour [NY Times]
Is There Any Way to Make Brokerate.com Work?
The Real Deal has an article on Brokerate.com in its new June issue that a pretty fair critique of both our intentions in creating the site and the results in practice. (They run a pretty misleading picture of the Homethinking CEO given that he's not mentioned until three-quarters of the way through the article. Just to be clear: That ain't the 'Stoner!) Gary Malin, chief operating officer at Citi Habitats, summed up what we expect a lot of people's reaction is: "In theory it sounds like a good thing, but in practice I don't see how it can work." As most of you know, we pulled the comments from the site within a few days of launch because they were just too nasty; more importantly, we had no way to verify if any of the things people were saying were true. Were brokers just writing raves of themselves? Were they making up negative reviews of their competitors? Ah, yeah. We had made a big effort to get a bunch of Brownstoner readers rating and commenting on the site pre-launch in an effort to set a constructive tone but things quickly slid. So now we have a few options: 1) Spend time and money trying to create a registration system; 2) Restore comments but only allow positive comments; 3) Allow all comments but just edit with a heavy hand and use our best judgment; 4) do not restore comments; 5) just bag the whole thing. Or maybe there's something we haven't considered that involves more of a community-based wikipedia-type approach. Frankly, we're not sure what to do and are curious to hear everyone's advice.
Broker Web Ratings Get Nasty [The Real Deal]
Who Wants to Live on Kent and Myrtle?
In the comments section of Tuesday's Daily Links, a reader questioned how many people really want to live on Myrtle and Kent. Now it just so happens that the day before we passed the development that's going up at 609 Myrtle. The design, which screams Scarano (a decent bet given that this is a Developers Group project), is certainly fancier than anything else in the immediate vicinity. Regardless of how nice the building is, if the condo market is anything but super-hot, it seems to us that it's going to be tough to sell buyers on this location. Do others agree? GMAP.
Scarano Crashes 4BNA Development Meeting
The Greenpoint Star describes an almost surreal event this week that brought together politicians, DOB officials and neighborhood activists. The main topic in front of the Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance (4BNA) was supposed to be the 11-story tower that developer Joe Chan wants to put up on Baltic Street. (That's neighbor Deborah Kaufmann handing out alternative proposals for the empty lot in the photo.) But bad-boy architect Robert Scarano may have stolen the show by appearing unexpectedly and trying to make light of his recent troubles: "I'm the poster boy for what's wrong with Brooklyn," he reportedly said "wryly" after Councilman Tony Avella had already cited him as exemplifying everything wrong with the building codes and development process in the city today. "I'm practicing for 20 years," said the Gravesend-born architect in a conversation with Avella. "I can't be the be all end all of the evil around here, even if I have 150 properties. The Borough President's office thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread." Interestingly, Scarano weighed in on the plans for the Baltic Street tower. His verdict? Thumbs down.
Scarano Crashes 4BNA Event [Greenpoint Star]
Friday Linkage
Public Auto. Photo by Bluejake
East River Cleaner Now [NY Times]
Rent Board Shouting Match [NY Post]
New Smart Card for Subway [NY Post]
Downtown Brooklyn in 2016 [New York Magazine]
Schaefer Landing: The Lights Are On [Curbed]
Jersey City DIY Reno [Apartment Therapy]
NYPD Spinning Prospect Park Muggings? [Gothamist]
House of the Day: State Street Under $2 Mil
We've got no hard evidence, but it feels to use like there's been about a 10% correction in asking prices. Even though this place needs work, we feel like six months ago this would have been asking over $2 million, now it's $1.875 million. As is typical of houses in the area, this one has original wide-plank floorboards; it's also got tin ceilings, pocket doors and 6-over-6 windows. It also has the favored lay-out right now: Kitchen at rear of parlor floor with a deck with stairs leading down to the garden. One catch: it's currently a legal one-family being used as a two-family. As we understand it, you can go the other way (legal 2 used as 1), but it's not to code to have an extra apartment, along with an extra kitchen. Anyone seen it? It would be interesting to know how much TLC it really needs.
State Street Townhouse [Brown Harris Stevens]
Co-op of the Day: 114 Clinton Street 1 BR
Today's co-op at 114 Clinton Street makes last week's Remsen Street listing look positively silly. We're not sure how big this place is but from the pictures the $415,000 asking price feels reasonable. It's a nice old prewar building with an attractive common roof deck and a modest maintenance of $660. This seems like it would be an enticing first apartment for some young professional, no?
114 Clinton [Prudential Douglas Elliman] GMAP
Was Happenin' on Nevins?
Who can tell us what's happening at 93-95 Nevins Street between Atlantic and Pacific? It's a nice old 2-story brick with lots of retail potential on the ground floor. Looks like that scaffolding's been up for a while. GMAP P*Shark
Brownstoner Garden Update
We know it doesn't look like much has happened this week, which is kinda true, but the supporting wall has been completed and the bluestone edging for the planting beds along the side have been laid. Today is supposed to be the big day when we get the rest of the sod.
Previously: Getting There [Brownstoner]
Murder on Putnam: Will The Cops Show Up Now?
Long one of the biggest drug spots in the borough, the corner of Putnam and Grand has remained a big problem even as the values of the surrounding brownstones have tripled over the past 5 or 6 years. Living in the area for the past year, we've been amazed at the almost complete lack of police presence on the block. So it was not a huge surprise when we heard 10 or 12 gun shots at around 7 pm on Monday. Turns out that one of the frequent dice games which the drug dealers and their hangers-on play on the corner had gone bad. Three people were shot and two of them killed in the incident. We gather that two of them were from the immediate neighborhood and one from a little further out in Bed Stuy. We can only assume that the lone candle on the sidewalk is for one of them. We've been unable to find any mention in any of the local papers about the shootings.
When called about the incident, Letitia James has given her stump-speech line about how there are undercover cops on that corner all the time and that they're on the case. Right. How about a consistent uniformed police presence? We also realize that it's hard to make drug charges stick (a valid point someone made the last time we brought this topic up). Not to pick on Ms. James, who has done a good job in some other areas (she's certainly stuck by her guns on Atlantic Yards and has been very helpful to some neighborhood business owners we know), but she has failed quite miserably in marshalling the necessary resolve and resources to solve this particular problem. We doubt it's from lack of concern (heck, she lives within four blocks of the shootings) and suspect that she just has no sway or leverage over the police in her district and not enough pull in the Bloomberg administration to go over the precinct's head.
We are curious to hear from readers how they have addressed these kinds of problems in their own neighborhoods. It occurs to us that a good place to start is to contact Councilwoman James' office at 67 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217. You can also call her at 718-260-9191 or email her at james@council.nyc.ny.us. If you're feeling a little bolder, why not give Captain John Cosgrove at the 88th a call? He can be reached at 718-636-6511. And if you know anyone else in the press or in the Bloomberg administration, please forward them the link to this post.
Pivotal Condo Project for Clinton Hill [Brownstoner]
Some Day Everything's Gonna Be Different...
...When Doctoroff paints his masterpiece.
"If you go from the border of Queens at Newtown Creek all the way to Coney Island twenty years from now, on almost every stretch of that waterfront you will see something very different than there is today." So spake Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff. It's certainly starting to feel like that's a real possibility, despite New York's long history of not seeing through master plans. And while we feel naturally protective of the small-town feel that has defined Brooklyn for long, we do agree with Amanda Burden when she says that parks and housing are preferable to power plants and transfer stations. The reality is that the city needs more housing and we would rather see it in these largely undeveloped swaths than plunked down in the middle of existing smaller-scale, low-density neighborhoods. In the best case scenario (like, in our opinion, the Richard Rogers design above), this will also provide an opportunity for the city to take a leadership role in modern architecture; in the worst case scenario, the waterfront will be lined with a bunch of mediocre housing complexes like Schaefer Landing in Williamsburg.
Waterfront in 2016 [New York Magazine]
Red Hook Annointed. Again.
How many articles can be written about Red Hook's arrival as a hip neighborhood? One more, at least, as this week's issue of Time Out NY demonstrates by putting the former industrial waterfront nabe on the cover. The formula for these things is pretty straightforward: Note the area's gritty history, document the arrivale of the gentrifiers and changes to the retail landscape and set of the inevitable drama over the fight over the future of the neighborhood's soul. To give them credit, the story is accompanied by a fairly good overview of neighborhood dining and drinking attractions all with a friendly map.
Red Hook Special: On the Hook [Time Out NY]
Essential Red Hook [Time Out NY]
Port Authority Hands Over Piers to BB Park
Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki ceremoniously announced the transfer of piers 1, 2, 3 and part of 5 from the Port Authority to Brooklyn Bridge Park yesterday. "Brooklyn Bridge Park will be the lynchpin of an exciting new harbor district, a re-imagined Governors Island and the new East River Esplanade in Lower Manhattan. They will join Brooklyn Bridge Park as magnates drawing New Yorkers and visitors from around the world," said the mayor. Supposedly the park will be the first new major park since Prospect Park was built 135 years ago.
Piers Transferred to Park Agency [NY Times]
Plans Continue for BB Park [NY1]
Thursday Links
Coffey Street, Red Hook. Photo by Satan's Laundromat
Creating a Tuscan Garden [NY Times]
Controlling the Closet [NY Times]
Horrific Brownsville Housing Complex [NY Daily News]
Bay Ridge Theater Closes for Reno [NY1]
NY More Than Manhattan [LA Times]
75 Smith Street Rising [Curbed]
What's Next for Coney Island [OTBKB]
The Yankees Come to Brooklyn [The Real Estate]
New Brooklyn Installation Art [ArtCal.net]
Latest Restaurant Additions
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Manna
added November 24, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Piattini Ristorante
added November 23, 2009 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Le Barricou
added November 20, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Der Schwarze Kölner
added November 19, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Oak Wine Bar & Café
added November 18, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Mr. Wonton
added November 17, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Casa Rosa
added November 16, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Cousin John's Café & Bakery
added November 13, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Elote
added November 12, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Miracle Grill
added November 11, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope