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January 12, 2007
Residential Sales in Brooklyn
WILLIAMSBURG $1,350,000
122 South First Street
4-family, 4-story prewar wood-frame house; 3 bedrooms in two units; 1 bedroom in others; eat-in kitchen, renovated bath, wide plank floors, original molding and detail in each; full basement, new plumbing and electric systems in building; 25-by-100-ft. lot; taxes $503; listed at $1,400,000, 10 weeks on market. Broker: Kline Realty.
CLINTON HILL $635,000
135 Clinton Avenue
2-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,200-sq.-ft. duplex in a brownstone; renovated eat-in kitchen with upgraded appliances, exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, 3 decorative fireplaces, new windows; maintenance $650, 50% tax-deductible; listed at $625,000 (multiple bids), 6 weeks on market. Brokers: Warren Lewis Realty, Eychner Associates.
From the print edition of yesterday's New York Times.
Photo from Property Shark
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Comments
i find williamsburg to be, other than greenpoint, one of the ugliest neighborhoods in the free world. it's breathtaking in its hideousness.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 10:55 AM
I was just about to post a similar comment - "God, Williamsburg is ugly."
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:09 AM
Why do so many of these buildings have that old-west-sniper-looking detail at the roofline? I am genuinely baffled.
Posted by: anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:14 AM
I agree. I looked around and just could not bring myself to live there. The area is a mixed bag of crappy aluminum sided rowhouses, blank walled warehouse buildings and vacant lots.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:14 AM
you ought to get yourself over to the landmark district in greenpoint, there are some great places. Look at the old merchants bank on greenpoint ave and franklin too.
Posted by: loser at January 12, 2007 11:15 AM
I was wondering why the Clinton Ave. place was so cheap. Then map revealed that it's a half block from the BQE.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:18 AM
sorry - its the mechanics and traders bank. go to www.nyc-architecture.com and look up greenpoint. Not that I'm denying the volumes of hideousness in greenpoint also.
Posted by: loser at January 12, 2007 11:19 AM
where are the trees? aren't trees important?
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:24 AM
yea they are - thats why people like living in areas with tree-lined streest and parks.
Posted by: loser at January 12, 2007 11:28 AM
There once was a burgher named Billy
Sold a house for a price very silly.
It had plenty of room
But was ugly as doom
Yet the piece of crap sold, willy-nilly.
Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at January 12, 2007 11:30 AM
how do you explain williamsburg then? oh, yeah, proximity to manhat.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:31 AM
Greenpoint is NOT ugly. Check out the landmarked blocks in Greeenpoint. Beautiful houses.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:37 AM
awesome brenda. thanks for the link loser. i never noticed that housing in greenpoint. i will return.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:38 AM
History of asking prices for the Williamsburg house:
October 2005 $1.575
January 2006 $1.475
February 2006 $1.4
Broker owns the house.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:44 AM
Finally someone says what I've been thinking - Williamsburg is g-d awful ugly. Truly truly fugly. And I'm the type who usually finds the potential first, before the flaws, being an artist and a beginner in interior design. But anytime I've been in Williamsburg I simply cannot see the appeal. I knew there must be pockets that are better looking, with some pretty houses. But then again if I had to even just walk or ride through the ugly parts of Williamsburg day in day out, I would find that really depressing. I pesonally need to be stimulated (or soothed, alternatingly) by pretty buildings and TREES! Trees, hello. The first thing NYC needs to do in Williamsburg before more new development is start planting those trees. Homeowners need to put potted trees on their stoops, something, anything. Jeez louise the place is a barren wasteland with no green in it. **End Rant**
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 11:51 AM
not only is the wmsbrg proper neighborhood ugly but the people there now are ugly too! and they're all incredibly unhip, what happened?? it has had a complete shift in residents apparently. i used to live there years ago and it was full of hot women, but i was there recently for a short while and they have all fled, not one pretty woman and if they were pretty then they were rolling a baby carriage down the street. and i would say the same for the men too, unfashionable! the architecture has always been awful but that goes without saying, and lack of trees contributes to drearyness.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 12:04 PM
Also flowerboxes would do so much. What do they have against plants and flowers in that 'hood?
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 12:04 PM
Would any average-sized human being fit through the "Alice in Wonderland" door in the Williamsburg house? Jeez!
Posted by: faithful at January 12, 2007 12:41 PM
122 S 1st is a promenant loc in the upcoming Ethan Hawke crapper "State of Heat." Y'know... history.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 12:59 PM
without getting into universal statements like, 'williamsburg is ugly,' i note that the one building pictured here is a wood frame covered in re-roofing shingle. if i had $1.35M to spend on such a property, i would identify the historic exterior, probably shake or shingle, and replace it. sorry, 12:04, i don't have any suggestions for improving the appearance of the neighborhood's residents.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 1:07 PM
williamsburg and greenwood appear to have a lot in common..fugly
Posted by: anon at January 12, 2007 1:36 PM
hey, not everyone can be an elitist brownstone loving snob. We try, we try. But some of us have to bide our time and abide with the fugly.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 1:38 PM
the williamsburg prop looks wide, would be a good candidate for knockdown and condo buildout. wonder what its fate is.
Posted by: anon at January 12, 2007 1:48 PM
There are a couple of these wood-frame flat houses on South 1st - one has recently been redone (though I think the wood was removed and something else installed). But more and more of these buildings (in Williamsburg and Greenpoint) are having their fake cladding stripped and new wood siding installed.
So maybe we are getting less ugly, one building at a time?
Posted by: Halden at January 12, 2007 1:50 PM
this one's definately an ugly betty
Posted by: anon at January 12, 2007 1:53 PM
part of the appeal of williamsburg is the industrial buildings ... not everyone likes them but I do. to each his own.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 4:15 PM
Broadway in Williamsburg from Havemeyer Street, down to the river has some real potential. It has the old Williamsburgh Savings Bank building, Kings county SB, and some very nice cast iron buildings as well.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 4:45 PM
Williamsburg's proximity to the city is the appeal. I work on Grand Street near Lorimer, and Grand St has some old-school charm, but most of it is ghetto ugly. The area around Graham Avenue L stops and the Lorimer L stops are quaint--with tree-lined streets. Non-cohesive looking buildings though. As for the Northside--it had tons of character, still does in spots. But the new development is ripping through a lot of that.
Posted by: jbjb at January 12, 2007 4:58 PM
lets hope some developer, who isn't bothered by the annoying NIMBYS minding their bsuiness, knocks down the the old Williamsburgh Savings Bank building, Kings county SB, and the very nice cast iron buildings to replace them which much-needed glass $800K condos to help solve the housing crisis. Perhaps saint Scarano has a plan for them.
Posted by: loser at January 12, 2007 5:56 PM
The whole point and appeal of Williamsburg for the past 20-25 years has been that it was one place in NYC that was not full of yuppies. It was quiet and real (very real sometimes). And not least of all, it used to be cheap. If you were an artist, not a hipster, poseur wannabee etc, you were looking for a place to live that could provide work space and quiet and community. Yes, believe it or not, there has always been a real mixed community in this ugly neighborhood. Some of it is still here. All the hype created by the real estate industry and others is just so stupid. Williamsburg is not, never has been a place for those with visions of tree lined street etc. Exteriors have been ugly but you'd be surprised at some of the places behind those facades. Some of the homes that were created within some of the ugly duckling houses have more vision and imagination in them than most brownstones.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 6:02 PM
yes, yes, i'm sure there is true "vision and imagination'" in fact "more" of those qualities than in brownstones. the fact remains that people are paying millions to live in very ugly homes. good for them. oh, and can we please stop setting up this opposition between being an inauthentic poseur and being an Artist. Artists can be some of the biggest poseur/hipsters of all.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 12, 2007 7:40 PM
hmmm... so much hate.
williamsburg is appealing because of several factors, though i don't ever hear anyone advertising it as being green and leafy or full of old world charm.
if it the location works in terms of proximity to manhattan (work, school, etc.), why not?
To each his/her own!
Posted by: Anonymous at January 13, 2007 2:37 AM
no not hate--just think that it is bad for people to live without trees. it's bad for the earth too.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 13, 2007 10:30 AM
I LOVE industrial buildings. Those are not the buildings I have a problem with. And industrial or not, there's nothing wrong with keeping a place cleaner and greener. In fact the more industry, the more trees are needed to clean the air.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 13, 2007 5:21 PM
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