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August 24, 2009

An Italian's New York Dream

The New York Times ran a profile last Friday about Francesca Basile, a 24-year-old Italian woman moving to New York with dreams of owning a sun-drenched apartment somewhere in the city. It chronicles her first search in Harlem, including the challenges home-buyers—especially international buyers—come up against, but she eventually finds a suitable condo in Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy, at 582 Marcy. The Times piece paints a happy ending, one of a young woman making her New York dream come true (with the help of her father's funding), and we hope that Ms. Basile is happy with her purchase, since she seems to be the only person buying at 582 Marcy, according to StreetEasy. The only other sales activity there this year was back in April, and prices for units have been decreasing. But Ms. Basile seems content with her home, and once the market recovers, who knows? It could turn out to be a sound investment. GMAP
A Long-Distance Romance [NY Times]
582 Marcy Ave., sales history [StreetEasy]

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There will be some who will say that the price she paid will NEVER be seen again.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 24, 2009 10:18 AM

ENY, Eurotrash?

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 24, 2009 10:23 AM

And right next to the projects? I mean, happy houses.

Posted by: tybur6 at August 24, 2009 10:27 AM

drove past there this morning. There is a lot of construction happening on that block right now. Not sure what kind of building.

Posted by: bedstuy11216 at August 24, 2009 10:28 AM

"But Ms. Basile seems content with her home, and once the market recovers, who knows? It could turn out to be a sound investment. GMAP "

And would jscheff have even asked that question if this apartment were in some other, whiter neighborhood? i doubt it. And could he sound more condescending? Unlikely.

Posted by: bxgrl at August 24, 2009 10:33 AM

"I told ya couple times that the Gods must be crazy
But ya didn't listen, so now ya on a mission"

- Lord Jamar Brand Nubian.

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at August 24, 2009 10:43 AM

I read the article this weekend. She seems like quite a nice person. Regardless of what happens w/her purchase here, it sounds like she'll be OK. That said, I think she should have chosen the Riverside Drive place.

Posted by: East New York at August 24, 2009 10:50 AM

How is this Clinton Hill??? Let's see, Classon, Franklin, Bedford, Nostrand, MARCY!

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 11:04 AM

Isn't $389,000 for a 1BR a trifle high for that location?

Posted by: DitmasSnark at August 24, 2009 11:17 AM

Marcy Ave is solidly in Bed Stuy, no Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy border whatsoever. Please. That said, if she is happy, then buona fortuna for her, end of story.

Why are purchases in BS and other less tony neighborhoods always questioned for soundness of judgement? People will always have to live somewhere, and more and more people are still coming to Brooklyn. If she's not a-skairt of the projects, then good on her. Maybe she realizes not everyone there is waiting like wolves on the forest edge, waiting for tender victims to walk by. The apartment appealed to her, and she got it, and she's happy. I hope she enjoys many years of living in Bedford Stuyvesant.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at August 24, 2009 11:19 AM

Thank you, MM! 'Nuff said. End of story.

Posted by: Brooklynista at August 24, 2009 11:24 AM

My first two years as a teacher were spent around the corner (corner of Stockton and Tompkins) from this spot. This is right across from the gas station (or at least there use to be a gas station there).

I never would have thought you could get roughly $400k for an apartment on that corner...
... to each their own I guess

Posted by: christopher at August 24, 2009 11:25 AM

not clinton hill by a long shot.

"And would jscheff have even asked that question if this apartment were in some other, whiter neighborhood? i doubt it. And could he sound more condescending? Unlikely."

jscheff isn't condescending...YOU are condescending. so all white neighborhoods are rich? so i guess all non-whites are poor?

someday this stupidity is going to end.

Posted by: ftgreenepark at August 24, 2009 11:26 AM

Was anyone else super jealous of her? I mean, her father bought the apartment for her in cash. Sheesh.

Posted by: brooklynfamily at August 24, 2009 11:51 AM

Saw my neighborhood here and couldn't help but leave a few comments to add to the thread:

People sometimes have reservations about the location, and I can understand this to a degree, we have had our share of small trials and tribulations. But we also have found good neighbors along the way and people who make their community a better place.

Just yesterday one of our kind neighbors (he lives in the little brick house attached to the left of 582 in the photo) convinced an officer who was about to ticket my rental car for being too close to a hydrant that I had just stepped upstairs to use the bathroom. In the meantime he rang my buzzer to come down and move the car. He saved me a few bucks and a fine - and I find more examples of that type of neighborliness than I have in other neighborhoods I have lived in.

I am on the block every day and there is always a lot of activity at any hour, most likely because of the G train entrance that is right there. We have our occasional issues with the G, but overall love how easy it has made it for us to run errands and explore other Brooklyn neighborhoods. We have been pleasantly surprised at how much this location allows us access to many other neighborhoods and a quick ride to downtown Manhattan via the G to the L.

Glad to 'meet' a new neighbor and hope she comes to enjoy the neighborhood as much as we have.

Posted by: BedStuyCarrot at August 24, 2009 11:57 AM

i will freely admit my jealousy of rich brats like her. but then they always wind up complaining on the internet about their 3000 dollar bikes stolen, so one can take solace in their stupidity.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 24, 2009 12:01 PM

"suitable condo in Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy, at 582 Marcy"

R
O
T
F
L
M
M
F
A
O
!

Freddie Kruger is all up in that dream.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at August 24, 2009 12:06 PM

While we are glad this girl likes her place and seems happy in BS we cannot help but worry that she and her family may have been mislead into thinking this is Clinton Hill. As others have pointed out this is not even close to Clinton Hill. Guess personal happiness is really all that matters but some RE agent hyperbole or outright fabrication to a foreign family smells fishy to say the least.

"Why are purchases in BS and other less tony neighborhoods always questioned for soundness of judgement?"
MM because as you know the crux and indeed most of the value in RE is really associated with its location. Pure and simple. Location, location, location maybe sound like a cliche but applies the world over.....perfectly reasonable to question purchases in "less tony neighborhoods". Even in Italy no?

Posted by: pierre de taille at August 24, 2009 12:33 PM

does it even matter? is there really even THAT much of a difference between clinton hill and bed stuy? not really.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 24, 2009 12:50 PM

Ask the appraisers, PitbullNYC. It matters. Many times as much as a factor of two (St. James vs Macdonough, for example).

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at August 24, 2009 12:57 PM

So the father checked out each block and rejected one closer to Pratt but found this one good? That seems reasonable, but I'm not sure I'm reading the story correctly.

Posted by: mopar at August 24, 2009 1:10 PM

Posted by: pierre de taille at August 24, 2009 12:33 PM

I went back and searched the article on the Times website--there was no mention of Clintonb Hill. The CH reference came here in the Brownstoner writeup.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 1:12 PM

"does it even matter? is there really even THAT much of a difference between clinton hill and bed stuy? not really".

Hey Pitbull that stuff matters like night and day. Just go ahead and check rental prices for both areas....massive difference on the average and ditto for land prices during the boom years. Like we stated earlier RE is overwhelmingly about location.
BTW Pitbull have you been to CH and or BS?

Posted by: pierre de taille at August 24, 2009 1:19 PM

i can think of one big difference....no public housing (NYCHA) in clinton hill...the stuy on the other hand...

Posted by: aj at August 24, 2009 1:35 PM

Clinton Hill is surrounded by housing projects at the north end but none inside. There are plenty in Ft. Greene but it doesn't seem to have impeded the surge in prices.

Bed-Stuy is so big that there are lots of areas that are as far from projects as anywhere in Clinton Hill, which is tiny.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 1:50 PM

Oh come on, rf. You KNOW that broker put Clinton Hill "lipstick" all over that "pig".

"no public housing (NYCHA) in clinton hill"

Whew! Dodged LG by a street width!

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at August 24, 2009 2:50 PM

what hood are the projects on marcy part of? bottom line - clinton hill is surrounded by projects even if technically there aren't any in the actual area.

Posted by: wine lover at August 24, 2009 3:21 PM

are there any neighborhoods in brooklyn not in close proximity to housing projects?

sorry - that was rhetorical, the answer is obvi No.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 24, 2009 4:00 PM

No public housing in CH? what are the lafayette houses then?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 24, 2009 4:03 PM

Lincoln Center is surrounded by projects.

So is Chelsea.

Posted by: denton at August 24, 2009 4:04 PM

The Lafayette Houses start east of Classon Ave., the dividing line between Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 4:14 PM

Marcy is in Bed-Stuy.

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 4:15 PM

majority section 8 apartment buildings not owned by the NYCHA are actually worse and more dangerous then the actual projects. so you cant just say oh the projects are close, there's other factors involved.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 24, 2009 5:04 PM

Rob,

How much do you know about Bed-Stuy? You live in Park Slope!

Posted by: rf at August 24, 2009 9:05 PM

I believe Bed-Stuy is officially Classon to Broadway, down to Saratoga. Flushing on the north, Atlantic Ave on the south.

Marcy/Myrtle is right in the middle.

And as someone who worked in between the Marcy and Tompkins Houses, with a lot of students from Sumner Houses as well, I can say from experience those are some rugged pj's.

Posted by: christopher at August 24, 2009 10:23 PM

Housing market recover? Dream on

Posted by: hannible at August 25, 2009 6:46 AM

The whole down with Bed Stuy sentiment on this website is really getting boring and the clinton Hill versus Bed Stuy debate is just plain silly. Clinton Hill and Bed Stuy have more in common than any other two neighborhoods.

Hey does anyone remember when this site was about renovation and community building?

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at September 1, 2009 12:02 AM

« 175 Spencer Street in Suspended Animation Bed-Stuy: 'Experiencing a Little Bit of a Depression'? »

August 24, 2009

An Italian's New York Dream

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