September 15, 2009

Brownsville Affordable Project Gets State Funding

Last Thursday, the boards of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) and the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) approved $181.6 million in financing today to build and preserve 2,060 units of affordable housing throughout New York State. One of the lucky projects was a 161-unit development slated to be built at 39 Hegeman Avenue in Brownsville. The project—which received $30.75 million in funding—will provide studio apartments for low-income individuals and homeless single adults from Brownsville; a hundred apartments will be set aside for formerly homeless adults who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS or mental illness. The Hegeman project is part of Common Ground’s neighborhood-based homelessness prevention effort in Brownsville – one of New York City’s poorest communities, where disproportionate numbers of residents become homeless. A full press release is here.

Posted by Brownstoner at 10:01 AM | Comments (10)
Categories: Affordable Housing, Brownsville

May 14, 2009

The Synagogues of Brownsville

A book called The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn has just been published and we've got some of the photos for you above. Author Ellen Levitt, a lifelong Brooklynite, examines 91 former synagogues in Brownsville, East New York, East Flatbush and Bedford Stuyvesant that, largely through shifting demographic patterns, are no longer used for their original purpose. In most cases, like the five from Brownsville above, they have been converted to churches despite retaining their Jewish symbols.

Posted by Brownstoner at 10:30 AM | Comments (9)
Categories: Architecture, Brownsville

April 1, 2009

Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

Now Open: Unauthorized Obama Eatery
"In an apparent bid to stand out in the crowded fast food market, a Brooklyn business has rechristened itself 'Obama Fried Chicken.' Previously known as Royal Fried Chicken, the eatery, located at Rockaway Parkway and Rutland Road in Brownsville, unveiled its revamped name last Thursday afternoon when the business's new awning was installed," says the Smoking Gun. We can only wonder if this fried chicken joint will meet the same fate as Sixpoint's Hop Obama beer.

Ditmas Park: Home of the City's Best Hummus
1209 Cortelyou Road (Westminster Road), Ditmas Park; (718) 284-4444
The New York Times reports on the Israeli hummus parlors popping up around the city and says, "The newest of these hummusiot also happens to be the best. Mimi’s Hummus opened in February on Cortelyou Road, the Restaurant Row of Ditmas Park." At this 8-table spot, owner Mimi Kitani — an Israeli with Moroccan-Kurdish parents — draws culinary influences from each culture and serves 5 types of hummus priced from $8 to $9.

Pizza Pizza
Bloggers across Brooklyn are buzzing about two newcomer pizzerias set to open this week — Ignazio's (4 Water Street, Dumbo; 718-522-2100) and Anselmo's (354 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook; 718-775-5386). Time Out New York says that Ignazio's "menu is mostly devoted to thin-crust and Sicilian pies. Special versions include toppings such as lobster or seasonal greens, like baby dandelion and chicory." And Slice shares the story behind Anselmo's: "[Jack] Stella, one of the joint's three partners, runs a chemical business down the street. He and his colleagues in that business originally bought the building that would house Anselmo's as a sort of clubhouse where they could take smoke breaks. While gutting it, he discovered the coal oven, and realizing he had the proverbial diamond in the rough, made plans to turn it into a pizzeria. Their loss of a smokers' lounge is our gain as coal-oven aficionados."

After the jump: 3 new grocery stores, a new restaurant from a Red Hook ball fields vendor, a secret new Williamsburg eatery, Buttermilk Channel hits the big screen, and more...

Continue reading "Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up"

Posted by Kara at 11:32 AM | Comments (43)
Categories: Brownsville, Carroll Gardens, Ditmas Park, Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo, Food and Drink, Greenpoint, Prospect Heights, Red Hook, Restaurants, Sunset Park, Williamsburg

February 5, 2009

Two Affordable Projects in Brooklyn Salvaged by State

Market-rate condos and brownstones aren't the only housing threatened by the economic downturn—a decline in the value of Low Income Housing Tax Credits has meant trouble for affordable projects. At least two such projects, though—a 59-unit development in Bushwick call Rheingold Heights II and the 72-unit Domenech Senior Housing in Brownsville—have been preserved by special emergency funding from the New York State, reports the Brooklyn Eagle; an addition 13 projects around the state were also saved.

Posted by Brownstoner at 11:15 AM | Comments (2)
Categories: Affordable Housing, Brownsville, Bushwick

November 7, 2008

Fewer Mortgages for Minority Communities

Brooklyn mortgages dropped 18 percent in 2007, reports the Daily News, in line with the city's statistics. But it turns out the number of mortgages was chopped in half, or more, in poorer, minority neighborhoods, which are bearing the brunt of the foreclosure crisis — they call it the "tale of two Brooklyns." "The number of mortgages issued fell by 60% in Brownsville, 58% in Bushwick, 57% in East New York and 45% in East Flatbush," they write. "Experts say the declines are due to a combination of the drying up of the subprime market and lending discrimination by banks reluctant to make loans — even to qualified buyers — in those neighborhoods." Now for the other Brooklyn: the number of mortgages rose 48 percent in Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene; 11 percent in Williamsburg and Greenpoint; and stayed the same in the Slope.
Mortgages Plunge by 50% in Some Minority Neighborhoods [NY Daily News]
Photo by Jimmy Legs.

Posted by lisa at 9:01 AM | Comments (29)
Categories: Brownsville, Bushwick, East New York, Flatbush, Mortgage