Closing Bell
March 31, 2008
Closing Bell: 4th Avenue Condo Close to Selling Out
The Crest, the 4th Avenue condo on 2nd Street, is apparently 90 percent sold and ready for move-ins. The sign above is taped to the outside of the building, and a local entrepreneur has put up his own sign next to the Crest's, in a bid, perhaps, to do business with the building's new residents. StreetEasy shows eight active listings left at the condo that go from $559,000 (734-sf 1-bed) to $738,000 (985-sf 2-bed). GMAP
March 28, 2008
Closing Bell: Organic Market Coming...Or(o) Not
The bodega opposite the sales office for Oro Condominium (pictured in background) has had this "organic market coming soon" wrapper around its facade for a year, yet there's no organic food for sale. If the tiny box really is turning into a green-mart, it appears it will take awhile - no application for work has been filed with the Department of Buildings since an automatic fire suppression system was installed in 2003. Inside, the bodega's few shelves are disheveled and bare, but the deli runs a brisk business, especially with swarms of construction workers a captive market. The next closest neighborhood amenity is the Starbuck's inside MetroTech now that Myrtle Avenue's retail has been cleared indefinitely for development.
March 25, 2008
Closing Bell: Speedo Sighting at Northside Piers
Several well-chiseled men were spotted wearing only air-tight speedos and, in some cases, designer tank tops at the Northside Piers parking garage last weekend. Toll Brothers, always creative about getting people out to their projects, donated the garage to BK Fashion Week{end}, which brought 1,500 people to the waterfront construction site five long blocks from the Bedford L Train stop. (There were six designers, with outfits ranging from unsightly to wearable, but the speedos definitely stole the show). In suburbia, Toll Brothers model homes host coloring contests, cooking shows and even Santa Claus, according to the company newsletter "Bricks & Sticks." But Williamsburg buyers are a little more discriminating, so here we get speedos. GMAP
'Burg Throwdown! The Edge Versus Northside Piers [Brownstoner]
'Everywhere You Don't See High-Rises, There Are Places To Build' [Observer]
March 18, 2008
Closing Bell: Ridgewood Theater Shuts Down
This is technically about Queens, not Brooklyn, but it's a loss for moviegoers in bordering neighborhoods like Bushwick and Williamsburg: BushwickBK reports that the Ridgewood Theater, which opened in 1916, is no more. "Sadly, the only thing I can imagine leasing 17,000 sqft is another chain drug store," notes the blog. "Hopefully, whatever happens, the facade remains intact."
Ridgewood Theater Takes a Bow [BushwickBK] GMAP
Photo by unlockthevault.
March 17, 2008
Closing Bell: Coney Island in the '40s
In honor of yesterday's opening of Astroland for the season, a way-back machine look at Coney, the "world's biggest barrel of fun."
Coney Island of the 1940's [You Tube]
March 12, 2008
Closing Bell: Sixpoint Puts Obama on Tap
On Monday Sixpoint Craft Ales introduced its latest brew, "Hop Obama" Ale. According to a press release from Sixpoint, "In keeping with the Illinois senator's unifying theme, the 'Hop Obama' is an indefinable ale that doesn't adhere to traditional style guidelines." The beer is being offered for a limited time at select bars in New York and Massachusetts, and the 4th Avenue bar Pacific Standard is one of the places that's scored some kegs. The bar's blog notes that "this beer is about hope and a rejection of beer as usual."
Obama pic by cecily7