November 6, 2009

Roddick Condo Hunting in Brooklyn?

Just saw this Page 6 item...Andy Roddick and wife spotted at J Condo in Dumbo!

November 4, 2009

East River Ferry Service in Jeopardy—Again

In what can't be taken as anything but a blow to the already challenging marketing campaigns of the handful of high-end waterfront developments in Brooklyn, New York Water Taxi announced that it might have to stop its East River commuter service for the third time in four years after being unable to come to an agreement with the city; to make matters worse, EDC announced that plans to create more routes had been tabled by the recession. The news will definitely create problems for those already living on the waterfront. Take Robert Thorne, who lives at Schaefer Landing in South Williamsburg with his family: “[The ferry] saves us 35, 40 minutes each way,” he said. “That’s more time with our daughter.” A spokesperson for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said that she's “confident we will be able to preserve and expand existing service.” We shall see.
East River Commuter Ferry Service Could Be Halted, Again [NY Times]
Photo by Tom Hoboken

October 28, 2009

Streetlevel: Restaurant at 7 Old Fulton Street

It looks like there's going to be new restaurant (and wine bar) at 7 Old Fulton Street near Fulton Ferry Landing sometime soon. Approvals were granted earlier this year and this sign popped up recently in the window. With the line from Grimaldi's often extending halfway down the block, this can't be a bad location for another restaurant. GMAP

October 21, 2009

Streetlevel: Flowers for Dumbo

Earlier this month, a new flower shop opened at 57 Jay Street in Dumbo. The new business, called Emily Thompson Flowers, will generally be appointment-only, but from now through the holidays will be open to the public on weekends from 12 to 4 p.m. There was an article on the floral designs this week on Elle.com. GMAP

All About the Clocktower

The New York Times got their hands on the images way back in August but there's finally an official website up to market the unique four-floor residence atop One Main Street in Dumbo known as the ClockTower. You see, when you're asking $25 million, it's worth building a standalone website. Pretty spectacular.

Gatehouses Land in Brooklyn Bridge Park

While Matt Damon filmed his latest movie at Fulton Ferry Landing yesterday, Brooklyn Bridge Park received delivery of the gatehouses at both Pier 1 next door and Pier 6 down by Atlantic Avenue. The gatehouses, which, as we understand it, will house mechanicals as well as mark the entrances to the park, were manufactured off-site in New Jersey before being trucked in. They will eventually be clad in wood verticals using old growth long leaf southern yellow pine salvaged from the Cold Storage Building being demolished at Pier 1. How cool is that!

October 16, 2009

70 Hudson Getting Reconfigured

Over in Vinegar Hill, work started last summer (but has been quiet recently) on a project to convert this two-family-plus-retail building into a single-family residence. We're sure it'll be great for the owners but we'd been kinda hoping that this corner of the woods would become to a couple of more bars or restaurants in the wake of the positive reception the Vinegar Hill House has received. GMAP

September 30, 2009

25 Washington Conversion Confirmed

There were some rumors last month 25 Washington Street, the 87,000-square-foot commercial building next to the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo, was going to be converted to rental apartments and now there's confirmation: The Brooklyn Paper reported yesterday that tenants, many of whom are artists who've been in the neighborhood for many years, have received notice from the owner, Two Trees Management, that they will have to move out when their current leases expire. The move has created a backlash among current occupants as well as the Dumbo Neighborhood Association but a spokesperson for Two Trees says the conversion has long been in the cards and that tenants have known about the date of their lease expirations for years. GMAP

September 28, 2009

Development Watch: Inside 37 Bridge Street

Last week we got to walk through the ongoing conversion project at 37-43 Bridge Street in Dumbo. The project is notable for its adaptive reuse of the existing six-story steel silos that remained at 37 Bridge Street from when it was a soap factory. As we saw last month in this video, the silos are being sliced up and, in some cases, repurposed to form the organizing design principal of new condominium. He catches enough crap from us and others for all the stuff he doesn't do right that we gotta give a big nod to Robert Scarano for being the architect of record on this one. (He didn't design it, but it was the brainchild of a former employee named Dedy Blaustein and he championed it.) Anyway, in our opinion, the current design divides the apartments into way too many small bedrooms instead of letting to silos rule the day in larger, loftier spaces, but the approach and vision of the adaptive reuse is very laudable. In related news, the attached building at 43 Bridge Street (photos 8-10) is being turned into 3 townhouses. Also a cool idea.
Checking In at 37 Bridge Street [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 37 Bridge Street [Brownstoner]

Streetlevel: 76 Front Divided and (Finally) Rented

The large retail space at the corner of Washington and Front Streets in Dumbo has sat empty for the last few years (except for the occasional art or flea market-related use) as the landlord Two Trees Management waited for just the right tenant. Now they've found it. Or, more precisely, them, as the 5,000-square-foot space will be divided to accommodate to new tenants. And while the tenants will be new to this location they are not new to Dumbo: Both PS Bookshop (which will have the corner space) and Journey Home (which will go next to Mikey's) have been tenants in Guttman's building at 68 Jay. On a related note, that building has a ton of retail vacancies right now. GMAP

September 23, 2009

Streetlevel: New Boutique on Jay Street

This new clothing boutique called Nos opened just before Labor Day at 68 Jay Street in Dumbo. DumboNYC had a chat with the owner you can check out here. Anyone bought anything here yet? GMAP

September 21, 2009

Streetlevel: Mikey's Turns One in Dumbo

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that Mikey's Hook Up on Front Street was handing out free tote bags. Turns out it was to celebrate the one year anniversary of the all-things-Mac outlet's second location. We were curious to know the difference between its Dumbo clientele and the patrons at its original location in Williamsburg. So we asked. Not surprisingly, higher-end models sell better and mid- and lower-end Macs dominate in Williamsburg; and the 'Burgers tend to run their machines into the ground before springing for a new one. Dumbo residents—and the creative professionals who work there—tend to buy a new machine after three years or so, rather extending the life of their current computers. No word on which store has the better ping-pong players.
Streetlevel: Mikey's Hooking Up Dumbo [Brownstoner] GMAP

September 17, 2009

Condo of the Day: 30 Main Street, #2C

Here's another eye-catching loft at 30 Main Street (aka The Sweeney Building) in Dumbo. The 1,679-square-foot space just hit the market with a not-so-crazy asking price of $1,250,000. Other than the fact that it's on the second floor, we can't find any fault with it. Pretty sweet! Think the sellers will get their price?
30 Main Street, #2C [Halstead] GMAP P*Shark

September 16, 2009

Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

The Best of Hot Plates Live
We checked out Metromix's premiere Hot Plates Live event at the Bell House on Monday night, sampled beer and cheese, ate lots of great food from new Brooklyn restaurants, and wholeheartedly recommend that you check out the next Hot Plates tasting event. (We'll keep you posted when Metromix plans another.) Our favorite bite of the evening was the Chinese sausage and sticky rice with chili-lime sauce (pictured above) from Umi Nom. We've been long-time fans of this dish at Kuma Inn on the LES, so we're excited that chef King Phojanakong has brought it to Brooklyn. Sui Ren's quail egg wrapped in seaweed and maguro was another favorite. We'll be adding both spots to our restaurant database shortly.

Opening This Week: Mercat Negre
65 Grand St between Kent and Wythe Aves, Williamsburg; no phone yet
"This sister location of the East Village’s Mercat features an open kitchen in which [Barcelona's chef Oriol Sala] Colomer will cook shareable dishes, such as grilled red mullet with eggplant puree and marinated endives," says Time Out New York.

No Reservations: NYC Outer Boroughs
In case you missed Tony Bourdain's recent romp around the boroughs, you can check out all the places he visited on the No Reservations website. We thought it was a pretty solid episode, featuring stops at Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos in Bushwick, East Harbor Seafood Dim-Sum Palace in Sunset Park, and Diner and Marlow & Sons in Williamsburg.

After the jump: Hecho en Dumbo is leaving Dumbo, Chicago dogs, dumplings, Chickadee Chick's menu, Spanish wines, and more...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up"

September 15, 2009

Condo of the Day: 84 Front Street, #8C

This two-bedroom condo at 84 Front Street in Dumbo just hit the market asking $895,000. If new(ish) construction is your thing, this 1,047-square-foot place will probably do it for you: Everything looks spic-and-span and the developer clearly didn't cut corners on fixtures. This apartment originally sold for $748,413 back in 2006. By comparison, the 1,220-square-foot unit directly upstairs, which was a condo of the day last year, sold for $1,025,000, or about $840 per square foot. The asking price on this smaller one comes out to about $854 per square foot.
84 Front Street, #8C [Halstead] GMAP P*Shark

September 10, 2009

Condo of the Day: 70 Washington Street, #7E

This 800-square-foot one-bedroom at 70 Washington Street in Dumbo has been bouncing around for some time. It started out in February of 2008 with Sotheby's asking $799,00 and never sold. Elliman got the nod back in May, kicking off its campaign with an asking price of $745,000. The price was reduced to $699,000 in July, which is where it sits now. While hardly a give-away, the $871-per-square-foot level is actually on the low side for the building. What do you think it'll take to get this baby sold?
70 Washington Street 1BR, #7E [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark

August 26, 2009

Is Dumbo's 25 Washington Going Residential?

Curbed received a tip yesterday that 25 Washington, the brick office building located by the Manhattan Bridge and owned by Two Trees Management, might be the next Dumbo property to be converted into condos. This tip should be taken with more than one grain of salt, but Curbed's source says that during a maintenance call to Two Trees, one of their employees ignored the maintenance request, saying, "I don't care, you guys are all out of there in November anyway." Two Trees had no comment, but it doesn't take a visionary to see how this place, currently a commercial rental, could be repositioned as high-end condos. Anyone know the straight dope? GMAP
Dumbo's Next Blockbuster Condo Conversion [Curbed]
Photo from PropertyShark

August 17, 2009

Checking In at 37 Bridge Street

The last time we checked up on 37 Bridge Street, the 48-unit soap factory conversion from developer Bobby Jacobs of Karnusa Equities, scaffolding obfuscated most of the building, and progress seemed quite slow. Now, according to Dumbo NYC progress has been "moving quickly," and, so far, it seems that the renovation has remained honorable to the spirit of the original building. In fact, as the Social Cinema video above details, the architect (who goes by the single name Dedi) has gone to particular pains to preserve the massive cylindrical tanks (20 feet in diameter) into the design of the building. Way cool. GMAP
37 Bridge Street Update [Dumbo NYC]
Development Watch: 37 Bridge Street [Brownstoner]
Baruch Singer Buys Himself Some Dumbo [Brownstoner]

August 10, 2009

All Along the Clocktower

Back in June, we heard that David Walentas was finally putting the clocktower apartment at One Main Street (shown at right under construction earlier this year) on the market. The New York Times reported on Friday that this colossal triplex is finally posted, for $25 million. The Times notes that the highest price ever paid for a home in Brooklyn was $11 million in 2006, and the highest for a condo was $7 million, also at One Main Street, in 2008. Even though the market is in a slump, Mr. Walentas said that the space, a three-floor, 6,288-square-foot apartment with four functional 14-foot clocks, is such a unique home that it will require a one-of-a-kind buyer willing to foot the bill. GMAP
Walentas Putting Clocktower Manse on Market? [Brownstoner]
No Need to Wear a Watch [New York Times]
The Best Bet [New York Magazine]

August 4, 2009

Closing Bell: DUMBO Fight Night 2009

What better way to raise money for the DUMBO Improvement District and the Manhattan Bridge Archway than to have grown adults beat up on each other! This year's annual DUMBO Fight Night fund-raiser took place last Saturday for the first time outdoors, under the recently reopened archway. If you missed the 16 bouts but you're still feeling charitable, you can contact the Improvement District and arrange a donation.
Fight Night Under the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO [Gothamist]
DUMBO Fight Night 2009 [DUMBO NYC]
Photo by Katie Sokoler

Spike and Jay-Z Do Dumbo

For much of the day Spike Lee and Jay-Z have taken over Main Street in Dumbo. We tweeted this pic at lunchtime and the Dumbo BID just posted a bunch of shots, including the one above, on Facebook. Anyone know what the commercial is for?

DUMBO Rezoning Passed (Without Much Fanfare)

Unlike the rezoning of Coney Island, the rezoning of DUMBO occurred quietly (heck, we only mentioned it in passing), reports the Brooklyn Eagle. Last week the area in question, 12 blocks along Jay and Bridge Streets formerly zoned for industry, manufacturing, and commercial use, was reassigned for mixed-use, contextual zoning, which allows for both manufacturing and residential buildings. (See City Planning's overview here.) While the rezoning occurred without the kind of uproar reserved for Coney Island, there has been some controversy. The DUMBO Improvement District supports the changes, for example, but the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance opposes them, partly due to the height of the rezoning district. (As we posted here, CB2 also recommended against the rezoning back in April, but Brownstoner readers were overwhelmingly in favor of it.) Council Member David Yassky, a longtime supporter of the change, had this to say: “The DUMBO rezoning has been a long time coming and will help create both residential and commercial development so this great neighborhood can fully realize its potential.”
DUMBO Rezoning Passed Amid Mixed Reviews [Brooklyn Eagle]
CB2 Recommends Against Residential Rezoning in Dumbo [Brownstoner]
Public Review for Dumbo Rezoning Begins [Brownstoner]
Planning Reveals More Deets About Dumbo Rezoning Plan [Brownstoner]
Post-Landmarking, Dumbo Rezoning Talk Begins [Brownstoner]

July 30, 2009

Happy Ending for Bicycle Parking Saga?

We're sure everyone will be relieved to learn that there may be a happy ending to our bicycle parking problems on Front Street. After getting buried in garbage and recycling bags last week, things have improved dramatically. Kumbaya!

July 28, 2009

Streetlevel: Egg Baby to Open in Dumbo

After sitting empty since last year when there was an Indian take-out spot in place for, like, a couple of days, the retail location at the corner of Front and Jay Streets in Dumbo has been getting a make-over in the last month and just last week the new tenant, a baby clothing store called Egg Baby, started to move in. GMAP

July 22, 2009

Closing Bell: Bicycle Parking Saga Update

As you may recall, we've had some trouble in recent weeks with our preferred bicycle rack around the corner from our office building in Dumbo. First, someone abandoned a bike there for several weeks; then Starbucks (we assumed) put out its garbage prohibitively close to the rack. When we went to unlock our bike on Friday afternoon, it was literally buried underneath bags of garbage and recycling; when we went into Starbucks to follow up, we were told it was actually the dirty work of the condo building around the corner on Main Street. Boo hiss.
Bike Parking Woes Continue [Brownstoner]
Time Limit to Bike Parking? [Brownstoner]

Dumbo