October 5, 2009

Boerum Hill: In a Nutshell

The New York Times profiled Boerum Hill this weekend (timed, perhaps, to coincide with yesterday's Atlantic Antic), focusing on the neighborhood's boutiques and its transformation from shady ("rooming houses, drugs, and prostitution" in the 1970s and '80s) to chic. On the real estate front, prices in the neighborhood are dropping as they are everywhere else, but still, nothing's cheap in Boerum Hill: townhouses selling for over $1.5 million, condos and co-ops between $600,000 and $1 million, and rentals starting at $1,300 for a studio. New construction in the area includes Green on Dean and the Nu Hotel on Smith, as well as several planned or unfinished projects on the periphery of the area. Beyond the housing market and the area's commercial offerings, the profile gives a nod to yesterday's Atlantic Antic and it profiles Boerum Hill's schools with their test scores of varying levels. Did the writer miss anything?
Subway Lines Galore, But Who's Leaving? [NY Times]
Atlantic Antic photo by Jim in Times Square

May 1, 2009

TONY on Where to Buy with Kids

Time Out NY may have cancelled its regular real estate guide, but its sister pub, TONY Kids, has picked up a bit of the slack in the current issue with a buying guide aimed at folks with kids. TONY picks the brain of a few local experts. Of Brooklyn Heights, PropertyShark CEO Bill Staniford says "I think it will be one of the leaders of the rebound." “I don’t think it’s immune," he adds about Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. "You’ll just need to be in the right place—and ready to pounce—at the right time." As for Park Slope, the message from Curbed's Lockhart Steele is that all parts are not created equal: "Prices on prime blocks should stay solid, but still, margins will get hit—think what Curbed calls the G-Slope, where Park Slope gives way to Gowanus at Fourth Avenue.”
Real Estate: Is It Time to Buy? [TONY Kids]

April 24, 2009

Fort Greene Panel Discussion at BPL on Tuesday

We're honored to be included in a panel discussion taking place at the Brooklyn Public Library on Tuesday night. The topic: Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Past & Present. Hosted by The Local's Andy Newman, the panel features neighborhood old-timers DK Holland, Nelson George and Carl Hancock Rux. And us. Expect lots of cool stories from the past as well as thoughtful reflections on the phenomenon of change. The event starts at 7 pm and is free but seating is limited to 175 people.

March 9, 2009

Carroll Gardens Getting Plus Francais

'Bada Bing' is being replaced by 'Bonjour' in Carroll Gardens. According to The Daily News, a new French program at a local PS 58 along with the thriving food scene has made Smith Street and environs ground zero for the more than 20,000 French folks who now call Brooklyn home. "They used to speak Italian here," joked real estate broker Nicole Galluccio. "Now they speak French."

The Times Wraps Its Arms Around Fort Greene

"Fort Greene is Brooklyn’s latest culinary mecca, bewitching foodies with hip, minimalist restaurants. Or it’s a bastion of African-American pride and culture, a historic home to a vibrant community of black families. Or the artistic center of the borough, laying claim as it does to the multifaceted Brooklyn Academy of Music (a k a BAM). Or maybe it’s the new roost of the nouveaux riches, with pricy brownstones and new luxury condominiums dotting its map. What new and old residents have found is that Fort Greene plays all of these roles with grace and aplomb. It is a busy, blooming hybrid whose slate-sidewalk streets somehow retain their serenity. No one is in a hurry — even as newcomers rush in from all corners of the city to live here." — NY Times
Photo by Tracy Collins

February 18, 2009

Stereotyping Brooklyn Nabes and Missing the Point

You guys are going to have a field day with this one: Some recent arrival who writes about Brooklyn for the Hartford-based Examiner tries to ~~stereotype~~ summarize some of Brooklyn's neighborhoods (those that don't qualify as “places that scare me," that is; Cringe!). A few of our not-so-favorite out-takes:

Brooklyn Heights: "Basically a Manhattan neighborhood that happens to be on the other side of the river."
Windsor Terrace and Kensington: "The few ungentrified (read: affordable, or, in the words of a white friend who lives there, “no white people”) areas left in Brooklyn that are still somewhat downtown Manhattan accessible."
Clinton Hill: "Still affordable without being crappy."
Prospect Heights: "A no-man’s land between Park Slope and whatever lays beyond."
Crown Heights: "Blacks + Hasidic Jews + other = race riots."

Xenophobic much?
Getting to Know Your Brooklyn Neighborhoods [Examiner]
Photo by sept1

February 4, 2009

Forbes Discovers New York's Middle Class

"Despite Mayor Bloomberg's celebration of "the luxury city," there's still a middle class in New York, although not in the zip codes close to hizzoner's townhouse. In many cases, they live in Bay Ridge, Bayside, Brighton or Bensonhurst, in the vast sprawl that is Brooklyn and Queens. Some of the emerging middle class also cluster in places like Ditmas Park, a reviving part of Flatbush. The new population here is made up largely of information age "artisans"--musicians, writers, designers and business consultants who cluster in New York. They may have migrated there for the culture, but they stay because they find these neighborhoods congenial and family-friendly. "It's easy to name the things that attracted us--the neighbors, the moderate density," explains Nelson Ryland, a film editor with two children who works part-time at his sprawling turn-of-the-century Flatbush house. "More than anything, it's the sense of the community. That's the great thing that keeps people like us here." — Forbes

January 30, 2009

Manhattan Is to Brooklyn As...

In a rather glowing profile of The Developers Group today, The Daily News cites one sales strategy of its founder, Elan Padeh: He asks prospective Brooklyn buyers which neighborhoods they like in Manhattan, and then directs them towards their Brooklyn equivalents. Here's how he lines them up:
  Park Slope = Upper West Side
  Williamsburg = East Village + Tribeca
  Fort Greene = West Village
  Dumbo = Soho
  Carroll Gardens = Nolita

Pretty accurate, we'd say. What are some others?
How a Sales Team Led Borough's Condo Push [NY Daily News]
Photos by lukasspee and Voice of Fox

January 28, 2009

Lost City's Guide to Cobble Hill

Although Lost City calls Cobble Hill "more blandly heterogeneous" than its sister neighborhood to the south, the blog still finds it worthy of a neighborhood guide post. (After all, it's still "a joy to walk through.") Highlights of the blog's virtual walking tour include the former Independence Bank (now Trader Joe's), Metropolitan Rod and Gun Club and Warren ~~Court~~ Place. And much, much more...

January 26, 2009

Carroll Gardens: Old School Amid the Changes

Carroll Gardens gets the "Living In" treatment this weekend from The TImes. Among other things, we learn that old Italian men still play dominoes inside a social club, people tend to say hi to each other on the street and that Luquer Street is pronounced “lu-KWEER.” “Carroll Gardens is very much still a Sesame Street kind of community,” said Maria Pagano, president of the neighborhood association.“That means people get out there and do things; they’re involved,” she said. That involvement includes protesting buildings that are out of context—after resisting landmarking efforts for years. What else? At the peak of the market, condo prices topped $1,000 a foot, though there's now been a "leveling" off to the $800 range, according to Corcoran broker Lindsay Barton Barrett. And the best houses? You'll find those on First Place, says another, though the big 25-footers turn over infrequently.
Living In: Carroll Gardens [NY Times]
Photo by colorstalker

January 20, 2009

'Notorious': How the Neighborhood Has Changed

In the wake of the Biggie Smalls biopic 'Notorious' last week, The Times compares and contrasts the rapper's neighborhood—which includes both Clinton Hill and Bed Stuy, though The Times can't seem to keep them straight— in the early 1990s with the gentrified version 15 years later. Smalls grew up in a third-floor apartment at 226 St. James Place (right) in Clinton Hill, a building that has since become a condominium and undergone the requisite sprucing up. From the article:

It is a flashback to an era of Walkmans, corner drug deals and rap duels in a neighborhood that is now largely referred to by real estate agents as Clinton Hill, where there is more diversity, million-dollar condos, gourmet restaurants and less apprehension about walking alone at night. The movie is as much a commentary on the neighborhood that inspired his music as anything else...What once was a busy strip that included fast food restaurants, a liquor store and an arcade is now a stretch of eclectic dining spots, wine shops and markets featuring organic items. A restaurant named Soulé International Cuisine used to be a bodega that served as a front for a drug market, Lil’ Cease said. The liquor store often pictured behind Biggie in documentary footage is now the Fine Care Pharmacy.

Then again, maybe things haven't changed that much: Four people were stabbed at a release party for the movie early Saturday morning in East Flatbush. Any folks in who lived in the neighborhood back then care to add their own observations about how times have changed? Or how they haven't?
'Notorious' Captures Bed-Stuy as It Once Was [NY Times]
Photo from Clinton Hill Blog

December 12, 2008

Find Your Hood on Facebook

A few weeks ago, the NY Times did a story on 30-something native Park Slopers who found one another through Facebook. Well, that's not the only nabe represented in that digital world. Kensington residents have started their own Facebook group, with 578 members (at the time of this posting) celebrating "Brooklyn's best kept secret." Discussion topics include best restaurants in the area, doctors and "that guy that walks backwards," in which 19 people posted 42 comments. Hey, and there's a Bed Stuy Facebook page (53 members); I Rock Williamsburg (70 members); "Dem Slope Boyz" (60 members); East New York (30 members); BushwickBK (21); and the 521-member We Live in Brooklyn baby! which seems open to all of us Brooklynites.
Photo from Kensington Facebook page.

September 22, 2008

What Lies Beneath?

Now that everyone's had the weekend to digest last week's insanity, how you feelin' about ye olde real estate market here in Brooklyn? It's been clear for a while that the some fringe areas are in for tough times, but how about the most blue chip ones like Brooklyn Heights and the choicest parts of Park Slope? How about some of those right in the middle like Clinton Hill? How far do you think they'll end up falling from their peaks when all's said and done?

Brooklyn Heights

Clinton Hill

Bed Stuy

Wall Street Reorg: Impact on Real Estate? [Brownstoner]
Photo by Gregory Taylor

September 18, 2008

New York's Best Neighborhoods

Time Out has a roundup of the best places to live in our fair city, broken down into categories. Shopaholic? Try moving to Williamsburg, where art books, vintage clothes, records, wine and computer parts are in vast supply. Carroll Gardens, by the way, was runner up. Coney Island turned up the best street culture, meshing Russian immigrants and sideshow workers, what they call "ethnic New York and honky-tonk New York." No word on whether the street culture will hold now that Astroland is gone and the fate of Coney Island is in the balance as Thor Equities figures out how to reinvent it. Finally, for the LOHAS dark green eco-fanatics, the neighborhood of choice is Park Slope, what with the food co-op, the big ole park and the high recycling rates (27.1%, though it's second to Tribeca's 27.9%).
New York's Best Neighborhoods Now [Time Out NY]
DNALSI YENOC. Photo by wileymcb.

August 5, 2008

The Three Faces of Dumbo

The Times travel section tackled Dumbo this weekend, but it wasn't a roundup of the chicest new eateries or best summer hangouts. Rather, they focused on the distinction between the three separate neighborhoods that span the space between the bridges and beyond—touristy Fulton Ferry, where the water taxi drops off out-of-towners for ice cream and Bargemusic; hipster DUMBO with its fancy furniture shops; and what they called the "quietly decrepit charmer" of Vinegar Hill. They propose that the areas share the physical boundaries of bridges and river, but little else. True, some buildings in Vinegar Hill have hit upon hard times—we've reported on condos going rental and other projects simply stalling in the area, but is Vinegar Hill really that much worse off than its sister sector of the neighborhood? Some might argue that the absence of $1,000-a-foot lofts is a good thing.
Sharing a River But Not Much Else [NY Times]
Rainbow Over Dumbo. Photo by GaryBurke

April 15, 2008

De Blasio Blasts Ratner on AY Obfuscation

Last night Councilman Bill de Blasio held a meet-up for Brooklyn bloggers at which he spoke for a couple of hours about development topics including Atlantic Yards, rezonings, affordable housing, and what he'd like to accomplish if he's elected borough president. Like Gowanus Lounge, we were most interested in what de Blasio had to say about Atlantic Yards: The councilman said he thinks there should be no more demolitions in the Atlantic Yards footprint until Forest City Ratner puts its current plans for the project into writing. De Blasio said he was "livid" about the interview Bruce Ratner gave to the New York Times last month since the likely stall "calls the entire Community Benefits Agreement into question." The Councilman also said that he thinks the entire development should be reviewed again by the state if Forest City Ratner is now conceiving of a vastly different project, particularly one that reneges on its promised affordable housing. "I held out hope for the project because of the amount of affordable housing it would create, as well as the number of jobs it would bring," he said. "But I have been constantly disappointed in the lack of community involvement...I've never seen anything that's been mismanaged so fundamentally in terms of community involvement." The councilman also talked about the possible Coney Island and Gowanus rezonings. While he's not thrilled with either the city or Joe Sitt's possibly competing visions for the area ("I'm not comfortable with the Manhattanization of Brooklyn" that both plans represent), he says that "by and large" he likes Planning's draft framework for rezoning Gowanus because "the best way to get the canal clean is to get residential development around it." As borough president, de Blasio said he'd like to be involved with "shaping more than just promoting Brooklyn." In keeping with one of his primary platforms, affordable housing, de Blasio said he'd use the office to "start addressing the have-nots."
De Blasio Calls for Moratorium on Atlantic Yards Demolition [GL]

October 23, 2007

Video: An Introduction to Kensington (and Environs)

We came across this video about Kensington produced by Turn Here and thought it was a fun intro for those of you who may not be all that familiar with life on the other side of the park.
Kensington Video [YouTube]

August 1, 2007

Dumbo Update: Umbrellas, Banks and Blacktop

A few developments of note in the neighborhood between the bridges: (1) The triangular public space at Pearl and Front Streets now has some snazzy blue umbrellas which dramatically increases the chill-out factor on the heretofore unshady plaza; (2) The Chase Bank on the ground floor of the J Condo is having its furniture and fixtures installed; workmen report that the space could be ready within two weeks; (3) The demise of the Novo Clutch building, which Two Trees has demo'd in hopes of building a large mixed-use project, acquired an air of finality to it with completion of the blacktop on the site Tuesday.
Dumbo Triangle Gets DOT's Signature Green Paint [Brownstoner]
Novo Clutch Building Pre-Demolition [Brownstoner]
Two Trees Plans Mixed Use Building Next to Bridge [Brownstoner]

July 9, 2007

Park Slope Stroller Nazi Story Getting a Little Stale

We're not exactly sure why this was a front-page article the the NY Times Sunday Real Estate section—seems more like City section material to us—but, there it was, another article making light of the number of strollers (and implicit bourgeois existence of their pushers) in Park Slope. The fact that there are a lot of young families (some of whose matriarchs aren't averse to a little public nursing) in Park Slope just ain't news anymore, so let's just settle the fight for the soul of the slope once and for all in the hopes that another article never has to be written on the subject. In the words of The Times article, is Park Slope "Hipster Hell" or "Parent Heaven"? Update: As of 4:30 today, there were 216 votes for Parent Heaven and 158 votes for Hipster Hell.

The Park Slope Parent Trap [NY Times]
Photo by Kansas Liberal

June 12, 2007

Congestion Pricing and Resident Permit Parking

Regardless of your position on the Bloomberg administration's proposal for congestion pricing in Manhattan, it's not hard to imagine how the implementation of such a plan could have a very negative trickle-down effect for those parts of the outer boroughs that are both close to Manhattan and serviced by major subway lines. As Sheldon Silver said, "Some of those areas will become parking lots for the people driving around looking for parking spots in order to avoid congestion pricing fees." To counter such criticism, Bloomberg has has floated the idea of making resident-only permit parking available (for a modest annual fee) in neighborhoods like Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn and Long Island City. Queens Councilman John Liu isn't buying the idea. "It doesn't necessarily improve the situation, it just shifts the boundary of contention," said Liu. "It sounds great, but I think the implementation would be a hard stretch." Of course, there's also another reason that residents of certain neighborhoods may want parking permits soon: Atlantic Yards. Are you in favor of resident-only parking permits?
Bloomberg Eying Resident-only Parking Permits [NY Daily News]
Photo by new hobby

May 30, 2007

'Phone or Die' in Bed Stuy

If the Bed Stuy edition of the new locally-targeted ad campaign from Virgin Mobile is any indication, Branson et al should probably get back to the drawing board before the national roll-out. Here's the text:

When people close their eyes and think of Brooklyn, your legendary brownstones come to mind. That's because everyone from rappers to directors have used you as the backdrop for stories about life in the neighborhood that has everything. Do or Die is more than a moniker. It speaks to the fact that you don't take crap from anyone. Especially newcomers who want to change Bed-Stuy into some sort of yuppie strip mall. With us you only make changes if you want. That's the beauty of our cell phone plans without annual contracts. Because Bed-Stuy, we know you call your own shots.

It's a good thing Virgin Mobile has been so entrenched in the community for so long and isn't trying to exploit it for commercial purposes! Check out another of the ads that up along the BQE on the jump.

Continue reading "'Phone or Die' in Bed Stuy"

May 14, 2007

The Times Gives It Up For Alterna-Slopes

The Times had a case of Brooklyn fever this weekend, taking some precious column inchage to profile two neighborhoods that most readers of The Gray Lady probably hadn't heard of until recently, Windsor Terrace and Prospect Lefferts Gardens. The subjects of the Windsor Terrace article, a couple who were pleased as punch to land a four-bedroom house in the nabe last year for $999,000, had this to say about how their new home stacked up versus the Slope: “It’s a little less precious over here, and a little more real. We kind of like that." (The director of the Jack Nicholson flick As Good As It Gets thought it was unprecious enough to cast one of the houses above on Fuller Place as Helen Hunt's working-class digs. The idea that these places are now within reach of people with working-class incomes is, of course, laughable.) Despite initial concern about the "clusters of young men hanging out on some of the street corners," the star of the PLG article ultimately was won over by the area's racial diversity and proximity to Prospect Park, snapping up a small Victorian house just outside the historic district for $240,000 back in 2002. She now shares the house with her 11-year-old daughter, her brother and his wife.
Less ‘Precious’ Than the Slope? Certainly Cheaper [NY Times]
A Wished-For House With a Hideaway Nook [NY Times]
Photo by redxdress

December 29, 2006

Unhappy Ending for Sidewalk

tree roots
It looks like the sidewalk on Washington Avenue was, unfortunately, not repaired with bluestone. We're kinda curious whether this was a financial decision or whether the mere size of the roots made it impossible to lay newly cut slabs down. Certainly ain't much to look at, is it? Anyone know?
Beware the Wrath of the Tree Roots [Brownstoner]

December 18, 2006

PACC is Wack

roof
The future of the Bodegas space on the corner of Clinton and Fulton is of great concern to everyone we know in the neighborhood. Since the restaurant closed at the beginning of the year (in a domino effect caused by money problems and nasty landlords at Liquors), the rumors have been flying. The space is of particular importance because of its location at the gateway to Clinton Hill on a commercial stretch of road that has been crying out for improvement for years. So it was disbelief that we heard recently that the Pratt Area Community Council (which owns the building) took time out from destroying the aesthetics of the historic neighborhood to turn down an offer from a successful local business owner who wanted to open a wine bar in the space. And for what? PACC told this business owner that it had done a survey that showed residents wanted an Applebees! Yeah, right. This weekend, Clinton Hill Blog reported a rumor that PACC had recently shown the space to North Fork Bank. At least the nabe does need a bank (more than an Applebees), but, geez, turning down someone with a proven track record who wants to put an upscale establishment in this crappy stretch of Fulton? If the organization takes the credit of low-income renters and buyers, surely it can rent to a local business.
Store Rumors [Clinton Hill Blog]
Future of Bodegas & Liquors Thrown Into Question [Brownstoner]
Corner of Clinton and Fulton Up for Grabs [Brooklyn Record]

Greenpoint: Call 1-800-GENTRIFY Now!

Good for a chuckle.
Greenpoint Gentrification [YouTube]

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