News
November 6, 2009
Development Watch: Pratt Myrtle Gets Glassy
Pratt's new seven story academic and studio building at 524 Myrtle Avenue is moving along at a steady clip. When we checked in back in July, there were three stories on steel framing up and now all seven are up and there are some windows to boot. Sounds like a Fall 2010 opening is a lay-up.
Development Watch: Pratt Myrtle Rising [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: Rat at Pratt [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: Pratt Myrtle [Brownstoner] GMAP
Pratt Starts on New Myrtle Project [Brownstoner] P*Shark
Pratt Reveals Plans for Myrtle KFC Site [Brownstoner] DOB
StreetLevel: Cafe DuCharme Opens on President
Cafe DuCharme opened earlier this week on President near the corner of 5th Avenue. The small cafe, which gets its handle from the last name of its Swiss owner, is open from 7 to 7, and in addition to fair trade drip ($1.25/cup) has a variety of sandwiches (a prosciutto combo, eg, for $8.75) and breakfast fare. The shop's proprietor previously had a coffee shop in Old San Juan.
Two New Eateries Coming to Slope's President Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
85 State's Roller Coaster Ride
The pricing of 85 State Street in Brooklyn Heights sure has been interesting to watch, and now that the renovated five-story townhouse's sale for $3.4 million has been recorded in public records, a trip down memory lane seems in order:
9/2005: The house trades hands for $2.5 million in an estate sale.
3/2006: Only 6 months later, the 5,000-sf property flips for $3.2 million to a developer.
1/2007: The house is placed on the market by Corcoran for $5.8 million.
5/2007: Brown Harris Stevens takes over the listing and prices it at $5.95 million.
1/2008: The listing jumps to Halstead and is priced at $5.75 million.
2/2009: A series of price cuts brings the asking down to $4.2 million.
6/2009: Warburg takes over marketing but doesn't cut the price further. Listing now says: "Offered at less than cost! Stunning XXX mint Brooklyn Heights townhouse...the home has just undergone a complete renovation from top to bottom."
10/2009: The house finally sells for $3.4 million.
House of the Day: 85 State Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
85 State Street [StreetEasy]
DOB's Stalled Site List Passes 500 Mark; BK Still on Top
The Department of Buildings' latest tally of stalled construction sites counts 531 pits of inactivity citywide, up from 453 in its last report. As it has since the DOB started making a list of no-go construction, Brooklyn leads the way in the five boroughs, with 246 stalled sites. (Back in the summer, when the DOB first started releasing these reports, 63 were counted in all of Brooklyn and only 143 in the whole city.) Dubious honors for second and third place go to Queens, with 147 sites, and Manhattan, with 80 sites. In Brooklyn, the area covered by CB1, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, continues to have the most stalled sites, with 80 properties making the list this time around. No other area in Brooklyn comes close to CB1, though there are significant numbers in CB2's zone (21), CB6's (14), and CB7's (16). Meanwhile, there are still obvious omissions from the tally. For example, long-dormant 333 Carroll is nowhere to be found, and neither are a couple of 4th Avenue sites where nothing's been doing for a long time. Click though to see the full list.
Stalled Construction Sites [DOB]
Williamsburg Ranks #1 in City's Stalled-Site Sweepstakes [Brownstoner]
Continue reading "DOB's Stalled Site List Passes 500 Mark; BK Still on Top"
Affordable Housing on Tap
It may seem like there's not any affordable housing available, but, reports The Brooklyn Eagle, there are 700 units currently up for grabs through one non-profit development company alone in Brooklyn. The Housing Partnership Development Corp. which has created 30,000 units of affordable housing over its 25-year history, is currently offering "moderate-income" apartments at the newly-developed Bergen Street Co-ops at 1509 Bergen Street in Crown Heights (at right). The Partnership is also involved in other projects like 320 Sterling Street, which is about three-quarters done, and Atlantic Terrace next to the Atlantic Center (at top), which just started making applications available.
700 Affordable Homes, Apartments in B'klyn Now Available [Brooklyn Eagle]
EDC's Deal for Wonder Wheel Park Goes Through
The Economic Development Corporation's purchase of the Coney Island land that Wonder Wheel Park sits on was recorded in public records yesterday. The EDC announced it had gone into contract with the property's owner, Ward Realty, last year, and that it would pay $11 million for the parcels, but the purchase price ended up being $9.75 million. According to an EDC spokeswoman, the Ward family agreed to reduce the purchase price in exchange for closing at an earlier date. In a press release about the purchase last year, the EDC said that Wonder Wheel Park would remain a tenant on the site through 2020 and that "the deal is the first of what NYCEDC expects to be a series of land acquisitions in the coming months as the City proceeds with its vision to create a 21st century entertainment destination and protect Coney Island’s amusement legacy in perpetuity."
Deed: 1025-27 Boardwalk West, 1102 Bowery, 3001 Jones Walk [ACRIS] GMAP
Photo by OMG! Ponies!
New Kosciuszko Bridge Won't Come Cheap
In October, a Department of Transportation panel narrowed the list of potential designs for the new Kosciuszko Bridge down to three finalists, including what The Brooklyn Paper calls the front runner, above. In addition to a new look, the bridge of the future will have nine lanes instead of six (yay!) as well as a bike and pedestrian lane; the whole thing will be set at less of an incline than the current structure because tall boats no longer go underneath. All this good stuff won't come cheap though: We're looking at a $1 billion price tag. Sounds like a lot of dough to us, but apparently that's what it takes to get bridge builders out of bed these days. “For a bridge that is a mile long in New York City, $1 billion is the going rate,” said DOT spokesman Adam Levine. The Feds will pay 80% of the freight, leaving the state with the rest. But the state is now talking about slashing its transportation spending, so it remains to be seen of the bridge, over which 160,000 vehicles pass every day, makes the cut.
The Billion-Dollar Bridge! [Brooklyn Paper]
March 10, 2009
BREAKING: Murdoch Buying The Brooklyn Paper!
The Observer is reporting that News Corporation has a deal to purchase The Brooklyn Paper. "We're very excited," said The Paper's editor Gersh Kuntzman. The purchase comes on the heels (well, three years after) the media companies purchase of The Courier Life Chain. That leaves, what, The Brooklyn Eagle and Brownstoner? $10 million and it's all yours, Rupe.
January 5, 2009
Fire Guts Newly-Renovated Townhouse at 67 Cranberry
A massive blaze that drew over 20 firefighting vehicles to the scene gutted the brick townhouse at 67 Cranberry Street on Saturday morning; the fire is believed to have begun around 9 a.m. and no one was injured. The house had been undergoing a gut renovation as part of its conversion from a two-family to a one-family house since being purchased in November 2007 for $2,800,000.
Fire Guts 67 Cranberry Street [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Massive Response to Fire on Cranberry Street [McBrooklyn] GMAP
Large photo from Chucktaylor's Flickr Set via GL; small photo from McBrooklyn.
November 19, 2008
$400 and Free Plastic Bags Coming Your Way?
Though 76 percent of you said you thought it was okay for Mayor Mike to nix the $400 property tax rebate in light of the current financial situation, you homeowners might be getting a check after all. The NY Times reported that Mayor Bloomberg does not actually have the power to cancel the rebate. "Any elimination of the popular rebates requires City Council approval, the budget director, Mark Page, acknowledged. And council members, who have been flooded with calls from angry residents looking for their checks, declared the mayor’s idea to cut them 'dead on arrival.'" Turns out the Mayor can't impose that six-cent "fee" on plastic bags, either; he'd hoped by calling it that instead of a tax he could bypass the Council once again, but no go. We've heard from readers that many would be willing to forgo the check and abide the plastic bag fee in these trying financial times, but already Councilmember Vincent Gentile has filed a lawsuit lawsuit "to compel the Department of Finance to make good on the City’s promise of $400 rebate checks to homeowners."
Your $400 Check Might Be in the Mail Soon [NY Times]
November 14, 2008
Calling All Archetects and Engineers
A tipster sent in this want-ad from the Brooklyn Paper. Good to know that folks are hiring, and that good spelling is not required. Let us know if you apply.
August 4, 2008
Fire Leaves 75 PLG Households Looking for Shelter
A six-alarm fire destroyed a portion of the top floor of an 84-unit apartment building in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens on Friday, leaving 23 firefighters and two civilians injured, and the residents essentially homeless. The fire took two hours and 250 firefighters to extinguish. Between 25 and 35 of the 75 households in the building were temporarily sheltered at a school this weekend, then in hotel rooms provided by the Red Cross, while others stayed with family and friends. City officials were reluctant to estimate when they could return &mdash a portion of the roof was removed to extinguish the blaze, and the electrical system that likely caused the fire is "a complete mess" and may need to be entirely replace. "They're doing some work to shore up the roof, but there's some trouble with the electrical system in the building ... that's what's keeping the building vacated," said the official, who asked not to be named. But a resident and friend told us she was advised to look for new housing. She said in retrospect she should have known there were problems with the electrical system because the lights would dim or flicker when she turned on her air conditioner, and electrical bills over the past few months have been erratic. But she never suspected it could be this serious. Although an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, it originated in the space between the ceiling of the top floor and the roof and is believed to be wiring-related.
In addition to worrying about finding new housing, residents, many without renters insurance, are worried about their belongings and the expense of building new lives. Firefighters had to bash in apartment doors to check for victims and flames, and another resident said she saw someone on the fire escape next to her window the following day. Police are guarding the building, which is very large and has multiple entry points. Residents were only given 15 minutes to be escorted into their apartments so they could gather their most valuable possessions. Some were lucky enough to get in the evening of the fire by saying they had pets or medication inside. Those who had to sleep at the school or in hotel rooms had to leave their pets with friends. As the Red Cross's contract generally only lasts a few days, the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development will be responsible for providing shelter to anyone who is unable to find it independently.
Officials: Electric Wiring Sparked Brooklyn Blaze [WCBS]
December 6, 2007
New Fire Code Proposed to Coincide with New DOB Rules
If you think changes to the city's building code are long overdue, how about the fire code? The fire department has just submitted a proposal for the first comprehensive revamp of its rules since 1913! The new code draws heavily from the International Fire Code, according to a press release put out by the FDNY yesterday. The changes, which call for, among other things, greater rooftop access and more focus on safety and evacuation plans, would be timed to go into effect alongside the new DOB regulations on July 1. The 470-page document is available on the FDNY website. The public all of three weeks to comment.
Updated Fire Code Is Offered to Mesh With Revised Building Rules [NY Times]
FDNY Wants to Update City's Fire Code [NY Daily News]
Fire Department Drafts New City Fire Code [NY1]
Photo by unrestful
August 23, 2007
Fund Buys Watchtower Building on Clark St.
We’re hearing that real estate investment fund Glory Capital purchased a 43-unit apartment building at 6-10 Clark Street in Brooklyn Heights from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. No word on what the property went for. According to a Brooklyn Eagle article in June, the apartments have already been upgraded recently and studios will start renting for $2,050. It also remains to be seen whether Glory Capital—which also bought 67 Livingston from Watchtower in May—is looking to acquire any of the other Heights properties the religious group recently put on the market. Any rumor mill buzz about the other Jehovah's buildings that are up for sale?
Update: The Property Shark entry on 6-10 Clark shows that the Glory Capital deal closed in late April, and that the building went for $12.5 million.
Good Lord! Watchtower Divesting Six Heights Props [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark
August 14, 2007
Abolition Panel a Salve for Duffield Street Concerns?
The Bloomberg administration announced yesterday that it was creating a six-person panel charged with formulating a plan to honor Brooklyn’s role in the abolitionist movement. The formation of the $2 million panel is largely a response to the controversy surrounding the EDC’s plan to seize and demolish six Duffield Street row houses that are believed to have ties to the Underground Railroad, but it leaves the future of those houses unclear. In fact, the city’s press release yesterday affirms that an EDC-funded study “did not directly connect Underground Railroad activity to the houses, but it did confirm a great deal of abolitionist activity in the area.” While the city’s announcement is unlikely to stanch community outcry about the EDC’s plans, blogger Duffield Street Underground notes that “If the new panel has some real power, then there is hope to develop Downtown Brooklyn through the promoting of the Abolitionist history at 227 Duffield.” Sounds to us like the city's just throwing a bone, albeit a $2 million bone, to the pesky preservationists to push them out of the way. Do you think this has a chance of silencing the protesters?
Mayor Appeases on Underground Railroad Rancor [NY Observer]
Panel to Honor Brooklyn’s Role in Abolition [City Room]
Honoring Brooklyn's Role in Ending Slavery [Duffield St. Underground]
Busy Day for Brooklyn's Underground Railroad History [Gowanus Lounge]
Underground Movement on Duffield [NY Post]
Duffield Preservationists Fight Back with Lawsuit [Brownstoner]
LPC Turns Its Back on Underground Railroad Houses [Brownstoner]
Undergound RR: Consultants Caught In Another Lie [Brownstoner]
LPC Head Tries To Save Underground RR Site [Brownstoner]
January 10, 2007
Announcement
Hey, everyone, Typekey is working again. We bet Crown Heights Proud will be happy!
October 10, 2006
BREAKING: Broken Angel On Fire!
Heads up, everyone, the Broken Angel is was on fire! More photos at Brooklyn Record
July 11, 2006
Site Registration for Commenting
We've resisted requiring registration to the site until now because we've wanted to keep things as open as possible. Given some of the rudeness and vitriol that happens more frequently than we'd like and the recent uptick in troll activity, we have little choice but to require anyone who wants to comment to create a Typekey username. (Hopefully it should reduce the amount of spam comments that we have to waste time deleting too.) We just enabled this requirement a few minutes ago so we're not exactly sure how it's going to go from a technical standpoint. When you open the Comments of a post it should prompt you to sign in or create an identity. If you have trouble, though, please drop us an email. After you've logged at the beginning of a session, you should be recognized and not have to keep logging in every time you comment. Sorry for the inconvenience but hopefully this will result in a more respectful dialogue among those who actually have the site's, and the community's, best interests at heart.
Thanks,
Brownstoner
June 8, 2006
Homeless Men Responsible for Greenpoint Fire
You've probably already heard by now, but the police arrested a one homeless guy and charged him with arson, burglary, reckless endangerment and petit larceny in last month's massive fire at the Greenpoint Terminal Market; an accomplice was being sought. Supposedly, the fire started when the men tried to burn the insulation off some copper wire so they could resell it. Meanwhile, Joshua Guttman, still no angel in our book, was charged with 434 counts of "failure to maintain privately owned waterfront property" along with his son and four of their related companies. Guttman "feels vindicated in the fact that it's now known he's not the person who had anything to do with the fire," said his attorney, Israel Goldberg.
Homeless Men Blamed for GTM Fire [NY Times]
Homeless Man Arrested in Massive Fire [WNBC]
Photo by Fabian 17
The Warehouse 'Firebug' [NY Post]
May 5, 2006
Another Perspective on the Greenpoint Fire
We've seen a lot of up close shots of the Greenpoint fire this week but thought this reader-submitted shot taken from the Home Depot parking lot in Bed Stuy was worth a post.
May 4, 2006
An Update On Brokerate
You can beta test something to death, but sometimes there's no substitute for the real world. When we began planning Brokerate we struggled with how to handle comments and the potential for abusive behavior. At the time, we thought that we'd provide the platform, appeal to everyone's sense of decency and let the market take care of itself. After watching things play out over the first few days, we've grown increasingly uncomfortable with the number of mean, trite and foundationless comments. While our goal in creating the site was clearly to provide the consumer with a useful tool, we've decided that on balance the comments are too destructive; while we are unapologetic about the need for more transparency and accountability in the profession, we have to listen to our own conscience--which has served us well navigating the sometimes dicey waters of Brownstoner--and balance that need with the fact that peoples' livelihoods are at stake here. So here's the plan: We're keeping the rating system (which has a control in place to limit each user to voting only once for each broker), replacing the comments with a references (if you feel strongly about a broker, you can leave your email for potential clients to contact you), and are going to work over the next few weeks to build more functionality and searchability into the broker profiles (hopefully to include things like neighborhood specialization and lists of closed transactions). We hope to have the changes to the comments section done by the end of the day today. We'd also appreciate everyone's ideas about additional functionality they would like to see in the future.
Thanks,
Brownstoner
May 3, 2006
Fire Consumes Historic G'point Warehouses
May 3, 2006, NY Times -- A fire roared through a network of abandoned, historic warehouses on the Brooklyn waterfront yesterday with a speed and ferocity that challenged and exhausted hundreds of firefighters, and led fire marshals to suspect arson. The blaze burned all day as it consumed a former rope factory on West Street near the site of the Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, which launched the ironclad warship Monitor for the Union 144 years ago. The fire blackened the sky above northern Brooklyn with thick smoke shot through at its base with bright flames a block deep. The plume could be seen for miles. "It was like a flamethrower," said John Czaplinski, who lives nearby on Noble Street. "The fire was leaping from one building to another."
Blaze Levels Historic Warehouses [NY Times]
Fireball on the Skyline [NY Post]
Bravest Face 10-Alarm Inferno [NY Daily News]
Photo #1 by Digital Front
Photo #2 by Jeremy Schoenherr-Lachance
Photo #3 by jukeboxgraduate
May 2, 2006
Greenpoint Fire Rages On
The 7-alarm fire that began early this morning on the Greenpoint waterfront is still raging. One theory floating around right now is that the fire was started on purpose to clear the way for new condos from the ground up. It's sad indeed. This complex of warehouses was truly a landmark that defined Greenpoint--in a wonderful way. Thanks to justiNYC for the photos. If you've taken any photos of the fire today, please send 'em on over.
Massive Fire Still Burning [NY1]
May 1, 2006
Brownstoner Launches Brokerate.com
Remember when we asked for some volunteers a couple of weeks ago to beta-test a new service? Well, forty or so readers pitched in (thanks everyone!) and the result is a new website for rating and commenting on real estate brokers around the five boroughs--Brokerate.com. We're not delusional enough to be unaware of the potential pitfalls of the project or the potential (near certainty, make that) for brokers to write about themselves and get their friends to vote for them. We've taken some steps to mitigate that behavior, but in the end we think people's b.s. detectors are pretty good and that the honest anecdotes--good and bad--that people contribute will shine through. For the project to work, though, it's going to need a lot of input up front, so we're hoping that you'll find the time over the next few days to browse through the list of brokers who've already been uploaded (you can sort the existing list by borough, ranking, broker last name, agency name) and provide feedback where you can. Then add the names of other brokers you've had experiences with. Our biggest plea to everyone is to remain courteous and civil even when expressing negative opinions. If you just write "This guy's a loser" without providing any anecdotal context it's going to carry a lot less weight. So please be honest, smart and civil--and thanks in advance for helping to create what we hope will be a useful tool for navigating what can be a stressful and frustrating experience.
Thanks,
Brownstoner
View All Brokers [Brokerate]
Rating Brokers [NY Times]
Bad Broker Beware [Gothamist]
Cool new Thing: Brokerate.com [Curbed]
April 19, 2006
Predatorial Mortgage Co. Swindles Sick Old Lady
The Post had a hearwarming story yesterday of a mortgage company's attempt to swindle an elderly Fort Green woman with early-stage Alzheimer's out of her 3-story brownstone. In 2004, Mary McQuiller, then 81, applied for a second mortgage through RCF Capital; before she knew it, the company had sent a car for her and had gotten her to sign over the house for $175,000. Her son, Sam McQuiller (pictured), intervened and thought he had gotten RCF to drop its claim on the property only to be rudely surprised when his mother died later that year. He's now in court fighting a decision by the public administrator to auction the property and award RCF $85,000 of the proceeds.
Roofless People [NY Post]
Latest Restaurant Additions
-
Chickadee Chick
added November 6, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Vutera
added November 5, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Park Cafe
added November 4, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Bahia
added November 3, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Aqualis Grill
added November 2, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Wombat
added October 30, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Organic Heights
added October 29, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Giardini Pizza
added October 28, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Rye
added October 27, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Bati
added October 26, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene