Williamsburg
July 1, 2009
Come On and Take a Free Ride (at Northside Piers)
As Curbed picked up on yesterday, The Real Deal reported that Toll Brothers is now offering potential buyers at its Northside Piers project on the Williamsburg waterfront a free ride for the entire first year. That's right, the whole kit and kaboodle: Mortgage payments, common charges and real estate taxes. The offer's good through the end of August. Too bad the days of 95 percent financing are behind us!
June 26, 2009
Rising Inventory Bad News for Burg
With over 5,000 new apartments (condos and rentals) expected to hit the Williamsburg market this year and next (combined), it doesn't take an Economics PhD to predict what the impact on pricing is likely to be or what it could mean for the number of foreclosures in the area. There are over 1,800 new condos coming online this year and another 1,200 or so scheduled for 2010, according to The Real Deal. A bigger problem than pricing or over-supply, though, is lack of financing. Very few lenders (if any) are willing to finance condo purchases in buildings that don't already have the large majority of their units in contract. "The pace of activity [in Williamsburg] is well off from last year," said Miller Samuels' Jonathan Miller, "not because of lack of demand, but because buyers are having a very difficult time getting financing for projects that aren't 70 to 75 percent sold already." Unless that changes, developers have few options other than to go rental (which their financing partners don't always want to do) or lose their properties. In fact, banks have already begun foreclosure proceedings at the Factory Lofts at 66 North 1st Street, Warehouse 11 at 214 North 11th Street and the Metropolitan at 349 Metropolitan (above). "It used to be enjoyable, exciting to open a new building," said David Maundrell, president of Aptsandlofts.com, who provided the inventory predictions aboe. "Now it's nerve-wracking." Indeed.
More Foreclosures Likely as W'burg Inventory Grows [TRD]
June 24, 2009
Sinking Sidewalk Leads to SWO at 197 Berry Street
After a long, quiet winter, the action picked back up this spring at Quadriad's huge development site between Bedford, Berry, North 3rd and North 4th in Williamsburg. Not so fast! The project got slapped with a big, fat Stop Work Order last night. The reason, according to the DOB: "The sidewalk is sinking about 1 feet (sic) below street level because of construction - in danger of collapsing." Holy crap. In the wake of 493 Myrtle, the DOB ain't messing around with this stuff. Can anyone get a photo of the sidewalk for us?
Development Watch: Quadriad Gears Back Up on North Side [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 197 Berry Street [Brownstoner]
Quadriad's Williamsburg Terrace Revealed [Brownstoner] GMAP
Bending the Rules for a Bank on Bedford P*Shark DOB
June 23, 2009
Closing Bell: Quidditch in McCarren Park
The Brooklyn Kickball League has some stiff competition at McCarren Park. Reported by The Brooklyn Paper, this past Saturday, some Harry Potter-loving college students got together in the Park to play Quidditch, "a high-flying sport practiced by wizards and witches who ride magical flying broomsticks." Obviously, there was no magical flying; feet stayed on the ground while running with the broomsticks. Definitely not something you see everyday in Brooklyn.
Photo by TrespassersWill.
Williamsburg Hipsters Aren't All Rich Kids After All
New York Magazine pops The Times' bubble about the real demographic reality of Williamsburg. Despite the fact that its most visible residents make easy targets with their skinny jeans and facial hair, Williamsburg is in fact no hotbed of trustfunddom. In fact, Williamsburg's residents are by and large in worse financial shape than most New Yorkers. In 2005, for example, almost half of those living within the bounds of Community Board 1 were getting some kind of social assistance and the area's median income is almost 20 less than the city as a whole; less than 3 percent of households were bringing in over $200,000 a year. Concludes the New York article, "The reality of Williamsburg, beyond the mythical trust-funders, is that it is a community of people mostly struggling to get by, with a few wealthy residents grabbing headlines — the way New York has always been."
Beyond Hipsters: Williamsburg’s Tough Economic Realities [New York]
Parental Lifelines, Frayed to Breaking [NY Times]
Dose of Reality for Trust Fund Kids [Brownstoner]
Photo by Eric Graham
June 19, 2009
Nondescript East W'burg Condos Defying the Market
We can't see the appeal in this new condo offering at 15 Judge Street but the one-bedroom residences in Bushwick East Williamsburg are flying off the shelf at around $550 per foot: Five units have already sold since the project hit the market a month ago, if you can believe it. Given that the development has neither architecture nor location going for it, the sales effort must be getting a big boost from the fact that you can buy a place with just 3.5 percent down courtesy of the FHA. GMAP
June 18, 2009
Bedford Avenue Cesspool Continues to Fester
The Seattle-like weather we've been having hasn't done any favors for the abandoned construction project at 95 Bedford Avenue. Of course, water isn't this site's biggest problem. That would be the alleged contamination in the ground. You see, this lot used to house a paint manufacturing facility owned by NJZ Color and Reichhold Chemical. It seems that lead and cadmium were at one point major ingredients in the company's products and that some of this stuff may have made its way into the ground. Serious stuff. To lighten the mood, one area prankster released a duck decoy into the urban pond a few days ago, confusing a live duck in the process. Close-up photo on the jump.
Williamsburg's Swimming Hole [Brownstoner]
Continue reading "Bedford Avenue Cesspool Continues to Fester"
June 17, 2009
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
7 New Bars and Restaurants
(1) Fort Defiance, the new Red Hook spot from writer and Pegu Club alum St. John Frizell, won't get a liquor license until late July, but they'll start serving food this weekend. Eater says, "the sandwich menu includes Italian tuna, turkey, muffuletta with custom baked bread, and what else, banh mi." (2) Brooklyn Heights Blog says that Brooklyn Heights Wine Bar has opened at Henry and Cranberry. (3) Grub Street says that Calexico is finally set to open next Tuesday, but Lost City isn't sure why the word "thanks" was written in forks and knives on the sidewalk outside. (4) Lost City says that Black Horse Pub will be opening in two weeks in the South Slope, at 14th and Fifth Avenue. (5) Brunch Anytime noticed that another location of Bay Ridge health food spot Nature's Grill is setting up shop a few doors down from Trader Joe's in Cobble Hill. (6) Grub Street says that Italian-American restaurant Grandma Rose's is opening today at 457 Graham Avenue (near Herbert Street) in Williamsburg. (7) And blogger Didactic Katydid reports that yakitori spot Sui Ren is now open at 302 Metropolitan Avenue (at Roebling).
Rye Gets Reviewed
247 South First Street (Roebling Street), Williamsburg; (718) 218-8047
New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni gives a single star to Williamsburg's Rye and wonders whether it is meant to be "a drinkers’ refuge with ambitious food or a proper restaurant with a particular vanity about its cocktails... Maybe that’s a function of the neighborhood, whose hipsters are aging and being joined by more settled, stodgy types." We're not sure how the restaurant's regulars are supposed to feel about this remark. In any case, Tasting Table raves about Rye's meatloaf sandwich: "The glorious, two-handed sandwich comprises a half-pound tablet of ground pork, veal and duck cooked in its own reduced braising juices and planted between a chewy, crusty roll. Golden haystack onions spill out atop the meat loaf, while a layer of horseradish-dressed frisée packs serious zip, and briny, thin-sliced pickles temper the opulence."
After the jump: a new home for the McCarren Park Greenmarket, Char No. 4's summer barbecue deal, a $5 dinner at Hope Lounge, a Red Hook bar crawl in photos, and new signage for Timboo's...
Sound Fix Finds a New Home
After a full-court press from a variety of city agencies last spring, pioneering and uber-hip record store (and later cafe cum performance space) Sound Fix decided that it was time to move on from the Bedford Avenue storefront it has called home for five years. The store has found new digs just up North 11th Street at the corner of Berry. The new space in a 90-year-old renovated loft building will enable the store to expand the selection of music it offers, but the days of selling beers and bagels are behind it. "With several neighbors at 44 Berry offering those services," an email we received from them said, "Sound Fix can focus on selling music." Rock on.
Sound Fix Feels the Noise from City Agencies [Brownstoner] GMAP
Conservative Talk Show Host Beholds Williamsburg
A conservative radio talk show host called Jay Mundy describes his first visit to Williamsburg earlier this week. It's kinda hilarious until you realize that people this close-minded actually exist. Some out-takes:
It is a place that is now the official hipster neighborhood of the United States of America...I never thought that could exist here...I couldn't believe it. It is so left wing, how do I even describe it...If you could see what this place looks like...Just think of the most left-wing hippie, lunatic, nutcase; get that in your head and multiply it by thousands. It is extremely scary...Tattoos and people who are high on drugs all day and they are wearing weird clothes, like something you can't imagine, like a Hollywood picture, but here it was in the real world. Someone I was with said it's like all the misfits in this country went to this neighborhood. There's graffiti everywhere cuz they think graffiti is art...They are extreme leftists. I've never seen so many sick weirdos gathered in one place. They're all doing drugs all day. They have their hair died and tattoos so they can't have a job so they're all living on public assistance...They love Obama and the leftists and hate police power. They're carefree people. If I lived there a day, I tell you I would be in jail for murder...They don't believe in toilet paper there because it hurts the environment...I think even some left-of-center Democrats would be grossed out.
Someone better explain to this guy the difference between a hipster and a hippie. You can check Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview on YouTube.
June 16, 2009
Burg Condo Unwelcoming to Children
A reader sent in a tip that a vacant new condo building on Metropolitan Avenue between Kent and Berry in Williamsburg has a creepy message written on a ground-floor window in what's meant to look like blood: I Hate Children. Ironic? Or not? GMAP
June 10, 2009
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
Since 1963 Opens in Trout Space
102 Smith Street (at Pacific Street)
Trout's outdoor bar remains, but now the interior space has reopened as a barbecue joint. Chowhound SteakNut says, "It's market style, like Hill Country. I had a really good pulled pork sandwich there, which consisted of two 'mini' sandwiches. The buns were a tad stale, but the mass of meat and the pairing with pineapple salsa made up for it... And where else are you going to find Lone Star for $3?!" Has anybody else visited Since 1963 yet?
More Brooklyn Bar and Restaurant Openings
Time Out New York says that Fort Greene is getting its first German beer garden: Der Schwarze Kölner (710 Fulton St at South Oxford St) will have 18 brews on tap, 20 by the bottle, and both indoor and outdoor seating... Time Out also reports that Café Grumpy, which already has locations in Greenpoint and Chelsea, is opening their third branch in Park Slope (383 Seventh Ave between 11th and 12th Sts), and it'll be equipped with two Clover machines... Brooklyn Based says that "Stephen Tanner, one of the original owners of Pies ‘n’ Thighs and a cook at Egg, will be the chef at the new restaurant taking over Black Betty" in Williamsburg... Eat to Blog says that Istanbul Turkish Cuisine is opening in the old NoNo Kitchen space in Park Slope (293 7th Ave at 7th St)... Eating in Translation reports that a new kebab and beer joint called Kebeer is set to open in Brighton Beach (1003 Brighton Beach Ave at Coney Island Ave)... And, finally, despite reports from on-site workers that Calexico is supposed to open this week, local Chowhound oohlah remains skeptical: "There's definitely been some progress, but, as before, I think their estimates are way off. Maybe they'll open by July."
After the jump: Reviews of Glass Shop in Crown Heights, Watty & Meg in Cobble Hill, and Enoteca on Court in Carroll Gardens...
June 8, 2009
Development Watch: 291 Kent Avenue
Some kind of one-story commercial space is coming to fruition at 291 Kent Avenue at South 2nd Street in Williamsburg. Anyone have any idea what it's going to be? If the Domino conversion ever happens this could be a pretty good store location! GMAP P*Shark DOB
Streetlevel: Closing Time on Metropolitan Avenue
They are dropping like flies on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. First, Catbird and now Cheeks and Black Betty. Brooklyn Based broke the news on the closing of Cheeks bakery. The sign in the window simply says "Will Not Re-Open after Memorial Weekend Holiday." Just a few storefronts over is Black Betty. Free Williamsburg has all the details on the rent fight between the restaurant and their landlord. Via their Myspace, Black Betty will close their doors for good on Monday, June 15th (they have a countdown sign in the front window).
Don't Quote Us [Brooklyn Based] GMAP
Landlord to Black Betty: Drop Dead [Free Williamsburg] GMAP
Dose of Reality for Trust Fund Kids
Reality (along with a little schadenfreude) has come to the post-college rental market in Williamsburg: According to an article in The Times this weekend, the twenty-somethings who've been able to rely on Mom and Dad when the first of the month rolled around are finding that they have to come up with the rent the old-fashioned way now that the older generation is struggling more under the weight of the financial crisis. And while having less time to play in a band or work on a canvas may not be music to the ears of those used to being on the receiving end of parental largesse, some who watched jealously without help can't help but take some pleasure in their neighbors' misfortune. “If I’m going to be completely honest, it does make me feel a little bit better,” said one struggling wallpaper designer. “It’s bringing a lot of Williamsburg back to reality.”
Parents Pulling the Plugs on Williamsburg Trust-Funders [NY Times]
Photo by Ando228
June 5, 2009
Checking In On the Kent Avenue Con Ed Demo
The demolition of the Con Edison plant on Kent Avenue in South Williamsburg has been proceeded—though at a snail's pace. We suspect that has something to do with concerns over the responsible environmental remediation required in a case like this.
The Guts of Con Ed [Brownstoner] GMAP
Sayonara Kent Avenue Powerhouse [Brownstoner]
June 3, 2009
Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
Cafe Tapeo Becomes Cyprus Avenue
52 5th Avenue, Park Slope
Tipster dwarbi reports that tapas joint Cafe Tapeo has reopened as an Irish pub: "Tapeo was struggling for a while — almost always empty. Every time we walked by it we wondered when it would close." The new pub, Cyprus Avenue, is presumably named after the Van Morrison song about the street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Has anyone stopped in yet?
Upcoming Brooklyn Food Events
This Saturday, June 6 from 6-9pm, stop by the BKLYN Yard for music from Finger on the Pulse and $7 BBQ plates from Hapa Kitchen... Plus, tickets are available now for Brooklyn Based's screening of Food, Inc, a new documentary about the American industrial food system, at the Bell House on Wednesday, June 10. Doors are at 7pm and snacks will be provided by Roebling Tea Room, Sweet Deliverance, Nunu Chocolates, and McClure's Pickles, and there's a pre-show open bar courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery. Following the film, catch a Q&A with director Robert Kenner and author Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), who also appears in the film.
Closings and Bankruptcy
A few Chowhounds are mourning the approaching closing of Park Slope favorite Tempo (Saturday will be their last night in business), while Zagat reports that "Garden Cafe, the No.1 rated Brooklyn restaurant in Zagat’s NYC Survey, closed last week after nearly 25 years in operation in Prospect Heights." And Crain's says that Elementi in Park Slope "filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection" but remains open for business.
After the jump: Openings in Bed-Stuy, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Williamsburg, and Bushwick; reviews of Cafe Pedlar and Farmer in the Deli...
A Few Price Cuts at 80 Met
The folks behind Williamsburg's 80 Metropolitan have resisted across-the-board price cuts, but they continue to chip away at some of the lower-floor apartments. Back in March, when 42 units were in contract (according to StreetEasy), we reported that six units on the second floor were reduced; now, with 44 in contract, three listings have gotten trimmed: #2P was cut from $825,000 to $735,000, #2G from $735,000 to $689,000, and #3KI from $1,329,000 to $1,224,000.
Price Cuts at 80 Met [Brownstoner] GMAP
Partial Building Collapse, Evacuation at 48 North 1st Street
Yesterday Curbed reported that Kent Avenue had been shut down in response to a partial building collapse at 48 North 1st Street. Overnight we came into possession of a couple of photos from the scene (check out the other on the jump). Seems that the roof collapsed on two people in bed when workers at the seven-story development project next door at 50 North 1st Street were pouring concrete for a side wall; luckily, says Brooklyn 11211, no one was hurt. (When the collapse happened, according to Curbed, "Illegal immigrant workers took off running while Hasidic property owner hung out looking stressed.") A partial vacate order has been issued for Number 48. Number 50 has bigger problems on its hands: It's been slapped with a Stop Work Order for failing to protect the adjacent property and not sticking to filed plans. GMAP
Continue reading "Partial Building Collapse, Evacuation at 48 North 1st Street"
June 2, 2009
Closing Bell: Fifth and Broadway in Williamsburg?
Learn something new everyday. Scouting NY wondered why this building at Driggs Avenue and Broadway in Williamsburg had "Fifth and B'Way" inscribed on one of its corners. Broadway and Fifth Street (North and South) run parallel and never meet. Fortunately, a commenter cleared things up. Did you know that Driggs Avenue was once named Fifth Street and Bedford Avenue was known as Fourth Street? Look at the Bedford Cheese Shop building for proof (same inscription). Now you know.
Photo by nycscout.
Development Watch: Finger Building Back in Action
First the Finger Building got a new owner, then it got a new name and now it's looking like it might actually get finished. Yesterday a tipster sent in this iPhone shot of contractors reporting for duty. "Looks like I'm going to have a long summer of noisy construction workers waking me up every morning," quipped the tipster. True, but it's better than having a rotting eyesore on your block for the next decade. After all, the squatters are taking over the 'Burg! Update: The building will not be built any taller than its existing 110 feet height. GMAP
June 1, 2009
Development Watch: Northside Piers Part Deux
The second, and better-located, tower at Toll Brothers' Northside Piers project on the Williamsburg waterfront is almost all glassed up, according to this photo we snapped yesterday. If any of the units are in contract, however, the sales have yet to hit the StreetEasy database.
The Ripple Effect of Northside Piers' Price Cuts [Brownstoner]
Northside Piers Slowly Gaining Businesses [Brownstoner] GMAP
Price Cuts Working at Northside Piers [Brownstoner]
New Jersey Couple Opts for McCarren Views
While Williamsburg has been indelibly branded with the hipster label for the last decade or so, luckily the marketing campaigns of developers in the area have cast a much wider demographic net. To wit: When Steven Leeds and Rachel Hott, empty nesters from Montclair, started looking for a place to move in the big city, they fell in love with a three-bedroom pad at The Aurora overlooking McCarren Park. (The 1,400-square-foot apartment was originally listed for $1,200,000, but the fifty-somethings snagged it for $999,000.) Before signing the contract, however, the couple insisted on timing the walk from the new development to the L train station. Luckily for them (and the developer), it clocked in at a commuter-friendly six minutes. They moved in last month, and can't get enough of their new neighborhood, especially McCarren Park. “I have never seen so much activity,” Dr. Hott said. “There is break dancing and tai chi and soccer.” In case they need any tips, The Times also has a close-up this weekend on the neighborhood to the north: Greenpoint.
The Hunt: The Six-Minute Test [NY Times]
Living In: Greenpoint, Brooklyn [NY Times]
May 29, 2009
Burg's Warehouse 11 Seeking a Savior
Curbed found the Massey Knakal listing for Williamsburg's mammoth Warehouse 11, the failed Karl Fischer-designed condo. The development's lender has started foreclosure proceedings against its builder, and Curbed notes the bank is still owed a whopping $50,766,000. On the bright (?) side, "if taken rental [the property] could expect to generate around $4.1 million in gross annual income." GMAP
May 28, 2009
New Landscape Renderings on 'New Domino' Site
Perhaps we're behind the curve, but until recently we had never seen the official website for the New Domino, aka the redevelopment of Williamsburg's Domino Sugar Refinery. The site for the one of the biggest Brooklyn projects that may or may not happen has the usual boilerplate ("Plans include a goal of providing 30 percent of units as affordable housing within a new community of approximately 2,400 residential units and approximately 220,000 square feet of new retail, commercial, and community cultural facility space." etc), but more interesting are renderings of the mini-city's layout that are new to us. For example, there are drawings of the open space and esplanade that give a clearer view of CPC and Katan's plans for the 11-acre site. "Every street leading to the Domino site will be opened for the first time in over one hundred years, and will connect to the esplanade and the central gathering area," says the site. We shall see.
New Domino [Official Site]
New Domino: The Renderings [Brownstoner] GMAP
Latest Restaurant Additions
-
Carroll Gardens Classic Diner
added July 2, 2009 12:00 PM in Boerum Hill -
Tripoli
added July 1, 2009 12:00 PM in Cobble Hill -
Williamsburger
added June 30, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Brooklyn Bread Cafe
added June 29, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens, Park Slope -
Naidre's
added June 26, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens, Park Slope -
Amorina
added June 25, 2009 12:00 PM in Prospect Heights -
Caracas Arepa Bar: Brooklyn
added June 24, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Dawg Shack
added June 23, 2009 12:00 PM in Gowanus -
Mitchell's
added June 22, 2009 12:00 PM in Prospect Heights -
City Sub
added June 19, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope