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East New York’s Black Population Increases
The Daily News had a story last week about how the number of black people living in East New York has increased significantly as other sections of Brooklyn have seen a decrease in the number of black residents: “The East New York numbers mirror an opposite pattern in neighborhoods in Central Brooklyn. In the western part of Bedford Stuyvesant, the white population shot up 634%, while blacks fell 14.6% – from 69% of the population to less than half. Northern Crown Heights lost more than 10,000 black residents, a 12% drop, while the white population grew 186%. Similar changes took place in Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Besides East New York, Canarsie and Flatlands have gained many new black residents.” So how does one look at this from a real estate angle? Via the Pratt Center: “East Brooklyn’s neighborhoods now face both a serious need for affordable housing, and a significant number of foreclosures. Like the rest of the New York City, East Brooklyn experienced a dramatic increase in housing prices from 2000 to 2007 — both rental and sales — while incomes steadily declined. In the neighborhoods of Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Broadway Junction, Cypress Hills, City Line, East New York, New Lots, Spring Creek and Starrett City, almost half the population pays more than 30% of its income on housing, and around one third of residents live in poverty.” This story has a lot of depth, since there’s the question of how many foreclosures we’re dealing with in East New York, as well as how many residents of the neighborhood receive public assistance for their housing. Plus it’s a truly gigantic neighborhood. We have only been to East New York about a half-dozen times over the past few years, so we don’t feel like we have a solid grasp of what the neighborhood is like. Thoughts?
Black Population Surges in East New York as it Falls Across the Borough and City [NY Daily News]
Photo by zachvs
05/14/2012 9:30 AM
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Massive Condo Conversion Changing the ENY Landscape?
Somehow we missed a Daily News article from late last week about how the conversion of a massive apartment complex in East New York has transformed the area it’s in and lured a significant number of buyers from the neighborhood. The complex in question, MeadowWood at Gateway, has 1,152 units, and since it went on the market in 2006 about half its units have sold, with 85 percent of the buyers coming from the surrounding neighborhood. According to the story, 90 percent of those buyers are first-time homeowners. Starting prices are as follows: $120,000 for studios, $178,500 for one-bedrooms, $227,000 for two-bedrooms, and $299,000 for three-bedrooms. Here’s the block quote:
“When we took over people protested gentrification and feared renters would get evicted,” says [developer] Taconic vice president Dan McInerney, who handles the day-to-day operations at the complex for the company who recently sold 111 Eighth Ave. to Google for approximately $2 billion. “That was never the intention, nor did it happen. It took time to build trust, but what you have now is a strong group of homeowners who want their homes to appreciate in value and to live in a safe, clean and quiet place.” Some of that trust came after Taconic invested over $40 million in capital improvements, renovating hallways, lobbies, upgrading mechanical equipment, landscaping, installing playgrounds, and replacing roofs. They also installed over 8,000 new windows and hired a real estate team from Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate. From the beginning, the sales strategy was to educate potential buyers on how and why to buy and to create high-quality home ownership opportunities for New York’s hardworking middle class. Homeownership seminars taking place in the on-site sales office draw as many as 80 people. On a recent Saturday, full families attended, asking questions on real estate tax abatements and common charges. A credit reparation person was ready in waiting.
The article also has a bunch of quotes from buyers who describe themselves as happy homeowners who feel like they’re living the American dream. The only question this story brings up—and it’s tough to find critical stuff to say about it—is whether Meadowood is truly changing this small section of East New York, a humongous neighborhood, for the better. For example, Stuy Town and Peter Cooper were basically always islands onto themselves, even back in the day, when some people wouldn’t go east of 1st Avenue in Downtown Manhattan. Still and all, there’s this quote from a buyer who considered purchasing in Sunnyside: “‘The prices in Sunnyside were ridiculous,’ she says. ‘I love living here, and I did all by myself. I explore this neighborhood and walk everywhere. I feel comfortable. I don’t know why people say these things about the area.’”
East New York Condo Conversion Becomes a National Model for Home Ownership [NY Daily News]
05/01/2012 9:00 AM
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Occupiers Booted From East New York Foreclosure
Back in January, there was news about how the Occupy Wall Street-related takeover of a vacant house in foreclosure in East New York was just a publicity gimmick, and that the homeowner, Wise Ahadzi, who abandoned the house a couple years ago after foreclosure proceedings began, wanted his property back. The OWS group living in the house said they didn’t know that Ahadzi wanted his property back, and said that they were working with him. The latest news, then, is that the Post says the police came to the house and arrested the Occupy-related folks living in it: “Police arrested six Occupy Wall Street members squatting inside a Brooklyn home five months after the movement seized the property amid grand promises to ‘renovate’ it and move in ‘a homeless family.’ Instead, the group moved itself in, wrecked the place, and made a hard situation even worse for a single father who actually owned the East New York home and was trying to save it from foreclosure. Cops cuffed the occupiers after they allegedly smashed a window to get into 702 Vermont St. on April 1.” Ahadzi said he is extremely pleases that the occupiers have been removed from the premises. According to the article, the “bill to fix the damage is at least $12,000, a source said.”
Occupy Squatters Finally Flushed From B’klyn Home [NY Post]
Organizers Defend Occupation of ENY Foreclosure [Brownstoner]
Photo by Brennan Cavanaugh
04/30/2012 10:00 AM
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Ed Towns Said to be Retiring After 30 Years in Congress
Representative Edolphus Towns, whose district includes a huge swath of Brooklyn—including Downtown, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York and Clinton Hill, among many others—is reportedly not seeking a 16th term. According to the Times, there won’t be an official statement on the matter until sometime today, which also notes that Towns was “facing a vigorous primary challenge in Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional District from Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries.” In addition to Jeffries, Councilmember Charles Barron will also be vying for Towns’ seat.
Towns Is Said to Decline to Run Again for Congress [NY Times]
04/16/2012 9:15 AM
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Sales Reach Halfway Point at Huge ENY Condo Conversion
It’s been years since we checked in at the sprawling East New York condo conversion MeadowWood at Gateway, but a press release just announced that the complex is half sold. According to the release, “MeadowWood at Gateway, located at 12205 Flatlands Avenue, has surpassed the ever-important 50 percent-sold milestone with 635 out of 1,152 condominium homes now sold or in contract. Fillmore Real Estate, the exclusive sales agent for MeadowWood at Gateway, attributes the success of this condominium development to the combination of a high quality product at surprisingly attractive prices – starting at $120,900 for the fully renovated, spacious studio to four bedroom homes for just over $300,000.” Before the conversion, the 19-building complex, known as the Fairfield Towers, housed rental units. An investment company purchased the buildings in 2006 and earmarked $40 million for their rehabilitation. Despite condo prices going up here in 2008, sales have remained steady during its almost-five years on the market.
Affordable Housing: A Bright Spot? [Brownstoner]
Sales Hummin’ at Huge East New York Conversion [Brownstoner]
Sales Begin at Brooklyn’s Biggest Condo Conversion [Brownstoner] GMAP
Photo from MeadowWood at Gateway site.
03/23/2012 9:30 AM
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Another Side of East New York
Chris Arnade has lived in Brooklyn Heights for the past twenty years since receiving his Physics PhD from Johns Hopkins and beginning a career as a foreign exchange trader. He’s also been an avid photographer since childhood. For the past couple of years, Chris has been documenting his exploration of New York City on his Flickr blog, covering everything from pigeon keepers to drug addicts and prostitutes. While looking for a Daily Links photo recently we came across a series of photos Chris took of people in East New York and Brownsville last summer and thought it was an amazing contrast to the way these neighborhoods are often portrayed in the media. What was the impetus? “Last summer I read an article in The New York Times about the zip codes with the worst crime statistics and decided to spend some of the summer in one of them, 11233,” he told us. “I never had a bad experience, although I was stopped by the police a few times, making sure I knew what I was doing.” UPDATE: Come check out Chris’ photography at the Urban Folk Art Gallery on March 9, 101 Smith Street. Details here.
UPDATE 2/21/12: The New York Times ran an article about Chris’ photo series on the prostitutes of Hunts Point.
02/15/2012 10:00 AM
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Occupiers Arrested in the Burg, Leaving East New York
It was a busy weekend for Occupy Wall Street folks in Brooklyn: On Saturday night, an “occuparty” was held at a vacant condo on North 8th and Driggs in Williamsburg. According to the Daily News, a few dozen people “hung Christmas lights, spray painted slogans like ‘F–k the police’ and ‘Life is Protest’ on the building walls, but were civilized enough to pack some beer on ice in the empty building.” Eventually the cops broke it up, some protestors who were blocking traffic a couple blocks away were arrested, and six officers were injured in the melee. Brokelyn published an announcement in advance of the event on Friday that gives a bit of a sense of what it was about: “We’ll be converging at 207 North 8th Street at 10pm before heading to the space, which has lain vacant for years now, and is owned by a bank known to invest in bio-, chemical, and nuclear weapons, as well as cluster bombs used specifically by Qaddafi against the 2011 insurgency.” Meanwhile, in East New York, the Post reports that the occupiers who had taken over a house that is under foreclosure pressure are in the process of moving out and returning it to its owner.
Booze, Arrests At “Occuparty” In Williamsburg Last Night [Gothamist]
Arrests at Occupy Party in Williamsburg [NY Daily News]
Exiting Occupy Home [NY Post]
Flier photo by rosiegray/buzzfeed
01/30/2012 9:00 AM
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Organizers Defend Occupation of ENY Foreclosure
Over the weekend the Post reported that the attention-grabbing Occupy Wall Street takeover of a vacant house in foreclosure in East New York was little more that a publicity stunt that hadn’t actually succeeded in providing housing to people in need of it, and yesterday the people behind the occupation issued a series of statements responding to the story’s claims in an effort to debunk some of them. OWS organizers say that Wise Ahadzi, the homeowner who abandoned the house a couple years ago after foreclosure proceedings began, hadn’t told them that he was intent on reclaiming his property, as the Post reported: “According to statements Mr. Ahadzi made to the New York Post yesterday, he is apparently now interested in reclaiming his home. Given that, Alfredo Carrasquillo and members of Occupy Wall Street will support Mr. Ahadzi’s efforts, so that neither his family or Alfredo’s is homeless, and so that the house at 702 Vermont does not sit vacant.” Meanwhile, Alfredo Carrasquillo, the community organizer who is supposed to be moving into the East New York house with his family, responded to the story’s allegations that it didn’t appear like he’d moved into the property and it was only being lived in by Occupy Wall Street protesters: “On December 6, I moved into a vacant, Bank of America-foreclosed property with the support of neighbors on Vermont St. because my family — victims of Michael Bloomberg’s housing policies and the big banks’ callous disregard for people — had been homeless for years. The support I received from the community was overwhelming, in part because they have also been victims of those same policies. …I invited members of Occupy Wall Street to inhabit the house with me, until it was safe for my family to move in, as a defense against the mayor’s policy of using the police department to defend property over people.”
Owner of OWS Foreclosure in ENY Wants His House Back [Brownstoner]
Photo by Brennan Cavanaugh
01/17/2012 9:30 AM
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Owner of OWS Foreclosure in ENY Wants His House Back
Last month members of Occupy Wall Street took over a home in East New York, saying they were going to renovate the property, which was empty following a foreclosure, so a homeless family could live in it. According to the Post, though, the family that was supposed to move in has yet to fully do so—it’s unclear from the story if this is because the house has yet to be completely renovated or if there’s simply not enough space for the family—and the person who owns the house but moved out after foreclosure proceedings began in 2009 wants his property back from the occupiers. Wise Ahadzi, the homeowner, says he bought the property for $424,500 in 2007 and stopped being able to make mortgage payments a couple years later, after he’d lost his job and the house’s value had plummeted. Ahadzi claims the Occupy Wall Street organizers aren’t willing to entertain the notion of reinstating Ahadzi and his children in the house: “I’m trying to get my house back, and they’re trying to take it from me.” The article is hardly a nuanced portrait of whatever is actually going on at 702 Vermont Street, so it remains to be seen whether what it suggests is accurate: That occupying the East New York foreclosure was a PR stunt and it hasn’t resulted in anyone who actually needed housing getting a roof over their heads.
Single Dad Trying to Reclaim Home OWS Took Over [NY Post]
Occupiers Fixing Up a Foreclosure in East New York [Brownstoner]
Photo by Brennan Cavanaugh
01/16/2012 9:00 AM
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Past and Present: Fortunoff’s
A Look at Brooklyn, then and now.
Fortunoff’s began in 1922 as a neighborhood housewares store on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville East New York. Founded by Max and Clara Fortunoff, the store soon grew from one storefront in this working class Jewish neighborhood, to eight storefronts, all on Livonia Avenue, under the El train, offering customers household goods, furniture , kitchen merchandise and gift items at high quality with great prices. In 1957, they started to carry jewelry, as well, greatly expanding their business. In 1964, the company, like most of the neighborhood, left Brooklyn for the suburbs, relocating to a new superstore in Westbury, Long Island, to a new suburban shopping experience called the Shopping Center at Roosevelt Raceway. (more…)
01/06/2012 10:30 AM
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Program Offers Aid to Buyers of Vacants, Foreclosures
Patch has a story about an initiative launched last month called Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 that grants up to $80,000 in forgivable loans to first-time buyers of foreclosed or vacant homes in neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates. Here’s a bit on how it works: “if a program participant buys a house for $200,000 and gets the maximum $50,000 NSP2 principal equity loan and $30,000 for repairs, the loan will actually reduce the principal by 25 percent, resulting in lower mortgage and monthly interest rate payments.” Patch notes that Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy are among the neighborhoods where buyers are eligible for the program (Pratt Area Community Council is one of the local nonprofits partnering with HUD and HPD on the program), while the HPD notice that went out announcing the loans also said that buyers in Bushwick, Crown Heights and East New York could apply for the loans. According to the story, “189 vacant houses will be resold in the first stages of the NSP2 program” in Clinton Hill, and it’s surprising to hear there are so many vacant houses in the neighborhood.
Loan Program Looks to Place Brooklyn Families In Vacant Homes [Patch]
Photo by mercurialn
12/12/2011 9:30 AM
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Occupiers Fixing Up a Foreclosure in East New York
City Room has details about the group of Occupy Wall Street members who have taken over a house in East New York that was foreclosed in 2008. According to the story, the home is a wreck: It lacks running water and electricity, and there is mold covering the ceiling and old furnishings left to rot that need to be removed. The plan is to make the house habitable for a woman named Tasha Glasgow, her companion and her two children, who are currently squatting in an apartment in East Rockaway. A person who lives across the street from the East New York house said she saw the occupation as positive for the neighborhood, noting that the vacant building had attracted criminal activity and “we need the house to be occupied by somebody.”
Foreclosed in Brooklyn: House Repairs as Protest [City Room]
Photo by Brennan Cavanaugh
12/08/2011 9:00 AM
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Closing Bell: OWS Protests Foreclosures in East New York
Salon’s Justin Elliott has been live tweeting today’s Occupy Wall Street gathering in East New York, a campaign that’s meant to protest shoddy lending practices in the neighborhood with the most foreclosures New York City. As of half an hour ago it sounded like the protestors had converged on a home in foreclosure that was being “reoccupied.”
Live from Occupy East New York [Salon]
Photo by @elliottjustin
12/06/2011 4:00 PM
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City Seeking a Developer for East New York Lots
Yesterday HPD put out a request for proposals for the first phase of a big development project in East New York called the Livonia Avenue Initiative. The first phase of the project involves the development of four city-owned sites on Livonia Avenue between Pennsylvania Avenue and Williams Avenue; it’s supposed to bring around 225 low-income rentals and 68,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space to the corridor. All told, the initiative—which will have a few other phases and stretch into Brownsville—is supposed to result in around 791 units of affordable housing. The lots will be transferred to the developers for $1 apiece. GMAP
09/27/2011 9:30 AM
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House of the Day: 526 Essex Street
Well, it’s the last House of the Day post of the summer and there’s nothing, and we mean nothing, left to highlight (Labor Day can’t come soon enough!) so we’re going with something a little off the beaten path. According to StreetEasy, this place at 526 Essex Street in East New York is the cheapest single-family house in the borough of Brooklyn. The price? $109,000. Who’s in?
526 Essex Street [Tom Marco Real Estate] GMAP P*Shark
09/01/2011 1:25 PM
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LPC Considering Two Other Possible Landmarks
Earlier this month we told you about two buildings with public hearings at the March 22nd LPC meeting, and two more building of note have joined the agenda to be considered for calendering. The first is the East New York Savings Bank, currently a Banco Popular at 1117 Eastern Parkway. According to the LPC, “It is a fine example of late 1920s branch bank design, distinguished by its exceptional bronze and stone sculpture by one of the leading designers of the period.” The limestone-clad neo-Romanesque was finished in 1929 and designed by Holmes & Winslow. The second, in Fort Greene, is the Paul Roebson Theater at 40 Greene Avenue. From the LPC: “Alterations to the building appear to be few, including the removal of some stained-glass windows and painting of the facade, but nevertheless this early Brooklyn church is a significant example of vernacular Gothic-style architecture and also an important reminder of the borough’s rich religious history.” You can see some interior pics on this post by Clinton Hill Blog and read more on the history of building after the jump.
Photos via LPC (more…)
03/23/2011 9:30 AM
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Wal-Mart Foe Calls Possibility of Chain Landing in ENY a ‘Bait and Switch’…
02/14/2011 9:45 AM
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Honk if You’re Not Down With Walmart
The group Walmart Free NYC released a study that, according to the Daily News, says Walmart’s designs on East New York would result in a gridlock nightmare. The article notes: “The report predicted that if the planned Gateway II shopping center included a Walmart, it would draw 10,692 more cars every weekday than the mall’s developers predicted in their environmental study. That’s a 32% jump in traffic, they said….All the new vehicles would slow traffic by 29% on the already congested Shore Parkway, the study found.” No word on whether the group is conducting a similar study about how a ShopRite might affect the area. Meanwhile, Gateway II developer the Related Companies tells the newspaper that the study is poppycock. In other Walmart-is-coming news, an article in Crain’s brings word of the following: “Walmart has reached a deal in principle with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York that guarantees union workers will construct or renovate any stores that the retailer opens in the city during the next five years. The deal is a coup for Wal-mart Stores Inc., which faces stiff opposition from grocery and retail unions worried that the retailer’s entry into the New York City market will put downward pressure on the salaries of their members.”
Brooklyn Walmart Foes Say Plan is Traffic Jam in the Making [Daily News]
Walmart Inks Construction Union Deal [Crain's]
Photo by jerdlngr
02/03/2011 9:30 AM
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Chains Duke it Out for East New York Turf
Crain’s filed this story late yesterday: “A local supermarket union will launch a campaign Tuesday afternoon to bring a 100,000-square-foot ShopRite to the Brooklyn retail center that Walmart is also eyeing for its first New York City store. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 will argue that ShopRite’s wages and benefits outstrip those offered by Walmart, and that the supermarket would match Walmart’s promise to bring fresh food into the East New York, Brooklyn, neighborhood.” The site, at the Gateway II complex, is owned by the Related Cos.
ShopRite Jockeys With Walmart for Brooklyn Site [Crain's]
02/02/2011 9:30 AM
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adam_dahill
May 21, 2012 | 02:16 PM