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B*db*gs Ability to Migrate?
Does anyone know if bedbugs can sweep through an apartment building from one infested apartment?
Can they somehow get through a brick party wall between brownstones?
I’m getting the itchies just thinking about it!
We’re pondering a couple of apartments in new buildings and some that are older. We have a brownstone right now and I’ve wondered the last couple of year since the bedbug wave apparently has been sweeping through New York City if they can get through a brick party wall. I shudder to think. I know that mice seem to find a way from house to house once in a gerat while so I’m wondering about bugs.
Are woodframe houses more likely to have this happen than are brick and brownstone houses?
And what happens if you move into a nice new apartment building and the ground floor business is vintage clothes, furniture or other ites coming out of homes that have bedbugs? Are these bugs able to get through tiny openings in concrete floors from the ground floor and infest the whole building?
I’m sorry to creep people out!
03/04/2011 7:15 PM
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Who’s Buying up Fort Greene???
Is it just my imagination or are Wall Street employees and those who work in New York City/Brooklyn’s Silicon Alley/Beach (or whatever they’re calling it) buying up Fort Greene townhouses shortly after they hit the market???
It seems to me that as long as the seller isn’t holding out for a crazy price, they move quickly…almost silently. There are few things on the market and yet there are a good number of houses that are in full renovation without any obvious listing…
What’s going on? I’m curious if any of the real estate people who read Brownstoner could enlighten me!
02/22/2011 6:29 PM
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Bridal Shower venue?
We’re organizing a bridal shower/engagement party and I’ve been tapped to choose a Brooklyn restaurant (or other spot). There will be out-of-towners and we’re figuring about 35 to 40 guests will make it.
Does anyone have any suggestions a restaurant or other type of venue that has a nice ambiance and good service. It doesn’t have to be a place with a separate function room although I was thinking about ICI that has one.
Someone suggested a place in Manhattan but I really would like to host the event in Brooklyn…and preferably in Fort Greene (are you surprised?).
What should we look forward to as a final per person price? What is fair? We want to have a nice meal with dessert with red and white wine.
Thanks for any suggestions!
05/04/2010 3:07 PM
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A Room with a View
Over the years the view from the rear of our house has changed. I still like it but it has decidedly taken a turn for the less picturesque over these many years.
Old, gorgeous trees have been cut down, well-grown shrubs and roses ripped out, odd extensions added to houses, well-grown Virginia creeper removed from walls after years of growth (does not damage walls like English ivy), and these later years, more and more, decks have been built. Luckily, some homeowners have planted new trees but these have not yet filled in the visual gaps that the old trees used to fill.
For me, many of these changes have uglified the yards for the homeowners and, ultimately our view. Plus, each time a well-grown tree is cut down, especially a pine, it seems there’s that much less habitat for birds. With the turn-over we’ve seen these last years, it seems each time new owners moves in, they want to put their stamp on the garden with often insensitive, deleterious effects.
I’d love to know if anyone reading this has ever organized an “inner block†association?…not a regular block association where you work with your streetside neighbors. I’m talking about an association of homeowners and apartment dwellers who live on the four different streets that surround an actual “blockâ€.
If you have done this, please share details on how you reached out to your neighbors all around the block. Did you create a flier or go door-to-door in person? Has anyone tried this and “failed� Has anyone thought about doing this but not bothered?
Disclaimer: The photograph above is NOT our view but I’m sure you figured that out! It’s the view from a friend’s house on the Riviera. I thought it might add some cheeriness to this dreary weather we’re having! Why can’t we transplant some of that Mediterranean sunshine and loveliness? Oh well!
04/26/2010 7:05 PM
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Location or Condition
I’m curious. For those looking for a new house or apartment, generally would you say location or condition is the more important?
My feeling is location is the more important because you can always improve/renovate a house that needs work but you can rarely lift a perfect house off its foundation and move it. Of course, this has been done in NYC over the years, much more in the 1700s and 1800′s and much less in the 1900′s and them mostly to bring small colonial houses to different locations for historical museum purposes. And then there was the 42st Street building they slid down the block to make way for the new New York Times Building…that was amazing, wasn’t it?!
I also feel that in a city where you do a lot of walking, amenities near your home within walking distance are very important. And, is location the main determining factor for young parents looking to get their kids into a particular public school?
One last thing, do people think curb appeal in Brownstone Brooklyn is a very important selling point? It can make or break a sale in the suburbs but here? I’m not sure. I’ve seen some real wrecks (on the outside) that friends have done wonders with.
04/23/2010 7:21 PM
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cara
Fort Greene House Tour?
Life got in the way of my plans yesterday and we sadly had to miss the Fort Greene House Tour. Did anyone go? How was it? Was it fun? Was it crowded? Did it rain?
What were the highlights?
Aren’t there a bunch of house tours in other neighborhoods coming up soon?