Forum Archive: Posts by: Rehab

Just like last summer, as soon as it gets hot, we suddenly have a nasty swarm of giant flies under our stoop. I mean, a lot of them! I know a lot of you had the same problem last year. I’m off to the store for fly traps, and I’m sure that will minimize the problem. But I’m just trying to understand–what is it about the area under the stoop that’s attracting these bastards? (It’s not garbage; we don’t keep garbage there).

Did you see the Sunday Times Real-Estate section piece on Clinton Hill? Not bad. Not great. Check it out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/realestate/23livi.html?_r=1&ref=realestate&oref=slogin

I appreciate the writer’s admiration for the architecture. And he tried, I think, to paint an accurate picture of Clinton Hill. But he missed the point on several of the most important fronts. (Which is fine—the last thing we want is a huge influx of hedge-funders…)

The two main things I think he missed is the extent of the huge investment being made in these old houses, and the gravity of the improvement of Myrtle Avenue. There’s a dumpster on every block; new façades, new floors, new roofs, new complete renovations, new conversions everywhere on the Hill’s residential blocks. On Myrtle, yes, he notes that the vacancy rate has dropped from 20% to 8%, and leaves it at that. What he completely neglects to mention is the quality of the retail tenants; the street formerly known here as Murder Avenue has in just the last two years seen several beautiful new restaurants arrive, the area’s third wine shop, sharp boutiques, charming watering holes, new banks, glassy lofts, the new Pratt art-supply store—it’s nothing short of booming. He also seems not to notice that the lovely, bustling restaurant row on Dekalb in Ft. Greene is very much a part of the life of a Hill resident; a few minutes’ walk for me.

The writer seemed Manhattan-centric, a visitor who took a couple of strolls around the neighborhood and seemed to mainly view it through the perspective of one newbie resident family that appears to long for Park Slope.

One thing he got mostly right is that there aren’t good enough grocery stores here. However, it depends where you live. The family he cited bought on Lefferts Place, which is in the far Southern part of the Hill, and, indeed, is nowhere near a good grocery. But my house, in the Northern part, is one block away from an Associated on Myrtle that is fine for staples, has a great beer selection, and a growing organic selection (but a weak produce department, and an unacceptable meat department). Then again, as all of us in Clinton Hill know, we really are part and parcel of Ft. Greene, both neighborhoods being, actually, tiny and interconnected, and fancier groceries are freshly available at the brand-new gourmet shop Greene Grape Provisions, right next to the Lafayette stop on the C line—the train that everybody I know here uses to get into and out of Manhattan. Provisions sells everything from fresh oysters to artisanal cheeses and rack of lamb—and it’s a 10-minute walk for us.

He also has the prices wrong. There has not yet been a single 4-story brownstone that has even broken the $2 million barrier in Clinton Hill. The Pfizer mansion, which is a big, wide, 5-story joint, sold for more than $3 million, but that’s an unusual property.

Finally, what he really failed to grasp about the specialness of this place is the fabulous, friendly, bohemian mix of people here. This is a blend of workers, writers, students, artists, professors, bankers, tradesmen, lawyers, every imaginable race and income. This great mix owes its biggest debt to the stabilizing influence of Pratt Institute, god bless the place. While I think all of Clinton Hill is proud of its legacy as a bulwark of the black middle class homeowner, it is hardly a monolithic, 80-percent “minority”neighborhood reflected by the obsolete census data of 8 years ago. Fascinatingly, it also has a peculiarly large French population, which has brought many of our lovely little eateries. Much has changed in that mix over the last few years—more affluent whites, yes, but fortunately not *too * many more of them. It is a very healthy mix, something you’ll see when the 2010 census is parsed.

You gotta hand it to these “Opal Ridge” developers, currently advertising right up there at the top of Brownstoner, no? It’s a good ad, if a bit insulting to Brooklyn, if true—sure, SI probably has lower prices, less crime, and better schools. And it got me to click on it. Unfortunately, the house pictured there—while doubtless an appropriate and decent option for a great many people, and more power to them—is so fugly it’s causing great torrents of blood to gush from my eyeballs. Good times!

I’m looking for decent grocery alternatives closer to my joint than Fairway and better than my crummy Associated on Myrtle, and it occurred to me that maybe I’m overlooking some nice markets reasonably nearby. I just read in another thread that some folks in Bed Stuy really like their Foodtown on Fulton. Anybody else have a hidden gem?

Sure, it would be nice to find places with Balducci’s-level cheese, baked goods, and organic lentils, but I would also be thrilled to find a regular ol’ market whose meat is the right color and not stinking to high heaven.

Any help much appreciated!

I’m just sayin’: This is what the Associated market on Myrtle Ave. does when it’s garlic gets so old and dried-up that it sprouts: They cut off the sprouts, turn it upside-down onto a styrofoam tray, and shrink-wrap it to defraud their customers. And it’s still there more than a week after several shoppers complained to management about it. If you care about food and your customers, you throw away the spoiled stuff, capisce?

Assos, are we supposed to believe the freshness dates on your pork and chicken?

In happier news: praise cheeses! As of about yesterday, the cheese case is now stocked at Provisions on Fulton in Ft. Greene, and god bless ‘em for it. I like Kraft Singles as much as the next guy, but once in a while, when company’s coming, it’s nice to find something different. Please shop there and keep the turnover brisk for freshness–particularly on the trout. And the oysters. (Oysters, no less– unbelievable.) Best o’ luck to you, Greene Grapers. Thanks for giving a shit.

Just got back from five days away, having not topped off 20-year-old boiler in 4-story brownstone for about two weeks, and low-water shutoff had kicked in. No biggie–house was 64 degrees. Plan to check once a week or so.

Does anybody (maybe Master Plumber, whose firm just checked out my system and put new shutoff in place) think it’s weird that a steam system would go through that much water in two weeks? Thanks for any thoughts.

Yo, “Clumpo”– for some reason, the site won’t let me comment to your post.

I have a great place to get really simple, custom screens that won’t detract from your restored fireplaces–we just bought two of them for our newly restored fireplaces, and they totalllllly disappear. Which is great. It is a royal bitch finding fireplace accessories that aren’t ugly.

http://www.northlineexpress.com/category/custom-screens.asp

Cheers.