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July 30, 2007
Projects in Clinton Hill
I am looking to buy an apartment on Kent Ave right around the corner from the projects located on DeKalb. I am hesitate to buy this place because I don't fully understand how the projects shape the neighborhood. For example, I've heard that the area around there is not safe. I am concerned about this. I am also concerned it will make it more difficult to resale this apartment in the coming years. Can anyone who lives in this area shed some light? Thanks
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My daughter goes to pre-school right there, so during the school year I'm there at least twice a day. During the day it's fine. It's like any other gritty area. Not very clean, lots of poop on the sidewalk, etc. However, that seems to have more to do with the large number of Pratt students who live in that immediate area than with the projects.
If I have to go to the school after dark for a meeting, I always drive. Nothing has ever happened to me, my car, my friends, their cars, their kids, etc. But for some reason I feel safer driving there at night. But there's probably no need to worry. The 88th precinct is on the corner of DeKalb and Classon, and there are enough businesses (grocery stores, pizza places, Chinese, food, etc.) to keep the area busy with foot traffic, and to make things convenient. And a good friend of mine owns a really cool second hand/vintage clothing store on Classon just off of DeKalb (shameless plug: it's called Blue Bass, go check it out).
Go to the area different times of the day and hang out. I have friends who live there who like it just fine. But if they had the money I bet they'd choose to live somewhere else. Even a few blocks in that area makes a difference.
Posted by: Amy at July 30, 2007 10:32 AM
I live near by and have been in the area at all hours(I'm a guy). I've never had a problem. Amy is correct that there are quite a few businesses in the area and it continues to improve. There's even a night club near Blus Bass. I can't remember the name.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 11:45 AM
sputnik
Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 12:17 PM
Is a better question: do you really want to buy a place you have all of these questions about? If you already have a negative gut feeling about the place, is that going to be solved by people's answers, or are you going to have a little bit of regret every day even if you do buy?
Posted by: Anon at July 30, 2007 12:18 PM
We had the same feelings about our 'hood before we bought here in 2002. We were just unfamiliar. Now we wouldn't live anywhere else. Questions are normal, as are second thoughts. It's when the second thoughts are overpowering and all consuming that it's time to worry.
Posted by: Amy at July 30, 2007 12:29 PM
"...lots of poop on the sidewalk, etc. However, that seems to have more to do with the large number of Pratt students ..."
Now I have this image of Pratt students walking around pooping everywhere.
Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 12:43 PM
Ha! While I'm sure it does occasionally happen after a wild night at Sputnik (which is on Taaffe, BTW, and a great place), I was referring to all the hipster-doofuses walking their dogs with nary a plastic bag in sight. And trust me, with some of the skin-tight-up-to-here outfits, there's no place that bag is hiding. Which is silly, 'cause some of the Pratt Rats could just stick bags on their spiky hair or dog collar necklaces.
God, I sound like my mother.
Posted by: Amy at July 30, 2007 1:11 PM
You should go down there at least several times during different times of the day and night. That will be a good way to gauge your comfort level.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 1:12 PM
Wow, how the nabe has changed. I remember a night when a gunfight at the projects shot out most of the windows at the 88th. The cops were flat on the floor, and if I remember correctly waited for their opposite numbers from CD3 to do the honors, as their jurisdiction ended on the yellow line in the middle of Classon. Fort Apache, we called it. Ah, the good old days...
Posted by: Oldtimer at July 30, 2007 2:16 PM
Amy, we moved to the neigborhood at the same time and had exactly the same experience. We love it here. Not everyone feels the same about every neighborhood but we feel right at home.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 3:35 PM
I live right next to Pratt, and I have never seen any students pooping.
Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 4:14 PM
I made a deal with my LL to pay only 2k a month to live on Kent but there's no bathroom so I poop on the street. That's life in the city. Live and let live, like nowhere else in the world.
Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 5:28 PM
I'm a student at Pratt and I'm proud to say, it's not poop, dummy, it's ART.
Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 5:30 PM
I recently bought on Kent near Dekalb and couldn't be happier. I walk comfortably at night (I am a guy) and often dodge the sidewalk poop. I was speaking to my aunt (a broker) about the projects around the corner before I bought and she had the insight that there are projects all over the city, manhattan included, and the people who live right next to them have no trouble selling later, her son in the E90's included. If you'd be willing to live there, so would somebody else.
Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 8:09 PM
I'm an artist and my expert opinion is that it's POOP!
(for poopart, you are in the wrong "nabe." Go to greenpoint: http://www.newyorkshitty.com/)
Posted by: Anonymous at July 30, 2007 8:32 PM
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