There's no code requirement for a vent right over a residential stove. If there's no window in the kitchen, mechanical ventilation is required as stated above.

I've never lived anywhere, with exhausted ventilation over the stove, and I have lived in many apartments. I have also cleaned years of burger grease off the ceiling fan in a rental building I once owned.

Posted by: Bessie at April 14, 2009 5:45 PM in response to stove exhaust for rental apt.

You'll need an architect or engineer for the entire project if you want to get a signoff.

Posted by: Bessie at April 14, 2009 1:57 PM in response to Architect Recommendation

Most likely custom. Depends on the age and type of your building. There's also this type of thing you can have installed inside:

http://www.soundproofwindowtreatments.com/

Check out the little videos for sound reducing capabilities.

Posted by: Bessie at April 14, 2009 11:21 AM in response to Soundproofing

Replacing the window is your best bet. You'll need to go with triple pane. Double pane just really doesn't block enough sound. Edges must be well sealed inside and out to obtain maximum sound block and energy efficiency.

Or you could try an instant fix. Over the years I've had great luck with a fan. The low white noise has allowed me to sleep through the piercing crackly voice of the deaf woman next door, furious late night phone callers at the pay phone across the street, and random drunken conversations as people left the neighborhood bar. If that doesn't work, try ear plugs.

Posted by: Bessie at April 14, 2009 10:48 AM in response to Soundproofing

Check this link
http://www.vintageplumbing.com/victoriandesigns.html

They have all these illustrations form J.L. Mott Iron designs, including some from 1910.

Posted by: Bessie at April 13, 2009 5:41 PM in response to Indoor Plumbing in 1910

A while ago I did a zoning analysis to see if a friend in Ditmas Park could add on to his house. As stated above, there was no additional FAR to be had. I ended up doing a scheme for him where he broke through the rear pantry to enlarge the kitchen space and develop a better relationship from inside to out along the back of the house. He put a powder room under the stair, where a tiny closet was expanded. That resulted in blocking off a door from the cellar to the side yard but he figured the powder room would get way more use than that would.

Posted by: Bessie at April 13, 2009 11:03 AM in response to Ditmas Park Addition?

Skirting the C of O. The commercial C of O stands until the building is altered and a revised C of O is issued. It's not supposed to be legal to rent a commercial space for residential use. I've never heard of it, but the two years you refer to may have something to do with a liquor license or some other particular use.

Posted by: Bessie at April 13, 2009 10:54 AM in response to Commercial Space no longer?

We had something similar happen with one tree pit. Workers came and enlarged an existing, empty tree pit hole, planted a sickly tree and dug a bit. The pit was now about 8" below the sidewalk. I was freaking out with visions of passers by tripping and suing us, so I called 311 and got a direct number for someone in the tree office (or I might have gotten the number from the Green Book). A contractor showed up the next day and put in Belgian block and some mulchy dirt.

Unfortunately, the tree, which I watered and fetilized, never got any better and finally died. Shortly thereafter they yanked it out never to be heard from again.

Posted by: Bessie at April 13, 2009 10:49 AM in response to Sidewalk was cut but no trees!

If your only access is the roof hatch and few people will be going out, I'd recommend just throwing a large indoor/outdoor rug down. You can weigh down the corners with furniture or cinderblocks. Get something in color with a pattern or a border so it will look more finished.

Posted by: Bessie at April 13, 2009 10:38 AM in response to Building a Roof Deck

You need to wait for a TCO before using any of the space for commercial. You could use the whole building as a single family but the transition from residential to commercial needs to be accompanied by the TCO.

Posted by: Bessie at April 10, 2009 9:05 PM in response to Is there a temporary C of O?

I've always found that hydrangea wilts alarmingly fast, even the stuff I cut from my plant. Try buying another types of flowers. I've had good luck with orchids and alstromerias, those spice-colored, flowers that come in pretty big bunches. Carnations and mums last pretty long but I don't really like them. Say no to Gerberra daisies or anything else that comes with a plastic straw around the stem.

Posted by: Bessie at April 8, 2009 1:39 PM in response to Buying cut flowers in Brooklyn

Try casually meeting with the rent stabilized tenants to get a feel for them. It's been my experience that a change in ownership can tend to precipitate tenant moves as well. Don't tell the tenants that you're looking to take over an apartment, just talk to them about how long they've lived in the place and how they like it. Be polite and interested and let them do most of the talking. You'll learn alot about who sees the apartment as a home and who is just staying for the time being. You'll have a tough time getting the former to move out, especially if they have children and, as noted above, it will be next to impossible to make a senior move if they don't want to.

Posted by: Bessie at April 8, 2009 9:51 AM in response to Buying a Rent-Stabilized Bldg

I'm curious to see what others think places around this area should go for in $/sf. At the height of the market I'd read they were averaging about $800/sf.

Apartments in my building, a nearby brownstone, went for over $900/sf in early 2008.

11217 is right about the rent rates.

Also, how deep do you think this building is? Is there a back yard?

Lovely apartment. Too bad the bedroom is on the front of the building, though.

Posted by: Bessie at April 7, 2009 2:05 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 32 8th Avenue

I worked with this Haitian architect for several years. At one point his family got a cat from the pound. He said he thought the cat was racist because it kept running and hiding when they came near it. I think he was dead serious, too.

Posted by: Bessie at April 6, 2009 4:37 PM in response to Wrestling with Fort Greene's Transformation

Small job like this would be 10 to 15%.

Posted by: Bessie at April 6, 2009 11:22 AM in response to Architect's fee?

The article brought back a lot of memories of my short stay in Ft. Greene.

In the late 1980's our first apartment was a parlor/ground floor duplex on Lafayette and Adelphi. The only black artists we met were some of the actors from "She's Gotta Have It," when a filmmaker friend shot a short in our living room. What we liked about the neighborhood was that it was pretty friendly, like Richmond where we had last lived.

Our landlord, who lived above us, was a Mobil executive and black, his wife a white homemaker; we are white. There weren't many other white people in the neighborhood. We met a lot of neighborhood children since we lived next to their ringleader, Dawn, who was incessant in her visits. We would have small groups of girls into our small backyard and do stuff like have tea parties and teach them how to do cartwheels.

The place had a bidet in the ground floor bath. We never used it but were surprised one day to find that Daw was demonstrating its use as a water fountain to the two little girls she'd brought with her that day.

One of our roommates was very absent-minded and frequently went to the bodega without locking the gate under the stoop. One day my sister and I came home to see a black man in a pastel green, 1970's style, wide-brimmed, plastic-straw hat emerging from the apartment. He was carrying a gym bag and pushed quickly past us. We didn't think mush of it since people constantly knocked on our door or stopped us in the street asking for food or money. Turned out hat guy had pulled a knife on my sister's boyfriend and taken a bunch of costume jewelry and other junk. Our look through mug shots at the police departement was fruitless, but later we identified the guy from an Andres Serrano photo where he sported the same hat.

Posted by: Bessie at April 6, 2009 11:11 AM in response to Wrestling with Fort Greene's Transformation

As many of you probably know Brooklyn Heights has a lot of apartments with really, really tiny kitchens. This one probably used to have a wall and door. If a renovation is done well, a tiny kitchen can be great.

I had a place on Henry near Pierrepont in the Heights with a 4' by 8' kitchen and a full window on the short wall. I was able to put in a small island and grab a little space on the inside return wall to put in a 1 deep recessed pantry. It ended up being a great kitchen to store all I wanted and cooking was a pleasure.

For benchmarks, that apartment was about 575 sf and sold in 2002 for $295K. Maintenance is now about $100/month less than this place.

Posted by: Bessie at April 2, 2009 2:47 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 59 Pineapple Street, #5I

A few years ago I looked at this house near there on Hawthorne. The neighborhood is pretty but that part of Hawthorne, particularly the tenants in the place we looked at, had an edgy heavy druggy vibe.

A former co-worker, a black woman originally from New Orleans, said that she had been visiting NYC all her life and would never consider living around there. She now lives in Crown Heights.

Posted by: Bessie at April 2, 2009 2:28 PM in response to House of the Day: 29 Maple Street

I know exactly what you mean about not being positive about recognition. Having grown up in the south and having seen or read about many of my classmates being arrested, or even jailed, for being just in the wrong place at the wrong time or just looking like someone else, I feel very strongly about being positive before making accusations.

Years ago, in the days before cell phones, I lived in on of those cast iron front buildings right above the C train station in Fort Greene. One day my roommate, a Cypriot who had fled Nicosia during the war with Turkey, and I had a party and some of the guests, suburban New Jersey residents, left the street door open. Well three would-be robbers showed up, two pointing guns. The three yelled for people to turn over their money while they all stepped futher into the apartment. My roommate and I saw that the didn't have the door covered and ran into the street. We tried to stop cars but everyone drove on. We called the police from the corner pay phone.

When we got back to the apartment munutes later with the police we found that my roommates brother had grabbed one of the guys and thrown him against the wall and taken his gun. The robbers had all run away. They had taken one person's pocketbook.

We rode around the neighborhood with the police to look for the guys but all I could tell was that they were young, medium height, thin and black. They all had sweatshirts tied up around their faces leaving only a tiny opening. We thought we saw one of the guys in front of the Atlantic Terminal Houses but couldn't be positive.

We went to the police station and looked at piles of mug shots. Lots of very young boys. Many in tears.

We didn't ID anyone. We couldn't be certain.

Posted by: Bessie at April 1, 2009 2:59 PM in response to Getting Mugged in Park Slope

Urban Outfitters online has a black one like that for $60 plus shipping. Might be spindly but the look is right.

Posted by: Bessie at April 1, 2009 9:44 AM in response to does anyone know where I can

Nice back yard. Sorry about the sink hole. When will you start planting? Any particular plants in mind?

Posted by: Bessie at March 31, 2009 3:28 PM in response to Spring Has Sprung, But Something Sunk

Try this link:

http://livemodern.com/forums/materialsmethods/745651420?b_start:int=0

This is much cleaner looking and without the (illegal in NYC) concertina wire.

Posted by: Bessie at March 31, 2009 12:20 PM in response to question about fencing

I lived on Henry St. and Love Lane for about 4 years. I think the most desirable part of the Heights would be west of Henry between State and, maybe, Cranberry, though Monroe Place is very lovely. I find the low part of Joralemon and Willow interesting and neighborhoody feeling but you may find it too close to the BQE. The parts of Hicks and Henry closing in on the BQE have a less neighborhoody feel. I think that condo on Poplar reinforces this becuase the buildings orient themselves toward their rear parking.

Remember that alot of tourists show up for the Promenade, especially in good weather. I once cound't get out my front door due to a huge group of hefty middle aged German or Austrian women streming down the sidewalk.

Posted by: Bessie at March 30, 2009 6:47 PM in response to neighborhood info

The dumbwaiter sounds great. My house growing up had a laundry chute and my 4 siblings and I used to invite the neighborhood children to go down it before my mother got home from work. One kid bunched himself up and got stuck. We called the woman next door who came over with this impossibly tiny hammer to bust him out, I guess. We just started laughing at the kid and he relaxed and went right on through. The chute only went through one floor, though.

Posted by: Bessie at March 30, 2009 6:36 PM in response to House of the Day: 135 Clinton Street

Yes, Chicken. That one. Thanks.

Posted by: Bessie at March 30, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Check Oout This One

I heard that Brownstone bought Innovation.

Posted by: Bessie at March 30, 2009 12:47 PM in response to Real Estate Broker Setting Up Shop on 7th Avenue

Between which Avenues or Streets?

Posted by: Bessie at March 27, 2009 3:57 PM in response to price my house?

As you probably know, any standing water is fertile breeding ground. The roof under my deck doesn't drain as well as it should. I try to spray (with wasp and hornet spray) or agitate that water on a regular basis. It helps some but I also end up putting on bug spray before I go out.

Posted by: Bessie at March 27, 2009 3:40 PM in response to Mosquitoes

The radiant heat sounds great. I have a couple of friends who keep their houses at quite a low temperature in winter but the radiant heat warms ones feet and makes it feeler much warmer.

Posted by: Bessie at March 27, 2009 11:51 AM in response to finished basement floor

I would bet there are more than 6 available. There are at least 7 uninhabited units on the 7th Ave. side of the building.

Since these apartments became available I've seen several other nearbly buildings sell out. I think most these apartments have pretty thoughful layouts - good closets, good transitions from room to room. The biggest problem is that, at least initially, and maybe even still, the apartments were priced way too high.

Other problems, from my perspective:

- the bathrooms I saw at an open house were done in a far too specific color palette

-the exteriors still have not been fully punch list completed - corner and set back detailing, lighting fixture surrounds, and the biggest one, dormers on brownstone building

- the sidewalks haven't been replaced. This one just seems the most half-assed of all to me. It suggests to me that there may be other things that one can't see that may only be partially done.

Posted by: Bessie at March 27, 2009 11:46 AM in response to Checking In On The Vermeil

Try Olde Good Things' iron yard in Scranton PA. They have a huge selection. It's worth the trip just to see all the stuff they have.

Posted by: Bessie at March 26, 2009 4:19 PM in response to Iron Gate for Brownstone

Ironically, I think this is the location of the Bureau of Fire Prevention's District Headquarters.

Posted by: Bessie at March 26, 2009 3:07 PM in response to BREAKING: Fire at 335 Adams Street

Ok. How about this one. My corner building has 3 faces you can see from the street. The front is brownstone 20' wide. The street-facing side is 45' long, and predominantly brick with a 10' wide +/- brownstone bay. The rear is brick. I would consider this a brownstone since it was built as a set with 3 other neighboring buildings with brownstone facades. What's your call?

Posted by: Bessie at March 25, 2009 2:11 PM in response to What is a Brownstone?

Your contractor can file for you with Landmarks and DoT. We got stopped in our tracks because DoT wanted us to sign an affidavit to maintain $1M of insurance in perpetuity on our "distintive" sidewalk (some original bluestone pavers but mostly concrete). We had only wanted to patch spots ruined by DEP and, most likely, buses and garbage trucks.

Posted by: Bessie at March 25, 2009 1:58 PM in response to Fixing a sidewalk

Do you have any recommendations for local cabinet makers, 11216?

Posted by: Bessie at March 25, 2009 1:51 PM in response to Design Kitchen Co Versus Custom

I would sure hate to have my apartment called a meaty fastball.

Posted by: Bessie at March 25, 2009 12:47 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 114 Clinton Street

I have always thought the best part of going away to college was the campus environment. It's my perception that most of the NYC schools don't have on or nearby campus housing. I think most NYC colleges are commuter colleges. I'd guess the exceptions would be Columbia, NYU and, maybe, Pratt. Some schools are now offering housing in the St. George. From the way that part of Henry St. has picked up since I moved from the neighborhood in 2002, That seems to provide a decent campus-like scene.

Posted by: Bessie at March 25, 2009 12:30 PM in response to Brooklyn College II

Go for it. A small apartment building I used to own came with 59 HPD violations. I made sure all the apartments complied with the Housing Maintenance code and that the hallways and yards were free of obstructions and then paid to have the Inspector in. I cleared all but one violatio that day.

The remaining violation was for a smoke detector he said didn't work. I had just had it installed and knew it worked but it was too high on the wall for me to retest in front of the inspector. Turns out it was kind of tall for him, too. He hit the button obliquely and it didn't beep. I put a 5 gallon bucket of drywall compound in place for the next inspection.

Posted by: Bessie at March 25, 2009 12:15 PM in response to Clearing HPD violations?

I remember one version of an open tread basement stair in one of your earlier posts and I think I remember the feel of the bathrooms and the kitchen. To match the mood of the rest of the place I suggest you try warming up the rail concept. Black iron as per "cornice" is one way. Adding a wood handrail or more of a cable type metal can help. I'm not loving the rhythm and proportions of the railing you show. Everything appears to be about the same and there are quite alot of horizontals. I kind of want the verticals to be more expressed.

http://www.hudsoncustomfabrication.com/Interior%20Stainless%20Stair%20Rail.png

This one is along the same lines but looks a bit better. Still not warm but better looking.

Posted by: Bessie at March 24, 2009 1:41 PM in response to Would u use this railing inside?

I think the stretch of Flatbush from GAP to the Atlantic Mall has had quite a few vacancies since at least 1989. Sure there's foot traffic but no where near the level of, say, 7th Ave. As someone said above, it's just not a great stroll on Flatbush. I can't think of a single destination store I like to frequent, except maybe Mitchell's or the laundrymat.

I wish someone would open a 99 cent store on that section of Flatbush. There's an awesome 99 cent super store in my home town where you can get everything from fancy little wrapping boxes to the usual discount Bounty paper towel to my favorite, a 10 inch tall, clear plastic man that snaps open to allow one to remove his brightly colored stomach, heart, intestines, etc. Brooklyn needs a store like that

Has anybody noticed how much retail has picked up on Bergen from Flatbush to 5th Ave.? I took a stroll there this past weekend and was surprised by the change. That block used to have quite a few vacant storefronts but now it's a nice little retail community.

Posted by: Bessie at March 24, 2009 10:36 AM in response to Lots of Stores For Rent on Flatbush

I have a stove box that you could have. It may be too short for your needs but let me know if you'd like it. I'm in Park Slope.

Posted by: Bessie at March 23, 2009 11:20 AM in response to Looking for a refrigerator box

There's a big difference between the going rate for air rights and actual land, though. I think the value of land would be based on what could be built, discounted by the fact theres' nothing there, no?

Posted by: Bessie at March 20, 2009 5:23 PM in response to How much is land worth?

It's a groovy little drawing but doesn't the facade remind you of one of those multi-compartment mauseleums(sp?)?

Posted by: Bessie at March 20, 2009 2:15 PM in response to Enrique Norten-Designed Project in Park Slope Revealed

When I used to do townhouse projects we definitely ran into those awful Con Ed requirements for exposed meters. I think we ended up being able to put up some sort of screening type panel but the ideal seemed to make the Con Ed worker be able to breeze by. Don't know why NYC doesn't do like Jersey City and just get remote reading capablity. I think their meter reader don't even have to pull over or fully stop the car.

ALso, in annother life, I did alot of facade reworks on desparately ugly strip shopping malls and small commercial conversions. I agree with the above posters about the building on the left. The brick is a nice red and the dark green windows are nice and large. Weird but kind of successful how they used the downspout as a vertical design element. It's just the steepness of the stair and that huge block about the doors. Maybe something with an awning would work (not like that poor builing in Clinton Hill featured a couple of weeks ago,though, post patterning of the brick, signage, vineage...

Posted by: Bessie at March 20, 2009 2:08 PM in response to Friday Horror Show

If your gains is </= to $250K if single, $500K married. The rules are at irs.gov.

Posted by: Bessie at March 19, 2009 5:50 PM in response to SELLERS CLOSING COST

I don't think the price is that far off. Should sell for $370K or more. It's good sized 1 bedroom in a nicely maintained building. The same layout on another floor is already in contract. Similar sized apartments at 75 PPSW are priced at $450K +

Posted by: Bessie at March 19, 2009 1:18 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 135 Prospect Park SW, #F12

Congratulations, Giovana, nice rate! Could you be more specific. What is 123 refi? I just googled and got a million things to chose from.

Posted by: Bessie at March 18, 2009 5:01 PM in response to Refinancing Question

Real estate tax, underlying mortagages and building service personnel, especially unionized ones, will jack a maintenance way up. Brooklyn Heights building owners definitely have higher RE tax and this one, I think, has doormen.

Posted by: Bessie at March 17, 2009 1:36 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 160 Columbia Heights

I am wondering, too. The 7th Ave. side is vacant except for 2 apartments, one of which may be a sales office. There appear to be some occupied units on Sterling.

I took a look at the apartments on the corner. Nice space but they made a mistake putting a bedroom right on the corner. The noise from the buses stopping rihgt across the street is quite loud.

Posted by: Bessie at March 17, 2009 11:32 AM in response to The Vermeil/133 Sterling Place

I bought one years ago. It was being sold by the acquiring bank and it did have squatters. It wasn't sold at aution but through a realtor. I also attended a bunch of those auctions on the steps of the courthouse. The price does get quite pumped up. They're kind of fun - they attract quite a few Othodox Jewish men and Indians or Pakastanis with big valises, presumably filled with cash.

Posted by: Bessie at March 16, 2009 4:32 PM in response to foreclosures

As a designer and renovator of residential interiors, I hire the architect. I think I give better service to my clients this way. They have legal job, and are assured by a professional that the design is sound, yet their is no misunderstanding between designer and contractor. I am on the job site everyday. Jobs like yours may not get many visits from an architect.

Posted by: Green Mt at April 16, 2009 8:42 PM in response to Architect Recommendation

an excellent architect i used for my apartment in the city is kimberly peck- you can see here work at www.kimberlypeck.com. 917 449 7557.
i know she has done some brownstone renovations on the upperwestside that were very nice.

Posted by: pk822 at April 16, 2009 9:27 PM in response to Architect Recommendation

http://www.citiquiet.com/?gclid=CLXAr5mp-JkCFeZL5Qod3VR9Fg

Posted by: 121studio at April 17, 2009 12:22 PM in response to Soundproofing

http://www.citiquiet.com/

Posted by: 121studio at April 17, 2009 12:23 PM in response to Soundproofing

Please, please (please!) don't even consider trying to do this on your own. Do it right from the start, it will save you endless headaches, fines and stop-work orders down the line. You need to assemble a qualified team, starting with either a kitchen and bath designer or an architect who will refer and oversee the contractor. Hire a licensed GC, have professional plans drawn, file with the proper agencies. This will be a 3-4 month project with major systems and construction being done, the amount of things that can go wrong by trying to wing it can and does fill many, many books. You don't have to hire me, but for your own protection, and good basic info about the construction process, what it costs, how long it takes, etc, please see:

http://121studio.com/default.asp?navID=7

Posted by: 121studio at April 17, 2009 12:41 PM in response to Architect Recommendation

call me i will tell you what's the legal use. if there is no cert of occ then you could lose the commercial use. of course you could always re-establish it with an application unless its in a prohibitive residential zone.

Posted by: dexpediter at April 20, 2009 4:08 PM in response to Commercial Space no longer?

call me i will tell you what's the legal use. if there is no cert of occ then you could lose the commercial use. of course you could always re-establish it with an application unless its in a prohibitive residential zone.

Posted by: dexpediter at April 20, 2009 4:08 PM in response to Commercial Space no longer?

Well I have to say I've been in my apartment for 37 years and 100k would not move me out.
As far as bkhabitant I've got a question for you. When no one was willing to either live or rent in your neighborhood. My landlord made me an offer on an apartment and when I took his offer I kept him afloat otherwise the building would have reverted back to the city for non payment of taxes and been abondoned.
My home (apartment) is my castle.
I have no idea why you bought property that you think squaters are on with no recourse.

Posted by: easywind at April 27, 2009 3:36 PM in response to Buying a Rent-Stabilized Bldg

20X60 = 1200 sf = smaller than minimum lot size for any residential district in NYC.

However, they can develop the property for up to a two family as long as the lot existed before 1968.

Still, its a reasonably objectionable restriction given the zoning (it basically filters out any developers who might want to develop the 2600 - 3600 sf you can build here for 3 families, and just leaves families who might want to rent out the basement unit) so you might be able to get a slight discount than you would otherwise.

Here's some more info on determining the build able sf:

2.43 is the maximum achievable floor area using standard R6 zoning, if you have a height factor of 13

(height factor is a funny little calculation i won't go into, but for the purposes of brevity, it means the building is more or less 13 stories high). Not plausible here, really.

If, for instance, you built a 2 or 3 story building, your max FAR is going to be more like 1.28 to 1.62.

Also, optionally, you can use contextual zoning. Depending on whether you're fronting a wide (75' or more, including sidewalk) or narrow street, the FAR is then 3.00 or 2.2.

Its pretty much impossible to tell without doing a formal zoning analysis based on a survey or Sanborn map. If you're serious about purchasing, its worth the couple hundred of bucks for an architect (don't know how much attorney's charge) to do a zoning analysis for you...

Posted by: young archi at May 7, 2009 4:27 PM in response to How much is land worth?

i would recommend Radius Construction Inc. They are a Design Build firm and work on residential construction projects. They are great to work with and aim to exceed the expectations of their clients. There is an article on them in NY Magazine...see the link below:

http://nymag.com/guides/brooklyn/style/16787/

The website is www.radiusconstruction.com and you can email marc@radiusconstruction.com.

Posted by: nylkoorb at May 21, 2009 4:34 PM in response to Architect Recommendation