BklynJace's Profile
- 1995
- 2005
- Brooklyn
- Brooklyn Heights
- Co-op
- Male
- 38
Author's Posts
December 16, 2008
Installing a Wall-Through Air Conditioner?
Obviously this is a spring project, but trying to get atypically organized ahead of time.
We're looking to get a new air conditioner and put it through the back wall of our building below a window, in a new sleeve.
Building is landmarked, but this is in the back, not visible from the street.
Would very much appreciate recommendations for folks who have done this job, as well as typical costs, pointers for what to do/what not to do, etc. Many thanks!
December 3, 2007
Architect for Consultation re Codes
My wife and I have had off- and on-again negotiations about acquiring basement space adjacent to the lower level of our apartment. Our apartment (a duplex) was redone years before we bought it, apparently on the sly, and doesn't have a C of O.
We'd always figured that if we expanded the apartment we'd take care of the C of O problem as part of that process. But before embarking on such a project, I'd like to get a better sense of the possible code/permit problems we might face, from making the earlier work legit to showstoppers such as the possibility that our current downstairs doesn't meet the definition of an English basement, and we should lay low in our dubiously legal living space instead of trying to expand it. (I think we're fine, but I'm no expert.)
Does anyone have a recommendation for an architect who could do such consulting? And any idea what such a consultation might cost? Any advice very much appreciated!
Author's Comments
BklynJace wrote a review about Water Street Restaurant & Lounge on July 31, 2009 2:34 PM
Great space and nice staff, but the times I've gone the food has been somewhere between average and horrid. Haven't been there in a couple of years; would love to hear that things have changed.
BklynJace wrote a review about Jake's BBQ on July 13, 2009 2:59 PM
Jake's won't win any awards, but it's very fine comfort food and the portions are gigantic.
BklynJace wrote a review about 2 Toms Restaurant on June 17, 2009 5:37 PM
An absolutely unique Brooklyn experience. They stand at the table and tell you the menu, they don't take guff, and the food is insanely good. Ambience is zero -- at 2 Toms real plants would be considered frou-frou, but the utter lack of ambience is somehow ambience in itself.
Last time I was there with my wife, the only other party was a group of firemen. Like 75 firemen, with an open bar. They were loud, they were boisterous, and they were insanely nice guys -- picked up our check despite our repeated insistence that that really wasn't necessary. That's 2 Toms, and God bless it.
The analysis of how the Gehry plan would have tried to present an arena in a new setting, by in effect having the city swallow it, was interesting. But then I read things like this -- "once a dynamic composition of tumbling glass shards" -- and I'm reminded by why I hate starchitects and their lackeys so much. Tumbling glass shards, buildings with wobbly fronts that look like they're sloughing off, those melting atrocities the NYT championed for the WTC site years ago...for God's own freaking sake, make it stop. Propose something for people to live and work in that won't look like a laughable fad in 20 years (I'm looking at you, brutalist eyesores), not something for you and your acolytes to deconstruct and preen over.
Which isn't to say that the new rendering isn't ugly as hell. There's no middle ground between melting crap and a warehouse? Really? Says who?
Posted by: BklynJace at June 9, 2009 2:12 PM in response to Ouroussoff, Tell Us How You Really Feel
BklynJace wrote a review about Pit Stop on May 15, 2009 4:20 PM
Good place, simple and unpretentious. Lots and lots of kids, but the backyard is big enough that they rampage freely without bothering anybody.
My strategy has been to studiously ignore this. It's working so far.
Posted by: BklynJace at May 14, 2009 12:48 PM in response to Brooklyn Ground Zero for Lead Soil Problems
Sorry to be brutal or snarky or whatever you want to call it, but I hate these abominations and wish they would be pulled down and replaced with the low-rise buildings that were there before Good King Moses tried to destroy the neighborhood.
Posted by: BklynJace at April 21, 2009 3:06 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 75 Henry Street
Bar of the Day would be a great feature.
Posted by: BklynJace at April 13, 2009 4:03 PM in response to Nominate Your Favorite Restaurants
Love my Sony Bravia. Decided not to mount it on the wall because it would have been a huge project, and it's been fine without it.
Some random bits of advice:
* Figure out how far away you're going to sit and look up one of the many charts telling you whether 1080p or 720p will matter, and what size you might need. (Google the key terms.)
* Cut out a piece of cardboard the size of the TV and hold it up in your living room etc., particularly if you're getting a big TV. What looks small in the showroom looks huge at home.
* Cables are all the same. Go to monoprice.com.
Have fun!
Posted by: BklynJace at April 6, 2009 9:24 AM in response to buying a flat screen TV
Had a car for about a year in BH and the day I got rid of it was one of the happiest of my life. I'd definitely ditch the SUV; I'd also price out what the cost of an occasional rental/Zipcar would be. Could easily be more economical to rent depending on how often you'll need a car. (And your definition of "need" will likely change in NYC anyway.)
Good luck!
Posted by: BklynJace at March 23, 2009 11:52 AM in response to BH Parking/Garage question
Never had a problem with Promenade. Loathe the Cadman guys who take up all the parking places on Henry, though.
Posted by: BklynJace at March 12, 2009 3:37 PM in response to Streetlevel: Promenade Shifts Space in Dumbo
Don't mind chains. Love fast food. But Arby's blows.
Posted by: BklynJace at March 12, 2009 10:39 AM in response to Confirmed: Arby's Planning to Take Gage & Tollner Space
If you put in a check valve, make sure you get it serviced each spring before the big rains start. They can stick open if you don't make sure they're swinging properly etc.
/sad personal experience
Posted by: BklynJace at March 9, 2009 4:48 PM in response to Need Multiple Recommendations
My grass-growing efforts (north-facing yard, mostly shade, some afternoon sun in part) have made me envy Sisyphus, but in a couple of months I'll try again.
Immediate question: Is there a recommended seed type for shady areas in Brooklyn?
Many thanks!
Posted by: BklynJace at February 24, 2009 5:19 PM in response to Seed or sod that is the question
BklynJace wrote a review about Pete's Waterfront Ale House on February 13, 2009 1:40 PM
We've been Pete's regulars for 14 years -- this was the first restaurant our kid went to (at two weeks old) and he's practically grown up there, always being treated with great kindness.
The food is surprising for pub grub -- lots of interesting specials and very good quality. My only plea would be for them to bring back the waffle-cut fries from the late 90s -- those had it all over the current version.
A bit of shrubbery won't make that anything stop being a shabby, misbegotten mess. Damn Robert Moses anyway.
Posted by: BklynJace at February 5, 2009 12:28 PM in response to Greener Pastures for 75 Henry?
I live in Brooklyn Heights, very much want this park to become a reality, and am not bothered one whit by the idea that housing within the park would be expected to pay for it. And I'm even a real grown-up person with a family.
Posted by: BklynJace at January 28, 2009 11:00 AM in response to Pols Highlight Brooklyn Bridge Park's Money Probs
The new version no longer looks like it's falling down.
The first thing we do, let's kill all the starchitects.
Posted by: BklynJace at January 26, 2009 10:39 AM in response to Atlantic Yards Looking Increasingly Un-sexy
Live in Brooklyn Heights. Loved last summer's pocket park, would love even more to see the whole shebang. Not bothered one whit by the idea of private housing/hotels in the park, or by the idea that people from "other neighborhoods" would come there. And I find the fury at a self-funding park ridiculous and wearying.
And it brings up one of the things I like least about my neighborhood: the visceral, knee-jerk hatred of ANYTHING new. (Oh my God, the bike lanes are GREEN!) A while back one of the sites on my daily rounds -- might have been Brownstoner, maybe BH Blog -- dug up an old Times article about the imminent pooper-scooper laws. Folks in the Heights were going ballistic in opposition. It was kind of funny, but mostly just sad.
Posted by: BklynJace at January 21, 2009 10:10 AM in response to Apartments, Hotel in Brooklyn Bridge Park On Hold
Poison in their holes, keep kids and pets away until it's over, close up any holes/loose masonry/etc. that can serve as habitat.
Had a horrible infestation a couple of years back, and nothing (snap traps, bait stations etc.) made a dent until we went nuclear. Since then, knock wood, all's well.
Posted by: BklynJace at December 10, 2008 3:24 PM in response to Rat control
BklynJace wrote a review about Superfine on December 2, 2008 5:28 PM
Wonderful place, great folks, and food that's very good without being pretentious. I've been there with pals drinking beer and (many times) with my wife and six-year-old, and been treated equally well and made to feel at home every time. I've never had an experience like the one above -- I've always found the staff to be great about checking up on you and putting right the (rare) things that have gone wrong.
Superfine's a treasure -- a great place that's part of the essential fabric of its neighborhood, and that bridges the many Brooklyn tribes with grace.
BklynJace wrote a review about The Good Fork on October 28, 2008 7:39 PM
The Good Fork is our favorite restaurant on this earth, period. Consistently great to the point that we trust them with any dish, and Ben is always friendly and beyond accommodating. As for the back room, we love it -- you're treated well and you can play Elvis Costello (or forgotten 60s jazz or both) on the turntable.
BklynJace wrote a review about Lobo on October 17, 2008 3:19 PM
Agree Lobo and Pacifico are both crummy. The lack of good, no-frills Mexican in the area is vexing. So, Viva in Red Hook. Anywhere else that isn't too much of a hike? (I get a nosebleed above Chambers Street.) Many thanks!
BklynJace wrote a review about Five Front on October 16, 2008 4:58 PM
OK though overpriced food, horrible service. Not in a mean-spirited or deliberately negligent way, but consistently clueless and distracted. My wife and I gave up on this place after really trying to like it.
Don't expect the Improvements screens to fix everything -- we bought two, they're a pain to go through, and it's basically impossible to get a true seal.
Posted by: BklynJace at August 7, 2008 1:55 PM in response to screen doors to garden??
Be advised that if you have a backflow valve (one-way valve, etc.) you may need to get it serviced periodically -- our valve "froze" in the open position and we got nailed last summer. I've settled on every six months as the proper frequency. (Frantically knocks wood.)
Posted by: BklynJace at June 16, 2008 12:02 PM in response to Basement waterproofing
Looks great!
Would love to hear more about the lights. What kind? What do you use them for? How bright at night? Have been trying to figure out how to tackle lighting for our own garden project -- want to put a wooden fence over chain-link mess, but then it'll be quite dark at night and fear the upstairs neighbors will get worried....
Posted by: BklynJace at June 2, 2008 12:21 PM in response to Garden of the Day: Serenity Now in Cobble Hill
The first time I drove by those houses on my way to LGA, my head snapped around. "What are those?" I wanted to know -- and was amazed to find out they (specifically, and the larger site in general) weren't being used for anything.
Over the years I've been in cabs with a fair number of out-of-town folks, and their reaction has always been the same. "What are those? ... They're just sitting there? Really?"
Seems like buildings that turn heads like that shouldn't be hastened out of the way. There have to be other ways to get a supermarket.
Posted by: BklynJace at January 18, 2008 1:18 PM in response to Officers’ Row Supermarket Not Happening Anytime Soon
Dave 718-986-2200.
Posted by: BklynJace at January 17, 2008 1:33 PM in response to Can You Recommend a Tiler?
Long story; it was worth it. If anyone has an architect who could help put things right, and/or cost estimates, it'd be much appreciated.
Posted by: BklynJace at December 4, 2007 1:31 PM in response to Architect for Consultation re Codes
I don't have the chops to assess your plan, but a word of warning on check valves: Don't go to sleep on the maintenance. Ours protected us for three years (we have a bathroom below grade that floods in backflow situations), but failed in the July and August floods. The problem: The valve got stuck in the "open" position, leaving us unprotected.
It had been checked last spring, so obviously 15 months is too long to let it go. Now I'm opening the hatch every so often to figure out how often it needs maintenance to keep the hinge from freezing.
Maybe this is obvious, but if it helps anyone from getting flooded, I figured it was worth it.
Posted by: BklynJace at August 24, 2007 12:27 PM in response to My Idea for Fixing Water Intrusion in Basement. Thoughts?
My kid and I play wiffle ball fairly often on the north side, with the natural grass. It's a little patchy, but never had a problem with dog crap. Yeah, the soccer games are pretty intense, but walking around the war memorial takes all of three minutes.
Posted by: BklynJace at August 13, 2009 11:47 AM in response to Closing Bell: (Astro)turf War