I think one thing that could make the widget more accurate would be if users had some incentive to be right with their estimates. That's what the point of the widget is: to guess the price it will sell at, not what you think it should sell at. If Brownstoner even had some sort of nominal prize for the closest guess, I bet we would see the accuracy move to within 10%.

Posted by: Brooklyn Gent at October 1, 2009 4:55 PM in response to

"Brooklyn Gent let me guess. You just flew into JFK with your backpack from Spokane Wash, Right???"

How'd you guess, What? I just flew in, and while I'm sitting here at the terminal waiting for the wallet inspector to come back, I thought it would be an exciting experience (something to write home to my folks on the farm about) to get into a discussion on a brooklyn centric real estate blog.

Ok, I guess it can be argued whether the HOD has a negative impact on the neighborhood. I think that it does, having lived here from 2000-2002 and moved back last year. But to those of you who insist that it doesn't, how can you also raise the argument that it's not fair to put it in another neighborhood? I mean, if it really makes no difference, then why do you care? By the way, I'm not advocating that it be moved to a poorer neighborhood, per se, but a less residential one. The corrections department sold a suitable piece of land in the navy yard a few years back, if I remember correctly, but I believe that there are still other cheap, far less residential areas in Brooklyn available.

Bxgrl, I've been reading these arguments for a while, and I can't honestly remember anyone responding to a point like the one that I made regarding the transportation situation.

Posted by: Brooklyn Gent at March 19, 2009 11:30 AM in response to Split Decision on House of Detention

I've always enjoyed these HOD discussions when they pop up, but have never commented before. It looks like the pro-HOD crowd is making the early noise, so I'd like to get a few points going for the other side.

1. The HOD will be a negative for the surrounding businesses and real estate. I don't think this is really debatable. What is debatable is: a) how bad it will be and b) whether that's irrelevant because it's still justifiable given proximity to courthouses, lack of suitable replacements, etc.

2. I think that given the current economic situation, it's especially damaging for the city given: a) the cost of renovating/expanding; b) the foregone revenue on selling the valuable parcel of land and relocating to a cheaper venue and c) the foregone tax revenue from all the side effects of the HOD's presence/expansion - such as: less property taxes associated with declining property values, and less business taxes associated with less business revenues.

I've been reading this board long enough to know that these arguments have already been made (as have the opposing arguments). But one point that I haven't seen raised regards the issue of proximity to the courthouses. This seems to be a big argument on the pro-HOD side: i.e. 'it's the only logical location for the HOD, it doesn't make sense to bus people across the borough, etc' To me, this argument seems really superfluous. Ever since when did it become a logistical requirement that holding facilities be within walking distances of the courthouses? What percentage of holding facilities in this country enjoy that setup? And further, what are we talking about when we say added congestion/expense of busing people? Two extra buses a day on roads already clogged with hundreds of thousands other vehicles? I just don't see how this argument should be a factor when you consider all the other overriding economic concerns.

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this far.

Posted by: Brooklyn Gent at March 19, 2009 10:12 AM in response to Split Decision on House of Detention