DIBS:

In most of Brownstone Brooklyn, the police officers would have to walk up to the stoop to observe what kind of beer someone was drinking. Could sitting on one's stoop, sipping a beer be the kind of thing that Jane Jacobs acolytes would say adds to the vibrancy of street life? It seems that the police officers are from the Rudy Giuliani, quality of life school. In other words, what the cop says goes, even though the police officer walked up on someone's stoop.

Let's deal with REAL crime.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 21, 2008 10:29 AM in response to Stoop Drinking Still Illegal

DIBS:

There ARE people who spend this coin for a place to live and go to Costco.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 18, 2008 3:57 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 1 Pierrepont Street

Never underestimate the value of a great apartment in a premier building. If my recollection serves me correctly, this building is in the same league as buildings on Park Avenue in the 70's. There are only two apartments per floor, so you'll have your privacy. You have killer views of Manhattan. There are not one but TWO wood burning fireplaces. The building is FULLY staffed. Oh and with one subway stop to Wall Street and 30 minutes to Midtown, the apartment is one quarter of the price of a similar apartment on the Upper East Side.

And DIBS, BRG...if you're thoroughly modern apartment dweller, a pantry means that you can actually buy at Costco; the maids' bathroom, can do double duty as a visitors bathroom not to mention that there is a separation between family and other space.

Lest, you think that I'm out of my mind, the selling price should reflect the fact that updates (paint, drapery, etc.) seem to be oh so necessary.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 18, 2008 2:18 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 1 Pierrepont Street

Actually, Community Board 8 Housing and ULURP had a study commissioned of the building stock in its district. One of its preliminary findings was that Crow Hill as a neighborhood between what is now called Crown Heights North and Prospect Heights has architecture is of similar note and quality. As such, it should be similarly worthy of consideratin for landmarking.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 18, 2008 11:54 AM in response to Tonight: Crow Hill Reaching for Landmark Status

Although some would think that the expectatin of a pension or job security when you're a doorman is ludicrous, the expenses associated without job security or pensions are inevitable. Guess who's footing the bill? Every taxpayer in America.

Just because you're not a bottom of the food chain, doesn't mean that it's ok not to have either.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 18, 2008 11:45 AM in response to Union-Free One Hanson Place: the Web Site

Stoop washing has been a tried and true method of helping to relocate undesirables. In this day and age, an automatic sprinkler, perhaps?

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 13, 2008 2:42 PM in response to How do I get rid of Crachheads in front of my apartment

Stoop washing has been a tried and true method of helping to relocate undesirables. In this day and age, an automatic sprinkler, perhaps?

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 13, 2008 2:42 PM in response to How do I get rid of Crachheads in front of my apartment

Oh and why didn't you do your homework on the 'hood BEFORE you moved in? Lucky for you Fresh Directs makes deliveries.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 12, 2008 7:36 PM in response to where do I live, and do you have any suggestions for the area?

AWIF:

You live in Prospect Heights. You are not in the 78th Precinct, you are in the 77th Precinct. The 77th Precinct is located on Utica Avenue near Bergen Street.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 12, 2008 7:34 PM in response to where do I live, and do you have any suggestions for the area?

AWIF:

You live in Prospect Heights. You are not in the 78th Precinct, you are in the 77th Precinct. The 77th Precinct is located on Utica Avenue near Bergen Street.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 12, 2008 7:34 PM in response to where do I live, and do you have any suggestions for the area?

I voted at the Brooklyn Museum at 6:05 this morning and the whole process took about 35 minutes. People were streaming down Eastern Parkway. There were a couple of people on skateboards and I passed by one woman with a lawn chair, I guess in prepartion for a long wait. I usually vote early, but this is by far the best turnout I've seen.

I know someone who is studying in Paris this semester. She said that there is huge enthusiasm for an Obama victory. She plans on attending an Obama victory party there that begins at midnight.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 4, 2008 10:01 AM in response to Long Lines, Everywhere

Biff Champion:

You're missing a clue about Make_My_Heights_the_P_Heights. Not only is it a marker for their neighborhood of choice but clearly,it's a marker for the poster's age, musical tastes or decade of preference. Clearly, an ode to Parliament Funkadelic during the "One Nation Under A Groove" era...."Make my funk the P funk....I wants to get funked up."

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 31, 2008 4:13 PM in response to You got had! Banks must lend out bailout money, Rep. Frank insists

From the sounds of this, it looks like I will have to succumb and subscribe to cable come February.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 31, 2008 3:55 PM in response to Broadcast HDTV in Brooklyn

I mapquested the Clinton Hill house. It is near Atlantic.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 31, 2008 3:00 PM in response to Open House Picks

Altervoce:

I so agree. I will be voting for the challengers to the incumbents as well. Clearly, the city council did not see beyond their own self interest. If the mayor does not believe that the rules should not be different for the wealthy, then it is up to the comment citizens of New York to remind him.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 24, 2008 12:03 PM in response to Where To Now, Yassky and de Blasio?

Polemicist:

You and I have a different take on what Crown Heights was and is. Additionally, we share a different view of what is gentrification. Growing up in Brooklyn, I had the privilege of living in and visiting friends who had gracious homes in Crown Heights. What do I mean by gracious, lovely one family architectural gems and graciously sized apartments. A two, three or four bedroom apartment really was a two, three or four bedrooom apartment. For the most part, we didn't have driveways but a family only needed one car when you had such great access to transportation.

So might ask, with great access to transporation who needs a car? Anyone who lived in Brooklyn in the sixties, seventies or eighties saw a dearth of supermarkets, movie theaters or access to big box stores. You had to take a drive to Long Island, New Jersey or Westchester for any of these. The dearth of goods and services affected communities from Brooklyn Heights and Bushwick and the communities in between. Bubble or no bubble, in terms of awareness, Crown Heights is what Prospect Heights was fifteen years ago. It's a great community where you actually have a sense of neighborhood.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 22, 2008 11:31 AM in response to Crown Heights 1BR Goes for 15% Below Ask

What constitutes a good neighborhood? Let's compare Crown Heights vis-a-vis further outlying neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Solid housing stock---check. Proximity to reliable transportatin both buses and subways--check. Significant percentage of owner occupied homes--check. Without making distinctions as one must in any New York City neighborhood, any neighborhood can be considered less than desirable if we choose the right variable.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 22, 2008 11:07 AM in response to Crown Heights 1BR Goes for 15% Below Ask

MM:

The very nature of the financial markets is that it is indeed, cyclical. However, at this juncture we are seeing things that are heretofore, unheard of. Who would have thought that the United States, champion of free markets and free enterprise would in effect, engage in socialistic and previously condemned practices? Who would have thought that the Big Three will become the Big Two.

The bailout is in effect the nationalizionation of our financial systems. It is an effect, if not tenet of socialsim. Yes, it is important that we avoid a depression. But yet again, we have privatized the benefits and socialized the costs. Our great granchildren will be paying for this mess. In the nearer term, we're going to pay for the bailout because, if we print more money to pay bills, we will have the kind of inflation that was present in the 70s. The dollar's erosion will continue against the euro, the pound and Asian currencies.

Compare and contrast, a fundamental necessity health care was kaboshed during the first Clinton administaration becuase universal healthcare is "socialism." Guess what universal health care will benefit everyone while for many companies, eg. AIG they now have the funds to to business as usual.

We are in a period of decline. The United States does not have economic, social or moral leadership. May God have mercy on the United States. May we find the means to protect us against evil in our current state of weakness.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 13, 2008 3:59 PM in response to Quote of the Day

Perhaps, ESDC, ahem I mean FCRC would entertain offering a real alternative to Pathmark that would really be a community benefit by making overtures to Whole Foods?

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 29, 2008 3:51 PM in response to Curtains for Whole Foods?

Montrose and Biff:

Regarding the CH house. It's actually fairly priced given it's condition. I can honestly say that the it was remodeled without consideration to the original design of the house. On that stretch of Union Street, the front door was built as a glass and iron door so that you have full view of the vestibule. The wood floors are classic parquet with mahagony inlays. It also looks like a lot of details are gone.

It is exactly 1/2 block away from the Lubavitcher headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway and around the corner from the Brooklyn Jewish Children's Musuem. The closest train stop is the 3 at Kingston Avenue. It's two blocks away from the Schnectady entrance of the Utica Avenue 3/4 stop.

Just for a bit of perspective, Corcoran has a house in MUCH better condition one block over (Union Street between Albany and Troy) on the market for $900K. A house two doors down traded for $800K two years ago.

For the most part, people get along.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 26, 2008 4:09 PM in response to Open House Picks

A friend's grandmother schooled me on the borders of Bedford Stuyvesant as a teenager. The neighborhood extends from Bedford Avenue to Stuyvesant Avenue; hence the name.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 24, 2008 5:39 PM in response to Streetlevel: Clinton Hill Bed Stuy Gets Photo Studio

Next time, call Sears. The service even high end appliances.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 24, 2008 4:52 PM in response to Bad Experience Clothes Dryer Repair

Evidence of white flight fromt the suburbs. Please look at the demographic information for Metro Atlanta

Can whites be gentrified? Please look at Hoboken. Where the long time Italian and Italian-American residents could not believe the waves of yuppies on Washington Street. The old stores,gone. In their place, lots of bars.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 23, 2008 8:19 PM in response to The End of White Flight?

Heck of Job:

It's really a tough and scary time for people employed in financial services and I'm talking about the sub $100K crowd. The degree of consolidation that has occurred in just ONE week means that the will be a serious contraction of the jobs available. If you've worked in the financial services industry for all of your working life, it will take time to transfer the skills to another industry. To be sure, they won't be making the kind of the money that will help them keep pace with the rent increases on the horizon and the dream of living in the neighborhood that they grew up in, has slipped beyond their reach. Just ask any kid from an average family who grew up in Park Slope or Windsor Terrace in the seventies and early eighties. They can't believe that Aunt Sally's house has sold for more than $500 K, much less a million.

Here's the irony. Can you imagine how much criticism Bush and his cohorts would have heaped upon a Democratic administration should they have been present when this market collapsed? They (ie. Bushies) would be fighting tooth and nail against it.

Bail out, how about the breathing room that comes with a renegotiation of terms?

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 23, 2008 10:21 AM in response to Pop Quiz: Including Homeowners in the Bailout?

After viewing the listing on Craigs List, I totally understand why the apartment didn't trade at $499K. The location issues (ie. first floor, proximity to BQE) and condition (out of date bath and kitchen in poor condition)would warrant at minimum a 15K - 25K fix.

You can find a similarly sized apartment in MUCH better condition in the brownstone belt.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 22, 2008 5:17 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 2 Grace Court, #1J

MM:

Thanks for extolling the virtues of Crown Heights. To those of you who have not had the pleasure of knowing this patch of Brooklyn, I will say this...the black middle class has been here STRONG all of my days on this earth. They bought their homes and educated their children. I know this because we kids have a mini reunion when the heavy snow falls hit. We don't trust that our 70 and 80 year old parents will not shovel the snow.

One thing, Montrose....when is the last time that you strolled down Union, President or Carroll Streets between New York and Troy Avenues. Those homes are SWEET and their in South Crown Heights. As anyone from that 'hood will tell you the Crown Heights unrest in '91 involved the children of people who either did not live in the 'hood or their parents did not own homes.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at September 4, 2008 12:54 AM in response to House of the Day: 1094 Park Place

Bxgrl:

What do you know about Crow Hill's designation? Is this something that the neighborhood association is pursuing or is this coming from the community board?

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at August 27, 2008 10:00 AM in response to House of the Day: 1252 Dean Street

Dittoburg:

No but you can get a Lobster Roll in Red Hook. Even been to Fairway?

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at August 21, 2008 8:35 PM in response to House of the Day: 540 16th Street

Clearly, the marketing of this apartment is geared towards someone who wants to own now and has heard about Brooklyn. That person hasn't done their homework. No matter how lovely the kitchen, it cannot make up for the fact that it is a fifth floor walk up in a one day soon will be fine part of Prospect Heights. Sure the roof deck is lovely, but can its existence outweigh its location.

A better value can be had on streets closer to the park or Eastern Parkway.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at August 19, 2008 1:10 PM in response to Co-op Condo of the Day: 338 Prospect Place, #5E

11217

Those kind of people never left BedStuy. Who do you think are selling brownstones? They're the people who organized for the K-8 school on Gates Avenue or sent their kids to Holy Rosary. When the kids were older they took the Nostrand Avenue bus to Hudde and Midwood (eg. Bill Thompson.)

Do you know how the Brower Park branch of the BPL started? Mothers didn't want their children crossing Atlantic Avenue to go to the Macon Branch or Eastern Parkway to get to the Eastern Parkway branch. That was in the '60s.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at August 4, 2008 5:42 PM in response to House of the Day: 208 Hancock Street

The house on Sterling Place. It belonged to the LeGrands at one point. Shudder!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at July 29, 2008 2:44 PM in response to Foreclosures of the Week: Townhouse Doubleshot

Mr. B:

I agree with DIBS, what's up with the "guest?" I thought that the point of identifying was to keep out the trolls. If you have something to say, then the community "Browstoners" will apply it's "community" standard.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at July 28, 2008 8:16 PM in response to Old Slopers Vs. New Slopers

BSB:

Once upon a time, I was not a fan of Al Vann. I now am. If there is an issue that needs to be addressed...say for example....getting the most out of District 16 and District 13 schools...dealing with faux developers who only want to r#$# and pillage the community...

He is definitely the elected who can bring ALL parties to the table. On one occasion with a developer...he had all the big guns (read knowledgable, influential, experienced and VERY familiar with the community) in the room. The developer KNEW that if he was a "no show" he would have been a duck without water.

The meeting place was Al Vann's office. BTW, did you know that Vanguard was formed to lend money to homebuyers in Bed Stuy when the nabe was redlined.

The building serves the community. Leave Al alone.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at July 25, 2008 5:06 PM in response to Open House Picks: Bed Stuy Edition

After not having a "conventional" hotel option for most of my lifetime in Brooklyn, the recent additions have been wonderful because they replaced the rooms and amenities (i.e. restaurants and meeting spaces) that once were afforded by the Bossert and the St. George. However, with the Marriott addition, the completion of the Neu and Bleu there is enough in the pipeline.

In the bad old '70s, underutilized hotels were converted to emergency homeless housing. Giving that everything is cylclical, let's not even create the capacity for this to occur in the future.

(Yes, I know the Marriott is not cheap and the Sheraton shouldn't be.)

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at July 17, 2008 10:47 AM in response to Another Hotel for Downtown Brooklyn

Call LPC and consult with a staff member to review, why, why not and what they would approve.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at July 15, 2008 2:36 PM in response to How Do I Get A Public Hearing ?

BTW, the FDIC guarantee of up to $100,000 is per bank. I hope that every WAMU holder knows this.

The S&L scandal of the 80's...You're bringing me back to my precocious youth. You know, "W" wasn't supposed to be "the one." It was Neil who was supposed to become the second Bush president. He got tangled up with Silverado S&L and quite frankly, we just don't hear about him anymore.

The implication of the Indy Mac failure for Brooklyn is that there will be a whole new world in mortgage finance that even those of us with good credit, steady jobs, and an adequate coverage ratio will have a harder time getting mortgages.

Hey, What.....We missed you.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at July 15, 2008 2:31 PM in response to IndyMac Fallout in Brooklyn?

Montrose:

Call the CB#8 district manager, Doris Alexander. Ask for her assistance in mitigating this. When September rolls around and community boards meet again, join the Police committee. (BTW, that's different from the 77th Precinct Community Council.)

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at July 15, 2008 12:07 AM in response to Police Response to a Noise Complaint