No idea what the answer is, but you shouldn't trust a word the seller's agent says. They're just repeating what the seller is telling them.

Posted by: Emigre at October 9, 2007 3:56 PM in response to 1920 building - No C of O needed?

I'm starting a petition to stop a Gap from opening because I'd rather buy $1.99 underwear from a rack sitting on Fifth
Avenue.

Posted by: Emigre at October 9, 2007 4:13 PM in response to StreetLevel: Papa John's Takes a Slice of Sunset Park

Those of you concerned about the big bad price-chopping chain stores fail to consider whether this Papa John's is a franchise owned by a mom and pop too. They are no more able to "suck up a loss" than Johnny's is. Odds are that this Papa's is an immigrant's attempt to get their piece of the American Dream.

I'm not sure opening a Papa's next to an old school local pizza place is a smart business decision, but its a lot smarter than opening up an "Ahmed's Pizza Joint."

Posted by: Emigre at October 10, 2007 10:00 AM in response to StreetLevel: Papa John's Takes a Slice of Sunset Park

3:17, So immigrants can only compete with other immigrants, but not "longtime members of the community"? Sounds like you're the big jerk.

Capitalism is about competition, period. And if you don't effectively compete, yes... you go out of business, regardless of how long you've been in a community.

Posted by: Emigre at October 10, 2007 4:05 PM in response to StreetLevel: Papa John's Takes a Slice of Sunset Park

Its "Prospect Expressway Heights"

Posted by: Emigre at October 19, 2007 10:08 AM in response to Unfortunate New Neighborhood Name: Sun Slope

Hey The What, public records are public records. If Brownstoner posted news about someone's $485K 1BR in Brooklyn Heights, I might agree with you. But $10 Million for a house in Gravesend (or anywhere in Brooklyn for that matter) is newsworthy, making "outing" the owner fair game. And you might check the NYTimes Sunday section which outs expensive home purchasers/sellers every weekend on page 2.

Posted by: Emigre at October 22, 2007 11:04 AM in response to Controversial Landlord Behind $10 Million House Buy

If DUB's is accross from Farrell's at 16th and PPW, then doesn't that mean its in Park Slope (or South Slope?).

Posted by: Emigre at October 24, 2007 12:10 PM in response to Wednesday Food & Drink Round Up

The floorplans at the Awaye site also lack dimensions. Caveat Emptor. I bet these are small, based on the prices.

Posted by: Emigre at October 31, 2007 12:59 PM in response to Condo of the Day: The Gertrude

12:56, many open housers are window shoppers, whether they be developers or not. Who cares about the pretenses used. Should non-developers say: "Hi, we have no intention of buying anything but were bored and thought it might be fun to see what a million dollar two-bedroom in Gowanus looks like"?

Anyway, the only thing that matters to a seller is the sale, and added fake open house "traffic" actually is a good thing in that regard because it makes it seem that there is more interest in the apartment than exists in reality -- potentially impacting the actions of the "real" buyers.

Posted by: Emigre at November 1, 2007 1:08 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 12

If you are talking about physically decombining the apartments, then unless this is some unusually lax coop, the coop board has absolute power to approve/disapprove the decombo plan. So even if the owner was fine selling to you, you have another huge hurdle to get over.

Here's some other free advice:

1. Anyone who tells you what this co-op board "would" do doesn't know what they're talking about. Every coop board is unique and unless you're actually getting a read on THIS particular board, blog advice is irrelevant.

2. I'd be shocked if any co-op seller, not just this one, would have any interest in moving ahead with you if you disclose this plan. If you want to take your chances later with the co-op, fine, but no need to tell the seller/broker. They will just demand a premium or turn down your offer.

3. If your "friend" is same sex, you have a better chance of getting approved by the co-op, if they're cautious, because you would have a good discrimination lawsuit if they turned you down. This has nothing to do with the decombo plan, only approval to purchase itself.

4. Suggest you and your friend avoid this whole mess and go be neighbors by buying in new construction condos rather than gamble on this coop actually signing off.

Posted by: Emigre at November 1, 2007 6:36 PM in response to how do you de-combine a combined apartment?

Movers and Shakers were reliable and efficient, BUT I would never again use them. When we were paying our bill, and giving the four men their tip ($25 per person to move a 1 bdrm apt; less than 3 hour job), they complained that we undertipped them. Left us feeling stupid and cheap and scrambling in our pockets to come up with the 20% they felt they were owed. Then, a couple of weeks later when a different team showed up to deliver our belongings, we were all set with our 20% tip for each of them. AGAIN, they complained and asked for a bigger tip! And this was on top of the food and drinks that we provided to them. Plus....they lost several items (never heard back from mgmt. about that) and gave us a few boxes that belonged to someone else. Took several phone calls to get that resolved. Bottom line: they are slighlty cheaper than other companies, but the extra hassle from the movers is not worth it.

Posted by: cass at August 4, 2008 8:41 PM in response to Mover Recommendatioin

don't use Movers not Shakers. the movers will demand over a 20% tip for each part of the move (loading and unloading). what can you do? they have all of your stuff and they can be belligerent.

Posted by: cass at August 9, 2008 11:38 AM in response to Tipping the Movers?