That south slope house must be a development site. No one would pay that much for that hovel, especially in that god awful location.

Posted by: Polemicist at November 5, 2009 12:01 PM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million

I used to care about such things, but at least now that the city will be plunging into chaos, I can rest easy at night knowing the residents of CG will have their neighborhood go back to being hell in short order.

The city is bankrupt, Wall Street is never coming back, and the 50,000 residents of the Red Hook houses will soon be getting hungry.

Posted by: Polemicist at October 29, 2009 2:04 PM in response to Carroll Gardens Downzoning Sails Through Council

Yeah, very unimpressive. The only thing special about it is the clock faces.

Posted by: Polemicist at October 21, 2009 10:23 AM in response to All About the Clocktower

I've always sort of liked the floating ads from blade runner.

Posted by: Polemicist at October 20, 2009 12:51 PM in response to What Could Have Been on Flatbush

I would expect the price of practically everything will double over the next 10 years.

I would like to remind everyone about the several trillion dollars the Federal Government has created over the past year. Let's not forget the serious decline in the value of the dollar just this week. Or the fact no one buys long term treasury debt anymore.

The US Dollar is toast, and 10 years from now we'll be lucky if it still exists.

Posted by: Polemicist at October 8, 2009 2:36 PM in response to Omissions and Lies in Atlantic Yards Study

Brooklyn: The City that Doesn't Work. Nothing has changed forty years and nothing ever will!

Posted by: Polemicist at September 14, 2009 4:54 PM in response to Another Snag for Marty's Amphitheatre

denton: DDDB types want all development to be contextual, i.e. they want all development to be exactly the same size as any building that abuts the site. When it comes to the AY site, the nearby NYCHA towers and the Williamsburg Savings Bank are excluded from this analysis.

Posted by: Polemicist at September 9, 2009 3:35 PM in response to New Barclay's Center Design Revealed

Another example of how the city's zoning laws are slowing destroying what is left here. At least Wall Street is now done so the collapse will be quick.

Posted by: Polemicist at September 3, 2009 5:03 PM in response to Development Watch: 4th Avenue Best Western

I used these guys when I ditched Brooklyn for the second time in my life.

http://www.rabbitmovers.com/

Not too cheap, but they were fast and did the work as agreed. Cool kids too.

Posted by: Polemicist at August 25, 2009 3:26 PM in response to Closing Bell: Woman Vs. Truck

They've been talking about this for nearly my entire adult life.

If the Second Avenue subway can't even get built, this will never happen. It's a great idea, and would do wonders to turn Red Hook into an accessible and thriving residential community (high rises!) but it's just a pipe dream.

Posted by: Polemicist at August 18, 2009 12:08 PM in response to Resurrecting Red Hook's Trolley Tracks

All of these 13' wide houses should be demolished and replaced with more functional housing.

Posted by: Polemicist at August 10, 2009 5:23 PM in response to 360 Grand Avenue Goes Into Contract

Leffertslodger:

You are proof as to why democracy is, always has been, and will continue to be a failure. The uncomfortable truth is the majority of the residents of your "community" exist entirely as paid voters supporting a plutocratic political class bent on your enslavement. The vast majority of your community residents contributes nothing to society, just as these elderly people contribute nothing due to their age.

None of you has any right to claim any influence over your "community" as none of you built it, and the majority of its residents produce nothing of value in exchange for the money that presently maintains it. Authority does not come from existence despite whatever indoctrination you have received to the contrary.

In any event, it is a moot point. When the welfare checks stop coming and the government can no longer pay their employees to do nothing, and the housing projects crumble before your eyes - the prosperity you have enjoyed due to 3 decades of usurious bubble economics will rapidly crumble. Grandma will be the least of your troubles.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 28, 2009 8:26 PM in response to Lefferts Place Threatened by Healthcare Developer

And brokestone:

Dude, read the zoning text before you bellow out such BS about a 14-story building being constructed on this site. It's on the internet!

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_r7a.shtml

Posted by: Polemicist at July 28, 2009 6:49 PM in response to Lefferts Place Threatened by Healthcare Developer

This thread is filled with more brownstoner madness. I normally don't bother with the rabble on this site, but when you provincial know nothings pick on grandma...

1) The R6B zoning designation, with a 2.0 FAR, should be federally illegal throughout the entire country. Nothing Practically every building that is not a house in Brooklyn is built to a density that exceeds this FAR. Such a ridiculously low density smacks in the face of progress, freedom, and sound economic policy. People were knocking down townhouses left and right 100 years ago to build larger buildings than this. Practically every fancy mansion townhouse exceeded this FAR when built, especially those humdingers on Prospect Park West.

2) The R7A zoning district by contrast has a pretty meager FAR of 4.0. We are not talking about a skyscraper here, we are talking about an 80-foot tall building maximally. How can this possibly outrage anyone with a brain? oh I know, everyone like leffertsgirl seems to think that these poor elderly people are going to be parking on her street! Get a grip.

3) The woeful ignorance of this 50-year HUD program is astounding for such pretentious busybodies who seem to profess mastery of economics and social planning. Profit is CAPPED for Section 202 developments. Why do you think they are all built by non-profit developers? I mean, my god, you can go on the nyc.gov website and see for yourself 95% of them are clearly operated by religious charitable organizations and probably 75% in Brooklyn are owned by the catholic church. Brokestone seems to think the folks at Catholic Charities are living large. What a joke. Why do they need the density? There are minimum size requirements and the programs are highly competitive, especially today when the government is maxed out paying for the 750,000 non-elderly poor people in Brooklyn living on a check from uncle sam.

I have to say, I am very grateful the collapse of our economy is continuing at a pace far worse than I ever imagined. You people are so astoundingly selfish, I can say with certainty building housing for elderly people with truly nothing is going to be the least of your troubles. You all will reap what you sow and I have no sympathy for any of you.

Anyway, good troll Brownstoner. You really riled everyone up tonight!

Posted by: Polemicist at July 28, 2009 6:47 PM in response to Lefferts Place Threatened by Healthcare Developer

Priced as if each apartment would rent for $2K a month.

Forget that.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 28, 2009 4:13 PM in response to House of the Day: 226 Cumberland Street

Bob:

Do you reall think it's dishonesty and not incompetence?

Posted by: Polemicist at July 17, 2009 12:06 PM in response to Meter Maids Jump the Gun in Fort Greene

You looked sharp brownstoner man. Wish you could have spoken a bit longer.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 17, 2009 11:28 AM in response to Municipal Art Society Honors The Brooklyn Flea

MM:

This is hardly my own unique idea. Most cities in this country are pursuing just what I suggested and it is generally supported by everyone who studies the matter.

No one would be displaced. Look at Chicago, they have successfully done just what I described with infamous projects like Cabrini Green. The Coney Island projects are just a bit more unique in that there is a LOT of land, like Cabrini had, so that you could replace the towers with new development with minimal impact. My thinking is simply that if the area is going to be going under such a change, why not try to do that too?

And, by the way - towers does not equal density. The density of those towers on an FAR basis is much lower than the average block in most of the more urban parts of the city, even someplace like Park Slope. I do like towers, but it's a separate notion from density.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 16, 2009 5:17 PM in response to Historians Line Up Against City's Coney Plan

If anyone does contact the local political folks, try to reference the MAS plan. It really is the best plan put forward, has been endorsed by many authoratative folk such as the New York Times, and would just be all around real cool.

I am sad however that removing the public housing towers was not part of any plan. With so much underdeveloped land, Coney Island could have been the perfect place to get rid of those prisons and create a mixed-income development. Nowhere else in the city would be politically tenable to do this.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 16, 2009 11:13 AM in response to Historians Line Up Against City's Coney Plan

$200,000 for a 1-bedroom condo? That is cheap!

Posted by: Polemicist at July 15, 2009 6:22 PM in response to More Price Cuts at The Satori

I've always this was one of the most interesting new condo buildings to go up in Brooklyn. I wouldn't say the block is hideous, but it's certainly not th best in the area.

Anyway, I'm just glad one developer decided to do something a bit different.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 15, 2009 2:40 PM in response to More Price Cuts at The Satori

It's like Grace Under Fire on 7th Avenue back in 2003.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 15, 2009 9:51 AM in response to F. Martinella Closes After Less Than Nine Months

Hey Brownstoner. You looked good at the Chelsea Art Museum last night. Very humble receipt of your award.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 14, 2009 11:24 AM in response to Open Thread

This is why Brooklyn is finished. It takes a decade to build a simple free standing grocery store and parking lot on a piece of land that has been vacant since not longer after World War II ended. Hitler, the favorite historical figure of many brownstoner readers, conquered most of the European continent in three years. We in Brooklyn, a county with a population 5% that of Germany in 1939, can't even build a grocery store in five years!

Posted by: Polemicist at July 10, 2009 4:58 PM in response to Whole Foods Gowanus May Not Be Dead After All

I guess, by the comments of the previous open house bit, the WT house is pretty nice. It looks very small and plain. I'm not going to bother looking up the zoning, but my first impression is it was priced as a knock down, especially considering the moderately sized apartment building next door.

Posted by: Polemicist at July 10, 2009 1:48 PM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million

Yeah, Montrose. Sturmtruppen! Sieg Heil!

I actually was just trying to test how the brownstoner cast of characters is these days, i.e. their reactionary and illogical statements. I am happy to report that it took not even 30 minutes for you to think "Nazi!"

Good work, this place is as nutty as ever.

Posted by: Polemicist at June 29, 2009 12:23 PM in response to Slope Armory on Track to Open in September

Race is an issue because moderately wealthy liberals like those who predominate in Park Slope have a distorted view of how children should be raised. Less well off people of color have a very different idea of what discipline means and why children need it.

Posted by: Polemicist at June 29, 2009 12:08 PM in response to Race, Class and P.S. 20's Controversial Principal

I really wish the armories were utilized for their original purpose: housing a military garrison.

Especially in more dangerous neighborhoods, perhaps a standing army could provide real security that the police are unable or unwilling to provide.

Then there is the issue of our declining economy. The probability of serious civil unrest in the near future is much greater than most believe.

Posted by: Polemicist at June 29, 2009 11:47 AM in response to Slope Armory on Track to Open in September

This is of course the primary aesthetic criticism of usury. It is no coincidence that aesthetic value of real estate rapidly declined after 1929. This house, and all the beautiful houses in Brooklyn, were built in the days when homes cost one man's annual income or perhaps twice, and mortgages were never more than 50% of the value. The buyer, with money from his own sweat and brow, had much greater say regarding what he spent his money on.

Posted by: Polemicist at June 15, 2009 4:18 PM in response to Quote of the Day

Once again, the media and community activists prove they know nothing of economics. How can anyone not understand that lowered income and higher financing costs means there is less money for interesting architectural details?

I cringe when I think how these types will react to the coming maelstrom this fall when the realities of our precarious economic state will become too great to ignore or for the media to spin.

Posted by: Polemicist at June 11, 2009 9:53 AM in response to Ratner Cans Gehry For Good

Didn't this building used to be a hotel?

Posted by: Polemicist at June 3, 2009 5:35 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 41 Eastern Parkway, #5C

Boerum Hill:

The cluster is due to antiquated city zoning laws written in the days when hotels catered to transient vagrants and prostitutes. Sadly, despite the fact Brooklyn is very much in need of more hotels in residential neighborhoods, they are mostly restricted to Downtown Brooklyn and industrial districts.

Land values downtown only really justify new residential development or higher end hotels, so hotels like this can't be built anywhere else. Personally, I'd love to see a fine new hotel near Prospect Park on Eastern Parkway. It would really do wonders for the neighborhood and turn the area into the major destination it should be.

Posted by: Polemicist at May 28, 2009 10:48 AM in response to Development Watch: 3rd Avenue Fairfield Inn

They will never get the money to rehab these places, and they aren't particularly special. There are tens of thousands of houses not radically different from these all over the country and especially the northeast.

While I personally wouldn't donate money to this cause, I would place a bet that the MAS won't be able to raise money for them either.

I'm a big fan of a lot of the work MAS has done, particularly on Coney Island... but I this particular effort just seems like a waste of time and money. I really wish they'd move away from focusing so much on preservation and instead encourage better development along the lines of the City Beautiful movement of which the MAS was the major sponsor over a century ago.

Posted by: Polemicist at May 27, 2009 2:31 PM in response to MAS Continues to Push for Admiral's Row Preservation

southbrooklyn:

"Affordable housing" is and always has been a failure. Since the day the first housing project was constructed, the quality and quantity of housing has continually declined in relation to the number of households in the city. The same is true everywhere in the world.

It doesn't matter what the "promises" were. Government subsidized housing doesn't work, period. It has never worked, and it is nothing more than a tool of a collapsing democracy to buy votes from a permanent underclass.

Thankfully, this system is now finished. There will be no more government housing of any type any time soon as our city, state, and nation are bankrupt.

The whining mouths in Sunset Park, a neighborhood primarily populated by people on public assistance, will continue to live in squalor as their neighborhood reverts to what it has been for most of the 20th century: a dump.

Posted by: Polemicist at May 21, 2009 11:47 AM in response to CB7 Votes in Favor of Sunset Park Rezoning Plan

should be a demo if there is 3,200 SF of development rights.

Land is $200/SF in this area tops. $1M for this property at most, maybe more if the current own takes down their shack.

Posted by: Polemicist at May 20, 2009 3:27 PM in response to House of the Day: 449 Bergen Street

I'm so glad bxgrl is here to provide us with endless amusement and further evidence as to why democracy is a failure.

Posted by: Polemicist at May 19, 2009 12:55 PM in response to Rent Board Chief on Shifting Onus from Landlords

Maybe it's time the busybodies of NYC come to realize that laws require the consent of the governed.

There isn't a single citizen of New York City alive today who could possibly read every law to which their life is subject. Is it not time phariseeism ends?

Posted by: Polemicist at May 18, 2009 8:00 PM in response to Scofflaw Contractors and Developers Thumb Nose at DOB

Obviously, this was not done for the aesthetics. It was done to prevent the collapse of the facade or the building, if it was a load bearing wall. The owners probably are not very wealthy and that was all they could afford. I mean seriously, this place is by the freakin' Navy Yard!

Posted by: Polemicist at May 15, 2009 10:06 AM in response to Horror Show Friday: Mutant Facade Repair

More proof that debt has distorted real estate costs.

Back in the days before pervasive usury, houses such as these were cheap to build.

What cost $60K in 1892 costs about $1.5MM today. That's not a lot of money to build that many beautiful houses.

Posted by: Polemicist at April 27, 2009 12:57 PM in response to Louis Bonert in The Slope

These houses are a joke. They should be demolished and replaced with a large apartment building. I've always thought these places were constructed in the 1930s after the depression... There must have been a vacant development site there that went unused after the crash.

The only thing these houses have going for them is the fact they front Prospect Park.

Posted by: Polemicist at April 22, 2009 2:53 PM in response to House of the Day: 65 Prospect Park West

This problem is totally because of rent stabilization. In a normal city, such ghetto trash would have been evicted long ago.

Posted by: Polemicist at March 30, 2009 5:09 PM in response to Death at Eastern Parkway Drug Den

lechacal:

Last week, the fed created $300B to buy US treasury notes as the interest rates are too low to attract foreign buyers. We are now officially in the print money stage of the government's attempt to reinflate the national asset bubble.

If it works, major inflation is just around the corner. We can't be certain at all about the future of prices for anything, especially mortgaged assets.

Posted by: Polemicist at March 26, 2009 10:46 AM in response to The Be@Schermerhorn Price Cuts We've Been Waiting For

Nice analysis contrarian1

$3,800 a month will get you the best 1-bedroom apartment of a similar size anywhere in Manhattan.

Posted by: Polemicist at March 17, 2009 4:57 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 160 Columbia Heights

The place looks like it should be condemned.

Posted by: Polemicist at March 17, 2009 1:33 PM in response to House of the Day: 735 Decatur Street Revisited

Last time I tried these guys was in November. They wanted something like $25 to go to Park Slope. Madness.

Posted by: Polemicist at March 12, 2009 2:51 PM in response to Streetlevel: Promenade Shifts Space in Dumbo

Until the deeds are recored on ACRIS, I wouldn't trust anything these brokers say.

I agree with you 11217. This place built under the assumption people would take anything. Penny wise and pound foolish...

Posted by: Polemicist at March 12, 2009 1:06 PM in response to Checking In On The Oro

Can't you get an HFA loan for a building like this? Isn't $599K the maximum they will finance?

Posted by: Polemicist at March 11, 2009 4:39 PM in response to House of the Day: 1182 Bushwick Avenue

Yeah, I really like the facade too... but the location is a real drag. There are so many other apartments at a similar or lower price available.

Posted by: Polemicist at March 11, 2009 11:32 AM in response to Checking In On The Satori

The market will not bottom until the collapse of the FIRE economy is complete. Present prices and rents are entirely supported by an industry that subsisted entirely on economic rent. That is over.

In time, new industries will move to the city - but the employees will earn an income much more similar to the national average.

Now, it is entirely possible - although I consider it unlikely - that the federal government will inflate us out of this mess, so nominal prices and rents may stay the same. My point is that the days of a 120-year old wood-framed shack in Greenwood Heights selling for the price of a ranch house in Greenwich are over, forever.

Posted by: Polemicist at March 9, 2009 9:32 AM in response to Where and When Will The Market Bottom?