WonTon's Profile
- 1981
- Brooklyn
- Park Slope
- Co-op
Author's Posts
June 20, 2008
The $29,000 Question: Big Box Watch on Flatbush Ave
A couple of days ago the mystery was revealed: the new tenant in the space occupied for years by beloved local video rental store Video Edge is gonna be...ta da! T-Mobile.
Just what we need! Mr. Won Ton is ecstatic that he now has five choices of mobile phone stores within a five minute stroll of his front door--who needs a butcher when you've got extra minutes?
The scuttlebutt at the recent North Flatbush Avenue BID meeting is that T-Mobile is paying $29,000 a month rent on this sucker, or about four times what Video Edge had to cough up.
(Mr. WonTon misses Andy and Rommel of VE...who had such great taste, not to mention a massive collection of his favorite old skool martial arts flicks.)
My $29,000 question is: How is it that T-Mobile can afford to do business on Flatbush and 7th with such high overhead?
Answer (from my local real estate guy): They're bad, they're nationwide! They don't have to make a profit in this location. "It's all about placement. They pay for the visibility."
Hmmm. I guess that's why American Apparel is able to keep going in our old Plaza Twin Cinema by selling a couple of t-shirts a day.
Lots of empty storefronts sitting for a l-o-n-g time on North Flatbush these days...greedy landlords hoping to cash in on the big box store tip, I guess. Hey, we still don't have a Starbucks!
May 2, 2008
NYSERDA Multifamily Performance Program
Has anybody had any experience with this new NYSERDA energy efficiency program. My co-op (15 units, Park Slope limestone) is starting to look into it. Wondering if it is really a good deal to get involved in. It's not exactly easy money (you have to find an energy consultant, pay them a lot upfront, then follow their energy conservation plan design)
On the other hand, our building's heating costs are rising, we could use new insulation, and maybe this program is a great way to help us pay for this.
Any thoughts, and especially recommendations for Energy Consultants from the NYSERDA list, most welcome.
Author's Comments
Hey, Al Sharpton's only 52...
I remember seeing him outside the Slave one evening...big community meeting going on inside, maybe around the time of the Crown Heights shootings. It was also a popular venue for the Black Muslims, who generally wouldn't let white folks in to their rallies.
Posted by: WonTon at June 3, 2008 11:56 AM in response to Slave Theater in Court, Preservation Effort Weak
It has always puzzled me that Park Slope has had no real butcher shop (I love A&S sausages but it is really more of an "Italian specialty" store) since the one on 7th Avenue closed in the 90s.
What are people in this neighborhood doing with their Viking ranges and the Sub Zero freezers those granite countertops and those all-stainless designer kitchens?
Helicopter delivery from Dean & DeLuca, no doubt.
Posted by: WonTon at June 12, 2008 5:01 PM in response to StreetLevel: Park Slope's No Meat Market
Green schmeen. Most of IKEA junk is Made In China. Just like Wal-Mart.
Posted by: WonTon at June 18, 2008 3:07 PM in response to 'It's Like a Nets Game, Only Yellower!'
垃圾郵件...走啦!!!!
(Scram, spammer...)
Posted by: WonTon at June 19, 2008 8:41 AM in response to Buy building material directly from China
Love the green steel door.
Is that window plexiglass?
Posted by: WonTon at June 19, 2008 1:28 PM in response to House of the Day: 307 Winthrop Street
Sounds like santeria to me.
Posted by: WonTon at June 20, 2008 12:11 PM in response to Conch Shells
VIDEO EDGE was great...it was the Kim's Video of Brooklyn.
They did a terrific business, even after the rise of Netflix because the guys who worked there had great taste and took the time to hip their customers to indie and non-mainstream films from all over the world.
They were a business that was part of the COMMUNITY. You remember community, the thing that a lot of people (except maybe 12:05 and 1:02) move to Brooklyn for.
Posted by: WonTon at June 20, 2008 4:36 PM in response to The $29,000 Question: Big Box Watch on Flatbush Ave
It was struck down, according to Wikipedia, by a Florida appellate court in 1959.
A movement to establish a "Right to Light" would make a tremendous contribution to the quality of life in Brooklyn.
Posted by: WonTon at June 25, 2008 12:06 PM in response to 20 Henry Swings Back Into Action
These rallies are held on weekdays because they are all about getting media coverage, sillies. Weekend rallies= press coverage DOA.
Posted by: WonTon at June 26, 2008 11:56 AM in response to Pols Gather to Pan Crown Heights Homeless Plan
The reviews here pretty much sum it up for me:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/union-hall-brooklyn
Union Hall is a frat scene, generally filled with monumental assholes, not from the neighborhood. My objection to the place isn't that it's loud, but that it is crass.
I wouldn't mind another Southpaw in that space, or a club that was all about interesting and truly cool music by indy/local bands. In other words, a place that was an extension of the tastes of this neighborhood.
But Union Hall isn't about that. It's a drink/money machine. I hope it goes.
Posted by: WonTon at May 9, 2008 10:21 AM in response to Community Board Moving to Nuke Union Hall