Maybe this is a stupid question, but how do you get it on and off the tree?

Posted by: brooklynguy at October 16, 2009 1:42 PM in response to FOR SALE Iron Tree Protector

I don't understand the reactions people are having to Miss Muffet's posts, which are among the most level-headed and least provocative out there. Even if you disagree with her opinions, she always strikes a perfectly reasonable and conciliatory tone.

Homey - do you really think your comment that "life is short, it will all be just fine" meaningfully adds to the discussion more than MM's thoughtful, well-reasoned analysis of the market? If you disagree with her, feel free to say so and explain why, but if you would like to be "spared her insights", stop reading. MM is an asset to these forums and I, for one, would like to encourage her to continue to share her insights.

Posted by: brooklynguy at June 13, 2009 1:25 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

DIBS - how much would you expect heating costs to be for President St.? (Not asking because I disagree that $4,980 sounds wrong, but because I honestly have no clue what the number should be.)

My biggest problems with the President St. house are that it seems to have been stripped of much of the original detail (based on the pictures) and that the house next door seems to have a giant extension in the back blocking light/views/openness in much of the garden (based on Google Maps).

Posted by: brooklynguy at June 12, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Open House Picks

Why is this plan better than waiting for the developer to go insolvent (the inevitability of which is one of your assumptions) and buying the units at an even steeper discount from the bank?

Posted by: brooklynguy at May 1, 2009 3:57 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Ditto to Miss Muffett and lechacal (with whom, it seems, I share a similar professional situation as well as a similar real estate situation (and outlook)). I am currently capable of buying and would like to do so but am holding off because of the possibility/likelihood of further price declines.

Posted by: brooklynguy at March 31, 2009 3:01 PM in response to Getting a Jump on the Q1 Post-Mortems

Lechacal - do you really practice in all of those areas? Just curious, because in this age of hyper-specialization I haven't come across many big firm corporate generalists.

Posted by: brooklynguy at March 31, 2009 2:03 PM in response to Getting a Jump on the Q1 Post-Mortems

The boardwalk used to be elevated above the beach rather than the subterranean space it nows seems to be. Several years ago they trucked in tons of sand and raised the level of the beach, but as a kid I would walk onto the beach from Surf Avenue by passing underneath the boardwalk rather than over it as you now have to do.

Posted by: brooklynguy at March 13, 2009 11:28 AM in response to Coney Island Boardwalk: What Lies Beneath

Miss Muffett - how do you know that an offer of $1.35 mil was entertained? From the broker? Just curious, because I looked at that house (and as I mentioned in the comments when it was HOTD, I thought the poor layout was one of the primary reasons it wasn't moving).

Posted by: brooklynguy at March 11, 2009 5:04 PM in response to To Buy or Not to Buy

DIBS - in this house, the alternative would be to rent out the garden level (not sure how much rent you could get for it as a one-room-plus-eat-in-kitchen apartment with a garden) leaving the owner with a little kitchen on the top floor and no outdoor space.

Posted by: brooklynguy at February 23, 2009 2:20 PM in response to House of the Day: 356 1st Street

The floorplan is available at the co-broker's website:

http://www.orrandrlty.com/houses.html

I went to an openhouse and it looks like the upstairs kitchen has not been redone in many decades. It's hard to see how to use this as a two family - if the garden floor is rented out, it would basically be a studio, because it is one room plus a kitchen, and if the top floor is rented out, the only entrance to that apartment's bathroom would be in the common hallway.

Posted by: brooklynguy at February 23, 2009 1:57 PM in response to House of the Day: 356 1st Street

Gotcha. Maybe Mr. B never reads the open thread, like me. Mr. B, are you in a position to disclose the reason behind deleting the post?

Posted by: brooklynguy at January 28, 2009 6:08 PM in response to Kitchen Posting

Thanks. I never read the open thread so I didn't realize my question was already asked/answered.

Posted by: brooklynguy at January 28, 2009 5:52 PM in response to Kitchen Posting

Unless there is more to it than the quoted language suggests, this escape clause would be very useful to any buyer looking to get out of the contract for any reason whatsoever if Obama happens to lose (even if completely unrelated to the fact that he lost).

Posted by: brooklynguy at October 28, 2008 11:34 AM in response to The Obama Escape Clause

I asked this same question a while ago and it sparked a mildly heated debate. Search the forum archives for the topics "Street Trees" and "Trees in front of your neighbor's house?"

Posted by: brooklynguy at August 15, 2008 11:39 AM in response to Street Tree Request

On this topic, are there any issues with buying a second apartment in one's coop to use in the manner suggested above (leave the apts as is, but use the one upstairs for bedrooms and the one downstairs for living area)? Obviously it would be annoying to have to leave one apartment, walk through the common area and enter another apartment in order to get from your living room to your bedroom, but is that the only problem with an arrangement like this?

Posted by: brooklynguy at July 23, 2008 4:33 PM in response to Conversion

I'm the person. I told my neighbor that I requested a tree in front of his house, and I woke up the next morning with a severed horse's head in my bed.

Just kidding. I still haven't decided one way or another. The general consensus from the original thread seemed to be that it is completely fine to request a tree for a tree pit in from of someone else's house. I think your viewpoint will affect how you frame the issue - "requesting a tree from the city in front of someone else's house" versus "requesting a tree from the city on the public sidewalk down the block from your home."

Posted by: brooklynguy at July 23, 2008 10:01 AM in response to trees in front of your neighbor's house?

This is a coop and probably can't be rented out, so if someone bought it for PS 321 zoning wouldn't they have to live there (and squeeze in their family/child) or let it sit empty?

Posted by: brooklynguy at July 16, 2008 4:00 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 130 8th Avenue, #3H

Ray - I was just worried that perhaps the only person legally entitled to request a tree is the owner of the property behind it (given that owners are obligated to clean up snow on the sidewalk in front of their property, etc.), or that I may be stepping on toes by requesting a tree in front of someone else's house (especially if they were behind the removal of the tree that previously occupied the space, which looked beautiful and healthy to me). But I think I will go for it and put in the request.

Posted by: brooklynguy at July 16, 2008 3:53 PM in response to Street Trees