I'm all for it as long as it's clad in some combination of stucco, vinyl siding or shingles.

Preferably all three.

Posted by: ennuiater at November 3, 2009 1:14 PM in response to Pelli Tower Proposed for Greenpoint Waterfront

Yeah, the police station is not the friendliest looking building, but besides that it's also right around the corner from a fire station, and a very busy/loud playground.
I used to live right around the corner from here.
Also believe it's zoned for PS 20 all the way on the other side of Atlantic, which is kind of a hike across a super busy street w/ your little ones.
There is also 0 street parking in this area because of police/fire station. And lets not forget the whole AY thing.

Too many drawbacks, not enough of a charming house to make it worthwhile.

Posted by: ennuiater at October 14, 2009 2:38 PM in response to House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue Revisited

I haven't seen floor plans or know much about the building details, but it's on a nice treelined street one block from McGorlick park. (Which is nicer and less annoying than McCarren imo)
The B48 runs down Nassau pretty frequently dropping people at either the Nassau G or the Lorimer L, although it is perfectly walkable to the G as it's not that far and the blocks are quite short.
Right around the corner from PS 110, a pretty well regarded elementary school.
Depending on how well the building is put together, might not be such a bad deal for someone who already knows/likes the northside and has their financials together.

Posted by: ennuiater at October 14, 2009 12:14 PM in response to The Locale: Greenpoint Condo Auction

I just don't understand why the building is set back from the rest of the street by such distance.
The floorplans show tiny little combo living/dining rooms. If they'd brought the building out to be inline with the one next door, there would be so much more space for a proper living/dining arrangement.
Gah!

Posted by: ennuiater at October 5, 2009 12:55 PM in response to 476 Sterling Condos Now For Sale

Love it. Take this style over steel and glass "modern" new construction any day.

Posted by: ennuiater at October 2, 2009 12:36 PM in response to The Venetian Unveiled

Lechecal, if you like her so much, why didn't you at least spell her name right?

Ann Coulter. Now THAT makes me twitch. Argh.

Posted by: ennuiater at September 11, 2009 11:06 AM in response to Open Thread

DH, Portland is fantastic. Great bar scene, if a little on the incestuous side because it is, after all, a much smaller city than NYC.
Most people you meet will ask you all about NYC and Brooklyn, and you would be a big fish in a little pond.
There are a lot of hipsters in Portland.

I daydream about relocating out there or to the Pacific Northwest from time to time, but work keeps me tied here.

Posted by: ennuiater at September 8, 2009 1:39 PM in response to Open Thread

Oops! Thanks guys for correcting my above. I did write Ps10 as south slope but then got my Bed Stuy list all discombobulated.
For Ps107 I guess It's south Slope also, very close to WT as far as I'm concerned.

That's what happens before I've had my coffee for the day :{

Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 2:58 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

DH- I'm not sure North or South but it's right next to the B48 stop that takes you to Greenpoint, outside the Gigilo Boys social club. At least, it was last night.

Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 10:38 AM in response to Adventures in Advertising

There is another one just off the Lorimer stop at Metropolitan and Lorimer. I thought it was odd, as that one is just stuck in a planter.

Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 10:28 AM in response to Adventures in Advertising

Sorry for the late reply! I totally crashed last night. Anyhoo, below is the shortlist I came up with in all my research broken down by neighborhood, in no particular order.

Park Slope
Ps282
Ps321
Ps372 - think this is special needs only
Ps39

South Slope
Ps10
Ps124
Ps172

Windsor Terrace
Ps107
Ps154

Prospect Park South
Ps130

Kensington
Ps230

Ditmas Park
Ps139
Ps217
Ps245-considered an "up and coming"
Ps249- consiered an "up and coming"

Greenpoint
Ps31
Ps34
Ps110

Brooklyn Heights
Ps8
Ps29

Carrol Gardens
Ps58

Ft Greene
Ps11
Ps20 = some controversy but overall ok

Prospect Heights
Ps9

Bed Stuy
Ps21
Ps261
Ps10

I'm sure I left some out... this is just what I came up with. You'll also notice I skipped some neighborhoods b/c this list was drawn from areas we were looking for our new apt, and some areas were off the list for us for various reasons. There are lots of others!
Don't forget that going to see the school / talking to a school coordinator can be way more valuable than a million opinions posted on the web. Good luck! :)

Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 8:21 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

I know this also won't help your PLG decision making, but besides PS321 which is perhaps the best known, there are a LOT of really good schools surrounding Prospect Park. It just happens that most of them are on the PS/WT side, but schools in South slope, Kensington and Ditmas Park are quite good also.
If I could afford it, I'd totally go for today's House of the Day. PS 217 is quite good.

Full disclosure: We ended up finding a great place that we could afford in Greenpoint, and our son will be attending PS 110 in 2 years. I've never lived on the northside before, I lived in Prospect Heights/Park Slope area for almost 10 years. I like the new neighborhood though, despite all the things I miss about the old one.

If you'd like, I can post later tonight (its at home) my list of schools I identified as "good" based on reading lots and lots of posts and reviews. Unfortunately, quite a lot of them are in neighborhoods that were out of my budget range, but that might not be an issue for you. :)

Posted by: ennuiater at September 3, 2009 3:49 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

If you're concerned about schools, these 2 links are your friend:

http://schools.nyc.gov/default.htm

http://insideschools.org/index12.php

Go to the DOE site first to search by address and find the school that address is zoned for, then go to inside schools to read reviews.

I'm just a renter, but my husband and I were looking in PLG quite a bit before our recent move this July. We ultimately decided against the neighborhood simply because the quality and reviews of the schools.
It's a great area otherwise, we just didn't want to deal with lotteries or trying to get into a G&T program if, gah forbid, one of my kids turns out to be just "average". I just didn't want to deal with putting kids through that kind of competition so young.

Besides inside schools you can also try to arrange a tour of a school or speak w/ a schools' parent coordinator besides all the various opinions posted on parenting blogs. (and even sites like this one, do a search for schools and there are a few posts asking quite similar questions about "good" school zones)

Trying to figure out the school issue in NYC is such a pain- best of luck!

Posted by: ennuiater at September 3, 2009 1:30 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

THL, belated congrats! Was going to de-lurk to post the other day, but work interfered.

Also... Anyone read the NYT article about the builder in TX building low income housing from recycled materials? Totally inspiring, wish there was someone around here doing this sort of thing. Talk about "green".

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/garden/03recycle.html?8dpc

http://www.phoenixcommotion.com/Houston%20House%20and%20Home%20Article.pdf

There is something amazingly charming about these homes. I can't put my finger on it but maybe it is how rustic they are compared to everything here in the city, where all new construction is always slick and shiny.

Posted by: ennuiater at September 3, 2009 12:29 PM in response to Open Thread

Oh wow, I wonder if that mean's they're serving Zweigle's!?!?!?!
Seriously the best hot dogs in the state. I know many Rochestarian ex-pats who have them shipped packed in dry ice at great expense simply because they are so good.

If they really are Zweigles, try the white hots. OMG. YUM. I might have to go visit just to see for myself.

Posted by: ennuiater at August 4, 2009 3:10 PM in response to Newcomers to Bergen's Retail Strip: Hot Dogs, Yoga Gear

The RealBirth people are a great group, took a class w/ them at their Chelsea location before the birth of my son. They should do really well in the Slope.

Posted by: ennuiater at August 3, 2009 2:19 PM in response to Streetlevel: Tribeca Pediatrics Opening in the Slope

It's zoned for PS 375.
http://maps.nycboe.net/index.asp?street=Ocean%20Ave&addBoro=3&hsenum=416&action=addGeo

http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fs=746&str=375&formtype=name&all=y

Posted by: ennuiater at July 29, 2009 1:51 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 416 Ocean Avenue, #12

These apartments will sit and sit at those prices. Talking to many brokers while recently doing our own apartment search in Greenpoint the word is that most places priced above 2k are just sitting w/ no interest, while most inventory is moving in the sub $1600 range.
When we came along w/ our $2100 budget the brokers were practically all over themselves to show us apartments. There is a lot of crap in Greenpoint though- railroad apts chopped up into 2-3 "bedrooms" and terrible renos. There is a real lack of quality family size apartments in the area.
But at those prices- lol.

Posted by: ennuiater at July 14, 2009 10:50 AM in response to Viridian Rentals Hit the Market

Personal annecdote time:
My months long apartment search is finally over, and the winning neighborhood, surprising even myself, (and after looking pretty much everywhere including Manhattan) is Greenpoint. (Near McGorlick park)

The fam and I are now packing up for the move next week. We found a very nicely finished (the landlord used to live there) and good sized 2bed w/backyard on a non-butt ugly block with trees for $2k. Bonus: the zoned school is good!

My commute to work will now involve the B48 bus to the L train at Lorimer. I HopStoped it and did a test run- even with the transfer it's a shorter commute than sitting on the 2/3 for 45min as previous. Nice.

It will be weird leaving Prospect Heights after so many years, but cheaper apartment, good school, yard? Ok. I've avoided living on the Northside for years, but it's finally got me. So strange.

Posted by: ennuiater at July 13, 2009 2:11 PM in response to The Epitaph of Epitaphs for Williamsburg's Boom

You can almost see my apartment building in that photo- I think the photographer and I must be neighbors.

One of the points of view that I happen to agree with is that the Vanderbilt Yards have been a big hole in the ground for years. What difference does it make if it stays a hole in the ground for a few more until the right size development comes along that is also completely transparent in all its dealings and isn't a huge waste of taxpayer money?

If FCR had gone through a completely transparent public review process like the Two Trees building in Dumbo or the thing over in Gowanus w/ the rezoning, if the MTA hadn't given the deal to Ratner and not gone with the higher bid- there might be a whole lot less public outrage. Too bad for them they were greedy and stupid.

Calling the AY footprint "blighted" is a load of crap. It might not be the most gentrified or pretty area in Brooklyn, but if you judge by the friendliness of neighbors or the fantastic time everyone had at last weekend's Dean Street Block Association's yearly street party this area is just as vibrant as any other corner of Bklyn, and should be allowed to develop at it's own pace w/o the interference from city/state govt and greedy developers. (Which it was doing quite well all on it's own when this project came about in the first place)

Posted by: ennuiater at June 30, 2009 11:43 AM in response to Court of Appeals Will Hear AY Eminent Domain Case

Way back in college I rented an apt that became infested w/ bedbugs. Lucky for me, I didn't have very many posessions at the time besides clothes and a crapola of books.
All clothes and linens were laundered and drycleaned, and kept in storage until I found a new apartment.
Mattress and pillows were tossed and new ones purchased from Ikea, delivered to new apartment and promptly sealed in those handy protect a bed thingies just to be sure.
All books should be shaken out and vaccummed and make sure to check the dust covers if you have a lot of hardcovers- bedbugs are so thin they can squeeze between the pages of a closed book.
Everything you own should be cleaned/inspected and then moved out of the infested apt as soon as possible.

I would be highly cautious about staying in a building that has bedbugs. From our experience, we found out we had bedbugs and bombed, sprayed, etc which pushed the critters into our neighbor's apartment. They then bombed,etc... pushing them right back through the walls into our apartment. Apparently it is very difficult to get rid of them entirely unless the landlord does bomb the entire building at the same time and all your neighbors take the same measures you do.

After they came back the 2nd time is when I took the above action. In fact, that was the last apt. I rented in Queens. I figure I'll just avoid the entire boro from now on, just in case. Haha.

Posted by: ennuiater at June 29, 2009 10:30 PM in response to Bed Bug Question

Someone please buy this sad little house and fix the porch, it hurts me to see it looking so sad.

http://www.brooklynproperty.com/content/ProDetails.aspx?pid=28

Posted by: ennuiater at June 27, 2009 10:50 AM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Did you guys notice the cute Kensington house has a bidet in the 1st floor bathroom for no apparent reason?
This has me perplexed and skeeved out at the same time.
Love the front of the house though, super cute.

Posted by: ennuiater at June 26, 2009 6:48 PM in response to Open House Picks

Ah haha Dave, I would never. I'm sorry to call you out, I must be feeling cranky today. Something northsloperenter? I think it was? said above rang a bell with me.

I too got a 0% raise this year and a tiny bonus. I work in apparel, and just read today Rheul is to be shuttered by A&F- and Eddie Bauer filed for Ch.11 yesterday... retailers are taking a beating and it means a lot of folks out of jobs.

While it would be nice if the market dropped a teeny bit for affordability, I sure hope I still have a damn job when the dust settles and I can buy that 2bed coop I want. Hopefully before I'm 50!

Posted by: ennuiater at June 18, 2009 4:54 PM in response to Bank Predicts NYC Market to Fall Another 40 Percent

Yanno Dave, it would be nice if you could drop the sneering derision you have for "you renters" and focus it instead on the ones that attack you personally.

Some of us young'uns here are working quite hard to get the nest egg together to buy, and don't plan on renting forever unless the RE bubble reinflates itself and we are quite simply priced out of the market as housing has gone up so much faster than salaries for us plebes.

Not everyone bought their first home in the 80s or works in finance, or has the disposable income of a single person. I don't know if you do it intentionally, but your self entitlement sometimes rubs the wrong way. :|

Posted by: ennuiater at June 18, 2009 3:30 PM in response to Bank Predicts NYC Market to Fall Another 40 Percent

If this is not just 1 unit apt in a home and there are more apartments in the building, you may want to check with some of these girls neighbors to see if they are having a flea/bedbug problem also.
Those nasty things get in the walls and can travel easily between apartments, so if you're bombing just the affected place it may just push them to other areas of the building. The best way to get rid of bed bugs with any sort of certainty is to fog the entire building at once.

Or take off and nuke the site from orbit. Just to be sure.

Posted by: ennuiater at June 3, 2009 10:54 AM in response to Security Deductions

Not sure if they deliver to you but the catered goods you can order from Fresh Direct are also pretty good- went this route for my son's birthday and was pleased.

Posted by: ennuiater at June 1, 2009 11:44 AM in response to Rec's for gourmet buffet?

While the gorgeous Victorians in Ditmas Park may be out of reach for someone on a budget of less than $100k yr (like myself) there are plenty of 2/3 bedroom coops/condos that are going for around $400/$450k that, with another year of savings, I hope to purchase myself. (go me)

It is completely possible to live a "middle class" lifestyle on less than $100k/ yr in many neighborhoods in this city, including where I live in PH. Being middle class is indeed a lot about choices- you can choose to buy into what Martha Stewart tries to sell you or you can opt out.

I can go on and on about the number of women I know like myself who support their families while their husbands stay home with the little kids. Middle class doesn't necessarily need 2 earners, or daycare, or nannies, or any of the other ridiculously expensive "stuff" that people talk themselves into thinking they need to be "middle class". I really do think the whole middle class idea is just a state of mind.

Posted by: ennuiater at May 14, 2009 10:59 AM in response to Can Ditmas Park Save The Middle Class?

I noticed and commented on the falling manhattan rental prices a few weeks ago, and what a bummer that now everyone else is going to be jumping on the bandwagon!
I've been priced out of the city since college. If I can find a decently sized 2 bedroom for under $2100, I'm definitely moving back no questions asked.

Like northsloperenter mentioned, the commute time really eats into the quality and amount of time you get to spend with your kids in the evening before they have to go to bed- especially if they are young kids going to bed at 8pm. I'd love to have a 5-10 min commute instead of the 40+ minutes I currently deal with. That extra bit of time would mean I might actually get to eat with my family instead of heating something up when I get home.

Everyone's got different needs, I guess. For me, time > space.

Posted by: ennuiater at May 11, 2009 1:11 PM in response to Brooklynites Jumping Ship to Manhattan?

I have to agree with ENY- lobsters are cockroaches of the sea. GROSS.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 15, 2009 5:09 PM in response to Streetlevel: Lobster Pound Coming to Red Hook

hahaha THL. *cries*

Posted by: ennuiater at April 8, 2009 2:29 PM in response to Open Thread

I know I'm late to add:

"It is what it is"

Everytime one of my coworkers says that my heart shrivels a little inside.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 8, 2009 1:48 PM in response to Open Thread

But Legion, what if we're hipster parents? We don't all live in Williamsburg yanno.

lol

Posted by: ennuiater at April 7, 2009 3:56 PM in response to The Shifting School Equation

This is a fantastic discussion, and very helpful! Wish I had something to add, but my son is just turning 2 next week and so I haven't any experience with any schools yet.

I have to say that just finding out info and trying to figure out which schools are zoned for which areas is in itself a very confusing and daunting task! The DoE website is not really the most user friendly, and the statistics about individual schools are very confusing. Maybe it's just me.

I'm taking lots of notes which will come in very handy in a couple of years! We are definitely taking school district into account for where we move, along with price and size of the apartment. Depending on where the rental market is at, it will remain to be seen if we will stay in our current neighborhood, move further out for more space, or even move to Manhattan if prices decline. It's a wait and see game here.

Best wishes to Mrs. Lechacal!

Posted by: ennuiater at April 7, 2009 1:30 PM in response to The Shifting School Equation

Wasn't that terrible 1999 festival where there were torched cars and rioting because it was so poorly run that there was no water for the concert goers?
Ugh. All I remember from reading about 1999 was violence and some girls getting raped.

Michael Lang needs to let go of the past.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 6, 2009 4:33 PM in response to Closing Bell: Woodstock 40th Anniversary at Prospect Park?

Cafeteria has good meatloaf. I go sometimes for lunch cause I work in the area. Evenings are definitely not my scene.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 3, 2009 1:25 PM in response to Open Thread

hm- well how 'bout those Mets? 1st expo game tonight at 6 vs the Sox.

I never post this much, can you tell it's a REALLY slow day today? Hope it picks up after lunch.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 3, 2009 11:43 AM in response to Open Thread

haha Rob I agree- the coney bandshell looks like a dayglo diaphragm container. i wonder if the designers were going for something so suggestive of "clamshell". am amused.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 3, 2009 11:28 AM in response to Open Thread

As a joke I told my husband I wanted to get a gold tooth for my birthday like Kat Von D. His expression was priceless.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 3, 2009 10:53 AM in response to Open Thread

I have one full and I half sleeve. Yes, I enjoy them, and yes I will prolly get the one arm finished someday.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 3, 2009 10:22 AM in response to Open Thread

I love the amount of sun this home gets. So bright and airy, better even than some of the multimillion dollar brownstone row houses. 2x out of my price range unfortunately for me. I shall be contented with an apartment and not be envious, I swear.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 2, 2009 9:43 PM in response to House of the Day: 29 Maple Street

Mopar-

I did notice that. My current "2 bedroom" apt at $2100 in bklyn is actually a 1 bed conversion also. My family already lives in a small space. If we can get an equal space for less money, why wouldn't we do it?

That was just one example, there were many others on Street Easy and the NYT when I searched under the $2000 price point.

It will be very interesting to monitor the rent situation and see where prices are come closer to peak renting season. I can't decide what would be better- more space or a small apt in a better school district for my son. Choices, choices.

Either way paying less in rent would be fantastic, as it means more money saved towards our goal of buying in 2 years.

Posted by: ennuiater at April 2, 2009 9:36 PM in response to Manhattan Market Frozen

Thanks MM! I appreciate the info.

Pete, I haven't gone looking yet cause my lease isn't up for a bit but here's one of the listings I saw this weekend:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/472116-condo-469-columbus-ave-upper-west-side-new-york

Might be a fake, might be legit? If I was in the market to move this month, I'd be calling to see the place. If it's still around in June I'll check it out for you. :)

Posted by: ennuiater at April 2, 2009 5:29 PM in response to Manhattan Market Frozen