Check your credit report! We had the same calls and letters for awhile and never thought much of it until we tried to purchase a vehicle and got denied tier 1 financing--which we figured we were eligible for based on earlier credit reports. We found out that the person with the same first and last name as my husband (different middle name) is a pretty bad guy (he's wanted for felonies and assaults) and it eventually affected our credit report. It has taken weeks to correct and we're not sure if its fully done.

Posted by: ilikeslices at October 22, 2009 6:25 PM in response to Someone's Using My Address

Save the Robots was always a guaranteed good time. It would be difficult to replicate that vibe but I wish the owners luck. Sounds like a nice addition to Brooklyn nightlife.

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 18, 2009 11:05 AM in response to New Gowanus Club is Getting There

The Cobble Hill place is very close to LICH. Its very noisy on that block with the ambulance sirens heading to the hospital. Definitely not prime, leafy Cobble Hill.

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 15, 2009 1:31 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

Excel Motor Works in DUMBO (at the end of Cadman Plaza/Fulton St. under the BQE) are knowledgeable, honest and fairly priced. I've been going to them for years and everyone whom I referred was very happy with their service. They do inspections too.

Posted by: ilikeslices at August 31, 2009 8:58 AM in response to Mechanic in Carroll Gardens Area

We've been going to Tribeca Pediatrics-Boerum Hill for almost two years now. Everyone there from the receptionist to the LPN's to Dr. Tholany could not be more warm and knowledgeable. Because of insurance changes, we had to leave our pediatrician of 9 years. I was very worried about the doc switch but my fears were eased almost immediately. My kids are older and they actually look forward to going to see the doctor.

Posted by: ilikeslices at August 3, 2009 5:03 PM in response to Streetlevel: Tribeca Pediatrics Opening in the Slope

For that asking price, they could at least cover the ugly exposed range hood vent.

Posted by: ilikeslices at May 26, 2009 3:34 PM in response to House of the Day: 243 Kane Street

The new Brooklyn Prospect Charter School featuring an International Bacclaureate program will be housed there for two years as well. Until they can get a permanent spot.

Posted by: ilikeslices at May 26, 2009 2:49 PM in response to Development Watch: New Sunset Park High School

The building will be torn down by tonight according to NYPD on the scene. It is a huge building at 90 feet deep. Its going to be a mess.

Posted by: ilikeslices at May 7, 2009 2:02 PM in response to Building Collapse at 217 Court Street

Jebby you are incorrect. This indeed was a methadone clinic for a decade or more. It is not the Miriam building--Miriam was a full block farther south.

Posted by: ilikeslices at May 7, 2009 12:15 PM in response to Building Collapse at 217 Court Street

What, no Court st/Warren st building collapse?

Posted by: ilikeslices at May 7, 2009 8:47 AM in response to Thursday Links

What, Court st/Warren st building collapse?

Posted by: ilikeslices at May 7, 2009 8:46 AM in response to Thursday Links

We had a very similar situation occur a couple of years ago with a restaurant and a very loud HVAC unit/Using the back garden as late as 4 and 5am. We called initially and they blew us off. We went to the restaurant and the said there was no one around to discuss the matter with--even though we knew the owner(s) were there. So we called 311. They came, took a DB reading and they were indeed in violation. The DEP guys said they were going to immediately inform and ticket them. Out my window, I could see the DEP guys looking at the HVAC unit with the owner of the restaurant then pointing to my home and saying that we were the ones that called it in.
The next day, I had eggs splattered all over the door and windows and was verbally threatened by the owner and subsequently visited by two menacing henchmen that I better not make any more trouble of else....
Thankfully, they insulated the offending HVAC unit.

Posted by: ilikeslices at May 4, 2009 11:43 AM in response to Retaliation for DEP Complaint

The Union Street house picture is the wrong house (diff from the Corcoran listing)

Posted by: ilikeslices at April 21, 2009 11:59 AM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

I saw the Warren street house. It does indeed need everything. Complete gut. New beams, floors, roof, plumbing, electric and most likely an extension since it is so short.

Posted by: ilikeslices at March 13, 2009 2:41 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Already an Uno's on 6th Ave in the Village as well--its been there forever. Benihana actually started in midtown. For me, Cracker Barrel screams "roadtrip" Can't see it in NYC. Cheesecake Factory would fit perfectly in that space. Their salads are great and the avocado egg rolls are good too.

Posted by: ilikeslices at March 6, 2009 3:52 PM in response to Another Rumor: Fast Food for Gage & Tollner Space

Simulate divided lights are done so well now, esp by Marvin, that there is barely a visible difference. Plus, I believe they are more energy efficient.

Posted by: ilikeslices at March 2, 2009 11:17 AM in response to True vs Simulated Divided Light?

Johan Grobler in Brooklyn Hts is both an architect and home inspector. He'll be able to assess what your brownstone needs or doesn't need.

Posted by: ilikeslices at February 23, 2009 10:44 AM in response to Need a good inspector

We had the same problem-black, dog urine stained wood floors from the previous owner/tenants. Our floor refinisher also suggested ripping everything out. You may be able to stain the floors darker to slightly hide the urine mark but the wood will not hold up well over time--a lot of acid in that dog urine. Unfortunately, this is why we have to say no to perspective tenants with dogs and have a no dog clause in the contract.

Posted by: ilikeslices at February 23, 2009 10:39 AM in response to Pee-Stained Wood Floors?

I would love to replace the floor or our existing iron/concrete deck with "walkable glass." Love the concept just don't know of anyone that will do it in a residential application.

Posted by: ilikeslices at February 19, 2009 1:58 PM in response to Deck specialist

I take it the price includes the lot/parking next door?

Posted by: ilikeslices at February 17, 2009 11:57 AM in response to Norah Jones Steps Up in Cobble Hill

East New York, my brother is a veterinarian and highly recommends the anti-bark collar-uses it for his own dog.

Posted by: ilikeslices at February 6, 2009 7:53 PM in response to Dog Barking Fine

Why not? The area already has the never empty Brooklyn Social and Clover Club-both of which are known for their interesting and tasty cocktails.

Posted by: ilikeslices at February 6, 2009 12:39 PM in response to The Prime Meats Drumroll Continues

I got a chance to see it at an Open House. Amazing property. The attic was an incredible space (with the foosball table) the parlor floor spacious and lovely. The kitchen was nice but could use some re-doing(Ikea cabinets, btw for an almost 6 million dollar house) The backyard nicely landscaped and the garage was an incredible thing--huge!! Enough to fit 4 or 5 cars or empty out the cars and have a regulation game of indoor roller hockey! The realtor said a perspective buyer was thinking about putting a pool on top of the garage! The odd thing was that there were no closet doors hiding the washer and dryer which was in the middle of a hallway and the garden level bathroom had a toilet basically in the shower--it was very odd. Would def re-do that bathroom too, if, of course, I had the 6 mill to spend.

Posted by: ilikeslices at January 16, 2009 9:24 AM in response to 155 Warren Sells; Highest Price Ever in Cobble Hill?

That is a pic of the new bar area of Prime Meats, owned by the same people that run Frankies 457.

Posted by: ilikeslices at January 14, 2009 12:18 PM in response to Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

I think that these are two entirely different buildings. This building that is rising is on Pacific Street and does not run thru the block to Atlantic (look at the photo closely), the Atlantic Ave building that will extend the entire block to Pacific is still a big hole in the ground. Unless if its an oddly shaped building, these are two different developments

Posted by: ilikeslices at November 20, 2008 2:40 PM in response to Development Watch: 240 Atlantic Avenue Rising

Nice looking cabs. How do you like your Bertazzoni range???

Posted by: ilikeslices at November 10, 2008 11:18 AM in response to Cabinet maker -- Photos posted

By 10 am (one hour after opening) there was no line to get in and in fact it was a pretty pleasant shopping experience. Only waited about 6 minutes for a register. Disappointing that they don't sell wine.

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 26, 2008 2:20 PM in response to Rainy Ribbon Cutting for Trader Joe's

You really should try and talk with your neighbors about it and put up a collaborative fight. We did this after talking with an exterminator who noticed burrows in the backyards. You can buy the rat poison boxes online (the black triangular looking things) and place them in your yards. Squirrels and other animals cannot access the poison. Word of warning though. You will be dealing with clearing away rat carcasses on a daily basis for a couple of weeks. We were shocked how many there were. Be sure to refill the rat poison.
We had the rat problem about 4 years ago and haven't seen them since. (fingers crossed

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 23, 2008 3:46 PM in response to Rats

The Cobble Hill house needs everything! There is really no existing plumbing ( I have no idea how people even lived in there!) It needs all new electric, stairs, beams, everything.

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 14, 2008 1:14 PM in response to Open House Picks

Yeah, the place on Warren needs EVERYTHING!

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 12, 2008 2:22 PM in response to Open House Picks

I hear ya Biff, I'm looking forward to both of those establishments opening.

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 3, 2008 2:26 PM in response to Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

Speaking of new Brooklyn restaurants, was just walking down Court Street and saw a sign up for Turks and Frogs (West Village and Tribeca) moving into the old UPS Store space (next to the future Trader Joes.) No opening date though.
Also Trader Joes was installing new glass and metal sliding automatic sliding doors inside of the landmark old bank doors

Posted by: ilikeslices at September 3, 2008 2:01 PM in response to Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

I would also check out Country Floors tiles near Ann Sacks and similar quality. They have a huge warehouse in Maspeth.

Posted by: ilikeslices at August 8, 2008 5:37 AM in response to Ann Sacks Tile

Actually honed granite shows stains more than regular granite. I love my granite countertops because of all the reasons Nokilisa mentioned but I think if I was doing a kitchen now, I would seriously look into Caesarstone/Silestone.

Posted by: ilikeslices at August 7, 2008 6:20 AM in response to House of the Day: 19 Garden Place

The next time you get a phone call from the bill collectors, simply tell them they no longer have your permission to call your number. By law, they must stop calling your number as soon as you tell them that. I am not 100% sure but the same may apply for the collection notices you receive in the mail.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at October 22, 2009 7:12 PM in response to Someone's Using My Address

Agree with Vinca. You need to make sure this is just some kind of weird coincidence and that you're not a victim of identity theft.

You can check your credit report for FREE once a year, from equifax or one of the other companies. Don't pay for any upsells--it should be totally free.

You might also want to put a freeze on your credit report. This means no one can run a check on your credit until you unfreeze it. Which is useful because if someone has stolen your identity and tries to open up a credit card, the credit card company will run the credit check, see the freeze, and refuse to issue a card. Downside is you have to remember to un-freeze it if you want to do anything that requires your credit--but that's for things like credit cards and buying a house, so it's not like you shouldn't remember. Information on how to do this is here:
http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html

And to make these calls stop, you should tell them you are not this person, and if they harass you, they're actually financially liable:
http://consumerist.com/5031790/psycho-debt-collectors-will-not-stop-calling-me-about-someone-elses-debt

Posted by: bkrules at October 22, 2009 8:33 PM in response to Someone's Using My Address

You can get your credit report 3 times a year - utterly free - one from each agency.
www.annualcreditreport.com

Posted by: Arkady at October 23, 2009 9:27 AM in response to Someone's Using My Address

Sometimes when a person seems to disappear off the face of the earth, their creditors start looking for them and find people with similar names. I used to get calls at work from my bank about someone with almost the same name who was not paying his mastercard bill. Eventually they realized they were calling the wrong person. I actually use a credit monitoring service offered by Bank of America - it gives me peace of mind knowing that I'll get an e-mail every time there's a hard inquiry on my credit report, and they send me a full report quarterly. Maybe it is a waste of $12.95 a month, but what the hell, it's less than the cost of a bottle of mediocre wine.

Posted by: bohuma at October 23, 2009 11:01 AM in response to Someone's Using My Address

This is a little different, but has some similiarities. I used to come home every day to dunning phone calls from the Municipal Credit Union for a person who used to have my telephone number. It went on forever, despite my attempts to contact them and get my number off their list. It was driving me nuts and when the people started getting nasty to me, I decided to really give them a hard time. I contacted the NYC Department of Consumer affairs who registered the complaint and then told me to write to the NY State Banking Department. I finally wrote a letter to the NY State Banking Department. I got a letter back from them and then a letter from the president of the freaking MDC saying sorry, blah blah blah. And it finally stopped. But for you, it is definately possible that you could be incorrectly tagged with this problem. You should complain to NYC Consumer Affairs, the NYS Banking Department, check your credit reports (three agencies) and if it persists, write letters to the three credit unions telling them of the possible confusion. Good luck.

Posted by: donatella at October 23, 2009 11:54 AM in response to Someone's Using My Address

Like Donatella, we have a different but similar problem. The ne'er do well son of the former longtime owner of our house (now deceased) who hasn't owned or lived here in several years still to this day puts our address as his, with the DMV, with car rentals, with Social Security, child support and employers. And the mail always somehow looks like he's in trouble for something at any given time. I put each and every piece of mail back, with "return to sender, incorrect address, please correct your records" on it but the mail for him still comes in waves every once in a while. I just can't believe places like the DMV don't make sure a home address is correct - don't they require a utility bill in their name or something?

Posted by: traditionalmod at October 23, 2009 12:07 PM in response to Someone's Using My Address