mcKenzie's Profile
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Sam, miniature climbing roses like the ones on the facade of the house that was just on the Brooklyn heights house tour on the corner of Sidney and Joralemon. dreamy. forget ivy!
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 21, 2009 6:53 PM in response to Is Ivy on Facade Okay?
magnifique
i love it
not too big, not too small, pure and simple and elegant.
if you don't like this house, you don't like brownstone brooklyn.
and it's in brooklyn heights!!!! be still my heart.....
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 21, 2009 6:49 PM in response to House of the Day: 169 State Street
I think the Amalfi Coast is one of the nicest parts of Park Slope.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 21, 2009 6:43 PM in response to Closing Bell: Amalfi Coast, Here We Come
bring back plenty of pictures of bathrooms and kitchens!
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 21, 2009 6:39 PM in response to Closing Bell: Amalfi Coast, Here We Come
small?
this place does not look small.
40 Clinton has much higher maintenance and the apartments are not any bigger. Such mis-information from competing realtors. honestly, I hope people reading this blog know that most of the negative things said about perfectly nice apartments come from real estate agents who are trying to push their product. Small? If you had said anything else I maybe would have believed you.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 10:14 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 30 Monroe Place, #5A
Nomi, interesting observation.
I would assume the door to the bedroom is an overhung sliding pocket door. If there is no door, I would install an overhung sliding pocket door first thing after moving in and deduct what that would cost from the asking price. A bedroom has to have a door and a pocket door in this location makes a lot of sense.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 8:48 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 30 Monroe Place, #5A
so the dilema is that you want the tree taken down but you want someone else to pay for it. Is that the issue? If so, I have no advise, that is a tough challenge. If not, then just take it down. what's the problem? If you lived in a residential neighborhood, I would write a note to your neighbor saying: "the tree is leaning on my property I am afraid it will fall over so I am taking it down on Thursday". If your neighbor is a business that doesn't care, don't even send the note. just do it for pete's sake, it's just a tree.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 8:35 PM in response to Dangerous Giant Tree Removal
What is St francis up to?
I don't trust them.
They tore down one of the loveliest building in Brooklyn Heights: The McGarry Library and replaced it with a protruding granite tombstone of a building as brutal graceless and banal as could be. That was a mortal sin. They cannot atone for those mistakes by agreeing to have this much less interesting building made a landmark. And why are they agreeing to that? A transfer of air rights to some unsuspeting building across the street? Do they want to buy and demolish 186 Remsen? What further architectural mischief do they have in mind? The BHA is putty in their hands because they allow them the use of their ugly auditorium free of charge for their annual meetings. But the real people of the Heights should demand answers.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 8:17 PM in response to Talk of Downtown Historic District Revived
based on the photos, I love this apartment. I really like the red foyer. I think it is very pretty and classy. so much nicer than most of the bland beige granola Park Slope walk-ups we usually see. The maintenance is good, the location is fantastic, I want it. My apartment is comparable but I don't have a red foyer, or any foyer.
Note to self: next apartment must have a foyer!
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 7:53 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 30 Monroe Place, #5A
Sam, it is the Parc du Champs de Mars. plural Champs.
A very lovely huge park in the heart of Paris.
The Brooklyn Bridge has no Champs de Mars but it has the expansive East River to set it off. The argument about a little building on Dock Street taking away from the bridge is pure hooey. Any smart six year old could tell you that.
In terms of the newspaper not displaying a model in its window. why the heck not? what better way to display the project to the public so as to let them make up their own minds? But the model showed the truth and that ticks off the nimby-ites who do not wish to let the facts get in the way.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 7:41 PM in response to Council Vote Approaching, Dock Street Debate Crescendos
One of the big drawbacks of Gage and Tollner was that you could not drive up to it. It was in a freakin' pedestrian mall and cabs had no idea where to drop you off. When you finally made it nearby you had to walk, dressed nicely for a lovely dinner, through the throngs of teenage hip-hoppers ogling and making comments about white women being ho's etc etc. it was uncomfortable.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 7:32 PM in response to LPC Sends Arby's Back to the Prep Station
Does Windsor Terrace deserve a premium?
not really
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 14, 2009 4:14 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 135 Prospect Park SW
windsor terrace guy: who asked you?
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 14, 2009 2:52 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 135 Prospect Park SW
I have trouble falling asleep without city noises in the distance, traffic, the ocassional siren, voices coming home late from a date.
What I absolutely hate are crickets. When I go to the country and there is no human noise at night but this incessant cricket noise!! I really can't stand it. crickets give me the creeps.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 14, 2009 2:35 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 135 Prospect Park SW
now we have to have clean dirt. Oy! the things the idle rich will worry about.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 14, 2009 2:04 PM in response to Brooklyn Ground Zero for Lead Soil Problems
nice furniture. very traditional and dainty and tasteful. You hardly ever see that any more in listings. I love the antiques -and the Prussian blue trim. Have had it up to here with white on white.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 14, 2009 1:57 PM in response to House of the Day: 291 Sackett Street
"And the quietest."
Why do people make a big deal about how quiet the neighborhood is?
If I wanted to live in a quiet (ie: dead) neighborhhod, I could live in Cleveland for one quarter the cost of NYC.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 14, 2009 1:49 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 135 Prospect Park SW
the Pratt campus does not look much like this today. The main building is still there and the library is still there minus its stoop, but was that entire quad demolished?
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 1:11 PM in response to Old-School Pratt
two problems: one bathroom, high maintenance.
better deals for two bedroom one bath in the Heights.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 1:09 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 1 Plaza Street West 2 BR
Is it a large co-op building or a small one? Large buildings have better comps. YOu should be bale to work something out.
Small buildings, with 2 to 5 units, especially walk-ups, are getting hammered right now. Not much to do there.
banks are also shying away from buildings with a large percentage of unsold (ie: rent-regulated) units.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 11:18 AM in response to Low Appraisal: Any Recourse?
One of the primary purposes of social cliques is to make fun of people not part of the clique.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 10:30 AM in response to Open Thread
that happens quite often in down markets. your broker should negotiate with the bank and its appraiser, in the end you will probably have to give something up on the price even if it is not the full amount. waiting another month or two may mean even lower appraisals. We
are in a bad down market right now and i do not think things will turn around this year.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 10:15 AM in response to Low Appraisal: Any Recourse?
that's terrific!
those look like nice trees!
it took the BHA about three tortured years to buy thirty street trees, not as nice as these, and plunk them in empty pits around the neighborhood. Glad to see the Farragut houses are greening up, good for them.
another good deed for trish james (the non-yassky).
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 10:08 AM in response to Farragut Houses Getting Greenery, Bike Lanes
I don't like open treads. How much more would it have cost to buy the little extra pieces of wood to encase each step properly?
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 10:04 AM in response to Today on the Brownstoner Backpages
Oh good, more multi-million dollar urban palaces formerly known as Granny's old place.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 13, 2009 9:39 AM in response to LPC Approves Fillmore Place Historic District
In my opinion, great old brownstone houses like this one should be worth about a million, million and a half dollars. I just don't see why they should be worth three and four million. First of all, there are thousands of them, secondly they have no land, no property, not even a place to park you car, and thirdly they have kind of clunky layouts for modern living. I think they have been way over-valued in the past ten years and the bubble has finally mercifully popped. These kinds of houses have to fall back into the realm of middle class ownership. The rich are fickle, one day they are all for brownstone living the next day they want to live in Hawaii. only the middle class can be counted on to provide stable markets and the brooklyn real estate market has basically alianated and excluded the middle class. now the correction is happening, markets are tanking, the rich are going to hawaii or to jail, and I am glad about it, though many others are in deep denial.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 12, 2009 4:36 PM in response to House of the Day: 178 8th Avenue
Dave, the French gave us a hundred crates. Americans had to find a site, build an enormous pedestal and put miss liberty together. the pedestal was a really big deal, nay-sayers called it a huge waste of money, a tasteless boondoggle, and a vulgar giantess.
The New York Times editorial board was dead set against it.
the upper crust (the hedge fund managers of the time) thought it was declasse and outlandish, as we all now it was due to the efforts of the tabloid papers that a drive commenced to gather pennies from NYC's school children to finance the pedestal and the construction of the statue. it is an interesting story.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 7:27 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later
tyburg, i don't know if you have noticed but there is a lot less traffic now than last year. I drive a lot and i find that on many days the streets of manhattan are fairly empty, the fdr is a dream lately, the recession has decreased traffic. i can really see it. hypothetically, an even worse recession could reduce traffic even more, and a really bad epidemic that kills tens of thousands could really clear out the bqe. but the thing is this, healthy cities have a lot of traffic. traffic is commerce, it's activity. nyc is not a maple syrup farm, it is a giant city with all kinds of activity and noise and traffic. when that is diminished, you should worry, not rejoice. forget light rails and other pipe dreams, if you are looking for a green utopia you should move. I hear east berlin is very green.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 7:19 PM in response to Could Streetcars Return to Brooklyn?
I don't own hedge funds dave.
I think they are a little sinister.
Kind of like shell games.
I don't think they embody the right values.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 5:02 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later
ms. muffett, i hear what you are saying, but so many successful projects could have been described as irrational at first by pessimists. the dichotomy exists between those that look down and those that look up. That is not to say that pessimists cannot be right, they are correct every so often, but what do they accomplich with their pessimism?
on the other hand the optimists accomplish a lot. The Brooklyn Bridge was not built by a pessimist. The Dutch settlers on the edge of a scary wilderness did not think they would pay less for manhattan if they waited a couple of more months. I mean most things that have moved us forward as a civilization could have been described as really demented at the time. How about building a giant female made of copper in the middle of the harbor on top of an old fort?
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 4:58 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later
I would be happy if they fixed the potholes on the BQE.
This is NY you gotta be realistic in terms of what you expect the gov. to do for you.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 4:35 PM in response to Could Streetcars Return to Brooklyn?
I think whuh does not realize that american capitalism is founded on optimism. that is the default mode. even fdr once famously admonished his countrymen telling them that what they had most to fear was fear itself, in other words, negativism, pessimism, defeatism.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 4:27 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later
rosie perez is a notoriously bad actress i assume. i never heard of her.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 4:13 PM in response to Rosie Revisited
I hear the real estate market is hot hot on court street (?)
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 2:36 PM in response to 217 Court Coming Down?
bxgirl, I don't know about other cities and streetcars, I'm not a know-it-all, or pretend to be one. I don't know what space-age streetcars look like. I just know that I am barely able to cope right now with the hassle and expense and overcrowding in my neighborhood and I don't think I could bear another huge problem. The street corner near my home at Joralemon and Hicks has been opened up and in a state of disaster for a month. Some days they close down HIcks STreet altogether. YOu know what they are doing? repairing a gas pipe. This has taken a month. four backhoes, truckloads of temporary asphalt goop, steel plates, giant concrete things on the sidewalk that they have to bury. it is a warzone. and it is all to repair a gas line. could you just imagine streetcars? they also would have to be handicap accessible and they would not be allowed to interfere with bicycles. The mind boggles. it would be a hundred-year construction project. I'm down today on public works in NYC. They never seem to run efficiently or to ever be finished.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 11:48 AM in response to Could Streetcars Return to Brooklyn?
I have no idea what the map shows.
I am sure that if put to a brownstoner plebecite the results would be overwhlemingly to screw Brooklyn Heights.
It is where old people live -so screw them.
But in any case, the idea of clinkity clunkity streetcars anywhere downtown, Court Street, Atlantic Avenue, Joralemon Street, would be a disaster. Why do you think people got rid of them in the first place? Plus they are very dangerous, people got run over by streetcars every day. The Brooklyn Dodgers got their name for dodging streetcars. The whole idea is ridiculous. sorry. Just maintain the streets and keep them open and maintain the storm sewers and plow when it snows and I am happy.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 11:21 AM in response to Could Streetcars Return to Brooklyn?
I selfishly am glad that the heights promenade and streets will be open and not clogged all day with police and fireworks gawkers. The streets are a mess on the 5th and there is no efficient crew cleaning up like on Times Square.
Let New Jersey and Riverside Drive get the honors this year. We should alternate.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 11:11 AM in response to Fireworks Backlash
They can't build or afford a dinky pedestrian bridge and people are talking about a system of streetcars? We should scale back our dreams to meet the dismal reality of our city's budget and our legacy of politician's broken promises.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 11:07 AM in response to Squibb Bridge Axed from Brooklyn Bridge Park Budget
looking at the tiny map it looks like several lines would pass through Brooklyn Heights. I for one do not want trolleys on my street. The streets in the Heights are very narrow and the construction would be a nightmare. We already have seven subway lines in the neib, so I would fight against streetcars. Besides, by the time the TA gets its act together, levitating cars that run on recycled kitty litter will probably be invented.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 8, 2009 11:02 AM in response to Could Streetcars Return to Brooklyn?
Oy! I can't handle the OT. Now I know what having ADD is like.
PS: Rob, don't return the "public art" -from your description, you are doing a public service by keeping it in your apartment and off the streets. The fact that you were at a porno store on the other hand (no pun intended) does not reflect well on your private life. I would recommend concentrating more on hygiene, grooming, and wardrobe. Look cute while walking your dog. That is a good way to meet other lads. Bye now, have a loverly weekened!
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 4:04 PM in response to Open Thread
Rob, Who aside from Ann Margaret, in her twenties, has ever been inside a champagne glass?
Honetly, I think you need to read more than just Leviticus to set you right.
I'll tell you this, had the ancient prophets known about champagne, or glass, or Ann Margaret, I am sure they would have disappoved of it all!!!
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 3:54 PM in response to Open Thread
Rob, I'm waiting for you to tell us what you found out about leviticus.
There is some pretty weird stuff in there and it was all dictated by God himself to Moses in a single month.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 3:18 PM in response to Open Thread
rob, well many a little more attention to certain maintanance issues would make you more loved. hint hint.
I agree that leviticus tends to go overboard. especially with regards to how and when to touch women, but you don't have to worry about that!
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 2:36 PM in response to Open Thread
Ms muffett, thanks for the info. It seems odd to make parents send their kids to a school that specializes in special needs if their kids do not have special needs(?).
Where did you find a map of the different school catchment areas? I could only find one of the school districts which are large areas and contain many schools.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 2:33 PM in response to Open House Picks
leviticus,
excellent!
the priestly code.....Rob you would get into it.
steal a bible and read it, its very....um...obsessed with personal hygiene. sort of like you are, but in more detail.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 2:14 PM in response to Open Thread
Ms. Muffet: I thought the public schools were good in carroll gardens. Why do you say it is a bad school zone?
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 1:57 PM in response to Open House Picks
Bay Ridge and Staten Island would remain part of their own empire. run, as always, by men named bugsy or halfnose.
They would refuse to pay tribute or to send organic produce to Seventh Avenue.
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Open Thread
I had empanadas yesterday. today it's salad. I had to go for a walk because while reading the open house thread I thought that two million dollars for a house on Sackett Street sounded perfectly reasonable. It's like brainwashing!
I swear!
Posted by: mcKenzie at May 1, 2009 1:42 PM in response to Open Thread
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
Does anyone know if Climbing Hydrangea pose the same risk to the wall? Or is it ok?
We currently have one that just bloomed for the first time, in its 5th year, which is growing on our front fence, but headed toward the house..
I'd love to let it grow up there...
Posted by: whyrl at May 22, 2009 11:17 AM in response to Is Ivy on Facade Okay?
To Brooklyn Greene: Awesome Post.
Posted by: FixtheCanal at May 22, 2009 11:27 AM in response to Is Ivy on Facade Okay?
you can make legit arguments that harmful.. Just isn't that harmful. And argument that beneficial - just not that beneficial.
Bigger question is if you'll really live that long to see/notice any of the harmfulness.
Posted by: Petebklyn at May 22, 2009 2:03 PM in response to Is Ivy on Facade Okay?
People are paranoid about ivy here. In other places it's used extensively on buildings. It does cool a building when it grows on a wall that gets direct sun.
Posted by: traditionalmod at May 23, 2009 10:01 AM in response to Is Ivy on Facade Okay?
they could have spent a little money on the exterior. what is going on with the brickwork around the front entry? the house looks bad from the outside. it looks unkempt and damaged.
Posted by: mcKenzie at June 1, 2009 9:00 PM in response to House of the Day: 130 South Oxford Street