Nice. I walk that block to take my daughter to school and knew who you were talking about before you revealed it. He is a very fine whistler.

Posted by: phripley at July 24, 2009 10:49 AM in response to The Whistler of First Street

I don't know anything about Buscarello, but I do feel sorry for anyone who has had to do masonry work with all the rain that we have had for the couple of months.

Posted by: phripley at July 7, 2009 10:01 AM in response to Buscarello? No no no.

cmu, your cover is blown!

Posted by: phripley at July 2, 2009 1:14 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 90

I am a landlord now but the last time I was a tenant I moved in to a place where there was no electricity despite being assured that there would be before the move in date (electric was included with the rent so it was LL responsibility to get service).

Apparently there is a legal concept of "warrant of habitability". Not sure if lack of electricity counts toward habitability or not, I imagine a bathroom does. You can google it yourself, here's the first link that I turned up:

http://www.rentlaw.com/ny/habitability.htm

Anyway, I forget how long we had no electricity but let's say it was 5 days. Then I considered how much of the value of the apartment was imputed by the lack of electricity. We could continue to live there, sleep, bathe, but it was not convenient. I reckoned on a reduction of value of 1/3.

So, let's say I was paying 2,400 per month, further let's say it was a 30 day month.

$2,400/month rent * 5 days inconvenience/30 days in month * 1/3 inconvenience factor = $133.33 fair rent reduction for 5 days inconvenience.

On top of that you could add a cleaning fee (did not apply to us).

We presented this to the managing agent and she agreed immediately. This was our first interaction with each other and I think we were both pleased to see that we were dealing with reasonable people.

Personally, the only way I can see justifying claiming a full refund of rent for the days you were inconvenienced is if you had no use of the apartment. This is not a legal opinion, just my thought on what is fair.

Posted by: phripley at June 29, 2009 9:28 AM in response to Withholding Rent?

Reaction to Bklnite's advice:

We have a HELOC with Chase at Prime + 0.5% from a couple of years ago. Their website allows you to model converting it to a fixed loan. The fixed loan rate jumped up to 11%. I called my contact at chase to see if that could really be correct, she confirmed that it was. This was maybe 4 months ago. So I would advise to NOT count on converting to a fixed loan at least with Chase...

Posted by: phripley at June 9, 2009 11:30 AM in response to Good sources for cash-out refi?

adrer138 --

I'm not sure this will work here. But if you want to give it a shot you really really have to provide more details:

age, sex, location, :-)

rent you are willing to pay, # of rooms, sq feet required etc...

Hope this helps.

Posted by: phripley at June 8, 2009 5:51 PM in response to New Tenant Anyone?

In our old coop we once got a statement for a credit equal to more than a year's worth of water. They had been charging us for someone else's meeter. Took them quite a while to catch on but they did eventually.

Posted by: phripley at June 8, 2009 5:48 PM in response to water bill

It worked well for us to expand to two brokers after our contract expired with no offers in the contract period.

Shortly after expanding each broker came through with qualified buyers. The competing buyers drove the price up and the the competing brokers drove the commission down.

I think it motivates the management of the of the brokerages to make sure a property is shown often when they are competing with another agency. When they have an exclusive listing the management expects to get the commission in any case.

Not claiming any inside knowledge here, just a tiny bit of experience.

Assumedly you got a discount on the commission for going exclusive in the first place... May be able to extend that with incumbent broker and to the new one as well. Tricky but possible.

Posted by: phripley at June 2, 2009 2:52 PM in response to Co-Exclusive Brokers

Try a search of the forum for this. There have been many posts on this topic.

Posted by: phripley at May 27, 2009 9:39 PM in response to Painting a radiator

I have never heard of it. I can imagine why a tenant might want it but can't imagine why a landlord would.

The only time I can imagine the LL being motivated to do something like this is if he was selling a building with a relative as a tenant. But even then he would be taking such a discount on his selling price for this that it would be a costly decision.

Posted by: phripley at May 27, 2009 11:45 AM in response to multiple year lease?

That star of india place was so strange. The couple of times I ate there I was always the only one there. They had valentines decorations still up in May, Christmas in March.

I always assumed that they must have done a brisk take out order to last so long while their neighbors at Night and Day/Bisquit/Lookout Hill/Playa spun round like a revolving door.

Posted by: phripley at May 27, 2009 11:39 AM in response to Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

My understanding is that when an apartment legally has rent increased to $2000, the apartment can be de-stablized. More info here:

http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/faq/rentstab.html#when

Posted by: phripley at May 26, 2009 2:24 PM in response to rent stabalized rent raise

Well look at his profile name. I imagine promoter1 is working for the management trying to drum up business. Post should probably be deleted unless promoter1 can present a better motive than the one I have deduced.

Posted by: phripley at May 26, 2009 9:42 AM in response to crossroads supper club 3rd ave

Just my shade. Email me at ripley at me dot com if you decide to come down in price.

Posted by: phripley at May 22, 2009 4:53 PM in response to Benjamin Moore Unopened Gallon W

Doesn't look like it would be too hard to fabricate, if you know someone handy....

Posted by: phripley at May 20, 2009 9:56 PM in response to antique radiator shelf

I am not going to be able to go to the meeting as it is the night of the BBG family party...

Hope someone here can go and give a report.

I understand the idea of preserving the street wall as fsrg mentioned...

Is it a common practice to be able to claim hardship? I've not heard of that before. Is it commonly granted. Seems to me that the developer is basically threatening to leave the building unfinished if he can't attract some more capital and the only way to do that is to sell 120% of what was originally proposed.

My feelings about this are:

1. the building is out of context with the block.

2. there are too many construction projects on that block (at least 4).

3. city should not be further increasing the density of the neighborhood in the face of so many likely vacancies in other 4th ave buildings.

4. city should not succumb to veiled threat of developer to walk away. If new plan would not have been approved on its own merits it should not be approved as a hardship case.

Posted by: phripley at May 20, 2009 2:24 PM in response to 580 Carroll Developer Trying to Supersize Norten Project

If it were me I'd be looking at a scrap yard. Here's one:

Benson Scrap Metal‎ -
543 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY‎ - (718) 722-7754‎

Never been there but you can see it from the Lowes parking lot.

Posted by: phripley at May 19, 2009 7:37 PM in response to IN SEARCH OF 2 FIRE ESCAPE UNITS

My car is parked one block from there right now. Will be easy to find a place.

Also agree with the advice on tucking valuables out of site. I had my window smashed about 6 months ago at 4th + Carroll. Police officer said it was likely because I had a GPS mount on my windshield. GPS itself was at home. What a waste.

Posted by: phripley at May 19, 2009 7:26 PM in response to park slope parking question

I can't believe that nobody has asked...

Who is the oil co so we will know to avoid them?

Posted by: phripley at May 19, 2009 2:36 PM in response to OIL COMPANY ISSUE

I think you should show the bank the original document that you and your uncle signed years ago when you gave him the money to invest for you. I'm sure you have that in a file somewhere. Look carefully you will find it.

Posted by: phripley at May 18, 2009 10:58 AM in response to Down payment and Mortgage

I'll be watching this thread closely as we are in the same situation.

We live on the the lower duplex with the kitchen/living room/dining room on parlor level and bedrooms/study/sun room on the garden level. Both floors have full bath, with the parlor bath cutting into the kitchen.

The parlor shower gets used only a couple of times a year when we have overnight guests. But when it does get used we are very grateful to have it as I think it makes our guests much more comfortable to have their "own" full bathroom.

If we did remove the full bath our thought was to try to tuck a 1/2 bath under the stairs or in the dead space in the foyer. It will be tight but a couple of our neighbors in identical buildings have managed it. I would NOT want there to be no bath on the parlor level (even though this was traditional) as it means that guests who are invited to our "public" space have to go into our "private" floor to relieve themselves.

You don't say how many floors you have, so maybe this is less of a concern for you.

Ours is a 17.5' wide building and having the bathroom jut into the kitchen definitely reduces the number of possible kitchen configurations. The bathroom also occupies one of the two windows meaning there would be a lot more natural light in the kitchen if we relocated the bathroom.

For now we have decided to leave the full bath where it is, mainly for the sake of guests. Also, someone mentioned that the 2nd full bath adds to the value of the home, but this is not a major factor for us as I plan on being carried out feet first.

Posted by: phripley at May 13, 2009 10:18 AM in response to Kitchen vs. First Floor Bath

We use Copper Sulfate to keep the drains clear of roots. Can get at most any hardware store. I don't think it eats roots, just kills them.

Posted by: phripley at May 11, 2009 2:13 PM in response to Sewer issues

I believe there was a discussion here a few weeks back that the going rate for an engineer inspection is 600 "and up" (presumably depending on the size of the building).

We paid $600 5 years ago for a 4 story brownstone.

Posted by: phripley at May 11, 2009 2:11 PM in response to "Sold as is" Properties

Search the forum. There was a very similar query very recently. Was also Well Fargo refinance denial for fire safety issues. Probably the same inspector I would guess. IRRC the advice was to dump WF.

Posted by: phripley at May 11, 2009 2:07 PM in response to security bars a & codes?

I think we'd really need to know what door knobs you have now to know what to recommend to complement them...

That said, Home Depot does have a selection of Baldwin knobs which are quite nice along with all the chintz stuff.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?Ntt=baldwin&Ntk=AllProps&N=10000003+90401+527791&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&langId=-1&omni=c_Knobs

If you are looking for antiques, Olde Good Things has a selection

http://ogtstore.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1059_1097&zenid=qajpbpi6ksq2b8sfql781n4417

And I was at the scrap yard near the Lowes this morning and saw they had a rack of antique knobs as well, mostly glass.

Posted by: phripley at May 7, 2009 4:22 PM in response to Door Knob Servicing 4 Brwstn Apt

I think "Tears in Heaven" by Clapton says it all about window guards in a house with kids in it.

Even if you have a "policy" of opening windows from the top, somebody is going to open the window in a way that a kid can out out it.

I agree installation is not that hard.

Protip: many of the window guards sold today are supplied with screws with strange beveled heads. These screws are designed so that they can only be screwed in and not taken out -- presumably a benefit for landlords concerned about liability. For your purposes you'll want to toss those and use regular screws.

Posted by: phripley at May 7, 2009 4:05 PM in response to Window Guards for Child

I think Marty is mostly a clown (in the nicest sense -- makes people laugh, cheers them up) but I actually agree with everything he said here.

While I don't think CI is perfect the way it is, I think it is pretty great. The whole family looks forward to a trip or two out there every summer and we are in the company of ten of thousands when we go.

It would be a shame if it became a mall. Or worse still a casino (just waiting for the economy to get bad enough for someone to push this through here -- looks like it will happen in Hawaii, such a shame)

Posted by: phripley at May 7, 2009 3:52 PM in response to Marty Weighs In On City's Coney Plan

Thanks all for the advice.

Reason for the notion of locating the barrel on the fire escape was to increase water pressure to the hose. The back of the garden is elevated with 2 terraces. If I place the barrel on the ground, even on a 2' platform, it will be substantially lower than the upper terrace. The lower terrace, where the grass is, is only 18' so that might work.

Additionally I am already using the space under the fire escape for storage and also do not want to obstruct the view from the small window (the window on the fire escape is frosted for a bathroom).

@wtman: I think this will work with a rectangular downspout:

http://www.sprucecreekrainsaver.com/diverter.html#divertanchor

@11216: That's a great design as it removes the need for a overflow hose, but needs round downspout and only works with a barrel that I find unattractive.

Many thanks again to all.

Posted by: phripley at May 1, 2009 4:11 PM in response to Water Collection

We have someone in every other week for about 6 hours and pay her $125 to clean 2 floors of our brownstone. We have a kid and a dog and a garden so it gets pretty messy.

She is a student learning english as a second language (her english is pretty good already) and her school fees have gone up. She's looking for more work; you can email me at ripley at me dot com and I can share her contact info if you need help around the house.

Posted by: phripley at May 1, 2009 9:43 AM in response to what does a house keeper cost?

How funny. I got a restoration hardware catalog just the other day with a similar cart on the cover. It must be in fashion just now!

http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1558001

Not interested but I'm sure you'll get a taker.

Posted by: phripley at April 30, 2009 1:50 PM in response to Rare industrial Trolley

Since nobody else has said it I will: You don't want to be running around looking for the key to the window locks when your apartment is on fire.

This is a serious fire hazard. Would be wise to get it seen to.

My 2¢.

Posted by: phripley at April 30, 2009 9:52 AM in response to Success Getting a HELOC?

As I have posted a couple of times, we have a Mosquito Magnet Defender that we purchased last season. We are sharing the expense with a neighbor. If I read the instructions correctly we are actually providing benefit to about 12 - 16 yards or more (1/2 an acre).

There are two lures available IIRC -- one for Marsh mosquitos, which according to the manufacturer are prevalent in our region, and one for Asian Tiger mosquitos, which my neighbors have told me is what we actually have in our yards. We deployed the Asian Tiger lure last year.

Yes, it caught mosquitos. Were there still mosquitos in the yard? Yes. Were they ones not attracted to the lure, is the thing just not 100% effective, or did we put it in the wrong location: impossible to determine.

I would say we had fewer mosquitos overall and there were fewer instances where my kid came in covered with bites and unable to sleep at night due to itching but it could just be it was a dryer year or windier or any number of external factors.

We are having a go at it again this season and I set the thing up a couple of days ago.

Aside from the expense of purchasing it there is the not-unsubstantial expense of fueling it as it burns through a tank of propane every 3 weeks or so IIRC. It also requires the maintenance of swapping tanks, lures, cleaning the basket and flushing the innards with compressed CO2 carts.

It is also somewhat unsightly in our little garden and requires that an electrical cord be snaked out to it, this is easily hidden but it is only a matter of time before it I accidentally cut it while trimming the ivy or cutting our tiny plot of grass!

We bought ours at northline express which at the time had the best prices on new units (free shipping).

http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5WD-MM4000

There were some cheaper on Ebay for less but I wanted the option to return the thing if it turned out to be a total scam.

Hope this helps.

Posted by: phripley at April 29, 2009 11:53 AM in response to Mosquito Magnet Poll

cetus you can contact me by email: ripley at me dot com

but I will really would like to know the model number, maybe it is inside the door?

Has to fit inside my laundry closet and I want to research it...

Here are some on the Lowes site:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productList&Ne=4294967294&Ntt=whirlpool+duet&Ntk=i_products&category=Washers+%26+Dryers&N=4294951103

There is quite a range in sizes and features.

Many thanks.

Posted by: phripley at April 28, 2009 4:36 PM in response to washer / dryer for sale

Can you find a link to the model. Gas or electric dryer?

Posted by: phripley at April 28, 2009 12:31 PM in response to washer / dryer for sale

I came here to post the same article as midwood. Gladwell is an amazing writer and the piece is up to his usual thoughtful standard IMO.

Posted by: phripley at April 28, 2009 12:21 PM in response to More Problems with Pit Bulls — And Their Owners

@smudge

I agree, Carroll St in Gowanus seems high. But the corco listing says "has additional FAR to build more." I reckon that's a factor in the high price.

Posted by: phripley at April 28, 2009 12:13 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

I believe that the lender will count a PORTION of the projected rental income as income when considering the loan.

So let's say you projected rental income of $2000/month.

The lender would not count that as 24K of income annually but discount it by some percentage to account for vacancies and the like.

Someone more knowledgeable than I here might be able to say what the the discount percentage is...

Posted by: phripley at April 27, 2009 3:54 PM in response to Mortgage and potential rent inco

I have a push mower for my tiny patch of grass in the back garden.

Last summer it wasn't cutting properly, after 3 summers of good service. I thought it needed sharpening so I bought a sharpening kit online.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Lawn-Mower-SK-1-Sharpening/dp/B00004R9UM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1240839924&sr=8-1

When I looked a little more closely at the mower it turned out that the blades were still sharp enough, it was just that they had shifted slightly out of optimal cutting position.

I never did end up using the sharpening kit and following a simple adjustment the mower is once again working as expected.

Hope this helps.

Posted by: phripley at April 27, 2009 9:46 AM in response to Seeking Lawnmower Sharpener

46‽ I really don't see how that's possible.

Posted by: phripley at April 24, 2009 11:39 AM in response to Bed Stuy Garage Goes Residential

We did it in my parents' house with a large hook and eye.

Something like this:

http://riccasarchitecturalsales.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=106

Posted by: phripley at April 22, 2009 3:59 PM in response to How to keep a door ajar???

I would guess that mankind's oldest building material was animal hides and sticks. Brick only makes sense for a settled people which came much later.

Enjoyed the flickr photoset just the same!

Posted by: phripley at April 22, 2009 10:57 AM in response to Walkabout With Montrose: Build Me a House of Sturdy Brick

Finding out if you have structural problems is only worth $200? I don't get it. Is it a sand castle or a favorite tinker toy or something?

I think the going rate is 3 or 4 times the figure you have in mind. But maybe in this economy structural engineers are hungry too.

Good luck!

Posted by: phripley at April 14, 2009 11:35 AM in response to recommendation: engineer?

rust maybe? we used shrink wrap insulation.

Posted by: phripley at April 13, 2009 6:18 PM in response to strange soot in skylights

We got the "defender" from mosquito magnet. Results were OK but did not eliminate the problem.

http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/mosquito_magnet/defender/

Would estimate that it killed a couple hundred mosquitos over the course of the summer, but we did burn a couple of tanks of propane doing it.

Am going to use it again this summer.

I shared the expense with a neighbor.

Posted by: phripley at March 27, 2009 7:52 PM in response to Mosquitoes

There have been a number of sod + grass + alternative ground cover postings on this forum. Full of good information. Well worth a search of the archives. Folks have strong opinions on this topic.

Couple thoughts that seem unique to your post:

1. Seeding over sod does not work very well as the sod, living or dead, will form a thatchy barrier that inhibits the rooting of other plants.

2. This time of year sod is not going to be green, it's going to be winter brown. You don't want sod trucked in from Florida after all. You want sod that's suited to our climate. Whether or not you'll get better results if you wait til the sod greens up I don't have the experience to tell you. I should think that ground has been thawed enough for some time now tho. I've started other planting with no trouble.

Posted by: phripley at March 26, 2009 3:35 PM in response to Sod questions

We too have a multifamily with a garden duplex. We live in the duplex and rent out the two upper floors as 2BRs. We are on a great block in Park Slope. I've always wondered what we would get if we were to rent out the duplex as well.

I think some factors that you should mention are total square feet, what utilities would be included and whether there is a washer/dryer.

I've always thought we could get closer to 3600/month for our place based on what we get for the two floor-throughs upstairs.

This is based on about 1,600 square feet. Private garden. Washer/Dryer. 2.5 BR + 3 season sun room. 2 Full baths. PS 321 zone on our side of the street.

Comparable in many ways to your place. But my figure is just a guess. It's hard to find duplexes for rent to compare to.

Posted by: phripley at March 24, 2009 5:52 PM in response to windsor place duplex rent

Couple thoughts.

1. Does the fire escape have a retractable ladder? If so can you return it to the retracted position? This is a security enhancement for the building and will discourage folks from casually coming down as well.

2. I think there is some hope that once you have cleaned up the garden decent folks will refrain from littering -- along the line of the "broken window" theory.

3. Could you put some planters at the bottom of the fire escape to discourage casual use?

4. If I thought that folks were tramping through my garden at night I would put in a motion detector on the exterior lights.

Posted by: phripley at March 19, 2009 2:35 PM in response to Garden Party?

Ah sorry didn't read the 2nd sentence, (you have already examined the hinges).

Posted by: phripley at March 19, 2009 2:24 PM in response to Metal apartment door scrapes

I am no metal worker or carpenter, but the first thing I'd check is to see if the screws holding the hinges in are lose. It is sometimes the case that the door is the right size but the settling of old buildings or the loosening of screws will pull the door out of square.

Hope this helps.

Posted by: phripley at March 19, 2009 2:23 PM in response to Metal apartment door scrapes

Great story, I'd love to read a regular feature with stories like this, too. There are so many interesting people and stories in all of our neighborhoods.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at July 24, 2009 11:17 AM in response to The Whistler of First Street

Fantastic story John and your writing is simply wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: pierre de taille at July 24, 2009 5:31 PM in response to The Whistler of First Street

Bob is a rare breed and I'm honored to know him. He's a kind, talented, unique, warm and caring person. If anyone gets a chance to stop and talk to him, do it. I can guarantee you won't be sorry! Great story, John.

P.S. Bob's also a hell of a wood stripper, I've seen his work and he does an amazing job. Here's his number in case anyone's interested: 718-915-1564. Oh, and I have no stake in him getting work.

Posted by: caseopele at July 26, 2009 9:01 PM in response to The Whistler of First Street

If the matter ends up in court it is the landlord's fault. The landlord's fault. You know, the person being unreasonable. Anyone suggesting that you lay down is helping to undermine the free society under law we live in.

This is assuming there was only one bathroom, the problem was not an act of god, and $300 is less than 6 days rent. The LL has the obligation to supply a hospitable apartment. I don't understand why anyone would pay for a service not rendered. That would be like paying for a tree not cut down. Any days the LL does not do so the LL should not be paid. People insulting Oxygen's post are insane

Posted by: Blindweb at August 11, 2009 5:39 AM in response to Withholding Rent?

Apt time to bring up a new movement starting in the neighborhood -- it's called "Parking Around Me" and it allows people share info about open parking spaces via text message or Twitter.

As a PS resident, i got involved b/c i've felt the pain of parking and really hope this can help bring some order to the chaos.

Seems to be getting some attention: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Park-Slope-Service-Uses-Twitter-Text-Messages-to-Share-Available-Street-Parking-Intel-70340582.html

Interested to hear what people think...

Posted by: smk67 at November 19, 2009 10:05 AM in response to park slope parking question