Characterful? Is that a word? In addition to verbal confusion I believe you are suffering from some other type as well. This apartment is ridiculously overpriced, and given your opinions on other kitchens it is hard to believe you truly like this one. I think you must be doing someone a favor...

Posted by: punko at September 21, 2009 8:04 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 242 Baltic Street, #17

Brickoven, the traffic on Clinton St. is some of the worst in the Heights. There is a non-stop stream of cars virtually all day and much of the night. It is a major thoroughfare from points south to the Brooklyn Bridge, and also a shortcut from the BQE to both Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Compared to the mostly quiet streets of Brooklyn Heights, living on Clinton requires a tolerance for the noise, commotion and soot of traffic.

Posted by: punko at August 25, 2009 4:44 PM in response to House of the Day: 182 Clinton Street

it's a very nice well-maintained building and the layouts and space are excellent. it is a charming building and passers-by often stop to take photos. it's expensive because it is in brooklyn heights. there are lots of buildings like this one--from around 1920--in brooklyn. it's the location. that's why it is twice the price of the midwood apartment, kensingtonian.

Posted by: punko at August 19, 2009 2:17 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 145 Hicks Street, #B37

I'm gay and I like Bruce Springsteen.

Posted by: punko at August 12, 2009 10:17 PM in response to House of the Day: 20 Grace Court Alley

This is a very nice building. The drag is that one has to wait for the elevator man who does double duty as the doorman; while some might like the feeling of being waited upon it is mostly an inconvenience.

Posted by: punko at July 16, 2009 5:23 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 35 Pierrepont Street, #3B

Yes Bessie2, it is the building with the ground lease. A risky purchase...

Posted by: punko at May 18, 2009 9:58 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 100 Remsen Street, #8K

It's a three-unit coop. Read carefully.

Posted by: punko at May 6, 2009 4:35 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 11 Garden Place

These are small apartments. The block is not one of the nicest ones; there is construction going on (empty lot near the corner of Henry). The building is charming, but I can't imagine this is going 400K any time soon.

Posted by: punko at April 3, 2009 8:29 AM in response to Co-op of the Day: 59 Pineapple Street, #5I

BHeights, it is three blocks to the Clark St. 2/3 Station. A few more to the High Street A station. Neither of these are what most would consider a long walk.

Posted by: punko at March 17, 2009 2:00 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 160 Columbia Heights

The St. George sucks. The ceilings are very low. The maintenance, however, is very high. The windows are small. The hallways are claustrophobia-inducing. The building has had several serious fires over the years. When the market drags the apartments in the St. George go begging. Only those in the old Grill Building portion are nicely proportioned, but that is a small 7-floor portion separate from the tower. And as far as I know residents do not get free membership to the health club, just a discount. And the health club (Eastern Athletic) is a sweaty airless underground grotto. Yikes.

Posted by: punko at March 3, 2009 10:13 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 344 6th Avenue, #2

The casement windows are cool but they are a nightmare: they leak and you freeze. Replacements cost a small fortune.

Posted by: punko at August 20, 2008 3:32 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 123 Henry Street

I encountered it unsuspecting on my way to the R train. It was bizarre. Several hours later when I returned it was no less bizarre, but the trash blowing around the street added a desperate quality to the experience. Strange. Better to do it in early fall I think, because people are around then.

Posted by: punko at July 7, 2008 3:00 PM in response to Car-Free Montague a Bust?

oops, sorry everybody; 2:34 already pointed out that the other apartment IS a studio. my apologies.

Posted by: punko at June 5, 2008 7:56 AM in response to Co-op of the Day: 60 Remsen Street

2:00, that "one bedroom" is a studio with a wall put up in the alcove area. Compare the floorplans and you will see they are the same. The one bedrooms in this building have a different layout.

The apartments in this very well-run building are large, with amazing light (huge windows) and good layouts. And this is a beautiful block, very close to the promenade. And no I am not a broker, just a local coop owner who has looked at numerous apartments in 60 Remsen over the years.

Posted by: punko at June 5, 2008 7:30 AM in response to Co-op of the Day: 60 Remsen Street

I have lived in PS and now live in BH. They both have their attractions. The commute to Manhattan from BH is great; so many train lines. It is not an exciting neighborhood, but not everyone wants "excitement." It is quiet, the streets are mostly beautiful, and despite what many of you claim, there is a mix of people: old, young, WASPS, Jews, rich, not rich, etc. If you live in PS you probably like PS better. If you live in BH you probably prefer it to PS. To each his own, right? And the proximity to the water in BH is amazing, and the architecture is too.

Posted by: punko at February 28, 2008 8:43 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 61 Pierrepont Street, #43

Always glad to help!

Posted by: punko at February 26, 2008 8:42 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 806 Carroll Street

And FYI, 8:11. "Ernest" is a name. "Earnest" is an adjective.

Posted by: punko at February 26, 2008 8:32 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 806 Carroll Street

Dear 8:25, please define your terms. When does earnestness cross the line to become "over-earnestness?" How would you explain any moron graduating from college, let alone receiving a PhD? But thanks for calling me "babes." Touching.

Posted by: punko at February 26, 2008 8:30 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 806 Carroll Street

The writer who blithely writes of his/her 150K-straight-out-of-Yale friends demonstrates the kind of smug elitist thinking that makes me, a full-scholarship grad of a Seven Sisters college in upstate NY, and full-fellowship PhD (in the ARTS!!!!)from a prestigious university in Chicago feel just a little queasy. Pat yourself on the back (and pat your marvelous friends too) whenever you wish but please keep it to yourself. It is obvious to me, after living in NYC for twenty years, that one's salary is no indicator of one's admirable personal qualities. In fact, in many cases it seems to me the opposite is true.

Posted by: punko at February 26, 2008 8:02 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 806 Carroll Street

I saw a ground-floor new reno at an open house there this summer. It was far from finished but looks similar to this one. The "terrace," as someone noted, is accessible only by climbing out the (casement) window. The 1BR I saw also claimed a terrace in the listing. When I asked the broker (same guy) about the "terrace" he said that the board would give the new owner permission to put a door in. How gracious. But you wouldn't want to use that nasty narrow dark thing as a terrace anyway, trust me.

Posted by: punko at February 12, 2008 2:08 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 101 Lafayette Avenue, #1K

The high-rise plan was nixed, 5:16. I don't have the link, but it was in the news at the time.

Posted by: punko at February 8, 2008 10:19 PM in response to Update on the 166 Montague Street Conversion

The high-rise plan was nixed, 5:16. I don't have the link, but it was in the news at the time.

Posted by: punko at February 8, 2008 9:34 PM in response to Update on the 166 Montague Street Conversion

There is no comparison between 152 Hicks and this house. The Hicks St. house sits between a tenement-style rental building and a decrepit narrow brownstone that until recently was occupied by a crazed crack-head. The people who sold it lived there barely a year. The reno at 152 Hicks was tacky. This house is gorgeous, quite large, huge windows, classic proportions.

Posted by: punko at February 5, 2008 7:28 PM in response to House of the Day: 13 Cranberry Street

This house is simply beautiful (I live a few blocks away) and the block is one of the best in the Heights. Lesser houses in the Heights have been offered at higher prices (71 Willow? Remember that one?). And prices have been ridiculous for some time now. Why the surprise?

Posted by: punko at February 5, 2008 6:27 AM in response to House of the Day: 13 Cranberry Street

The common areas of the Griffin are naaaasty. Apartments are nice. Maintenance is way too high.

Posted by: punko at December 15, 2007 12:09 PM in response to Just Sold in Brooklyn

This building has very narrow apartments. They have loads of detail, but the layouts are claustrophobic. The bedrooms are also extremely small. Heavy on charm, but cramped.

Posted by: punko at December 4, 2007 9:36 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 62 Montague Street

Charming? Mr. Brownstoner is a true enigma.

Posted by: punko at December 4, 2007 7:08 PM in response to House of the Day: 735 Decatur Street

Twenty years ago I had a number of friends in Dumbo. They were all artists and most lived in loft spaces that were illegally occupied, although the landlords knew that the occupants were living in the spaces that were zoned commercial. This is part of the reason that the developers had such an easy time clearing out the place to create their bobo theme park.

Posted by: punko at November 20, 2007 6:08 PM in response to Theater Director: Dumbo’s the New Tribeca

To 2:00-- I am describing the bland uniformity of Dumbo, one of the least diverse of any neighborhood in Brooklyn. Visit it and see. It is sad, but not surprising. It makes Brooklyn Heights, where I've lived for 20 years, seem like the U.N.

Posted by: punko at November 20, 2007 6:06 PM in response to Theater Director: Dumbo’s the New Tribeca

DUMBO feels artificial. No wonder, as it is an "instant neighborhood" of high-priced condos. The artists who might have lent it an early-Tribeca vibe have been forced out. And so you get suburban-style families--virtually all white--living on what seems like a movie set. Robert Wilson must be losing it.

It's sad, given what might have been.

Posted by: punko at November 20, 2007 1:31 PM in response to Theater Director: Dumbo’s the New Tribeca

The header should read "Adams Street" rather than "Adam Street." I can't help myself. I am an inveterate copy editor.

Posted by: punko at November 13, 2007 8:23 PM in response to Closing Bell: Adams St. High School Aiming for '08 Opening

Brownstoner, you have got to be kidding. Looks wretched to me.

Posted by: punko at October 17, 2007 5:07 PM in response to House of the Day: 328 East 7th Street

The brownstone comments are so tedious that I blanch when I see the numbers, given the fact that this blog seems to draw a strangely large number of truly nasty people. So a lack of comments, for this reader, is a plus.

Posted by: punko at October 15, 2007 8:52 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 40 Ocean Parkway

A lack of view and lack of natural light will make the place tough to sell if the market softens. But if you like it, go for it. I personally find dark apartments depressing, and I disagree that a view ceases to matter after a while. I have a great view--Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State building, etc--and never get tired of it, nor of the fact that I only have to have lights on during the day if it is raining.

Posted by: punko at October 15, 2007 8:49 PM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

I lived at 8th Avenue and 5th Street, and 8th Avenue was noisy, to say the least. The cars go flying down that street, and more than once I was shocked by the awful sounds of cars smashing into things. Ambulances on their way to Methodist Hospital also make a lot of noise. While "noisy" is perhaps a subjective thing, I think a decibel meter would prove that this is hardly a tranquil, quiet street.

Posted by: punko at October 9, 2007 5:15 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 101 8th Avenue

There are two parking garages a very short walk from this building: on Henry (75 Henry Street) and on Clinton (40 Clinton).

Posted by: punko at September 21, 2007 7:31 AM in response to Co-op of the Day: 24 Monroe Place Reduced

There is also no doorman at this building. Most people buying a large apartment in a building such as this would prefer a doorman, no?

Posted by: punko at September 20, 2007 1:25 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 24 Monroe Place Reduced

They are also filming on Hicks Street between Pierrepont and Clark, in a wood-frame house. They have been prepping the house for about two weeks and apparently they will be there for about another two weeks.

Posted by: punko at September 19, 2007 4:11 PM in response to O State Street, Where Art Thou?

It's a great idea in theory but the sidewalks on both Henry and Cranberry are much too narrow. Doubt that it will fly. I just wish the place would reopen soon...

Posted by: punko at September 18, 2007 1:44 PM in response to Uncommon Grounds Asking for Uncommon Seating Tonight

That building on Joralemon has insanely high maintenance, which is why the purchase price is relatively low. Before the market went crazy people could not give those apartments away.

Posted by: punko at August 25, 2007 8:12 AM in response to Residential Sales in Brooklyn

I have gone to see the building several times, and each time I am disappointed. I was excited at the prospect of new architecture in this spot, but the proportions of this building lack elegance. It sits, squat and lumpen, in disharmony with its surroundings. Too bad, really. But I have not been impressed by the other Meier buildings in Manhattan, so I am not surprised.

Posted by: punko at August 24, 2007 11:37 AM in response to Glass Construction Towering Over Brooklyn