They should put the bike lane on the other side of the street, with a physical separator. Then these people could park (legally or not, whatever) near the buildings and bikes wouldn't be bothered.

What's more, that bike lane on the west side of the (side)street should be connected to Fulton Mall, which should have a dedicated bike lane in addition to the bus lanes.

Posted by: sdrubbins at March 28, 2008 2:31 PM in response to Adams Street Bike Lane Shenanigans Continue

So what, exactly, justifies the $125k price increase from last year? Was any work done? (Doesn't sound like it.) Is the market heading up? (Umm, nope.) Simple movie-star cachet? (I'll pass.)

Plus, if she's selling after a year, she clearly wants out of the place. Can you say "motivated seller?"

I'd pay $1.15M

Posted by: sdrubbins at April 2, 2008 2:59 PM in response to House of the Day: 386 State Street

The St. James house clearly needs a lot of work, and it's a shame there's no basement. BUT, the layout is fixable, and the price is starting to be close to sane, unlike most houses around there over the last few years.

It seems to be almost a triplex-over-garden... really a 2.5-over-1.5. That's fine, it just means a little more mortgage help from the rental. Only two things irk me about the layout: 1) the garden-level bathroom is up in the bedroom; and 2) the triplex kitchen is all the way on the top floor.

So, drop that parlor-floor bathroom down about ten feet and design a more compact, efficient kitchen, and you've got a decent layout for a 2br/1ba rental.

The triplex is more problematic, but in an ideal world: keep the living room by the parlor floor entrance, as now; set up an open kitchen/dining room in the front of the 3rd floor; put a master bedroom in the rear of the 3rd floor; and have two bedrooms, a bathroom and a den on the top floor (i.e. stick the kids up there).

I like the location, and for the right price (slightly less than asking) I'd be tempted.

Posted by: sdrubbins at April 11, 2008 5:13 PM in response to Open House Picks

$600psf in Carroll Gardens? Why, that seems almost... sane! What's the world coming to??

Posted by: sdrubbins at April 13, 2008 11:10 AM in response to Just Sold in Brooklyn

"No one with any taste wants to live in a mish-mash of architectural vernaculars..."

That's not only bad grammar, it also not true. I have great taste and I'd live in a house with this kind of renovation... if I got a good deal on it. A prime Brooklyn brownstone is still a prime Brooklyn brownstone... but a brownstone with beautiful restored period details is that much more, and should command a price premium. The problem is when you try to charge a premium when the details aren't there and the reno sucks.

This house has a blah reno, but for the right price I'd still take it if that was the only problem. The more egregious problem here is the location, right across from the police station and down the block from the soon-to-be arena. After all, you can re-do a renovation, but you can't pick up and move the house you buy.

There are some nice things about the house: two baths in each unit is pretty rare for a double duplex. (Maybe it was converted from a 4-family?) And it's centrally located - an easy walk to Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Boerum Hill or Park Slope.

I bet it moves at $1.6M...ish.

Posted by: sdrubbins at April 21, 2008 5:20 PM in response to House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue

They get a warning once or twice, and if they don't change their ways the place gets shut down (temporarily). Also, the manager probably got hit with a misdemeanor charge (which will promptly plead out to a noncriminal violation). This is really nothing out of the ordinary.

ps. Like it or not, 4:29 really does make a pretty good point.

pps. Mr. B the comments server really is screwed up, every time I hit 'post' my browser craps out. When I reload the page in a new session the comment usually ends up showing up after a few minutes... but there's no guarantee. It's been like this for a while, you should really look into fixing it.

Posted by: sdrubbins at April 21, 2008 5:26 PM in response to StreetLevel: Bodega Goes Up in Smoke

Bergen Bagels are NOT the greatest. They're tolerable, but barely.

There's two kinds of good bagels, and two kinds of good pizza. There's Israel-style bagels, and puffy, doughy Brooklyn-style bagels. (Don't mean flavorless rolls-with-holes, which are the third kind, i.e. *bad* bagels.) If you want good Israel-style bagels... then go to Israel. If you want good Brooklyn-style bagels, go to either Hot Bagels on Montague St., or to La Bagel Delight in Park Slope or Fort Greene. (Don't know if the other LBD locations are as good as those one.)

Likewise, FYI, as to pizza: there is fancy sit-down restaurant brick-oven pizza, in which case you want Grimaldi's or DiFara's. But there's also walk-out, everyday, by-the-slice pizza. The best is Fascati's in Brooklyn Heights; also good is Ben's in Park Slope, Nino's in Cobble Hill, and Not Ray's in Fort Greene.

Posted by: sdrubbins at April 22, 2008 4:25 PM in response to House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue

Flatbushwhacker, you beat me to it. Not only a 50%+ increase in two years, but in two years during which (let's finally face facts, people) the market around here hasn't really moved.

I swear, sometimes I worry that Mr. B doesnt understand money very well. Or, to put it more mildly and precisely (knowing as muach as anyone about his backstory) that his perception of value is warped by the series of windfalls in his own real estate history.

Posted by: sdrubbins at April 23, 2008 5:15 PM in response to Caton Avenue Condo Plans For Sale: Flatbush Edition

3:45/4:16/4:17 you are SUCH a douchebag. Seen you posting around here all the time - "I work 'in the arts,' and make lots of money, and think everyone who makes less money than me is dirty and poor and unintelligent." You spend so much time posting on this site, but still you post as a guest rather than register. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something craven in the way you post... seems like you KNOW you're a douchebag, and therefore want to maintain your anonymity even while giving away details about your personal finances.

Not many jobs "in the arts" pay close to six figures. Analysts in financial firms do not make $200k+ right out of college. Bankers make good money out of college, but not analysts (not right away, anyway). "Run of the mill" traders do not make $2M+.

I think you're not so in touch with real life. You have disdain for everyone who makes less than you. With a very low six-figure income (that must have been even lower when you were younger) you own two apartments, and at a rather young age. When did you save up the down payments for them? Probably you didn't. Probably you got a hand out from mommy and daddy. Probably your job is the product of nepotism. Probably you've never had to go out and hit the job market with only your own skills to back you up; by your attitude it's clear you never worked your way up to where you are, i.e. never achieved that on your own.

I'll put my money where my mouth is: I'm about the same age, and I make $65k/year. If I wanted, I could have a job making ~$200k, which is a VERY nice salary for a 29 year-old, forget kids out of college. However, I choose to stay where I am because I love my job and live quite comfortably on this salary. Even with my small salary, I own an apartment in what Brownstoner considers a prime Brooklyn neighborhood. I saved for it and paid for it all by myself.

Do you think I'm delusional? Do you think I talk to cats? Do you think I'm dumber than you because I make less money?

I will say: if I did make $150K (or was married with a double middle-class income), I'd be sorely tempted to snatch up the 10th St house or the Degraw house. I love these small multifamily houses - they give me hope that I can eventually move up from an apartment to a house without selling out and becoming a rich jerkoff like the above poster.

Nice to see that the asking prices are not too pie-in-the-sky too. The Hoyt St. looks particularly good: something like 40% bigger than the Slope houses, and already renovated, but only 25-30% more expensive. That could go very close to asking (amazing for a FSBO). Makes me think that the Slope houses will go for about $100k below asking.

Posted by: sdrubbins at May 16, 2008 5:07 PM in response to Open House Picks

And: fact is, kdabrowski makes a good point, and it's not about the comments on this blog. You guests who just moved to Brooklyn from wherever last year don't have the same perspective as someone who's been here a while. Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Red Hook - neighborhoods like these were really great 5 to 10 years ago, but lately they seem to be filling up with d-bags like the "I work in the arts" guy.

Now, I'm aware that this is my particular perspective, and that it involves nostalgia for when I was younger and when these neighborhoods had scenes that seemed fresh and exciting. And I'm not trying to rant against gentrification, or wish that nothing would ever change. All I'm saying is, which I think is beyond argument: there is a somewhat higher number of insufferable d-bags around here than there used to be.

Posted by: sdrubbins at May 16, 2008 5:23 PM in response to Open House Picks