Darkness on the Edge of Town
The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times is about how neighborhoods characterized by sweetness and light during the day can look sour and sleazy by night. Brokers say a lot of people—renters more often than owners—end up hating their hoods after dusk, either because they seem dangerous or because they’re too…
The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times is about how neighborhoods characterized by sweetness and light during the day can look sour and sleazy by night. Brokers say a lot of people—renters more often than owners—end up hating their hoods after dusk, either because they seem dangerous or because they’re too hopping or too dead. Although the bulk of the story focuses on Manhattan locales, there’s mention of a young Bushwick renter who was robbed at 4 a.m. and who immediately moved to Williamsburg after her lease expired. Issues of crime aside, a lot of Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods are known for being pretty sleepy at night (which, of course, is occassionally equated with greater menace). Has a neighborhood’s nighttime scene—or lack thereof—ever caused you to move?
Day and Night [NY Times]
Photo by Betty Blade.
My mother always told me to check out a neighborhood at various times of the day, especially at night, before moving there. I’ve always listened to dear old mom and it’s worked out for me.
I learned this lesson the hard way 6 years ago. I’d just moved to NYC and rented my first apartment in Crown Heights that I found via a broker. Long story short, I broke my lease and lost my security deposit. Man did that hurt and still hurts when I think about it.
Never again would I rent an apartment without checking out the ‘hood at night and asking the landlord about noise in the building.
I live in Boerum Hill now and feel completely safe walking around at 3 am.
So true – bought a place in lower Park Slope 2004, went there on a warm night in the winter b/4 moving in – music playing out of car windows, people drinking on the front stoop, teenagers training (abusing) pit bull puppy for fighting, craps playing on sidewalk, dealing etc…
=NIGHTMARE, it was post closing so nothing I could do. Luckily area is slowly changing.
I guess my question is, what makes someone feel more or less safe on a given block? Even on the most bucolic of streets in the toniest of neighborhoods, it can feel pretty desolate at night. I feel I’m at an advantage because I live on a lovely tree-lined block in Boerum Hill, but there’s also a bar on the corner– in other words, people are usually milling around outside until 4am, which is good when I’m walking home late at night. The trade off, however, is hearing the people who are, well, milling around outside until 4am, from my bedroom, which faces the street…
The article says renters tend to be quicker to jump into a situation that turns out to be uncomfortable than buyers. But I think buyers aren’t always careful enough either. Before buying anything, you should definitely spend some time on your potential new block at a variety of times of day and night, including weekends. Some friends bought a really lovely apartment only to discover once they had moved in that a long light at their corner meant very loud car radios sitting right under their bedroom window.
In 1999,the realtor that showed my wife and I the apartment we still rent in Clinton Hill was smart(deceptive) enough to show us our apt. around 5:30pm on a weeknight, It was alos the middle of winter, it was quiet and clean. We soon learned that the night we saw and took the apt was an anomilie, we live on one of the busiest, nosiest, teenagers eating chinese food on the doorstep, dealers, runners and lookouts lace the corner around my building, moving to this part of BKLYN was a mistake. When its time for us to move again we will be sure to visit the location a number of different times and on the weekend, we didn’t do our homework and put to much faith in our realtor when we pointedly asked what the block was like at night and in the summer and she replied “Oh its one of the quitest blocks in Clinton Hill” Bull shit.
Just FYI. This image is of the main strip in Windsor Terrace and not a picture of Bushwick. I agree with the statements/article, though Windsor Terrace’s strip is onlt 4 blocks long and pretty safe it is desolate after 2am for the most part. There are always police stopping by the 24hr bodega or the bagel shop at night. I have lived in WT for 8 years and never felt threatened. My first 3 years (bt ’99-’02) in WT I dated someone in Clinton Hill. I never felt comfortable there at night and though they neighborhood is changing over there for the past few years I still don’t feel safe walking around at night.
i try not to live in bushwick
ever
She was not outside at 4am. Someone broke into her apartment and she was woken by the burglar in her bedroom.