Here's What Happened on Brownstoner Last Week: Hillary Clinton calls Bruce Ratner

Hillary Clinton calls Bruce Ratner

At the Make It In Brooklyn Innovation Summit, we asked Bruce Ratner how he felt about having Hillary Clinton as a tenant at 1 Pierrepont Plaza, a building he built way back in 1987. His answer: “I was honored. I was sort of surprised. I’m delighted. No matter what my politics are.”

Ratner went on to share that Clinton personally called him a week after leasing the space. “It wasn’t for a campaign contribution,” he clarified. Building on the banter, Forest City Ratner President and CEO Maryanne Gilmartin chimed in, “It was a fair market deal. She’s paying rent.”

Summer fun

Summer came in with a vengeance this week and Montrose Morris reminded us how Brooklynites survived in the past by flocking to their own Riviera and snapping up “apartcots” (apartment cottages) for the season, or longer. There are still a few left—but not many.

Wednesday night walking tours from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy are on every week throughout the summer. Don’t miss Bugs ’n’ Blooms and The Awesome Oyster, among other fun topics. A couple of blocks away, in the archway under the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo, you can see a free concert every Thursday evening. 

Grandchamp, Bed Stuy’s newest Haitian restaurant

Weekend Festivities

Train service under the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn changed the borough forever. Come celebrate its 100^th anniversary this weekend by riding vintage cars from Brighton Beach Saturday and Sunday.

Also this weekend—the Bed Stuy STooPS fest on Sunday. Get out, meet your neighbors, and see local artists perform. But first stop for a cod fish sandwich (for breakfast) and fried plantains and rum sauce on your ice cream at Grandchamps, a new Haitian-centric eatery on Patchen Avenue.

Rendering of Rheingold Brewery site mega-development with rooftop gardens

Bushwick, Buildings, and Beer, oh my!

In Bushwick at the old Rheingold Brewery site community leaders clash with the developer over affordable housing promises. Speaking of which, affordable rents these days range from $850 (for a studio) to $3,623 (for 3 bedrooms) in the Clinton Hill/Brooklyn Heights Cadman Plaza branch library deal. Meanwhile, Williamsburg parking lots are selling for $5.5 million.

And another one bites the dust. Elizabeth Finkelstein of The Wooden House Project sees wood-frame house demolitions rising in Bushwick along with real estate values.

Has anyone else noticed the Tetris-like building trend going on?

We hope you’ve been enjoying design journalist Cara Greenberg’s interior design features. This week she reported on the magical transformation of a 1600-square-foot loft that began life as a stable.