Bed-Stuy: The New Lower East Side?
The Times has a story about an architectural designer who’s moved to Bed-Stuy from Alphabet City and claims that Brooklyn reconnects me to New York City as a cultural and social phenomenon. Michael Andaloro lived on Avenue B for more than two decades and sold two apartments there for $1.2 million last year; he originally…
The Times has a story about an architectural designer who’s moved to Bed-Stuy from Alphabet City and claims that Brooklyn reconnects me to New York City as a cultural and social phenomenon. Michael Andaloro lived on Avenue B for more than two decades and sold two apartments there for $1.2 million last year; he originally paid $60,000 for the properties. Andaloro recently bought a Bed-Stuy building for $775,000 and spent almost that much on renovating the structure, which he says was a 7 on the squalor scale. The new Brooklynite says he doesn’t miss the East Village, which was like spring break in Orlando on Thursday nights and that his new neighborhood’s diversity and possibilities are like the Lower East Side of lore. And, of course, he’s banking on his Bed-Stuy investment eventually paying off the same way Alphabet City did: I always figure that a bleak or notorious neighborhood translates into cachet one day.
Rediscovering New York as It Used to Be [NY Times]
Photo by …neene…
I don’t think a man who spent most of the 80’s on avenue B is too scared of little old Bed Stuy in 2007.
You all are so moronic.
And clueless.
If you are inferring that a white gay man is in danger in BS, then you better tell all the other white gay men who live there, not to mention the scads of black gay men who have been there forever. Please. BS is no better or worse than any other neighborhood in terms of being at least gay neutral. Most people could care less who or what you are.
Insist on driving? How else is a gay white man going to get around in that ‘hood? I’m sure he has a door from his apartment to the garage and never really sets foot out into his neighborhood.
where did it say he drove everwhere he went??
i believe he said he drove to fairway.
which is impossible not to do, since they put it in no mans land.
don’t infer things from the article that aren’t there.
it helps no one’s point and makes you look ignorant.
Well when people like Mr Andaloro in the above article insist on having garages and driving everywhere they go, the difference between suburban and urban life gets blurred.
Actually there is shame in it, 11:25.
Advising people in this day and age to take up more space than they need, drive everywhere and isolate themselves from other human beings is not very helpful.
The world has always been an urbanist society…it is just now that we are realizing what harmful effects the sprawl that suburbanism is, has done to our society.
I also grew up in a suburb…and a very nice one at that. It was sterile, people were unhappy and disconnected, and they drove to the store, even if it was 1/4 mile away. They were also about 50 lbs overweight. When I tell them I live in NYC now, they all say…oooooh…that must be so amazing.
And it is.
Dear 10:16 AM:
I don’t know anything about Bed-Stuy or Stuy Heights, but I think I can help you. You are looking for safe SUV street parking, nice schools and safe streets for your growing family, food delivery for your busy lifestyle, and great grocery stores from which to get it. Sir or madam, you are looking for, seriously, a nice suburb. It’s okay, really! They are full of decent, intelligent people, and many of them are within easy transit to the amenities of the city!! And there is a very good reason they were “invented”…they are safe, nice places to raise families and live auto-dependent lifestyles. I diss them NOT. I grew up in one, and still shop/visit-best-friend in one regularly. If you wish to remain nominally a New Yorker, look at Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston; if you can’t afford a full-out house, look at townhouses. There is a gorgeous old-fashioned town called Malverne with its own easy LIRR station, and compared to what you will receive in Bed-Stuy (versus WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, subjectively, not some objective value judgement, folks!), you will get much better value for money. And then when your kids are older, consider coming back to the city and picking up a more urban/urbane lifestyle as retirees. There is NO SHAME in this, truly!
Opening minds with my magic wand,
The fact that he can’t imagine urban life with out a garage (to swiftly and safely take him to and from his romantic bed-sty neighborhood says it all. If everyone thought like him we would be in big trouble.
The place is on 651 Hancock Street, Brooklyn, NY 11233.
To prospective Stuy Heights resident – on street parking is no problem in terms of safety of your car, if that’s what you were worried about – though of course moving the car for alternate side of the street parking is never a problem. My neighbors on my block look out for each other and if you haven’t moved your car yet, will knock on your door to remind you. There is also a garage on Halsey between Lewis and Stuyvesant.
I’ve lived here for 3 years and I have a lot of confidence in the present and future of the neighborhood. People are invested in the quality of life of the neighborhood. For example, on Halloween they organized a booklet listing all of the houses that were willing to accept trick or treaters.