Another Small Developer Cutting Corners
We swung by to take a look at the progress on the corner of Grand and Greene this weekend and then stopped in next door to chat with local salvage kingpin Eddie. What we learned was this: Three Saturday’s ago Eddie had to call the fire department because the developer had, surprise, surprise, conducted the…
We swung by to take a look at the progress on the corner of Grand and Greene this weekend and then stopped in next door to chat with local salvage kingpin Eddie. What we learned was this: Three Saturday’s ago Eddie had to call the fire department because the developer had, surprise, surprise, conducted the initial foundation excavation without the supervision of an engineer and, and a result, the handful of non-licensed workers on site had “compromised” the wall of his building by digging too far under it. So the fire department showed up and issued a Cease Work order and now supposedly things are being done by the book. We hope so. Work has resumed but our confidence level in what the finished product will look like is pretty low.
More Development in Eastern Clinton Hill [Brownstoner]
I think you will find that a lot of us commenting on this development at the corner of Grand and Greene do own properties in the area and have undertaken either significant renovations or outright development. We aren’t making these comments out of spite, but out of genuine concern and personal experience. It is expensive to develop properties, but it isn’t rocket science. A quaility job isn’t much more expensive than a shoddy one.
The history of Brooklyn is much longer than anyone who is alive today, and your argument that developers were a benefit to the borough by holding on to properties through the lean years is laughable. They were not developers then, but absentee landlords who waited for things to get better before they made any improvements.
Do you really believe that you are the only person who remembers when Brooklyn was a shit hole? It wasn’t that long ago. I think most, if not all of us here do remember it. Do you remember it as a shithole from when squatters and their shanty villages took up half of East Brooklyn (Fort Greene and Clinton Hill) in 1858? Brooklyn has been through cycles of development and decay for generations, and they will no doubt continue. Don’t try to invoke your memories of Brooklyn as a way to validate your argument, because there will always be someone with a longer memory that remembers a time when things were different than you remember it.
I know a lot of you recent transplants to Brooklyn, and New York in general, suddenly feel empowered to cast judgements about small developers who are working to create better spaces in the built environment. While some of these developers do not understand the “modern aesthetic” or really do not have any sense of good design at all, I will still take a “fedders building” to a cracked out, boarded up shanty with prostitutes and needles strewn about the place. Again, you recent transplants do not remember when this was the norm in places like Clinton Hill and Bed Stuy, but also South Williamsburg and the Slope.
The developers that you label as “cowboys” obviously do not seek to undermine adjacent structures. What are you people crazy? Underpinning and foundations work is the hardest part of contruction, ask anyone who is informed, and they will tell you it is a difficult proceedure. Ask anyone in the construction field, from a small two-bit GC from Brooklyn to a major player like Tishman or Turner, receiving violations during construction is part and parcel of living in New York. This is a norm just as is receiving parking tickets. Any underpinning job, or piles job will have some effect on a neighboring structure, period. A good GC and/or developer will seek to minimize this impact.
Many of the “cowboys” you people reference, have held onto property in Clinton Hill and Bed Stuy through the rough years, when you were back in middle school in Jersey, or Commack, or Omaha, or whereever the hell you are from and where you were living relatively priveledged suburban lives.
If you naysayers are so offended by the actions of developers, buy some property yourself. Democracy and capitalism are really great. Put your money where your mouth is and set an example if you have a better way of adding to the built envrionment and a more efficient means for construction.
where are the negative comments by Anon 3:08pm? did i miss something or is brownstoner engaging in censorship? i think when people make stupid, derogatory comments it’s best to out them and show the world how truly ignorant they are….
Everyone who builds must know that cheapness can come back to haunt you, but it’s a gamble some choose to take. When you’re buying property at $1000+/sq.ft (Upper-east/Heights, etc..), you probably have your ducks in a row, and aren’t going to try and scrape profits from cut corners.
Nevertheless, it is true that a well made beautiful building would in the long term end up being profitable, but I guess that’s not their time line.
Shaun, I think I could answer your Developer’s money question with another question. Why does my dog insist on eating its own poop even though his dog bowl is always full of Merrick’s “Napa Valley Picnic” organic dog food? As for the building problem, this kind of damage is happening all over Brooklyn and Queens. The problem is that you have all these ham handed cowboys who can’t even read a set of plans, digging holes. Most of these buildings have 100 year old rubble stone foundations that require a delicate touch to underpin and pour a new foundation. Excavation work is THE most dangerous part of any building job. Many of these contractors are also the developers; Kind of like being a Brain Surgeon/Rocket Scientist. Thats why I never let dogs lick my face or why I never shake a Developer’s hand.
I resent the comment from Anon 3:08. I own a brownstone on Grand Avenue and SOLD Eddie a set of doors that we no longer needed in our home. We are not crackheads who steal. Did you see the crackheads selling them to him or stealing these items? If not, then don’t degrade Eddie and his business.
I resent the comment from Anon 3:08. I own a brownstone on Grand Avenue and SOLD Eddie a set of doors that we no longer needed in our home. We are not crackheads who steal. Did you see the crackheads selling them to him or stealing these items? If not, then don’t degrade Eddie and his business.
As far as I know, Eddie does a lot of demo work and comes by his merchandise quite honestly.
The bottom line is that there’s far too little protection for the property owners who have the misfortune to live adjacent to the projects of these cowboy developers and far too little oversight from governmental agencies like DOB. It’s probably not economically viable for Eddie to sue these bastards but that would certainly be my first reaction. I would also call in the local politicos — from Tish James on up the line. Also, are their local neighborhood organizations that can help? This kind of wreckless development must be resisted. I completely agree that low-cost construction imperils property values and quality of life for everyone in the area. In London, building codes really have teeth. My brother’s neighbor dug out his backyard to a depth of 6 ft below grade, undermining both adjacent properties (and also probably posing many risks for the guy’s own property). The local authorities are making him put it all back, wheelbarrow-full by wheelbarrow-full.