No Takers For Red Hook Piece o' Crap
It was with little surprise that we noticed last week that this pair of super fugly houses at 41 and 43 Wolcott Street in Red Hook have not found buyers yet. When will the builders of shlock get a clue. The unfortunate aesthetics may only be part of the difficulty in selling these places. The…
It was with little surprise that we noticed last week that this pair of super fugly houses at 41 and 43 Wolcott Street in Red Hook have not found buyers yet. When will the builders of shlock get a clue. The unfortunate aesthetics may only be part of the difficulty in selling these places. The other? The front-porch views of the Red Hook Houses. GMAP
In the four years working as a realtor, I’ve been holding my nose when showing new construction when I HAVE to. Virtually all the developers have been Jewish but the majority have been non – Hasid Israelis. However, to imply that the poor aesthetics/workmanship of these properties have anything to do with their ethnicity is a stretch – another place or time it could have just as easily been another ethnic “merchant classâ€. Most of these developers live in nice houses on Long Island, Queens, or Jersey. These are business people who build a product (at the lowest common denominator quality wise) for a certain client in mind i.e.: immigrants and working class minorities looking for a “starter†home. Often forcing an unsuspecting buyer to use their banks, sometimes even their lawyers, these buyers are then stuck with an overpriced white elephant. It’s no different from the 99-cent stores and restaurants selling unhealthy food in poor neighborhoods, they just assume (wrongly) that is all this demographic wants. These developers know quite well that relatively affluent “Johnny come lately to Brooklyn” yuppies, buppies, and intellectuals wouldn’t come near these Lego pieces – hence the retaining value of pre war houses with good bones. I can understand trying to make a buck but the materials used are k-mart quality at best. THERE IS NO EXCUSE for these poor designs however – which are an insult to humans: 6 x 5 “bedroomsâ€, dark rooms, cookie cutter living rooms barely larger than the kitchen they are next to. What we need is a developer that has the courage, patience, and foresight to build such houses. People will always pay more for quality. Only with choice will we see an improvement.
As a Brooklyn native and African-American I would like to say that I am disgusted by the anti-semitism that I have read in some of the comments. Come on guys, this is New York–every ethnic group gets the chance to F**K up and every ethnic group has the low life con artists who rip people off or try to. Yes, these types of houses are disgusting and overpriced, but the great thing about real estate is you do NOT have to buy–so the ethnicity and taste of the developers/architects is irrelevant.
For all you non-Jews, it’s pronounced Chasid, in case you didn’t know.
Look at it this way: At least the Hasids live in houses no better than these abortions blighting the landscape. This is to their credit, even though it shows horrendous taste. I’m more offended by builders who only emerge from their low density gated enclaves to rape the rest of the land prior to retreating to their green arcadia.
The Hasids however are already unwittingly being punished by living in the damn things.
(As I kick the ground in front of me) Aw, shucks, Mister Rascal, Thaaaannnnkks!
above was mine- typekey didn’t work.
Rascal, I think you’re incapable of sounding anything else but condescending but that’s the refuge of those who don’t know how to make valid points in a debate. At least you admit to it. But hey- I know this will come as a shock but that 2 digit IQ of yours is nothing to celebrate. Dear.
CHP, you seem thoughtful and relatively intelligent, but I only took issue with your proposed analogy, I did not say that you were blaming anyone for anything.
jennyanne, forgive me for sounding condescending, dear, but you’re in over your head.
I guess the point is, it doesn’t matter who builds them, the end result is the same. A really ugly building. And ugly buildings are going up all over the city- so singling out one ethnic group is ridiculous. We seen and complained about loads of garbage buildings on this forum- many of them not built by Hasidic or Jewish developers. Yes in certain areas you’ll find one group or another predominating, but that’s a question of demographics, not cultural characteristics.