The Shame of Fulton Hitting Market
We’re loathe to give exposure to anything as reprehensible as 1067 Fulton Street, but the occasion of its first showing tomorrow seemed like a good reason to revisit what we have referred to in the past as the biggest lost opportunity for Clinton Hill certainly since we’ve been documenting its progress. We’ve seen some ugly…
We’re loathe to give exposure to anything as reprehensible as 1067 Fulton Street, but the occasion of its first showing tomorrow seemed like a good reason to revisit what we have referred to in the past as the biggest lost opportunity for Clinton Hill certainly since we’ve been documenting its progress. We’ve seen some ugly new buildings in our time, but this one takes the cake for its sheer ad-hoc butchery and complete disregard for any kind of consistency. Someone once described this building process to us as looking like its construction was dictated solely by whatever materials were on sale that day at Home Depot. The development company that built this monstrosity, New Start LLC of 50 Greene Street, whose principals include Alfred Thompson and Paul Galvin, should be ashamed of themselves. There’s an open house for the apartments tomorrow from 12 to 1:30 and, man, would we be excited if someone could snap a photo of any of them. These guys should be embarrassed to walk down the street in the neighborhood. It would be great if none of the apartments sold and they were bankrupted; in our dreams, then, someone could tear it down and start over. Sadly, though, the apartments are priced cheaply enough (from $150,000 to $420,000) that some poor souls may be suckered into buying; ironically, it will probably be the people who can least afford to make a bad investment.
1067 Fulton: The Plague Spreads [Brownstoner] GMAP
Development at Classon and Fulton [Brownstoner]
New Build at Classon and Fulton [Brownstoner]
I noticed the other day that on the Fulton St. facing side of the building some of the lintels over the windows are actually piece of steel “I” beam bolted and cemented over the window then painted white. In keeping the the patchwork of materials, there is no rhyme or reason as to which windows have this scrappy, left over materials, treatment.
new style: croatian post-war waterfront condo.
blecch.
The other thing that gets me is that if this is indeed a POS inside as well as out, in a couple of years, after horror stories and people leaving in droves, it will end up being a really low end rental to people who really don’t give a damn, or don’t have any other choice. Then you’ll get the crime, the dealers, the garbage and all of the horrors of urban living that no one wants. After much protest from the surrounding community and from social advocates, it will get shut down, and then torn down. That helps absolutely no one, not the community, the renters, or even the developer. Far fetched and cynical? Yeah. But not impossible. Why can’t it just be done correctly in the first place?
Yente, goodness knows I want affordable housing in the community, I’m not knocking that. It just burns me that, more than likely, the building is not constructed to last, they used thin sheetrock, the cheapest fixtures, and other shortcuts that are going to have people complaining in about a year, if not sooner.
And that’s what’s so unfair. The buyers/renters are not going to be the kind of people who run to attorneys and sue at the drop of a hat, or even complain on blogs like this. They don’t know going into new construction, or even renovation, what to look for, how to evaluate the true value of an apartment. I’m not being a class snob here – MOST people, in all classes, don’t know what to really look for when buying or renting. We are all blinded by the glow of new appliances, shiny floors, gleaming light fixtures, etc. We just aren’t educated in the ways of houses and apartments, it takes experience and a genuine interest in the business of homebuilding to know to look under the kitchen sink, or see if the windows were put in correctly.
All that to say that I don’t have any solution except for the wish that home worthiness classes were a part of the process of getting a mortgage. Until then, it’s buyer beware, and the people who can least afford options are the ones who get hurt the most.
I agree, I’m usually one to disagree with this sort of bashing as there are people out there in need of inexpensive living. But this is such an injustice to look at, I mean I look at it and I’m speechless. And I’m with Mr. B on this, that this is a wasted opportunity for the neighborhood!
It’s not sad that they are inexpensive–it’s sad that they are needlessly ugly. The lack of thought that went into the building is an affront to the community. Inexpensive does not have to equal ugly.
I’m sorry…I can’t jump on this bandwagon. Although this isn’t my taste and it’s poorly built…why is it “sad” that the apartments are inexpensive? I think it’s a wonderful thing that they are affordable. There are trailer parks across this country that are filled with “homeowners” who have no money. I’m sure it beats renting.
I just viewed Bricolage Design Associates’ portfolio. They appear to do decent work. They can’t be the architects on this monster! Can anyone confirm?
Radusky, Henry – Bricolage Design Associates
6321 New Utrecht Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11219-5425
(718) 259-1100
http://www.bricolagedesigns.com/