Where are the best parts of Sunset Park to live?
Hello. So, my attempts to buy an apartment have taken me to Sunset Park, where I’m looking to find a nice 1br for under $300K. Short of its Chinatown and that it has pretty good subway connections, I know absolutely nothing about the area. Anyone want to chime in with preferable locations in the area?…
Hello. So, my attempts to buy an apartment have taken me to Sunset Park, where I’m looking to find a nice 1br for under $300K. Short of its Chinatown and that it has pretty good subway connections, I know absolutely nothing about the area. Anyone want to chime in with preferable locations in the area? What decent apartments are going for? Recommendations in general?
lived in sunset park for 8 years, until fairly recently. in my opinion, it’s the kind of neighborhood where you want to live on the blocks that are the prettiest. that is, look at the lovely brownstone and row house blocks. those tend to have a much higher rate of owner-occupancy and the folks really take care of the places. i lived on a pretty mixed block (mixed as in 50% nice homes, 50% apts and crappy homes). i loved living there and all, but no doubt it had it’s share of loud, dirty, and a little sketchy. i happened to like and be friendly with the weed dealers on the one corner, but on the other corner the dealers dealt in the nasty stuff… most of the “nice” blocks have a little less of that sort of thing, i can tell you from experience. more families. walking distance to the train and to BK chinatown is really nice. plus, when you’re in the 50’s west of 5th ave, you can get way more diverse delivery options in terms of food (including great Bay Ridge Greek food and Rocco’s Italian, in addition to the awesome neighborhood Chinese and Mexican).
Check streets like 54th and 58th between 4th and 7th, and 47th between 5th and 6th.
Also, close to the 59th St station is good b/c it’s express, which makes a world of difference. If you have to commute to the City, the local from 52nd all the way to Pacific/Atlantic adds a hell of a long time to the ride.
You could also try Kensington. There are several buildings with sizeable apartments near the Fort Hamilton and Church Avenue F stops. I think you could definitely find a decent one bedroom for under 300,000. The neighborhood was profiled in the Times ‘Living In…’ section recently. Just google ‘living in Kensington’ and you’ll find it. The article was very accurate in describing the vibe of the neighborhood, but I think didn’t mention how many reasonably priced apts can be found in the area. Definitely worth a look.
If you can wait, definitely do so. Prices will drop dramatically in about 18 months. Sunset is a great neighborhood, unless you’re a wannabee hipster. Great people, terrific shopping, good prices, great transportation. The only drawback to the nabe is a lack of civic involvement. Only a handful, a very small handful, of folks are carrying the load. Too many poverty pimps and self-interested business people are still calling the shots. Be real careful of UPROSE in particular – once a great organization doing environmental justice, now the personal powerbase for a woman (who i believe lives in the Bronx) although her mom no longer draws a salary, she has UPROSE doing whatever the Mayor wants, so that her husband can keep his job at City Hall (its a real shame, her husband, like her, was once a dedicated community activist). UPROSE services almost no one and has no true direction from a board of directors.
Hello.
I live on 41st between 7th and 8th. Right off the park you can get a ‘realtor’s’ 2 bedroom in one of the Finnish coops for about $300K or less. And even less if you pay cash (though who can do that I don’t know). That ‘two’ bedroom would most likely be a one bedroom with a dining room that can be used as a bedroom. Most of the apartments in these buildings are similar so you’d get: An eat in kitchen (7 x 15 or 10 x 10 or so), one bedroom (8 x 11 or so) one living room (9 x 12 or so), and one dining room (9 x 12 or so). This is referred to as a ‘four room.’
Obviously you can buy one in crappy condition for less and have at it or wait and wait for one to turn up in good condition. Good condition in these apts means original parquet floors, beautiful solid wood doors with glass door knobs, picture molding, and original subway tile/pedestal sink bathrooms, etc.
An apt with windows overlooking the park might set you back $300-$325K.
More often there are ‘three rooms’ (a real one bedroom) available for $225 or so and if you’re really lucky a ‘five-room’ will come up. I gotst me a four room.
Buying somewhere else (the Slope, Clinton Hill) might be savvier financially but I’m cheap and this made sense for me. I love the neighborhood (been there a little over a year). The park is a trasure and the top notch, dirt-cheap food is unbelievable– if two dimensional (Chinese/Latino).
It’s quiter up the hill (6th to 9th Aves). The strip clubs and proposed developments are a world away but the 5th Ave stores are close. I take the D train to/from 9th Ave. So to Manhattan its 36th St, Pacific, Grand. That’s it.
It’s also surprisingly centrally located, close to Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Borough Park, Ditmas Park and Dyker Heights.
Sunset Park was one of the areas we looked at because of the many old coop buildings, which we love architecturally. The main problem was that there seemed to be very little inventory coming onto the market. In the 6 months we looked, there was only 1 coop that came on the market that had anywhere close to what we were looking for (decent preservation of original detail, good location, etc) but we were put off by the strictness of the coop rules. Many of the old coops there won’t allow shareholders to carry a mortgage – they require all cash purchase – which has an impact on price as well as inventory. That is slowly changing, but even in buildings which take mortgages we found stricter rules than at coops in other areas: no pets, absolutely no subletting, etc. That said, the apartments are beautiful and often have very low maintenance, as many don’t have an underlying mortgage. Good luck looking around! I recommend checking on craigslist, and there’s also a newish broker at Corcoran, Peter somebody, who lives in the area.
I live in Sunset Park on 47th & 6th ave. I think it’s a great area being between little Mexico on 5th ave and the ever growing Chinatown on 8th ave. There are many old coops here as well as new condos going up all the time. If you walk on 46th near 6th ave you will see coops and new condos available. There are many beautiful blocks here. Spend some time walking around to get a feel for the neighborhood.
Who knows? EDC and several key pols are on board with it and Time Equities is working with Greenberg-Farrow on a design.
I don’t know how they’re gonna deal with the traffic problems. There’s a 39th St exit on the BQE but no entrances. The nearest on ramps are down at 65th St on 3rd Ave, which is already way crowded.
not too many coops in area.
But I do see a couple on Corcoran(in your price range) – so must be some.
Being near the 36st/4th avenue station is major plus for tranportation option though.
Steve,
Thanks for that link on the mall – I had no idea! Is this conversion really happening or just in planning/dreaming stages?
I’ve wondered why that area hasn’t been transformed yet – some of the best views in nyc with these beautiful buildings just sitting there.