The Times of London Singing Bed Stuy's Praises
It sounds like London Times writer James Doran got quite a deal on his Bedford Stuyvesant brownstone. Given how well-preserved all the details were, $600,000 sounds undermarket to us. And what a great provenance! The story he tells of the former owner, a brewery heiress, is great stuff. The Heath Ledger angle might be a…
It sounds like London Times writer James Doran got quite a deal on his Bedford Stuyvesant brownstone. Given how well-preserved all the details were, $600,000 sounds undermarket to us. And what a great provenance! The story he tells of the former owner, a brewery heiress, is great stuff. The Heath Ledger angle might be a bit of a stretch but, hey, Doran’s at least setting the newspaper-reading public straight about the neighborhood which has caught more than its share of bad press over the years:
Bed-Stuy is more than just an incredible investment opportunity for an adventurous property speculator: it is one of the most fascinating neighbourhoods of New York, steeped in history and close to Manhattan’s sleepless streets, yet no tourist ever sets foot here.
Local blog Bed Stuy Gateway had this to say about the article: Is The Times doing a Lenten penance for the smackdown of an article it published on June 25, 2005 in which reporter Dominic Rushe called Bed-Stuy “a horrible and inconvenient area of Brooklyn with some lovely buildings and a nasty crack habit”?
Big Apple’s Core Appeal [London Times]
The Brits Are Coming [Bed Stuy Gateway]
and we’re all just here to make money aren’t we?
CHP- well said! I truly don’t understand the need to attack people who say something positive about a neighborhood. Especially if they live in said neighborhood. All the crime stats in the world don’t give you a true picture and they certainly don’t say anything about the good parts. As some people here have read, I was mugged in Brooklyn Heights, when I lived there. And there were others attempts on me. There were snipers on apartment building roofs and plenty of break-ins. Oddly you don’t hear much about that- but I read the police blotter for the area for years- trust me, crime is a problem there too. I think the issue isn’t really the crime rates or the prices- what gets me going on this board is that someone like James isn’t allowed to write anything positive about Bed-Stuy without someone feeling offended- not just disagreeing, mind you- but offended. It’s fine to disagree, or offer more/differing information- but jeesh! why can’t people just speak from their own good experiences and leave it at that? It sometimes surprises me how angry people get if someone says they love their neighborhood (unless it’s Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill or Carroll Gardens). There’s nothing wrong with looking for the good in a place-it doesn’t make you blind, but it may make you happy.
JAMES — I still want to know about your fireplace. Whatever it is in the photo looks amazing.
CHP, it occurs to me that maybe you mean the “tearing down” of Bed Stuy in general, otuside this thread, not the discussion here, in which case ignore my whole post.
CHP,
Great and well-put post, but I would take exception to one thing:
“I don’t understand the need to tear the place down, though. If James Doran and his fiance choose this as their home, as do many, many others, why is that a bad choice?…”
Except for Ron at the very beginning, and maybe one or two others I’m totally forgetting, I haven’t seen any tearing down here. You have some people saying they love Bed Stuy. You have some people saying that the article was kind of rose-colored, some of whom don’t live in Bed Stuy (like me) and some of whom do (like Pietro). Some say the neighborhood’s crime stats matter, and some say they don’t. Some say they’ve been safe in BS and some say they’ve been mugged. But pretty much everyone seems to agree that Bed Stuy is a big neighborhood with a lot of beautiful areas and varied pockets of safety/crime.
After all the flame wars on this site, I’m impressed with how civil it’s been, on almost everyone’s part.
David, my posts are no more anonymous than yours. You are clearly an empiricist, and that’s good in my opinion, up to a point. My impression is that because quality of life is anecdotal and cannot be measured, you have no resources other than statistics.
Nice discussion gang. I agree with everyone here to a certain degree. Bed-Stuy is a huge neighborhood. Some good parts. Some bad parts. But as a long time resident of FG/CH I can definitely relate to the previous poster’s comments that you simply have to watch your back. You can never feel completely safe in any part of Brooklyn and must certainly exercise more caution and better judgment when in high risk areas, e.g., FG, CH and BS.
JD, don’t lose hope. Brownstone Bed-Stuy will rise from the ashes of crime and poverty like a mighty Phoenix and soar to heights not yet imaginable. Just wait. I’ve seen it happen in FG and CH and it will surely happen in BS. Why? These neighborhoods are essentially the same and are cut from the same cloth. No difference at all. BS is simply further east and gentrification is taking its time to get there – but it will.
I own three buildings in FG/CH and just purchased my first in BS and I can guarantee that going forward the BS property will appreciate more. If I had listened to the naysayers 10-20 years ago, I would’ve foolishly sold in FG and CH and missed out on a hell of a ride! I didn’t listen to the uninformed then and I’m certainly not going to listen to them now!
Yes, crime is indeed an issue but if the community if filed with architecturally significant homes and there is a common scheme in residential development, confided to a well defined area (i.e., northeastern Bed-Stuy), then I say buy and hold. The negatives, which are very real, keep prices low and affordable and provide the just the type of opportunity for forward looking people such as yourself to profit handsomely.
CrownHeightsProud, I think you’re terrific and I’m Crown Heights proud too, with you as my neighbor. I’m looking forward to seeing you again at the next CHNA meeting.
Beautiful post Crown HeightsProud.