Real Estate

Five-Room Railroad in Red Hook With Built-in Storage, Old-School Vibe Asks $2,400

This third-floor railroad apartment with wood floors, prewar charm and extra rooms could be a decent find for the right person.

by Stephen Zacks

08/22/2019 4 minute 0

This third-floor railroad apartment in Red Hook with wood floors, built-in storage and a small extra room through the bedroom could be a decent find for the right person. It’s in a circa 1860s brick walk-up located right next to the Doughboy Memorial on Red Hook’s main drag at 319 Van Brunt Street. The building is only a block from Coffey Park, six blocks from the Fairway supermarket, and about three from the Red Hook ferry terminal in Atlantic Basin.

In “Gotham: A History of New York to 1898,” authors Edwin Burrows and Mike Wallace note that surveying of the docks at Atlantic Basin began in 1839 following an increase in the cross Atlantic steamer trade overwhelming Lower Manhattan. Tidal marshes were subsequently filled and breakwaters constructed, and the first dock blocks sunk in 1841. By the end of the 1840s, they wrote, the 40-acre basin could accommodate up to 100 ships at a time.

This stretch of Van Brunt falls squarely within one of the worst flood zones at a base flood elevation of 10 feet, according to FEMA data, or 12 feet, based on New York City Planning’s Flood Hazard Mapper. As a third-floor unit, it’s probably safely above the tide in hurricane season, at any rate.

The interior photos are a bit inconsistent, and two appear to show the second-floor unit. In any case, the five-room unit has a large eat-in kitchen with a walk-in pantry that could probably store most anything, and four more rooms that could easily serve as bedroom, living room, dining room, and either additional closet space or office.

One of two small inner rooms has its original built-in wardrobe with crown molding on top and a drawer at the bottom. Probably originally intended as a bedroom, the space would make a handy dining room since it’s next to the kitchen.

If the appearance of the rest of the apartment matches the photos, then there are original moldings, wood floors, cupboards, tin ceilings and other charming details throughout. Presumably the kitchen has a similar style of standard cabinets, older appliances, and stamped tin ceilings. The bathroom is not pictured.

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Brokers Betty Walsh and Maria Mackin of Halstead are showing it at an open house on Sunday August 24 from noon to 2 p.m. if you want a closer look. It’s asking $2,400 a month. Worth it for the sleepy, scenic neighborhood in a flood zone?

[Listing: 319 Van Brunt Street | Broker: Halstead] GMAP