House of the Day: Hawthorne Street Woodie
We aren’t intimately familiar with Hawthorne Street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens and this house looks okay to us, but we suspect that it is overpriced at $875,000 when compared to some of the more stately brownstones in the Lefferts Manor historic district that begins one block north of this place. So we’ve got a couple…
We aren’t intimately familiar with Hawthorne Street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens and this house looks okay to us, but we suspect that it is overpriced at $875,000 when compared to some of the more stately brownstones in the Lefferts Manor historic district that begins one block north of this place. So we’ve got a couple of questions: 1) What’s this block like? 2) Is this house indeed overpriced?
Hawthorne Street House [Foxtons] GMAP
OK,my take on that on-going debate that occurs every time Brownstoner posts a thread about PLG:
This is my personal experience of PLG, and as Bob Marvin just wrote previously, I would really encourage people to come to PLG and judge for themselves.
I live in Lefferts Garden.
I am a white female, I was born in France and moved to this country about 7 years ago. I have 2 kids.
We moved with my family to PLG about a year ago, from Manhattan. I guess that we could be called “gentryfiers” or “newbies”, whatever that means. In France, we call that the “Bobos”( as Bourgeois-Bohemian) and it a bit of a derogatory and ironic term.
So call me “PLG Bobo” if you want, but in any case, liking PLG and having moved here does NOT make me a PLG nazi.
We love it here.
I have been around many areas in Brooklyn and for us, Prospect Lefferts Garden had something special.
It feels home to me, and for someone who moved here from Europe, it is a very special feeling to have.
I have lived in many places, and PLG has a lot of similarities with the neibourhood where I grew up . So of course, liking or not PLG, is a matter of personal taste and history.
There is a lot of history and juxtapositions of cultures here, you can meet interesting people, and I love the diversity and architecture of PLG. All of that, and the proximity to the Park and Botanical Gardens or Brooklyn museum makes it quite pleasant to live here.
To be precise, We didn’t move into “the Manor” part of PLG, and I walk around PLG every day, and at night.
I want to state that I or other members of my family have not felt unsafe so far in PLG, and I feel that a lot of the PLG “safety” negative posts are often very over the top and exagerated. The more I read them, the more I question the real motivations of their posters on the subject. Especially, when those post are anonymous, as they often are.
I do not want to paint a rosy picture about PLG safety. It is a neighbourhood in transition, there are some concerns, but so far, I have not witnessed or been informed of any of the extreme
violence that some posters are mentioning.
I would like them to be more precise about those crimes, and they never really are.
I read the Leffertswatch Yahoo group board, which is a board about safety in PLG, and it doesn’t look like people in PLG live in great fear.
People are concerned by some safety issues, for example, loitering on some street corners around Flatbush Avenue seams to be one of them, but PLG residents do not fear for their lives.
I sign my post under my real name, just like Bob Marvin does whom I know and salute here.
That’s fine, and I couldn’t agree more that people should see the place for themselves, preferably during both day and nighttime hours.
Here’s hoping that some of your neighbors take note of the fact that people can disagree with one another without resorting to name calling.
“‘all the crime reported’ is not equivalent to ‘all the crime committed’…. I’m afraid this is the case everywhere–not only in PLG but in every nabe”.
Yes, of course, and furthermore, no attempt to disprove a negative can really be “compelling”. Nevertheless I’m confident that the information I reported is a fair representation of what goes on which, as editor of the “Echo”, I’ll print in good faith. I can’t do better then that.
I’m just asking that readers of this blog keep an open mind and that anyone curious about PLG (or any other neighborhood)see for themselves rather than relying on the sort of “facts” that get repeated so often on the net that they’re taken as truth without necessarily corresponding to reality.
“…all the 71st Pct reported…”
I don’t see why this is at all compelling, since “all the crime reported” is not equivalent to “all the crime committed”. Some time ago there was a post by some scanner freak. He talked about all the reports he’d hear vs all the crimes that were reported. I’m afraid this is the case everywhere–not only in PLG but in every nabe.
Anon. 11:06,
You’re absolutely right, BUT the article I posted is all the 71st Pct reported to cover a period of aprox 4 months since the last issue of the Echo:
http://www.leffertsmanor.org/newsletter.shtml
I hesitated before posting this “Crime Blotter” but I finally did so because
1–Anon. 8:16 asked for “evidence”
2–I figured that many readers might realize that, if the neighborhood was as “dangerous” as some have claimed, there might be a bit more for the PD to report.
Please, people, there is no need to resort to name calling. Take ten deep breaths and think about what you’re saying.
We all know that police blotters don’t give a thorough account of crime in any nabe. This has been dicussed here before.
Hmmm, evidence. It’s REALLY hard to prove a negative(i.e. that PLG is NOT a high crime area), but FWIW, here’s the text of the “Police Blotter” from the forthcoming issue of the Lefferts Manor Echo that I’m putting together for publication later this month. Of course, I COULD have fabricated it, but, if anyone questions my word that this is material is unedited they can check with P.O. Martinos, the 71st Pct Community Affairs Officer, to ensure that the information is exactly what he provided. P.O. Martinos’ phone number is in the body of the article.If you do phone him, make sure to ask his opinion about crime here. Note that there are some robberies reported (at the end of the article–P.O.Martinos’ placement–not mine), but the biggest concern seems to be a shortage of candy for trick-or-treaters on the annual Halloween walk:
“POLICE BLOTTER
By Bill Griffin with thanks to Community Affairs P.O. Vinnie Martinos
Thankfully, with crime in the 71st Precinct down 8% year-to-date, there are more holiday community service activities than crimes to report in and around Lefferts Manor.
Another Successful Halloween Walk
The 71st Precinct would like to thank those in Lefferts Manor who contributed to another successful Halloween Walk. The generosity of the neighborhood in handing out candy and displaying Halloween decorations helped create a tremendous spirit of community and a great experience for the more than 1,000 area kids who participated this year. The precinct has acknowledged, however, the neighborhood’s concerns that with the overwhelming growth in the number of kids, it has become unrealistic for many of us to provide sufficient candy, and that there is somewhat of a safety issue with the jostling crowds on our stoops. The precinct welcomes the neighborhood’s ideas for improving the process and will be working with the LMA to encourage more generous candy/snack donations from companies and local politicians who use the event as a public relations opportunity.
Turkey Drive
In partnership with HealthPlus, the 71st Precinct contributed to a happy Thanksgiving for many by giving away 50 turkeys to area families in need.
Winter Holidays Party – December 17th
On December 17th, officers from the Precinct will host a Winter Holidays Party for area kids at the public school across the street from the police station on Empire Boulevard. Festivities will include gifts, games, and a visit from Santa Claus to help celebrate the season. For more information please contact Community Affairs Officer Vinnie Martinos at 718-735-0527.
Careful of “Shoppers†Looking for a 5-finger Discount
With the holiday shopping season getting into full swing, the Precinct would like to remind everyone that this is traditionally a busy season for pickpockets in the stores and on trains, and for thieves looking to help themselves to packages left in cars. Please remember to keep your wallets and packages secure.
String of Robberies at Chinese-owned Establishments
There have been three recent robberies of Chinese-owned establishments along the Flatbush commercial district in our neighborhood. Although all three were at gunpoint, it is not clear whether they involve the same perpetrators as the methods of entry have all been different. The robberies are currently under investigation”.
Screw you.