House of the Day: The Anti-Brownstone
We won’t waste too much breath bemoaning all the things that are depressing about this new construction in Bedford Stuyvesant. Just one question though: Even if you are building a new building of the Fedders school, do you really need to stick the utility meters front and center on the facade? The funny thing about…
We won’t waste too much breath bemoaning all the things that are depressing about this new construction in Bedford Stuyvesant. Just one question though: Even if you are building a new building of the Fedders school, do you really need to stick the utility meters front and center on the facade? The funny thing about this place, too, is that for $739,000 you could find a decent original brownstone in Bed Stuy. Is anyone really buying this crap, especially at these prices?
Bed Stuy New Construction [Craigslist]
8:38: This truism is beloved of architecture students, bless their hearts, but I don’t think that anyone who has worked on an actual building would agree. Good design doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, but yeah, it usually does in fact cost way more than bad design, for the reasons that PJ mentions and many more. (The big exception is when the bad design stems from a misguided high-concept attempt at Dee-sign, which obviously isn’t the case here.)
Fedders school. Hee hee.
The city used to give Section 8 vouchers to homeless families. But they will no longer do so because the fed. govt. cut financing for Section 8.
So that segment of Section 8 tenants (homeless families who show up looking for temporary shelter and permanent housing) will dry up, although those who already have their vouchers will keep them.
I think the Section 8 vouchers are being replaced with rent subsidies that expire after a certain amount of time (3 years? 5 years?).
The City’s definitions of low and moderate income are indeed a joke by comparison to other places in this country and a sad comment on how expensive it is to live here — and how many people who try to fall below these levels.
And I certainly never intended any of my comments to be taken as fascist in any way. Indeed, as I mentioned in my second post on this thread, not all Section 8 tenants are trouble but those that are ruin it for everyone else.
And I never said that the fault that Section 8 tenants lived in crummy buildings was theirs, only that they were used to living in those conditions, and through a lack of education (for want of a better word), they continue to treat their new spaces exactly the same as the old ones, or, as someone said above, “If you are brought up thinking it is ok to throw trash on the ground or out of your window, that’s what you are going to do when you are older.”
This statement crosses all classes and races — reference the story the other day about the nice, white, affluent Park Sloper who decided it was OK to change her baby’s diaper on the table of a cafe. She, apparently, had some idea that this was not a good thing, but did it anyway. However, her kid may find this totally normal and pass this behaviour along to hers, etc.
And finally — I agree with the poster who said that NYU students are spoiled, disrespectful brats — same thing — if you’re brought up thinking you’re God’s gift to the world and it’s OK to treat “little people,” like crap, while expecting those same people to clean up after you, you’ll continue to do so.
On the subject of the external meters –
Keyspan used to read my meters using a truck-mounted receiver. When I became a legal two-family and added a second meter, they replaced the scannable meter with a new unscannable one. They wanted to charge me for the privelege of adding a new transmitter. I told them to come and read both, now.
Con Ed comes to read.
DEP mounts small external boxes which can be read with a gun. The City actually pays Con Ed to read that meter.
The system seem retarded, but I think may have something to do with keeping some entry level union jobs at these places.
If anyone wants to experience owning low income housing, I suggest Allentown, PA. Multifamily buildings in Allentown are still cheap, however, you will experience one problem after the other, and there is no doubt you will sell the building within a year.
It’s nearly impossibly to find responsible low income tenants. If they were responsible, they wouldn’t be low income.
I had a couple good low income tenants, but the majority were filthy liers.
Regarding the earlier posters comments about NYU students, I’d agree. Students, particularly young ones, are also terrible tenants. I haven’t rented to mentally ill tenants, so I can’t comment about that.
8:38-
I know that’s the standard line from architects- but do you really believe it?
I’m not talking about the cost of good design throughout the building’s life- clearly ‘good design’ should pay benefits over the long term. However, these builders are not likely to hold on to these buildings for so long.
Off the top of my head three ways that good design would cost more are: more talented architects, longer design schedule, better quality materials.
(If you just mean to say that it wouldn’t have cost more to put the damn utility meter somewhere beside the FRONT OF THE BUILDING, I’ll grant your point.)
what’s so special about Brown Stones?
It seems like too much effort to fix and you have limited possibilities with how you can update it.
I prefer to have the option to create moden facade and of course insde too.
This thread reminds me of the time former Mayor Koch got himself into hot water when visiting some projects or section 8 housing where people were complaining about living conditions. He went through some apartments that were filthy with dirty kitchens full of dirty dishes and trash and dirty bathrooms. He made a comment along the lines of “haven’t the tenants ever heard of Comet and elbow grease?”. It’s a fair point in my opinion, however, I don’t think all poor people are slobs who do not take care of where they live. However, I do think that a greater proportion of them are. It is also a cultural thing. Go to Greenpoint – poor to working class Polish people and the place is very clean. If you are brought up thinking it is ok to throw trash on the ground or out of your window, that’s what you are going to do when you are older. I see it every day on the street or in the subways.
I have been a building mechanic for a medium sized management company for nearly 15 years. I have supervised the maintenance of buildings in the East Village where both New York University students and the previously homeless mentally ill have rented apartments, both, by the way, receiving help from the government. I would much rather care for a building with the mentally ill than NYU students. Many poor people are grateful and respectful of the opportunity to live with a roof over their heads. If the apartment gets run down its for the reason they never complain about a problem until it gets unbearable. NYU students on the other hand, able to afford $24,000 tuition, were always trashing the buildings acting like animals.