Brooklyn
It Certainly Feels Like a College Town Sometimes...
From The Real Deal:
The number of incoming Brooklyn home hunters from outside of New York State increased over previous quarters, according to a third-quarter Downtown Brooklyn report looking at prospective renters.
More would-be renters were looking to move to Brooklyn from out of state in the third quarter than in previous quarters. ... Twenty-six percent of Brooklyn apartment hunters in the third quarter were from out of state, compared to 20 percent in the second quarter.
Brooklyn, The Borough: The Quietest Places To Pass a Sunday
"Do you hear the crickets?," asked Ali Jafri, a broker for Prudential Douglas Elliman. We were standing on the ninth-floor balcony of a brand-new three-bedroom condominium for sale at 20 Bayard Street in Williamsburg. "That's something you won't get in Manhattan."
These days, Mr. Jafri might hear crickets more often than he'd like. It was the Sunday before the European markets began to tumble, during peak open house hours, and the buyer traffic through Brooklyn's newer towers was slow. Just a few days earlier, The New York Times had declared that "the credit crisis and the turmoil on Wall Street are bringing New York's real estate boom to an end. read more »
The Ghost Condos of McCarren Park
Behind the sagging wire fence, all that's left of 55 Eckford Street in Greenpoint is a skeleton, its steel ribs turned rusty from months of rain. A tangle of weeds has shot up among the bottles and soggy cardboard covering the ground, and blue construction tarp flaps in the autumn wind. The place smells faintly of urine.
Is this the future of McCarren Park's shiny new condo expansion?
Not yet. But if New York's real estate boom died on Oct. 1, as The New York Times declared, then these deserted developments are its ghosts, projects left over from a more hopeful time. read more »
Which Brooklyn Nabe Will Wall Street Impact Most? Vote Now!
Brownstoner's holding a vote today on how much (not if!) Brooklyn's housing prices will fall because of the Wall Street crisis. The votes center on the blue-chip neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights and the up-and-comers like Clinton Hill. Have your voice heard!
Shhhh! Don't Tell Anybody About Midwood
"just bought in midwood. glad to see that midwood didn't appear on this list at all. it can only be a secret for so long i guess. takes me 35 minutes to union square." ["Where the Bobos Now Buy in Brooklyn"]
Report: Economy to Wallop Brooklyn's Fledging Financial Services
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce released a labor report today chronicling the borough’s up-and-down economy since 2001. While Brooklyn has added 23,000 jobs since 2001 (a growth rate of 5.7 percent) and had a noticeable uptick in residential permits, the near-term forecast indicates “job losses in several key sectors” and a housing slump that “will affect tens of thousands of New Yorkers."
Despite the high job growth rate, certain industries lost jobs, especially blue-collar fields like manufacturing, construction and wholesale trade, which lost approximately 14,000 jobs since 2001. There was a 40 percent decrease in factory jobs in Brooklyn since 2000. Job growth was strong in retail trade, financial services, educational services and health services, although the ongoing effects of the credit crises are likely to wipe out a sizable chunk of Brooklyn’s burgeoning financial services industry. read more »
The Incredibly Shrinking Native Manhattanite in Manhattan
"We are a very happy and yet jaded people," said Zoe Schneider, 36, the creator of Zoe Lou Designs, a line of New York-themed kid's clothes.
Ms. Schneider was standing at the dimly lit entrance of Dusk Lounge bar on West 24th Street last Tuesday evening. Inside was September's gathering of The Magic Garden, a regular congregation of people raised in the five boroughs.
Ms. Schneider is the club's founder.
"We used to play 'where's the native' at Luna Lounge," she said, talking about how she arrived at the idea for the club. read more »
Hello, Brooklyn Literary 100! Fort Greene Indie Bookstore Initiative Announces Launch Party
Jessica Stockton-Bagnulo, the events coordinator at the Nolita bookstore McNally Jackson, has been public about her intention to open a new independent bookstore in Brooklyn since at least January, when she won a $15,000 grant for the project from the Brooklyn Public Library. Since then, she seems to have zeroed in on Fort Greene as her neighborhood of choice, and the Fort Greene Association, which administered a survey to 380 locals and found that 74% of them wanted a bookstore in the neighborhood, is trying to help her make it happen.
Over the weekend a launch party was scheduled and announced for what's being called the Fort Greene Bookstore Initiative. read more »
In Park Slope, Italian Really Is The New French
Scarpetta chef Scott Conant may be "too modest" to say it, but here's proof that Italian is the new French.
Literally, in this case: beloved former French bistro Cocotte in Park Slope is being converted into some type of red-sauce joint, described simply as an "Italian restaurant," according to some new signage posted on the premises.
Cocotte, one of this author's favorites in the neighborhood, was suddenly shuttered back in February, with chef and co-owner Bill Snell blaming stiff competition along Fifth Avenue, the Slope's premier restaurant row.
Shocker: Park Slope Loves Its Sex Toys!
The media hubbub surrounding Toys in Babeland's opening in Park Slope earlier this summer ranged from a Post screamer ("Sex-Toy Shop Has Bad Vibes in Park Slope") to a Daily Intel piece about how Internet buzz on the new store was largely favorable. In between, the Daily News informed that the shop would have a baby changing table to cater to the famously family-friendly hood, a tidbit that netted Babeland’s owners an irate phone call from Focus on the Family.
So how's business going now that the store's been open a couple months?
"We're doubling our sales projections," says Claire Cavanah, one of Babeland's owners. read more »
Single White Reporter Seeks Loving Woman With Long Legs, Longer Lease
Brooklyn Paper senior reporter Mike McLaughlin just got dumped -- now he needs a new girlfriend and, more importantly, a new apartment.
Cue the cameras! Mr. McLaughlin will be chronicling his search for love and shelter in a new weekly video segment called "The Search."
"It's a classic New York story," said his boss, Gersh Kuntzman.
Note the comments:
"All my lady friends are going to be beating down his door... granted he needs to get a door first."
Green Club Galapagos Opens in Brooklyn
Environmentally friendly performance club Galapagos Art Space opens officially tonight at 7 at 16 Main Steet in Brooklyn.
The Observer's Gillian Reagan wrote recently about the whole green nightlife movement:
...[W]ith gas prices soaring and the words “energy crisis” tumbling off even the most un-Gore-like lips, the whole project of greening up nightlife seems perfectly prescient. The typical club—with its blasting sound systems, sweat-cooling air-conditioners and lights blazing three nights a week—gobbles up 150 times more energy than a four-person family every year, according to Enviu, a Netherlands-based, environmental nonprofit group. In New York City, dance spots tend to be open five to six days a week, making their consumption that much higher. read more »
Brooklyn Office Vacancy, Asking Rents Increase
The local economic woes are impacting not just Manhattan's faltering office market.
The Brooklyn office market vacancy rate ended the first half of 2008 slightly higher than at the same time last year and it's expected to rise more before the year is out, according to a new report. The report (PDF), from investment-sales firm Marcus & Millichap, forecasts a year-end vacancy rate of 10.5 percent, up from the 10.4 percent at the end of the second quarter on June 30.
As many as 2,000 office-based jobs in Brooklyn are expected to be eliminated this year, according to the report, mirroring the trend in Manhattan.
Meanwhile, the average asking rent for Brooklyn office space has increased in 2008. It was $27.58 a square foot by the end of the second quarter, up 5.1 percent annualy and 4.9 percent since January.
A Question on Lots of People's Minds
"What is so special about Brooklyn?? That's all we ever read about in this rag. Are you telling me the snotty (white) infants in Park Slope will be getting a better slice of life than the (brown/white/asian) kids in Astoria and Jackson Heights??" ["Brooklyn, The Borough: Growing Up New York"]
The G Train Crusader
When Peter Eide moved to Clinton Hill, he had a "fantastical" idea.
The sculptor had spent 12 years moving around the borough after arriving from Philadelphia: Greenpoint, Williamsburg, back to Clinton Hill. But Mr. Eide, now 37, never strayed far from the G train, the only subway line in the city that doesn't travel through Manhattan. And he never stopped thinking of that idea he had: to connect his neighborhood G train stop, Fulton Street, to the Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street transit hub, effectively linking the line to almost a dozen other routes.
The fantastical part? A 660-foot tunnel buried under Fort Greene. read more »
Challenges for New York, Other Big Cities as 'White Flight' Ends
Decades of so-called white flight from American cities, including New York, are ending, according to a Wall Street Journal article on Saturday by Conor Dougherty. This end has spawned a fresh set of clashes and challenges:
[I]n Brooklyn, in a majority African-American section of the borough, Councilwoman Letitia James says a handful of predominantly white parents last year asked her if some of their local tax money could be steered to schools in a nearby neighborhood. The parents wanted their kids in schools with a more diverse racial mix, Ms. James says, rather than the majority-black schools in her district.
The parents felt "tax dollars should follow the children, and not the school," Ms. read more »
Et Tu, Queens? Home Sales There Plunge, Just Like Manhattan, Brooklyn
Home sales in Queens plunged annually from the spring of 2007, according to a new report, joining Brooklyn and Manhattan in steep year-over-year sales slides.
Queens home sales were down 23.7 percent from the second quarter of 2007 through the second quarter of 2008, to 2,363, according to the report out this week from appraisal firm Miller Samuel and brokerage Prudential Douglas Elliman. The second quarter sales amount--nearly 3,100--represents, apparently, a quarterly peak since 2004. read more »
A report earlier this month showed Brooklyn home sales plunging 43.6 percent annually. And, in Manhattan, sales dropped 21.8 percent year over year. The reports tracked deals closed in the quarter ending June 30 (the Manhattan and Brooklyn ones are available
Brooklyn's Busiest Half
Most of Brooklyn's home sales are happening in South Brooklyn, a slice of the city much less traveled by Manhattanites than the increasingly mirror-image neighborhoods further north.
In the first half of 2008, over 53 percent of Brooklyn home sales closed in South Brooklyn, according to a report (PDF) from appraisal firm Miller Samuel and brokerage Douglas Elliman.
Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that South Brooklyn, unlike its condo-laden neighbors elsewhere, remains awash in houses. "One- to three-family houses account for half the sales in the entire borough," Jonathan Miller, the report's author, pointed out yesterday.
The Great Brooklyn Home Sales Dive of '08 by Region
Here's a breakdown by Brooklyn region of home sales in the second and first quarters of 2008, and in the second quarter of 2007.
Sales dropped just about everywhere--and by double-digit percentages boroughwide--according to the new statistics from appraisal firm Miller Samuel and brokerage Prudential Douglas Elliman. read more »
Brooklyn Market Report Now Online
Brooklyn vs. Manhattan: A Handy Price Guide
Here's a breakdown of Manhattan and Brooklyn housing prices in the second quarter of 2008, according to reports from Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman.
Average sales price
- Manhattan: $1,669,729
- Brooklyn: $588,441
Median sales price
- Manhattan: $1,025,000
- Brooklyn: $525,000
Average condo sales price
- Manhattan: $1,937,090
- Brooklyn: $601,280
Median condo sales price
- Manhattan: $1,267,000
- Brooklyn: $514,725
Average co-op sales price
- Manhattan: $1,280,201
- Brooklyn: $332,250
Median co-op sales price
- Manhattan: $755,000
- Brooklyn: $255,000
Williamsburg, Greenpoint Home Prices Jump As Borough-Wide Sales Slump
Home prices in Williamsburg and Greenpoint grew more in the last 12 months than prices in any other Brooklyn area, according to a new report.
The average sales price in the two neighborhoods increased 12.7 percent from the second quarter of 2007 through the second quarter of 2008 to $663,946; and the average sales price per foot increased 20.3 percent over the same period to $445.
These annual increases were greater than those in other Brooklyn neighborhoods. The Williamsburg-Greenpoint median price also increased annually, though by a relatively small 9 percent. read more »
The report, an inaugural Brooklyn market report from brokerage
Will Skate For Change: Coney Island Roller Queen Drumming Up Cash For Rink
Coney Island merchant Dianna Carlin continues her quest to reopen her Lola Staar Dreamland Roller Rink in the abandoned Childs Restaurant building with the first of two fund-raisers tonight.
Ms. Carlin is trying to raise the necessary funds for an assembly permit to cover the whole 60,000-square-foot building -- the cost of which is considerable. read more »
Comment: Thai on Washington Avenue
Regarding this morning's Brooklyn, The Borough: A Tree Salad Grows in Brooklyn: "Uh, I've lived in Crown Heights for six years, and this ain't a restaurant row: It's base-level sustenance. No one in their right mind would travel to Washington Avenue to go to that Thai place."
Developers Bearish on Brooklyn Home-Building
Brownstoner breaks down the number of Brooklyn condo and co-op offering plans filed with the state Attorney General over the last few years (1,393 plans for 28,499 new units since 2004) and quizzes developers on what's to come.
Not much, apparently: read more »
Williamsburg College
The Observer has a package this week (map included!) about Williamsburg College. Learn all you need to know about campus eats, dorm life and beer blasts. Plus, get advice from a Williamsburg alum.
This One's for You, Steve Hindy
Brooklyn Brewery co-founder and current president Steve Hindy has been elected to the board of directors of The Beer Institute (yup, that would be the national trade association representing the brewing industry, God bless 'em).
My colleague Chris Shott profiled Mr. Hindy last May as an unlikely real estate power broker in Brooklyn, which includes his involvement with Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner and with Mayor Bloomberg's sweeping rezoning of parts of the borough: read more »
Jeers Drown Out Cheers at Coney Island Beach Party
"How about making some noise for opening the beach?" Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said from the podium, as brightly dressed protesters standing behind a police line chanted, "Thor no more! Thor no more!"
So began another politically charged season at Coney Island under appropriately gloomy skies on Thursday morning. read more »
G Train Rally Kicks Off Campaign to Improve M.T.A.'s 'Forgotten Stepchild'
"The four-car G train is just like one step above the horse and buggy days," State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn told the crowd at Wednesday night's Save the G rally at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene.
Almost 100 G riders kicked off a monthlong campaign to increase service on the "forgotten stepchild" of the New York subway system, as Mr. Jeffries and others have called it.
"It's important to increase the intensity of the public campaign," Mr. Jeffries said, "to stress to the M.T.A. that G train service enhancements are absolutely necessary."
On June 25, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board will meet to discuss systemwide service improvements. Mr. Jeffries, who organized the rally, intends to make sure the G is a top priority. In the coming weeks, G advocates will be writing letters, sending e-mails and corralling the support of elected officials in an effort to "convince the M.T.A. to do the right thing," as Mr. Jeffries put it. read more »
Studies: More Kids Moving Back Home and Loving It
A couple of months ago, we wrote about the reality of twenty-something Brooklynites returning to live with their parents in the brownstones and apartments they grew up in, and feeling no shame about the decision. The evidence was largely anecdotal.
Not anymore. read more »
Monday Morning Quote: Park Slope Zeitgeist
From Lynn Harris' essay on Park Slope in the Sunday New York Times, quoting John Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research:
"There is all this class resentment in New York, and it's very tied up in real estate. People who are well-housed are the envy of others."
Co-Housing Enthusiasts Want Kibbutz, Brooklyn-Style
It's an anti-yuppification backlash in Brooklyn!
About 20 Brooklyn families are looking to share a house in a Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood, where they can engage in communal behavior like shared meals and communal relaxation activities, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
Like much else in Brooklyn, this urban kibbutz lifestyle won't come cheap. read more »
Brooklyn, The Borough: Bowling Alone in Williamsburg
On a recent Saturday night, I did a little experiment: I broke the rules of youthful social engagement and went to a bar by myself. I sat in the dimly lit courtyard behind Union Pool in Williamsburg. I made myself available, quietly sipping a pint of Blue Moon.
By 11, small groups had perched themselves all around me on wooden benches chatting about their lives, jobs and families. A group of three pretty ladies gossiped vehemently about their film industry jobs. I sat nearby in my frilly dress eavesdropping. After an hour of enjoying the warm weather, and having not made any new acquaintances, I made my way to sit at the bar. Again, no luck. Rarely are Brooklyn's local watering holes a place to meet new people these days. The age-old complaint of post-college social isolation was now fresh in my mind.
While advising me about my love life, my mother always likes to tell stories about her youthful evenings spent at her local singles bar. The rules of engagement are much different now. It's been a long time since there were social mores about which gender approaches the other, pays for dates or makes the first move on a first date. A cursory glance at Craigslist's missed connections section proves that many 25- to 35-year-olds, especially recent transplants, don't necessarily have the stones to introduce themselves in person. read more »
The Real World... Brooklyn!
For those of us of a certain age, MTV's The Real World was, like, the coolest thing ever: Pedro vs. Puck, that Irish guy Dom from the second season, the year it took place in London with the, like, 16-year-old dating the 14-year-old. Fascinating slice-of-life stuff when viewed from the suburbs.
And, then, for a long, long time, it was the stupidest thing on cable TV. And still is, probably. We don't know. We stopped watching around voting age.
But! Today, MTV announces that the 21st season of The Real World will be filmed in Brooklyn.
Release after the jump, and expert commentary here regarding possible spots in the borough for filming. read more »
The Real World: Brooklyn. For Real.
In an inevitable, perhaps even overdue collision of reality and lifestyle, this morning MTV announced it has green-lighted the 21st season of The Real World. It will be filmed in Brooklyn, the reigning home turf of post-teen drama, and broadcast in 13 one-hour episodes in early 2009. No word yet regarding in which neighborhood the attention-seeking hopefuls will reside and manufacture identity-based conflict. We are hoping for the corner of Smith and Carroll but will also settle for Bedford and North Sixth. We would also like to see The Real World: East New York, where things start getting really real, and surely City Councilman Charles Barron of that neighborhood would assist with locations. God speed, young funny-haired applicants. read more »
Highbrow Designers Descend on Low-Lying Brooklyn Nabe
Is a sustainably designed Argington Picchu Dresser (above) just the thing your tyke needs to make her room complete? Have you been jonesing for a Lotta Jansdotter hand tote?
If so, you've got exquisite timing. Friday through Sunday, "Bklyn Designs" will take over Dumbo (itself home to Bo Concept and West Elm) for the fifth year running. read more »
There Goes The Neighborhood: Crown Heights Grocery Turns Organic
If there's anything more symbolic of a neighborhood's gentrification, well, we can' t think of it: Nam's grocery on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights is going organic, according to Brooklynian.com. read more »
'Overcrowded' Dog Park Increasingly Rambunctious
Humans aren't the only mammals fighting for real estate in Brownstone Brooklyn. Now, even dogs are joining the fray!
Apparently, the number of canines vying for space in Fort Greene Park has increased to the point that owners are concerned about a corresponding rise in dust-ups between mutts. read more »
IKEA 'Confident' About Finally Opening In Brooklyn
Nearly five years in the making (and just a few years off its originally-planned 2005 opening), Swedish retailer IKEA's 346,000-square-foot store on the Brooklyn waterfront will finally open on June 18, the company announced today.
"We made excellent progress on construction last year and so far this spring, so we are confident the remaining construction milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by mid-June," said store manager Mike Baker in a statement. read more »
Cheerio There, Bruce!
Another scene from Thursday evening's protest outside the Brooklyn Museum of Art against Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner.
Irony Unleashed at Anti-Ratner Protest
The big protest against Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner went off Thursday evening outside of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, which was honoring Mr. Ratner inside for his philanthropy. Above is a nattily dressed protestor (it was black-tie inside and outside--get it?!) snapped by Observer photo editor Nicole Brydson. More to come.
What Manhattan Prices Buy in Brooklyn
Condo and co-op prices dropped in brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods like Carroll Gardens and Park Slope in the first quarter of 2008, according to a new report from the Corcoran Group. Manhattan owners—and those who can afford to be some day—should take note.
The average sales price of Brooklyn condos and co-ops combined dropped 10 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the first of 2008 to $615,000. The median price dropped as well, 7 percent to $549,000. read more »
Brooklyn, Queens Among Nation's 10 Most Populous Counties
Brooklyn is the seventh-largest county in the United States, according to new census estimates. The County of Kings has 2,528,050 residents. Queens was No. 10 with 2,270,338; and Manhattan was No. 19 with 1,620,867 residents. The census' estimates run through July 1, 2007.
Although all three experienced population gains over previous years' estimates going back to 2000, none were among the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties; nor were the Bronx or Staten Island. The Bronx was No. read more »
Brooklyn Neighbors Really Don’t Want Jail in Their Backyard
A group of neighborhood and business groups opposed to the reopening and expansion of the House of Detention at the edge of Downtown Brooklyn are expanding their opposition as the city moves closer to expanding the now-shuttered jail.
A group calling itself the Brooklyn House of Detention Community Stakeholders Group has launched a Web site for the issue, announcing their labors today with their very first press release. read more »