Park Slope

A whopping 248 voters -- plus children and at least seven baby stollers -- waited in a U-shaped line, stretching from the Fourth Street entrance to PS 51, continuing down the entire block of Fifth Avenue, to a spot halfway around Fifth Street when I arrived at the Park Slope polling place at precisely 7:54 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

It's a neighborhood that eats, drinks and breathes "hope" and "change," from the Obama cookies at Trois Pommes to the temporary Obama phone bank inside the Brooklyn Lyceum. Thus, all the Obama buttons, T-shirts and other paraphernalia along the lengthy line--and only one guy in a McCain cap.  read more »

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!

"I don't think we live in Park Slope," my roommate said to me one evening, sitting at the kitchen table in our new walk-up. "I think we live in Go-anus. I don't even know how you pronounce that."

My roommates and I had recently moved into a three-bedroom near Fourth Avenue, assuming we'd entered the land of baby strollers and Tea Loungers. (After all, Fifth Avenue is one block away.) But our address--on the northwest side of the mini-highway--puts us outside Park Slope's boundaries and firmly in Gowanus.

At least for now.

Park Slope is growing, spreading not only further south but also further west, into an industrial area which looks nothing like the boutiques-and-brownstones district closer to Prospect Park.  read more »

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.

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 »

"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"]

Flocks of 21- to 35-year-olds moved to Brooklyn in 2008, as the condo boom gave way to a renters’ market, reports The Brooklyn Eagle.

Almost half of the new renters in the first quarter of this year were between 21 to 25 years old, and 93 percent were under 35. The typical renter in neighborhoods like Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace and Boerum Heights is usually attached, works freelance in entertainment or the arts, makes around $50,000 a year, and needs no guarantor to be approved for an apartment.

What's different now is that most of the new renters do not come from Manhattan.  read more »

The intrepid condo buyers who took a gamble on a modestly priced spread in Brooklyn Heights in April 2007 probably had no idea that they would be living in the borough's most expensive neighborhood for condos a year later.

The average condo price increased 170 percent annually, from $613,750 to $1.65 million in April 2008, according to the report from the Real Estate Board of New York.

Other condo price results results by neighborhood:  read more »

The average sales price of a South Park Slope condo increased 96 percent from April 2007 to April 2008 to $608,824, according to a report out on Tuesday from industry trade group the Real Estate Board of New York. Condo sales in the neighborhood increased from three in April 2007 to 21 in April 2008.

We're trying to find a link to the full report.

The Brooklyn Paper is reporting [via Eater] that Park Slope's hallowed Tea Lounge is closing in July after nearly seven years on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 10th Street:

[Co-owner Greg] Wolf blamed his landlord, Georgina Tufano, for doubling the rent on his small storefront, though he declined to reveal the dollar figure.  read more »

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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."

 read more »

For over a decade now, Manhattan and Brooklyn have competed for the affections of younger or first-time renters. Manhattan was Manhattan, the gentrifying New Rome with all the amenities and nightlife one could want, often with shorter work commutes. Brooklyn was ever-emergent, the cool capital with reservations—longer commutes and sparser retail, plus the burden of pioneering in neighborhoods that didn’t always welcome newcomers.

But, oh, Brooklyn! What deals!  read more »

The average price of a condo in Park Slope, Brooklyn's answer to the West Village, increased by 8 percent year-over-year, from $591,000 in 2006 to $640,000 in 2007, according to the year-end market report released by the Cocoran Group earlier this week. Here are some more Park Slope figures from the report:  read more »

The donut case was already empty. The last stacks of coffee cups were dwindling. A bouquet of roses from appreciative patrons adorned the intimate 12-seat counter.

Nostaglic customers snapped photos over breakfast as business winded down on Wednesday morning at doomed Donuts Coffee Shop on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope—pperhaps the last place you'll find a 90-cent cup o' joe in the gentrified nabe.

The longstanding Greek diner closes Friday as its tiny retail space gets swallowed up by the expanding Associated supermarket next door, which is also taking over an adjacent restaurant space.  read more »

Just a few doors up from the Park Slope Coop, where the righteous buy their organic kale, and across the street from the Tea Lounge, where neighborhood mommies meet to nurse, share their in-the-trenches stories, and show off their strollers, a group of 10 or so parents and their babies (and sometimes an extra kid in tow) formed an orderly line outside of Kidville, a child learning and play center.

When a passerby asked one of the moms what was going on, the mother shyly replied, “Um, it’s a casting call for the Gap.”  read more »

Retailers in the "cradle of tough guys" are under siege as authorities crack down on a rampant form of outdoor advertising, according to a report in this week's Brooklyn Paper:

Shops in Park Slope and Cobble Hill have been slapped with $100–$300 tickets over the last three weeks for the crime of obstructing the sidewalk with their A-frame, or sandwich board, signs.

Some wary shopkeepers are now flattening the offensive frames to keep from violating the city's three-feet-from-the-storefront rule, according to the report.

“It’s kind of ridiculous," said one employee of a recently ticketed shop. "It looks like they were just going up the street giving out tickets."

Brooklyn-based actor John Turturro has stepped in to help bail out Park Slope's debt-ridden Community Bookstore, according to Sunday's New York Times.

Facing foreclosure, the owner of the Seventh Avenue indie retailer, Catherine Bohne, reportedly "offered up to 49 percent ownership in the store to a group of friends willing to put up at least $10,000 apiece," and Mr. Turturro, a frequent customer, was among the first in line.

"[A]ll these great small bookstores and art house movie theaters, so many things I love, are being swallowed up by a supermarket mentality," he told the Times.

It's a dramatic turn for the actor perhaps best known for his role in 1998's The Big Lebowski as tongue-wagging alleged child-molester and superstar bowler Jesus Quintana: "Nobody fucks with the Jesus!"

Prudential Douglas Elliman will hold a grand opening for its first Park Slope office tomorrow evening. This office, located at 154 Seventh Avenue between Carroll Street and Garfield Place, comes on the heels of archrival the Corcoran Group announcing a Williamsburg location.

And the invasion of the boroughs by Manhattan brokers continues unabated...

Puppets Jazz Bar is a-moseying down Fifth Avenue, while adjacent Somethin’ Else record shop searches for new digs. Sharp rent hikes imposed by a new landlord will split up the side-by-side Park Slope retailers this week.  read more »

• Restoration heroes Beyer Blinder Belle are fixing up the Empire State Building: uncovering the lobby's gold-and-silver "celestial sky" ceiling mural. But, of course, the original lighting will be replaced by "modern, energy-efficient fixtures" [Interior Design]
• Tragically, Brooklyn bars are now officially over-packed: "Manhattanites are actually commuting to our fair borough to party in Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Williamsburg." [Brooklyn Record/Time Out NY]
• Speaking of Park Slope: Residents turned out in droves last night to bemoan plans [above] for bicycle lanes: "There is no way in hell there is going to be a bike lane on Ninth Street," a charming Sloper screamed before the meeting started. Why? "A bike lane would interfere with double parking." [Curbed]
• The neighborhood isn't as hip as it was in the Truman Capote/Norman Mailer days of yore, but Brooklyn Heights' open houses are still a hot ticket. A studio is up for $265,000; a house costs 13 times more. [NY Mag] - Max Abelson
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• Residents fret Park Slope one-way traffic conversions.
[NY Sun]
• Bistricer-owned Flatbush Gardens seeks change.
[NY Sun]
• Milstein plans apartment tower near Union Square.
[NY Sun]
• "Hotel mania" grips Manhattan!
[NY Sun]
• New York dodges mortgage problems--for now.
[NY Sun]
• Subprime mortgage debacle snags state teachers' fund.
[NY Post]
• Hotels going up across Queens.
[Daily News]
• Possible Sunnyside Gardens historic district moves.
[Daily News]
• Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment stalls.
[Daily News]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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• The greatest thing ever in fake-billionaire furniture will debut by the end of the month. Behold: "Westchester" and "Central Park," two groups of affordable-luxe furniture. Both have been "personally signed off on" by Mr. Donald Trump. [Luxist]
• It seems that the Department of Transportation's quiet plans to narrow Fourth Avenue (and make Park Slope arteries Sixth and Seventh avenues into one-way streets) has something to do with Atlantic Yards. Frank Gehry probably just wants to take some space away from hip stroller-pushing dads. [Streetsblog]
• More in Forbes' billionaires: They have expensive houses! They like New York! Apparently many "maintain secondary homes on New York's East Side," like #19 Paul Allen and #86 Sumner Redstone. Michael Gross knows all the rich guys at 740 Park. [Forbes Life]
• Is Scarlett Johansson moving to 79 Laight Street? She's looked at Chelsea and Tribeca penthouses: neighborhood brokers think she's quite "delightful." [NY Mag] - Max Abelson
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Ann Coulter doesn't like inconsiderate liberals in East Hampton: "It does not occur to them that someone has to manufacture the tiles and steel and glass and solar panels that go into those 'eco-friendly' mansions... Liberals are already comfortably ensconced in their beachfront estates." But who else is ensconced? Ms. Coulter has a $1.7 million waterfront estate in Palm Beach. [The Atlantic/Andrew Sullivan]

First came Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard. Now Park Slope's ongoing quest for namebrand hipster coolness scores another victory: Ryan Schreiber, the godly editor of uber-music Web site Pitchfork Media, is moving in. [New York D.I.]

Not only is green home-construction hip--and a primo way of making sure the world doesn't prematurely end in a fiery inferno and whatnot--but it's a good move for folks who like tax breaks. [Forbes]

Tragedy strikes REBNY's plans for a global Manhattan real-estate Web portal! This is a sad day for New Yorkers who were hoping to further fuel their firey Internet real-estate addiction. [Real Deal] - Max Abelson

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• A skinny, possibly "gloomy" Harlem townhouse is granted "Estate of the Day" honors at Luxist. Why? The 1910 house has a planted terrace, garden, 12-foot-high parlor floor, and original details like mahogany-framed windows and carved staircase. [Lux]
• The 'New Park Slope' bears shockingly little semblance to the original. Unless the old Park Slope was a pioneer of comfort and style, and a modern and exciting residential corridor, and "rich with the ambience and energy..." [Curbed]
• Pity the poor Greenwich VIllage KFC/Taco Bell! Even though it miraculously provided Villagers with both tasty fried chieck and Challupas, a few measly rats have put the restaurant in peril. To be fair, though, technically it was a "rat infestation." [NY1, via everyone]
• The Observer's favorite mega-uber-luxury broker, Leonard Steinberg, works the "art week" angle into selling his condos at 200 11th Avenue. "Most units have double-height ceilings, which gives you a tremendous opportunity to display sculpture and artwork... It is not attracting the Kevin Federlines of the world." [Real Deal] - Max Abelson
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• What'd you get for that friend who just got the perfect New York pad with a terrace? How about the Cocoon Hammock? Designed by Henry Hall, the hammock becomes its own little outside room, apparently, and so you should be warned: "The hammock is not meant to be moved once it is assembled, as it is roughly 12-sq. ft. and weighs over 400 pounds."
[Luxist]
• Whole Foods plans a new location at Third Street and Third Avenue along the happy banks of the Gowanus Canal, and a group calling itself Park Slope Neighbors wants the food giant to reduce the location's planned 420 parking spaces by at least 100. The main beef the group has is with Whole Foods apparent attempt to implement "a suburban-style plan"--because, when people think of Park Slope, they don't think suburban. No, not at all.
[Brooklyn Record via Brownstoner]
• The final day of the Futuristic Dumbo exhibit is on Friday. Catch it while you can, then, and see what urban-design students at Pratt envision for Brooklyn (see above). Among other questions, the exhibit seeks to answer one most New Yorkers would rather quietly avoid: "How do we adapt to the rising seas in our waterfront neighborhood?" Indeed.
[DumboNYC]
• The Times throws at us today a story about that certain little sadness some money-flush New Yorkers endure: "post-renovation depression." The Wrap would crack a joke or some sort of dry witticism, but, truth be told, the whole thing's rather sick (and not in a clinical way). Behold: "While remodeling is often portrayed as a nightmare -- with delays, cost overruns and scary contractors -- some say it is more like a dream they would rather not wake up from." [NY Times via Gawker] - Tom Acitelli
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An informed reader emailed over a rough breakdown of the results of Tuesday's special Council election in Brooklyn.

It turns out that Mathieu Eugene's union-backed victory was just as thorough as the overall numbers indicated. He was the top vote-getter in nearly all of the Assembly districts that lie at least partly within the Council district.

The only one he lost was the 44th Assembly District in Park Slope.

A more detailed analysis should be ready by Friday when the city's Board of Elections finalize the results. But here, according to my source, is how the order of finish broke down:

42nd Assembly District - Flatbush, Midwood Mathieu Eugene (almost 50 percent) Jennifer James Wellington Sharpe Richie Leithland 43rd Assembly District - Crown Heights/Flatbush Mathieu Eugene Jennifer James Wellington Sharpe Jesse Hamilton 44th Assembly District - Park Slope Harry Schiffman Moe Ravzi Joel Toney Mathieu Eugene 57th and 58th Assembly Districts - Clinton Hill, Brownsville Mathieu Eugene Wellington Sharpe Jennifer James/Jesse Hamilton (close 3/4th) -- Azi Paybarah

Crain's Insider (subscription req'd) carries news Friday that Transportation Alternatives will release a study next month showing that "40% of traffic in Park Slope, Brooklyn, consists of drivers searching for parking." - Matthew Schuerman

Oct. 28, 2006 6:44 p.m. 7 pounds, 4 ounces St. Vincent’s Hospital    read more »

• Higher city property values drive higher property taxes.
[Daily News]
• Report: Tribeca, Soho priciest neighborhoods to rent.
[Daily News]
• City property market values up 19 percent in '06.
[NY Times]
• Big-name retail chains invade the outer-boroughs.
[NY Times]
• Nods to China and New York in carpet showroom.
[NY Times]
• Twists of designing a starter townhouse.
[NY Times]
• Story behind new white gleam of old GM Building.
[NY Times]
• Where to find a city townhouse for under $1 million.
[NY Times]
• Living in Park Slope's coveted real estate.
[NY Times]
• 17-room duplex at 1020 Fifth quietly on the market.
[NY Times]
• Mortgage fraud climbing, FBI says.
[NY Times]
• When a co-op board president acts like a king.
[NY Times]
• When is a garage space rent-stabilized?
[NY Times]
• "Meticulous focus" of Planning Commissioner Burden.
[NY Times]
• City set to license homebuilders.
[NY Post]
• Crobar, Sol reopen to slower business.
[NY Post]
• Judge orders Seinfeld to pay broker commission.
[NY Post]
• The bigger downside to cheaper home prices.
[NY Post]
• News flash: Brooklyn real estate very healthy.
[NY Post]
• Landmarks Commission vote looms on 980 Madison.
[NY Sun]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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• It's a big deal when a rich writer gets robbed near his lush Park Slope home, and it's a bigger deal when the rich writer and his wife vow on blogs to ditch the borough ("It costs $2,000 a year to insure my wedding ring....We outta here.") But best of all is when the once-hidden vows are dug up in all their Brooklynesque glory. [Gowanus Lounge]
• Sure, crusading against Marlboros and French crullers is brave. But Mayor Bloomberg could "hit the trifecta and reap perhaps his biggest public-health bonanza yet" if he tilts his horns against Manhattan's "car-dominance." And bike-riding would be way more fun. [Streetsblog]
• Steve Case's cheesy Miraval Living (where "healthy eating facilities" come with the million-dollar apartments) makes Forbes' list for wishlist-level abodes. (And, illogically, it beats out a globe-trotting yacht.) [Forbes]
• Rental agents do not fear 2007's prices--or evil landlords or prissy renters--nearly as much as they fear other rental agents. [NY Press]
• Real estate murder mysteries are really hot right now. [NY Mag]
- Max Abelson
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• City plans playground near South Street Seaport.
[NY Times]
• New York developer touts "green" office renovations.
[NY Times]
• City OKs schools on toxic Bronx site.
[NY Post]
• New tenants for 1800 Park in Harlem?
[NY Post]
• Brooklyn housing complex selling for $21 million.
[Daily News]
• Mag: Park Slope among U.S.'s top eco-friendly enclaves.
[Daily News]
• Landmarks OKs changes to 195 Broadway lobby.
[Daily News]
• City gives tax breaks to Boerum Hill condo buyers.
[NY Sun]
• Big year ahead for Manhattan office market.
[NY Sun]
• Take a closer look at Gowanus.
[Voice]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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On Saturday at 11 a.m., the NAACP protests the police shooting of Sean Bell, at 168th Street between Jamaica and Archer Avenues.

At 11 a.m., Councilman Bill de Blasio discusses the need for "e-waste" legislation, outside P.S. 321 in Park Slope.

At noon, Manny Innamorato will announce his candidacy for Staten Island City Council seat being vacated by Andrew Lanza. [added]

At 1 p.m., the New York Society for Ethical Culture hosts an impeachment forum, with Cindy Sheehan and Elizabeth Holtzman, at 2 West 64th Street.

Also at 1 p.m., high school students host a mock session of the City Council in the Council chambers.

At 3 p.m. a march against "police terrorism," organized by the New Black Panther Party, starts at 125th Street and 7th Avenue.

At 8 p.m., the CEO of Google discusses politics and the Internet on C-SPAN. At 8:35 p.m., there is a discussion about ethics and journalism on C-SPAN.

On Sunday, South African President Thabo Mbeki meets George Bush in D.C.

Potential 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards gets the Paul Wellstone award from the AFL-CIO at their meeting in D.C.

At 6:30 p.m., Evan Bayh appears on a segment of Road to the White House.

And two Democratic clubs, Broadway Democrats and Ansonia Independent, have separate holiday parties.

On Monday at 8 a.m., the Drum Major Institute hosts a discussion about the cost or prescription drugs at The Harvard Club (27 West 44th Street).

At 9:30, housing advocates rally on the city hall steps before the 10 a.m. hearing on the 421-a housing program.

And at 8 p.m., the Bill Clinton presidency is discussed on C-SPAN 3.

-- Azi Paybarah

The green outline shows Speaker Christine Quinn's proposed 421-a exclusion zone in northern Brooklyn--the area within which developers would need to include on-site affordable housing in order to qualify for tax breaks.

Currently, the exclusion zone covers only well-established neighborhoods (West Village, the Upper East and West Sides), where an automatic 421-a tax abatement for new multifamily housing (which is what the rest of the city currently enjoys) would seem too much of a giveaway. Adding in Billyburg makes sense (as well as Park Slope-Fort Greene-Downtown Brooklyn, of which you can see a greenish corner at the bottom).

But that two-block strip along Broadway, which goes through the southern part of Bushwick all the way to Eastern Parkway? Has that become a condo corrider? Or is anti-developer sentiment so strong in those parts that City Council members Diana Reyna and Eric Martin Dilan wanted a little piece of that green to cut into their districts?

- Matthew Schuerman

• What are Cooper Union students doing about the impending destruction of the Hewitt Building? They're staging school-wide walkouts (and tossing around cruel words like disenfranchisement). Apparently, these young artists really don't want to move out to studios in Long Island City, where they'll work until Cooper Union gets a newer and greener $120 million building. [Villager]
• The Opening Paragraph of the Day, presented in its glorious entirety: Park Slope's pampered tykes might soon have one more reason to love life in Brooklyn. FAO Schwarz -- toy store and child magnet since 1862 -- said this week it might open a satellite shop in the Slope. [Brooklyn Papers]
• Down in the Financial District, $90 million will help pay for a luxury condo conversion. So, the old Chase Manhattan Bank HQ will turn into "20 Pine," with $90 million-worth of ebony-stained hardwood floors, high-end wooden cabinetry, Hudson River views, a pool, a spa, a yoga studio and, best of all, a golf simulation room. [Multi-Housing News]
• Brownstoner reports that Joshua Guttman (who has the world's "universal contempt") is going to tear down a Dumbo foundry built by Brooklyn Bridge man E.W. Bliss. Or will 205 Water Street (aka 188 Plymouth) be saved by local preservationists? Tune in tomorrow. [Brownstoner]
- Max Abelson
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• Saunas, towel warmers and heated floors are still hot commodities in the luxury home industry, but the single biggest new trend is "everything green." That means New Yorkers are increasingly unwilling to kill a rainforest for "one piece of exotic wood for inlay." (Forbes)
• Classy behemoth Clear Channel and (at least) two other big billboard companies are suing New York over limitations on outdoor ads. Is it a matter of free speech or corporate graffiti? (NY Post)
• Opening a successful Central American comfort food eatery in Park Slope is easy. Park Slope really is perfect. (NY Daily News)
• New Yorkers (i.e. Bill Moyers) do not want the New-York Historical Society to build "a 23-story glass apartment tower behind the society's museum." (NY Times)
• Shouldn't we always listen to Mr. Moyers? Maybe not: after all, New Yorkers also don't welcome more development in the Lower East Side. Or in the East Village. Or in Washington Square Park. (Sun)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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Ariella "Scoop" Cohen at The Brooklyn Papers reports that the 68,000-square-food Whole Foods gigantiplex due to open in Park Slope at Third Avenue and Third Street in spring 2008 will have a three-story 430-car parking garage.

Cohen quotes a traffic engineer as saying that as many as 1,800 cars could use the facility per hour.
It seems oxymoronic that a healthy-lifestyle brand such as Whole Foods would promote driving in a neighborhood such as Park Slope/Gowanus; but it's never been said that a little environmentalism gets in the way of capitalism in our Mayor's city.
Prepare for "health conscious" mamas eating from bags of Pirate's Booty while gunning their S.U.V.'s down Third Avenue.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

Yesterday, Brownstoner broke the exhilarating news that the 31-foot beauty at 45 Montgomery Place had been sold for more than $6 million. (Oval rooms! Fireplaces! It's all there.)

According to the website, $6m would be the highest price ever paid for a 1-family townhouse in Park Slope. New Yorkers everywhere asked: who is the lucky, oval-loving owner?

According to our calculations (i.e. according to city records), that would be Gregory Bell, who bought the place for a clean $6,050,000.

But is it the mathematician Greg Bell, who studied the Asymptotic Dimension of Groups? Or is it TV's Gregory Bell? (He played Shakespeare in Dennis Hopper's "Witch Hunt.") Or is it NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment, Mr. Robert Gregory Bell?

Probably the actor, no?  read more »

- Max Abelson

• Headline of the Day: "New York Isn't the World's Undisputed Financial Capital." Maybe so, but at least we're not Chicago. (The New York Times)
• After a year on the market, 45 Montgomery Place goes for over $6 million, which likely makes it the most expensive single-family townhouse in Park Slope. Mr. and Mrs. Safran Foer have now been utterly humiliated--Slope style. (Check in soon for more...) (Brownstoner)
• NYC Map of the Month: the "graveyards" of famous musicians. The lesson is you shouldn't treat a cold with Valium (and Darvon) if you're a rock critic in your Sixth Avenue apartment. (L Magazine)
• The Hester Street playground gets $4.75 million for a much-needed overhaul. But if shabbiness isn't even chic in the Lower East Side, what will happen to the hipsters? Won't someone please think of the hipsters? (The New York Times)
- Max Abelson
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Aaron Matthew Guzikowski and Alison Hope Silverman   Met: May 2001 Engaged: Dec. 25, 2005  read more »

• An undercover investigation by the National Fair Housing Alliance accuses Corcoran's Brooklyn office of "blatant housing discrimination against African-Americans." White clients were steered toward white neighborhoods like Park Slope and Cobble Hill, while black clients were deprived of information about incentives. 2006 is the new 1934. (New York Times)
• An advisor to the Times' architectural selection committee said that though he appreciates Renzo Piano's design for the newspaper's new tower, he is "madly in love with the Gehry." (The Gehry is the "tower-that-might-have-been," had Frank won the NYT's big competition). But is there really a measurable different between a Piano "triumph" and a Gehry "masterpiece"? (Metropolis)
• Fighting the good fight for non-billionaire housing, Mayor Bloomberg will recommend an overhaul of the city's "most popular tax break for housing developers." (Now rich Manhattanites can no longer get city money for building homes for rich Manhattanites). Does the name 421-a sound familiar? (New York Times)
• This is what House & Garden has to say about Brooklyn: "I fell in love with the one-cup coffee presses in cherry red. They also have quirky cutlery and smart pocket clocks, and craftier creations, like papery owls, mobiles, chrome cuckoo clocks and vintage, rustic-lite furniture." What has happened to this chrome cuckoo-loving borough? See above. (House & Garden)
- Max Abelson
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If you're a celebrity-obsessed (or celebrity-loathing?) Brooklynite, the most exciting piece of today's Manhattan Transfers has to be the news that Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal have signed a contract for a grandmotherly $1.75 million Park Slope brownstone. As the Boswell Sisters would say: Yowza!

(Also: Don't miss the personal story of our friend Miranda Purves, who couldn't afford said brownstone but resents the fact that Haalgaard snapped it up before she could! Life in Brooklyn is full of such contradictions.)

If we were to pat ourselves on the back we'd say that we actually took the trouble to confirm what had been a smoldering-hot Stoop-Sale Rumor. Anyone up there at the Pulitzer commission listening?

But if instead we were to indebt ourselves to previous reports that they were looking at the place, with non-transparent sourcing, we'd have to give Kudos to Brooklyn Record, who wrote in to remind us (how could we have forgotten?) that their blog was the first to publish. Hey, you take the risk, you get the credit, right? Here's the link.  read more »

- Max Abelson