Cobble Hill

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 »

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."

While John Grisham's Playing for Pizza and Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon top the New York Times' best sellers list, we're poking our heads into BookCourt in Cobble Hill to see what Brooklynites are tucking into their totes.

Out in the Manhattan suburb (sorry, it's true!), where baby strollers, daddy-actor types and yoga-obsessed writers run rampant, it's not surprising that Tom Perrotta's new book The Abstinence Teacher tops the hardcover fiction list. After all, the guy wrote Little Children, the most angsty-cool anti-parenting guide ever written. In his new book, Mr. Perrotta abandons the kiddie playground for school to examine how a single sex education teacher will battle a herd of evangelical Christians trying to get her to ditch the old banana/condom demo and take on an abstinence curriculum. In The Abstinence Teacher, Mr. Perrotta continues "writing books for people who don't much like books—satires for nice people, fuck books for prudes," according to Benjamin Alsup at Esquire. Fun! But you could also follow Mr. Alsup's advice and just wait for the movie.  read more »

We missed this article on Friday about one of our favorite bookstores, Cobble Hill's BookCourt.

In the late 1990's, whining about the fate of independent bookstores was a favorite pastime in a certain New York demographic. But the counterexamples are starting to crop up: For every Madison Avenue Bookshop there is a Corner Bookstore; Shakespeare and Company never really went out of business; and now comes word that BookCourt is expanding for a third time in response to demand in its nook in Cobble Hill.  read more »

A tipster found the above flier in his Cobble Hill mailbox and passed it along to The Real Estate. Universal City Studios plans a film called "Baby Mama" about a 35-year-old real-estate developer played by Tina Fey (that's believable) trying to have a baby by surrogate (the surrogate's "South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowski" -- yea, class stereotypes!).

The film firm needs two Brooklyn locations by May:

"A ONE-FAMILY TOWNHOUSE/BROWNSTONE with a large living room and an adjacent dining room, den or study, on the parlor floor.

AN APARTMENT IN A TOWNHOUSE/BROWNSTONE with an open floor plan."

And know this, homeowners: "a fee will be paid."

- Tom Acitelli

When Larry Meagher was a boy growing up in Depression-era Greenpoint, the copper steeple of St.  read more »

Oct 26, 2006 2:39 a.m. 7 pounds, 8 ounces St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Birthing Center  read more »

• Hamptons Post-Mortem: Now that the neighborhood is officially dead, isn't it nice to remember those 3-acre estates with private marshes and cutesy docks and six-bedroom Mediterranean castles and "heated infinity pools" and spas and putting ranges and basketball courts? It really brings back some great memories. (Luxist)
• Out in Queens, NYC is buying 24 acres of Long Island City waterfront for $100 million. There won't be any spas, but 5,000 new units of housing is a good idea anyway. (Crain's, via Real Deal)
• In case you haven't seen its 7,239,103 advertisements, Japan's chic UNIQLO is opening a New York flagship on Broadway. Western designers will be designing the high-end (but inexpensive) sweaters and (slim) trousers. Hipsters rejoice. (New York Mag/D.I.)
• There are over 500 people waiting to see the new condos at 365 Bridge Street--once called the New York Telephone Building, now "The Belltel Lofts." Art Deco is so in right now. (Brownstoner)
• But the mayor's plan to "pimp" the Red Hook/Cobble Hill waterfront into a "maritime-themed tourist attraction" is not so popular. Why? Because it will kill Brookyln's maritime industry. And because it's a maritime-themed tourist attraction. (Brooklyn Papers)
- Max Abelson
• 2 comments

Enlarge

Enlarge

Early in August, the Housing Works Thrift Shops flagship at 143 West 17th Street reopened after a sad two-month absence.

Why? "What we did was open it up, took everything out, ripped up the carpet" said H.W.T.S. President Matthew Bernardo. "We found the original floor," which is gorgeous hardwood.

Now it's an open 4,000-square-foot space for antique furniture, hip clothing and hipper shoes. "The old space had so many log jams," Mr. Bernardo admitted.

In one week--on September 7 at 5 p.m. sharp--the space will be filled with a new fall collection (the press release is after the jump). And come January 2007, H.W. is opening its seventh shop. "We're looking at the Heights and Cobble Hill," said Mr. Bernardo.

What about Williamsburg or Greenpoint? "You need shoppers, but you also need donors for high value stuff." Of course.

Until then, New Yorkers who can't make it to Chelsea can shop online at an auction.

On the other hand, shoppers closer to 17th Street know it's become a thrift shop mecca: there's Angel Street steps away from the renovated flagship, and 17@17 down the block. But: "We consider ourselves the father!" Mr. Bernardo said.

It's true. This year the stores will gross $11m, the highest number yet. Where does the money go? The shops bring in a third of the revenue for Housing Works, which is the largest American "community-based AIDS service organization."  read more »

Update: The store was closed for 2 months, not 12. - Max Abelson

Word has come from our spies that shooting for Spider-Man 3 has engulfed the Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill neighborhood. Crusty old men are swearing at hipper-than-thou production assistants, and the Cobble Hill Cinema has been temporarily changed to Stuyvesant Cinemas.

What The Real Estate wants to know is if Mary-Jane's going to stand around in the rain wearing that pink dress again this time (the forecast looks good!). For some reason, we always thought that one scene was just so compelling!  read more »

See the Brooklyn Record's previous coverage here.

-Matthew Grace

Word comes from the Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier that Paul Newman is interested in developing a racetrack at an old Brooklyn airstrip in Floyd Bennett Field, a former airport and Naval base in Jamaica Bay.

The $15 million project, which is in its preliminary stages, needs the approval of the National Parks Service, which would make roughly $1 million a year, according to the Courier. It would also be a home for Mr. Newman's charity, the Hole in the Wall Gang. But some people are not pleased at the idea of a racetrack in an area that animals take refuge in, and even the local City Council member thinks it's a money-making scheme rather than an altruistic move on Mr. Newman's part.  read more »

The area also includes Dead Horse Bay, which doesn't drive the story at all, but is a really fun name.

-Matthew Grace

The Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier checks the nabe's barometer after the recent closings of several mom-and-pop stores, which were then turned into a Dunkin' Donuts and other neighborhood-unspecific commercial ventures.

Words of wisdom: “Every dollar you spend at Starbucks goes to Seattle …. ” But with some spaces commanding $16,000 a month in rent, a goodly portion of that dollar is going to the landlord.

-Matthew Grace

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Columbus Park, Cobble Hill Park, Carroll Park and Fort Greene Park may all see wireless Internet access by summer.

The Parks Department is still taking R.F.P.'s. The company that is selected to provide the service will pay the depertment $30,000 or 10 percent of the profits made through advertising on the portal's home page.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

Last Wednesday, Brooklyn Community Board 6 rejected a variance request for a vacant, trash-strewn lot at 146 Conover Street in Red Hook to be converted into a four-story residential building. The lot is zoned for manufacturing, and illustrates the age-old dilemma in Red Hook: How to keep a manufacturing base while also encouraging new residential development?

An earlier article from the Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier gives a good rundown on the two opposing sides in this battle.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

Brooklyn Community Board 6, at its monthly full-board meeting last night, put the ixnay on Two Trees' long-sought-after proposal to turn the parking lot of Independence Bank, at 130 Court Street, into a six-story residential complex.

Two Trees has gone before the board before to develop the property, which sits on the edge of the Cobble Hill Historic District. At issue then, as now, was the historic district's 50-foot height restriction on new developments; in August of last year the company proposed a seven-story building on the lot, but the community board said no.

The company's latest proposal was shorter: only 60 feet. But 60 is still greater than 50, and the board knows its math. And it appears that Two Trees' insistence on a taller building is getting on the board's nerves. Community Board 6 district manager Craig Hammerman told The Real Estate, "[Two Trees] hasn't shown much interest in community input."

Although the board's decision is strictly advisory, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which must rule on the project before it can go forward, will likely listen closely to the board before making its decision.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

On a recent Sunday afternoon in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, dads went by with well-bundled babies draped  read more »

Down at Ground Zero, there are concerns in the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation as to whether the planned performing-arts center will get full funding, according to The New York Times.

There's also rumblings about a pay-to-drive plan in the busiest parts of Manhattan, something that works pretty good in London.

Cobble Hill townhouse priced to move! And, uh, ignore my homeless aunties camped out on the sidewalk.

From (Ground) zero to $10 million: the Drawing Center gets a fat consolation prize after getting kick out of the W.T.C. site.

After booting out auntie, head over to the new flea market in Carroll Gardens. It opens tomorrow at Union and Smith Street. For Manhattanites, just take the G.W.B. and take the first right.

A condo board in Rego Park has learned how to circumvent D.O.B. billboard regulations--comply, and do it all over again. Pocket cash.  read more »

-Matthew Grace

Strolling through waterfront neighborhood today, The Real Estate found several developments worth noting.

First up, as reported earlier at Brownstoner, via Redhooky, the long-delayed condo project at 160 Imlay Street--right next to the new cruise-ship terminal--will be delayed even longer. It seems that a suit filed in January 2004 to stop the development--by the Red Hook-Gowanus Chamber of Commerce, which argued that the building should be used for industrial uses--was dismissed on a legal technicality (the developer of the property, wasn't named in the suit). But on Oct. 25, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith Kaye reversed the dismissal, relying on a legal provision that allows such actions "if justice so requires." So now the $90 million, 145-unit project, by developer Bruse Batkin, sits fallow while the lawsuit once again wends its way through the courts. (Hat tip to the Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier for breaking it down.)

But other projects are getting off to a better start. For example, a new housing development continues apace on Wolcott Street, off Van Brunt, on two buildings that'll add 60 units of low- and moderate-income owner-occupied condos. The $17 million project's been spearheaded by the Fifth Avenue Committee, with help from the Housing Partnership and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and financing comes via Citibank, among others. Interested applicants can stop by the F.A.C.'s headquarters to get on its mailing list.

Further down Van Brunt Street, Greg O-Connell's 115,000-square-foot condo development with a Fairway on the ground floor is slowly progressing. The Real Estate stopped by the site and asked a construction worker when the store would be opening and was told "the end of January." He said the condos would be ready "probably earlier."  read more »

(Photos, from top to bottom: 160 Imlay Street; Greg O'Connell's condo/Fairway development; interior of the Fairway store--forgive the blurriness, we had to take this in a hurry because the security guard hates us.)

-Matthew Grace

Brooklyn residents boarding the F train at Bergen Street in Cobble Hill this morning had a choice of newspaper hawkers to deal with. Alongside the AM New York representative--headline: "THE PLAME GAME"--stood a guy with copies of the Brooklyn Standard.

Last month, the New York Sun brought word of the arrival of the new tabloid, and of its narrow editorial mission: The Standard, which describes itself as a "publication--not a newspaper," exists to solely promote developer Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. "BROOKLYN'S BOOMING," page one declares, "Atlantic Yards Will Bring Jobs, Housing and Hoops."

Now the 16-page tab, which borrows its name from a 19th-century Brooklyn paper, is employing another old-fashioned journalistic touch: a squad of not-newsies to distribute the not-newspaper.

According to Joe DePlasco, a spokesperson from Dan Klores Communications representing Ratner, subway distribution has been going on for two weeks, with a team of 10 hawkers. They've distributed between 20,000 and 30,000 copies of the Standard's total circulation of 140,000. The team will rotate around the borough distributing copies at stations in Fort Greene, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Heights and Cobble Hill, DePlasco said.

"It was always our intention to distribute at subways," DePlasco said. "We felt this is a great way to share information with people in the borough."

Asked if he worked for Ratner, a Standard hawker named Mel outside the Bergen Street station replied, "Yeah. You're not going to throw the paper back in my face, are you?"  read more »

--Gabriel Sherman

Quirky developer David Walentas and his son Jed--the duo that either ruined DUMBO or made it, depending on whom you listen to--is making inroads into Cobble Hill.

Their somewhat bland Courthouse luxury residential apartments just opened up at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street, and their company, Two Trees, is already angling for another development on the same intersection.

For now, it doesn't look good.

The company owns 130 Court Street-—the Independence Savings Bank building. Two Trees was seeking approval from Brooklyn Community Board 6 to demolish an extension and to build a seven-story residential building next-door.

But in April, the board unanimously voted for a resolution calling on the Landmarks Preservation Commission to sink the Two Trees bid.

Two Trees needs the L.P.C.'s nod because, unlike the Courthouse complex, 130 Court Street sits in the Cobble Hill historic district. Community boards serve a purely advisory role, but the L.P.C. often takes them pretty seriously.

The main problem, according to community groups opposed to the plan, is that Two Trees didn't care much for the historic district's 50-foot-height limitation on new buildings.

Jane McGroaty told us: "We consider the 50-foot height limit to be sacred."

Diane Jackier, a spokesperson for the L.P.C., said a vote on the plan that was scheduled for July 12th had been tabled.

The Real Estate hasn't yet gotten hold of anyone from Two Trees.  read more »

- Matthew Grace

"I think there's something about this place being a final step before suburbia," said Jeff Roda from  read more »

Several weeks ago, Laura Gilbert, a 26-year-old magazine editor, arrived in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, f  read more »