A reader noted that the apartment building 320 Sterling Street (just off Nostrand towards New York) is having upcoming open houses for affordable rental units. If you meet income requirements, these might just end up being a great, great deal, especially as the years pass. And how often do affordable rentals come up, in stabilized buildings? Not so often...here's the whole scoop. 320 Sterling Open Houses. Rent stabilized 1-beds go for $1,350, with a cap on your income. Granted, that ain't exactly CHEAP, but it's stabilized, meaning it can only rise so much year to year. It's a City sponsored deal...strangely, these were supposed to be coops if my cursory googling is true, and there was an attempt to sell them a few years ago. What happened I wonder. No takers? Too steep for the nabe?
If any of you go to the Open Houses on Friday/Sat/Sun by all means comment and let us know what you find.
However, for those of you as Qurious as the Q, you'll want to read the extraordinary history of this building, at least as told by the Village Voice back in 2002, when the Voice was still a fairly important part of NYC's cultural landscape (though it had been waning for some time by then). The woman who held the apartments in an iron grip, a tenant herself, used a phrase in the article that I still find amusing since the first time I heard it years ago. Here's the article: "Don't put your finger on me, 'cause I'm clean as a baby's butt," As a daddy of young'uns, I assure you that the clean only lasts for so long.
Btw, newcomers and young-timers might not recognize the Village Voice as the once all-mighty and powerful entity that it was in our fair City back in the '70s, '80s and early '90s. Was a time, before the interwebs, that the VV was the bible for apartment seekers and those wanting a clue to the "downtown" world of cutting edge arts and culture, not to mention listings of everything worth seeing (it was like Time Out and Craigslist and any number of popular blogs all in one). In fact, folks used to line up late in the evening on Tuesday nights outside their offices near the Public Theater and Blue Man Group (which as I recall had not opened yet) to snatch a copy before it was distributed (for MONEY. As in, people paid money to find out about stuff. A buck or so when I moved here in 1988.) The apartment listings were worth their weight in gold, and you wanted to be the first person to call (yes, call) the landlord and put in an offer. Usually you didn't need any credit check either; the landlord would eyeball you and ask for a deposit, but that was usually enough to seal the deal. The only studio apartments over $1,000 back then were in the most desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan. Even one-bedrooms were usually less than a grand. My first "room" was $300 in the back of a converted commercial space, probably a former bodega. I don't think I paid more than $500 for many many years, though mostly in share situations. A giant warehouse loft on 3rd street between Hoyt and Bond cost $1,500 for a quirky giant space. Four guys were sharing of course, making it nearly uninhabitable to "girls," but that didn't stop them from coming by for the parties. Man, that was most definitely a different time. No one cared about restaurants and food (seriously, I knew no one.) There were maybe five kinds of beer anybody ever drank, and two of them were called Bud and Bud Lite. Real afficionados drank Corona.
Hasta La Vista, my old Brooklyn. I say "my" old Brooklyn, because some old-timers are laughing at me right now for talking like an old-timer, though to them I'm just a newcomer. And so it goes...
28 comments:
"some old-timers are laughing at me right now for talking like a newcomer"
I'd NEVER laugh at you Tim, but my first (1970) Bklyn apartment, a garden floor-through in the South Slope, was $200. Our neighbors, most of whom were paying less than $100, couldn't believe that we were dumb enough to pay so much.
Of course when you adjust for inflation that 1970 $200 was equivalent to about $1400 now, so it wasn't that much of a bargain.
I really like the look of these apartments. I wish more apartment buildings were renovated to this level of quality and for that price!
The minimum income to qualify for these apartments is $53K for ONE person. That's considerably higher than the income of a lot of people around here.
My first apartment, in 1981, was a half a floor of a brownstone on Columbia Heights in Brooklyn Heights, for $600. That was more money than anyone I knew had ever heard of anyone paying in rent.
Yes, the minimum income thing is strange, until you look at the price of the units. They are definitely not for low-income, and I suppose Papa Government doesn't want you signing a lease you can't pay for. Though for a lot a lot a lot of people, "documented" income is not the same as income!
As to Bob's comment, of course I had to go play with the inflation calculator, and it's interesting to note what a variation there was in 5 year increments. In the '70s inflation skyrocketed, to the point that from 1970 the dollar doubles. From '80 to '90 it jumps just 1.5 times. Then from '90 to '00 just 1.3 times, then '00 to '10 just 1.25, and since the crash of '07 it's slowed down even more. And yet, housing keeps charging forward. Strange. I'm sure someone can enlighten me. It's like housing has picked up even as inflation slows (over the long term of course).
So, is this place legit? I'm looking to move in August and I love that it's right next to the train. But considering the history of the building I have concerns. I hope folk you are able to go to the open house will report back.
Junu, I suspect all of this is legit and based on the photos and price all of these units will be gone by month's end. Why not attend the open house to make sure your application is at least in if you do like the place? You can always withdraw your application after the fact.
But this is not PLG and the names of those streets alone give me the "Yikes!" reaction. Also, it's is not surprising that 1,300+ rent prices are being placing in shitty streets of shitty nabes. The other day I saw a one-bedroom apartment in Bed-Stuy for $1,500!! Truly ridiculous, then again, it's a scheme to fool the poor misled newcomers thinking it's because it's in a good neighborhood. I mean "East Williamsburg"? Where did that come from? Real estate.
No, you didn't! First off, it most definitely IS that neighborhood acronym you said that I refuse to use. Second, the area is fine and you're being insulting to anyone who lives there. Third, East Williamsburg was a name long before the gentrifiers came (Robert Moses ensured its utility too with his masterpiece the BQE). Fourth, Bed-Stuy is a beautiful neighborhood that has suffered every bit as much as Harlem from racial stereotype and fear, not to mention the crack epidemic. But now, they're both exploding in value, so save your surprise. Go check out Bed-Stuy for yourself. I mean, Billy Joel "walked through Bedford-Stuy alone" did in "You May Be Right" and lived to tell the tale.
I should have waited for Bob Marvin. He probably would have been more diplomatic. Ah, screw it, it's Friday night. Even with young kids you gotta live a little!
Shitty streets? R u serious. This is three avenue blocks from Prospect Park. Try getting a 1 bedroom in Windsor Terrace or Park Slope for that price. Your cray cray to not realize the socio-generational change occurring under your brain-dead skull of yours!! Gen Y is seeking walkable communities and have no desire to drive. Look at how many 16 year olds are getting driver licenses. The rate has dropped astronomically from the 1990's! Also baby boomers are retiring and looking to downsize into more urban walkable environments. They are not moving to Florida in herds like they used to.
So the two most populous generations, baby boomers and Gen Y (aka Echo Boomers) want to be in urban environments. If u don't realize these changes are happening than you are an ignoramus. Go move to the exurbs and die!!!!
"I should have waited for Bob Marvin. He probably would have been more diplomatic"
Go get em Tim; there are times when diplomacy is mis-placed :-)
1) Anyone planning on moving on that block, better get used to noise as it's a very LIVELY block. (all night long)
2) Majority of the youth are gang related, but trust me, they respect everybody who live on that block. It's all love. Black, White, Asian, whatever.
3) Across the street from a always clean Park with a Jr. High.
Bonus: This block on a good day use to be as packed as Wingate Park, minus the ball tourney. That would scare some folks who don't know better.
Shitty streets? R u serious. This is three avenue blocks from Prospect Park. Try getting a 1 bedroom in Windsor Terrace or Park Slope for that price.Gen Y is seeking walkable communities and have no desire to drive. Look at how many 16 year olds are getting driver licenses. The rate has dropped astronomically from the 1990's! Also baby boomers are retiring and looking to downsize into more urban walkable environments. They are not moving to Florida in herds like they used to.
So the two most populous generations, baby boomers and Gen Y (aka Echo Boomers) want to be in urban environments.
The previous post was edited by the moderator, taking out the personal attacks. Just a warning...I like a spirited debate, but I can't abide threats, attacks on character or libel. Well, at least not when I notice it. I appeal to all who read to help identify the most offensive comments and email me if I don't remove them within a few hours. Thanks for letting the open forum be just that. Oh, and anons, please pick a screen name so we can get to know you, even without knowing who exactly you are in real life. It provides the blog with a cast of colorful characters. I'd appreciate if you'd join that cast a bit more formally. Thanks! - Q
Even the Post Office agrees that East Williamsburg is a made-up place.
Different parts of the East Williamsburg section are served by different post offices.[5]
Addresses with zip code 11211 are served by the Williamsburg Post Office at 263 S 4th Street.
Addresses with 11206 zip code are served by the Metropolitan-Bushwick Post Office at 47 Debevoise Street.
Addresses with zip code 11222 are served by the Greenpoint Post Office at 66 Meserole Avenue.
Addresses with zip code 11237 are served by the Wyckoff Heights-Bushwick Post Office at 86 Wyckoff Avenue.
That's irrelevant; the Post Office is not an authority on Brooklyn neighborhood names.
Hardly - considering that most of PLG is the 11225 zip code, with the PO located on the southernmost edge of Crown Heights. Additionally, part of Fort Greene, most of Clinton HIll, and all of Prospect Heights are 11238, which is the Adelphi PO On Fulton St. in Clinton Hill.
Amateur Mapmakers Redraw Boundaries, Working Online
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: September 9, 2012
Reshaped and renamed by generations of developers and gentrifiers, the borders of New York City’s neighborhoods are often hazy at best. Yesterday’s Chinatown is today’s east TriBeCa; a resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant may, after some real estate alchemy, morph into a citizen of Clinton Hill.
These distinctions, with status, self-identity and resale values at stake, can often lead to heated disputes, so much so that a state assemblyman, Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, introduced a bill, the Neighborhood Integrity Act, in 2011 to tamp down the tension. (The bill failed.)
And City Hall offers little help: the city has never codified neighborhood boundaries, leaving profit-hungry brokers and civic activists to fight it out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/nyregion/amateur-mapmakers-reshape-new-york-neighborhoods-online.html?_r=0
Junu-
It is completely legit. There is actually an advertisement on the City's website:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/downloads/pdf/320-Sterling-Street.pdf
Residents of Community Board 9 get a preference for 50% of the apartments, so if you live in the area already, your chances are a lot better.
We're gonna go have a look this weekend and will report back on what we see. I live around the corner and that location means that we wouldn't have to make a big move but would indeed be "movin on up!".
So we went and had a look and put in our application for the three bedroom. The model unit was gorgeous. The three bedroom was still being worked on so definitely nowhere near as nice. What we saw was nice but of course things like the typical New York view of a brick wall were a bit of a bummer...but you win some, you lose some. I mistakenly assumed this place was between Nostrand and Rogers which would be in PLG but it is between Nostrand and New York, which I understand to be still Crown Heights. Nevermind. The place looked extremely well-kept and had an all new laundry room. We've put in application and since we are the first applicants from CB9, we get first dibs!
Not at all Camille - PLG goes as far east as NY Ave! Welcome to the neighborhood (for real!).
AND the streets east of New York Ave. are in the part of East Flatbush called Wingate; Crown Heights' southern boundary is Empire Blvd. (which is also the boundary between the old--pre-1894--City of Brooklyn and Town of Flatbush).
Being from the UK do not know the neighbourhood at all but apartments look cute.
This is definitely legit, I just signed my lease on Saturday. I don't know which unit you were shown Camille but I lucked out with one that has all street facing windows and great natural light. I just want to say thanks for this blog, I'm moving here from the South Bronx so it's been great to vicariously get to know the neighborhood through this.
This is definitely legit, I just signed my lease on Saturday. I don't know which unit you were shown Camille but I lucked out with one that has all street facing windows and great natural light. I just want to say thanks for this blog, I'm moving here from the South Bronx so it's been great to vicariously get to know the neighborhood through this.
I lived on this block for 2 years at 350 Sterling before the rent went up by $300 (a $1425/mo Studio? Hell no!); even though the place is rent-stabalized, the legal rent was about double what I was paying. It is legal but unethical.
Anyway, the sidewalk in front of 320 Sterling St was THE place to hang out and get high and drunk. The action would last past 1 or 2 am on fun nights, and the summers meant the park across the street was annexed and became a major hang-out spot in the hood. The sounds would ricochet up to the sixth floor. Lots of double-parked cars blasting music day and night. It was a nightmare if you had windows facing the front of the building. Most of the street-facing first floor of 320 was unrentable for years, most likely because you may as well have been living on the sidewalk where everyone was carrying on loudly.
People I know in the 320 said the partying and talking/yelling has been going on forever. Only toward the end did I see the cops messing with the guys in front, probably to make way for the "new" tenants who would be willing to over-pay for those expensive apartments. UnSterling St it is.
I only saw a few fights, and generally felt safe-enough. Good luck.
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