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| 1930 and 1934 Bedford near Fenimore |
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| 194 Hawthorne too |
Now, don't get me wrong. Some of you will suggest that the allowable height on these lots is no reason for alarm, and I won't disagree, though there's always the chance of unflattering Fedders buildings with curbcuts. No, I'm pissed off because it is highly unlikely that even a single unit will go for less than market rate, which as of today, the average price of an apartment is becoming so absurd as to beggar belief. Fight density all you want; the real bogeyman is unaffordability for the hard-working lower and middle classes. The fight continues by small bands of brave , which I'll try to document in future posts, is absolutely 100% where we're heading, with help from a surprising few large investors.
Put another way, each one of the multiple units in these old houses has no protection, and the renters will be out on their ass. The new buildings will included no means-tested housing. The onward march towards class extinction in Lefferts leaps forward unabated. We'll probably get a couple nice restaurants out of it though, maybe along that cute strip on Bedford down between Parkside and Clarkson?
The Q apologizes for sounding so cynical, but it's really quite remarkable how fast this stuff happens when the industry decides it's time.
19 comments:
Wow that sucks! Those Bedford houses are right behind my Fenimore apt building. It's nicer to have a view of a back yard instead of a wall or someone else's apt.
Unfortunately a lot of the owners are getting offers they can't refuse at the expense of the community. I own a Victorian a block away from these houses, pass by them everyday I go to flatbush. I refuse to sell. I get knocks on the door every week by people offering checks and cash.
Same here!
I own a Victorian on Winthrop. They are knocking on my door, dropping all kinds of flyers every day. NOP, I'm not going anywhere!
No individual has to sell their Victorians, others will sell theirs.
I physically shudder thinking how cold the tenants in these rundown houses must be. Freestanding wood houses + winter + slumlord = pneumonia. These houses at least are flanked closely by big apartment buildings and it's on a busy avenue. It's when this happens on the smaller side streets with rows of all houses that I myself get upset.
I've been inside one of the Bedford houses. Those buildings are hell. I have no idea how people can stand to live there in their current state.
I hope if you have one of these lovely "Victorians", that you keep it up inside. Decaying elegance is a sad thing.
if only they could target actual houses that should be demolished... I am looking at two houses on fenimore, the fire damaged one and the other one that ruins my faith in humanity because it contributes to so much summer/good weather drama.
apologies for my rober moses complex.
The Bedford Houses were neglected beyond belief. My apartment faces both of them.
There's another one on Fenimore that is literally falling apart.
Sadly there are other burned houses on Hawthorne and Fenimore that are sitting there and rotting.
The burned out house on Fenimore I is part of Lefferts Manor and the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens Historic District. It is a travesty that the LPC doesn't take action against its owners for demolition by neglect (ditto the horrors wrought on the house at Midwood and Bedford, and the one at the corner of Bedford and Fenimore). Why doesn't the LMA urge the LPC to act, or sue the owners itself?
The owners of houses like this take all the profits from rent and never fix anything. If the houses get to the point of being a teardown they're the ones to blame. Not the developer.
To be clear, there is no particular landlord or developer being blamed here - yet. Nor is any individual homeowner required to "hold out" against developers in order to save the old world order.
The more relevant story, at least to the Q, is that the Victorians are history, slow or fast, in Lefferts outside the historic district. They will be replaced by a wide range of buildings. Few if any will included affordable units. Thus, large numbers of lower income residents will be out, and market rate tenants will be in. Plus, whatever the zeitgeist design and building standards of 2015 will be the new face of the neighborhood for decades to come.
In the present, you live with the building booms of the past. We've decided once-scorned brownstones are lovely today; wood-frames, not so much.
babs, correct me if I'm wrong but as I understand it, Landmarks has no jurisdiction over derelict houses. (yeah, not my idea "preservation" either). This probably is the responsibility of the Dept of Buildings and in extreme cases, the Dept of Health.
This, in my opinion, is the idiocy of NYC Landmarks: I can let my Manor house completely fall apart and LPC can't do anything. But if I try to put a 1920s doorknob on my 1900s house? VIOLATION!
They totally do, and have sued owners successfully in the past for demolition by neglect. Here's a very high-profile case from a few years ago: http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/press/09-07_windermere_record_settlement.pdf
And here's some more info on the process: http://www.citylandnyc.org/landmarks%E2%80%99-deputy-counsel-john-weiss-on-combating-demolition-by-neglect/
Nothing to do with the DoB or the DoH.
Thank you, babs, for setting me straight on LPC. So how do we explain they're complete inaction with the properties you mentioned? Is it a result of the fact that LPC doesn't act of its own initiative but requires a complaint to be filed?
I know the house at Midwood and Bedford has been empty for at least a decade. And despite some renovation activity that began last year, it seems to be returning to its dilapidated, graffiti-covered state. I seem to recall that the LMA tried to take some action about that house several years ago. Clearly nothing came of it... anyone know what happened (or didn't happen) with that?
Notwithstanding the recent new graffiti, 1860 Bedford (NW corner @ Midwood) seems to have it's renovation almost completed and may be occupied fairly soon.
That's right, diak, the LPC doesn't act unless someone files a complaint (even on your non-historically-accurate doorknobs), and even then it's like pulling teeth to get them to do anything but file a violation notice with the city (which is meaningless until the owner tries to sell the property, when the bank making the mortgage may require it to be fixed, although in an all-cash purchase, the buyer often doesn't care, so nothing happens). I attribute their lack of activism to their chronic state of "overworked and underfunded," and I think it's only going to get worse in the current political climate, with a former head of the DoB (which has been notorious for handing out zoning variances left and right for new construction) appointed by the Mayor to lead it.
The renovation done on the house at Midwood and Bedford is a complete travesty (to be expected from those owners) and violated the work permits issued. Specifically (judging only from what's visible on the outside) the "repointing" consisted merely of adding a thin layer of new mortar over the old, rather than chiselling out the old mortar and fully replacing it. Because the basement was leaking, they added a cement walk around the foundation, rather than addressing the problem there (a short-term solution at best, and in violation of issued work permits, which specified no concrete work). All of the inside has been gutted and no original details remain. Buyer beware!
Mr. Marvin, I don't share your optimism re 1860 Bedford. Experience suggests that 626 Flatbush will be occupied before 1860 Bedford is. Hell, the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Second Avenue subway might be finished sooner!
And as babs's info reveals, pity the poor sucker who ultimately lives there...
I was so worried a couple houses on Maple 1 were going to end up like that Bedford ave disaster but thank goodness one was finally sold. I keep wondering if people are inheriting some of these houses, taking out loans on them like they're an ATM machine, fixing nothing and ending up in a situation where the house can't be sold for what they owe on it because it's a shell or nearly so and nobody can get a mortgage for the asking price. Thats why they sell to developers. In the manor the places just rot. Next might be 215 Maple, seemingly used as a tenement house not a one family home and the owner trying to sell it for $2.8 million though it has broken windows and the back deck has fallen away from the house. The FDNY has been there twice for smoke coming from inside the walls.
My information about 1860 Bedford is all second hand, but from a source that I usually find quite reliable. I hope my optimism is well founded–we'll see.
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