Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Affordable Housing Summit
Explosion and Fire on Clarkson
Sometimes the City's infrastructure comes up to bite us on the ass. Check out this scary vid a neighbor sent of a Con Ed transformer fire:
Here's what our new friend had to say:
Went to bed last night and woke up this morning to intermittent sounds of exploding manhole and continuously burning underground Con Ed transformer (at least that's what FDNY told us it is) on Clarkson in between Bedford and Rogers. We called Con Ed about 12 times over 14 hours, and they only came out around 10 am today to look at it, then mostly sat in their van and watched the show. FDNY also only occasionally present.
As a matter of fact, they were digging up the street one block down, tween Flabush and Bedford, when I went to work this morning.
I put in a request to the DM at CB9 to see if I can find out whether this has been contained.
Here's what our new friend had to say:
Went to bed last night and woke up this morning to intermittent sounds of exploding manhole and continuously burning underground Con Ed transformer (at least that's what FDNY told us it is) on Clarkson in between Bedford and Rogers. We called Con Ed about 12 times over 14 hours, and they only came out around 10 am today to look at it, then mostly sat in their van and watched the show. FDNY also only occasionally present.
As a matter of fact, they were digging up the street one block down, tween Flabush and Bedford, when I went to work this morning.
I put in a request to the DM at CB9 to see if I can find out whether this has been contained.
La Police Sont de Retour!
That's right! The NYPD are back, and ready to ticket. Just this morning, the Q got his first summons of the year. For turning right on a red light. On a bicycle.
Friends, rest assured that the City coffers, so depleted during the work slowdown protest of Mayor de Blasio telling the truth about excess force and the experiences of his own son and not apologizing for said truth which happened to coincide, sadly, with a terrible shooting by a madman, those coffers will soon fill to the rim with the rich taste of Benjamins.
As the wizened bard Huey Lewis once mused, "I'm taking what they're givin' cuz I'm workin' for a livin'"
Friends, rest assured that the City coffers, so depleted during the work slowdown protest of Mayor de Blasio telling the truth about excess force and the experiences of his own son and not apologizing for said truth which happened to coincide, sadly, with a terrible shooting by a madman, those coffers will soon fill to the rim with the rich taste of Benjamins.
As the wizened bard Huey Lewis once mused, "I'm taking what they're givin' cuz I'm workin' for a livin'"
Kings Theater Lineup
Soon you'll be able to stroll down the promenade of the Flabenue and take in some theater or music a la the Beacon Theater uptown. More shows have been announced, and as I suspected, Oldies and Oddities will be the norm. The only thing truly contemporary here is Mavado and it reflects the nabe. It's also odd that this list is through the end of the year, so there are certainly large gaps that will need to be filled. But this is just the beginning, of course. My kids will love Annie. That Disney thing seems creepy, and Sarah McLachlin still has fans? Guess the Lilith never dies. I wonder how Dancehall music will go over in space? Here's to a great run. I'll save my predictions for a year from now when we can assess how the strategy is working. See you at Annie! The Widespread Panic, not so much.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
The Ethically-Challenged Neighborhood Overlords
Remember Robert Durst? He's the billionaire elder scion of Seymour Durst's real estate empire who escaped conviction on not one, not two, but three obvious-to-an-idiot murder suspicions. His life is the stuff of movies (there are at least two, plus a number of Law and Orders) and he continues to live and soak in his own dirty soul right here in NYC. So what does that have to do with Lefferts? I'll get to that in a long minute.
As the Q learns more and more about the true fiscal machinery behind seemingly organic gentrification, he begins to wonder whose town this is anyway. At the Community Board meeting the other night an older member asked what's both an absurd and profound question related to zoning. He asked "whose land is it anyway, that these developers are taking?" On the one hand, the query is laughable. It's private property of course, and they pay for it, with some form of currency, even if it's all on paper. I even snottily answered the question by interrupting "go far enough back and the land is actually the Indians'" but given the native people's looser view of the public/private partnership, it might be more appropriate to say "God" or someone of his stature actually "owns" the land. Our whole society and notion of wealth and growth stems from private ownership of the very land beneath our feet, and it's really an ingenious proposition when you think about it. Without that simple concept you get no United States, or Louisiana Purchase, or lawn mowers. You can't get loans, you can't build empires, and you sure as heck can't grow a tree and call it yours. So that's a bit of fiscal machinery at play. Sometimes it's fun to remember that the very basis of things is not actually self-evident, but constructed.
The Q don't know about you, but I was actually floored to learn that 115 Ocean traded for $26 million. Not because I have any concept of that much money, but because it was more than 2 1/2 times what another supposedly sophisticated investor paid four years ago. And at this moment, 115 is the same much-maligned much-neglected dump it was back then. No improvements to speak of, still on the list of worst landlords. Granted, the land beneath our feet is seemingly made of black gold these days, so speculation is inevitable. But supposedly "sophisticated" investors don't usually jump in whole hog without an exit strategy. Do they? I mean, the building is basically "worth" $300 s/f now. There is no conceivable way the building can make money as a rent-stabilized building at that valuation. With the rent laws up for review this summer in Albany, that's a heck of a lot of confidence, don't you think? Because either they have to radically change the building in six months (which is not legally possible in such short order) or have some bug in their ear (probably not Bob Marley) telling them "every little thing is gonna be all right." If the rent laws ain't gonna change, and you have a "friend" who knows that for sure, well then I guess you could plan for the long haul. Hmmm. Look, at this point a moneyed developer is going to know, or have lobbyists who know, ALL the relevant players Upstate, and a pretty good idea of how things are going to roll. The rest of us may find us putting faith in a rigged outcome.
Of course, it's not just this one building. That line in the statement from the realtor that 115 was sold to "a local family that has been investing in Brooklyn for multiple years." makes you think its Andy and Opie and Aunt Bea who aare now buying up Central Brooklyn (with Barney as the lovable super?) And who did this lovely NYC family business buy 115 from but the ethically-challenged group called Burke Leighton, led by Freddy Sayegh and some other unholy roller named Sammy (both pictured here - as you can see Sammy seems quite excited in this head shot. Go get 'em Sammy!)
So Burke Leighton made a killing on this sale. Recognize any of these buildings? BL seem to be in the habit of buying up all kinds of buildings in our area, and, it would seem by the sale of 115, "preparing them" for resale. How do I know Freddy Sayegh and his team at Burke Leighton are ethically-disabled? Because they are one of the prime targets of the Crown Heights Tenants Union, a brave bunch of tenants who have banded together - old-timer and new-timer - to take on the nasty treatment that ALL of the tenants are being given in order to get them out and jack up the rent 20% with each new lease. That's the loophole that fast-tracks a building right out of rent stabilization on the way to the absurdly high prevailing market rates. Below's the poster for a tenant organizing meeting for Burke Leighton tenants coming up this Wednesday, so by all means if you live in any of these or other BL buildings please go! Remember, your owner is probably behind an LLC name (like 115 Ocean, which was called Lincoln Prospect Associates), so do the diligence if you can and find out who's behind the mask. You may be helping tons of fellow tenants to learn that they too are part of this group that's organizing.
All good, and weird. I started wondering who this "family" business might be, the one that bought 115 at such a ridiculously high markup. I thought to myself, well, maybe it's just another one of these companies buying up tons of buildings right now. Maybe one that's bought THIS many buildings:
Pretty impressive, no? One might even call it a geographic strategy...one that dovetails nicely with the current trend of fast-paced gentrification. As you well know, there are tons more buildings than just the ones noted on the above map, a map that appears proudly on Burke Leighton's website. But between them and Pinnacle and Shamco and BCB and a handful of others, most of the buildings round here have been bought and sold and leveraged many times in very recent years. So what, you might say. The big money figured there were low lying fruit to be plucked. That's how capitalism works, and why should we care?
Well, for one thing, these big asset firms aren't buying up candy for resale. They're purchasing people's homes. Granted those people don't own their homes, but many of them have been paying rent for decades and have made landlords money in the process. They're part of the fabric of the neighborhood, the schools, the shops, the churches. You could go as far as to say they ARE the neighborhood, for what is a neighborhood but the people who live there and raise families and play in the playgrounds and shop the stores? (You could say that's old-fashioned of me, but just think how so many distinct neighborhoods of Manhattan have disappeared into anonymity as they've been turned into monolithic worker dorms, many designed for the young professional who's here to start a career, marry and move away. Am I being glib? Maybe, but think of the old Lower East Side, or Chelsea, and how it's changed for the blander. Progress, maybe. Or just plain part of the greater corporatization of the culture. And we read just this weekend (NY Times: Why the Doorman Is Lonely) that one quarter...yes 25%...of all NYC coops and condos are owned by people as a second home. They don't even REALLY live here, or pay income tax. And they say we have a housing shortage.
I've echoed what's been written elsewhere, about how these very small number of players are literally owning the 'hood. It's not new. But maybe you haven't heard about this one - Bennat Charatan Berger - and what I found out kinda blew my mind. BCB is one of the companies that the CHTU is fighting. And oddly, as I was checking out their homepage, I ran across this tidbit.
But here's the intrigue. If the name Debrah Lee Charatan doesn't ring a bell, maybe you should take a closer look at the story of that guy I mentioned at the top of the post - Robert Durst. Apologies to Wikipedia for quoting so liberally, but they provide all the details in a wonderful summary. If haven't read the abbreviated version of his story, you simply MUST:
So beyond learning that one can plead Asperger's as an excuse for chopping someone up into tiny bits with a paring knife, we also learn that Durst became a gentrifier in Harlem in 2011. Who helped him find the place? Why, BCB Property Management of course.
Because Durst's second wife, the one he didn't murder (so far), is Debrah Lee Charatan. And she's still married to him by the way. And the family company she runs with her son, Durst's stepson, BCB, is clearly on a mission to build an empire of its own. Maybe as some sort challenge to the younger Durst brother, who is still enormously successful and apparently terrified of his older brother to this day?
All of the above, dear reader, is true, as far as my sleuthing can ascertain. But one bit of speculation could either turn this into a big story or a "the Q has gone off the rails" fable.
What if BCB and Burke Leighton were conspiring together to ratchet up the prices of buildings like 115 Ocean? I don't know for a fact that BCB was the buyer, making BL a big, big profit. BUT, if they (or any other real estate concerns) colluded to increase the price of the building and then sold one more time - this time to an unsuspecting gullible party, they could split the diff. You know, the way a shill bidder can bid up the price to net the seller more dough at auction. Just a hunch. Because otherwise, I just don't see how any of it makes any sense.
When people's very lives and homes are at stake, the Q thinks it warrants a ton of action by elected officials and the D.A. and the media to figure out who these new Lords of Flatbush are. By jacking up the price of the buildings themselves, they make them completely unworkable as a business to landlords. It was one thing when tenants paying $500 - $1000 for an apartment fed a building worth a couple million. You can still make money. But when an 89 unit building costs $26 million? And it's a dump needing oodles of repairs? It don't take Warren Buffet to see where this is heading.
To say the very least, the story unfolding before our eyes is much richer, much more sinister, and much more interesting, than I ever could have imagined.
As the Q learns more and more about the true fiscal machinery behind seemingly organic gentrification, he begins to wonder whose town this is anyway. At the Community Board meeting the other night an older member asked what's both an absurd and profound question related to zoning. He asked "whose land is it anyway, that these developers are taking?" On the one hand, the query is laughable. It's private property of course, and they pay for it, with some form of currency, even if it's all on paper. I even snottily answered the question by interrupting "go far enough back and the land is actually the Indians'" but given the native people's looser view of the public/private partnership, it might be more appropriate to say "God" or someone of his stature actually "owns" the land. Our whole society and notion of wealth and growth stems from private ownership of the very land beneath our feet, and it's really an ingenious proposition when you think about it. Without that simple concept you get no United States, or Louisiana Purchase, or lawn mowers. You can't get loans, you can't build empires, and you sure as heck can't grow a tree and call it yours. So that's a bit of fiscal machinery at play. Sometimes it's fun to remember that the very basis of things is not actually self-evident, but constructed.
The Q don't know about you, but I was actually floored to learn that 115 Ocean traded for $26 million. Not because I have any concept of that much money, but because it was more than 2 1/2 times what another supposedly sophisticated investor paid four years ago. And at this moment, 115 is the same much-maligned much-neglected dump it was back then. No improvements to speak of, still on the list of worst landlords. Granted, the land beneath our feet is seemingly made of black gold these days, so speculation is inevitable. But supposedly "sophisticated" investors don't usually jump in whole hog without an exit strategy. Do they? I mean, the building is basically "worth" $300 s/f now. There is no conceivable way the building can make money as a rent-stabilized building at that valuation. With the rent laws up for review this summer in Albany, that's a heck of a lot of confidence, don't you think? Because either they have to radically change the building in six months (which is not legally possible in such short order) or have some bug in their ear (probably not Bob Marley) telling them "every little thing is gonna be all right." If the rent laws ain't gonna change, and you have a "friend" who knows that for sure, well then I guess you could plan for the long haul. Hmmm. Look, at this point a moneyed developer is going to know, or have lobbyists who know, ALL the relevant players Upstate, and a pretty good idea of how things are going to roll. The rest of us may find us putting faith in a rigged outcome.
 |
| Sammy |
 |
| Freddy |
So Burke Leighton made a killing on this sale. Recognize any of these buildings? BL seem to be in the habit of buying up all kinds of buildings in our area, and, it would seem by the sale of 115, "preparing them" for resale. How do I know Freddy Sayegh and his team at Burke Leighton are ethically-disabled? Because they are one of the prime targets of the Crown Heights Tenants Union, a brave bunch of tenants who have banded together - old-timer and new-timer - to take on the nasty treatment that ALL of the tenants are being given in order to get them out and jack up the rent 20% with each new lease. That's the loophole that fast-tracks a building right out of rent stabilization on the way to the absurdly high prevailing market rates. Below's the poster for a tenant organizing meeting for Burke Leighton tenants coming up this Wednesday, so by all means if you live in any of these or other BL buildings please go! Remember, your owner is probably behind an LLC name (like 115 Ocean, which was called Lincoln Prospect Associates), so do the diligence if you can and find out who's behind the mask. You may be helping tons of fellow tenants to learn that they too are part of this group that's organizing.
Pretty impressive, no? One might even call it a geographic strategy...one that dovetails nicely with the current trend of fast-paced gentrification. As you well know, there are tons more buildings than just the ones noted on the above map, a map that appears proudly on Burke Leighton's website. But between them and Pinnacle and Shamco and BCB and a handful of others, most of the buildings round here have been bought and sold and leveraged many times in very recent years. So what, you might say. The big money figured there were low lying fruit to be plucked. That's how capitalism works, and why should we care?
Well, for one thing, these big asset firms aren't buying up candy for resale. They're purchasing people's homes. Granted those people don't own their homes, but many of them have been paying rent for decades and have made landlords money in the process. They're part of the fabric of the neighborhood, the schools, the shops, the churches. You could go as far as to say they ARE the neighborhood, for what is a neighborhood but the people who live there and raise families and play in the playgrounds and shop the stores? (You could say that's old-fashioned of me, but just think how so many distinct neighborhoods of Manhattan have disappeared into anonymity as they've been turned into monolithic worker dorms, many designed for the young professional who's here to start a career, marry and move away. Am I being glib? Maybe, but think of the old Lower East Side, or Chelsea, and how it's changed for the blander. Progress, maybe. Or just plain part of the greater corporatization of the culture. And we read just this weekend (NY Times: Why the Doorman Is Lonely) that one quarter...yes 25%...of all NYC coops and condos are owned by people as a second home. They don't even REALLY live here, or pay income tax. And they say we have a housing shortage.
I've echoed what's been written elsewhere, about how these very small number of players are literally owning the 'hood. It's not new. But maybe you haven't heard about this one - Bennat Charatan Berger - and what I found out kinda blew my mind. BCB is one of the companies that the CHTU is fighting. And oddly, as I was checking out their homepage, I ran across this tidbit.
Founded in 2008 by the mother and son team of Debrah Lee Charatan and Bennat Charatan Berger, BCB has preserved and improved more than 36 multi-family and mixed use buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn.How charming! A family business...wait. Isn't that the language used by The Real Deal when talking about the unnamed company that bought 115 Ocean from Burke Leighton? I know companies often have relatives working together. But it struck me as odd that BCB makes such a point of it, as if to say "we must have integrity, being that we're a mother and son business." Perhaps that's an image they're trying to cultivate, and that they're selling to others through P.R.
But here's the intrigue. If the name Debrah Lee Charatan doesn't ring a bell, maybe you should take a closer look at the story of that guy I mentioned at the top of the post - Robert Durst. Apologies to Wikipedia for quoting so liberally, but they provide all the details in a wonderful summary. If haven't read the abbreviated version of his story, you simply MUST:
Early life
One of four children, Durst grew up in Scarsdale, New York, and attended Scarsdale High School. He completed his undergraduate degree at Lehigh University and attended graduate school at UCLA. At age 7 Durst reportedly witnessed his mother's apparent suicide; she either fell or jumped from the roof of the family's mansion. According to Reader's Digest, Durst underwent extensive counseling because of his mother's death, and doctors found that his "deep anger" could lead to psychological problems, including schizophrenia. Durst went on to become a real estate developer in his father's business; however, it was his brother Douglas who was later appointed to run the family business. The appointment in the 1990s caused a rift between Robert and his family, and he became estranged from them.
Fugitive
In 1973, Durst married Kathleen McCormack, who disappeared in 1982. Her case remained unsolved for 18 years when New York State Police re-opened the criminal investigation. On December 24, 2000, Durst's long-time friend, Susan Berman, who was believed to have knowledge of McCormack's disappearance, was found murdered execution-style in her Benedict Canyon, California house. Durst was questioned in both cases but not charged. According to prosecutors, Durst moved to Texas in 2000 and began cross-dressing to divert attention from the disappearance of McCormack. In 2001, Durst was arrested in Galveston, Texas, shortly after body parts of his elderly neighbor, Morris Black, were found floating in Galveston Bay, but was released on bail. Durst missed his court hearing and was declared the first billion-dollar fugitive in the US. He was caught in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at a Wegmans Supermarket, after trying to shoplift a chicken sandwich, Band-Aids, and a newspaper, even though he had $500 cash in his pocket. A police search of his rented car yielded $37,000 in cash, two guns, marijuana and Black's driver's license.
Trial
In 2003, Durst went on trial for the murder of Morris Black. He hired defense attorney Dick DeGuerin and claimed self-defense. During cross-examination, Durst admitted to using a paring knife, two saws and an axe to dismember Black's body before dumping his remains in Galveston Bay. He was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, which the defense argued explained his behavior. The jury acquitted him of murder. In 2004, Durst pleaded guilty to two counts of bond jumping and one count of evidence tampering. As part of a plea bargain, he received a sentence of five years and was given credit for time served, requiring him to serve about three years in prison. Durst was paroled in 2005. The rules of his release required him to stay near his home; permission was required to travel.
Second arrest
In December 2005, Durst made an unauthorized trip to the boarding house where Black had been killed and to a nearby shopping mall. At the mall, he ran into the presiding judge from his murder trial, Judge Susan Criss. Due to this incident, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles determined that Durst had violated the terms of his parole, and he was returned to jail. He was released again from custody on March 1, 2006. In 2011, it was reported that Durst had purchased a townhouse in Harlem, and his family confirmed that he was living there at least some of the time.
Third arrest:
In July 2014, Durst was arrested after turning himself in to police following an incident at a Houston CVS drugstore in which he allegedly exposed himself without provocation and urinated on a rack of candy. He then left the store and casually walked down the street. Durst was charged with criminal mischief and is currently awaiting trial. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, he may serve up to a year in prison and may be subject to a $2000 fine.
So beyond learning that one can plead Asperger's as an excuse for chopping someone up into tiny bits with a paring knife, we also learn that Durst became a gentrifier in Harlem in 2011. Who helped him find the place? Why, BCB Property Management of course.
Because Durst's second wife, the one he didn't murder (so far), is Debrah Lee Charatan. And she's still married to him by the way. And the family company she runs with her son, Durst's stepson, BCB, is clearly on a mission to build an empire of its own. Maybe as some sort challenge to the younger Durst brother, who is still enormously successful and apparently terrified of his older brother to this day?
All of the above, dear reader, is true, as far as my sleuthing can ascertain. But one bit of speculation could either turn this into a big story or a "the Q has gone off the rails" fable.
What if BCB and Burke Leighton were conspiring together to ratchet up the prices of buildings like 115 Ocean? I don't know for a fact that BCB was the buyer, making BL a big, big profit. BUT, if they (or any other real estate concerns) colluded to increase the price of the building and then sold one more time - this time to an unsuspecting gullible party, they could split the diff. You know, the way a shill bidder can bid up the price to net the seller more dough at auction. Just a hunch. Because otherwise, I just don't see how any of it makes any sense.
When people's very lives and homes are at stake, the Q thinks it warrants a ton of action by elected officials and the D.A. and the media to figure out who these new Lords of Flatbush are. By jacking up the price of the buildings themselves, they make them completely unworkable as a business to landlords. It was one thing when tenants paying $500 - $1000 for an apartment fed a building worth a couple million. You can still make money. But when an 89 unit building costs $26 million? And it's a dump needing oodles of repairs? It don't take Warren Buffet to see where this is heading.
To say the very least, the story unfolding before our eyes is much richer, much more sinister, and much more interesting, than I ever could have imagined.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Zoning Update
Some of y'all have emailed asking about where we're at with a zoning study. CB9 members were invited to a special training session by the Brooklyn Department of City Planning on Tuesday, where we were treated to an extraordinarily thorough examination of the neighborhood and the potential for this and that scenarios. Zoning is a funny thing, and a notoriously blunt tool for social engineering. However, by learning about some of the plans for, say, East New York (here's the big proposal - it's actually fascinating), we were able to ask questions about what is and isn't possible, since so much of it relies on what developers are and aren't willing to build once the zoning is in place. If you're interested in the how the future of Lefferts/SoCro, or LeSoCro, could potentially unfold, I urge you to familiarize yourself with zoning, at least enough to get the gist. A nice intro about the various zoning designations can be viewed here.
And while there wasn't a lot of NEW information discussed, much of it was new to the new Board members, many of whom, in a bit of a panic, helped to rescind last year's resolution to begin the process of studying our neighborhood and proposing changes consistent with the neighborhoods priorities. Turns out a formal "resolution" wasn't really needed, and we went quite a bit further in ours than had, say, CB8 in its initial approach to Planning. All they wrote was a letter, and it had nothing specific at all in it. But Winston et al at City Planning quite liked our resolution, and were quick to engage the CB to move forward. I've been over this 1,000 times, but it's worth repeating, particularly since some in the room on Tuesday didn't really know how far we'd gotten before things blew up in September.
The bottom line is this. City Planning is not about to pour enormous resources into a rezoning study, and engage in the lengthy process of dialogue and ULURP, if a) we don't invite them in formally and b) we won't entertain the possibility of finding places to build new housing, in particular affordable housing as laid out in the goals of the current Mayoral administration. Dig? So somehow, CB9 has to go back to the drawing "board" and restate its support for a study and its acknowledgment of the goals of the DPC. Barring that, we get stuck with the same lousy 50-year-old zoning that led to the creation of 626, an outdated map that actively encourages a totally random hodge-podge construction environment. With more than two dozen development plans already in the works for the area south of Eastern Parkway, west of Prospect Park, west of NY Ave, you can see why some of us are very nervous about what this means in practice. Actually, so much is already cooked into the pie that an 18-month zoning process will barely make a dent. We've already lost a year. Here's hoping the bleeding stops now.
You probably already know about the other unneighborly 23-story tower going up on Nostrand below Church. But did you know that inside sources tell the Q that the Associated on Nostrand above Empire, which lost its lease, is already likely to be a huge, and maybe tall, apartment building? (Sadly, neighbors spoke to the grocery store's owners asking that they stay, and were sold a bill of goods about how they would. Real money talks, and that's whose speaking now over there.) Did you know that a hotel firm is looking at Empire right now? Did you know how big the apartment building will be at the recently sold Sea Crest linen spot? Did you know that R6 zoning has no height limits, and that other than the absurd and "loose" R7-1 zoning that led to 626, our neighborhood is chock full of R6? Did you know that a simple change from R6 to R6A or R6B could include not only height limits but "quality housing" dictates that ensure the context of our blocks remains intact?
It really IS consequential. And Tuesday was a great start towards making the board understand those consequences. And yes, Empire Blvd, Flatbush to Rogers, will be on the table. But so will dozens of other blocks. Hopefully we'll move forward without any more shenanigans from the scaremongers at MTOPP, but who knows? One can only hope that their, um, enthusiasm can be contained long enough to discuss the issue soberly.
 |
| Way Out Atlantic Ave: The ENY of the future? A bit optimistic, perhaps? |
And while there wasn't a lot of NEW information discussed, much of it was new to the new Board members, many of whom, in a bit of a panic, helped to rescind last year's resolution to begin the process of studying our neighborhood and proposing changes consistent with the neighborhoods priorities. Turns out a formal "resolution" wasn't really needed, and we went quite a bit further in ours than had, say, CB8 in its initial approach to Planning. All they wrote was a letter, and it had nothing specific at all in it. But Winston et al at City Planning quite liked our resolution, and were quick to engage the CB to move forward. I've been over this 1,000 times, but it's worth repeating, particularly since some in the room on Tuesday didn't really know how far we'd gotten before things blew up in September.
The bottom line is this. City Planning is not about to pour enormous resources into a rezoning study, and engage in the lengthy process of dialogue and ULURP, if a) we don't invite them in formally and b) we won't entertain the possibility of finding places to build new housing, in particular affordable housing as laid out in the goals of the current Mayoral administration. Dig? So somehow, CB9 has to go back to the drawing "board" and restate its support for a study and its acknowledgment of the goals of the DPC. Barring that, we get stuck with the same lousy 50-year-old zoning that led to the creation of 626, an outdated map that actively encourages a totally random hodge-podge construction environment. With more than two dozen development plans already in the works for the area south of Eastern Parkway, west of Prospect Park, west of NY Ave, you can see why some of us are very nervous about what this means in practice. Actually, so much is already cooked into the pie that an 18-month zoning process will barely make a dent. We've already lost a year. Here's hoping the bleeding stops now.
You probably already know about the other unneighborly 23-story tower going up on Nostrand below Church. But did you know that inside sources tell the Q that the Associated on Nostrand above Empire, which lost its lease, is already likely to be a huge, and maybe tall, apartment building? (Sadly, neighbors spoke to the grocery store's owners asking that they stay, and were sold a bill of goods about how they would. Real money talks, and that's whose speaking now over there.) Did you know that a hotel firm is looking at Empire right now? Did you know how big the apartment building will be at the recently sold Sea Crest linen spot? Did you know that R6 zoning has no height limits, and that other than the absurd and "loose" R7-1 zoning that led to 626, our neighborhood is chock full of R6? Did you know that a simple change from R6 to R6A or R6B could include not only height limits but "quality housing" dictates that ensure the context of our blocks remains intact?
It really IS consequential. And Tuesday was a great start towards making the board understand those consequences. And yes, Empire Blvd, Flatbush to Rogers, will be on the table. But so will dozens of other blocks. Hopefully we'll move forward without any more shenanigans from the scaremongers at MTOPP, but who knows? One can only hope that their, um, enthusiasm can be contained long enough to discuss the issue soberly.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Terrific Show at Tugboat
A neighbor with the handle Anton Gold is putting up some of his photographs at Tugboat today. He sent me some pictures that are really stupendous that I thought I'd share. The opening is Saturday, so come out and give him a big kiss, handshake, bump or bow, depending on your comfort level and cultural norm.
Anton moved to Lefferts Gardens 11 years ago, on Lefferts III. Married with two Yorkies named Lefferts and Gizzy. (As far as I know there are no plans to rename a local street "Gizzy.) He had this sweet thing to say about the project:
Anton moved to Lefferts Gardens 11 years ago, on Lefferts III. Married with two Yorkies named Lefferts and Gizzy. (As far as I know there are no plans to rename a local street "Gizzy.) He had this sweet thing to say about the project:
I'll bet the Opening on Saturday is around 6pm, the prototypical "Opening" time, but I'll try to confirm that. And now, for some extraordinary samples:My little Tugboat photo show's true purpose (which is the mantra of my photography) is that I can take a photograph of PLG on any given day that is at face value (as a production of light) as beautiful as any photo taken that day anywhere on the planet.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Wanted for Parkside Shooting
Lotsa times I'm wary of posting these pictures because the faces are so obscured, and this is no exception. However...the jacket is pretty darn recognizable. Seen this guy?
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Qomments
So starting now, anyone can comment. No need to be a Google user or anything, and you don't have to fill in those silly letters. But I'll be moderating, so keep it somewhat clean and yeah, certain folks (three in total so far) are banned. Also it will take as long as it does for me to check my email before your post goes live. Usually that's within the hour, but life happens. No need to post your comment more than once.
And in celebration of the new policy, I leave you with the below poster from near 50 years ago. To most of you it will mean nothing, but for some, I hope you enjoy as much as I did. By the way, Mr. Old Time Rock 'n' Roll was considered on a par with Iggy in late '60s Detroit for his "raw" live shows. In other words, you never know which way the wind's gonna blow. Against the Wind? You bet. Like a rock? Like a Rock Against the Wind? (Always bugged me that line "Like a rock...STORMING FROM THE GATE." Don't know about your rocks, but mine don't really storm from anything, usually just sit there.)
And in celebration of the new policy, I leave you with the below poster from near 50 years ago. To most of you it will mean nothing, but for some, I hope you enjoy as much as I did. By the way, Mr. Old Time Rock 'n' Roll was considered on a par with Iggy in late '60s Detroit for his "raw" live shows. In other words, you never know which way the wind's gonna blow. Against the Wind? You bet. Like a rock? Like a Rock Against the Wind? (Always bugged me that line "Like a rock...STORMING FROM THE GATE." Don't know about your rocks, but mine don't really storm from anything, usually just sit there.)
Thursday, January 1, 2015
2014: The Q in Review
1. A Zoning Catastrophe
The year started on an upbeat note, despite the digging of an enormous hole into which our beloved 626 Flatbush was to rise. Is it not huge? I mean ABSURDLY huge? A lot of folks thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill, but dang if you don't think that thing is way out of line for the neighborhood, then, well, I guess you don't think it's out of line for the neighborhood. Look down Hawthorne or Fenimore from Bedford. Yikes. Or look from inside of the Park. Blech. We could've rezoned, we didn't rezone, we get what we didn't do when we could've done what we needed to do. I'm convinced had we held Planning's feet to the fire after the original request was denied back in 2008, we would've gotten there. We got no help from the Community Board through the years, but we ARE the community, so who can you blame? And frankly I don't think any of us thought Flatbush (and Ocean) were so vulnerable as this.
Some think the Q's been wishy-washy about development in general, but reading back through the year's posts I actually think I've been clear as a bell as to my own position. Building apartments, ugly as they may be, is what inevitably takes place in boom times. That's how cities get built in the first place, and as you read this, you are quite likely living in the result of such a boom build, of whatever decade or century. I don't care if you're in London, Tucson or Des Moines, this is how humans have come to organize and house themselves, and this is how we've decided as a society we will pay for it. Someone buys the land, crunches the numbers, puts up what they believe the market will bear, and turns over the keys to the tenant/buyer with the best possible demographic, er, credit rating. Simple. Elegant. There's even a nice fat dividend for the savvy developer, and everybody's happy. Right? Right?
Were we expanding like the universe into nothingness, and all places were equal, all would be right in the social order. But in NYC (and San Fran, notably) we build on top of the ruins of the old world. Over and over. These ruins aren't ancient of course. Some were created last week. Some folks, who owned their own houses, sold recently and made out like bandits and headed for the hills, or the South, or even another part of town. A certain amount of cultural churn is to be expected. As a place becomes ever-more desirable, its price commands premium. Conversely, as it becomes less desirable to the market, its price drops. And Adam Smith smiles in his casket.
That's the number one story around here, I'd say. New development, redevelopment, and the emergence of two new voices from the neighborhood. One, Prospect Park East Network (PPEN), went as far as to sue the developers of 626 for ignoring the mandates of environmental review. The other, Movement to Protect the Park (MTOPP) seemed to revel in its anti-everybody-ness while preaching community and togetherness. Once it became clear that 626 wasn't the greatest threat to their quality of life, but rather any potential residential building along glorious Empire Boulevard, the target shifted to anyone and everyone with a pulse. MTOPP has become a thorn in the side of the Community Board, all elected officials, and anyone who dares contradict their often contradictory goals of...oh, I don't know anymore what they want other than to burn Pearl Miles at the stake. (She's the District Manager for CB9, and she's had one hell of a year.)
Therefore, Person of the Year HAS to go to Alicia Boyd for leading the MTOPP movement. She's one of a kind that Ms. Boyd of Sterling I. You know it occurs to me just now that she was sitting at the table with the rest of us at Brooklyn's City Planning office just last summer. She HAD a seat at the planning process. What more can one constituency ask for? PLGNA was there. PPEN was there. The Jewish Community Council was there. The Dodgertown homeowners group was there. Leaders from Montgomery, Crown, Ocean... But what happened was - it became clear Alicia wasn't gonna get her way, so she went on the offensive. Her call for unity and consensus is total bullshit. She wants what she wants and she wants it now. For that, she gets my Person of the Year. May she not repeat.
If 626 Flatbush isn't enough to get your panties in a bunch about why we need rezoning, perhaps this post will remind you just how many projects are potentially being hatched as I write this. And its not Uncle George adding an attic to his garage. This is serious neighborhood redesign. We have pretty much no say in the matter, unless we ask to sit around the table with the powers that be. For God's sakes let's get down to it!
I mean, look what the loudmouths at YIMBY had to say regarding our nabe and our OTHER giant 23-story building, on Nostrand below Church:
2. New Leadership All Around
You can't sidestep the fact that everywhere you look new faces have come to lead the scene. You could start with the new heads of the 71st and 70th precincts, but I know George Fitzgibbon the best at the 7-1 and I give him passing grades and a big shout out here for being available and acting accountable for what goes on under his command. Right now, what happens to Bratton's tenure is anyone's guess, with many cops just plain ignoring their duty to enforce the laws in response to the tragic assassination of two cops over on Myrtle. It's not the first time cops have been killed of course, but the timing and the shocking premeditated brutality sent the whole discussion of race and policing back to the dark ages. Had the killing been part of some madman's strategy to forward the course of policing in America, and it appears it was not in any sense but the madman part, it could not have been more ill-timed or ill-conceived. We will be dealing with the aftermath, I suspect, for ages.
Desmond Romeo and Shelley Kramer et all have started strong with their Parkside Empire merchant's association. Replacing the miserable and outdated Flatbush Empire to Parkside Merchant's Association (FEPMA) the new group has come out swinging, sponsoring workshops, collecting surveys, and running a shop local campaign. They've been creating relationships with Sanitation and the Cops and we should continue to see strong growth from that economic corridor in the coming years. Good work and keep it up!
New Mayor. New Borough President. New State Senator. New Councilwoman (above Empire). Same Councilman below. Ah well, can't win 'em all. That's a lot of new blood, and one can always hope that the new bosses have the integrity and vision to lead effectively.
New Chancellor of schools. New principal at Jackie Robinson (the school most of us are zoned for). New Superintendent for District 17, thank the lord.
Lastly the Community Board. After decades of leadership from Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, our beloved CB9 shook things up radically, electing new chair Dwayne Nicholson and receiving a whopping 18 new members via the Borough President's office. While it's too soon to tell whether the new group and its By-Laws and Executive Committees will set in motion positive change, I'll tell you right now that I've been saddened by the slow pace of action on Zoning. Alicia Boyd's basically been running the CB meetings, and it seems all Dwayne does is in reaction to her. We haven't even met the ULURP committee since last Spring. Yes, we're an embarrassment right now, but maybe January will see us come together and get the job done with City Planning. The best offense against Alicia is to ignore her. To my bewilderment, the Board actually rescinded the work it did last year on Zoning, appeasing MTOPP and their outside agitators. How shameful, in my opinion, to simply ignore the wishes of the previous Board in order to satisfy a misplaced notion of "process." You know what process is? Voting overwhelmingly for something. The current Board acted as if that never happened, and slowed the pace of the Zoning Study by a whole year. I rewrote the zoning resolution to remove even the slightest traces of controversy just to see if anyone cared that we've wasted 9 months on this ridiculous argument. Of course, it lost, though I wonder if someone else had led the charge it might've been at the very least DISCUSSED. A sad state of affairs, but them's the cookies.
3. Changing Traffic Patterns on the Flabenue
I recall last winter that many were decrying the redesign of traffic lanes along Flatbush as catastrophic. Turns out the first couple days of the new patterns coincided with a water main break down on Caton, and the hour delays along Flatbush from Grand Army Plaza were short lived. Coupled with the new slower speed limits, I'd say the Flabenue has calmed considerably. The new intersection at Washington/Flatbush/Lincoln has finally stopped the flow from Lincoln going east then up Washington. That intersection is a dozen times safer. The BP gas station still has cars coming and going from every orifice, but what you gonna do? We begged, but no dice. Some of us will keep hammering for a move of the express B41 down to the south portion of the BP, because right now 1,000s of people every day jaywalk from the Phat Albert's to the subway station, the B41 being so poorly sited as to actually encourage it. I'm missing Ed Fanning at CB9 Transportation right now. He wasn't reappointed. I'm probably next.
4. Old Victorians Coming Down Left and Right
They don't get the same love as brownstones and maybe rightly so. But the delightful woodframe houses that dot our neighborhood are coming down faster than you can bat an I-beam. I'm saddest about the Haunted House of Clarkson and the three well-maintained houses on my block that gave the density a bit of a break. Other development sites are detailed here, and that's just the old news. I can think of at least a dozen others, and new ones are happening almost every week. Utilizing outdated zoning, many of these will become eyesores on their respective streets. But hey, Delirious NY continues. Seen Williamsburg lately? Whoa Nelly.
5. Opening of 123 on the Park
When I moved to NY, the old Caledonian Hospital was still a going concern. Just imagine how different Parkside was with an emergency room entrance right near the Parade Ground. Then when I moved here a dozen years ago, it was still alive as a medical building - doctor's offices and such. Then it was closed and lay unused and unloved for many years. Now it's a swank apartment building, and while current Caledonian residents might find the rents outrageously high, for an apartment right on Prospect Park many are finding the rents relatively cheap. The real story here, besides re-purposing an old building (this is the kind of market rate development that makes a great deal of sense) is that the old "this side of the park, that side of the park" dichotomy is beginning to break down. With Lefferts having been "discovered" by developers and apartment hunters, it's only a matter of time before the old 1/2 ratio falls for good - that being that prices on THIS side of the park are roughly half what they are in Park Slope. That held true for many decades, but we're moving towards parity. 123 and its resulting demographics push us closer. Don't believe me? Check out the below latest from the 123 website. By the way, these aren't even as high as are the real rents. They're "net effective" after they give you a month or two free. To put it mildly, these numbers would have been unheard of just a few short years ago.
6. Parkside Committee Gets Busy; Trees and Flowers on Ocean
It's been a slow but steady climb for Rudy Delson and his cohorts at the Parkside Committee. But this was the year they turned a corner, and with your help of about $6,000, they plan to have an operational plaza at the Q at Parkside this summer. Oh, and those trees are courtesy of the P.C. as well. Replanted and guarded by handmade treepit rails, the trees themselves make a huge improvement. Send Rudy a note if you'd like to help.
Meanwhile, just around the corner, Amy Musick and her indefatigable bunch keep on beautifying Ocean Avenue. After getting dozens of tree pit guards from the City, they clean and mulch and plant bulbs in the pits, and come this spring look for a gorgeous display of flora. They've got their eyes on the longview, so don't expect Ocean to backstep anytime soon. And now a group is forming to address the entire perimeter of the Park on the park side. The trees and sidewalks need serious love, and this inter-neighborhood group will need support, and you can always be on the lookout for an Ocean beautification day. Keep your browser pointed here.
7. Our Neighborhood Has Been Bought
If you live in a large apartment building - the big pre-war five and six stories that dominate the area - chances are its been bought and sold within the last few years. A handful of companies, with names like Pinnacle and Shamco (I kid you not), have invested in the neighborhood in a big, big way. The south-moving gentrification process has shown just how the gig works, having spun its black magic from Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and even northward from Flatbush (particularly Ditmas). The business plan is simple: buy a big building with 50+ units, which is likely mostly or all rent stabilized and therefore sold at a perceived discount. Make minimal but visible capital improvements. Renovate apartments as rent stabilized tenants "leave," allowing you to jack up the rents. Make life somewhat miserable for the new tenants that got what they thought was a steal off Craigslist. Repeat. Get each apartment to top $2,500 in rent, so that it leaves rent stabilization for good. If you're making good money, hang on to the building. But you can usually sell for a profit anyway. Better yet, leverage your building to the hilt to buy more buildings. Build a big fat portfolio. Ride the Housing Bubble Tiger! (People keep telling me Brooklyn's not in a bubble, just a boom. I would argue that because we're so out of line with both the rest of the country and historical price/income, that we must be bubbling big time. Part of it is that Brooklyn has become more desirable to high-earner-high-net-worth folks. But that can't explain it all. Irrational exuberance is an old familiar phrase. Then again, I famously predicted Wesley Clark would be president.)
9. New Openings Galore
Midwood Flats. Erv's. Cinnamon Girl. Blessings. Gratitude Cafe. Bluebird. Mountain. All are game-changers for the neighborhood, and join Tip of the Tongue (the Q calls it TOTT) and Tugboat to bring Lefferts Gardens into the age of modern Brooklyn eats and drinks. Look for a new Mexican place and a couple more surprises in the coming weeks and months.
And by the way, we already HAD a plethora of good food choices. Shelley Kramer of Play Kids did a nice job of summarizing your options here. From Scoops to De Hot Pot to Jus' Fishy and Mango Seed, you'd be a fool not to try the great Island options around here.
How about Planet Fitness? And the new co-work space The Compound? And the Bikram Yoga joint above the beer distributor? New uses galore for the Phat Albert's 'n' Sons parallelogram tween Lefferts and Empire.
Oh. And Lakeside! Geez Louise how quickly I forget that this remarkable asset to our side of the park is pretty much brand spanking new. And it has a decent restaurant to boot. Oh yeah, and ice and roller skating and a splash pad. Lakeside has been the Q's favorite new amenity by a longshot.
10. The Rise of Tenant Activism
This was the year that the power of occupy Wall Street met the power of tenant organizing. Since both longtime and shortime renters are getting hit by the same market forces - and treated to some deplorable landlord b.s. - groups like the Crown Heights Tenants Union and the Flatbush Tenants Coalition are changing the notion that ridiculous rent hikes are like taxes - inevitable and inescapable. Folks, they ain't. This City has a long history of rent activism and tenants rights. Now's the time to join the struggle and help people on your block know that there's help out there. The CHTU meets every third Thursday, and don't let the name fool you. You're welcome and encouraged to help make Lefferts part of the movement.
Landlords are intimidating tenants, and some are just plain racist in their renting. Most insidiously, they're offering buyouts that sound like big money to longtime tenants, but that actually amount to precious little over the long haul. What's $25,000 when you're paying $800 a month for a two-bedroom apartment? Cuz you gotta live somewhere. I guess if you were planning to move anyway it's a good deal. That happened to folks I know during the last run-up in prices in the East Village and Dumbo. But if your life and family are right here, the buyout makes no sense at all. Except to the landlord. Think about it. If he's willing to hand over $25,000 in cash, what must it REALLY be worth?
11. Lefferts Gardens Food Coop Takes Flight
Do you believe in magic? Well don't, it'll burn you every time. (Oh, David Copperfield, why hast thou foresaken me? You can't fly...I was such a fool.) Believe rather in the hard work of neighbors like Karen Oh who spent years ushering in a new coop to the neighborhood. Even the Q was skeptical...I kept thinking why reinvent the wheel when the biggest Coop wheel around is just a bike ride or car service ride or B41 ride away? But when I attended the Open House I got it. Coops ARE about local, and here's to the Lefferts Coop having a long and successful and cooperative existence.
12. Chester Court - Historic
Thanks for reminding me. This one has been dragging out for so long I almost forgot it was news. But yes indeedy the remarkable cul de sac known as Chester Court is now and forever will be a gaggle of comely Tudors. I love the way this pic includes Chester's 900 pound Gorilla friend peering over its shoulder.
13. The Flatbush Trees
How could I not end with this, the Q's white whale, finally being harpooned? Granted, I'm not the artist. The brilliant David Eppley is well into the process of creating the hexagrams that will become the flowers of the Flatbush Trees at Empire and Flatbush. Folks, this is going to be outrageously cool. Middle school kids are already making the pieces of sign vinyl and David will attach them to the trees in the Spring. Every one of you who gave to the project will get your name on the dedication. Just thinking forward to that day, I'm filled with the joy of a thousand cuddly toys in a red barn on a cools summer's eve, surrounded by freshly bathed domesticated animal babies while listening to the soothing sounds of the breeze through the ample waves of grain, in my favorite sweater, smartphone in hand, dialing up Little House on the Prairie as read by Gore Vidal.
Hey, we all have fantasies don't we? Don't judge.
Here's to 2015. And if I missed something of significance, which I undoubtedly did because I'm writing this while caretaking three little girls as they tear apart the house, please drop your wisdom below. Oh, and goodbye No Slappz! I'll miss you, you old racist scumbag. The last big story for the Q? Moderation is now ON.
To the Trees!
The year started on an upbeat note, despite the digging of an enormous hole into which our beloved 626 Flatbush was to rise. Is it not huge? I mean ABSURDLY huge? A lot of folks thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill, but dang if you don't think that thing is way out of line for the neighborhood, then, well, I guess you don't think it's out of line for the neighborhood. Look down Hawthorne or Fenimore from Bedford. Yikes. Or look from inside of the Park. Blech. We could've rezoned, we didn't rezone, we get what we didn't do when we could've done what we needed to do. I'm convinced had we held Planning's feet to the fire after the original request was denied back in 2008, we would've gotten there. We got no help from the Community Board through the years, but we ARE the community, so who can you blame? And frankly I don't think any of us thought Flatbush (and Ocean) were so vulnerable as this.
Some think the Q's been wishy-washy about development in general, but reading back through the year's posts I actually think I've been clear as a bell as to my own position. Building apartments, ugly as they may be, is what inevitably takes place in boom times. That's how cities get built in the first place, and as you read this, you are quite likely living in the result of such a boom build, of whatever decade or century. I don't care if you're in London, Tucson or Des Moines, this is how humans have come to organize and house themselves, and this is how we've decided as a society we will pay for it. Someone buys the land, crunches the numbers, puts up what they believe the market will bear, and turns over the keys to the tenant/buyer with the best possible demographic, er, credit rating. Simple. Elegant. There's even a nice fat dividend for the savvy developer, and everybody's happy. Right? Right?
Were we expanding like the universe into nothingness, and all places were equal, all would be right in the social order. But in NYC (and San Fran, notably) we build on top of the ruins of the old world. Over and over. These ruins aren't ancient of course. Some were created last week. Some folks, who owned their own houses, sold recently and made out like bandits and headed for the hills, or the South, or even another part of town. A certain amount of cultural churn is to be expected. As a place becomes ever-more desirable, its price commands premium. Conversely, as it becomes less desirable to the market, its price drops. And Adam Smith smiles in his casket.
That's the number one story around here, I'd say. New development, redevelopment, and the emergence of two new voices from the neighborhood. One, Prospect Park East Network (PPEN), went as far as to sue the developers of 626 for ignoring the mandates of environmental review. The other, Movement to Protect the Park (MTOPP) seemed to revel in its anti-everybody-ness while preaching community and togetherness. Once it became clear that 626 wasn't the greatest threat to their quality of life, but rather any potential residential building along glorious Empire Boulevard, the target shifted to anyone and everyone with a pulse. MTOPP has become a thorn in the side of the Community Board, all elected officials, and anyone who dares contradict their often contradictory goals of...oh, I don't know anymore what they want other than to burn Pearl Miles at the stake. (She's the District Manager for CB9, and she's had one hell of a year.)
Therefore, Person of the Year HAS to go to Alicia Boyd for leading the MTOPP movement. She's one of a kind that Ms. Boyd of Sterling I. You know it occurs to me just now that she was sitting at the table with the rest of us at Brooklyn's City Planning office just last summer. She HAD a seat at the planning process. What more can one constituency ask for? PLGNA was there. PPEN was there. The Jewish Community Council was there. The Dodgertown homeowners group was there. Leaders from Montgomery, Crown, Ocean... But what happened was - it became clear Alicia wasn't gonna get her way, so she went on the offensive. Her call for unity and consensus is total bullshit. She wants what she wants and she wants it now. For that, she gets my Person of the Year. May she not repeat.
If 626 Flatbush isn't enough to get your panties in a bunch about why we need rezoning, perhaps this post will remind you just how many projects are potentially being hatched as I write this. And its not Uncle George adding an attic to his garage. This is serious neighborhood redesign. We have pretty much no say in the matter, unless we ask to sit around the table with the powers that be. For God's sakes let's get down to it!
I mean, look what the loudmouths at YIMBY had to say regarding our nabe and our OTHER giant 23-story building, on Nostrand below Church:
To the south, we expect to see Flatbush, Sunset Park, and Kensington emerge as fast-gentrifying neighborhoods — Flatbush as the new Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Sunset Park as the new South Slope and Greenwood Heights, and Kensington as the new Windsor Terrace. Tension over growth should be most pronounced in Flatbush, where zoning is loosest — while we expect Hello Living’s 23-story tower at 1580 Nostrand, practically in East Flatbush, to have the same stellar design and affordable prices as Eli Karp’s other projects, we also see it riling up the left-leaning elements of Flatbush proper, much as 626 Flatbush Avenue did in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.The phrase that jumps out is "zoning is the loosest." You see, not only is our zoning loose, it's common knowledge. Could've been, should've been tightened, but hey, it's gotta go through committee, man! Sometime.
2. New Leadership All Around
You can't sidestep the fact that everywhere you look new faces have come to lead the scene. You could start with the new heads of the 71st and 70th precincts, but I know George Fitzgibbon the best at the 7-1 and I give him passing grades and a big shout out here for being available and acting accountable for what goes on under his command. Right now, what happens to Bratton's tenure is anyone's guess, with many cops just plain ignoring their duty to enforce the laws in response to the tragic assassination of two cops over on Myrtle. It's not the first time cops have been killed of course, but the timing and the shocking premeditated brutality sent the whole discussion of race and policing back to the dark ages. Had the killing been part of some madman's strategy to forward the course of policing in America, and it appears it was not in any sense but the madman part, it could not have been more ill-timed or ill-conceived. We will be dealing with the aftermath, I suspect, for ages.
Desmond Romeo and Shelley Kramer et all have started strong with their Parkside Empire merchant's association. Replacing the miserable and outdated Flatbush Empire to Parkside Merchant's Association (FEPMA) the new group has come out swinging, sponsoring workshops, collecting surveys, and running a shop local campaign. They've been creating relationships with Sanitation and the Cops and we should continue to see strong growth from that economic corridor in the coming years. Good work and keep it up!
New Mayor. New Borough President. New State Senator. New Councilwoman (above Empire). Same Councilman below. Ah well, can't win 'em all. That's a lot of new blood, and one can always hope that the new bosses have the integrity and vision to lead effectively.
New Chancellor of schools. New principal at Jackie Robinson (the school most of us are zoned for). New Superintendent for District 17, thank the lord.
Lastly the Community Board. After decades of leadership from Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, our beloved CB9 shook things up radically, electing new chair Dwayne Nicholson and receiving a whopping 18 new members via the Borough President's office. While it's too soon to tell whether the new group and its By-Laws and Executive Committees will set in motion positive change, I'll tell you right now that I've been saddened by the slow pace of action on Zoning. Alicia Boyd's basically been running the CB meetings, and it seems all Dwayne does is in reaction to her. We haven't even met the ULURP committee since last Spring. Yes, we're an embarrassment right now, but maybe January will see us come together and get the job done with City Planning. The best offense against Alicia is to ignore her. To my bewilderment, the Board actually rescinded the work it did last year on Zoning, appeasing MTOPP and their outside agitators. How shameful, in my opinion, to simply ignore the wishes of the previous Board in order to satisfy a misplaced notion of "process." You know what process is? Voting overwhelmingly for something. The current Board acted as if that never happened, and slowed the pace of the Zoning Study by a whole year. I rewrote the zoning resolution to remove even the slightest traces of controversy just to see if anyone cared that we've wasted 9 months on this ridiculous argument. Of course, it lost, though I wonder if someone else had led the charge it might've been at the very least DISCUSSED. A sad state of affairs, but them's the cookies.
3. Changing Traffic Patterns on the Flabenue
I recall last winter that many were decrying the redesign of traffic lanes along Flatbush as catastrophic. Turns out the first couple days of the new patterns coincided with a water main break down on Caton, and the hour delays along Flatbush from Grand Army Plaza were short lived. Coupled with the new slower speed limits, I'd say the Flabenue has calmed considerably. The new intersection at Washington/Flatbush/Lincoln has finally stopped the flow from Lincoln going east then up Washington. That intersection is a dozen times safer. The BP gas station still has cars coming and going from every orifice, but what you gonna do? We begged, but no dice. Some of us will keep hammering for a move of the express B41 down to the south portion of the BP, because right now 1,000s of people every day jaywalk from the Phat Albert's to the subway station, the B41 being so poorly sited as to actually encourage it. I'm missing Ed Fanning at CB9 Transportation right now. He wasn't reappointed. I'm probably next.
4. Old Victorians Coming Down Left and Right
They don't get the same love as brownstones and maybe rightly so. But the delightful woodframe houses that dot our neighborhood are coming down faster than you can bat an I-beam. I'm saddest about the Haunted House of Clarkson and the three well-maintained houses on my block that gave the density a bit of a break. Other development sites are detailed here, and that's just the old news. I can think of at least a dozen others, and new ones are happening almost every week. Utilizing outdated zoning, many of these will become eyesores on their respective streets. But hey, Delirious NY continues. Seen Williamsburg lately? Whoa Nelly.
5. Opening of 123 on the Park
When I moved to NY, the old Caledonian Hospital was still a going concern. Just imagine how different Parkside was with an emergency room entrance right near the Parade Ground. Then when I moved here a dozen years ago, it was still alive as a medical building - doctor's offices and such. Then it was closed and lay unused and unloved for many years. Now it's a swank apartment building, and while current Caledonian residents might find the rents outrageously high, for an apartment right on Prospect Park many are finding the rents relatively cheap. The real story here, besides re-purposing an old building (this is the kind of market rate development that makes a great deal of sense) is that the old "this side of the park, that side of the park" dichotomy is beginning to break down. With Lefferts having been "discovered" by developers and apartment hunters, it's only a matter of time before the old 1/2 ratio falls for good - that being that prices on THIS side of the park are roughly half what they are in Park Slope. That held true for many decades, but we're moving towards parity. 123 and its resulting demographics push us closer. Don't believe me? Check out the below latest from the 123 website. By the way, these aren't even as high as are the real rents. They're "net effective" after they give you a month or two free. To put it mildly, these numbers would have been unheard of just a few short years ago.
| Unit | Beds | Baths | Rent* | Date Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1M | 1 Bedroom / Flex 2 | 1 Bath | $2,631 | Immediately |
| 1P | Studio | 1 Bath | $3,531 | Immediately |
| 1U | 1 Bedroom | 1 Bath | $3,086 | Immediately |
| 6L | 1 Bedroom | 1 Bath | $3,134 | Immediately |
| 7D | 1 Bedroom | 1 Bath | $3,253 | Immediately |
| 1B | 2 Bedroom | 1 Bath | $2,824 | Immediately |
| 3K | 2 Bedroom | 2 Baths | $3,081 | Immediately |
| 6D | 2 Bedroom | 2 Baths | $3,536 | Immediately |
It's been a slow but steady climb for Rudy Delson and his cohorts at the Parkside Committee. But this was the year they turned a corner, and with your help of about $6,000, they plan to have an operational plaza at the Q at Parkside this summer. Oh, and those trees are courtesy of the P.C. as well. Replanted and guarded by handmade treepit rails, the trees themselves make a huge improvement. Send Rudy a note if you'd like to help.
Meanwhile, just around the corner, Amy Musick and her indefatigable bunch keep on beautifying Ocean Avenue. After getting dozens of tree pit guards from the City, they clean and mulch and plant bulbs in the pits, and come this spring look for a gorgeous display of flora. They've got their eyes on the longview, so don't expect Ocean to backstep anytime soon. And now a group is forming to address the entire perimeter of the Park on the park side. The trees and sidewalks need serious love, and this inter-neighborhood group will need support, and you can always be on the lookout for an Ocean beautification day. Keep your browser pointed here.
7. Our Neighborhood Has Been Bought
If you live in a large apartment building - the big pre-war five and six stories that dominate the area - chances are its been bought and sold within the last few years. A handful of companies, with names like Pinnacle and Shamco (I kid you not), have invested in the neighborhood in a big, big way. The south-moving gentrification process has shown just how the gig works, having spun its black magic from Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and even northward from Flatbush (particularly Ditmas). The business plan is simple: buy a big building with 50+ units, which is likely mostly or all rent stabilized and therefore sold at a perceived discount. Make minimal but visible capital improvements. Renovate apartments as rent stabilized tenants "leave," allowing you to jack up the rents. Make life somewhat miserable for the new tenants that got what they thought was a steal off Craigslist. Repeat. Get each apartment to top $2,500 in rent, so that it leaves rent stabilization for good. If you're making good money, hang on to the building. But you can usually sell for a profit anyway. Better yet, leverage your building to the hilt to buy more buildings. Build a big fat portfolio. Ride the Housing Bubble Tiger! (People keep telling me Brooklyn's not in a bubble, just a boom. I would argue that because we're so out of line with both the rest of the country and historical price/income, that we must be bubbling big time. Part of it is that Brooklyn has become more desirable to high-earner-high-net-worth folks. But that can't explain it all. Irrational exuberance is an old familiar phrase. Then again, I famously predicted Wesley Clark would be president.)
9. New Openings Galore
Midwood Flats. Erv's. Cinnamon Girl. Blessings. Gratitude Cafe. Bluebird. Mountain. All are game-changers for the neighborhood, and join Tip of the Tongue (the Q calls it TOTT) and Tugboat to bring Lefferts Gardens into the age of modern Brooklyn eats and drinks. Look for a new Mexican place and a couple more surprises in the coming weeks and months.
And by the way, we already HAD a plethora of good food choices. Shelley Kramer of Play Kids did a nice job of summarizing your options here. From Scoops to De Hot Pot to Jus' Fishy and Mango Seed, you'd be a fool not to try the great Island options around here.
How about Planet Fitness? And the new co-work space The Compound? And the Bikram Yoga joint above the beer distributor? New uses galore for the Phat Albert's 'n' Sons parallelogram tween Lefferts and Empire.
Oh. And Lakeside! Geez Louise how quickly I forget that this remarkable asset to our side of the park is pretty much brand spanking new. And it has a decent restaurant to boot. Oh yeah, and ice and roller skating and a splash pad. Lakeside has been the Q's favorite new amenity by a longshot.
10. The Rise of Tenant Activism
This was the year that the power of occupy Wall Street met the power of tenant organizing. Since both longtime and shortime renters are getting hit by the same market forces - and treated to some deplorable landlord b.s. - groups like the Crown Heights Tenants Union and the Flatbush Tenants Coalition are changing the notion that ridiculous rent hikes are like taxes - inevitable and inescapable. Folks, they ain't. This City has a long history of rent activism and tenants rights. Now's the time to join the struggle and help people on your block know that there's help out there. The CHTU meets every third Thursday, and don't let the name fool you. You're welcome and encouraged to help make Lefferts part of the movement.
Landlords are intimidating tenants, and some are just plain racist in their renting. Most insidiously, they're offering buyouts that sound like big money to longtime tenants, but that actually amount to precious little over the long haul. What's $25,000 when you're paying $800 a month for a two-bedroom apartment? Cuz you gotta live somewhere. I guess if you were planning to move anyway it's a good deal. That happened to folks I know during the last run-up in prices in the East Village and Dumbo. But if your life and family are right here, the buyout makes no sense at all. Except to the landlord. Think about it. If he's willing to hand over $25,000 in cash, what must it REALLY be worth?
11. Lefferts Gardens Food Coop Takes Flight
Do you believe in magic? Well don't, it'll burn you every time. (Oh, David Copperfield, why hast thou foresaken me? You can't fly...I was such a fool.) Believe rather in the hard work of neighbors like Karen Oh who spent years ushering in a new coop to the neighborhood. Even the Q was skeptical...I kept thinking why reinvent the wheel when the biggest Coop wheel around is just a bike ride or car service ride or B41 ride away? But when I attended the Open House I got it. Coops ARE about local, and here's to the Lefferts Coop having a long and successful and cooperative existence.
12. Chester Court - Historic
Thanks for reminding me. This one has been dragging out for so long I almost forgot it was news. But yes indeedy the remarkable cul de sac known as Chester Court is now and forever will be a gaggle of comely Tudors. I love the way this pic includes Chester's 900 pound Gorilla friend peering over its shoulder.
13. The Flatbush Trees
How could I not end with this, the Q's white whale, finally being harpooned? Granted, I'm not the artist. The brilliant David Eppley is well into the process of creating the hexagrams that will become the flowers of the Flatbush Trees at Empire and Flatbush. Folks, this is going to be outrageously cool. Middle school kids are already making the pieces of sign vinyl and David will attach them to the trees in the Spring. Every one of you who gave to the project will get your name on the dedication. Just thinking forward to that day, I'm filled with the joy of a thousand cuddly toys in a red barn on a cools summer's eve, surrounded by freshly bathed domesticated animal babies while listening to the soothing sounds of the breeze through the ample waves of grain, in my favorite sweater, smartphone in hand, dialing up Little House on the Prairie as read by Gore Vidal.
Hey, we all have fantasies don't we? Don't judge.
Here's to 2015. And if I missed something of significance, which I undoubtedly did because I'm writing this while caretaking three little girls as they tear apart the house, please drop your wisdom below. Oh, and goodbye No Slappz! I'll miss you, you old racist scumbag. The last big story for the Q? Moderation is now ON.
To the Trees!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)