Brooklyn

A new photo exhibit at the New York Transit Museum provides a unique look at the construction of the city's subway system, as well as its enduring impact. Opening Thursday, Streetscapes & Subways: Photographs by Pierre P. and Granville W. Pullis shows what it was like before and after the subway system was constructed, as well as the architectural and cultural changes occurring simultaneously above ground.
See the photos here

Image courtesy of Douglas Elliman.

February 13, 2020

This little blue house in Bushwick is a tastefully designed two-unit home, asking $1.5M

Immediately recognizable by its chic cadet blue facade, this three-story house in Bushwick is comprised of two residential units. Asking a not-unreasonable $1,499,000, the wood-clad home at 27 Bleecker Street has been given a contemporary redesign with good looks, quality, design trends, and comfort in mind. Fortuitously situated between burgeoning sections of Bushwick and Stuyvesant Heights, the best destinations in both neighborhoods are within blocks.
Bushwick townhouse tour, this way

Distinctive Homes

City launches design competition to fix Brooklyn Bridge congestion problem

Image by Ali Vidler from Pixabay

February 11, 2020

City launches design competition to fix Brooklyn Bridge congestion problem

The city is looking for ideas to fix the jam-packed promenade of the Brooklyn Bridge. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the Van Alen Institute on Tuesday launched a design competition seeking creative improvements to the 137-year-old structure's narrow walkway, where thousands of pedestrians and cyclists fight for space each day. The overcrowded conditions have made the number of cyclists crossing the bridge drop to about 3,000 daily riders, compared to 3,600 two years prior, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Billionaires’ Row property taxes would dramatically increase under proposed system overhaul

Image courtesy of Vornado Realty Trust and Robert A.M. Stern Architects

February 11, 2020

Billionaires’ Row property taxes would dramatically increase under proposed system overhaul

Last month, the city's Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform revealed a report outlining sweeping changes to the property tax code that would essentially raise the same amount of money but substantially redistribute where it comes from. Under the current system, property owners pay taxes based on assessed value rather than market value, so working-class homeowners often pay a higher tax rate than those who can afford the city's multimillion-dollar luxury condos. Mansion Global took a closer look at the numbers and found that property taxes along Billionaires' Row could increase up to five times their current rate under the proposed system.
More details

Policy

You can have a sleepover at IKEA in Red Hook next month

Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim on Flickr

February 10, 2020

You can have a sleepover at IKEA in Red Hook next month

Lull yourself to sleep surrounded by ready-to-assemble furniture and Swedish meatballs during a sleepover at Ikea's showroom in Brooklyn next month. The home goods store is launching a raffle to give shoppers a chance to spend the night at its Red Hook store on March 13. Coinciding with World Sleep Day, the "Swede Dreams" event aims to help the "tired, weary and sleep-deprived fans" of the store, according to a press release.
Get the details

Events & Things To Do

For $799K, this well-outfitted Bed-Stuy condo is set up for easy living

Image credit: Rise Media courtesy of the Corcoran Group.

February 10, 2020

For $799K, this well-outfitted Bed-Stuy condo is set up for easy living

This one-bedroom-plus-office condominium in Bed-Stuy near the Clinton Hill border at 197 Spencer Street is ready to hit the ground running when it comes to modern convenience. From the keyed elevator landing to the wide-plank oak floors, central heat and air, designer lighting and private outdoor space, this 1,195-square-foot unit, asking $799,000, is a ready-for-anything contemporary home.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Photo credit: Allyson Lubow courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

February 7, 2020

Loft living comes to Bay Ridge in this $939K two-bedroom

The facade of the new-construction condo building at 9907 Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, with its red brick and arched factory windows, could just as easily be in Dumbo. The loft aesthetic (minus the double-height ceilings and actual factory pedigree) carries through to the interior of this $939,000 third-floor home just a block from Shore Road and Parkway and New York Harbor. The 12-unit building was designed by Elizabeth McDonald, who, according to the listing, is known for her modern aesthetic and high-end interiors in Tribeca. The two-bedroom unit has an elevator landing that opens right into the open-plan living space, a designer kitchen, Siberian oak floors, and nine-foot ceilings.
Bay Ridge condo/loft tour, this way

For $599K, this two-bedroom Prospect Lefferts condo is a block from the park

Photo credit: Rise Media courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

February 6, 2020

For $599K, this two-bedroom Prospect Lefferts condo is a block from the park

This cozy home in a condo conversion at 41 Clarkson Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens gets plenty of sun, a tax abatement and a spot just off Prospect Park. And since it's a condominium, it's likely to be a good investment as a rental for which you could count on a steady income stream to offset the $599,000 this two-bedroom unit is asking.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

Elegant Brooklyn Heights one-bedroom is an easy starter home at $540K

Listing images courtesy of The Corcoran Group

February 5, 2020

Elegant Brooklyn Heights one-bedroom is an easy starter home at $540K

Original pre-war details give this Brooklyn Heights co-op its undeniable charm, but the price tag is pretty appealing too. For $540,000—well below the neighborhood average—this one-bedroom starter home at 55 Hicks Street is well maintained with a recently renovated kitchen and bathroom. Being on the fourth floor, the walk-up situation is a bit of a drag but for someone, it'll be well worth the effort. The elegant home features some of our favorite details, like picture frame moldings in the living room and a restored tin ceiling in the kitchen.
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Distinctive Homes

Live off trendy Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, from $1,174/month

Photo by MTA New York City Transit/ Marc A. Hermann on Wikimedia

February 5, 2020

Live off trendy Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, from $1,174/month

Two new buildings in prime Williamsburg are launching affordable housing lotteries this week. The rental at 196 North 4th Street is accepting applications from New Yorkers earning 80 and 130 percent of the area median income for studios to two-bedroom apartments, starting at $1,174/month. At 660 Driggs Avenue, those earning the same AMI can apply for units, starting at $1,458/month for a two-bedroom and going up to $2,320/month for a one-bedroom.
Details this way

Affordable Housing

K-pop boy band BTS brings Antony Gormley’s ‘New York Clearing’ to Brooklyn Bridge Park

Antony Gormley, “NEW YORK CLEARING,” 2020; Approximately 18km (11mi) of 25.4mm (1in) square section aluminum and steel spigots. Installation view, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 3, New York City, 2020. Photograph by Christopher Burke. © the artist

February 5, 2020

K-pop boy band BTS brings Antony Gormley’s ‘New York Clearing’ to Brooklyn Bridge Park

Top British sculptor Antony Gormley's "giant drawing in space" opened Wednesday at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 3 as part of an international public art project, Connect, BTS. The project is a collaboration between popular South Korean boy band BTS, who introduced the project's New York City installation, and a select group of artists in cities around the globe. The installation, "New York Clearing" (2020), will be open to the public from February 5 to March 27, 2020.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

Luxury senior housing set to open in Brooklyn Heights’ former Leverich Towers Hotel

Photo courtesy of Watermark at Brooklyn Heights

February 4, 2020

Luxury senior housing set to open in Brooklyn Heights’ former Leverich Towers Hotel

A luxury senior housing community is coming to Brooklyn Heights at 21 Clark Street. Built in 1928 as the Leverich Towers Hotel (famous for hosting the Brooklyn Dodgers when they were in town for home games), the 16-story building was bought by the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1975 and used as a residence hall for about 1,000 local volunteers. The current project is being co-developed by Watermark Retirement Communities and Kayne Anderson Real Estate, who bought the building from the Witnesses for $200 million in 2017 and poured an additional $130 million into renovations across the 310,000 square-foot property. The revamped residences are on schedule to open in March with units starting at $10,000 a month, according to Commercial Observer.
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New Developments

A private sleeping nook makes this $400K Park Slope studio feel like a one-bedroom

Photo credit: Elizabeth Dooley for Lisa Garcia and Cindy Fazio, Compass

February 4, 2020

A private sleeping nook makes this $400K Park Slope studio feel like a one-bedroom

Along the hip "main drag" in the heart of Park Slope, this charming co-op at 285 Fifth Avenue is priced like a studio, asking $400,000, but a separate internal sleeping area keeps the one-room-living blues at bay. What's more, monthly maintenance is only $290, so your monthly outlay won't overwhelm, even in this pricey, though heavenly neighborhood.
See all the angles

Distinctive Homes

Williamsburg park to be renamed after LGBTQ advocate Marsha P. Johnson

Photo of East River State Park by Harold Navarro on Flickr

February 3, 2020

Williamsburg park to be renamed after LGBTQ advocate Marsha P. Johnson

Brooklyn's East River State Park will be renamed after black transgender rights activist Marsha P. Johnson, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday. The park, located on the waterfront in Williamsburg and known for hosting outdoor market Smorgasburg, will become the first state park that honors a member of the LGBTQ community. Johnson, who passed away in 1992, played a significant role in the Stonewall Uprising and helped found the advocacy group the Gay Liberation Front.
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Policy

Restaurant with outdoor patio space proposed for Williamsburg’s McCarren Park

Proposed outdoor seating facing the park; Rendering by Inca Architecture, courtesy of NYC Parks

January 30, 2020

Restaurant with outdoor patio space proposed for Williamsburg’s McCarren Park

A restaurant with outdoor seating could be coming to McCarren Park in Brooklyn next year. The city's Parks Department is working with the owners of the entertainment venue Brooklyn Night Bazaar, which closed its doors permanently last fall, to bring a new concession to the McCarren Park House, a structure built in the early 20th century and designed by McKim, Mead, and White. As Brooklyn Paper first reported, the restaurant, expected to open in spring 2021, would help finance a $1.2 million renovation of the crumbling comfort station's facilities.
See the proposal

Food & Dining

Angel’s Share speakeasy owners open sit-down Japanese restaurant at Industry City

Photo courtesy of Industry City

January 29, 2020

Angel’s Share speakeasy owners open sit-down Japanese restaurant at Industry City

A new sit-down restaurant has opened in the Japanese food court at Sunset Park's Industry City complex. From the owners of popular speakeasy Angel's Share, Wakuwaku is a 3,200-square-foot izakaya at Japan Village with 60 seats and private tatami mat rooms. Wakuwaku, currently just serving lunch as part of its soft opening, will offer Japanese-style tapas and shochu-based cocktails when the full dinner menu launches.
See inside

Food & Dining

Gowanus Canal cleanup will officially kick off this year

Photo by bobistraveling on Flickr

January 29, 2020

Gowanus Canal cleanup will officially kick off this year

The long-awaited cleanup of the Gowanus Canal officially has a start date. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued an administrative order requiring the start of the first phase of the project, 10 years after the agency declared it a Superfund site. Expected to begin in September and take 30 months to complete, the $125 million project covers the cleanup of the upper canal and the 1st Street turning basin and involves "full-scale dredging," according to the agency.
Get the details

Policy

January 28, 2020

Michelle Williams and Tommy Kail just bought a Brooklyn Heights townhouse for $10.8M

Actress Michelle Williams and her fiancé, theater and film director Tommy Kail (he directed the Broadway hit "Hamilton"), have just purchased a townhouse in historic Brooklyn Heights, the Wall Street Journal reports. The $10.8 million the pair reportedly paid for the 3,000-square-foot house, built in the 1820s, makes it one of the neighborhood's most expensive sales.
Find out more

Williamsburg’s Dime Savings Bank opens affordable housing lottery, from $2,116/month

Renderings courtesy of Fogarty Finger Architects

January 27, 2020

Williamsburg’s Dime Savings Bank opens affordable housing lottery, from $2,116/month

A housing lottery has just launched for 54 newly constructed units inside the 23-story tower rising next to the historic Dime Savings Bank in Williamsburg. At a height of 264 feet, the mixed-use development is among the tallest in the neighborhood and includes ground-floor retail, 100,000 square feet of office space, and 178 rental apartments. The 109-year-old bank will be preserved and integrated into the project. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which range from $2,116/month studios to $3,150/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

See inside Central Park Tower’s 100th floor residential club

Renderings courtesy of Extell Development Company

January 27, 2020

See inside Central Park Tower’s 100th floor residential club

As Extell Development's Central Park Tower nears the finish line, newly released renderings of the Billionaires' Row supertall are giving us a peek into the private residential club that will occupy the 100th floor with a suite of high-end amenities. Reaching over 1,000 feet in the sky, the amenity space, called the Central Park Club, will be the highest lounge of its kind in the world, offering hard-to-beat views over Billionaires' Row and Central Park.
And the views are exceptional

January 23, 2020

176 affordable units available at new Brownsville rental, from $367/month

Nearly 200 affordable apartments are up for grabs at a new rental building in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. A housing lottery launched on Thursday for 176 units at 672 Powell Street, which is part of the massive Ebenezer Plaza project that will bring four towers to two sites on the block. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 30, 40, 50, and 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which range from $367/month studios to $1,472/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Apply for 75 middle-income apartments in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, from $1,721/month

Rendering of 350 Clarkson Avenue; Credit: Phiro

January 23, 2020

Apply for 75 middle-income apartments in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, from $1,721/month

A housing lottery will launch Friday for 75 middle-income apartments in a newly constructed Brooklyn building. Located at 350 Clarkson Avenue in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, the building, dubbed "The Lois," contains 250 apartments with 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Designed by Cetra Ruddy, the eight-story building boasts a masonry facade with copper panel details, a nod to the area's industrial history. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which range from $1,721/month studios to $2,975/month three-bedrooms.
Do you qualify?

Affordable Housing

MTA considers restoring passenger service to freight line between Bay Ridge and Ridgewood

The Bay Ridge Branch crossing Ralph Avenue in Canarsie, photo by Jim Henderson / Wiki Commons

January 23, 2020

MTA considers restoring passenger service to freight line between Bay Ridge and Ridgewood

By Dana Schulz

Since the 1990s, the Regional Plan Association has been advocating for the restoration of passenger service to a rail line known as the Bay Ridge Branch that runs from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Astoria, Queens and is now used as a freight line. The MTA has announced that it will begin a feasibility study to "evaluate the potential for subway, commuter rail, light rail or bus service" along the line, which the agency notes would create the potential for reverse commuting and connect to 19 subway lines and the LIRR. In October, the RPA's Kate Slevin explained to NY1, "We don't have unlimited resources here in New York City, as we know, so the fact that we already have tracks there, that are underutilized, really means a lot."
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Transit

In Park Slope, this $500K compact co-op has a working fireplace and lots of brownstone charm

Image credit: RISE Media courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

January 21, 2020

In Park Slope, this $500K compact co-op has a working fireplace and lots of brownstone charm

This one-bedroom, pre-war co-op at 19 7th Avenue is just one flight up from a classic north Park Slope street. Asking $499,000, it has the proper postcard charm of a lovely landmarked brownstone–working fireplace included–and it's just a few blocks from Prospect Park.
Brooklyn brownstone charm, this way

Distinctive Homes

Rendering of 1277 East 14th Street by Maqe

January 21, 2020

91 middle-income units up for grabs at brand new Midwood rental, from $2,346/month

A housing lottery launched Tuesday for 91 middle-income apartments at a newly constructed building in Midwood. Located at 1277 East 14th Street in the central Brooklyn neighborhood, the building sits on the former site of Vitagraph Studios, an acclaimed production company founded in the borough in 1897. The Vitagraph Apartments, which opened last summer, contain 302 units and amenities like a landscaped roof deck and fitness center. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which includes $2,346/month one-bedrooms and $2,830/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Check out The Sill’s first Brooklyn brick-and-mortar in Cobble Hill

Photos by Tory Williams, courtesy of The Sill

January 17, 2020

Check out The Sill’s first Brooklyn brick-and-mortar in Cobble Hill