Wow. I just read the news on Brownstoner that Bob Guskind, well known for his Gowanus Lounge blog and for his contributions to Curbed, has passed. OTBKB has a more detailed post on Bob's untimely passing. Katia also has a piece in memoriam.
This is truly a black day for Brooklyn. Bob's blogging was partly responsible for my own foray into blogging. I was inspired by his passion for Brooklyn's neighborhoods and his love of "iconic" structures that hearkened back to our industrial past.
I first met Bob at a CGNA meeting at Scotto's funeral home in 2007. He was an outsized, softspoken, friendly man with an output I could never hope to match.
We are all poorer for this loss. You'll be missed, Bob.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Jon Stewart Slams CNBC, Santelli
I do so love Jon Stewart. If there is any justice, the economic crisis would result in the utter destruction of CNBC and every single commentator on that execrable channel of disinformation would be exiled to Siberia. Enjoy! (via Dealbreaker)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tom Friedman: A Buffoon You Should Ignore
A lot of well-meaning people still put some stock in what Tom Friedman has to say. I tend to get frustrated trying to explain that while Friedman is occasionally right, and usually sounds quite reasonable, he has been disastrously wrong with an alarming frequency.
Most notably, Friedman has been wrong about essentially everything he has ever written about Iraq. This Vanity Fair piece lists a few other memorable Friedman gaffes.
Most notably, Friedman has been wrong about essentially everything he has ever written about Iraq. This Vanity Fair piece lists a few other memorable Friedman gaffes.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Toll Brothers City Council Hearing Tomorrow!
To the surprise and consternation of many, City Planning broke out the rubber stamp for the Toll Brothers requested re-zoning of their parcel on the Gowanus Canal. Part of the surprise is that City Planning approved Toll's plans on February 17th . . . while the first inkling members of the community got was from Pardon Me For Asking on February 28th. One more indignity in a process that has been flawed from the beginning.
The Toll Brothers site is being re-zoned, by itself, ahead of the broader Gowanus re-zoning that is currently being studied. Why?
One of the biggest selling points that Toll used in seeking approval for this re-zoning was the promise of affordable housing. It turns out that the affordable housing was a chimera; when CB6 went back to condition their (unfortunate) approval of Toll's plans to condition it upon required inclusion of affordable housing, Toll cried foul.
So now we have a major change of zoning for a parcel that was considered outside of the zoning process for the rest of the Gowanus region, which if approved will have zero requirements for affordable units.
A number of area residents will be at the City Council Zoning Committee Hearing tomorrow to urge the council to vote no to on this one-sided rezoning. Please join us if you can:
Public hearing on the Toll Brothers proposal located at 363-365
Bond Street
Where: City Hall, Committee Room (R to City Hall or A to Chambers St.)
When: March 4, 2009 9:30am
What: http://www.tollbrothersgowanus.com/projectDescription.shtml
If you are unable to attend in person please send written testimony to
avella@council.nyc.ny.us and Tgray@council.nyc.gov.
Additional Information about the Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee
(http://council.nyc.gov/html/committees/zoning.shtml)
The Toll Brothers site is being re-zoned, by itself, ahead of the broader Gowanus re-zoning that is currently being studied. Why?
One of the biggest selling points that Toll used in seeking approval for this re-zoning was the promise of affordable housing. It turns out that the affordable housing was a chimera; when CB6 went back to condition their (unfortunate) approval of Toll's plans to condition it upon required inclusion of affordable housing, Toll cried foul.
So now we have a major change of zoning for a parcel that was considered outside of the zoning process for the rest of the Gowanus region, which if approved will have zero requirements for affordable units.
A number of area residents will be at the City Council Zoning Committee Hearing tomorrow to urge the council to vote no to on this one-sided rezoning. Please join us if you can:
Public hearing on the Toll Brothers proposal located at 363-365
Bond Street
Where: City Hall, Committee Room (R to City Hall or A to Chambers St.)
When: March 4, 2009 9:30am
What: http://www.tollbrothersgowanus.com/projectDescription.shtml
If you are unable to attend in person please send written testimony to
avella@council.nyc.ny.us and Tgray@council.nyc.gov.
Additional Information about the Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee
(http://council.nyc.gov/html/committees/zoning.shtml)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Meeting at 250 baltic on Street safety
UPDATE 3/3/09 - POSTPONED! I'll post the rescheduled details when available.
Kevin Duffy has been working hard for months on improving street safety on 9th Street, among other area streets. Thanks to his efforts Brooklyn DOT will be in the neighborhood tomorrow to hear from concerned residents. I'll be there and I hope you'll join us. From the mailbox:
No Kevin, thank you!
Kevin Duffy has been working hard for months on improving street safety on 9th Street, among other area streets. Thanks to his efforts Brooklyn DOT will be in the neighborhood tomorrow to hear from concerned residents. I'll be there and I hope you'll join us. From the mailbox:
An fyi, there is scheduled meeting tomorrow at CB6 offices at 250 Baltic Street at 4pm to discuss traffic conditions and safety proposals, including rerouting commercial truck routes.
Craig Hammerman, CB6 District manager and Joseph Palmieri, Brooklyn Borough DOT commissioner will attend. Consequently, this meeting will be important as effective representative leadership will be on hand.
I encourage anyone and everyone interested in participating in this strategy discussion to attend. It is informal and an important community issue. Thoughts and implemented ideas are likely to set the tone for other streets in our increasingly residential neighborhood.
Thank you all!
No Kevin, thank you!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
2009 Will Be A Tough Year for NYC Real Estate Market
First, a look at the national scene to set the stage: New Home Sales Hit A Record Low.
While prices have fallen precipitously in some bubble markets (e.g. Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego) NYC has held up relatively well. However, we are merely behind the curve here; as I've posted before NYC is subject to the same factors behind those declines.
A figurative crack in the dyke appeared in an article in the New York Times today:
Given the current sales drought, even a handful of auctions could reset prices for new condominiums citywide, said Jonathan J. Miller, the president of Miller Samuel, a Manhattan research and appraisal company. He said he expects the auctioned properties to sell for 40 to 45 percent below the asking prices of the first quarter of 2008, when the market peaked.
. . . .
There are 8,000 new condos on the market in New York City, and 22,000 more are scheduled to go on the market by the end of next year.
And from Clusterstock there is this on Manhattan inventory:
1. inventory now at 11,000 listed homes, condos and coops in manhattan which is almost 3x normal
2. inventory actually grew 1200 units over the last 30-days (the attached stats are a couple of weeks old and the listing velocity INCREASED the last 2 weeks)
I would expect to see some striking declines in apartment prices and to a lesser extent in rents over the next two quarters.
Something to think about for policy makers, as this will not be a blip, but a reversion to historical valuations based on fundamentals (price/rent and price/income ratios).
Graph taken from the Calculated Risk post linked above.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Fresh Air Fund Looking for Host Families
Let it never be said that Sara from the Fresh Air Fund is not persistent!
In all sincerity, the Fresh Air Fund is a great organization - please take a moment to check them out and make a contribution or volunteer to help low income city kids take in a bit of the countryside this summer. Just click on the image above top go to their website.
Wikipedia on Fresh Air Fund
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