Squatting in Bushwick Not as Much Fun as on BroadwayBushwick: Christian anarchists squat with no heat, lights, or water. Rent made it seem much more fun. [The L Magazine]
Chelsea: Atop David Barton Gym in the old 23rd Street YMCA building, the penthouse is still unoccupied, its price sagging from $7.4 to $7.2 mil. [BlogChelsea]
Greenwich Village: Who’s that grinning from the toilet in the floor plan of this $645,000, on-the-market Fourth Avenue loft? Could it be … Satan? [Curbed]
Harlem: Talk about mighty Aphrodite. Yet another Aphrodite Cleaners is opening at 113th and Frederick Douglass, within blocks of three others. No wonder locals are calling the chain “the Starbucks of Harlem.” [Harlem Fur]
Park Slope: Book-industry thuggery? Adam’s Books on Bergen Street has been reshingled Unnameable Books after owner Adam (duh) was visited by a violent goon who may or may not have been from the (slightly defensive?) Adams Book Company. [Brooklyn Record]
Woodside: Hey, is that a new residence at 65th Place … or with all that metal cladding, is it a live-in Brinks Truck? [Queens Crap]
neighborhood watch
East Village Not Cool Enough to Justify Tiny Closet
Chelsea: Tourists find Hotel Chelsea to be old and shabby. Well, yeah. [Notes from the Trenches via Living With Legends]
Cobble Hill: Who says you can’t go (to his) home again? Walk to Cobble Hill Park and peer into the dank basement flat that once housed young scribe Thomas Wolfe. [Lost City]
Dumbo: Angry phone calls succeed in putting the temporary kibosh on improper asbestos removal at 205 Water Street. [DumboNYC]
East Village: Chic “lofted living” (right) can be yours for just $1,700 a month! Walk-in closet (for dwarves) included. [Craigslist via Curbed]
Gowanus: City enviro-honchos have released a cleanup plan for the parcel of toxic soup known as Public Place — and locals will sound off on the parcel’s future at a meeting on February 22. [Gowanus Lounge]
Jackson Heights: Next Tuesday, get a free stack o’ flapjacks at the Northern Boulevard IHOP when you make a donation to a children’s charity. [Joey in Astoria]
photo op
You Love the High Line, You Got to Boogie
Taking a perhaps-illegal tour of the High Line this weekend, one of the bloggers at the Fagat Guide (get it? like Zagat?) found this lone rainbow-colored disco ball, noted an Anderson Cooper billboard in the background (at left), and deemed the park-to-be “the gayest thing since the Christopher Street piers.” Indeed.
With Diane Von Furstenberg Involved, You Already Knew This Thing Was Going to be Pretty Special [Fagat Guide via Curbed]
neighborhood watch
Community Board Trumps God in ChelseaBrooklyn Heights: Even after the suspect of a bank robbery yesterday was shot by police and hauled into an ambulance, his iPod earbud never fell out of his left ear. We can’t wait for that to show up in an Apple commerical. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Chelsea: Community Board 4 voted down General Theological Seminar’s plans to build a fifteen-story luxury condo building on its pretty Ninth Avenue property. [BlogChelsea]
Fort Greene: Days before Mayor Bloomberg announces tougher construction safety standards, John Martinez, 46, falls to his death working on the rising Forte Condo, reportedly due to a lack of precautions. [Brownstoner]
Fresh Meadows: A mere $1.3 mil will get you this brand-new brick box on 185 Fifth Street. And the ire of neighbors whose driveway is cluttered with your leftover bricks. [Queens Crap]
Midtown: Quick! Before the rates change. Book a room at the brand-new, boutique-y Hotel 373 on Fifth and 35th starting at $134 a night. [Newyorkology]
Red Hook: Archeologists are overseeing Ikea’s construction at Graving Dock No. 2 on Beard Street. They haven’t made it over to Graving Dock No. 1, which Ikea is filling in to use as a parking lot. [Gowanus Lounge]
*Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Bill Moyers had protested luxury condos at General Theological Seminary. He actually spoke out against high-rise construction on the Upper West Side.
intel
Gay TV Station ‘Dominates’ Eighth Avenue Subway Stop
Get the odd feeling as you passed through the 14th Street and Eighth Avenue subway station this morning that every billboard around you seemed exactly the same? Good news: It wasn’t your imagination. For the month of February, Here!, the new gay cable network, is running a “station domination” campaign in station, blanketing every available ad slot with propaganda for its gay soap, Dante’s Cove, and two other shows. The “station domination” program is run by CBS Outdoor, which leases advertising space in a number of terminals, and they’ve got similar dominations scheduled in the next six months for 25 major gay markets nationwide. So of course they picked the stop at the Chelsea–West Village border! Frankly, we’re just sad this whole targeted, dominating, subway-based TV marketing campaign didn’t arise sooner. Think how much an effort at the 125th Street A station could have helped to save UPN.
neighborhood watch
In East Harlem, the Bohemians Can’t SpellBrooklyn Heights: Our compelling bocce coverage continues! Brigate Bocce almost beat the Old Dirty Barristers in the opening week of FloydNY’s winter bocce league, but then they didn’t. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Chelsea: Apparently unable to save his landmark mural Venus from being blocked by an imminent condo tower, artist Knox Martin will now save whales with a new mural downtown. [BlogChelsea]
Clinton Hill: Bank of America is throwing a grand-opening party to convince you that it’s just like all the other homegrown, mom-and-pop storefronts on Myrtle Avenue. [Clinton Hill Blog]
East Harlem: Attention, “Sophiscated [sic] Bohemians”! Prudential Douglas Elliman has a brand-new luxury tower that captures the “soul and lifestyle” of “the ‘New’ East Harlem.” [Uptown Flavor]
South Slope: The illegal demolition at 574 Fourth Avenue continues, according to the Concerned (and video-enabled) Citizens of Greenwood Heights. [Gowanus Lounge]
Tribeca: Could entrenched Tribecans actually not want newbies flooding into all those rising new towers? The residents of 49 Vestry suggest as much. [Curbed]
neighborhood watch
The Sky Is Not Falling (in Carroll Gardens, at Least)Bedford-Stuyvesant: Who’s this mysterious “Michael,” whose handwritten notes left on doorsteps offer to pay for Brooklyn homes in cash? [Brownstoner]
Carroll Gardens: Is the sky falling? Nah, it’s just corrugated steel from a condo conversion crashing down near neighbors’ windows. [Brownstoner]
Chelsea: On the 23rd Street strip that once hosted New York’s flagship Krispy Kreme, the newish Burgers & Cupcakes – complete with giant, spinning cupcake – draws mixed nabe reviews. [Chelsea.ClickYourBlock via BlogChelsea]
Chelsea: Will landmark 1971 Knox Martin mural “Venus” be eclipsed by sleek new Jean Nouvel condo tower? [Curbed]
Clinton Hill: Is Pratt planning to destroy these beautiful, boarded-up townhouses on Willoughby Street? [Clinton Hill Blog]
Prospect Heights: With stakes raised by Sunday Times coverage, the backlash against the street art–defacing “Splasher” intensifies. [Englishman in New York]
Red Hook: There are good places to eat in a nabe that’s “not just for crackheads anymore.” [Chow via Brooklyn Record]
neighborhood watch
Times Square Dirty Like the Old DaysBrooklyn Heights: Local resident and restaurant owner Gianluca Martorelli launches mag and Website compiling area’s eateries. [Ready to Order Guide via Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Chelsea: Della Valle Bernheimer’s futuristically fabulous High Line–snuggling 245 Tenth Avenue development is ready for takers, complete with snazzy Website. [245 Tenth Avenue via Curbed]
Coney Island: New mailers going out to residents talk up the “future of Coney Island” but neglect to mention high rises or Thor Equities. [Gowanus Lounge]
Midtown: Are Mickey and pals staging an offensive old-time minstrel show atop the Disney Store entrance … or do they just need a scrubbing? [Englishman in New York]
Park Slope: Let there be light! Half a mil earmarked so that everything is (better) illuminated at Grand Army Plaza. [Dope on the Slope]
Times Square: Hotel Carter and New York Inn, two of the cheapest stays in the city, also among Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels in the country. Old Times Square lives! [Trip Advisor via NewYorkology]
neighborhood watch
Coney Island Goes to the Jocks
Carroll Gardens: Starting in February, you can find Smith and Vine at its new location, 268 Smith Street. [A Brooklyn Life]
Chelsea: How should the lovely General Theological Seminary develop its property at 175 Ninth Avenue? Comment at the community-board meeting tonight. [Living With Legends]
Clinton Hill: Want to open a wine shop? Cheese shop? Coffee shop? Bookshop? There’s some retail space available on Greene Avenue. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Coney Island: It’s nice to see new stuff on the beach (above), but why is it always fitness related? [Kinetic Carnival]
Union Square: It doesn’t matter that she can’t really sing. When Neysa belts out old Madonna songs on the L-train platform, people bob their heads and smile. [Gridskipper]
Williamsburg: Hipster music mecca McCarren Pool among roster of city pools to be considered next week at public hearing for landmark status. Beirut and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, step up and testify! [Gowanus Lounge]
neighborhood watch
We’re As Confused By the M&M Thing As You AreChelsea: Biker bar Red Rock West — a loud, white-trash holdout in overprecious art zone — seized for nonpayment of taxes. [Eater via BlogChelsea]
Dumbo: Everything you wanted to know – and much more – about the refurb of the Jane’s Carousel, a nabe icon. [Dumbo NYC]
Greenwich Village:White powder once again found near nose of towering British supermodel on Houston Street. [Copyranter]
Jamaica:City officials want to rezone parts of the Queens neighborhood to attract investment; locals say it’s too crowded already. [Queens Tribune via Queens Crap]
Lower East Side: Libation, among first joints to bring yuppies and Eurotrash to Ludlow Street, to close amid $5.5 mil asking price for building. [Curbed]
Lower Manhattan: It’s like Stonehenge, sort of: A 50-foot-tall, floating, lime green M&M Statue of Liberty aligned with real statue this morning. [Gothamist]
Park Slope: “You hate me, you really hate me!” Atlantic Yards starchitect Frank Gehry inverts Sally Field schtick in volley with a protester. [Atlantic Yards Report]
neighborhood watch
Video Stores Diversify in Carroll Gardens
Brooklyn Heights: Who’s that portly older gent who snaps at folks when they step around his little bichon? [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Carroll Gardens: Video stores (above) are dropping like flies — or repurposing to stay alive. [423smith]
Chelsea: Boho hotel residents receive belated, nagging New Year’s message from Patti Smith. [Hotel Chelsea Blog]
Clinton Hill:The nabe’s Myrtle Avenue gets its own event-listing blog, marking edgy, can’t-miss moments like a Bank of America opening. [Myrtle Minutes via Clinton Hill Blog]
East Village: Luxury-tower sales offices face off on lower Broadway. [Curbed]
Park Slope: Slopers worry that old-school sports bar Snooky’s may be history. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
Williamsburg: Former Old Dutch Mustard building owner makes nostalgic site visit. [Gowanus Lounge]
developing
City Names Trump Vet High Line Chief
The High Line’s supporters — from celeb friends like Edward Norton to City Hall backers like Dan Doctoroff — always say the elevated rail trestle will feel like a dream park. And now the city’s Parks Department has bestowed the dream job of managing the High Line on veteran park planner Michael Bradley. Bradley, 48, previously shepherded design and greenspace commitments at Riverside South, which Donald Trump built on the Upper West Side in the nineties. That job prepared him for the new gig indirectly: Bradley organized the $30,000 purchase of a dead locomotive that kids now play on in his old park.
The new gig, however, involves heavier challenges. Bradley’s job description includes surmounting engineering challenges (like installing “a waterproofing, drainage, and irrigation system,” according to the job description) and executing political pirouettes (like fund-raising and ensuring that developers whose buildings touch the High Line provide public access and lavatories and such). He’s also got a wardrobe to consider. “I’ve been thinking I need to get a windbreaker,” he says, disclosing that the Line’s logo will combine Parks’ maple leaf with Friends of the High Line’s stylized H. Then there’s working up “criteria for potential connections from adjacent properties” — which means deflating rumors that swanky condos on the Line will enjoy exclusive access. The Caledonia, at 16th Street and Tenth Avenue, is designing a publicly accessible stair and elevator to show how a luxury condo can touch the park without stiff-arming the public. How un-Donald is that? —Alec Appelbaum
neighborhood watch
Brooklyn Tenants Rise Up Against LandlordsBoerum Hill: A construction project gives the whole area the DTs. [Brooklyn Record]
Chelsea: The area’s highest building is going up on Sixth Avenue. Expect to buy condos there in 2008. [Curbed]
Dumbo: J Condo invites local artists to submit work to be shown in the building. [Dumbo Improvement District via Dumbo NYC]
Greenpoint: Tenants, get stoked! There’s a vigil tonight against landlord harassment at 6:30 at 202 Franklin Street, near Huron Street. [New York Shitty]
Park Slope: Are families on the outs? Two new condos have mostly studios and one-bedrooms. [Brownstoner]
neighborhood watch
The Rushkoff Effect Hits HarlemChelsea: Time to rally against the demolition of the Hotel Pennsylvania. [Blog Chelsea]
Crown Heights: The Empire Rolling Rink will have to go if Costco takes over the block. [Across the Park]
East Village: Chase bank is taking over the 2nd Avenue Deli’s old spot. You knew it would be a bank. [Curbed]
Fort Greene: As an extra inconvenience for anyone with a job, the Pratt post office on Myrtle Avenue doesn’t open till 9:30. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Harlem: The Rushkoff Effect spreads north; blogger moves following unpleasant run-in with crazy guy. [Bagel in Harlem]
Park Slope: The Park Slope Armory should be a community center by September, with athletic and recreational facilities. [Gowanus Lounge]
photo op
’Tis Always the Season
Just a quick reminder from building staffs across New York — this one was posted in a Chelsea elevator and photographed by a correspondent — that tipping is always appreciated. (N.B. to Daily Intel’s doormen and porters: We’re on it. Really.)
[Snap a Photo Op–worthy shot? Send it to us at [email protected].]
neighborhood watch
Chelsea Hotel Basement Gets SnobbierChelsea: Serena’s out and Star Lounge is in underneath the Chelsea Hotel. Owner Charles Ferri promises a more “elitist crowd.” Sounds fun! [NYP]
Fort Greene: Liquors restaurant isn’t reopening in the spring, or ever. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Midtown East: On a date but haven’t sealed the deal? Wow her with a late-night trip to the Empire State Building. [NewYorkology]
Prospect Heights: Warm weather rouses mosquitoes. Do they spray for West Nile Virus in January? [Brooklynian via DailyHeights]
Soho: Donald Trump will love the new Department of Sanitation garage on Spring Street and West Street. [Curbed]
Williamsburg: The new, unnamed space on North 6th Street and Wythe will have a media lounge in the storefront and a performance space out back. [Brooklyn Record]
neighborhood watch
Chelsea Hotel Opens Doors to the Dull
Bay Ridge: At least someone is happy about Atlantic Yards. [Bay Ridge Blog]
Chelsea: The doors of the Chelsea Hotel (right) are slowly changing into a boring black. [Hotel Chelsea Blog]
Clinton Hill: Chicken and waffles comes to the neighborhood, but the fries aren’t so good. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Dumbo: Reject the Swedes and shop at BoConcept, the Danish furniture store opening at 79 Front Street on Friday. [Dumbo NYC]
Gowanus: The Empty Vessel Project sells the boat for a buck; new owners want “alternative weddings.” [Gowanus Lounge]
Midtown West: In case you’re new, beat out the Amtrak amateurs at Penn Station by looking for your track listing on the monitors downstairs. [Inside Traveler via NewYorkology]
Williamsburg: Rumor has it that Galapagos might close soon, too. [Brooklyn Vegan]
neighborhood watch
It’s Not Just a Bus Shelter, It’s Street Furniture!
• Brooklyn: What was your worst meal in the borough this year? Complain away! [Brooklyn Record]
• Chelsea: Trying to catch the east-bound crosstown bus at 23rd and Fifth? Well, you can’t anymore. [Chelsea.ClickYourBlock via BlogChelsea]
• Clinton Hill: How did that hideous building get on Lefferts Place? [Brownstoner]
• Dumbo: Coming soon to Jay Street: a much-needed, independent pharmacy. [Dumbo NYC]
• Gowanus: Looking for as few windows as possible and a dreary concrete façade? There’s a new building on Bond Street just for you. [NYC.gov via Curbed]
developing
Today’s New York: Poor People Should Be Neither Seen Nor HeardThe Heywood is a new condo conversation at 26th Street and Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. It’s just a bit north of the public Elliott-Chelsea Houses, where the city is planning to build a new, 128-unit mixed-income tower. And lest you have any remaining question about who — private developers or city government — really has the upper hand in today’s New York, take a look-see at the Housing Department’s request for proposal for the public-housing tower. It contains lines like: “Preference will be given to proposals that maximize light and air to the Heywood.” (One nonprofit developer laughed out loud when she read the line. “We’re used to preference going to maximum affordability,” she said.) The developer also “must meet with the board of the Heywood upon designation and keep the board apprised.” Why? “The board is particularly concerned about the windows on its southern façade and would like to engage the developer in a discussion about design solutions and possible legal instruments to protect these windows.” In other words, developers have to make sure that if Heywood residents must live near poor people, at least they won’t have to see them. Phew.—Alec Appelbaum
West Side HPD/HYCHA RFP [NYC.gov]
neighborhood watch
Brooklyn Pinup Girls
• Brooklyn:Get the borough man in your life a Brooklyn Girls calendar (right). But only if he likes white girls. [Trendy Nation via Sunset Parker]
• Chelsea: The Limelight is resurrected as retail space. So instead of a “drug supermarket,” it will just be an actual market. [NYP]
• Clinton Hill: Find all the bars, restaurants, and stores on this new neighborhood map. [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Coney Island: Will Big Apple Circus get a permanent performance space on the boardwalk? [Brooklyn Eagle via Gowanus Lounge]
• Fort Greene: If the weekend’s “Merry Gridlock” event protesting Atlantic Yards is any indication of the traffic from Atlantic Yards, we’re screwed. Good thing the vote is delayed till next year. [Dope on the Slope]
• Williamsburg: Ride your bike to the Bedford Avenue L station. With wider sidewalks and new bike racks, there will be plenty of room. [Streetsblog]
neighborhood watch
Fake Beach Comes to Red HookChelsea: See NYC-themed gingerbread creations (CBGB, Empire State Building) at Chelsea Market. [NYC Stories]
Clinton Hill: No. 70 Lefferts Place was designated today by the Landmark Preservation Commission. Hooray! [Brownstoner]
Dumbo: Hey D.J.’s, there’s a holiday sale at Halcyon on Wednesday. For everyone else: free beer! [A Brooklyn Life]
Long Island City: Cops love it when artists put up unauthorized installations. No, really, they do. [SuckaPants via Razor Apple]
Park Slope: What’s with all the yellow signs that say “Sit Here”? More public art? [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
Red Hook: No need to be jealous of Long Island City. You can have your own fake beach. [Curbed]
neighborhood watch
Upscale Dry Cleaning Comes to Harlem
Astoria: Shooting on location is On 31st Street, coming soon to Greek TV. [Columbia Journalist via Joey in Astoria]
Brooklyn Heights: Brigate Bocce got the boot in the first round of the New York Fall Bocce Playoffs. We’ll keep you updated. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Chelsea: Burgers & Cupcakes waits till after dark to erect a new awning on its 23rd Street location. [Blog Chelsea]
Fort Greene: Are hedge-fund managers actually invading, or is that a real-estate urban legend? [Set Speed aka One Hanson Place]
Harlem: New condo buildings bring with them new dry cleaners. [Uptown Flavor]
Midtown: Inside the closed stacks (right) of the New York Public Library. [NewYorkology]
Red Hook: The Revere Sugar factory is going down, but slowly at first. [Gowanus Lounge]
cultural capital
The High Line, Suddenly Not as High?
Not that it’s any big surprise at this point — after secret sets of books, and floated-and-then-retracted fare hikes, and all that — but the MTA might be up to something a little shady again. While everyone’s busy being excited about the redevelopment of the High Line, it turns out the MTA has been whispering to developers looking at its West Side yards — where Bloomberg wanted to build a Jets stadium, and which contain 31 percent of the elevated rail tracks — that a purchaser might be able to dismantle at least part of the Line. (You know, so building could start faster.) Last night, Friends of the High Line rallied its base in a meeting at Chelsea Market to protest this news and presented the case that maintaining the High Line on the MTA property would actually make it more attractive to developers, and thus more lucrative to the MTA. To that end, Friends of the High Line — with partial funding from developers with projects elsewhere along the structure — offered this sketch, from the Chelsea firm SHoP Architects, of what a redeveloped MTA yard would look like with the High Line still intact up there. Pretty, ain’t it? —Alec Appelbaum
neighborhood watch
Indie Rockers Losing Death Grip on WilliamsburgBoerum Hill: Atlantic Yards’ next sin? Illuminated billboards that are fifteen stories tall. [Gowanus Lounge]
Chelsea: The High Line might not make it north of 30th Street after all. [Blog Chelsea]
Park Slope: Park Slope Towers is really a dorm, not a condo building. [Curbed]
Upper East Side: Meet the Gael Pub Quizmaster, David Jacobson. [Upper East Side Informer]
West Village: On Saturday, join the memorial ride for Eric Ng, a 22-year-old bicyclist who was killed December 1 by a drunk driver on the West Side bike path. [onNYturf]
Williamsburg: Parks Department placates angry residents by promising to diversify McCarren Park Pool concerts with Colombian and Polish music. [Brooklyn Downtown Star via Brooklyn Record]
intel
27th Street Shuffle: West Chelsea Nightlife Mogul Snatches Plagued MegaclubWhile Amy Sacco may or may not be selling Bungalow 8, Jon B, owner of cash cows Home and Guest House, is in contract to purchase another slot on the coke-dusted Monopoly board that is West Chelsea. Having convinced the yoga-loving owner of Spirit, Robbie Wootton, to abandon his fight to reopen since the club’s forcible closure in August, Jon B says he’ll take over its West 27th Street space and bring an upscale crowd to rock shows and big-name D.J. performances. “I intend to operate it totally differently,” he says of a space that has been under scrutiny since its days as Twilo.
Of course, Jennifer Moore, the New Jersey girl who was murdered in July after a night of clubbing, spent her last hours at Jon B’s Guest House, and the subsequent nightlife crackdown raises question about how easy it’ll be to transfer Spirit’s liquor license. After Wootton pays off the estimated $6,600 in State Liquor Authority fines, Jon B estimates it’ll be two or three months before a transfer is granted (a year-end freeze on new licenses in the area has caused a backlog of applications). After that, he says, it’ll take another few months to turn the place into something “very different than what everybody is used to.” And what’s a suitable name for this new club, something that outclasses even Jon B’s other venues, Home and Guest House? Alas, Mansion is already the hottest club in Miami. Daniel Maurer
neighborhood watch
Christmas Trees Look Good in Chelsea, Struggle in the Slope• Chelsea: The Hotel Chelsea gets festive in the lobby. Or at least more so than the Allerton. [Living With Legends]
• Coney Island: So which is worse, Thor Equities or Forest City Ratner? [Gowanus Lounge]
• Flatbush: With Yvette Clarke on her way to Washington, the fiasco to fill her City Council seat begins. [Daily Gotham]
• Flatiron: No more feeling inferior to every other area of Manhattan with an H&M. But we’ll miss Daffy’s. [Metroblogging NYC]
• Park Slope: This place has questionable Christmas trees, at best. [Brooklynian via Daily Heights]
• Sunset Park: How long will one man’s fight against litter last? [Cloud Starchaser via Sunset Parker]
neighborhood watch
All Hail the Hipster GymAstoria: You’ve hung out in Astoria Park. Now help take care of it. [Joey in Astoria]
Chelsea: What are they building in there? Find out at public forums tonight and Thursday on neighborhood redevelopment plans. [BlogChelsea]
Clinton Hill: Still looking for a scotch pine, but there are plenty of places to get a tree. [ClintonHillBlog]
Flatiron: Farewell, Shake Shack. We can’t wait to eat you again. [Joe Schumacher]
Lower East Side: Experience the awfulness of the hipster gym and work out at Ludlow Fitness. [Curbed]
Park Slope: A shopping guide to Fifth and Seventh Avenues gives you one less reason to visit Manhattan. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
Wall Street: Rich? Rushed? Get to Newark airport in eight minutes for only $159. [NewYorkology]
neighborhood watch
Let’s Just Call Every Land Deal ‘Atlantic Yards’ From Now OnBoerum Hill: There are twelve units left in the Smith; expect a fancy grocery store in the retail space. Will that make up for jailhouse views? [Brownstoner]
Carroll Gardens: Schnack heard the screams for highly processed flour and answered: White buns are back. [A Brooklyn Life]
Chelsea: A Jaguar ad plastered to the old McBurney Y makes us yearn for the days when the neighborhood’s billboards were all PSAs. [BlogChelsea]
Coney Island: With the sell-off of Astroland, New York’s favorite crappy beach might be the new Atlantic Yards. [Gowanus Lounge]
Midtown: When you see Christopher Meloni at the gym, do you think SVU or Oz? [Tales From the City]
Sunset Park: Neighborhood tree lighting conveniently scheduled for a time when no one can go. [Sunset Parker]
the morning line
The Inexplicables
• Mayor Bloomberg seems to be making all the right moves in the wake of the 50-bullet NYPD hailstorm that killed an unarmed man in Queens. The mayor called the shooting “unacceptable or inexplicable” during a meeting with the city’s black leaders (including Al Sharpton and Charlie Rangel) — unusually strong language considering that all the facts aren’t officially in yet. [NYT]
• Firefighters doused a fire in the basement of a Bed-Stuy apartment only to find a man’s body duct-taped to a bed. It’s unclear whether the flame killed the victim or was intended to hide the crime. [WNBC]
• Even the most radical proponents of graffiti-as-legit-art would have a hard time defending one Patrick McCormick, whose fifteen arrests alternate between graffiti offenses (his artless tag, seen all over town, is “MAP”) and things like robberies and the murder of homeless people. He is now back behind bars after pleading guilty to a relatively mild crime of smashing a subway window with a hammer. What a guy. [NYDN]
• In Trenton, the heirs of a wealthy couple that donated $35 million to Princeton in 1961 want the money back. Their reasoning hinges on a claim, which they’re taking to court, that the university is misusing the endowment. It’s safe to say there goes that honorary degree. [NYP]
• And the Whitney is jumping on the High Line: The museum has inked a tentative deal with the city to build a downtown expansion that will also function as the entrance to the trippy park. This appears to mean that all talk of expanding its uptown space is now officially over, and the meatpacking district has ornery UES landmarks boards to thank. [amNY]
vu.
Far West Chelsea No Longer Seems So Far or So West. Discuss.Long before everyone started buzzing loudly about redeveloping the High Line, this far western flank of Chelsea was already gaining steam, especially among artists attracted to the burgeoning gallery scene. Even in this unpredictable housing market, the creative and residential inflow continues. Fans of the area say it’s the next meatpacking district; it certainly gives off a similarly charming and rakish vibe heightened by the cobblestone streets and industrial warehouses dotting the landscape. The similarities mean prices will likely grow prohibitive as its profile rises. Already, swanky condos such as 555 West 23rd Street and Loft 25 are demanding top dollar. For now, however, properties here — co-ops, condos, and townhouses — are still within somewhat decent reach for would-be homeowners. How long this will last is anyone’s guess.
How Much Is That Cat in the Window?Brooklyn: Area man throws cat out window, gets arrested. Honestly, who throws a cat? [NYS]
Chelsea: After renting an unheated, bathroom-less space in an attempt ride to Larry Gagosian’s coattails across the street, artist Hubert Waldroup closes up shop without selling a painting. [Chelsea Now]
Greenpoint: Ladies and gentlemen, Greenpoint is gentrifying. (Is this news?) [amNY]
Lower East Side: There’s no eruv — a boundary within which certain things usually forbidden to orthodox Jews on Shabbat are allowed — on the Lower East Side. Should there be one? Maybe. [Downtown Express]
Midwood: One public high school produced three U.S. senators. Huh. [Brooklyn Record]
Park Slope: New kiddie boutique makes it that much easier to scar kids for life dressing them in psychedelic, cuddly, fluffy getups. [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
Upper West Side: It’s not quite Stuy Town, but it’s still a big deal: The Apthorp has sold for $425 million. Strangely, the new owners plan to keep it rental. [NYT]
in other news
The Trials and Tribulations of Luxury-Condo RentingThe Website for CASA, a rental building on 21st Street in Chelsea, presents it as “a new concept fusing the lavish and the leisure,” which apparently means a “spa-inspired European marble bath,” along with the stainless-steel appliances and custom closets. What it doesn’t include — even at $6,000 per month for a two-bedroom, reportedly — is the right to actually live in the building.
See, as Curbed reported this morning, the building has Certificates of Occupancy from 1935 and 1972 — the latter from when it was a parking lot — but nothing saying the site was fit for human habitation. A little more digging by Curbed readers, meanwhile, revealed that the Department of Buildings Website shows 36 outstanding items and five objections that must be addressed before a C of O can be granted. That’s on top of the complaint that the building itself is illegal because, oops, there’s no C of O.
How’d Curbed learn about this? An angry broker — whose client had a lease for October 1 but hasn’t been able to move in — e-mailed the site. And you thought broker’s fees were worthless: It’s not like just anybody can e-mail some blog.
Oh, wait.
Just Looking for a CASA to call home [Curbed]