read more »

For over a decade now, Manhattan and Brooklyn have competed for the affections of younger or first-time renters. Manhattan was Manhattan, the gentrifying New Rome with all the amenities and nightlife one could want, often with shorter work commutes. Brooklyn was ever-emergent, the cool capital with reservations—longer commutes and sparser retail, plus the burden of pioneering in neighborhoods that didn’t always welcome newcomers.

But, oh, Brooklyn! What deals!  read more »

The average price of a condo in Park Slope, Brooklyn's answer to the West Village, increased by 8 percent year-over-year, from $591,000 in 2006 to $640,000 in 2007, according to the year-end market report released by the Cocoran Group earlier this week. Here are some more Park Slope figures from the report:  read more »

The donut case was already empty. The last stacks of coffee cups were dwindling. A bouquet of roses from appreciative patrons adorned the intimate 12-seat counter.

Nostaglic customers snapped photos over breakfast as business winded down on Wednesday morning at doomed Donuts Coffee Shop on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope—pperhaps the last place you'll find a 90-cent cup o' joe in the gentrified nabe.

The longstanding Greek diner closes Friday as its tiny retail space gets swallowed up by the expanding Associated supermarket next door, which is also taking over an adjacent restaurant space.  read more »

Just a few doors up from the Park Slope Coop, where the righteous buy their organic kale, and across the street from the Tea Lounge, where neighborhood mommies meet to nurse, share their in-the-trenches stories, and show off their strollers, a group of 10 or so parents and their babies (and sometimes an extra kid in tow) formed an orderly line outside of Kidville, a child learning and play center.

When a passerby asked one of the moms what was going on, the mother shyly replied, “Um, it’s a casting call for the Gap.”  read more »

Retailers in the "cradle of tough guys" are under siege as authorities crack down on a rampant form of outdoor advertising, according to a report in this week's Brooklyn Paper:

Shops in Park Slope and Cobble Hill have been slapped with $100–$300 tickets over the last three weeks for the crime of obstructing the sidewalk with their A-frame, or sandwich board, signs.

Some wary shopkeepers are now flattening the offensive frames to keep from violating the city's three-feet-from-the-storefront rule, according to the report.

“It’s kind of ridiculous," said one employee of a recently ticketed shop. "It looks like they were just going up the street giving out tickets."

Brooklyn-based actor John Turturro has stepped in to help bail out Park Slope's debt-ridden Community Bookstore, according to Sunday's New York Times.

Facing foreclosure, the owner of the Seventh Avenue indie retailer, Catherine Bohne, reportedly "offered up to 49 percent ownership in the store to a group of friends willing to put up at least $10,000 apiece," and Mr. Turturro, a frequent customer, was among the first in line.

"[A]ll these great small bookstores and art house movie theaters, so many things I love, are being swallowed up by a supermarket mentality," he told the Times.

It's a dramatic turn for the actor perhaps best known for his role in 1998's The Big Lebowski as tongue-wagging alleged child-molester and superstar bowler Jesus Quintana: "Nobody fucks with the Jesus!"

Prudential Douglas Elliman will hold a grand opening for its first Park Slope office tomorrow evening. This office, located at 154 Seventh Avenue between Carroll Street and Garfield Place, comes on the heels of archrival the Corcoran Group announcing a Williamsburg location.

And the invasion of the boroughs by Manhattan brokers continues unabated...

• Restoration heroes Beyer Blinder Belle are fixing up the Empire State Building: uncovering the lobby's gold-and-silver "celestial sky" ceiling mural. But, of course, the original lighting will be replaced by "modern, energy-efficient fixtures" [Interior Design]
• Tragically, Brooklyn bars are now officially over-packed: "Manhattanites are actually commuting to our fair borough to party in Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Williamsburg." [Brooklyn Record/Time Out NY]
• Speaking of Park Slope: Residents turned out in droves last night to bemoan plans [above] for bicycle lanes: "There is no way in hell there is going to be a bike lane on Ninth Street," a charming Sloper screamed before the meeting started. Why? "A bike lane would interfere with double parking." [Curbed]
• The neighborhood isn't as hip as it was in the Truman Capote/Norman Mailer days of yore, but Brooklyn Heights' open houses are still a hot ticket. A studio is up for $265,000; a house costs 13 times more. [NY Mag] - Max Abelson]]> http://www.observer.com/node/35977#comments Real Estate Boerum Hill Brooklyn Empire State Building Park Slope Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:17:25 -0400 Observer Staff 35977 at http://www.observer.com