NY Observer > Gowanus

Whole Foods Held Up by Whole Lot of Red Tape

Chris Shott — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:13:09 -0500

Today's Metro takes a look at the planned Whole Foods in Gowanus, where construction has yet to begin despite its groundbreaking more than a year ago.

"What's the hold up?" reporter Amy Zimmer asks.

Well, for one thing, there is no building permit for the planned 68,000-square-foot store. read more »

The Afternoon Wrap: Wednesday

Observer Staff — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:45:00 -0400

The new 64,000-square-foot Park Slope Whole Foods is supposed to open next summer, though the construction site [above] isn't looking so good. Why does the place appear toxic? Because it is toxic. [Gowanus Lounge]
Rochester is so hot right now: It's the only city in New York State to make it into the top-five list of hottest cities. [CNN/Money]
Poor Atlantic City won't make it into that rarefied group anytime soon, but at least it's getting some help. An entire block of the famous Boardwalk will get facelifted, with new features recalling "seaboard pier architecture" and "art modern of the 1930's." [Interior Design]
Trump's favorite designer, Costas Kondylis, is building a petite Upper East Side condo, whose glassy facade cost a cool $1 million to build. Better yet, something called "computer brains" will control each condo apartment's audio-visual components. [Real Deal] - Max Abelson

Another Issue Ad for the Governor

Observer Staff — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:18:37 -0400

Here's an image being used on a billboard on the Manhattan-bound Prospect Expressway in Brooklyn (just before the ramp up to the Gowanus Expressway) which was sent over by Michael Tobman, one of the operatives pushing the governor's education plan.

Between this and the dueling television ads about health care, it feels a little like statewide election season never ended. New York is becoming California. -- Azi Paybarah

The Afternoon Wrap: Monday

Observer Staff — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:15:09 -0500

Is Brooklyn a "Class A" kind of place? New York firms are leaving the "skyrocketing rents and scarce space" of Midtown and Downtown Manhattan for the "other" downtown. Thus Brooklyn is no longer "back office"--it's a "forward-thinking, hip, cool place to be," especially for uncool corporate types. [Real Deal]
In similarly catastrophic-sounding news for the borough, thrift stores have been disappearing from Sunset Park. First there were six, then just a Salvation Army, now nothing. Where, oh where, will the Brooklynites get their hip tees? [Gowanus Lounge]
Four posh retreats in the Northeast made a master list of 100 Vacation Dream Homes, but only two are in Manhattan. And yet the William Beaver House and Miravel Living [above left] don't strike the eye as "easy going." The scary-named Whiteface Lodge [above right] is more our speed. [Travel + Leisure]
Tom Cruise Realty Quote of the Day: "The Dakota board loves Cruise, he wowed 'em. Plus, he's a hero to the Wall Street worthies on the board--Top Gun, Jerry McGuire, Mission: Impossible, etc.--they love that crap." [Gawker] - Max Abelson

The Afternoon Wrap: Tuesday

Observer Staff — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 12:55:22 -0500

Uptown is getting a leafy, "high-end" new condo, and it happens to have $100 million worth of affordable housing. Avalon Morningside Park broke ground this month at 110th Street and Morningside Drive. [Multi-Housing News]
What do you call it when gorgeous works of graffiti--an art form based upon vandalism--becomes the victim of a vandal? Ironic. But it's also tragic, especially when Soho's quintessential street-art gets covered. [Gothamist]
Based on some sort of 21st-century hunter-gatherer logic, Apartment Therapy estimates that every family of three deserves 750 square feet of interior home space. In Manhattan, that costs a paltry $600,000! [A.T.]
Miscellaneous toxicity problems aside, the Gowanus neighborhood has been plagued by a sewage crisis [above]. Thanks to ever-spreading Brooklyn condo development, things have been getting bad during rainstorms. [Curbed] - Max Abelson

The Afternoon Wrap: Wednesday

Observer Staff — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:47:56 -0500

Oh me, oh my, how the Bowery has changed! The place you used to avoid at all costs, even in broad sunshine-y daylight like today, will welcome a Whole Foods in March. The fancy-pants grocer is supposed to open its doors at Bowery and Houston on Mar. 29.

[Curbed]

Residential marketing in New York has always had that certain something--a sense of pizzaz, a sense of adventure. Now, it also has MySpace. Entire buildings are getting their own MySpace pages, complete with sexual orientations and favorite films and TV shows. At least one is trying "to meet serious thrill seekers. Someone who looks for the entertainment in life. Someone who wants to play, for the sake of winning. A heavy need for quality films and that can play pool."

[Gowanus Lounge]

Brooklyn Heights used to have a much different promenade (see above). Before demolition in 1946, "to make way for the expressway, this arched viaduct, greenhouse and buttressed wall were accessible by the stone stairways that led down from the mansions above to the ferry landing below."

[Brownstoner]

CNN/Money lists the 10 Richest Americans Ever (whitest list ever!). Though a few people listed have New York City connections (Astor, Vanderbilt, Rensselear), none made his fortune in real estate. Brokers, take note: Railroads and merchant banking--that's where the money is, apparently.

[CNN/Money]

- Tom Acitelli

The Afternoon Wrap: Monday

Observer Staff — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:08:25 -0500

The bones of Brooklyn's Ikea have been erected, representing a long stride toward the borough's horrifying self-destruction. Doomsday is near, via inexpensive Swedish furniture. [Gowanus Lounge]
Vanity Fair lovingly dubs The Bowery Hotel "funky." Why? Because the building "was literally built out of Styrofoam, with hideous aluminum windows." [VF, via Curbed]
Apparently, Chinatown (an oasis of "whimsy, mystery, and grit") has singularly rebuffed the tide of NYC gentification. That means the area will never be as horrifying as West 27th Street's clubland [pictured above]. [NY Mag]
The "sickest rental in Brooklyn right now" is a Park Slope brownstone. The owner won't sell, and won't break up the apartments either, and has generously opted to paint the whole house eggshell. [Brownstoner]

Max Abelson

The Afternoon Wrap: Monday

Observer Staff — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:37:52 -0500

Flip of the Week: Courteney and David Cox Arquette bought their house in 2001 for $10 million, and have now put it on the market for $33,500,000. Apparently, Californians will pay anything for four bedrooms that belonged to two semi-stars. [WSJ]
Prospect Park will have a new $25 million skating rink in three years. (By then, Prospect will officially have become the new Central Park--but with better-dressed ice skaters.) [Gowanus Lounge]
After reading this morning's Times profile, Gothamist realizes that despite all his "horribly nondescript" architecture, New Yorkers should heartfully thank Costas Kondylis [above] for making sure Trump hasn't built a 90-story gold building in Manhattan. (He's opted for bronze instead.) [Goth]
After paying a pretty penny for naming rights to Gehry's Atlantic Yards stadium, Barclays defends itself against the accusation (printed by Brooklyn Paper among others) that the company had been built on slavery "blood money." How does the B.P. editor respond? No retraction! [Brooklyn Paper]
Can the winner of the Super Bowl be predicted via non-football statistics? Maybe. But the real question is: Can real estate be predicted via non-realty statistics? (Nope.) [Matrix]

Max Abelson

The Afternoon Wrap: Thursday

Observer Staff — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:31:30 -0500

It's a big deal when a rich writer gets robbed near his lush Park Slope home, and it's a bigger deal when the rich writer and his wife vow on blogs to ditch the borough ("It costs $2,000 a year to insure my wedding ring....We outta here.") But best of all is when the once-hidden vows are dug up in all their Brooklynesque glory. [Gowanus Lounge]
Sure, crusading against Marlboros and French crullers is brave. But Mayor Bloomberg could "hit the trifecta and reap perhaps his biggest public-health bonanza yet" if he tilts his horns against Manhattan's "car-dominance." And bike-riding would be way more fun. [Streetsblog]
Steve Case's cheesy Miraval Living (where "healthy eating facilities" come with the million-dollar apartments) makes Forbes' list for wishlist-level abodes. (And, illogically, it beats out a globe-trotting yacht.) [Forbes]
Rental agents do not fear 2007's prices--or evil landlords or prissy renters--nearly as much as they fear other rental agents. [NY Press]
Real estate murder mysteries are really hot right now. [NY Mag]

Max Abelson

Finally, Egg Creams And Gelato In Brooklyn

Observer Staff — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 07:45:03 -0500

Hold it like a man, Marty!

Brooklyn politicos, including borough beep Marty Markowitz, broke out the spades on Wednesday at a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the construction of a huge parking lot in Gowanus that comes with the added bonus of a Whole Foods Market -- the borough's first.

In addition to parking, the 68,000-square-foot store at the corner of Third Avenue and 3rd Street will feature "unique Brooklyn touches like egg-cream and gelato stations," according to a press release.

Thankfully, the national organic and natural foods retailer has not announced plans to include some cheesy Dominos-esque "Brooklyn Style Pizza" stand. read more »

Read the full press release after the jump. - Chris Shott