Brooklyn

For those of us of a certain age, MTV's The Real World was, like, the coolest thing ever: Pedro vs. Puck, that Irish guy Dom from the second season, the year it took place in London with the, like, 16-year-old dating the 14-year-old. Fascinating slice-of-life stuff when viewed from the suburbs.

And, then, for a long, long time, it was the stupidest thing on cable TV. And still is, probably. We don't know. We stopped watching around voting age.

But! Today, MTV announces that the 21st season of The Real World will be filmed in Brooklyn.

Release after the jump, and expert commentary here regarding possible spots in the borough for filming.  read more »

In an inevitable, perhaps even overdue collision of reality and lifestyle, this morning MTV announced it has green-lighted the 21st season of The Real World. It will be filmed in Brooklyn, the reigning home turf of post-teen drama, and broadcast in 13 one-hour episodes in early 2009. No word yet regarding in which neighborhood the attention-seeking hopefuls will reside and manufacture identity-based conflict. We are hoping for the corner of Smith and Carroll but will also settle for Bedford and North Sixth. We would also like to see The Real World: East New York, where things start getting really real, and surely City Councilman Charles Barron of that neighborhood would assist with locations. God speed, young funny-haired applicants.  read more »

Is a sustainably designed Argington Picchu Dresser (above) just the thing your tyke needs to make her room complete? Have you been jonesing for a Lotta Jansdotter hand tote?

If so, you've got exquisite timing. Friday through Sunday, "Bklyn Designs" will take over Dumbo (itself home to Bo Concept and West Elm) for the fifth year running.  read more »

If there's anything more symbolic of a neighborhood's gentrification, well, we can' t think of it: Nam's grocery on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights is going organic, according to Brooklynian.com.  read more »

Humans aren't the only mammals fighting for real estate in Brownstone Brooklyn. Now, even dogs are joining the fray!

Apparently, the number of canines vying for space in Fort Greene Park has increased to the point that owners are concerned about a corresponding rise in dust-ups between mutts.  read more »

Nearly five years in the making (and just a few years off its originally-planned 2005 opening), Swedish retailer IKEA's 346,000-square-foot store on the Brooklyn waterfront will finally open on June 18, the company announced today.

"We made excellent progress on construction last year and so far this spring, so we are confident the remaining construction milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by mid-June," said store manager Mike Baker in a statement.  read more »

Another scene from Thursday evening's protest outside the Brooklyn Museum of Art against Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner.

The big protest against Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner went off Thursday evening outside of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, which was honoring Mr. Ratner inside for his philanthropy. Above is a nattily dressed protestor (it was black-tie inside and outside--get it?!) snapped by Observer photo editor Nicole Brydson. More to come.

Condo and co-op prices dropped in brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods like Carroll Gardens and Park Slope in the first quarter of 2008, according to a new report from the Corcoran Group. Manhattan owners—and those who can afford to be some day—should take note.

The average sales price of Brooklyn condos and co-ops combined dropped 10 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the first of 2008 to $615,000. The median price dropped as well, 7 percent to $549,000.  read more »

Brooklyn is the seventh-largest county in the United States, according to new census estimates. The County of Kings has 2,528,050 residents. Queens was No. 10 with 2,270,338; and Manhattan was No. 19 with 1,620,867 residents. The census' estimates run through July 1, 2007.

Although all three experienced population gains over previous years' estimates going back to 2000, none were among the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties; nor were the Bronx or Staten Island. The Bronx was No.  read more »

A group of neighborhood and business groups opposed to the reopening and expansion of the House of Detention at the edge of Downtown Brooklyn are expanding their opposition as the city moves closer to expanding the now-shuttered jail.

A group calling itself the Brooklyn House of Detention Community Stakeholders Group has launched a Web site for the issue, announcing their labors today with their very first press release.  read more »

The city is looking for developers to renovate and operate the landmarked, long-derelict Loew’s Kings Theater—“the Kings” as locals called it back in the day—on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Designed in 1929 by Rapp and Rapp Architects, the 3,769-seat movie palace modeled after the Paris Opera House is the only one of the five “Wonder Theaters” Loew’s built in the city that has not been renovated or converted into a church.

Rehabilitating the majestic, rotting Art Deco building will not be cheap. It has remained shuttered since 1978—the city took it over in 1983—and the city's Economic Development Corporation estimated that the project would cost a minimum of $70 million in the request for proposals it issued this week.  read more »

Biggie is coming to the big screen, according to Reuters. Jamal Woolard, a Brooklyn-based rapper, will play the late rap icon Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G., in the upcoming biopic Notorious. He passed the open casting call last fall. Like Biggie, Mr. Woolard was a drug dealer before he became a rapper. Also known as Gravy, he has released a number of albums, though he's perhaps best known for being shot before a radio appearance outside the New York hip-hop station Hot 97 two years ago, after which he proceeded with the interview and became a part of hip-hop lore. Biggie's mom, Voletta Wallace, cited "Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile" as reasons for the casting. "He is a talented and charismatic actor, and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to life." Derek Luke will play P. Diddy and Anthony Mackie will play Tupac Shakur. Angela Basset is set to play Biggie's mom. The movie is set for release next January.

We’ve always dismissed the hordes of young hipsters tapping away on their laptops in Williamsburg and Park Slope cafes in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon as trust-fund babies or dilettantes. But it just so happens they might be part of the burgeoning population the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation calls “self-employed creative professionals.”

This broad category of workers encompassing everyone from freelance sound mixers and graphic designers to independent artists, performers, and performance artists living in Brooklyn increased in number 33 percent between 2002 and 2005 to 22,000, according to the BEDC, compared to an increase of only 6.5 percent in Manhattan.

Most of them are clustered in Williamsburg, Dumbo, BoCoCa, Red Hook, and Park Slope in the swathe of northern and eastern Brooklyn the BEDC has labeled the “Creative Crescent.”  read more »

Stereogum, the gossipy music blog, will have more pop culture punditry for its readers to chew on: Videogum, a new entertainment blog focusing on television, movies, web shorts, and video games will launch this spring.  read more »

>> The National, Feb. 22-23, Brooklyn Academy of Music (sold out)

"No way! A 2,500 seat theater!" said The National’s Bryce Dessner, sounding more like one his band’s teenage fans than a well-traveled 34-year-old guitarist. He was calling from Ditmas Park—a few neighborhoods south of the Brooklyn Academy of Music where his brooding hometown band will take the stage for two sold-out nights tonight and tomorrow night. "It's just not something we would have considered."  read more »

Though I spent three years living in Greenpoint, I often found myself shunning the local nightlife—aside from a few restaurants and my local watering hole the Pencil Factory—for cozy nights in on my quiet residential street. Especially during this time of year. But despite no longer residing there, I've recently found myself traveling north to Williamsburg and Greenpoint for a night out more often and apparently, I'm not alone!

On a recent Thursday, I headed to the Music Hall of Williamsburg to catch a few bands play. On my walk toward the venue, which stands just short of the East River, I bypassed the Thai restaurant Sea, now North 6th Street's bridge-and-tunnel capital. Patrons were falling out of the doors, the line for a table immense, while a DJ boomed hip hop to a crowd donning their Sunday (or Thursday) best. Similarly, up the street, Planet Thai was packed to the brim with people seeking a lounge, restaurant and bar feel all in one.  read more »

I got an email this morning from the Center for an Urban Future. They will host a forum on March 5 entitled, "Harnessing Brooklyn's Creative Capital: The Impact of Self-Employed Creative Professionals on the Borough's Economy." So, come one, come all, ye playwrights and graphic designers, ye aspiring novelists and copywriters. Admission's free, but space is limited. More here (PDF).

One of the major differences, generally speaking, between Manhattan and Brooklyn is the proximity you have to your neighbor. In Manhattan, residents may feel piled on top of each other in shoeboxes or filing cabinets, depending on your metaphor preference, but rarely will they ever get to know one another. In Brooklyn, residents tend to have more space and fewer neighbors, yet the proximity seems closer.

Brooklynites exist closer to the urban frontier.  read more »

Apparently it's quite controversial to discuss the experience of living in Brooklyn when it comes to the topic of race. A few weeks back, I dared to talk about it and received a lot of flack. But in my hood, Prospect Heights, and anywhere really, race, class and gentrification are heavy topics, and I'm not going to shy away from them.

After graduating college, I spent close to two years working in central Brooklyn politics, commuting south every morning from my apartment in Greenpoint to a state senator's office on Flatbush Avenue near Lincoln Place. I worked with families whose homes were in disrepair, mediating fights with landlords over HPD cases; and with community groups, landlords and community affairs police officers over drug-related crime. All the work merely put band-aids on a broken system. I often returned home in utter shock. Perhaps you've seen The Wire.  read more »

Rachel Eisner, an Obama supporter from Brooklyn with “much admiration for Hillary,” emailed this:

My polling place at p.s. 9 in Prospect Heights was very organized and ran smoothly, as it tends to based on my experiences there. However, the machine for my district was out of order and I was required to fill out a paper ballot with no privacy. And then insert it into a cardboard box that was sealed with one strip of masking tape. Yikes. The volunteers were all very helpful and cheery...but still....that scared me.

A source with Obama's New York campaign claims there are problems with voting in parts of Brooklyn.

"There are a substantial amount of problems in a limited location," the source says, citing at at least eight polling locations that are having problems, concentrated in Bed Stuy, Fort Greene, East New York and East Flatbush.

These are also the areas where Obama's support in New York is strongest.

A Williamsburg reader emails:

Voting this morning was a slightly more confusing and anticlimactic experience than I had expected. I stopped by the school on North 5th between Roebling and Driggs on my way into work, guided by a smattering of scotch-taped signs and several Obama canvassers (I didn't actually count 500 steps from them to the polling booth itself, but I was slightly suspicious).

 read more »

Former City Councilwoman Una Clarke, a Clinton supporter, is organizing a major event tonight in Flatbush, in part as a counter-demonstration of the strong support Barack Obama seems to have in that part of Brooklyn.

Clarke, who said that the details are not finalized for the event, tried explaining to me Obama’s local appeal.  read more »

It's easy to feel helpless and vulnerable during your apartment search, tired of hoofing it from place to place, and being let down almost every time. On top of that, I was skeptical of my realtor, Angel, a 50-ish Asian woman who drives a Jaguar, when she first showed me the apartment I inevitably took.

Not unlike a character out of a real estate cartoon, Angel met me in front of a building she owns just down the street from the apartment she was renting me. She made it immediately clear how much of an over-sharer she is. “I rent my two-bedroom apartments for $2,000! You will get a good deal here!,” she squealed, before double-speaking. “I represent YOU! This is not my building, I work for the landlord!”

It was hard to know what was true and what was her poor attempt at salesmanship, or, even worse, if she was being dishonest. But, after seeing a few other places, I went ahead with it anyway. I needed a place, and my roommate, Will, had a strict deadline to get out of his place that was approaching in a matter of days. Angel was the only realtor showing us a decent amount of space at a reasonable price.  read more »

On a recent chilly night, I was bundled up and on my way to Boerum Hill to have dinner at a friend's apartment. As I walked down Washington Avenue the B45 bus pulled up next to me, and I hesitated. “Which would be faster, the train or the bus?” I thought. Before I could make a decision, the bus doors had shuttered. Luckily, the light at Atlantic and Washington was still red and I approached the bus and knocked on the door. The driver, a middle-aged African-American man, refused to open the door, gesturing to the next stop, three street crossings away, even though his bus was still idling perfectly in front of a designated stop. It was 15 degrees outside and I'll admit it, I felt like the driver was sticking it to me for being white.  read more »

In the three years since Prospect-Lefferts Garden was dubbed a neighborhood “on the cusp,” life in the African-Caribbean enclave has changed markedly for long-time residents. The eastward migration of middle-class house hunters priced out of Park Slope has stretched the boundaries of gentrified Brooklyn, and pushed the cost of living in neighborhoods like Prospect-Lefferts Gardens up.

The six-block stretch of Flatbush Avenue between Parkside Avenue and Beekman Place bears few signs of the neighborhood’s reorientation toward a more upmarket (and often white) clientele.  read more »

A venture of Acadia Realty Trust, MacFarlane Partners, Rose Associates, P/A Associates and Washington Square Partners seems to be moving forward with the redevelopment of Albee Square into the City Point development, with plans to build a 65-story, Greenberg Farrow-designed mixed-use tower in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle writes today.  read more »

We’ve put together a compilation of statements and press releases on this afternoon’s Atlantic Yards court decision, which clears a potentially major hurdle for the $4 billion development. The statements (after the jump) come from Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn; developer Forest City Ratner; Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; and the Empire State Development Corporation.  read more »

Editor's Note: The Real Estate presents Brooklyn, The Borough, a weekly column by Observer staffer and native Manhattanite Nicole Brydson about her return to Brooklyn after nearly a year in Hell's Kitchen.

For three years I lived in Greenpoint, the northern Polish colony of Brooklyn. Though I wasn't part of the first wave of gentrification, the wheels of which were long turning--fast--my indigenous neighbors didn't necessarily seem thrilled with the influx of youthful college graduates. But, over the time I spent living there, the process completed itself. Greenpoint, close to Williamsburg and now home to hip bars, natural markets, galleries, brunch spots, fashion-forward boutiques and even a book store, became the convenient and affordable choix de la jeunesse.  read more »

The Corcoran Group's Brooklyn regional vice president, Frank Percesepe, talked to The Observer about some of the trends that pushed the average price of an apartment up 8 percent in the borough in 2007, according to the firm's year-end market report.

"If you look at the numbers, there is nice, mature growth in all neighborhoods," he said.

The report covered the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, Park Slope, Williamsburg, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

"If the price of a two-bedroom in Park Slope dropped a little," Mr. Percesepe said, "it's because inventory went down not because the market was performing badly."  read more »

The average price of an apartment in Brooklyn rose 8 percent during 2007 to $661,000, according to a report from the Corcoran Group released on Wednesday. Here are some more Brooklyn tidbits:  read more »

Developers will complete only 20,000 square feet of new office space this year, compared to 165,000 feet in 2006, according to a report out today from investment-sales brokerage Marcus & Millichap. This partly explains the borough's declining office vacancy rate, whci dropped from 9.9 percent at the end of 2006 to 8.3 percent right now.  read more »

Editor's note: There are corrections for this story at the end of it.

For Robert, life as a doorman at a new luxury condominium entails the usual mundane and managerial work for which members of his profession are known. He accepts deliveries for residents in his building, helps them move unwieldy packages and luggage, signs guests in and out, and sees to it that everyone is greeted with a smile.

But, in certain ways, the job is different for Robert. He is not unionized. He does not receive benefits, raises, or paid holidays from his employers. He gets overtime only “when they [the management company] feel like it.” He does not wear a uniform, apart from a suit he bought himself.

The biggest difference of all? Robert works in Brooklyn.

As New Yorkers fleeing Manhattan’s skyrocketing prices and congestion have streamed across the East River in the last decade, developers have scrambled to keep up, erecting pricey condos with names like the Lotus and Aqua in a play for residents who have brought certain Manhattan expectations with them. High on the list is having a doorman.  read more »

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 »

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."

The state Attorney General's office accepted 710 condo and co-op plans for New York City in 2006, a 73.6 percent increase over the number accepted in 2005, suggesting that the home-building boom in the city continues to reverberate despite rising foreclosures in some areas and a tougher mortgage market for consumers.  read more »

There's a lot of new shops in the Borough of Kings. Developers are expected to add 500,000 square feet of retail space to Brooklyn in 2007, according to a report from investment-sales firm Marcus & Millichap. That's way more than the 33,000 feet added in 2006.

Other highlights from the report:  read more »

Jay-Z, whose new album inspired by American Gangster comes out next Tuesday, gave the Los Angeles Times' Richard Cromelin a personal tour of Brooklyn.

Jay-Z, 37, doesn't return often to this Brooklyn neighborhood, where he grew up as Shawn Corey Carter. Stardom and wealth have taken him away to a Manhattan home and the globe-trotting life of a hip-hop star and major-label record executive.

It's his role as a recording artist that's brought him back on a warm fall day, to rehearse for a taping of the "VH1 Storytellers" show on a soundstage at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As the car inches through late afternoon traffic, past the courts where he used to play basketball and the corners where he once sold drugs, he finds that his emotions are stirred.

"Yeah, man, it's the place that made me," he says softly.

While John Grisham's Playing for Pizza and Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon top the New York Times' best sellers list, we're poking our heads into BookCourt in Cobble Hill to see what Brooklynites are tucking into their totes.

Out in the Manhattan suburb (sorry, it's true!), where baby strollers, daddy-actor types and yoga-obsessed writers run rampant, it's not surprising that Tom Perrotta's new book The Abstinence Teacher tops the hardcover fiction list. After all, the guy wrote Little Children, the most angsty-cool anti-parenting guide ever written. In his new book, Mr. Perrotta abandons the kiddie playground for school to examine how a single sex education teacher will battle a herd of evangelical Christians trying to get her to ditch the old banana/condom demo and take on an abstinence curriculum. In The Abstinence Teacher, Mr. Perrotta continues "writing books for people who don't much like books—satires for nice people, fuck books for prudes," according to Benjamin Alsup at Esquire. Fun! But you could also follow Mr. Alsup's advice and just wait for the movie.  read more »

Affordable, environmentally friendly apartments are about to go up on a former brownfield site near the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

You think you know what we are talking about?

No, not Atlantic Yards, but rather the more modest Atlantic Terrace (above), developed by the nonprofit Fifth Avenue Committee in conjunction with MAP Development and Line Development. Back in November 2003, when the team first won the right to develop the site at Atlantic and South Portland Avenue, the 10-story, 80-unit cooperative was supposed to include solar panels to provide some of the energy for the residents. One month later, Forest City Ratner unveiled its plans for 30- to 50-story towers across the street to the south.  read more »

Here's Hillary Clinton entering Cono & Sons, a restaurant in Williamsburg. At the door she greeted Vito Lopez, before going inside to receive the endorsement of the Kings County Democratic Party.

"She's paying her respects, which I think is a very good characteristic," Lopez said about her visit.

Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project have seized on Newark’s recent decision to close streets near the new Prudential Center arena as reason to scrutinize the security arrangements for the future arena in Brooklyn.

Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn is calling a press conference with elected officials this Sunday, before the organization’s walkathon.

The developer, Forest City Ratner, has consulted with the police and fire departments about security, but blogger Norman Oder points out that the state agency overseing the project did not consider large-scale terrorist attacks or even a bomb as reasonable worst case scenarios that needed to be evaluated in the environmental impact study.

So that scoop earlier this week about Barneys Co-op and Apple negotiating in Williamsburg for their first Brooklyn outlets? Turns out it's more rumor right now than fact. Retail in the outer-b's rolls that way sometimes.

The Brooklyn Paper investigated the New York Post's earlier story (we got the skinny via Racked). The Post said the retailers were in negotiations to move into retail space in the new Edge condo.

The broker handling such decisions for the Edge told The Brooklyn Paper that such decisions for the condo are "a little premature." Also, he would neither confirm nor deny the negotiations with Apple and Barneys.

The results of the latest Zagat Survey of New York restaurants are in, with input from a record 34,678 diners, and respondents have issued a resounding mandate to the city’s Health Department: Stay the course!

Asked “Do you think the recent temporary shuttering of some NYC restaurants for health violations is…?” only 15 percent answered “[a]n overreaction,” while a whopping 65 percent said “[w]arranted.” (Another 20 percent were undecided.)

The overwhelming support for the continuing Health Department crackdown on the city’s food-service sector comes on the heels of last month’s New York Post report, which found that city health inspectors had flunked 25 percent of all 28,955 eateries they inspected during fiscal year 2007.

Other findings from the brand-spanking new Zagat 2008 New York City Restaurants guide:  read more »

A new report from the Corcoran Group shows that the prices and home sales in brownstone Brooklyn increased in the third quarter of 2007. The average sales price of Brooklyn condos and co-ops increased 11 percent from the third quarte