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NY City Apartment Sales Down Over 50%

gotbrooklyn — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:20:27 +0000

Manhattan apartment sales plunged more than 50 percent and the average price dropped 21.4 to 24 percent from a year ago, as the U.S. recession forced many who own a piece of the Big Apple to eat humble pie, several reports said.

The average price of Manhattan apartment in the second quarter slid to $1,312,920 down from $1,669,729 a year earlier, according to a Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate report released Thursday.

via NY City Apartment Sales Down Over 50%: Reports – Real Estate * US * News * Story – CNBC.com.

Curbed: Door Prizes: Brooklyn Condo Comes With Newww CAAARRR!

gotbrooklyn — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:39:23 +0000

The internal combustion giveaway is making a comeback! First we had Stuyvesant Town offering the gratis use of a Mini Cooper for one year to the existing tenant that refers the most new renters, and now deep in the Prospect Heights/Crown Heights DMZ comes word of a hybrid of an offer from the gang at 727 Prospect Place, aka The Sinclair.

Williamsburgh Savings Bank building lobby to become catering hall

gotbrooklyn — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:35:05 +0000

Manhattan promoter Jennifer Blumin is leasing the landmarked ground floor lobby of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building, at 1 Hanson Place, and plans to use the space as a catering hall for weddings and other large events. The space, located on the ground floor of the historic 37-story skyscraper in Fort Greene, was most recently an HSBC Bank branch. Now, the lofty space with vaulted ceilings and marble tables will be available for events starting at $15,000 a night, which Blumin calls “Brooklyn-sensitive pricing.”

Social Security the Greatest Ponzi Scheme Ever?

gotbrooklyn — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:33:31 +0000

The federal government today collects payroll taxes from approximately 163 million white- and blue-collar workers, which is used to finance the retirement benefits of 50 million Americans. In fiscal 2008, Washington collected $785 billion in taxes and paid out approximately $585 billion in benefits.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that generations of U.S. workers have been misled to believe that Social Security’s annual surpluses accumulate in a trust fund that will be used to meet future costs. It is money that will be there, we have been assured, when “our day” comes.

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The new ‘Miss Brooklyn’

gotbrooklyn — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:52:26 +0000

“Miss Brooklyn” is dead — but Bruce Ratner has released new renderings (above) of the 511-foot tower that he hopes will take her place.

Ratner has said he won’t build the Frank Gehry–designed tower, now called “Building B-1,” until he finds an anchor tenant. And he told the New York Times last month that the entire Atlantic Yards project consists of the publicly financed basketball arena (which has taken on even more of Gehry’s signature look) and two smaller buildings around it.

Source: brooklynpaper.com

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Tags: RATNER | Tech & Biz

Delays in $4 Billion Brooklyn Development Are Challenged in Tenants’ Lawsuit

gotbrooklyn — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:48:00 +0000

Seems that mega developer Ratner has abandoned his mini city project and has left things worse then they were. Now blocks and blocks of demolished buildings will just remain undeveloped few the next several years.

The ever-lengthening timeline for completing the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project near Downtown Brooklyn is not just bad news for those who hoped to see the project’s basketball arena, office towers and apartment blocks completed quickly.

It is also, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, illegal.

The suit challenges an agreement between the project’s state sponsor, the Empire State Development Corporation, and the developer, Forest City Ratner, that gives Forest City at least 12 years to complete just the first phase of the project and an unspecified amount of time after that to build the second, final phase.

The agreement, the suit says, violates a provision in the state’s eminent-domain law, under which the state agency intends to seize private buildings on Forest City’s behalf. The law says a seized property must be offered back to its prior holder if it is not “materially improved” in 10 years.

Source: nytimes.com

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Zillow Signs Deal With Newspapers

gotbrooklyn — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:23:38 +0000

A very good tool that can only get better. Any homeowner interested in getting a ballpark home valuation should check it out.

In what Zillow.com President Lloyd Frink is calling a “groundbreaking partnership,” the Seattle online real estate startup has signed a deal to provide its home valuation and neighborhood information to 282 newspapers.

In return, the newspapers — including large papers such as the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News — can post classified listings and open-house information on the Zillow Web site.

The alliance is to kick off early next year, with other newspaper companies expected to join.

The launch partners include some of the biggest newspaper chains in the country: Journal Register Co.; Lee Enterprises; MediaNews Group; Morris Communications Co.; Paddock Publications; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; The E.W. Scripps Co.; and Hearst Newspapers, publisher of the Seattle P-I.

Starting in the first half of next year, newspapers’ ad-sales teams will offer advertisers the chance to buy home-for-sale listings and open-house notices on Zillow in addition to print and online classifieds. The newspapers and the Web company will share revenue from the Zillow listings.

Source: hispanicbusiness.com

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Brooklyn Municipal Building to convert 2 floors into shops

gotbrooklyn — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:05:13 +0000

BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM

Downtown Brooklyn planners are pushing an idea to outfit the borough’s staid, 80-year-old Municipal Building with two floors of shops, Brooklyn News has learned.

The first two levels of the Joralemon St. building, which now house city agencies, would be turned into 22,000 square feet of retail space.

“It’s a no-brainer from a retail perspective,” said Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Joe Chan, who pitched the idea to city officials this month.

Chan wouldn’t say whether he had begun wooing businesses to lease in the Art-Deco building, but pointedly suggested the space could accommodate an Apple store or a Bed, Bath & Beyond.

He also envisioned houseware, clothing or lifestyle shopping as well as a restaurant or an entertainment venue.

Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff told Brooklyn News that City Hall was seriously considering the proposal, but one challenge would be relocating displaced city agencies like a Finance Department payment center and the Brooklyn office of the City Clerk.

Lisa Kersavage of the Municipal Art Society was cautiously optimistic about the plan but feared the changes would impact the building’s character — from authoritative to airy.

“The place where you once went to get your public documents is now where you’re going to buy your latte,” Kersavage said. “That changes the character. That’s not always a tragedy, but it’s something we all need to consider.”

The Municipal Art Society and the Brooklyn Heights Association have proposed a new landmarked historic district in downtown Brooklyn called the Borough Hall Skyscraper District.

The proposed historic district would feature 28 downtown buildings, along with the Municipal Building.

Association President Judy Stanton was receptive to the retail plan, but she warned against introducing so-called big-box stores to the area. “I would rather see a lot of smaller shops,” she said.

Brooklynites on Joralemon St. were not thrilled with the idea last week, most declaring their distaste for the borough’s rapid influx of luxury condos and high-end retailers.

“Economically, I believe it would not be feasible,” said Abu Ali, 60, who sells flowers to recently wed couples outside the Municipal Building. “People go here to get their marriage licenses or pay a parking ticket.

“They shop at the Fulton Mall.”

SOURCE: NY Daily News

In Iraq, Soldiers Honor a Brooklyn Pizzeria

gotbrooklyn — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:16:50 +0000

By David Gonzalez

Some guys spend their tours of duty thinking of their sweethearts. Sgt. Abel Torres, a Sunset Park native serving in Iraq, dreams of baked ziti and a slice from Johnny’s Pizza, the neighborhood joint that has been feeding him since he was 3 years old.

This is the same family-owned pizzeria that faces the prospect of having a Papa John’s franchise open up right next door.

SOURCE: The New York Times

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Proposal Presented for Greenpoint Park

gotbrooklyn — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:46:00 +0000

A team of volunteer urban planners and landscape architects debuted their proposal for the new state park on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg that utilizes the former industrial space as an ecologically sustainable riverside park.

The proposal, which was shown to the public last Thursday night, is the result of a contest that challenged local designers to create a waterfront park that incorporated several key design features, including green technology, water interactivity, and educational components, as well as meeting the needs of the community and the expanding East River waterfront.

The contest to create a proposal for the waterfront space was started by the Friends Group of the Williamsburg Waterfront Park in 2005 as a way to determine what the community wants out of the open space.

“We wanted the design for the park to come out of the heart of the community,” said Cathleeen Breen, a member of Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG), which led the call for open submissions for the park’s design. “As long as the designer was someone affiliated with the Williamsburg/Greenpoint community, they were welcome to submit a design.”

Source: greenpointstar.com

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