My Life In Brooklyn

I didn’t vote for Clarke, somehow I am not surprised.  A political activist in DC sent me this link. 

In the current issue of Black Agenda Report  there is an article on the latest report card published by the CBC Monitor.

From the Report Card:

“CBC Monitor is a group of nonpartisan African American activists who insist that the Congressional Black Caucus ought to represent the political will of Black communities, rather than party leaders, campaign contributors or corporate donors. CBC Monitor has partnered with Black Agenda Report at www.blackagendareport.com to produce twice-a-year report cards on the performance of the Congressional Black Caucus from an African American political point of view.”

Clarke was given a D, and ranks among the 5 lowest scores.  “Clarke’s offense was not so much in voting wrong, as in failing to show up, having been absent for many of the ten votes on which the current Report Card is based.”

Ever-changing Flatbush Ave.  Directly to the left is Associated.

 

It had been a while since I wandered around Tilden and E. 28th Street.  This area has been fascinating to me because of the amount of new builds.  The landscape of that immediate area has completely changed, now populated with Fedders buildings and driveways.

It appears the owner/developer might be finding some of these places difficult to sell.  108  E. 28th Street, at the corner of Tilden, this building now stands.  From what I can tell on Google maps, it appears this did not involve a tear down, but was a grassy lot with a mature tree.

Initially I had expected it to see it sold as condos, but I see on the developer’s (Daniel Homes Inc.) website, they are being advertised as 3 family homes and offered at $699k.  Daniel Homes did quite a bit of the development in this area from what I can see. It seems a little odd so many of the ground level windows are boarded up.

 

This is the second business in this space that appears to have departed.  The first was a shop involved in creating costumes for the annual West Indian parade.  Never experienced that one personally at parade time, but have heard reports from neighbors regarding the noise involved.

From what I can tell, it appears Adwa’s Life Line lost electicity a couple of months prior to closing, but pressed on through use of coolers and BBQ – the business mostly operated outside, on the sidewalk.  The image above is a typical view though on rainy days there were tarps connected to the traffic signal.

Another business gone. At least there has been no evidence of the business remaining. I’ve yet to see any activity suggesting a new tenant in the space.  It’s all set up for a restaurant, I hope something interesting goes in.

One of my neighbors who has lived in PLG for 40 years said this corner space once hosted an Irish bar. 

Located nearly at the corner of Winthrop, this newly renovated building is rental only, Corcoran is handling it.  The link is to the agent’s listings, just scroll down to Current Apartments for Rent and you can see four units being offered.

Julian, the super in the building across the street, saw me with camera in hand and said he heard they are still waiting for a C of O.

Rental prices are not bad, though I expect this is a noisy street.

 

Somehow I missed this one, until today.  

Though a banner is in place promoting 260Linden.com via Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the link is dead and it appears the domain is up for grabs.  There are still a couple of condos available here and here.  The two bedroom is $295k w/ $183 Maintenance; the one bedroom is $195k (757 SF), maintenance $113.

Of course it really depends on the building, but that is a pretty low price to get into some level of real estate ownership in a changing neighborhood.  At the corner of Nostrand and Linden, it is convenient but probably somewhat nosiy.  Its been interesting to see Elliman and Corcoran appearing more often in the non-historic areas.

I was in Queens last week, on Jamaica Avenue, and saw a bright yellow and red   billboard for “We Buy Ugly Houses.Com” — the link forwards to homevestors.com, with links for buying and selling.  The page orginally served up a “why sell” link — and it states:

“HomeVestors franchisees buy houses at a discount. But when they buy your house, they will: Pay cash; Pay most normal closing costs; Buy “as is”; Typically close fast.”

They seem to have a few things for sale on Staten Island, Westchester and surrounding areas. 

Seems poised to cash in on the mortgage crisis.  It may have been present in this area for a long time, but I had not seen any major advertising from this company before.

And they are using a caveman, à la Geico.

 

In blog time it has been forever since I last posted but it has been insanely busy for me with gardening, website development, and other distractions.

We just returned from a short road trip south, avoiding the usual I-95 intensity and instead giving ourselves extra time for a leisurely drive on byways including a segment of the Lincoln Highway and Shenandoah National Park via Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive views were hazy in the August heat, but magnificent, offering a glimpse of nature and notably the lack of sound (other than the car engine).

The likes of byways such as the Lincoln Highway always interest me because it is on these roads we are offered a different view of America via the roadside attraction - ranging from street names, house color and architecture, business signage, garden décor, etc.  There is usually something interesting to see.

One curiosity was a very large barn in southern Pennsylvania that served as the yard-sale center for the owner.  In the past the barn had served as an advertising platform with different messages on two sides, the paint wearing thin on both.  I am no expert on barn architecture, but the old stone foundation was quite nice; it seemed to indicate a long-term tenure on the property, likely more than a century.  At some point past it must have been a beautiful farm.

With an obvious “open” sign on display, we stopped to have a look around.  The proprietor exited the farmhouse next door and turned on the electricity in the barn for us.  We exchanged a few pleasantries, then he retreated to the house.

This is the third time I have encountered such a place.  I think, with some time and sorting, there might be several decades of American pop culture to be found on the premises.  It would be an interesting archaeological study.

Unfortunately I was ill-prepared to seriously “shop” — there were plenty of things to capture my interest but without gloves and a need to press on with the drive, it was absurd to even begin.  This place offers the chance of a eureka moment for treasure-hunters willing to invest some time, but I have only a few photos to show and a certain pleasure in knowing places like this still exist in our modern world.