Motorists Wise Simonize

Posted May 1st, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn, Construction

Empire Near Bedford Ave 

Originally I wanted a snappier title for this post. 

Last year, along the north side of Empire, near Bedford Ave was a row of one-story buildings. Actually now that I think about it, it could have been one building only with a row of storefront spaces.  Most were covered with a combination of graffiti and art on the security gates and walls and I had never seen them occupied.  See here and here for some examples.  There had been signs indicating the building was destined to become a storage area, and sometime, when I was in Italy perhaps, or just not paying attention, everything was demolished.

Now, I don’t particularly object to these buildings going, though perhaps something could have been done with them.  It really wasn’t the best use of that space, though I am not pleased with seeing the industrial side of Empire being exclusively nurtured either.  It seems a real shame to waste such a large space on a storage business, especially a space so close to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. But that is another post.

Today, when I was walking by, the plywood gate was wide open and I watched the construction crew working on the site.  It is clearly going to be a large building.

On the wall of the building next door were some old painted ads on the brick.  I hadn’t ever seen this before, mostly likely because building blocked it.  Considering the age (there is a four-digit phone number in the ad) it is in remarkably good condition. 

And so for now, a building goes, a new one is about to be constructed, and an artifact from the past is momentarily visible.  In a relatively short time it will be rendered invisible once more.

Oh, I would have liked it to be a more interesting ad to be sure.  But the image shows what is there; indicative of strong car culture from days past.  You can see a high res version of this pic (and a couple more) on my flickr account.


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Clarkson Beauty

Posted April 30th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn, At Risk Bldg

111 Clarkson 

I am pretty sure I have mentioned this building before.  It is an old beauty that is slowly falling apart.  Today, while walking around, I grabbed a couple more photos.  It really makes a difference what time of year you take photos.  Not only does the lighting differ, but also the foliage and growth around the houses (or lack of) impact what you actually see of the subject. 

So I did take (again) a couple of pics of this house and a close-up of what was once a very nice stained glass window that is ccurrently in desperate need of help.  You can see there is some wire placed over the window to protect it.  Higher resolution on my flickr account.

Stained Glass, 111 Clarkson


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New Grocery Store Site

Posted April 30th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn

This is the site of the new grocery store that was mentioned sometime last week.

It is large, I grant you that.  I didn’t notice any parking area as yet.  Most of the larger store have some parking available, such as Super Stop & Shop.

It will be interesting to see what it turns into.  Met was mentioned as the merchant for this Clarson & Bedford building. I have shopped the Met on Vanderbilt at the suggestion of one of my neighbors, who said it received some notice for cleanliness. It was okay — Vanderbilt is not bad for parking during the week.

Southwest corner of Clarskson & Bedford Aves.


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Ocean Avenue

Posted April 26th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn, Construction

Now that some of my work commitment has lessened, I’ve been looking forward to hitting to pavement to have a look at some of the progress in lots of buildings that have been mentioned here over the past months.

Yesterday I walked along Ocean Avenue and was looking forward to seeing the building located between 555 and 575.  It appears to be a huge project; I’ve seen the beams towering above the perimeter fence for months now and was actually very surprised yesterday to see little or no progress since last October.

I am actually unsure of the street number, but if you Google 565 Ocean and look at the hybrid map at close range, you will clearly see two very large houses were torn down to build whatever it is that is in progress.  Small version of that image below. Very near to this property is Tennis Court which has some gorgeous buildings.

Anyway, maybe I am totally wrong on this, but seeing nothing happen from October 19 until now, April 26 — well, it has to make you wonder.  I will place the hi-res versions of these pics on my flickr account.

565 Ocean Ave (Approvimately)

Above: 565 Ocean (Approximately, pic taken just south in front of 575)

565 Ocean lot, through the mail slot

Above: construction site via Google.


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Woodruff eBay Listing

Posted April 25th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn

Last week I made mention of 162 Woodruff, which is available via eBay real estate, opening bid is 1.4 million.

Anyway, today I finally managed to walk by the place, and it really is, from the looks on the exterior at least, not in bad condition per se, but not so great either. 

I am posting a grab shot, below.  Almost across the street, on the north side is 177 and that is is much worse considtion, plywood in windows and doors.  It is 177 I remember looking up on Property Shark and I believe it is an SRO.

Anyway, this particular block on Woodruff runs between Flatbush and E. 21st Street (on the south side; north side runs between Fatbush and Ocean Ave).  It is relatively small, and not all that charming, though it isn’t too far far some really nice blocks, as I mentioned in the prior post.  So, with some TLC and money, I think the block could have potential.  However, not sure I would want to live there right now.

Top Image: 177 Woodruff; Bottom Image 162 Woodruff. After the cut.

  Read the rest of this post »


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Hawthorne, Spring Sadness

Posted April 24th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn, Crime, At Risk Bldg

Just because I have been watching this building slowly deteriorate.  This is the most recent pic, as of this morning.

Frankly, this tactic — allowing buildings to passively deteriorate until they HAVE to be removed — is worse than annoying.   Someone should make owners responsible, or help them.  But to allow this is bad for the community, the new building that will replace it is bound to be ugly and out of context.

Someone needs to step in here.

 

Past posts on this one:

http://mylifeinbrooklyn.com/2006/09/13/shameful-195-hawthorne/

http://mylifeinbrooklyn.com/2007/01/10/hawthorne-revisited/

 


Comments: 6 Comments

Bedford & Parkside

Posted April 24th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn

We all knew eventually something would be built.  This is the status as of today.  I see slots for Fedders.

Corner Bedfore and Parkside Aves

 


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New Signage on Flatbush

Posted April 20th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn, Construction, Flatbush Ave

Below I have two images, taken the same day by my spouse.  Purely by chance he happened to catch the first image on the way to work yesterday morning.  Late last night, I happened to notice the new sign, which is not a surprise really as it can’t easily be missed.  Could it be any more ostentatious?  The full effect of this sign is not represented in this grab shot – it is huge, and all of it is pretty much bright red and white (lower sign says “park with us”) — and there is considerably more light generated than can be seen from this image.  Location Fenimore and Flatbush.

Not that there is too much cause for complaint.  When we first moved to the area, the parking lot was simply a wide driveway with a chain link fence.  The building over the garage driveway is a newly built extension as of this year.  Anyway, at that time (five years ago) they had a loud, irritating high-pitched alarm that was set off by a motion detector — needless to say the sound bounced all the way down Fenimore street and was the topic of more than one block association meeting.  Many people in this neighborhood like loud.

I am assuming this may be the finishing touch on the building.  As far as I know, it is completely devoid of tenants.  The space on the ground floor, to the left of the garage entry was a health center that moved to Clarkson on April 1.  The second floor is newly built, and there is additional retail space on the ground floor to the right of the garage door. I haven’t seen any tenant activity yet.

It’s ugly construction, made worse with the sign.  But, so far it remains quiet.

Morning of April 19

Evening of April 19 

 


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For Sale By Owner

Posted April 18th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn

Earlier I was looking for something on eBay and happened upon a couple of real estate listings for Brooklyn.  One is 162 Woodruff Ave, right off of Flatbush Ave, just south of Parkside, this auction appears to have been posted on April 17. 

The listing is For Sale By Owner and the asking price is $1.4 million.

Last fall I walked around that area off and on, and as I remember that particular block struck me as pretty shabby.  I know either next door or directly across the street to this building for sale, is what appears to be a SRO mentioned my post of October 5.  So the FSBO building would have the SRO building as a neighbor, unless things have changed in a  major way.  Back in October the SRO appeared to be in really poor condition, Maybe I will stroll over and have a look tomorrow, just for a memory check.

On the positive side, the building could have a lot of potential because it has location — definitely some beautiful buildings very close by.

Have a look at the 162 Woodruff Avenue building on eBay.

And there is another place for sale on eBay,  296 Bay 14th Street, another FSBO.


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Sunday Torture

Posted April 9th, 2007 by Polychrome
Categories: Brooklyn, Crime

Not long after we moved here five years ago we had an Incident In Front of the House.  This took form of someone who had parked their car on the street, directly below my bedroom window, locked it, and went to do whatever on another street.  It was a Mercedes with PA plates.  For some reason the car alarm went off and essentially remained that way for almost 24 hours.  The car alarm was in fact a honking car horn.  After countless calls to the 71st Precinct by not only myself but many neighbors, the 71st finally sent a car — oh, about 18 hours after the noise began and maybe 8-9 hours after the first telephone calls.  The officers pulled up to the car, noted the noise and could not figure out how to get the car open to shut the alarm off.  Instead, they wrote a citation and left.  A mere 6 hours later the owner of the car tossed the citation into the gutter and drove away.

The result?   Well, first on the agenda, we switched our bedroom (front of the house) with the office (back of the house) and have never once regretted that decision.

Next, I mentioned it to our Community Liaison Officer, a nice enough fellow, who assured me this “should have been taken care of” by the Precinct.  Fine.

So in the wee hours of THIS Sunday morning I had a strange dream.  I was being hit by something over and over again and it hurt.  As it so often in dreams it was all fuzzy, but as I awoke it was easy to realize that in fact it was a car horn issue once more.

Yes, this time it was a Nissan Maxima.  My husband headed out to have a look, it (again) had PA plates and had some questionable stickers affixed to the windshield, mostly scraped off, but with some artifacts indicative of a NY connection.

As it happened I was mostly working yesterday, under a deadline for a project.  Which mean I was in the office in the front of the house getting the full impact of the car alarm.  This time the car was parked in front of 66 Fenimore, almost at the Flatbush intersection.

I called the 71st Precinct three times, each time I was promised they would “send a car” over.  Nothing.  It would be my assumption that others might have called as well, but who knows. 

Late last night the alarm became more intermittent and it was my earnest hope the battery would be dead.  It really didn’t seem like an unfair request to me. I finally was able to sleep with a pillow over my head, my husband wore sound-blocking headphones to sleep. Really.

This morning, coffee in hand I was cautiously optimistic, and there was a silence, though the alarm started again shattering any hope of it being over. However, as I now post this, it has stopped, I think the battery may be dead! Yay!

So have a look at the video clip below, grabbed yesterday by my husband.  Imagine hearing that for 24 hours.  Only louder.  I feel robbed.  Thanks for all the help 71st Precinct, glad to know your feelings about quality of life issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mor5mPSYoU


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