Month: August 2008

349 Metropolitan, pre-EIFS (the post-EIFS view is here.

Today, the Times discovered that a lot of developers are using stucco, in particular EIFS, the stucco-over-styrofoam system that has been all the rage for the last 10 or 15 years. You see it in retrofits – its the new artificial siding in North Brooklyn (often covering up old artificial siding). You also see it in new construction, particularly at secondary elevations and rooftop bulkheads. If you’ve had your back yard snowed with styrofoam shavings, you’ve witnessed the EIFS installation process.

And then there’s this: “EIFS (rhymes with knifes) suffered a bad reputation in the 1990s…”. This is a new one on me – I have always heard it called “eee-fuss” (rhymes with doofus), not “ˈīfes” (or “eye-fiss”, or whatever rhymes with knifes). Maybe the EIFS Industry Members Association is trying a little rebranding?

There are certainly plenty who would say that EIFS still suffers a bad reputation, though EIFS proponents chalk that up to poor installation. But therein lies the rub – anyone ready to slap up a cladding material that is less than half the cost of just about any other exterior finish is probably not springing for skilled labor to do the installation.

Which is not to say that EIFS (or DryVit, or whatever) is evil, but it is ubiquitous. Used properly, it a decent building material that can look decent too. Unfortunately, its rarely used properly – either in design or execution. Though I suppose the same could be said about charcoal-gray brick.

A different finger for 227 Grand Street?

Remember all those foundations that got poured just prior to June 30 of this year? It turns out that developers do not find out if their projects are vested until the project are completed. Talk about adding uncertainty to the development equation.

Oh, and even if the foundation was poured by the deadline, the project still “must make timely progress on the building until its completion”. So you can’t pour a foundation and walk away for a couple of years waiting for the market to improve.

Toll Brothers bottom line is saved by Williamsburg and Hoboken, and in return, Toll remains bullish on Williamsburg. Details on Tower 2, which will be 50% larger than Tower 1, include a shift in the apartment mix to mostly studios and one bedrooms. This is in response to sales at 1 Northside Piers, which have skewed younger than expected (though right now, its not clear that that younger crowd can qualify for hefty luxury mortgages).

Oh, and now “Williamsburg is a natural extension of the Village”.

The sound of Hank Williams, dead at 81.

As a commenter notes, this Soho “Chocolate Factory” was not where Tootsie Rolls were made. That honor goes to another “Chocolate Factory” development, this one a rental on Park Avenue in Clinton Hill (not to be confused with the condo development “Chocolate Factory” on Myrtle).

Three City Council members who have reserved parking spots – which Mayor Bloomberg promised to end after the Daily News exposed the perk – spent hundreds of taxpayer dollars on MetroCards and cabs last year, documents show.

In Yassky’s case, “hundreds of dollars” somehow works out to $15.70. Somehow, spending $15.70 for a cab (or maybe it was two cabs?) hardly seems like an abuse. Let alone chutzpah.

“New procedures require that inspectors be able to see what they are inspecting.”

Williamsburg Walks

Today is the last day of Williamsburg Walks. Seven blocks of Bedford Avenue will be closed to traffic, and open to the imagination. (And over in Oz, seven miles of streets will be closed to traffic for the first Summer Streets Saturday.)

Food Drive

The Church of the Ascension will be at Tops today and tomorrow (1pm to 5pm) collecting canned food goods for its food pantry this weekend in Williamsburg. The food pantry is in need of cans of tuna, vegetables and soup.

Posted from my iPhone ™.