Given recent news, this is probably a good idea. Though it seems to me that developers need to get past the gimmicks and just start pricing their product for the 2009 market.

Depending on how you define “free”, this gimmick is up to 7.5% off the price of a unit. That’s a back of the envelope calculation based on this penthouse unit and the StreetEasy’s mortgage calculator. If “free” doesn’t include common charges, taxes, PMI and the like, the “discount” drops to around 5%.

If you’re in the market for a fabulous three-bedroom waterfront penthouse, I’d suggest offering 10% or 20% below ask and foregoing the “free” year.

A big increase in graduation rates at El Puente Academy, and more students going on to higher degrees.

The Brooklyn Paper nicely recaps the Broadway Triangle controversy and reports on Tuesday land use meeting. (HuffPo picked up the story.)

Aaron Short is first up with a recap of last night’s CB1 Land Use Committee meeting on the Broadway Triangle rezoning.

The Committee’s recommendation was to approve the various rezoning and disposition actions with a series of caveats (among them, significant funding for business relocation, maintaining or increasing the area’s open space ratio, creating a transparent process for the disposition of city-owned property in the Triangle). The main discussion among Committee members was whether to approve with conditions or reject with the same conditions noted as objections. Interestingly, no one from the Coalition bothered to make a motion to reject the application outright. Nor was there a motion to go for the higher-density alternative, which is in scope.

As always, these votes are recommendations – the Board itself has the final say. On July 14.

CB1’s land use committee will take up the Broadway Triangle rezoning tonight. For those who couldn’t hear the City’s proposal at the last Board meeting, you can see it here [warning: pdf].

And for those who are wondering what the Broadway Triangle Coalition (the opposition to the City’s plan) would like to happen in the Triangle, you can see that here (click on “June 2- BTCC PLAN FOR THE BROADWAY TRIANGLE -PRESENTATION.PPS” to download a rather large PowerPoint presentation – as far as I know, there is no pdf available).

What: CB1 ULURP Committee meeting
Where: Swingin’ Sixties Senior Center, 211 Ainslie Street (cor. Manhattan Ave.), Williamsburg
Date: 23 June 2009
Time: 6:30 (Broadway Triangle portion of the meeting won’t start until 7:30 at the earliest)

Via Curbed, news that Duane Reade will be bringing its instant blight to Williamsburg. At least King’s lower their prices now.

Reading between the lines, I would say that Lost City is not a fan of the City’s position on the Gowanus Canal’s superfund status.

For those who might have missed the announcement, there are two meetings for property owners, business owners and other affected residents along the Gowanus. The meetings are on June 23 at 6 p.m. and June 24 at 6 p.m., and will be held at P.S. 32 at 317 Hoyt Street, near President.

New York magazine looks into that whole trust fund thing.

Buy a bottle of Vodka in Greenpoint and take your party home: Greenpoint has started to become a trendy scene. However if you just go into any alcohol store next to some place that sells great salami then they’re liable to sell you great vodka. For cheap!! I’m talking great bottles for $15.

If the store next door is selling salami, you’re in the wrong part of “Greenpoint”. But to the larger point, yes, plenty of good Polish vodkas in Greepoint. Luksusowa makes a great potato vodka.