Three towers
Sunday, 28 June 2009

Northside Piers II is now almost 100% glassed in, while the Edge is about 85% closed up. Northside Piers continues to prove the adage “less is more” – it is the Gallant to the Edge’s Goofus.

First song that came to my mind.

Grand Street, 26 June 2009
Photo: brooklyn11211

349 Metropolitan: Ugly and Foreclosed
Photo: Curbed

The Real Deal looks at the Williamsburg condo pipeline and doesn’t like what it sees. 5,000 new units are expected to come on line this year and next, adding to what is already a pretty saturated market in the midst of an awful real estate slump.

This really shouldn’t be a surprise – even in a market that’s moving up, the potential inventory in Williamsburg and the rest of north Brooklyn is huge. Developers (and recent buyers) are on the wrong side of what always looked like to be pretty scary supply/demand curve. The only difference is that that curve is now marked with black diamonds.

Let’s also acknowledge that there is a lot of crap on the market – and 349 Metropolitan (in the photo, above) is among the crappiest. Big ugly building, poorly constructed (judging from the stone panels that are already falling off the building) and in a pretty crappy location, even for the Northside. And the sales figures bear that out – as TRD reports, there has only been one recorded sale in the 40-unit project. (Back in February, Gowanus Lounge reported 21 units in contract, but that was before the whole project went belly up.)

Still, for quality construction in bona fide good locations, the hurt should be much less.

Block Building, Greenpoint
Photo: Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

Finally, some love for North Brooklyn. Two local projects are being awarded Building Brooklyn Awards by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce this year. They include the Block Building in Greenpoint (above), which won the award for new industrial building, and 221 McKibbin Street (below), which won for historic preservation.

I’ll admit to not knowing much about the Block Building (beginning with where it is in Greenpopint), but it’s a nice looking building. The McKibbin Street project is one which I am familiar with (I worked on it) – it is the latest addition to the Greenpoint Manufacturing & Design Center’s stable of affordable industrial properties, housed in a former ropeworks, portions of which date to the 1840s or so. I could go on (and on).

221 McKibbin Street
(formerly H. Lawrence & Sons Ropeworks and Columbia Products Corp.)

The Brooklyn Paper thinks there is a bike lane problem, and they have a solution – less bike lanes. They make their point with non-sequitors like this:

[…]in virtually every case, the lanes offer a false sense of security to bicyclists, motorists and pedestrians. Yes, accidents are down but no amount of paint can protect a cyclist from a collision with a menacing automobile or save a pedestrian from the two-wheeler who speeds through a red light.

So – bike lanes work, they are effective and increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians alike. But because bike lanes won’t stop the country’s most aggressive drivers from driving like assholes, and because they won’t stop cyclists from riding like assholes, we should get rid of bike lanes. I can think of a few other traffic measures that aren’t “working” – red lights, speed limits, stop signs, double yellow lines. Let’s get rid of them too.

The real impetus behind BP’s editorial seems to be the Fifth Avenue bike lanes in Park Slope. The editorial claims that “merchants along Fifth Avenue are complaining” about the bike lanes, but if you read their own article on the subject, its actually the merchant’s association that is complaining. When someone went out and talked to the actual merchants, they seemed far more open to bike lanes.

Halpern-Perlow Store, 883 Manhattan Avenue
Photo: Forgotten New York

UPDATE: Turns out Miss Heather noted this back in February. So has the owner/7-11 been working for three-plus months without a permit and against a standing stop-work order? Its not clear what is happening behind the brown wrapping, but that would be the Greenpoint way.

Via Greenpointers, word that 7-11 is coming to Manhattan Avenue. Since its across the street from a Dunkin’ Donuts, I assume it will fit right in.

Or will it? The proposed 7-11 is located in the Greenpoint Historic District. Below is a view from Forgotten NY showing how the building looked IN 2004. Halpern-Perlow left years before that, but the enamel metal panels of their storefront were still intact. The building itself is a small taxpayer building of no character, but the storefront has (or had) some character to it. It may be me, but I find the mid-century storefronts that run up and down Manhattan Avenue very charming. They usually have recessed show windows that invite you off the crowded sidewalk to window shop. And like Halpern-Perlow, they often include materials and details from another era.

7-11 is likely to bring nothing in the way of charming or pedestrian friendly to this spot. And looking at DOB, they are likely to bring nothing legal here either – the property has had a stop work order in effect since 1998 (for a Landmarks violation). And even though their building permit application is marked disapproved, it would seem from this flickr photo by Natalia F. that work is ongoing. Since the photo was taken in March, and they didn’t even file for a DOB permit until April 30, I guess they’ll fit into North Brooklyn just fine.

Halpern-Perlow Store, 883 Manhattan Avenue
Photo: Natalia F. on flickr

Via Phil, the $100K house project. A whole site dedicated to developing affordable new construction (or new construction that the rest of us can afford). The concept price doesn’t include land, but it does include simple, modern design. A great concept for low-scale infill housing.