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.

In a recent comment, “Vito” wondered why I haven’t posted anything about the Broadway Triangle contretemps (or near riot, as Vito put it) at last week’s CB1 meeting. A fair question. I’m not pretending like nothing happened, I just haven’t posted much of anything in the past week – the result of a busy week at work and long weekend away.

To commenter John and others who have not been playing along at home, the Broadway Triangle is a long-simmering proposal to rezone a portion of the neighborhood north of Flushing and west of Broadway. Local community groups representing a broad array of residents have worked with HPD to put together a rezoning plan. Other local community groups (which were not allowed a role in the process) representing a broad array of residents oppose this plan and have a plan (or plans) of their own. The latter group showed up in force (50 by the Observer’s count, over 100 by the Courier’s count) at last week’s CB1 meeting and shouted down the presentation being made by the City. The goal of the protest, according to one organizer, was to “shut [the hearing] down” – which to a great measure it did. Its a questionable tactic in my mind, as the process already began a month ago when City Planning certified the rezoning, and “shutting down” the presentation last Tuesday would do nothing to derail the ULURP train. The real result of all the shouting is that most members of the Community Board, who ultimately will have to vote on the City’s proposal, don’t know what the City’s plan is or what the opposition’s plan is.

Feel free to comment.

For past coverage, look here:
Triangle Feud Grows Acute [Courier]
Bizarro Zoning Fight in Williamsburg [Observer]
The Fight for the Triangle [Gazette]
Pratt Students Wade into Broadway Triangle Storm [Gazette]
Bloomberg’s Politics Over People [El Diario]

Broadway Triangle Certified [11211]
New Broadway Triangle Vision Unifies Community [11211]
Broadway Triangle Follow Up [11211]
Build it Taller [11211]
Cleric Who Fought Land Deal Axed [11211]

A partisan view (including links to alternate plans):

BroadwayTriangle.com