MTA Has 99 Problems, But J/Z Ain’t One

Ha ha – the Wall Street Journal made a funny. Get it – J/Z, 99 problems? Collect yourself.

The news behind the very hip headline is big, though – Straphangers Campaign has rated the J/Z the best line in the subway system. No argument from me there – it’s usually not too crowded, runs pretty frequently and regularly, and as a bonus, gets sunlight most of the way. (Too bad the Journal’s photographer couldn’t be bothered to go beyond Broad Street – she might have seen the “pleasant East River views” and “scenic above-ground run in Brooklyn”).

Amazingly, the L line tied for 5th place (out of 20) in the survey. But – no surprise – the L is more crowded than average.

Prime Time in NYC

The Mayor held a press conference yesterday to tout the fact that a record number of prime-time shows – 23 – are currently filmed in New York.

“We see this as the manufacturing for the 21st century,” said Doug Steiner, who owns the studio in Brooklyn where [Pan Am, one of the shows] is shot.

Steiner is right – most of those shows are filming in Brooklyn and Queens, and a lot of the support industry (set design, construction, etc.) are also happening here.

[via Brownstoner]

Liu Looking Into Greenpoint Shelter Plans

08/22/2011 | Comment

Things seem to be heating up over 400 McGuinness Boulevard, the loft building that keeps trying to be a homeless shelter. The Brooklyn Eagle reported last week that a “hotel developer” had acquired the property. The quotation marks are there because, while the developer does build hotels, he also builds a lot of homeless shelters – something Aaron Short of the Post reported on over a month ago.

Now, Short is reporting that City Comptroller John Liu is, at the request of Council Member Steve Levin, investigating the relation of the Department of Homeless Services with this particular developer and others. Levin’s contention is that DHS is using third-party developers to acquire properties for use as homeless shelters, a process that would allow DHS to circumvent the public review process for such property acquisitions. The developer, for its part, says that it has no “contractual relationship with DHS”. Liu’s office is promising to “hold the Department of Homeless Services accountable to a fair, transparent and equitable siting process”

[Via The Real Deal]

111 Kent for Rent

08/22/2011 | Comment

Brownstoner reports that 111 Kent Avenue, the Michael Muroff-designed condo at the prime corner of North 7th and Kent Avenue, is ramping up its sales effort as a rental. The project, which began life as a condo development, had been stalled for ages. Now it is back, as a “boutique rental residence” (boutique would be one of the last words that come to mind looking at this building).

Yet more proof that the market for rentals in former condo developments is particularly strong in North Brooklyn.

Movin’ Out

08/18/2011 | Comment

Phil DePaolo may or may not be the mayor of Williamsburg, but he has certainly been a fixture on the neighborhood activism scene. And now he’s leaving town – moving to the suburbs for better schools.

I worked with Phil on any number of issues in the neighborhood, didn’t always agree with him 100%, but was always happy to have him on my side (or to be on his side as the case may be).

I am reminded of my own parent’s experience – we moved to the suburbs in the late 60s, and within a couple of years, my parents were organizing to improve the local schools. The tag line on all the buttons was “You probably left a better school in NYC than you came to here”.

Good luck, Phil.



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