“Due to landlord issues.”
Do those landlord issues have anything to do with the massive addition being slowly built on top of the restaurant?
[via Real Deal]
Monkey Town Closing
DuaneReade Coming to Bedford Avenue
DuaneReade is its bringing new, non-insta-blight, retail look to Bedford Avenue. To the Quadriad building to be specific. Like right across the street from King’s Pharmacy.
Snoozing Brooklyn Squatter Lands in Cuffs
In a truly uninformative piece of reporting, the Post tells us that someone named “Torres” was arrested squatting in a $2,500-a-month apartment in “Williamsburg”. And he wasn’t happy about the lack of heat or the cops who took him away.
But it makes for good headlines, no? (And while they have clearly let their copy editors go, at least Post still pays the headline writers.)
Silent H Closing?
So says the Real Deal.
Williamsburg Trumps Other Nabes in Condo Sales
You can take a few things away from this report, depending on whether your glass is half full or half empty.
Half full: Williamsburg has seen 269 condo closings for the calendar year to date (through November, I believe). That is more than the next three neighborhoods (Park Slope, Greenpoint and Prospect Heights) combined.
Half empty: Williamsburg still has 348 condo listings. And I would bet that that number dramatically undercounts the actual inventory.
Half full: The average asking price for those 348 listing is $757 per square foot, higher than every neighborhood except Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights.
Half empty: The condos that have sold so far this year have averaged $548 per square foot, lower than every other neighborhood in the survey (including Greenpoint).
Half full: The report lists 235 signed contracts for Williamsburg condos (more than twice any of the other neighborhoods surveyed).
Still half full: The average listing price for condos with signed contracts is $736 per square foot, higher than in any other neighborhood except Brooklyn Heights.
Make of it what you will.
Rose Plaza May Have a Second Chance With BP
The team [was] told by Markowitz that he had many objections, the same as those brought forth by Community Board 1 the week before, when the project was voted down in a 31-8 vote… “They are my appointees. I appointed them, you do understand, right?” Markowitz asked, referring to CB 1 board members.
The Eagle reports that Rose Plaza’s development team may be preparing to respond those objections.
Serge Gainsbourg ♥ NY
Mental health break, NYC architecture edition.
Tonight: The Origin of Paper
If you are looking for something interesting to do on a rainy December evening, head on down to the foot of Grand Street and check out the opening at the International Museum of Paper. The museum is displaying its enormous collection of Chinese handmade papers and unusual artifacts pertaining to how papermaking was invented in China and developed through the centuries. The collection has been amassed during field expeditions to remote villages of China where traditional papermaking still exists.
The opening reception is tonight (December 13) from 5 to 8 p.m. The museum is located at 31 Grand Street (corner of Kent Avenue). The exhibit continues through June 6, 2010, with regular hours on Thursdays, 2-6 p.m.
Grand Street Adventure
Over the past few years, Grand Street west of the BQE has evolved into a great shopping and eating district. Which makes sense, since Grand Street has been the commercial core of Williamsburg going back to its village days in the 1820s.
Starting tomorrow night, the merchants on Grand Street will give you even more discounts, freebies and other incentives to shop, eat and drink there. You’ll find some of Williamsburg’s best retailers (Sprout, Moon River Chattel, Tracy Feith, Sodafine, Bird) and eateries (Mercat Negre, Santorini, Walter Foods) on the list (full list after the jump).
Grand Adventure takes place this Friday (11 December) and next Friday (18 December). To find participating establishments, just look for the lit farolitos in front of each store.
December 11: OSA Silent Auction and Benefit
NAG has some really great items on its silent auction list (tonight!). But if art or open space is more your thing, check out OSA’s silent auction going on now at BraveBrooklyn. (Better yet, bid at both auctions – they both support good local causes.)
The auction features work donated by artists Fred Tomaselli, Richard Serra, James Case Leal, Nathan Koch (shown here), Adam Taye, Chris Burnside, James Woodward, Robbert Jan de Oude, Bradly Brown, Matt Jones, Monica Cook, Jesse Witkin, Khris Graves, Karen Bausman, Skewerville, Paul Campbell, Sean Hemmele and more. There are also signed books by Matthew Barney, Joel Shapiro and Mark Di Suvero.
You can online at BraveBrooklyn or show up on Friday December 11th from 6-11pm for the closing reception and final bidding at 30 Nassau Avenue, at Dobbin Street.