justiNYC

Pleasing the Beverly Hillbillies on Roebling and a Field guide to Williamsburg

So, Williamsburg made it into Gawker yesterday- they published a "field guide!"  For the most part, its pretty accurate.I suppose this means the Burg has finally arrived.  Brownstoner linked it up, along side a few listings from my buddy LoftNinja.

Meanwhile, over at Gowanus Lounge, there's a bit of talk today about the "Roebling Oil Field" at 223 N. 11th Street.  Forget black gold and texas tea, its a bonified slick fest over there!  The Beverly Hillbillies could certainly be a gang of potential buyers, if someone tracked them down....


Technorati Tags: Gawker, Williamsburg, links, field guide,

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Double Dipping in DUMBO

Here are a couple of puddleflection shots i took down in DUMBO two days before I left to head south for the holidays.  GOD I miss NY!  There's just not enough grime and grit anywhere else to satisfy.

Manhattan Bridge

a quickr pickr post

Technorati Tags: photography, DUMBO, Brooklyn, Manhattan Bridge, puddle, reflection

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Williamsburg will soon have nice racks

 
According to a draft plan (above) that the Streets Blog acquired, Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg is undergoing some major changes. As the Streets report

"the plan calls for the elimination of five motor vehicle parking spaces
on N. 7th Street at Bedford Avenue, alongside the subway station
stairwell on the southeast corner (see the corner at the bottom of the
diagram)." 

We will have to wait for the Department of Transportation for an official press release for more information. The plan is expected to remove 5 parking spaces on North 7th Street in order to widen the sidewalk, making room for more bike racks.  Great! So now, Williamsburg will have more room for weekend junk hustlers. Besides, how easy is it to park around that N7th/Bedford madhouse anyway? Fuggitaboutit! But, how many Wall Street kids ride bikes to work? Hmmm
Just last year, the cops were sawing the locks off of bikes that had been secured to the Bedford Ave Station entrance.  A buddy of mine had his impounded for obstructing the sidewalk-(the very sidewalk that is planned for widening).

Gothamist asks the question of whether or not the DOT adding more G and L service would help the (totally packed) chaotic commute to this area brought on by the ridiculous numbers of new residents migrating to the area.  Last year's rezoning is expected to bring 40,000 newbies in this Brooklyn hood within the next decade. Hope they bring bikes!

Will this help the Car Free Bedford initiative? I suppose we'll have to wait for that as well.

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The old Casket Factory

The old Casket Factory, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

This building on Kingsland Avenue once sat right where the BQE runs through Brooklyn at Kingsland Ave- pretty much in the exact locationwhere one can purchase a happy meal (if one were so inclined). A close friend of justiNYC's- Carl (age 78) once bought this buildingfor 15 cents per square foot,  waaay before Sex and the City officially deemed Brooklyn as a cool place to live- [yes I blame Sex-City for many of the housing ills in Bk]. He acquired it by way of quick claim deed [example] and in those days, lived with his family and ran the factory. Nevertheless, when Robert Moses began to rule urban planning throughout the
boroughs, the Brooklyn Queens Expressway was built right through the middle of where this old bugger sat, so it was dismantled and moved up Kingsland Avenue a few blocks.

This area isn't jam packed with yuppies and the so called hipsters yet, in part because its to damn far from any train- hence, Greenwick.  However, there are lots of development properties springing up in the area and it won't be long before the adventurous begin to find it on a map.

In many ways, this building is kind of  like a casket.

Here are a few of the other sights one might come across in this neck of the woods:

Amazing display of Shoefitti on Kingland Ave at Jackson

Greenpoint Hospital Outpatient Department
(apparently with no emergencies)

Directly across the street (Maspeth Ave) from the old Greenpoint
Hospital you will find these odd ducks. Looks like some interesting
balconage occurring on the corner at Olive Street

behind the old Casket Factory, some local Flava
Ill, Hellbent, I Spy and more...

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of rapidly changing Kingsland Avenue.

a quickr pickr post

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Enequist Chemical Factory No More

A few weeks back Brownstoner posted a flick i took of the Enequist Chemical Factory, out in Bushwick.  Yesterday, while roaming over around that ghost town of a wasteland I noticed that the building had been knocked the hell down.  So, if you happen to live anywhere near the corner of Randolph and Porter, in Bushwick (and for the life of me, i can't see why you would) and you find yourself short of breath or begin seeing space fairies and flying whosywhatits, perhaps it isn't a dream at all, but rather your body reacting to brain eating toxins that have been set free as a bird.   can hear the children of Eastern Williamsburg chanting now....The chemical co. no more, no more- ding dong a ditch instead. Well, something like that, maybe. Just  thought you may be interested.
I suppose someone is cleaning up Bushwick afterall.

Let us only hope there are no plans for a public pool.

a quickr pickr post

Technorati Tags: bushwick, brooklyn, buildings, brownstoner, linkage

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Williamsburg Movie Theatre Update- Rated "R" for "Really dirty"

Remember the Williamsburg Movie theatre that's being built at 136 Metropolitan?  All seeing Brownstoner does, of course.  Its gonna be a blockbuster for sure.  Caught this shot of the interior as it stands presently, from the soon to be back entrance on North 1st a couple of days ago.
and the front:



Williamsburg Movie Theatre Update [Brownstoner]
Catching Up in the Burg: Movies and Manufacturing [Brownstoner]

The Future Home of Cinema in W'burg [justiNYC]

Technorati Tags: linkage, Williamsburg Movie Theatre

Northside Wall

(n-trpd)

seen @ bedford

williamsburg


Technorati Tags: photography

Greenpoint Brooklyn Seens

Here are some of my latest shots from Greenpoint, Brooklyn.


Technorati Tags: greenpoint, brooklyn, slideshow

The Rubble that was Old Dutch Mustard Building

What you have before you is the site where the Old Dutch Mustard Building once sat.

Technorati Tags: old Dutch mustard, photography, rubble

Interesting Find under the Queensboro Bridge

Abandoned Parks-type building in Long Island City, with the Empire State building all the way to the right...




Technorati Tags: panoramic, Queens, building, Queensboro Bridge, photography

Changes are occuring in Astoria Queens

Mr. Peter Fox, a native Irishman and 35+ year resident of Astoria Queens, speaks briefly on the changes that are occuring in the area. Can you believe that in 35 years, Mr. Fox has only been to Brooklyn twice? It just goes to show how caught up one can find oneself in a particular pocket of the city and never find their way out. I suppose that if you have everything that you need close by, there really isn't very much reason to explore (for some).
I ran into Mr. Fox while photographing top restaurants of NYC, yesterday. He asked me to share his face with the world.
Thanks Mr. Fox

Technorati Tags: video, Astoria, Queens, hoods, change

Mapping NYC's Artists-In-Residence

Ever see those [A.I.R] signs that hang atop the front door of every loft building that you wish you could live in? Well, that's where you'll find some of the 150,000 some odd (pun intended) New Yorkers who describe themselves as working in the arts living.  These folks make up a surprisingly small 4.3% of the total working class.  The map above shows the density of these artists in the 5 boroughs and as Gothamist reports, "more than a fifth of residents in Chelsea, the Village, SoHo, Tribeca, Dumbo and Williamsburg are engaged in creative pursuits."
Gothamist asks a very important question that i would like to extend to you:  What can be done about artists' contradictory role as both catalyst and victim of gentrification?


Technorati Tags: A.I.R., artists in residence, NYC, map, art

The Future Home of Cinema in Williamsburg

Thats right...movies! 136 Metropolitan Ave [between Metrop. & North 1st] will soon be the premier place to go
and (after taking out a mortgage on your hole in wall in NYC) afford (maybe) a descent flick in the theatre. It doesn't look like much now, but it is destined to be BIG, expensive and (as Curbed promises,
"indie"). As to exactly how big....its hard to say, considering the fact that the building is already 2,108sf over F.A.R [link].

It won't be hard for Wburgers to remember this building as it currently is, as the gigantic FOR SALE sign has been dangling out front since before Bushwick was a place to move to.  Even harder to forget will be the sign that came after if was sold, as I believe it must've been the crowning achievement in that agents life- the SOLD sign still hangs to this day.  For a while, a few of us in the hood have wondered whether he might take private little walks over to the building in the middle of the night, just to see if it was all a dream.  Ahhhh...real estate and its hidden pleasures.

[Curbed] Curbedwire: Williamsburg, Warts and All
[Curbed] Storefronting: Time for a Name Change?

a quickr pickr post

Technorati Tags: Wiliamsburg, movie theatre, new, brooklyn

New Hi-tek Storefront Sales office for "North 8th Condos" spotted in the Burg

Storefront for "North 8th Condos" (seriously, what a creative name!) spotted on Bedford Ave last night. Can we say 'Bling Bling'?

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justiNYC especially loves the interested dog photo and the girl reading a book about 'style.' I'm sure the nabe can't wait for these puppies. 


Technorati Tags: williamsburg, condos, slideshow

West Indian Day Parade 2006 in Crown Heights Brooklyn

This year's West Indian Day Parade 2006 was of course off the hook!  I traveled down to Crown Heights via G train [transfer C] and stopped by a buddy's [you guys might know him as RunsWithScissors] new house for some BBQ before venturing over to the Carribean Eastern Parkway.  I always enjoy this parade!  The colors are like nothing else that happens in a year- unless of course you are in the Caribbean.  The food [jerk chicken, corn, etc.] was terrific of course, but the music was the highlight.  There's just something about reggaeton and roots that can transform a crowd into a wave of motion- fully body pulse factory.
I most enjoyed Crown Heights today, as i have had only a little experience with the neighborhood.  Its truly remarkable and some of the homes that I saw today look like any idea of brownstone Brooklyn that you might have floating around in your head.  Many, i would say, belong in a book.  Perhaps, I'll just put a few in mine.
Here are a few of the shot i got from the parade.  Lemme know what you think!  The full set [to and from] is here

a quickr pickr post

Technorati Tags: West Indian Parade, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, parade, photography

High Hopes on Hope Street

According to Multi-Housing News, 59-65 Hope Street in Williamsburg was finally sold by Kalmon Dolgin to Hope Street Ventures LLC for a whopping $26 million.  Apparently, 113,000 sf of "high cieling" goodness is dazzling enough to overlook the fact that someone was shot on that corner just a couple of months ago.  Of course, it will be more overpriced condos.  HOPEfully (for the developers, it won't end up like 55 Berry.

Industrial Building to be Converted Into Condominiums in the Big Apple
[Multi-Housing News]



Technorati Tags: williamsburg, development, condos, building

The Onion Takes a Stab at Creating a Better Brooklyn

Sometimes I Feel Like I'm The Only One Trying To Gentrify This Neighborhood [Onion]

A little Stoop Culture phenomenology from the Onion:

I mean, I don't want the people here to leave. I just want them to stay inside more. Especially if they're not going to do anything to bring this community to life. But they're always out on their stoops, just playing dominoes or talking. I like talking, but I do it inside, where it was meant to be done. It makes me uncomfortable to have people watching me all the time. Not that I think they'd do anything, but I just like to be a little more private.

Also, their dogs stay outside and bark all day. I like dogs just fine, but why can't their dogs be smaller and more nervous?

[via Brooklyn Record]



Technorati Tags: gentrification, onion, brooklyn, NYC, nieghborhood

Williamsburg Walkers gets the Job Done

Williamsburg Walkers gets the Job Done, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

...There's a new dog walking service in Williamsburg and its taking

the hood by storm.  If you have a cooped up pooch, check out their new site that just launched.

Technorati Tags: dog walking, williamsburg, brooklyn, services

Are 28 new shiny towers planned for Williamsburg?

Well, according to OnNYTurf it is so. The developer Quadriad is trying to plop 28 brand spankin new towers in the middle of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  Community Meeting anyone?  Anyone up for a good old fashioned protest?


...and here we have one of several maps created by OnNYTurf to show the scale of the project.  More maps here

Supersizing Williamsburg [Curbed]


Technorati Tags: williamsburg, zoning, development, real estate, maps, towers

"Trendy Micro-Ass Nabe Names" and Google Maps Has them

Thanks to Curbed for pointing out that Google Maps now has NYC neighborhood names indicated when you zoom out a little bit.  Apparently there are a few who are none too excited for this technological development.  Maybe we should just make Brooklyn a neighborhood and Manhattan a neighborhood and call the whole thing good...right?  I suppose next someone will try to tell me that Greenwick isn't micro-trendy. Nonsense!  Its just not trendy.


Technorati Tags: google maps, neighborhood names, Greenwick

Honey, I blew up the Condo Market!

Welcome to Williamsburg Greenpoint Condoville- where Luxury is someone's middle name!  Want to know why you can't find anything (affordable) to rent near McCarren Park?  Here's an idea that you should read (between the lines)- link.

McCarren Park Rising

and double sizing

Despite what you might think, Williamsburg is becoming a hard place to just kick it. 

a quickr pickr post

Turn Here Video "Greenpoint from the Inside"

Greenpoint's "Official Bad-Ass" and neighborhood native, George Diaz offers an inside take on this northern Brooklyn hood.  Check it out or get smacked!

Greenpoint from the Inside [Brooklyn Record]
Greenpoint - Brooklyn [TurnHere]

Technorati Tags: video, neighborhoods, brooklyn, greenpoint, turn here

Domsey Media Center Blog is operational!

Domsey Media Center Blog is up and running. Watch as this former department store-turned squat turns into Williamsburg's most exciting development yet! Artist spaces and studios for all! Band rehearsal studios with soundproof walls! Offices with city views! Water Taxi access and parking...loading...utilities included...what more could you want?  Ask the LoftNinja- he knows what's up.

Also....there's a Myspace page--->add DMC as your friend!


Technorati Tags: domsey media center, DMC, williamsburg, art space, musician space, rehearsal space, blog, offices

Williamsburg Waterfront shaping up into...uh, shapes.

Curbed has a nice little colorful picture today of the future Williamsburg waterfront.  Its so nice.  You should have yourself a look-see!  I wonder when we'll actually be able to touch the moon?


Curbed Tours the Williamsburg Waterfront [Curbed]

some other links of interest regarding the waterfront growth spurt:


· Ground Broken for Brooklyn Housing Development [NYTimes]

· Williamsburg Getting Edgy, but Not the Way You Think [Curbed]

· Toll Bros. Condos [Polis]


Technorati Tags: williamsburg waterfront, williamsburg, brooklyn, development, curbed

Coney Island Hospital

Coney Island Hospital, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

...where all the mermaids go to get their tails fixed.

Cyclone Mermaids. Photo by OZAR

Technorati Tags: coney island hospital, coney island, brooklyn, mermaids

a Coney Island trip to get you high

justiNYC decided to give the Picasa Web Album thingy a try today, after a quick trip to Coney Island.  Believe it or not, this was the first trip down to this land of wonder.  It will most likely be my last.  Being from the south, Coney Island feels like the worst parts of both Myrtle Beach, SC and the boardwalk at Daytona Beach Florida rolled into one.  I suppose if you are going to live in NYC, you have to go to Coney Island at least once.  Therefore, I have only one real warning for those who feel the need to do this: Eat before hand.  Under no circumstances should you try any of the food offered to you- especially the hotdogs or corndogs.  I believe only heroin addicts and prostitutes can stomach that stuff.  Nevertheless, I do recommend shooting the freak!


Technorati Tags: coney island, picasa web album, brooklyn, photography

Message from the Williamsburg Department of Tourism

Hasidics, Hipsters and Haircuts...Good friggin Grief! Watch it...it might make you wish you hadn't. [link YouTube] [link Gawker]

Technorati Tags: video, williamsburg, hipsters, hasidics, haircuts

Linkage and Wreckage in Greenpoint and Red Hook

What in the hell is happening to Brooklyn? 
Am I the only one concerned?  (well, not today I'm not anyway....)
Both Curbed and Brownstoner got a kick out of the Rubble pic from a couple of days back.  The truth is, Brooklyn's waterfront is looking pretty similar to Boston's BIG DIG these days.  Looks like swimming in the East River might be a bad idea again this summer.
Damn...and my new swim trunks are on Fiyah too!

Here's a nice little slideshow of some of justiNYC's Greenpoint Rubble flicks to get you through the weekend.


Technorati Tags: photography, wreckage, greenpoint, red hook, greenpointterminal, brooklyn, nyc, linkage

Curbed wants to see lights at Schaefer Landing

Today on Curbed, a bit of linkage to a random justiNYC flick of Shaefer Landing (that would be the luxury 26-story highrise south of the Williamsburg Bridge that looks like an aquarium) and a question of lights (ie. when will the yuppies begin to move in!)

Lights?  We don't need no stinking lights!
( I mean, its not like any of us paint or do art or anything...)


Technorati Tags: linkage, curbed, williamsburg, justiNYC, flickr

Technorati Tags: linkage, curbed, williamsburg, justiNYC, flickr

Karl Fischer don't waste no time! Greenpoint Terminal plans already?

Seems like just yesterday those buildings along the water [formerly Greenpoint Terminal Market] were a blazin.'  Yet today on Curbed, we see plans  renderings for a few brand new space elevators.  Thanks Karl Fischer!  We can all sleep in Greenpoint knowing that your pen is on fire.




jeez!
other Greenpoint Terminal talkings:
Gotham Gazette


Technorati Tags: greenpointterminalmarket, greenpoint, brooklyn, waterfront

New York and the Future of Artist Nieghborhoods

justiNYC missed this one last week (sorry)....but its worth listening into.  Here's a podcast  from NPR regarding a new plan that is supposed to help artists from being priced out of the neighborhoods they create.  In sum...

New York City is getting ready to unveil a plan it hopes will keep
artists from being priced out of up-and-coming neighborhoods. It's an
effort to break a cycle in which artists move into an undesirable
neighborhood, make it a nice place to live and then get priced out of
the area by rising property values.

[link]

Technorati Tags: podcast, NYC, artists, neighborhoods, NPR

rise asleep

rise asleep, originally uploaded by gnight.

A new one from g,night

[Williamsburg]

Technorati Tags: gnight, graffiti, williamsburg

55 Berry's new neighbor will be TWO big

Curbed tossed us a building bone today (and yesterday) regarding a new kid on the block. A tipster for Curbed dished out some details:

125 North 10th is actually two distinct residential buildings,
built on a through lot running between North 10th and North 11th
Streets, off Berry. Earmarked for a zoning change, planning began
immediately upon contract signing.

Built using traditional and modern materials, the facades of the
buildings represent a modern, clean style - typical of our firm's work.
Following the Quality Housing Zoning Restriction, the building height
was limited, while additional floor area made the building
approximately 15% larger. Apartment sizes and styles are varied for
greater appeal in the market. Providing over 50% of the apartments with
parking, a fitness center, laundry, storage and electronic amenities proved a winning combination for sales. -Curbed

It will probably run about $1000 per foot when its all said and done- not really, but close.  This hood is TOO HOT!

Just in case you're interested, here are a few pics of the building that used to stand here. It had some of the most amazing art on the streets (in Williamsburg) a couple of years back.  Everything changed for me the night i saw this wall had been destroyed.

 

Technorati Tags: williamsburg, brooklyn, nyc, newyorkcity,

Autumn Bowl still alive in Greenpoint having survived the fire

In case you were worried about the infamous Autumn Bowl in Greenpoint surviving the fire, it did.  Although you probably won't get close enough to skate it, its alive and well- ready to be moved.  Just thought I'd let you know that.


Technorati Tags: greenpoint, brooklyn, bowl, skateboardpark, greenpointterminal

Bushwick Community Message Board opens

Looking back at a Curbed captured picture I took (that seems to have drawn a little criticism regarding Hood), I ran across this.  Check out the new Bushwick Community Message board called  Bushwick is Burning. Be sure to argue boundries with anyone you meet.  They'll Love it!.  And no matter what you do, do not mention Greenwick.

Old Williamsburg

Old Williamsburg, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

New artist... 

technorati tags: photography, justinyc, williamsburg, brooklyn, building

A fire yesterday in Williamsburg Northside

A fire yesterday in Williamsburg Northside, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

Between North 10th and 11th, Berry and Wythe. Here's a link to all the pics i took.

technorati tags: photography, justinyc, williamsburg, brooklyn, fire, firetrucks

Good Evening Bushwick

Good Evening Bushwick, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

the future is now!

technorati tags: photography, justinyc, bushwick, brooklyn, nyc, urban

Something Fishy in Brownstone Land

Something Fishy in Brownstone Land, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

found these fish out of water, near the Classon Avenue G train. in the
area called Ch'illst'ick!

Oil of No Way! Who wants to move to Greenpoint today?

Oil of No Way! Who wants to move to Greenpoint today?, originally uploaded by jUSTINYC.

Newtown Creek was quite the media hog yesterday as an AP news report seeped out info regarding the "41 football fields" sized oil spill undernieth Greenpoint. ABC News had a spread about the issue and  Brownstoner had a little ditty about it today. Even Erin Brokovich is now working on the damn thing.  justiNYC lives in Greenpoint, but on the other side.  Someone should tell ABC and Erin that the neighborhood with the spill is actually called Greenwick.

 

Today, Bushwick and Loft City

Today I roamed through Bushwick and Loft City areas of Brooklyn in search of a few properties for my clients.  Here are a few of the things that I saw along the way: