The exterior of the Ft. Greene supper club

The (Ft. Greene) Supper Club

Imagine the surprise as we opened up this week's NYT Style Magazine and found an interesting article on supper clubs around the world. Of all places (I guess we shouldn't be so surprised anymore), Ft. Greene is home to a top-secret supper club, in which you have to literally know the phone number in order to be able to get served. How you get the phone number is something else you have to contend with.

Apparently this club is on Flatbush Avenue and is run by two 29-year-old chefs who charge $40 ahead to wine and dine on Montepulciano wine and 6-course meals.

One hint to where this place may be is the description that it is 'a 2000 square foot space with a dramatic view of Manahtan from the long picture window.'

My guess, from the picture above is that it may be on Flatbush Ave. Extension, coming off the Manhattan Bridge. Anyone else's guesses are quite welcome.

Coincidentally, one of our readers complained that there weren't enough features on the Ft. Greene food scene. In a nod to the cooperative nature of our site, feel free to put on your investigative senses to task and report back to us where this place may be.

Premium Goods sign being painted over as I type

The Premium Goods canopy on its' former storefront on Fulton St. is being repainted by a guy on a ladder right now. Presumably he works for or is the owner of the new bagel shop that is being opened up in its' stead.

Speaking of bagels/food, anyone have the scoop on Cafe Lafayette and whether they are 'cleaning' up their act or not?

Speaking of food, anyone got any scoop on any Ft. Greene food?

Ft. Greene's rats make it into Business Week

In the ultimate story of how a kid from Elmhurst's story can make it into Business Week, I present to you the link to the article we wrote about on curbed.com. BW chronicles Lockhart Steele's rise to fame, manifested in the success of his blog. The article goes on:

His blog details Gotham's neighborhood secrets -- from where the city's largest rats are (reportedly in Brooklyn's Fort Greene section) to the future of the Apple Bank building on the Upper West Side (it may be going co-op).

I know this is quite a tenuous connection - the relation of our rat problem to curbed.com to its' subsequent blogging to the ultimate mention in a prominent national business magazine - but we've got to start somewhere, right?

Penthouse owner at Greene House Condos speaks

Oft-maligned for its' out-of-context build, smallish kitchens for large-ish price point, ugly exterior, generally-inflated prices, our favorite condominium to beat up on does get plenty of brownie points for its' great selection of appliances.

Today, over at Brownstoner, coverage of the Brooklyn Papers article brought an owner out of the woodwork. This guy apparently purchased one of the 1400 sq ft penthouse units with 1000 square foot terrace (color me jealous).

• Here's what he had to say:
  How about another point of view, from one who is buying a penthouse at GreeneHouse. First, I paid much less than $1,000/sq ft. The apartment has about 1450 sq ft intererior and 1000 outside. Even ignoring the outdoor space, at $1.2 million that's less than $850/ sq ft.
  Second, because the tower is set way back, from many street angles it is barely visible. And let's face it. It is at the edge of the district, with many of the prime blocks far away from its shadow. I do feel sorry for folks who lost some light because of the building, but anyone who buys a brownstone because they love light would have to be a little nuts.
  With only 27 units, the building houses about as many people as there might have been had houses been built on the large lot. The residential tower takes up a relatively small portion of the lot.
  I chose GreeneHouse because it offers a blend of old and new. I happen to love contrasts; uniformity can be so boring. And I honestly believe that in the long run the project will benefit the neighborhood by providing alternative housing choices for those who cannot afford or don't want a brownstone.

Citylights LIC condo didn't sell at $699...

No surprise here, I guess.

Cake Man Raven gets his due

Today's Dining section profiles Fulton St's Cake Man Raven.

What I didn't know about him was that he hires neighborhood kids and once hired, he suggests that they buy tuxes so he can invite them to the charity events he buys tables at. In addition, he also looks out for the kids, going to their guidance counselor to check up on their grades. Fine man, this cake man.

Bed Stuy do or die

Great article in the New York Magazine this week about a specific block in Bed-Stuy- that of Jefferson Ave between Lewis and Putnam. The several pages-long article chronicles the history of 598 Jefferson Ave and along the way, tells the all-too-familiar gentrification story we've heard time and again in Brooklyn.

The article calls Bed-Stuy the last frontier of Brooklyn gentrification. Bushwick has been deemed a burnt-out slum and East New York and Brownsville has been branded tenement central.

As an avid driver who likes to take drives throughout Brooklyn, I can vouch for the writer's assessment. Many times, more than I can count, have I driven down Atlantic to go to JFK and I can tell you that Atlantic Ave, past where the A train rises from the ground, is not a pretty site. I'm just happy to be in my car, zipping along with the green streetlights. My oft-passenger, in her usual upbeat demeanor, didn't think the area was as bad as described, but those drives have pretty much changed her mind. The clicker was one morning at 6:30AM when we were driving to JFK and saw a body bag being removed in a stretcher with a swarm of cop cars swirling about.

What wasn't discussed much besides a passing reference is that of the historic district of Stuyvesant Heights. This area is the part of Bed-Stuy that hugs the Fulton St.corridor and is closest to the A train.

For those who can't picture what this area looks like, here's a link I reported on before that highlights the distinct Bed-Stuy architecture. To give you a sense, here's a picture of 240 Jefferson.

New Yorker article on Markowitz

Brownstoner had a link this week on an article in the New Yorker that profiles Marty Markowitz, the much-beleaguered Brooklyn borough president.

It's a long article and quite amusing at times. For those who are too busy to read the article, I've culled the more poignant quotes here.

• "When they write the book on city government and say, 'What does a borough president look like?' I'm going to show you Marty Markowitz," Bloomberg said.Markowitz bounded to the podium to announce the addition of five hundred thousand dollars for Restoration Plaza from his own office's capital budget to the Mayor's pledge of seven hundred thousand. "Only in Brooklyn, and only in New York, can two Jewish boys make this Christmas present to you tonight," Markowitz bellowed, while Bloomberg stood to the side wearing a well-worn grimace, as if he were an audience member at a borscht-belt comedy show who had been dragged onstage and obliged to endure a few humiliating moments of audience participation.
  

• he claims not to see the point of leaving Brooklyn and has no interest in travel, although his wife insists on a cruise to the Caribbean once a year. "I neverget off the ship," he says. "I appoint myself Homeland Security chief, and watch to make sure all the food comes out on time."
  

• He hoped that tourists would discover the variety and ethnic wealth that the borough had to offer. "Only in Brooklyn can you go from China to Russia in fifteen minutes," he said, his enthusiasm overruling any memory of geography class, where he might have been taught that those two countries share a border for more than twenty-two hundred miles.
  

New store where Premium Goods used to be

Our source tells us that the new store in place of Premium Goods will be a bagel shop. Hopefully they carry good coffee, since Marquet never seems to be open. In addition, this place's bagels will have to be a lot better than Bergen Bagels for me to go to them.

Greene House condos article

There is an article on the condos in this week's Brooklyn Papers.

Clinton Hill mansion goes pro

In 2001, I distinctly recall going to see this unit in this beautiful Clinton Hill mansion. At the time, this 1400 square foot 2 bed 2 bath duplex with 600 square foot condo had an asking of $475K. The salesperson told us that it had been on the market for a while because the owner was adamantly holding out for full asking at the time. While I loved it, I didn't have the funds to purchase.

Well, some lucky person did and today is asking $749K for this place. That represents a 57% return in a bit over 4 years, or an increase of $274K over what they purchased it for.

With the Graham Condos commanding a premium price (if they sell), I'm sure the owner won't have a problem getting $749K. A 1 BR in the same mansion is going for $425K over at Aguayo & Huebener.

Another Graham Condo on the market for $730K

In a case of keeping up with the Joneses, there is now another Graham Condo unit on the market for $730K. This unit is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath 1130 sq foot unit. For some reason, I think I may have seen this unit on the market recently, but I can't exactly recall when.

For those who haven't been keeping up, this may be the 3rd unit to have been resold since this complex converted to condos in 2002.

If this sells, more high comparables for the Clinton Hill area.

Language overdose in Elmhurst

Interesting article in today's NYT on the hospital staff at the Elmhurst Hospital in Queens who are encouraged to take language courses because a majority of their clientele speak a total of over 150 languages.

Premium Goods back again...in Park Slope

As avid sneakerheads, we ruefully reported the closing of the Premium Goods shop on Fulton Street back in December. Our diligent beat reporter has notified us that the new shop is up and running in Park Slope on 5th Avenue, of all places.

(If we had been dutifully scanning the posts on Niketalk, we would have found out last week.)

My original suspicion was that rising rents on Fulton St. may have been the ouster of Premium Goods, but their move to 5th Avenue may well refute that premise. When they were in Ft. Greene, their main clientele may have been the more urbane types from the neighborhood, Brooklyn Tech students and spillover shoppers from the Fulton Street Mall. In their new locale, they are probably more apt to get the Bugaboo-strolling dad looking for a pair of Adidas than the latest Bathing Ape release or Air Force One quickstrike.

We hope to visit their new store this weekend.

Shooting at a club on Atlantic

From today's NYT:


BROOKLYN: BROTHER AND SISTER ARE ATTACKED A woman was shot in the head outside a Clinton Hill nightclub shortly before 5 a.m. yesterday when she and her brother were attacked after a fight in the club, the police said. The woman, Ebony King, 22, of 39 Auburn Place, was in critical condition yesterday at Kings County Hospital Center, and her brother, Leonard King, 20, was treated for stab wounds and released, the police said. According to the police, the fight started inside the club, Po'k Knockers, at 956 Atlantic Avenue, and spilled onto Lefferts Place. Ms. King may have been shot while defending her brother. The attacker or attackers fled. Michael Wilson (NYT)

Squatters in Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill/Prospect Heights?

Can any of the readers out there let me know if they know of an abandoned or gutted house in the nearby area that has squatters/vagrants using it as their housing?

A friend lives close to one and has noticed that a plywood door leading to the inside is always open or shut, depending on whether the squatters are inside or not. One morning, they even saw a person come out of it in the morning.

They made two calls to 311 and 911 and the cops came once, but they never went into the house to see who was there.

The Con Man says: "supersize me!"

Chatter on the Brooklyn blogs today have indicated that the notorious Con Man attempted to strike twice today. Over at the newly discovered yahoo group FGKids (Ft. Greene Kids), two successive messages detail his two most recent attempts on Friday.

The first attempt was trying to con a parent and his/her wailing toddler out of money for the LIRR train home. Note that this has been one of his staple come-ons. It has happened before from what we have read. More details here.

The second attempt occurred near Waverly and Gates according to this message. He approached a man and described how his car broke down driving to the hospital to visit his mom who had a heart attack (again, this has been one of his tried and true stories) and wanted $7.50 to get a McDonalds #2 meal, supersized. NB - do they cost that much these days? The writer then states that he felt this was a con job, called 911 and this resulted in about 10 swarming police cars at Waverly and Gates.

Fellow bloggers Daily Heights have put a bounty on a picture of this con man. Hopefully the cops caught him and they already have his mug shot.

Ft. Greene condos at Rockwell Place

I wonder if people know that there is a warehouse loft condo complex at Rockwell Place, right by LIU on Dekalb. Having been inside the building for an open house some months ago, I can tell you that these are fairly large units. The one I saw was a 1300 sq ft 2bed, 2bath. All units have a parking spot, as far as I know.

Perusing Craigslist today, I saw this listing for another 1100 sqft 2bed 2bath unit for $675K. From what I recall, there are low monthly charges and taxes.

Very close to all trains and BAM, etc. 10 minutes walk to restaurant row on Dekalb, etc.

House of D, starring Ft. Greene

After having seen the initial screening at last year's Tribeca Film Festival, I found out that the movie House of D is finally coming to movie theaters in NYC, well, to only one theater right now.

Although the story involves Greenwich Village, those in the know realize once they see the movie that it was filmed in Ft. Greene.

There are ample shots of Meat Corp on Lafayette and South Portland, many vistas and scenes filmed on South Portland between Dekalb and Lafayette and the house right across from Pequena. They used it as the storefront of a bike shop.

There was a lot of activity there today, from the truck with the insulation to the guys sending sheetrock up through the windows. I could see that in some units, there are walls up already. Could an open house be imminent?

Greene Scene condos

Took a look at the Greene Scene condos today. It is a new townhouse, Federal-style building that they constructed from the ground up. It is not a gut renovation of an existing townhouse. There are four units, ranging from $795K to $895K, at prices of $441 to $745 per square foot.

The offering plans are out, so go pick them up now if you are interested. Units are all floor-thrus, from 1067 sq ft simplexes to 2029 sq ft duplexes with rec room. The agent told me that there would be stainless steel appliances. They haven't picked out which ones yet. There is central air and fireplaces. The bedrooms are on the smallish side.

Common charges range from $370 to $463 and with the tax abatement, monthly real estate charges are only $64 or $96 per month.

It is on Adelphi between Dekalb and Willoughby and right across from a school yard. If you don't work, then this may be an issue if you don't like noise.

All four units have outdoor space. The first floor has the garden, the second and third floor have decks and the fourth floor has a roof deck.

Activity by 800 Pacific

As I rode by the Newswalk condo area toward Vanderbilt, I noticed today at about noon that there were a lot of Orthodox Jews, perhaps Boymelgreen's or Ratner's henchmen?, getting out of their cars, chatting, doing business. I'm wondering if they came to take a look at their new prized possession that they just purchased for $44MM.

The previous days, there were people with clipboards, taking photos, writing stuff down, etc.

Activity is afoot.

LIC Citylights condo price drops...again

The infamous Citylights condo is now being offered at $560K. So, to recount, this started at 699, dropped to 599, went back up to 625 and now is down to 560. That was a pretty fast 20% price drop. In this white-hot market, is this price drop indicative of mispricing? If you asked 9 out of 10 reputable real estate professionals, I think they would.

Recall the contentious thread at curbed

Boymelgreen sells two pieces to Ratner

An article today states that developer Lev Boymelgreen sold two commercial properties to Ratner, further increasing Ratner's stronghold on the parcels of land within the Vanderbilt Yards project.

The two properties are at 800 Pacific Street and 546 Vanderbilt Avenue.

Can we step back and realize what kind of potential money is behind this Vanderbilt Yards project? Boymelgreen purchased these lots for $20MM and sold it to Ratner for $44MM. Has anyone actually seen these properties? They're dinky little pieces of shit buildings that, save for this project, would be lucky to get $5MM total!

I don't know about you folks, but from what I've been reading on the blogs, I sense a gradual resignation that this project is going to go through. I'd be surprised if the very small portion of people who actually oppose this project have much fight left in them. The writing is on the wall...

Everyday People starring Ft. Greene

Rented a DVD tonight entitled Everyday People. Interestingly enough, it deals with gentrification and a Brooklyn diner. The owner has decided to sell out to a developer who plans on putting up condominiums and a Hard Rock Cafe and a Banana Republic.

The diner is actually filmed at the Ratner's restaurant and adjoining Lansky Lounge in the Lower East Side, but there were several scenes of Ft. Greene in the movie, including:

the laundromat on Fulton between S. Elliott and S. Portland with the dingy little red bench,
the basketball courts at Ft. Greene Park on the Myrtle Ave. side and
Moe's Bar

If you haven't seen it, but have HBO, they show it quite often. See the schedule here.