Neighborhood Threat

We moved our car off of Banker.

We took a walk by the place on the way home from work. The tarps were off the openings at the front of the roof garden and they were attaching something that looked like guy wires to the front of the openings, clearly designed to stop the hipsters from falling out of the openings. That's the kind of thing that strikes me that you do well before the night you open, but what do I know? They look flimsy and completely inadequate and given the kinds of things I've seen DOB refuse to license, kind of shocked me that they would be legal.

Oh, wait.

Now, it wasn't nice weather Friday night, so we had the windows closed, and the baseball game started late, so we had an ambient noise filter. On the other hand, it doesn't start getting obnoxiously loud at Studio B until well after midnight. We are lucky that our building is reasonably well insulated and that we were really goddamn tired, and the windows being closed was a big plus. So the first night of the roof deck didn't seem to be any noisier than your usual Friday or whatever night. However, there was 100% more police presence than any night we have ever seen. We also saw what looked like a fire department official vehicle out front around 1am (Miss Heather says 1:30, I'll trust her report).

But I don't have the worst of it and I know it. So, neighbors, how was it for you this weekend? Oh, and they're going to have another party on Wednesday. From 10-4 am. Because, you know, no one has to actually work - not when daddy's paying the rent on your loft share out at Morgan.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Posted by clr at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The space housing the former XTRA on Manhattan (nearwill be split into two, and will house:

1) A hardware store (useful!)
2) A Washington Mutual.

The best graffiti I ever saw in Greenpoint was on the temporary siding around what is now the Bank of America:

WE NEED A MOVIE THEATER, NOT ANOTHER BANK

With the addition of Commerce Bank (going in down on North 5th and Bedford this summer), we've got a full house here. It's not that I mind another bank - it's just that it's clear from the FOR RENT signs up and down Manhattan Ave. that rents are going up and the only people who can afford them are large national concerns, which will turn the neighborhood into just another faceless strip mall.

On the other hand, I discovered yesterday that a Korean BBQ joint had opened up in the second half of the Socrates diner, down on Manhattan near Nassau. Maybe it's just a phase we have to go through.

Posted by clr at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hate when someone says 'I'm shutting down my blog" and then doesn't. I kept the site up because there were actual helpful links that had been Google-fied, and because I was also too busy to physically take it down.

I thought I would contribute to Miss Heather, but the truth is that there is too much going on and there is too much to say and someone's got to point out that WE'RE GETTING ANOTHER F'ING BANK ON MANHATTAN AVENUE.

I've renamed the blog (in honor of Mr. Iggy Pop). And, I'm back.

Posted by clr at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Walking down Manhattan from the G Friday night, we notice lights in the former L and A Restaurant space. Now, someone in that space applied for a restaurant beer/wine license under the name Zaika of India, so we were eager to see the progress on the space.

It's not a restaurant.

It's another bodega.

The stretch of Manhattan between Milton and Greenpoint has, by my count, at least four bodegas already. I know it might SEEM like we need another one - and this one is huge - but not only am I angry as a resident that we're getting something we don't need, but as a businessperson, I question the business plan that made the owners seem like this was going to be a profitable enterprise?

Posted by clr at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

t.b.d., at 224 Franklin. As I comment on the post, just what the neighborhood needs, a reason for the hipster morons pouring out of Studio B yelling 'WAKE UP! EVERYBODY WAKE UP! I'M HUNGRY!" can head this way.

I'm not sure that being stuck all the way up at Green St. is going to guarantee any flow of clientele. Although it would be fun to see the customers from Tommy's and the Mark Bar head this way.

Death watch anyone?

We don't need another bar. We need: restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores.

Posted by clr at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found out about the evacuation of 475 Kent through the website of a writer, who was distraught that she'd come home from a book tour to find out that she'd been evicted while she was away. I click on the link and it goes to 475 Kent.

When I was planning my move to Brooklyn, 475 Kent was one of the buildings I was considering. I wanted to live in a creative community and I wanted a big open space, but in the end we went the traditional apartment route because while it would have been great for me, it probably wouldn't have been so great for my other half. Thus we ended up in Greenpoint.

But 475 Kent being evicted breaks my heart. This is not one of the loft buildings full of stupid hipster kids from Iowa, like out at Morgan or Jefferson, these were some of the OG's. There was a difference, you could feel it when you walked into the building (and I have been in all of these buildings).

The threatened demise of 475 Kent breaks my heart because we are slowly killing this city of its life and its creativity and the things that makes it tick, the things that made me want to come back, the things that make people dream about this city and spend their whole lives planning how they can manage to come and live here. It is already so hard, it has always been hard.

But this isn't hard. This is just fucking inhumane.

I understand the safety violations and the concerns for safety. Everyone here is pushing everything to the edge: the landlord, FDNY, DOB. But this is a group of tenants who are not whining about entitlement, they are prepared to TAKE ACTION and restore their homes, their community, and their livelihood in most cases.

Listen, I hate hipsters more than the next person. That is not this building.

I just feel like every day I am watching the soul of this city vanish.

much respect to the residents of 475 kent. don't back down.

Posted by clr at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier this winter I joked to a friend that I was going to do a review of the 99 cent stores in Greenpoint. But then one closed, and then another closed, and I was STILL going to do it. But, time, and energy and all that. And I have been focused on finishing my second novel (hence the dearth of posts here.)

But tonight on the bus, I noticed that XTRA on Manhattan has big GOING OUT OF BUSINESS signs in the window and I got pissed. XTRA was a cut above the usual 99 cent crap on Manhattan Ave. The people who worked there didn't treat everyone like a potential shoplifter, and you could find nicer things than the other stores had.

That's a HUGE space. I guarantee that whatever goes in there will be 1) two stores, because it's too big for one undertaking and 2) some kind of crappy-ass chain that we don't need.

At least it can't be another bank, because they're already all here (Commerce is opening on Bedford this summer). I hope.

Posted by clr at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1) INDIAN FOOD COMES BACK TO GREENPOINT: From the CB1 agenda for next week, we see that a Zaika of India Inc. is applying for a restaurant beer/wine license. I could be dead wrong but it would seem that L and A Italian is being succeeded by an Indian restaurant. I will be VERY happy if this is true (although still sad to have lost L and A).

2) 155 Calyer: The former home of the hapless William Taft Vegetarian Diner is now some type of design studio. Which is a fine use of the space, but gosh we (selfishly) wish it was new commerce.

Posted by clr at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was skimming the CB1 mailing list about tonight's hearing, and as usual, paying close attention to the liquor license applicants. One entry caught my eye:

Sakura 6 - 837 Manhattan Avenue

837 Manhattan Ave. is on the corner of Noble, where the hardware store used to be. There's still a FOR RENT sign on it, but there is also a handwritten sign (magic marker on bright green posterboard) advertising the coming of Sakura Japanese restaurant, that has a branch in Ridgewood.

:::and there was much rejoicing:::

Now, when I think "Ridgewood" I think that wonderful, cheap, clean yet impossible to get to neighborhood in Queens, just over the border from Bushwick, but in this case, I think it might be Ridgewood, NJ, which is apparently home to a very well regarded Japanese restaurant called Sakura.

In either event:
1) NOT another Thai restaurant!
2) NOT another bank!
3) NOT another check cashing place!
4) NOT another dollar store!

Now, if the Ramen shop would only open up, I'd be in heaven.

Posted by clr at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

11222 reader Don writes in to report of the demise of this neighborhood institution:

Did you see that L and A Pizza on Manhattan Ave closed. Very sad day in Greenpoint. They must have been there for 30+ years. Can't wait for another dollar store.

My response was that I doubted we'd actually get something as useful as a dollar store.

L and A Pizza was great. We lived on their $10 pizza on Tuesdays when we were broke. It's too bad that they couldn't capitalize on the influx of people to the neighborhood.

So Miss Heather reports that Greenpoint is *not* getting a Ricky's, which leaves that space on Manhattan (formerly a dollar store and a check cashing place) open, and the former hardware store across the street (in the same building as the former Noble Yoga [which, btw, is now a residential loft, whose legality I kinda question, but I could be wrong, haven't checked the zoning]) is still for rent.

And finally, I saw the locks being changed on the former William Taft Diner. Maybe another hapless tenant will be taking that space??

Posted by clr at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congratulations to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for doing the right thing and designating these historic buildings, such crucial parts of Greenpoint's history.

And they're just damn cool, too.

Posted by clr at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I spent a year and a half working in real estate. The truth about Greenpoint real estate is that there is very little available, because people don't move if they have a good deal, and because most of it rents via word of mouth, personal referrals, and then finally, the local real estate agents, many of whom are Polish-speaking. They will occasionally show up on Craigslist*, but most of the great finds simply do not.

Google maps are great and all, but there is no replacement for shoe leather. It astounded me when people would call me, looking for an apartment in Greenpoint, but had never ever come here and walked around. If you haven't done that, you are wasting your time. So go get on the train and then come back here.

The best way to find an apartment in Greenpoint is to come out here, preferably during the week, and walk around and ASK. Dress nicely, be polite, and go into stores and restaurants and coffee shops and ASK. Ask your friends who live here to ask their landlords - even if they don't have anything available, all landlords know each other. But, again, ASK. This is not something that yields immediate results. But it is the absolute best way to find a great deal and not have a million people competing with you.

Walking around also acquaints you with the neighborhood, if you're not already. Get a map. Walk around. See the grocery store, the dry cleaner, the 99 cent stores. See where the G train exits are, ride the B61 to LIC and see how easy the connection to the 7 is. Don't reject the part of Greenpoint that's on the other side of McGuinness, because some of the nicest streets are over there. But you won't find them if you don't walk around and see for yourself.

And, yes, sure. Call the brokers and check the Craigslist ads because there will be some one-offs offered by owners who don't have the time and energy to deal with the phone calls and the appointments and the paperwork. But it's not easy and it's definitely not going to get any easier. The one thing you have going for you is that most people don't want to live in Greenpoint, they all want to live in Williamsburg.

Good luck!

Posted by clr at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The boyfriend has a co-worker who is an OG Greenpoint resident, and she related to him today about a terrible crime that happened on Saturday night:

"Saturday night. A guy got in some sort of dispute with owner/worker/bouncer at a restaurant near Nassau/Manhattan. Was chased into the street and beaten up very badly, died yesterday as a result of the injuries. Was in one of the Polish papers that she had with her but I couldn't find any English-language coverage."

You can run the link from Nowy Dziennik through a translator here for a rough Polish to English translation.

She mentioned that the police were hopeful that the security cameras at the Dunkin Donuts on Nassau and Manhattan captured some of the altercation (which took place in front of Johnny's Cafe on Manhattan Ave.)

The newspaper asks that any witnesses contact the editorial staff at (212) 594-2266 ext. 48.

Posted by clr at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite my maternal grandparents coming from Poland, I do not speak or read Polish (they never would have allowed it), but I do think that one of the local Polish dailies had a headline story about the possibility of a Manhattan ferry running from GREENPOINT.

Perhaps someone fluent in the language could help? Was I imagining this?

I was just saying last night that the issue I think that gets overlooked in this neighborhood is transportation. This could solve some of the problems. (Some, not all.)

Posted by clr at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While everyone is prepared for meeting Mayor Mike at the Polonaise tonight, I'd like to point out that Community Board #1's monthly Public Safety Meeting is tonight. This is the place where you can find out who has applied for a liquor license.

I note a Greenpoint newcomer: The Stuffed Owl, 988-990 Manhattan Avenue (new) Which is between India and Huron. Will need to go check it out, if Miss Heather doesn't beat me to it. (And lest you think that's snarky, I'm actually counting on her getting to it before me!)

Sorry for the dearth in posting recently. New job and baseball sorrow. Will pick things up soon, I promise.

Posted by clr at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)