There was a time, up until a month ago, when this would have beendestructoporn. The scene is in Maspeth at St. Saviour's Church, the battle for which we returned to many times. What appears at first glance to be destructoporn in this photo sent by a tipster is actually a brand new genre: deconstructoporn. Per an agreement that was finally reached after a long community battle, St. Saviour's is being moved to a new location. Apparently it is being taken apart to be relocated. Condos will most likely eventually rise on the site, which used to look a little different.
Even though the first of three Rent Guidelines Board hearings into rent increases for stabilized apartments was a little restrained, the annual battle is still getting a little chippy. Landlords are demanding their customary double-digit increases because of escalating operating costs, and while they won't get that, the range of increases proposed by the RGB is fairly high given previous years' rates. Tenants need a momentum shift, and today, they've got one. The Times' Gretchen Morgensen files a story on the recent trend of private investment firms buying up rent-stabilized buildings, which becomes an exposé on how tenants are being harassed until they leave their apartments. The developers and their investment firm partners claim they are just enforcing the rules, and that's the case in many of these situations. But of course, that's not the truth everywhere, and the Times does a bit of hammering on the "predatory equity" topic. It ain't pretty for Vantage Properties, which has been in the news about harassment before and gets the dreaded Times chart treatment (right). They've purchased 9,200 rent-regulated units in Queens and Upper Manhattan with co-investor Apollo Management in just the past two years, and in one Queens complex with 2,124 apartments, nearly 1,000 housing court cases have been filed. Last month, a group of tenants sued Vantage, alleging that the company has engaged in deceptive practices that violate New York's consumer protection laws.
· Questions of Rent Tactics by Private Equity [NYT]
· Annual Rent War Theater Lacks Drama This Year [Curbed]
The gang over at PropertyShark just released their April 2008 foreclosures report, and for the third consectuive month, New York City f-bombs passed the 300 mark, a level not reached in any month in 2007. The current number is 329, down 6.8% from the previous month, but up 84% year-over-year. Forecloures were slight down in Staten Island and the Bronx, and up everywhere else, though Manhattan made a minor leap from 10 to 15. Queens continues to be the big turkey, sucking up 58% of newly scheduled auctions. The 11434 zip code—comprising Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans—led the way with 24 new foreclosures.
· PropertyShark Monthly Foreclosure Report - April 2008 [PropShark; warning: PDF]
· First Quarter Foreclosures Report: Bad Day for Queens [Curbed]
Here's one from the Ask Curbed Inbox to which more than a few readers may be able to relate. It concerns an upstairs neighbor with, uh, lively little ones:
My upstairs neighbor in Queens recently "acquired" a wife and two young children (2 and 3) that have a habit of running laps around the house, riding toys, bouncing balls, and doing something that sounds like moving furniture. Now, children will be children, but this seems to occur between 11am and 4am every week night, effectively making it impossible for me to go to sleep (even with wax earplugs). I've spoken with the neighbors three times, but little to no change in activity seems to occur. The tenant always implies that he will be getting carpet, but never seems to get around to it. How do I solve this problem? Small claims court? 311? Community board?
Answers and observations ahead in the comments section.
· Ask Curbed Archive [Curbed]
It's official: a new ferry route operated by New York Water Taxi is starting up on May 12 and will operate from Far Rockaway to Lower Manhattan. The ferry will go from Riis Landing in Far Rockaway to the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park to Pier 11 on South Street. The other news is that East River Water Taxi service from Pier 11 and 34th Street to Long Island City and South Williamsburg will be re-launched in July and that Schaefer Landing is getting a new $1.25M publicly-funded dock. (Good thing they never took down the Water Taxi vid from Schaefer Landing website.) "Expanded" East River ferry service is promised in two years. The Sunset Park service was cut last year and the East River service was suspended. There is also discussion about ferry service to Bay Ridge, Greenpoint, Coney Island, City Island as well as additional Williamsburg service. Ikea is getting a Water Taxi stop when it opens in June in Red Hook.
· Full Ferry Press Release [nyc.gov]
· New Ferry Service Set to Begin May 12 [amNY]
The old cliché goes that when snooty Manhattanites finally get priced out of the better borough, and they want to stay in New York City, they pack up and head to Brooklyn. The property is cheaper, you can have a car, the kids get that fresh country air, etc., etc. But in this week's Observer, Tom Acitelli runs some I.R.S. numbers and comes to this stunning conclusion: From 2001 to 2006, more Manhattanites relocated to the Bronx than Brooklyn, or any other borough for that matter. Over that stretch of time, 23,390 people headed north to the home of the Yankees, while the home of the Nets (eventually?) consistently ran second place in the year-to-year numbers. Queens and Staten Island were, uh, less desired. Between 2005 and 2006, the most recent year the I.R.S. numbers were available, 4,680 Manhattanites moved to the Bronx, and 3,731 went to Brooklyn. Whodathunkit?! Also between 2005 and 2006, a total of over 10,000 Manhattanites migrated to outer boroughs. Yes, but how many survived?
· Where Manhattanites Move When They Want to Stay in New York [NYO]
It's probably a good thing that Prudential Douglas Elliman waited a while to release its first-quarter market report for Queens and Long Island. Given the controversy and reaction to the brokerage's Manhattan report, poor little Queens would have been completely ignored! But now, we can focus on Prince Akeem's favorite borough. So, is the news good and bad, like big brother Manhattan? Sort of. In Queens, the median sales price in Q1 was $498,500, up 1.1% from the first quarter of 2007. The average sales price was $535,308, up from the prior-year quarter average of $490,637. Looking specifically at condos, Queens saw a jump from $246,350 to $342,367 in average sales price over the last year, something that can be described as the "Long Island City effect." The "luxury submarket" average (the top 10% of sales) was $1,068,474, up from $903,805 last year (again, thanks LIC). And now, the less encouraging news: inventory increased a whopping 20.9%, to 11,206 units, which should set off some sort of air-raid siren for fans of the glut theory. And apartments are spending an average of 101 days on the market, up from 93 last year. We can only imagine what will happen to these numbers once the Jesuscondo hits the market, but for now, who cares to analyze?
· Market Reports [Elliman; Q1 Queens/LI to be uploaded soon]
· First Quarter Market Reports: Prices Up, Sales Down [Curbed]
The landmark Queens Museum of Art building in Flushing Meadows Park is finally ready for a long planned redo, we think. The renovation and expansion have been in the works since 2001 when a radical remake was floated, embraced and, then, repudiated as being a little over the top for a building built for the 1939-40 Worlds Fair that was also the first meeting place of the United Nations. The new plan, which was unveiled several years ago is designed to "maintain the building's infrastructure without returning it to a particular time period." The $47 million project will double the museum's size as it takes over space currently occupied by an indoor skating rink. The museum remake comes from Grimshaw Architects. The renovation was originally supposed to be finished by 2006, then by 2009. The current target date is 2010. No word on what the final target date is or whether the nearby Philip Johnson-designed New York State Pavilion will collapse from 45 years of neglect in the meantime.
· Queens Museum of Art 'will respect past in an up-to-date institution' [NYDN]
· Queens Museum of Art Expansion [queensmuseum.org]
One of the most bitter demolition vs. preservation battles in the entire city (well, in Queens) has come to a end with an agreement to move St. Saviour Church from from its current location. Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the church was toast, but preservationists have reached an agreement with the developer to spare the church from demolition. The church might be moved a few blocks or dismantled and moved to another site until a permanent home is found. The final destination for St. Saviour's is supposed to be All Faiths Cemetery in Middle Village. St. Saviour was designed by Richard Upjohn, who was the architect of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. It was his model of a "small wooden church."
· St. Saviour Church Saved [NYDN]
· Site Eyed for St. Saviour's [Queens Crap]
Even though the first of three Rent Guidelines Board hearings into rent increases for stabilized apartments was 
Here's one from the Ask Curbed Inbox to which more than a few readers may be able to relate. It concerns an upstairs neighbor with, uh, lively little ones:
The old cliché goes that when snooty Manhattanites finally get priced out of the better borough, and they want to stay in New York City, they pack up and head to Brooklyn. The property is cheaper, you can have a car, the kids get that fresh country air, etc., etc. But in this week's Observer, Tom Acitelli runs some I.R.S. numbers and comes to this stunning conclusion: From 2001 to 2006, more Manhattanites relocated to the Bronx than Brooklyn, or any other borough for that matter. Over that stretch of time, 23,390 people headed north to the home of the Yankees, while the home of the Nets (eventually?) consistently ran second place in the year-to-year numbers. Queens and Staten Island were, uh, less desired. Between 2005 and 2006, the most recent year the I.R.S. numbers were available, 4,680 Manhattanites moved to the Bronx, and 3,731 went to Brooklyn. Whodathunkit?! Also between 2005 and 2006, a total of over 10,000 Manhattanites migrated to outer boroughs. Yes, but how many survived?
It's probably a good thing that Prudential Douglas Elliman waited a while to release its first-quarter market report for Queens and Long Island. Given the 
One of the most bitter demolition vs. preservation battles in the entire city (well, in Queens) has come to a end with an agreement to move St. Saviour Church from from its current location. Just a few weeks ago, it 
