Today's Post surveys the scene in Greenpoint and finds the sounds of gentrification and hipsterfication getting louder. First, there are the condos, from the Viridian on Green Street ($800K three bedrooms and cabanas on the roof) to Robert Scarano's Manhattan Park (prices up to $1K per square foot across the street from Enid's near McCarren Park). The G Train is credited for keeping prices lower than in Williamsburg, but Max Gross concludes that "Greenpointers are, as of now, on notice: This might not be a remote little village for much longer." Which leads us to the other Greenpoint story in today's Post, which is about Studio B and residents complaining that the neighborhood is getting a little too much like Williamsburg and the Lower East Side. Per this story, which notes the ongoing battle between Studio B and residents pissed off about noise and people puking on the street: "In particular, once sleepy Franklin Street has started to resemble a miniature Bedford Avenue." Case closed.
· Green Piece [NYP]
· Freak Scene [NYP]
Williamsburg's Robert Scarano and Karl Fischer-designed condos haven't had much luck snagging a ton of big celebrities (well, there is Agyness Deyn the Gretsch Building), but it has now snagged an almost-celebrity: Christian Siriano of Project Runway. And, he does love our Burg. The winner of Season 4 of the Bravo series tells the Sun that the Burg just sort of happened while he was looking for a spot in Chelsea or downtown, but he likes it. "There's a great little park around here that's like a mini Central Park," he tells the Sun. "On the weekends it's just full of fabulous-looking people on their fabulous bikes." It's unclear whether he's talking about East River State Park, where park rangers force immediate dismounting from bikes, or more laid back McCarren Park. In either case, however, "a mini Central Park"? As for his own building, which is next to a big construction site and also houses the sales office for 80 Metropolitan, he says he was turned off by the "graffiti-covered exterior," but was sold once he saw the interiors. Fierce, if not ferosh.
· Hot Fashion Designer Claims 'Fierce' Williamsburg Loft [Sun]
So, the 21st season of MTV's Real World is going to be set in Brooklyn. That's 13 one-hour episodes of post-teen drama that will be broadcast in 2009 and shot somewhere in BK. Shooting for "Real World: Brooklyn" will start this summer, making the question of the moment: where will it be set? Media Mob, which has the news and full press release, is hoping for Smith and Carroll Street in the shadow of the Gowanus Yacht Club, but is also thinking Bedford and N. 6 will work. Will the producers go for a more off beat location like Green Street in Greenpoint? Or Van Brunt in Red Hook? Or someplace in Bushwick or Bed-Stuy? We're thinking Bedford Ave. has it won. Your thoughts in the comments.
· The Real World: Brooklyn. For Real. [Media Mob]
It was just another night in Williamsburg. Dinner at Diner, and then, Josh Stein explains:
A loud crash, a puff of smoke, a tumbling post, a final crash. Silence. Jews poked their heads out of their offices. On the street lay Bedford Avenue, in shambles. The dumptruck dudes got out, looked at each other and then beat it. A cop car drove by but apparently didn't notice the enormous pole and traffic light laying across the middle of the intersection. Another cop car drove by but didn't stop. Finally, I called 3-1-1. They said they couldn't help me but transferred me to 9-1-1. They didn't know where Havemeyer was. I hung up and jogged to another cop car parked at the Williamsburg Bridge Bus Depot.
There is more including the conclusion that "I don't think law enforcement officials realize that the famed Williamsburg hipster nonchalance doesn't apply when one is fulfilling one's duty as a representative of civil society."
· Is This the End of Williamsburg? [My Memoirs]
So, this appears to be a wind power device to catch some of the gusts coming off the East River at the foot of Grand Street in Williamsburg, which is a very windblown place. What's unclear is how much power this absurdist windmill generates and what it runs. It appears to be made of, you know, fans.
· Mini-Windfarm on My Building Roof [Zach Klein/flickr]
Ah, McKibbin Lofts. They've finally made it now that the Times weighs in with its take on the Bushwick hipster lofts lifestyle, comparing the scene to Greenwich Village 60 years ago, Soho 30 years ago or the East Village in the 90s. There are the requisite mentions to drumming at 3AM, bedbugs, insanely varying rents, "dog house"-like spaces, "raucous" parties, people pissing in the halls, the hipster and artist, vibe, etc. We like this description best, though, of what one might call the Five Stages of the McKibbin Life Cycle:
After the honeymoon stage comes denial when, say, one gets woken up by someone’s band at 3 a.m. or mugged on one of the tough surrounding streets. Next comes anger, usually after someone hurls a 40-ounce beer bottle from the roof and then urinates outside your door. Then comes acceptance and, finally, departure.
More than 100 people have now moved back to 475 Kent Avenue, the building that was cleared on a frigid night in January after the discovery of a basement matzo factory and a ton of fire code violations. It's unclear how many residents are coming back, but the number so far would be about half that would be tossed out. In terms of outstanding problems, the building doesn't have a certificate of occupancy and, now, everyone's worried that the landlord is going to raise the rent or sell. One artist said he moved ten times, including staying with his (noooo) cleaning woman in Bushwick. No word on whether belongings claimed by the Great Wallabout Storage Chopstick Collapse have been retrieved.
· After Repairs to Building, Artists Return to Their Lofts [NYT]
· End of Matzogate: 475 Kent Residents Can Return [Curbed]
Back when residents of 475 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg were forced to flea the building because of massive fire code violations and an illegal matzo factory in the basement, it was one of the coldest nights in January. Since then, residents have been working to help bring the building up to code, including replacing the sprinkler system. As of 4PM, per one of the people that originally spread word of the problem: "The FDNY's vacate order of my old building is officially lifted three months and 10 days after it was ordered. Though I won't be joining my neighbors in returning to my old apartment, I am beyond happy for them. It's been quite an experience."
· 475 Kent Ave Update [The Albany Project]
· The Fight for 475 Kent Goes On [Curbed]
Ah, another afternoon at Bedford Avenue and N. 6 in the Burg. Well, actually, it was the Bedford Avenue Art Walk, which included some performance art and a little extra something for the streetscape beyond the Bedford Avenue Dancer.
This old vehicle is often parked in the same spot on Wythe Avenue near N. 11 Street, a spot very close to where the condo development boom has been rolling along. It was, uh, augmented slightly this week.
Soon, it will be a year since Galapagos announced it would be fleeing N. 6 Street in Williamsburg for Dumbo. The target opening date was set as "spring or early summer," and it's definitely looking like the summer part is more likely and whether it's "early" or not will depend on how one defines it. While the project seems to have made a lot of progress, there also seems to be a lot more that needs to be made. The venue, when it opens, will be LEED certified and green. The 102-year-old building is a former stable house.
· Dumbo Update: Galapagos Progress + New Theater, Condos [Curbed]
· Galapagos Dumping Williamsburg for Dumbo [Curbed]
Remember the weird story about the 10 tons of stored chopsticks that caused a collapse at a StorageMart in Wallabout where, in the ultimate irony, some refugees of the illegal matzo factory fiasco at 475 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg were storing their belongings? The, uh, details have been fleshed out. The Department of Buildings confirmed the collapse and advance item from Sunday's Times on CityRoom by Jake Mooney says the "locker collapse originated in a unit on an upstairs floor" because the chopsticks "got too heavy and caused the floor to collapse, breaking a water pipe and flooding units below." A StorageMart spokesperson says "the number of times that something screwy happens, you could count on one hand if you had three fingers." Damage could include up to $150,000 in camera equipment belonging to 475 Kent refugee photographers, but no one will know until they can get back in and survey the damage, maybe next week. As for 475 Kent, repairs to the building continue in the hope of people moving back in.
· Strewn Storage: Chopsticks Become Pick-Up Sticks [CityRoom]
· 475 Kent Refugees Victimized by 10 Tons of Chopsticks? [Curbed]
First came the matzos at Williamsburg's 475 Kent, which were a big factor in January's mass eviction. Now, come the 10 tons of chopsticks. A StorageMart where a lot of the refugees were keeping their belongings in Wallabout, near the Kent Avenue entrance to the BQE, suffered a mysterious interior collapse recently and residents are blaming 20,000 pounds of stored chopsticks. Uh huh. Specifically:
Some part of the StorageMart apparently flooded and partially collapsed - the rumor is that it happened because there were 20,000 pounds of chopsticks stored in one of the units. My former roommate has been trying for two weeks to get his stuff out...There are a lot of other storage places down Flushing and I talked to some of them and they all have heard about it but don't want to talk about it.
It's unclear when and how the saga of 475 Kent will end. The converted loft building was cleared last month after a long list of fire code violations were found, not to mention the illegal matzo factory in the basement. Since then, the 200 displaced residents have been working to get back in. They've organized and written letters. The artists are agitating to, at least, be allowed back in during the day so they can work. They're even working to fix the code violations, including a broken sprinkler system, themselves, according to the Times. Amazingly, the tenants are even making nice with the landlord, saying that he "was devastated" by the evictions (and the loss of rent) and describing him as "sitting with his head in his hands, sobbing." In the meantime, the 475 Kent website, has gotten a major upgrade, and now features both a 475 Kent blog and a forum (access to which is now limited). Is someone shooting a documentary of the Fight for 475 Kent?
· After Evacuation, Artists Begin an Effort to Save Their Haven [NYT]
· Evicted artists hope to go back to work [Metro]
· Glimmers of Hope for 475 Kent Residents [Brownstoner]
Way back when, Ridgewood, Queens was being called part of Brooklyn, until residents wanted to put distance between themselves and neighboring Bushwick in the 1970s. Now, there's creeping hipsterfication from the southern reaches of Bushwick into Ridgewood. Says one resident:
"They're definitely coming in and cleaning things up around here... They’ve even made it to Wykoff. There are fewer drunks and crack heads, the shopping is even better...I don’t want to say it’s because of the hipsters and yuppies are coming, because it’s not like they are pushing people out; but when they arrive things do tend to get better."
The Fourth Annual Master Disaster Architects duel happened last night at the (sold out) Music Hall of Williamsburg, pitting FXFowle against Brooklyn-based Konyk. Archinect live blogged the whole hipster architecture face off and says that Konyk won on applause. (That's FXFowle's work on the left and Konyk's on the right.) There was a voting process as "Audience members were given cards upon arrival. After the teams presented, voters were to give their cards to the lumberjack if they wanted to vote for Team Konyk, or to the big brown bear if they wanted to vote for FXFowle." And there will be online voting over at lvhrd, but the polls don't open until tomorrow. Meantime, there's a vid here.
· ARCH DL IV: FXFOWLE vs. Konyk ~ live coverage [Archinect]
· Master-Disaster Duel [LVHRD]
How many times can one item about Williamsburg use the word "hip" or variants thereof? A few. We were reading an item from PR Newswire headlined, "Brooklyn's Williamsburg Neighborhood Becoming Hotspot for NYC Visitors" and thought we kept seeing it over and over. So, we counted:
1) "Hipster Haven is Focal Point for Boutique Shopping and Dining." 2) "...Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood has in recent years become one of New York City's hippest areas."
We have no idea, but the dude has got serious energy. This is 75 seconds of what was going on almost nonstop for hours at the corner of Bedford & N. 7 yesterday afternoon.
· Williamsburg Death Throes Still Produce Hipster Display [Curbed]
1) While not all of the 21 recently shuttered Catholic Churches are on the market, some have been sold and are being transformed into residential properties. The properties include Rhapsody on Fifth, a site on 127th Street that is being converted into 22 heavenly condos and another and another on East 17th that is the future home of 13 divine units. [Posting/C.J. Hughes]
2) Rapidly rising rents have forced renters to run screaming to open houses and sales offices, ready to finally give up the rental lifestyle and buy an apartment. Case in point, Candice Spielman, who decided to buy a studio in the Cocoa Exchange building after latest price increase in her 150 sq ft studio pushed her over the edge. Rising rents? We thought the fact Spielman “can’t sit down on a couch” in the space would have been enough. [When Renters Reach the Breaking Point/Christine Haughney]
3) There are always those New Yorker's who can't move from renter to buyer, like this pre-hipster Williamsburg resident who after having her rent raised to $1200, decides to liquidate her life and head to the Midwest, vowing never to return until she can take Manhattan by storm. [New York Observed/Abigail A. Frankfurt]
4) Kamran T. Elghanayan and his company, Rockrose Development, has always been willing to buck the trend and go it their own way in the New York real estate market. After starting in the then unglamorous West Village and then helping lead the FiDi residential transformation, the Rockrose boys are at it again, this time in Hudson Yards and Long Island City. But don't look at them to build and run, as Mr. Elghanayan says, “We rarely sell. We build everything. We hold everything. We love the buildings.” [Square Feet/Alison Gregor]
Comments
Ah, McKibbin Lofts. They've finally made it now that the Times 
More than 100 people have now moved back to 475 Kent Avenue, the building that was cleared on 
Back when residents of 475 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg were 
First came the matzos at Williamsburg's 
It's unclear when and how the 
How many times can one item about Williamsburg use the word "hip" or variants thereof? A few. We were reading 
1) While not all of the 21 recently shuttered Catholic Churches are on the market, some have been sold and are being transformed into residential properties. The properties include 
