Filming this week on the corner of Nassau and Manhattan.
Thought you found a good deal on an apartment? According to this piece from Curbed, a new batch of apartments at 5 Blue Slip (part of the Greenpoint Landing project) will have options as low as $393 a month for low-income renters.
According to this story from DNAinfo, four shelter residents have had bad reactions to heroin they purchased near the intersection of Manhattan Avenue and Clay Street. According to one shelter manager, easy access to the drug on the northern end of Manhattan Avenue is causing serious problems in the area. Continue reading →
Teacher Maura Flanagan of P.S. 373 (185 Ellery St.) brought students up to visit the McCarren Park Greenmarket. Students at P.S. 373 have their own gardens and were seeing how a real farmer’s market organizes and operates.
Been wondering what the massive building is going up between India and Huron Street along West Street? It’s “The Greenpoint”, a 40-story condo building, the details of which have been spilled in this article from Curbed.
For further proof that the G-entrification train now stops in Greenpoint, check out this piece from the New York Times.
A LaGuardia Community College assistant professor has reportedly contacted Progress Queens claiming that recent allegations made by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection regarding Newtown Creek are “a hoax” in line with “the strategy of corporations that are allegedly responsible for the pollution of Newtown Creek”.
The Better With Pets Expo, hosted this week at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint, got some press on News 12 this week (disclaimer: “exclusive content for Optimum, Time Warner Comcast customers”.)
The Newtown Creek Alliance hosted their latest Superfund Community Advisory Group meeting last night at the McCarren Park Pool Community Room. There was a presentation by the EPA, including an open discussion with the community.
Last Saturday’s Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund Open House event got some press in this article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
PS 110, The Monitor School will be hosting their Fall Carnival on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 2-6pm at the PS 110 school playground (corner of Driggs and Monitor). Among other fun Halloween activities, the event will feature a haunted house, pumpkin painting, and carnival games. All proceeds will benefit the school.
Music Off McGolrick and the Tarot Society will be hosting “All of Them Witches” tonight at 8pm at the Park Church Co-op (129 Russell St.) The event will feature music, tarot readings and all sorts of spooky entertainment.
Vert Gardens (193 Banker St.) will be hosting their final plant sale before moving on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10am-4pm. Check out this Greenpointers post with more information on Vert’s moving.
The Participatory Budgeting process for District 33 has moved from the idea collection phase to the project development phase. Over 20 budget delegates have started reviewing over 100 ideas that have made it this far. There is still time to be a budget delegate. Click here for more information.
Hunter’s Point South Commons and Hunter’s Point South Crossing offer a variety of moderately priced rent stabilized apartments.
All along the East River, in Brooklyn and in Queens, shiny new high-rise apartment buildings are going up. These towers boast deluxe amenities and stunning views. Those New Yorkers with limited incomes would be forgiven for thinking that an apartment in one of these buildings would be out of their reach. However, thanks to various government initiatives, many of these buildings are mixed-income developments that offer affordable housing options.
Hunter’s Point South Commons and Hunter’s Point South Crossing are the first two mixed-income residential buildings at Hunter’s Point South in Long Island City. All 925 units are moderately priced rent stabilized apartments. They are offering studio apartments for as low as $494 a month, 1-bedrooms for $689, 2-bedrooms for $835, and 3-bedrooms for $959. As you can imagine, the demand for these apartments is high, and qualified applicants should apply to be entered into the lottery.
You must submit your application by December 15, 2014, to be entered into the lottery system. Income restrictions apply for each unit, so make sure you read through their qualifications. The city will give a seven percent preference to mobility, hearing and/or visually impaired households, a 50 percent lottery preference to residents of Queens Community Board 2, and a five percent preference to current New York City municipal employees.
This brand-new complex offers 925 total apartments with a variety of layouts. The LEED Silver designed buildings feature public terraces, fitness centers, tech centers, bike storage, a community roof garden, party rooms, laundry rooms, and a parking garage. Both buildings will be fully staffed with 24-hour lobby attendants, as well as an on-site resident manager. The apartments themselves will include dishwashers, and each of the 2-and 3-bedroom units have in-unit washers and dryers.
You can apply through Housing Connect or by submitting a paper application via written request to Hunter’s Point South Living, 1357 Broadway, Box 308, New York, NY 10018. Applications must be submitted or postmarked no later than December 15, 2014, and you are only allowed to submit one application, which will then be entered in the lottery system. Qualified applicants will be notified of their housing lottery status in early 2015, and the first group of selected residents is expected to move in in the spring of 2015.
The other day I sat down with my friend, fellow Greenpointer, and hardcore environmental justice advocate, Mike Schade, to get the skinny on Nuhart Plastics–one of the most toxic sites in the hood–which recently got sold to a developer with plans to convert the festering Superfund site into fancy condos.
When it comes to converting a Superfund site into residential development, gentrification should be the least just one of our concerns. What’s happening at Nuhart is really serious business because the potential exposure to toxic chemicals is real and something all Greenpointers need to know about.
Williamsburg developer and super-bully, Victor Einhorn, the new landlord of the city-run Swinging Sixties Senior Center building (211 Ainslie St), has given 200 seniors and preschoolers until the end of January to vacate the premises, before the community center is torn down to make way for new condos. Way to pick on the underdog, Victor. Seriously.
Two Boots is moving in and Foodswings is priced out of North Brooklyn (bye, Vegan wings). 285 Kent is also rumored to be closing down (bye, DIY music).
Williamsburg is now a place that you can dine on gourmet SPAM, reviewed by the NY Times.
In further gentrification news, you rich bastards can now purchase the most expensive condo in Brooklyn, (in so-called gritty South Williamsburg) where you can relax in your giant tub, read in your private library, and roll around naked on your “exquisite” marble floors. If you need an apartment-sitter, you know who to call.
And last but not least, Greenpoint is officially better than it’s sister hood, Gowanus, according to a vote hosted by Curbed. Both places are home to megadevelopment and toxic water, but we have kielbasa. We also beat Governor’s Island, not surprisingly, because it’s not a neighborhood (i.e. it’s an island that no one lives on). Now, we’re challenging NoMad for the championship. Go Greenpoint!
Ok, here we are. This is your last shot. I’m not playin’. Either are the developers who will soon turn Greenpoint into a Disneyfied vision of Brooklyn. The last of the public meetings will take place Thursday, December 5th, 2013 and this is your last chance to do something.
UPDATE Location: 250 Broadway Committee Room 16th Floor CITY HALL Time for Commercial Street meeting: 9:30 am Time for Greenpoint Landing meeting: 1:00 pm
Anyone familiar with the politics of New York knows most of these politicians are flags flapping in the wind. Where the wind blows is the direction they point in. If you all become the wind and let them know how you feel, you may be able to get the city council to vote against this project.
Become a collective hurricane! Go to the meetings. Voice your opinions, and let it be known that you are not feeling this.
Too often cultural institutions (see CBGBs) are wiped off the map because of one thing: GREED. Those big ugly towers that are coming to Greenpoint – there is one reason why they are 40 stories high: more apartments equals money. There is not enough concern over the effects new developments have on communities, especially when a lot of money is to be made.
Over the Newtown Creek another battle wages against the Manhattanization of the outer boroughs – the HUGE international effort to Save 5 Pointz, an underground art institution, which makes the ride on the 7 train to Manhattan so visually appealing and so not Manhattan. Continue reading →
Just when you thought film crews on our streets couldn’t get any more annoying, the producers of “The Knick” decided to dump all of their waste into the sewers on Milton Street after filming a storm. Well they got an unintended stormy scene from the Milton Street Block Association who were justifiably upset by this illegal action. Dear Steven Soderbergh, we are especially sensitive about illegal dumping in our neighborhood!
Walking over the Pulaski Bridge will get a lot safer next year when a new bike lane will replace a lane currently being used by speeding drivers. In the short term, this may actually lead to more accidents for bicyclists, but let’s hope it works itself out. (Daily News)
As most of you probably know, Banksy spent the past month putting up his legendary street art throughout NYC. Some people love it, some people hate it and others just don’t understand, but every property owner in NYC who got their building painted by the famous artist cashed in on the new addition except one guy in Greenpoint. (Gothamist)
In addition to not enjoying free famous street art, some Debbie Downers in our neighborhood made a big deal about silencing our friends at Adelina’s “quietest DJ night in Brooklyn” because absolute silence is what you should expect when you move into an apartment above a restaurant on Greenpoint Avenue.
In local foodie news, move over Cronut lovers, this article from Brooklyn Based about made to order cinnamon buns from Greenpoint’s River Styx looks amazing and I want one of these right now!
And finally, in developer news, have you seen this Leonard Street church that got transformed into expensive condos? Regardless of what you think about the changing neighborhood, can you at least admit that the restoration from drab vinyl siding to beautiful bricks at least brightens up the block? (Daily News)
Tomorrow – Tuesday 9/17/13 at 5pm at Borough President’s Courtroom (209 Joralemon St) there will be a Brooklyn Borough President ULURP Public Hearing on Greenpoint Landing & 77 Commercial.
If you can’t make it to the meeting, e-mail your opinions, comments and questions to AskMarty (at) brooklynbp.nyc.gov.
Feel free to comment here and we will send an email in the morning and include all comments. Include your name (first and last initial) and cross streets.
