anyone following the atlantic yards development projects might be interested in this recent article from the times in which ratner talks about his plans for building in the current economy.
these polaroids were shot in the summer of 2006 when i was subletting an apartment near the yards. for another look at the yards, check out nate kensinger's photographs from underneath the project.
as part an apartment therapy contest robin and i (mostly her, ok all her) redid the bedroom.
voting should happen sometime between now and feb 7th - i'll post the link when i get it.
vote now
the full set of pictures can be seen here
according to a couple of sources, 7th street between 2nd and 3rd aves will soon be home to a new musical venue run by the good folks at union hall. given the problems that i've heard about with their current location - i.e. noise complaints, it makes sense to open something in a location where noise is not an issue. additionally moving the music aspect of their business down the street opens up the basement for quieter activities such as the brilliantly booked sunday night comedy shows - an example being:
Sunday, December 16, 7:30pm
TEARING THE VEIL OF MAYA
comedy with Eugene Mirman + Michael Showalter + Aziz Ansari + Jon Glaser + special guest
$7 : tickets available at the door
In the coming months, I expect a lot will change down on 3rd and 4th avenues. speaking of change, i noticed that the fencing has come down from the "no baby gap" building on the corner of 13th and 5th.
no idea if an actual baby gap is going to be the retail anchor for this new "green" condo project but it will be interesting to see what does open here in the next couple of months.
oh lastly - the union market on 7th and 13th looks like it's going to open any day now, beer table is still awaiting it's liquor license. a sign announcing a new tapas restaurant has appeared on the old aarons space on 5th and 17th. kitchen bar's "public house," the new pizza and beer location on 6th and 21st is looking like it's fairly ready to open as is the mystery restaurant/bar on 5th and 20th.
packed up the garage gallery show yesterday and have put the remaining suitcase prints up in the etsy shop - all pictures are framed 4"x6" prints, printed on kodak professional metallic paper. with frame, the total size is 5"x7"
available suitcase prints can be seen here.
also, i still have a number of the holga prints available. these can be seen as a slide show here.
all holga prints measure 20" x 24" and come framed.
all holga prints have been printed on fuji super glossy paper by acclaimed color printer carol fonde
Prices are Negotiable
* images in slide show are negative scans and not actual prints - please contact me to arrange a private viewing.
lastly - i still have the large canvas print for sale or trade.
measures 36" x 50" - printed on canvas with archival ink.
my show at the garage gallery is coming to a close on the 1st of december - you should come by and say hi. lots of affordable prints (under $30) as well as some beautiful prints of my holga work by acclaimed color printer carol fonde.
so i know i haven't been posting as much here as i would like to but the busy has been in effect for the past couple of weeks. now that things are returning to normal i'll be doing regular updates again.
for now, check out some more pictures from the opening here
i'm opening a solo show on the 27th of october - if you're around you should come by and say hi.
also prints will be available via my etsy shop after november 1st.
a preview of the show can be seen here.
here tomorrow is the title of the newest record from the brooklyn based four-piece, the mugs. and fittingly enough, it will be available tomorrow on monday (8/20/07) to stream, in it's entirety, from the mugs website. i wholeheartedly encourage you to stop by and give it a listen. the physical record will hit stores in new york and seattle on the 28th of august and can also be pre-ordered here.
the mugs will be having the record release party for here tomorrow at union hall in brooklyn on the 25th-- where they will be joined by condo and the diggs.
album cover and track listing after the expansion
1. Sinister Six
2. Clovers & Wine
3. Lady Liberty
4. Indian God
5. Grey Cat Row
6. Hindsight 2012
7. Woman Opens Man
8. Asleep All Day
9. Salt March
10. Arizona
11. Here Tomorrow
more information can be found on myspace and at the mugs website
when i first moved to park slope in early 2003, i moved here because my friends lived around here and there were still good apartment deals to be found, especially if you didn't mind being south of ninth street. i got an apartment on 13th street and 5th avenue - a one bedroom on the top floor of a three floor townhouse. it was next to an old karate studio that, according to the woman who owned the building (and lived in the garden apartment) had in a previous incarnation been a chop shop. across the street, there was a salvation army and about 5 blocks away, there was a lone neighborhood bar. however, there were a whole lot of 99 cent stores and plenty of discount electronics stores for all your cheap-o shopping needs. after a couple of years, we got cafe regular (my favorite coffee shop), commonwealth (a really great bar - full disclosure, owned by a friend) and several well known bank branches. the only establishments still missing were (and still are) the restaurants - however, word on the street is that a new (late night) dining spot is being opened by a former employee of blue ribbon on 5th + 15th st. called sidecar, which sounds promising.
ok, so that was the set up and here's the real reason for this post. after a couple of years of living at 275 13th it seemed like a good time to find another apartment. some of the reasons included the brand new metal bar that had opened up next door (in the former chop shop/karate studio) and the fact that they were in the process of tearing down the salvation army to build a brand new luxury condos .
a process that is still going on today, almost two years later.
yesterday, i got an email from the former downstairs neighbor with some news to share. as it turns out, the landlord is trying to sell the building. the catch, she wants 1.16 million for a building that, trust me, needs a whole lot of work to be worth anywhere near the asking price. that and the fact that it's the first house on the block, it's next to a metal bar (they are really nice, just very loud) and across the street from a seemingly perpetual construction site, are probably why it's been on the market since february. you can check out the corcoran pictures of what 1.16 million gets you these days in the southern end of park slope here.
more pictures and a floor plan after the expansion
floorplan of what 1.16 mil. gets you these days.
there was a rumor that the retail anchor for the new condos was a baby gap.
artists rendering of the new condos.
the real story here is not a new one, real estate in brooklyn is crazy. will she get her asking price? who knows...but i do know that the neighbors who sold next door had done extensive renovations (and converted, what was formerly two duplexes, into a single family home) got 1.33 for their home.
and perhaps the real kicker here, is that the house was purchased in the mid to late 90's for under 200k. not bad for a 10 year investment.
for more detailed property information check pshark.
+++ update +++
the house did not sell and is being removed from the market. the new plan is to keep the property as a rental. currently, she has purchased a house in new paltz and is going to "wait out the bar."
ah - summertime. the time of iced coffee, kickball in the park, canada day and lots of free shows. this past weekend i rode my bike out to mccarren pool to check out the first pool party of the summer. the line-up was +/- , oakley hall and superchunk. none of which are current favorites, but all of whom were entertaining. this first pool party was more for meeting up with friends and enjoying a few cold beers on a beautiful summer afternoon. the slip 'n slide was back this year as was the summer long dodgeball tournament. in addition, there was a misting tent and some of those strange inflatable windsocks that you often see whipping about on the side of the road advertising a carwash. the lineup looks to be pretty good this summer, man man is next week with illinios and dengue fever. other standout shows for the pool this summer include ted leo, the thermals, blonde redhead, tv on the radio, dan deacon, erase errata and a special guest on july 22nd - which is rumored to be gza / genius preforming "liquid swords."
manu chao at prospect park and a couple unconfirmed tidbits about the brooklyn dining scene after the expansion.
credit
i was lucky enough to catch manu chao [loud music plays after link] at the prospect park benefit show last night - thanks to a friend at slope cellars. i have to say, that for somebody i didn't know much about, he put on a pretty amazing show - it was standing room only and the crowd was going crazy pretty much the whole time. he was on his third encore as we were leaving. the only downside to the night was that i ran into some problems getting my camera inside the venue. once i was inside, i realized i had forgotten to check and see if there was a memory card in the camera before leaving the house...of course there wasn't. manu chao plays another sold out show at prospect park tonight, even listening from the lawn outside the gate would be pretty enjoyable i'll bet.
lastly, two rumors that i've heard.
1 - 360 in red hook is closed for good.
the phone number still states that they're closed for renovations, but it sure has been a long time. according to sources, arnaud + co. racked up a bit of debt and decided to take an extended vacation to the loire.
[- update - via eater -]
"More on the disintegrating state of affairs at Red Hook's one-time culinary pride and joy 360: 'The restaurant 360, which is currently "closed for renovation" may not re-open. Sources in Red Hook said, the chef/owner, Arnaud, is burnt out and tired of the place. He wants out and will probably sell it to one, or few, his staff. Arnaud is currently on vacation and probably scuba diving in some exotic locale with no intention of returning to work.'"
2 - the new development at 500 4th avenue in park slope will feature an olive garden as the retail anchor of the 11+ story apartment building.
brownstoner has an older post about 500 4th here
