A couple with clashing wish lists...

FOR most of his six years in New York, Paul Pinizzotto leased a three-bedroom duplex in a squat, no-frills building in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The rent ended up at $2,250 a month. Over the years, he rented out the extra bedrooms to a series of roommates.

The apartment was spacious and sunny, but “it was a place that I slept in,” Mr. Pinizzotto said. “I never felt connected with the apartment. It was all brand new, which I am not into, but which a lot of people like.”


His big complaint was the utter lack of charm.

Read the full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/realestate/a-couple-with-clashing-wish-lists-the-hunt.html?_r=1

NY "Best of" guide...Culture, cocktails, Comedy and more

Get the link to the slide show here:

http://newyork.timeout.com/things-to-do/new-york-neighborhoods/1968995/best-neighborhood-for%E2%80%A6?package=1976281

Boerum Hill's historic character to be preserved in perpetuity after new zoning laws

City Council approves zoning change for Boerum Hill

September 21, 2011 06:00PM

The City Council today approved a new zoning plan in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill that will cap new development at 50 feet, the New York Post reported. Boerum Hill residents had pushed hard for the new zoning regulations to prevent large towers from rising in their neighborhood as are already planned in nearby Prospect Heights for the controversial Atlantic Yards project.

City Council member Steve Levin represents the historic, landmarked neighborhood, and said many of the homes were built more than 150 years ago and the rezoning "is going to make sure that… historic character is preserved in perpetuity."

The rezoning area is flanked by Atlantic Avenue to the north, Court Street to the west, Fourth Avenue to the east and parts of Warren and Wyckoff streets to the south. The new rules are similar to zoning changes put in place in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Park Slope, and Carroll Gardens. [Post]

Real Estate Pros who've made the Forbes list

Top row from left: Solow Building Owner Sheldon Solow, Boston Properties Chairman Mort Zuckerman, LeFrak Organization Chairman Richard LeFrak, investor John Paulson; Bottom row from left: Donald Trump, Tishman Speyer Chairman Jerry Speyer, Blackstone Group Founder Stephen Schwarzman, Red Apple Group CEO John Castimitidis and Related Companies Founder Stephen RossOf the 63 New York City residents to make Forbes new list of the 400 richest people in America at least 13 are closely tied to the real estate industry. For example, the third richest New Yorker, right after businessman David Koch and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is John Paulson, who made billions betting against the housing market right before the crash. He's the 17th richest person in the country, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $15.5 billion.

The 60th richest American is New York City real estate magnate Richard LeFrak, who is worth $5 billion thanks in part to the large housing developments he owns.
Read Full Story here>>>
http://ny.therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/richard-lefrak-and-stephen-schwarzman-and-stephen-ross-are-listed-among-forbes-400

AvalonBay abandons West Side plans | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

Original rendering of AvalonBay plans AvalonBay has abandoned its plans to construct a new luxury rental development on the far West Side, Crain's reported. The company has decided not to lease four parcels of land owned by Four Plus Corp. located on a block bounded by West 56th and West 57th streets and 11tg and 12th avenues. A lease deal had been pending since February 2008, but it was put on hold due to the recession
See Full Story Here: AvalonBay abandons West Side plans The Real Deal New York Real Estate News

                         

MANHATTAN — Carrie Bradshaw wannabes had better start saving their Manolo money.

One of two Perry Street townhouses that served as the backdrop for Sarah Jessica Parker's "Sex and the City" character is on the market for $8.5 million, according to The Corcoran Group's website.

The 4,100-square-foot townhouse at 64 Perry St. boasts four floors, 10 rooms and six fireplaces, according to Corcoran. It was built in 1866 and has only been owned by two families.

Full Story Here: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110913/greenwich-village-soho/carrie-bradshaws-sex-city-townhouse-on-market-for-85m

Proposed Skyscraper District in Downtown Brooklyn

This is the second installment spotlighting all of the two dozen buildings in the proposed Skyscraper District in Downtown Brooklyn. Above is 184 to 198 Remsen and 187 to 245 Joralemon. (You can see the map of the entire district here.)

Read entire post below: http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2011/09/spotlight-on-skyscraper-district-remsen-and-joralemon/#186-remsen-dist2-1

New York rebuilds - 911 Memorial opens to the public Monday 9/12

Photo credit: AP

Visitors line up to enter the 9/11 memorial plaza in the World Trade Center site in New York. (Sept. 12, 2011)

They came. They saw.

They remembered.

And many of them cried.

Certainly, to a person, visitors to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, which opened to the public for the first time Monday, found themselves moved by the simplicity, the beauty and the significance of the site -- a memorial erected where the towers of the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2001.

"There are no words," visitor Eileen Cristina, 64, of Lititz, Pa., said upon seeing the memorial up close Monday morning.
Read the full story here: http://www.newsday.com/911-anniversary/9-11-memorial-opens-to-public-1.3163719

Rent out your loo?

Hmm, I'm all for entrepreneurship, however, I'm not completely "sold" on this one. First off the logistics of finding a bathroom that's close enough to where you happen to be when the need arises seems challenging at best.
I don't think I'd be OK with the random "friend of a facebook friend" considering at least 10-20 percent of most people's "facebook friends" are people they don't really interact with often,  popping over to use my bathroom.
I do think that by the time you did your loo search, recieved confirmation and walked over there; wouldn't it had been easier to stand in line at Starbucks?
To see a short video clip and to read the full story click here:

http://lifehacker.com/5837900/rent-out-your-toilet-with-cloo

More and more rental buildings going with 80/20 program

Gary Jacob, executive vice president of Glennwood Management and the Emerald Green



Developers are increasingly including affordable units within luxury rental buildings as part of the 80/20 program, the New York Times reported.
Steven Spinola, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, says at least six 80/20 projects are being planned in Manhattan that will add some 1,500 affordable and rent-stabilized apartments.

Previously, when developers of market-rate residential buildings included affordable housing in exchange for tax incentives, the affordable units were often in another complex or even in another borough altogether. But in 2008, the city changed regulations in a way that made it almost impossible for developers to include the affordable units outside the luxury buildings.

Read Full Story Here: 
http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/more-and-more-rental-buildings-going-with-80-20-program

2 huge 3 Bdrm's available - Clinton Hill close to Pratt 2475.00 each