53 Boerum

Why not take advantage of the glorious early-autumn temps this weekend with a self-guided walking tour around our neighborhood? About.com offers Montague Street and the Promenade, and Brooklyn Bridge History. You might even pick up some factoids you can impress Mom with next time she visits. Just print and go! (Don’t forget to wave to the double-decker bus.)

OK, so this article is not Brooklyn or 53BP specific, but it does have to do with real estate and it gave me a good giggle. Apparantly a gentleman named Alan Weinkrantz, from San Antonio, TX has published a blog to help sell his home. His real estate agent says, “We had never seen that… He is so *avant-garde*.”

Read the article and visit the 826 Cambridge Oval blog

We hope you all got a chance to get outside this past Sunday to check out the Atlantic Antic. Just outside our windows we could see the kiddies riding on ponies up and down Boerum Place. Hubby seemed to think that since I am significantly larger than the 4- and 5-year-olds riding the ponies, I probably would not have been allowed to do it myself. Ho-hum.

Special thanks to my neighborhood pal Chuck for this fab peek of 53BP through the balloon arch!

Here’s an interesting site sent to me by Tina Roth, our fabulous Swiss neighbor on the 10th floor. *openhousenewyork* celebrates New York City’s architecture and inspires civic pride through an annual program of public access to significant buildings and sites in all five boroughs. The 3rd annual OHNY will be held on Saturday & Sunday, October 8 & 9, 2005. More than 150 fascinating spaces and places in all five boroughs will be open for tours - free of charge. Each site will offer different experiences, including guided and self-guided tours, talks and conversations with the designers, exhibits, performances and childrens’ activities. For more info, check out the site here.

According to this article on GlobeSt.com, financing has been secured to convert the former Verizon building at 7 MetroTech Center (on the corner of Willoughby and Bridge) into condos and almost 35,000 sq. feet of retail space.

Just some more evidence that we’ve all invested in an area of tremendous change and development…

Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary over the weekend by playing “tourist.” After getting caught up in the daily grind, it’s fun and refreshing to look at New York City through the eyes of a visitor and do all those things you’ve always wanted to, but never got around to actually doing. I haven’t shut up about it since we moved in, so there was no question that our list of activities would include a ride on the Gray Line double-decker “Night Loop” tour bus that drives past 53BP!

The Night Loop tour leaves from Times Square at Broadway & 48th, and traverses downtown towards the Manhattan Bridge. It then crosses the bridge, goes through the Cadman Plaza area and down Furman Street under the BQE and Promenade. The bus then turns onto Atlantic and goes east until it turns onto Boerum Place and passes our building as it heads back to the Manhattan Bridge.

As a travel-tourism buff and former volunteer tour guide myself, I was curious as to what they might say about our neighborhood and Brooklyn in general during our *very brief* drive-through. They did mention all the middle eastern shops on Atlantic Ave, the Transit Museum, and the Brooklyn Bridge. On a night tour, it’s pretty tough to compete with the “glitz” and lights of Manhattan. I think visitors would benefit much more from daytime walking tours of Brooklyn to really appreciate the distinctive neighborhoods, historic architecture, restaurants, and shopping.

All in all, we had a lot of fun on the tour bus and it’s well worth the $37.00 ticket to sit back and enjoy the birds-eye view. (Just watch out for the overhead traffic lights!)

Mark your calendars, folks. Brooklyn’s largest street fair, Atlantic Antic, will be right outside our doorstep on *Sunday, September 25* from 10 AM to 6 PM, all along Atlantic from Hicks to 4th Ave. Local vendors, restaurants, artisans, musicians and more will be out celebrating our wonderful borough. It is estimated that approximately 1 million people attended last year. WOW! If you check out the map of last year’s event, 53BP was right in the center of all the action — especially the children’s activities. Time to bring those Boerum Babies out for some fun!

Buying real estate in areas with colleges and universities can apparently be a wise investment. Forbes magazine ranked the 10 best college towns to buy off-campus housing that appreciates. New York City metro area and Long Island ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Read the article here.

If you’re a theater buff and are wondering who that familiar-looking guy that you keep seeing in the elevator is… it’s probably *Peter Kim!*

Peter, one of our neighbors at 53BP and pictured above wearing a t-shirt from his alma mater, has recently performed on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie and appeared on TV’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He is currently starring in *SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL* — a show that he not only performs in, but also wrote and directed along with members of his theater company, Mr. Miyagi. Wow!

*SIDES,* the hilarious hit which follows six hopeful actors in their quest for employment through true life audition nightmares, has received critical acclaim from such publications as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Village Voice. The show also won a Best Ensemble Award at the prestigious New York International Fringe Festival in 2003.

*SIDES* is currently at The Culture Project at 45 Bleecker Street through October. Click here for info on performances and tickets.

(Note to Peter: When you accept your first Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe… make sure to thank your neighbors, OK?)

As I was surfing on my lunch break today, I came across this article in the New York Times about first-time buyers. In it, there were interviews with several purchasers talking about their experiences. Even though it is not actually mentioned by name, I could tell from this excerpt that the building discussed was our home sweet home:

*He contemplated buying a brownstone in Bedford Stuyvesant, but decided he wanted more amenities and set his sights on new construction condos in Dumbo, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights and downtown Brooklyn. After looking at more than 50 apartments he was struck by a two-bedroom, two-bath model near Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard in downtown Brooklyn… he is particularly fond of the generous size of the rooms and the radiant heat in the bathroom floors…*

Read the whole article here.