53 Boerum

According to a recent article in the New York Daily News, “Brooklyn has become the red-hot center of the universe.”

The love-fest for our borough contains all kinds of fun facts worthy enough to use in dinner party conversation. Highlights include:

– Out-of-state student enrollment at Brooklyn Law School jumped to 45% of the incoming class - compared with 20% a decade ago. Brooklyn College’s enrollment is up 14% this year compared with last year.

– Newly opened Steiner Studios is bringing Hollywood to Brooklyn: Mel Brooks, Nicole Kidman, Spike Lee, Jodie Foster, Richard Gere and Denzel Washington all have been spotted there this year.

– Since 1995, the number of Brooklyn restaurants listed in the Zagat guide has tripled, from 41 a decade ago to 132 eateries this year.

– Brooklyn condo prices increased 33% in 2004, according to the Corcoran Group.

Red-hot!

One of my favorite juicy real estate sites, Curbed, gave our blog some attention today! Check it out here. Thanks to Jeremy and Josh for posting!

Since I recently posted about changes going on in Brooklyn, I thought this would be both interesting and appropriate.

The Morning News is featuring a gallery of photos from a book called NEW YORK CHANGING, by Douglas Levere.

A synopsis of the book from his website:

“NEW YORK CHANGING: DOUGLAS LEVERE REVISITS BERENICE ABBOTT’S NEW YORK presents 50 pairs of photographs by contemporary photographer Douglas Levere and world-renown photographer Berenice Abbott. Abbott’s iconic photographs, drawn from the Museum (of the City of New York)’s permanent collection, were taken in the 1930s and first published in her landmark book, Changing New York (1939). More than six decades later, Levere used the same camera Abbott had used and returned to the same locations at the same time of day and the same time of year. Indeed, he took on the role of detective as he successfully sought to understand and replicate every aspect of Abbott’s process. When seen side by side, these two remarkable bodies of work reveal much about the city and the nature of urban transformation.  Perhaps more than anything else, these carefully crafted images powerfully suggest that in New York, the only constant is change.”

The photos are also on exhibit at The Museum of the City of New York through November 13th.

It’s certainly an exciting time to be in Downtown Brooklyn! The incredible changes looming on the horizon have been mentioned a lot in the press recently. The New York Times ran an article about the flourishing commercial district and plans for office towers in the works. New York One news elaborates and discusses the beautification of the area, including tree plantings on Livingston and Boerum, and a Bryant Park-like space near Willoughby. Wired New York forum is a good place to check in on from time to time to see renderings and plans for projects in the area.

Two sites I haven’t heard much about are the one across from the Court Street movie theater (has big windows, not sure if it is residential or commercial) and the State Street site adjacent to Feil Hall, which has been quite active lately. Anybody have info on these?

Neighbor Tina from 10B sent this to me yesterday…

There’s a wonderful volunteer opportunity for Brooklynites who’d like to work with kids. According to their mission statement, “826NYC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this in mind we provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. All of our free programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.”

826NYC is located in Park Slope (an easy trip from 53BP). Check out their website to read more about the programs they offer!

While 53BP is not quite in Boerum Hill, we do sit right on its border and share part of its name. The Village Voice highlights the area today on its website with a little bit of history, statistics and places of interest. Read the article here.

Stuff your face, then roll yourself back on down to 53BP…

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce proudly presents Brooklyn Eats - a unique tasting event featuring more than 60 of the best restaurants (including classics like River Cafe and Junior’s, and the delectable Sweet Melissa), caterers, gourmet groceries, micro-brews and wines in Brooklyn. The event takes place on Monday, October 17 at the Marriott and advance general admission tickets are $65, which includes unlimited tastings of all the mouth-watering goodies. Deeelicious.

If you face Boerum Place and peer out your window, you’ll see the New York Transit Museum on the northwest corner of Schermerhorn (there’s also a Gallery Annex in Grand Central Terminal). Our friends who live in 10B made the long trek across the street last weekend to check out the museum, and learn more about the rich and detailed history of our city’s subway system. She says, “The museum is in an actual old subway stop and features several old subway cars that you can access from the old platform. I enjoyed the movie that they’re showing, telling the history of the subway, showing images of times of construction.”

So next time you’re cursing the F train for being too slow, or wondering why the #$@% the 2,3 is not running on the weekend (again), just remember, it’s a small miracle the thing’s still running after 100+ years.

** Special thanks to Roxanne Robertson of the New York Transit Museum for providing us with the correct title of the museum.

I think this is the first wash-out weekend since we moved in to 53BP back in May. Let’s throw out some ideas on how to spend it…

– Hang out in the lobby and talk to Michael
– Work out on the treadmill
– Surf the web for articles about Brooklyn real estate
– Do laundry/cleaning/other household duties
– My favorite, watch the E! channel and eat lime-flavored Tostitos all day

How will you spend these rainy days?

I admit I’m addicted to the convenience of Fresh Direct… there’s nothing like the doorman buzzing up and saying, “Your groceries are here,” and then a (most of the time) pleasant delivery person bringing the food right to our door. But sometimes I still long to smell the fresh veggies, squeeze the ripened fruits, and steal a few delicious jellybeans from the bulk candy department in a real grocery store. Around here, we’ve got the lovely — yet pricey — Garden of Eden on Montague, Key Food on Atlantic and a wide variety of smaller markets, but none of the big guys… yet. Whole Foods is opening up in the Slope, along with 200+ parking spaces. Trader Joe’s is supposedly moving in to 14th Street in Manhattan, and shopping for a Brooklyn location. With all the new residential construction going on, it’s only a matter of time until the 53BP area gets its first major grocery store… anybody hear any rumors?