53 Boerum

Neighbors Katie and Brad alerted me that the NY Times article I was interviewed for was indeed on newsstands today! The article, featured in the Real Estate section of the April 14 issue, is a love letter to our blossoming residential Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood and highlights all the reasons it is such a great place to live. The Times deems Downtown the next big thing in Brooklyn real estate. Cheers to us for getting in early! Read the article here.

Photo courtesy of Uli Seit, NY Times.

Those of us at the 53BP blog and message board wish all our fellow residents a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.

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.

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.

I’ve spoken to volunteers at two shelters in Louisiana (one in Baton Rouge, the other in Marksville) who need items immediately. Hubby and I will be making a trip to the Post Office tomorrow morning to mail boxes to these shelters. Log on to the Chit-Chat message board to find out what is needed, and where you can drop things off to us if you care to add something to the packages. Any monetary help for shipping or donation of items is greatly appreciated.

Happy Labor Day weekend to all our 53BP neighbors! Hope you all have a safe, wonderful and fun holiday. Please consider taking some time out this weekend to remember our “other” neighbors down on the Gulf Coast who have been so terribly affected by Hurricane Katrina — donations can be made to the American Red Cross, and no amount is too small. You’ll feel good about donating… we promise.

We’ll be back after the holiday break with September’s “Resident Spotlight.” See you then!

A few of us residents are interested in organizing a building-warming party for an evening in the early fall… it would be nice to kick back on the patio (perhaps with that new stainless steel BBQ our friends over at meettheneighbors.org have been discussing!) and have a little more conversation than just “hi-bye” in the elevators. We’ll talk with Angelo to set up a date when the patio is available, and announce it at the first tenant meeting. Any suggestions, ideas, or sangria recipes should be posted on the message boards, or feel free to comment below. Cheers!

Hi Neighbors!

Welcome to 53boerum.com. After hubby and I closed on the condo, our first thought (both being designers and one of us a geek) was, “wouldn’t it be cool to get all the residents online?” Shortly thereafter we registered 53boerum.com… and a blog was born.

This is your place to say hello, voice concerns, recommend cool restaurants, check out the neighborhood happenings… all run by residents, for residents. No 3rd party involved.

We’re working on a slick design — we’re perfectionists, so it will take another day or two. Though I hate to reveal the site as “unfinished,” we’ve got enough of it up and running for you to post to your heart’s content. In the future you can look forward to cool photography, good info and (hopefully) witty writing.

See ya on the treadmill! (We love saying that).

Lori

This site and message board is a small project started by a handful of residents and is in no way associated with anything or anybody officially associated with 53 Boerum Place or Boulevard East. Right now we are just getting things started, design is coming…

The Message Board is also up and running at http://53boerum.com/boards/

See you on the treadmill…