Brooklyn, Why Don’t You Love Us Anymore?

I guess you get to a point with anything — when the love just stops. I have been thinking about it and I think Brooklyn has stopped loving me (for now). That’s not to say that we won’t eventually come back here because we love Brooklyn, I think it’s just the time to leave for a bit. It seems many others are having the same problems as we are and hence, the same thoughts.

When you are getting priced out of your own hood (happening a lot lately in my fine borough) it makes it hard to move on with future plans for your life. Yes, it’s convenient to travel to our jobs, but is that enough? It’s finally a time in our lives when we can buy a property and it’s hard to give that up just because the place we live is too overpriced and inflated to buy anything.

Park Slope, Red Hook, Williamsburg, DUMBO and BoCoCa have been referred to as Brooklyn’s “Creative Crescent,” do to a high volume of self-employed creative professionals. Park Slope is in first place with over 3,500 self-employed creative pros reported in 2003. Now, there are many more. Recently, with the strange shift in the NYC real estate market, this group is getting priced out of Brooklyn. Not long ago, many of people like these professionals and a large number of artists were priced out of Manhattan. It didn’t take long to price the whole population out of Brooklyn. This crisis is being called the “single largest challenge facing New York’s creative core.”

What would New York be, - hell, what would BROOKLYN be - without this “creative core”? If all of the artists and designers, etc. keep being priced out of this town, where will they go? We are going to Jersey City, but where are all the others going? And what will this borough be in a few more years? Without culture, without art (or maybe just without the artists)… Whatever the case may be, the prospect seems bleak.

And it’s not just the artist community (such a vital part of our culture) it’s also the middle class. What would Brooklyn be without the middle class either? I feel like Brooklyn has always been a low to middle class borough. In recent years, we’ve watched the upper echelon of New York City society come across the river and inflate the prices of our homes and rental spaces. Families making between $80k and $150k a year can’t make it. How is that possible? Where are the people making under that?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Wait for the election (could make things worse). Wait for the “bubble to burst” (we’ve waiting decades for that). Wait for the market to level out (???). Just wait.

 

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: OMG Shoes

I know you’ve probably seen this before, but I had to repost it. It’s a classic…

Watch it again and feel the power.

 

Opera Under the Stars and Bats

The hubby went for a bike ride/run in the park on Thursday. Something large was being set up, and not in the bandshell. The whole “Long Meadow” was being overtaken with workmen who were constructing a stage and hanging large speakers. Whatever it was, we knew we had to be there.

When we found out the Metropolitan Opera was doing a summer concert there, out in the open, we packed up our blanket, flask (couldn’t leave Johnny out, of course) and camera and we were there. Best of all, it was FREE! How often does that happen in New York?

The MET has been working on an ongoing initiative to make opera more accessible to New Yorkers and to expand it’s audience. They expected a crowd of up to 150,000 people. There were many sets of speakers and large screens going from the baseball fields (where the stage was setup) all the way to the back of the Long Meadow (which has twice the capacity of the Great Lawn in Central Park.)

The performers were not the young unknown casts that the MET usually boasts for their free summer concerts. The stars were veteran opera performers Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna (real life married couple, deemed “opera’s love couple”.) Instead of a full length opera, they opted for a number of well known arias and music from a variety of famous operas. Among the highlights, a breathtaking Puccini from one of Alagna’s encores and a gorgeous Madama Butterfly aria from Gheorghiu.

The crowd was large (see my Flickr on the sidebar for pics soon), but surprisingly chill. Everyone seemed to have the same idea. Friday night relaxation in Prospect Park. There was a staggeringly high number of children there, but the music must have tamed even the wildest of beasts — I barely heard a peep the entire time we were there. Some spectators had more forethought than ourselves and brought bottles of wine, candles, cheeses, etc. We were happy just to lay on our blanket looking up at the stars on the first night of summer in our favorite park and listen to extraordinary singing. The night was so perfect, you barely noticed you were in a loud bustling city, especially when dusk came and the bats started dive-bombing. It was actually just another amusing part of our evening to sit and watch them fly, trying to guess who would get buzzed next.

It was a great night. I hope they decide to do it again next year. I would make the trek over the river to see it again. Plus, I think I even got the hubby into going to an actual opera!

Prospect Park does “Celebrate Brooklyn” a concert series (usually free) all summer long — click here for details and if you are going to one, let us know!!!

 

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: What Were They Thinking?

Ok, I know it’s a montage, but it’s actually really funny. It’s amazing how satisfying it can be to watch some jackass (other than yourself) do something really really stupid. Sigh, how I love home movies. Enjoy!

 

Crossing the River to Buy

The hubby and I are continuing our growing quest to buy a home of our own. Tomorrow we are looking in downtown Jersey City at two more places.

Our quest started in March, when, on a whim, I decided to fill out an online pre-approval form for a mortgage. Shortly after, we discovered that, strangely enough, we could actually afford to buy something and what’s crazier, it’s actually a buyer’s market right now (if you don’t already own). Perfect! After some initial digging we found that Jersey City Heights was our best bet, the condos were in our price range and we were still close enough to commute to the city. Plus, it seemed like a good investment.

After our first quest with a broker (we looked at 8 condos in one day) we fell in love with one and made an offer on it. The process went super smooth and was beginning to worry us. We agreed on a price with the seller, had it inspected, flew through attorney review and it was time to get the appraisal done. At this point, the closing date would have been May 30th, shortly after we returned from our wedding. [I know it was a crazy time to buy with planning for a wedding, but it all just happened so quickly.] When the appraisal came back, it was $20k lower than the agreed upon price (which, mind you, is over $40k less than the original asking price). This became a big problem for our bank. The bank refused to give us a mortgage for $20k more than their appraiser thought it was worth. We had comps (comparable properties that have sold) run for the whole area and they weren’t that off what our deal was. Yet the appraiser refused to budge. He didn’t shift his original number in the least. Our problem, besides the obvious, was that we tried to offer less for the property, but the seller could not do it. He would have to come to the table with over $25k to close out his mortgage and it just wasn’t a possibility. So, as quickly as it had all started, it was gone…just like that.

The disappointment over our first foray in realty was lessened by our wedding and surrounding festivities. It wasn’t until we were home for a few weeks, coming out of our newlywed bliss, that this all began to hit us.

After countless hours (for both of us) online, looking for the perfect deal, we were running dry on leads. Strange, being that we found the perfect place our first time out. There was nothing else like it. DAMMIT! During this dry period we looked at other places and nothing came close to being worth leaving Brooklyn for.

Suddenly, the market took another small drop and things started to become available in the neighborhood we thought we couldn’t afford: downtown JC. Now, the hunt was on. Again, countless hours were logged online and many phone calls with our broker were taken. During our research, we learned that Jersey City Heights has been up and down since 2000 and been in a steady decline for quite a bit now. That good investment was looking a little unstable now. Jersey City was starting to seem further away than just across the Hudson river. Further research revealed that downtown JC has been consistently high since for the same time period and only dropped slightly last month, allowing certain condos to crawl into our price range. Yeah! We came to terms with the fact that if we wanted to make a better investment for our future, we would have to spend our present in smaller square footage than we had originally planned. It’s a hard sacrifice to make, especially when you have three large male cats in your entourage.

So, here we are about to look at one place that I have been eying for awhile, but have been, up until this point, unable to get a showing at. We’ll see how 650 square feet looks at 10:30am on a hot Saturday morning in downtown Jersey City. Probably not as delicious as all of the young jogging men I’ve also been eying in the hood, but maybe it’ll come close…

 

Out with the Old…in with Who??

We all know that the real estate market is crazy right now. Most areas of the country are having issues with property values and appraisals coming in at the right price. The New York market, however, is just crazy.

I’ve been noticing that a lot of things in my neighborhood, Park Slope, Brooklyn, are closing…and rapidly. Stores and restaurants that have been around for many years are reluctantly shutting their doors due to the high increases in rent and owner’s not renewing leases. Not to mention, the recession that the country is currently in, that nobody wants to admit to. People can’t afford to go out to eat as often, let alone shop at novelty stores.

Case and point: Nancy Nancy, a great little novelty store on booming 5th Avenue in Park Slope, has been around for more than 10 years. I walked by it recently and discovered a disheartening sign. They are closing! Apparently, the landlord did not renew her lease because he is selling the building and is also doubling the rent. Commercial rents in the Slope are 50 - 100% higher than just 5 years ago. Wait…didn’t I just say this was a declining market - what gives? Other recent casualties include: Cocotte (a small French bistro on 5th Avenue), Hollywood Video, Biscuit BBQ and the list goes on…

My question is: in this economy and market, who is buying or leasing these buildings/spaces? Who are the people that can afford to live in my hood nowadays and why can’t I?

The hubby and I are currently looking to buy something in Jersey City, NJ. Reason being, we cannot afford to buy in New York at all right now. We’ve lived in the same apartment on Carroll Street in the Slope for over 5 years now, yet we are getting priced out of our own neighborhood.

In my general area, there are multiple new buildings going up. The condos are for sale, but it will cost you. Studios at places nearby like NoVo (who tout themselves as “The New Park Slope”) on 4th Avenue or The Argyle (they call Park Slope a “distinctive residential enclave”) go for about $450k with little square footage. Even if we could afford a mortgage like that, the taxes (probably around $8k a year) and monthly maintenance fees ($700 per month depending upon the building) are astronomically high and drive a $450k mortgage through the roof. On my block alone, there are 5 constructions sites. Five!!! In a one block radius!

I want to know who the people are that are buying these overly inflated condos/apartments! The hubby and I have a pretty good double income going on…why can’t we afford to buy these places and stay in the neighborhood that is home to us and what is this “new Park Slope” that these developers are inventing? I guess people like us are forced to continue renting and giving our landlords thousands of dollars per year (I’ve estimated we’ve given ours over $100k) and having nothing to show for it or to move across the Hudson River, but are we the new people there, that are taking over someone else’s hood?

 

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Buhloood

It’s time to bring this video of the week thing back and the kid on this video sets the perfect mood. Enjoy…

 

Sex and Drama?

So, I just got back from the new Sex and the City movie. I finally convinced my new hubby to go with me. It was great to see the gals again, but I have to say…what’s with all the drama? Yes, there were plenty of laughs, (Charlotte’s reaction to drinking a tiny bit of Mexican water was the biggest) but there was a lot of intense emotional baggage, definitely more than could fit in one of Carrie’s tiny Prada bags. The movie ran over 2 hours and 15 minutes, which felt quite long, being that I’m used to getting them in small 30 minute doses. Maybe it’s because I recently got married, but I felt a lot of negative marriage vibes in this film. Even after people patched things up, it was still heavy.

We all waited for the moment that never came. After Cynthia Nixon’s spill to Bill Eichner during the Creative Nation comedy show, the bloggers went wild. Does Charlotte get killed in a “freak tennis accident”??? Obviously Nixon was just fueling the hype further for a movie that millions had been waiting for anyway. Not sure what she was thinking there…

All of the ladies are looking much older these days. Makes me wonder if their former makeup stylist Kabuki wasn’t taken aboard for their silver screen romp. Although, it was nice to see them admitting how old Sam really is and trading her sex addiction for a brand new “gut” was pretty hilarious and satisfying.

So, what were they trying to say in this epic drama? Marriage is sad and depressing? Relationships get boring? Don’t get me wrong, seeing the gals again after 4 long years was great, but I couldn’t help but wonder…what was the moral of this story? More on this when I’ve gotten some sleep…

 

Nintendo Wii Jumps the Age Gap

The Nintendo Wii Jumps the Age Gap

 

The Ever Mysterious Battle of the Oblivious Straphangers

Why do people riding mass transit go into a robot-like oblivious state? It still perplexes me. I mean, I can get into a “subway zone”, but I am still aware of the people around me. I’m talking about people who, get off the train at rush hour and amidst a massive crowd moving around them, they will stop dead in their tracks to finish reading a page of their book. You can’t get around them – sometimes you bump into them and they just don’t seem to notice or care. What is that? Can they not read when then get home?

Another one of my favorites is the greedy newspaper man that I always seem to come across on every crowded rush hour train. Ahh…greedy newspaper man. Why is it that you have to sit with your legs spread so far apart that the people around you are crouching just to sit next to you? Why do you insist on reading The New York Times and opening it up to full capacity even when it is sticking in other people’s faces and on their heads? Do you think you are in your living room? I honestly have to chew those words back every time I see you. I imagine that if I asked greedy newspaper man if he thought he was in his living room, that he would just look up at me and be like…where the hell did she come from?

Next on my hit list: leaning on the pole peeps. Again, always on a very crowded train – these people will just lean their entire body up against a pole and ignore the 30 other people gathered around it trying to get an inch to hold on to. WTF?!?!?!?!? I usually deal with these people in the same manner every time…simply grab the pole and literally push their back to get in there. Usually others will follow suit and the person will turn around bewildered that there are other people around them and they will usually move over and grab the pole themselves.

I could go on and on, but I’ll save that for another day and another post.