Ebbets Field Apartments get a make over

mugofmead111

whynot_31 said:

What is the address of the building that faces Prospect Park?    ...the units in that building might go for more $ as a result of the views.

11 McKeever and 47 McKeever.

Some of the units in 1700 Bedford may face that direction as well.

whynot_31

I'll see if I can find listing for those when I have time

Brooklyneya

$2200 is definitely too much for someone making 60k a year (if gross income). After taxes thats about $3000 per month, maybe less. Add a few hundred for utilities, phone bill, metrocard, and you have nothing left. I find the 40-60 X rent salary requirement pretty accurate in terms of budgeting.

whynot_31

For a variety of reasons, I suspect the 2 BR units are more likely to be popular with 2 people, each earning $40k, THAN one person earning $80k

Brooklyneya

Sorry, just to clarify- I was responding to @pragmaticguy saying his friend made 60k and could have paid for a $2200 apartment and not the ebbets fields units.

whynot_31

@mogofmead111

I couldn't find any listing for 11 McKeever, but could find a bunch for 47 McKeever.     This unit on the 21st floor has a nice view.

47 Mckeever Place

Awesome Gut Renovated 3 Brm 1.5 Bath in Ebbets Field Building Complex *THIS IS A BIG BUILDING* CITY VIEW PRICE REDUCTION FOR AN IMMEDIATE MOVE IN ONLY GOOD CREDIT IS A MUST Mckeever Place at Sullivan Place $2300 Including all utilities except air conditioner. Available March 1st. All Bedrooms have closets! Steps to Prospect Park Laundry room in the building! Parking Available First Month, Security Brokers Fee to Move In

http://www.trulia.com/rental/3224426081-47-McKeever-Pl-21J-Brooklyn-NY-11225#photo-1

whynot_31

While these units are expensive relative to the rest of Ebbets complex, they are becoming a bargain relative to the rest of the neighborhood:

 http://streeteasy.com/building/1020-carroll-street-brooklyn/2r

mugofmead111

whynot_31 said:

While these units are expensive relative to the rest of Ebbets complex, they are becoming a bargain relative to the rest of the neighborhood:

 http://streeteasy.com/building/1020-carroll-street-brooklyn/2r

There is truth in this advertising: "Your home is located just 3 blocks from the Franklin Avenue subway station that provides access to the 2/3/4/5 trains."

Now this? " There are also countless bus options, as well as the Eastern Pkwy thoroughfare, which makes commuting a breeze. "

How many transplants actually use the bus?

Also, what is a "virtual doorman"?

mugofmead111

whynot_31 said:

@mogofmead111

I couldn't find any listing for 11 McKeever, but could find a bunch for 47 McKeever.     This unit on the 21st floor has a nice view.

47 Mckeever Place

Awesome Gut Renovated 3 Brm 1.5 Bath in Ebbets Field Building Complex *THIS IS A BIG BUILDING* CITY VIEW PRICE REDUCTION FOR AN IMMEDIATE MOVE IN ONLY GOOD CREDIT IS A MUST Mckeever Place at Sullivan Place $2300 Including all utilities except air conditioner. Available March 1st. All Bedrooms have closets! Steps to Prospect Park Laundry room in the building! Parking Available First Month, Security Brokers Fee to Move In

http://www.trulia.com/rental/3224426081-47-McKeever-Pl-21J-Brooklyn-NY-11225#photo-1

Whoa...I just noticed the phrase "price reduction". Could that mean what people refer to as "preferential rent"?

whynot_31

mugofmead111 said:

whynot_31 said:

While these units are expensive relative to the rest of Ebbets complex, they are becoming a bargain relative to the rest of the neighborhood:

 http://streeteasy.com/building/1020-carroll-street-brooklyn/2r

There is truth in this advertising: "Your home is located just 3 blocks from the Franklin Avenue subway station that provides access to the 2/3/4/5 trains."

Now this? " There are also countless bus options, as well as the Eastern Pkwy thoroughfare, which makes commuting a breeze. "

How many transplants actually use the bus?

Also, what is a "virtual doorman"?

Virtual doorman is camera assisted system, in which a remote contractor buzzes people in.   http://www.virtualdoorman.com/duties/  

"Whoa...I just noticed the phrase "price reduction". Could that mean what people refer to as "preferential rent"?"


Yes, this might be a situation in which the landlord tested the waters of charging the maximum amount legally allowed by HCR, and then concluded that the market would not sustain this, and is now offering a preferential rent. 

mugofmead111

By the way, when I went by the playground two weeks ago, I noticed that the entire perimeter was fenced off. Presumably construction will start soon?

whynot_31 said:

The adjacent playground is getting a make over and renovation.

whynot_31

I would like to assume that, but I don't know if I should.

...such projects often take much longer to complete than projects where there is a profit incentive.

The cynical part of me wonders if local developers thought that an "under construction, empty playground" is more attractive to prospective renters than a "perfectly-fine, but utilized one".

...this has the effect of denying long term residents a place to hang out, and giving newcomers the ability to imagine the future of the playground as they desire it.  

Brooklyneya

@mugofmead111 I use the B48 to go to Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bed Stuy. That route is more common among transplants than older residents. There's also a bus to Flatbush that I've taken to visit friends there.

When I discovered MTA bus time, which tracks the location of the bus, it made taking buses much less of an annoyance.

Some people also have a fear of using the subway and being underground, so it doesn't hurt to mention the bus options.

suppleknuckles

i use the bus -all the time- particularly to go to williamsburg. the B44+ up rogers is practically like a subway line for its speed. i've also frequently take the B35 into sunset park now that i have more friends living there. i've been telling everyone about bustime; you watch, 2016 is gonna be the year of millennials taking buses 

(actually i think i see a lot of young people taking the B44+ through bed stuy, since it's the easing way to get to the central parts of it)

ehgee

The B48 is great for coming home from Williamsburg and Greenpoint late at night. It's like having a private limo.

mcpoet

ehgee said:

The B48 is great for coming home from Williamsburg and Greenpoint late at night. It's like having a private limo.

This. Drops me off right in front of my apartment and it basically runs the entire way without stopping late at night.  Way better than taking the subway.

whynot_31

Today, the leader of a gang which operated out of Ebbets Field apartments (Folk Nation) was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

In my view, it provides a glimpse into the recent past.  

...how quickly will our memory of this past fade?

Will "the coming changes" be successful enough that the ADA and other entities finally realize that this housing is not NYC public housing?

 

steadyblogging

Interesting--I hadn't read about this case before. NYDN had a short news item:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/folk-nation-gang-leader-life-sentence-2008-murder-article-1.2568505

And the NYP article (http://nypost.com/2016/03/18/man-who-dodged-murder-rap-as-teen-gets-life-sentence-for-different-slay/) has this tidbit:

"Yasser Ashburn, now 33, made headlines in 1999 when he was accused of stabbing another teen to death in Crown Heights during a fight at a basketball game. After an initial hung jury, Ashburn was acquitted in a second proceeding."

Here's a 1999 NYT article that ran 3 weeks after the incident (i.e., before the acquittal). Sounds like the basketball game was inside the Jackie Robinson (then Intermediate?) school as a part of after-school program, and the stabbing took place outside after a confrontation on McKeever Place:

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/17/nyregion/sympathy-for-6-young-lives-grief-extends-youths-accused-deadly-attack-after-ball.html?pagewanted=all

The victim, Michael Bennett, was 14yo at the time, so he would've been 31 today.

whynot_31

While crime has decreased since 2012 (and certainly since 1999), the complex is by no means now "crime free".

...however, crime is now at the level where some tenants with other options are likely to decide living in Ebbets is their best option. 

Young college educated people may consider it "safe enough". 

mugofmead111

whynot_31 said:

Today, the leader of a gang which operated out of Ebbets Field apartments (Folk Nation) was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

In my view, it provides a glimpse into the recent past.  

...how quickly will our memory of this past fade?

Will "the coming changes" be successful enough that the ADA and other entities finally realize that this housing is not NYC public housing?

 

This really bugs. I wonder how contact whoever wrote that press release to get that item corrected (or whether even to bother).

whynot_31

The contact for the release is Nellin McIntosh, 718-254-6323.

In this instance, Nellin may be able to tell herself that the good DOJ did for Ebbets Field by convicting these individuals, far outweighs referring to it as public housing.

Do you know if the complex and the immediate area have yet had a homicide in 2016?

...given that this complex is so massive, it may be very hard to expect it to go without one.

 

In 2008, the NYT wrote:

"Ebbets Field Apartments is a massive H-shaped complex of seven connected buildings, including the 25-story high-rise at 1700 Bedford Avenue. In a hardscrabble neighborhood of auto shops and fast food, and near Medgar Evers College, it is home to retired electricians, Vietnam veterans, black families from the South, recent African immigrants and the formerly homeless.

The average rent for studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranges from $700 to $1,300. The complex was once part of the state’s Mitchell-Lama housing program, which encouraged the creation of middle-income housing by offering owners low-interest mortgages and tax abatements in return for caps on rents. The Ebbets Field complex left the program in 1987."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/nyregion/06ebbetts.html?_r=0

...less than 10 years later, the renovated units are going for literally twice that amount, despite still being rent stabilized.

mugofmead111

The Times forgot one segment of the population: people of Caribbean descent. 

whynot_31

If they wrote the article today, they.likely would not include "formerly homeless".

...that demographic is usually unable to get into buildings as prime as Ebbets, even if their voucher is technically able to cover the rent.

BTW, here is am op ed from Diana Richardson on preferential rent. She explains the implications well, but I can't imagine it going away in the present political environment.

http://nyslant.com/article/opinion/we-must-end-the-preferential-rent-crisis.html

whynot_31

I would like to assume that, but I don't know if I should.

...such projects often take much longer to complete than projects where there is a profit incentive.

The cynical part of me wonders if local developers thought that an "under construction, empty playground" is more attractive to prospective renters than a "perfectly-fine, but utilized one".

...this has the effect of denying long term residents a place to hang out, and giving newcomers the ability to imagine the future of the playground as they desire it.  

It was a lovely Spring Saturday today, yet the seemingly in a state of good repair playground and basketball courts were empty a result of being surrounded by new chain link fence.

The area was weirdly quiet, and no evidence of work on the site is yet evident.

whynot_31

Park is supposed to reopen in August 2016.

http://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/6173

mugofmead111

whynot_31 said:

If they wrote the article today, they.likely would not include "formerly homeless". ...that demographic is usually unable to get into buildings as prime as Ebbets, even if their voucher is technically able to cover the rent. BTW, here is am op ed from Diana Richardson on preferential rent. She explains the implications well, but I can't imagine it going away in the present political environment. http://nyslant.com/article/opinion/we-must-end-the-preferential-rent-crisis.html

I read Diana Richardson's op-ed and I liked it.

On another note, when Gothamist ran a series of articles about the expiration of the last set of rent regulations, I noticed that a few people had posted in the comments, "Well, what about us [i.e. those who are preferential rent tenants]?"

I had seen in the fine print on those playground signs that work is supposed to start in April 2016. 

Well, what about these people? 

whynot_31

In the case of Ebbets Field apartments, the landlord seems to be increasing rents to the max legal amount at the time of renewal (ie cancelling the preferential rent).

Then, the apartment is renovated because the market will not support an unrenovated apartment at the max legal amount.

mugofmead111

Hot water in two buildings will be shut off today while repairs are made. A van for the boiler repairpeople was spotted this morning. 

whynot_31

If they upgrade the systems (as opposed to merely repair them), a MCI may result.

mugofmead111

These type of repairs have been made several times over the past two years. Sometimes just the hot water is shut off and sometimes the water is shut off completely. Sometimes water has been off for more than 12 hours.