Crown Heights

July 23, 2015

Crown Heights Townhouse with 18 Rooms Asks $11,000 a Month

Oftentimes renting in Brooklyn means cramming into a modest apartment with roommates or building out a loft bed in a former warehouse space. You don't typically think of sharing a massive three-story townhouse. But this historic home at 851 Park Place in Crown Heights is now on the rental market for $11,000 a month. There are eight bedrooms total (!), plenty of well-kept historic details, and extra spaces like a library and card room. Not a bad way to rent in Brooklyn.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

Image by Jorbasa Fotografie / Flickr

March 24, 2015

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

By Michelle Cohen

In New York City there are currently about one million rent stabilized apartments–about 47 percent of the city’s rental units. So why is it so hard to snag one? What are the benefits of having one (other than affordable rent, of course)? According to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board nearly 250,000 rental units have lost the protections of rent regulation since 1994. Why are we "losing" so many of them?
Find out the facts and how they could affect you

February 8, 2015

MADE IN BROOKLYN: A Rep for Authenticity and Excellence That’s Well-Earned–and Far from New

By Michelle Cohen

The story behind cheese-aging facility Crown Finish Caves in Crown Heights tells of an enormous amount of risk and dedication to making something on a small scale; to doing one thing well. It also once again stirs the hive of buzz around today’s Brooklyn. Article after article raises the idea that Brooklyn’s moment as the new hot spot for excellence in food, culture and authentic, hand-crafted goods, is in some quarters regarded as trite and trendy hype with little substance to it. For some, the underground cheese caves are just one more example: Cheese caves. How Brooklyn. Thirty feet below street level, in the lagering tunnels of a former brewery beneath the Monti Building in Crown Heights, Benton Brown and Susan Boyle spent several years renovating and creating “Brooklyn’s premier cheese-aging facility” complete with state-of-the-art humidity control and cooling systems. The couple created the 70-foot space with advice from the world’s top cheese experts; Crown Finish Caves opened in 2014. On an article in Cheese Notes, a commenter raves: “If I were a mouse, I would move to Crown Heights.”
More excellence and authenticity this way

History

Get ‘Em While They’re Cheap: A Look at Crown Heights Real Estate Past and Present

Image via the Historic Districts Council

January 21, 2015

Get ‘Em While They’re Cheap: A Look at Crown Heights Real Estate Past and Present

By Lauren Price

What once seemed unheard-of in terms of where to rent or buy in tertiary neighborhoods is now a thing of the past—be it Harlem, Williamsburg, Hell’s Kitchen, Long Island City, or the Lower East Side. But one of the best examples of rapid transformation is Brooklyn. Certainly there are many coveted communities such as Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope, but there is another neighborhood making what looks like a very successful run at gentrification: Crown Heights.
More on the Crown Heights renaissance here

Goldilocks Blocks: Lowry Triangle in Prospect Heights, Where the Gritty Meets the Gentrified

Between hyper-developed hotspots, main drags in up-and-comers, and those genuinely avoidable areas, there can often be found a city’s “just-right” zones. They aren’t commonly known, but these micro-neighborhoods often hide within them real estate gems coupled with perfectly offbeat vibes. Continuing our Goldilocks Blocks series, this week we look at Lowry Triangle in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

January 20, 2015

Goldilocks Blocks: Lowry Triangle in Prospect Heights, Where the Gritty Meets the Gentrified

By Michelle Cohen

It’s...gritty. But it’s Prospect Heights. Anchoring an oddly magical Brooklyn crossroads where Prospect Heights, Crown Heights and Clinton Hill meet, bisected by noisy, gritty Atlantic Avenue, Lowry Triangle and its surrounding blocks form a literal mashup of three neighborhoods, all of which began hitting their gentrification strides at slightly different times. On a map it’s legitimately Prospect Heights, whose border is a block to the east at Grand Avenue. It’s a small but decidedly cool zone, open and semi-industrial, where old brick buildings share space with a growing number of sleek, modern boutique condos, compact cubes fronted by vast expanses of glass; a fascinating juxtaposition of old and new.
What you might not notice if you're just passing through

January 14, 2015

Affordable Brooklyn Fading: Last Chance to Buy a Home Under $1M in Areas Like Bed-Stuy and Bushwick

By Diane Pham

If you've been looking to buy a home in Brooklyn, you'd better do it now–because townhouses under $1 million are going fast as investors and house hunters turn to the likes of Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and Crown Heights for cheap buys after being priced out of other areas in the borough. The news, which comes via DNA Info, isn't all that surprising, as we reported just yesterday that $3 million-plus townhouses are becoming the norm in already-gentrified neighborhoods like Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope. But those mulling over whether or not to close on a home in an up-and-coming neighborhood had better make the move, because affordable townhouse listings are increasingly becoming few and far between.
Find out more here

Real Estate Trends

January 12, 2015

Minimalist Prospect Heights Carriage House Asks $2.5M

By Aisha Carter

This converted carriage house in Prospect Heights is back on the market with another price drop, this time, asking $2.499 million. The minimalist 22.5-foot wide home has a touch of European farmhouse charm in a raw modern warehouse, with some vintage accents like reclaimed sinks, found antique gates, repurposed mirrored French doors and tin ceilings. Not to mention the fact that the home comes with a private garage (currently being used as an artist studio space).
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

14 Hip Holiday Markets and Indie Pop-Up Shops in NYC

Capsule Market Square.

December 5, 2014

14 Hip Holiday Markets and Indie Pop-Up Shops in NYC

By Michelle Cohen

As December dawns, the holiday gift markets roll in, and it’s harder than ever to turn around in NYC without encountering a pop-up shop or makeshift mall offering everything anyone could ever want–whether they know it yet or not–for the body, mind, soul and home. We've assembled a list of smaller, cooler pop-ups and holiday markets that mix music, food and fun freebies like haircuts, goodie bags and beer with this year’s selection of clever, crafty gifts.
Find out where to get the goods, this way

September 9, 2014

New Yorker Spotlight: Mac Sillick and Sandy Hall of Black Tree, the LES ‘Farm to Sandwich’ Favorite

By Diane Pham

Plenty of new restaurants and bars have been popping up on the Lower East Side over the last few years, but one of the more recent standout eateries to appear is Black Tree. This Brooklyn transplant has only been around for a little more than a year, but their incredible menu has drawn in everyone from food critics at the Wall Street Journal and Zagat to Guy Fieri—who by the way can be seen dusting Black Tree sandwich crumbs from his goatee in an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We recently caught up with Mac Sillick and Sandy Hall, the owners and culinary creatives behind the delicious Downtown venture, to chat about their business. Find out about their "farm to sandwich" approach, why they only use locally sourced food, and why they moved their business from Crown Heights to the Lower East Side. **GIVEAWAY**: The fellas are also offering up one lucky reader 'drinks for two' at the Black Tree bar. Keep reading to find out how you can enjoy some organic cocktails on the house!
The interview and giveaway here

Coffee Culture: Are Neighborhood Cafes the First Sign of Gentrification?

Photo: Cafe Grumpy in Greenpoint by Premshree Pillai cc

September 3, 2014

Coffee Culture: Are Neighborhood Cafes the First Sign of Gentrification?

By Michelle Cohen

From “coffices” to lab-like minimalist gourmet coffee meccas to cozy neighborhood hangouts, neighborhood cafes are a fine example of the essential “third place” mentioned in discussions of community dynamics: that place, neither work nor home, where regulars gather and everyone’s welcome. Along with yoga studios, art galleries, community gardens, vintage clothing shops, restaurants with pedigreed owners and adventurous menus and, some say, a change in the offerings on local grocery shelves, cafes are often the earliest sign of neighborhood change. The neighborhood cafe serves as a testing ground for community cohesiveness while adventurous entrepreneurs test the still-unfamiliar waters around them. Beyond the literal gesture of offering sustenance, cafes provide a place where you can actually see who your neighbors are and appreciate the fact that at least some of them are willing to make an investment locally.
Get a fleeting glimpse of old New York City cafe culture in the West Village, meet the future of coffee distribution in Red Hook.

August 22, 2014

New Yorker Spotlight: We Visit Lillian Wright of Mimosa Floral Design in her Crown Heights Studio

By Susan Cohen

New York is known for having spectacular weddings of all shapes and sizes at every venue imaginable. Aside from the bride, the groom and the dress, flowers are often the center of attention at these affairs. And if you have attended one such wedding, Lilli Wright's centerpieces may have graced your table. As the owner of Mimosa Floral Design Studio based in Crown Heights, Lilli has become one of the city's most sought after florists. She recently did the flowers for a ceremony at the New York Public Library, and on another weekend she found herself designing flowers for five different weddings. Lilli—whose full name is Lillian—has always had a flower in her name, but it wasn't until a friend asked the then-actress to handle flowers at a wedding that she found her true calling. After a slew of floral-related adventures throughout the city, in 2010 Lilli became a bonafide Brooklyn entrepreneur when she started a flower business right out of her apartment. In June of this year, Lilli opened up a brand new storefront studio on Kingston Avenue. 6sqft recently caught up will Lilli at her Brooklyn studio to find out more about her new shop, Crown Heights' renaissance, and why the New York wedding scene is like no other.
Read our full interview with Lilli here

August 1, 2014

Daily Link Fix: The Lost Tree of Ground Zero; LGBT Barbershop Plans To Open in Brooklyn

By Alyssa Alimurung

Summer Streets Is Here!: Time to break out the bike and ride the open roads. Summer Streets closes down streets in Brooklyn and Manhattan for biking, zip-lining, running, yoga and other activities. Find out where to find the annual program at The New York Times. LGBT Barbershop Coming To Crown Heights: DNAinfo reports that hair stylist, […]

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June 7, 2014

Heritage Equity Partners Continues Its Gentrification of Brooklyn: Next Stop, Crown Heights

By Stephanie Hoina

With its beautiful brownstones and tree-lined streets, Crown Heights was once among the city’s premier neighborhoods prior to WWII. And though much has changed in subsequent years, Heritage Equity Partners is betting on its posh roots, acquiring a controlling interest in a new development project at 564 St. John’s Place. The deal values the property at close […]

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Spring + Thompson

83 Thompson Street

Soho

Loft-like residences in Soho designed by Selldorf Architects

2 beds starting at $4,975,000
4 beds starting at $14,850,000

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Crown Heights

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