Landlords to Battery Park Tenants: Get Mad at Us, Not at the Walls

Penny-pinchers (well, pickers) in Soho, possibly anger-based graffiti in Battery Park City, and the pitiable buyers at the Novo in Park Slope — that and more in today's boroughs report.

Posted 06/03/08 in Daily Intel : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: battery park city, downtown brooklyn, greenpoint, harlem, midtown, neighborhood watch, park slope, real estate, soho

Battery Park, Do We Need More of It?

Battery Park City: Should the hood, itself built on landfill, be extended out into the Hudson with more landfill? The local community board says, "No, no, no!" [CityRealty] Bedford-Stuyvesant: Herewith, twenty reasons to love the hood's hated-on, not-so-trendy north side. ("11. The selection of current bootleg DVDs at the laundromat." Can't argue with that.) [Bed-Stuy Banana] Downtown Brooklyn: One of those sleek, new bus shelters has been smashed to pieces … again! [McBrooklyn]

Posted 11/26/07 in Daily Intel : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: battery park city, bedford-stuyvesant, downtown brooklyn, greenpoint, harlem, long island city, neighborhood watch, smith street, union square

Rats Attack Chelsea Health Clinic

Battery Park City: The Solaire, which touts itself as "America's first environmentally advanced residential tower," is cracking down on bikes parked in hallways. [Streetsblog] Brooklyn Heights: The Love Lane Garage will close at month's end, to make room for — OMG, this is so surprising! — new condos. [Brooklyn Heights Blog] Central Park: Free classical music does nothing but bring out the rudeness in people. Fortunately, no fistfights. This isn't Boston, after all. [City Specific] Chelsea: Ew, rats! No, not the condo developers — real rats! And all over the park in front of the Ninth Avenue city health clinic, no less. [Blog Chelsea] Dumbo: Is the spruced-up Pearl Street Triangle painted the same lime green as the city's bike lanes because the Department of Transportation had extra paint left over, or because it really likes this color? [Brownstoner] Gowanus: A whole lotta enviro-cleanup is going to have to happen before the city can turn the parcel known as Public Place into the affordable-housing complex it envisions. [Gowanus Lounge] Upper West Side: Fights reportedly broke out at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods this morning as people queued up to by ecofriendly, $15 designer canvas "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" shopping sacks. [Gothamist]

Posted 07/18/07 in Daily Intel : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: battery park city, brooklyn heights, central park, chelsea, dumbo, gowanus, neighborhood watch, upper west side

Downtown Gets Rich and Popular, Upending Neighborhood Stereotypes

This week, humanity was shocked by the news that downtown Manhattanites have a higher median household income than any other population center in the country. (Meanwhile, journalism professors were shocked by the fact that Daily Intel took this information directly from a press release sent out by a real-estate developer that operates primarily in downtown Manhattan.) “Downtown” is defined as the financial district and Battery Park City, as well as the “Civic Center region,” which we’d never heard of but apparently refers to the area around City Hall. This means it's time for New Yorkers to revise our cherished wealth-related neighborhood stereotypes. After the jump, some suggestions.

Posted 06/29/07 in Daily Intel : In Other News

Tags: battery park city, financial district, In Other News, lower manhattan, money

Brits Complain About How Expensive New York Is

Battery Park City: Move over, David Rockwell and your high-tech playground, there's another kid in the sandbox. Frank Gehry's now designing a $4 million kiddiespace for the Battery. [Gothamist] Chelsea: The London Times complains about how much it costs to call London from New York ($35 for five minutes from the Chelsea Hotel). But doesn't everyone just use cell phones? [London Times via Living with Legends] Hell's Kitchen: Locals meet tonight to formulate their official suggestions for desnarling congestion on Ninth Avenue near the Lincoln Tunnel. Good luck to them. [Streetsblog] Park Slope: Enrique Norten will follow Richard Meier as the next starchitect in the area, designing a swank condo on Garfield Place, complete with English garden. [Brooklyn Eagle via Brownstoner] Willets Point: Wi-Fi at Shea Stadium? Not so much. [East Village Idiot] Williamsburg: Sweet! Get inside the Domino Sugar factory. [BlueJake]

Posted 06/06/07 in Daily Intel : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: battery park city, chelsea, hell's kitchen, neighborhood watch, park slope, willets point, williamsburg

What Will ‘Post’ Coverage Mean for Prospect Lefferts Gardens?

Battery Park City: The DOT is removing stop signs on a five-block stretch along the river. Is that good or bad? [Streetsblog] Coney Island: This summer, the beach cops will be on Segways. Cue the laugh track. [AP via Brooklyn Record] Midtown East: "The Splendido" is the worst name for a condo. Ever. [City Realty via Curbed] Midtown West: There are new advances in janitorial techniques to be found at Penn Station. [East Village Idiot] Park Slope: Daily fuel fumes at 6 a.m. Anyone know the source? [Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn] Prospect Lefferts Gardens: If the Post calls this the next "It" place, does that ensure it won't be? [NYP via Son of Planet PLG]

Posted 05/17/07 in Daily Intel : Neighborhood Watch

Tags: battery park city, coney island, midtown east, midtown west, neighborhood watch, park slope, prospect lefferts gardens

Battery Park City Is a Health Nut's Paradise

For years, Manhattanites viewed Battery Park City as being so inconvenient, so sleepy, so far west — you even have to cross the West Side Highway to get there — that it might as well be in New Jersey. Many grumbled about the lack of services and stores. But slowly people have discovered this downtown neighborhood's appeal: enviable parks, great schools, harbor views, and an admirable cache of ecofriendly apartments — old and new, and of all sizes — featuring paint and carpets that don't give off sickening fumes as well as "filtered" air and water systems. That makes it a haven for health freaks — which is ironic considering that Battery Park City is built on landfill. But families love it these days, as do Wall Street types — hence the glut of one-bedrooms on the market there — who want to be able to walk to work but feel as far away from it as possible when they need the psychological distance. After the jump, some of this weekend's interesting Battery Park City open houses. — S. Jhoanna Robledo

Posted 01/19/07 in Daily Intel : Vu.

Tags: battery park city, financial district, lower manhattan, real estate, Vu.