Soho Knows ‘Rod Stewart Loves the Hamptons’A rogue graffiti artist really wants you to believe that the aging rocker really has a thing for the East End. And for palm trees. Plus, pandas in Union Square, a ‘Gossip Girl’ spat, and more in our daily borough report.
Writer-Actor Lin-Manuel Miranda Tells Where to Go In the HeightsThe writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda didn’t actually grow up in Washington Heights, the milieu of his Broadway smash, In the Heights. But that means his favorite neighborhood hangs range beyond just upper Manhattan.
neighborhood watch
Dutch Kills Residents So Mad They Could, Um, Berate the Zoning BoardDutch Kills: Seems that by the time they finish zoning this swath of Long Island City against tall hotels, it’ll already be chock-full of ‘em Ground’s been broken on too many to stop. [NYDN]
East Harlem: In other critter news, this story about a poodle named Miss Bea — rescued from a closet after so much neglect that her matted, dirty coat became “like a tortoiseshell” — will probably make you cry, barf, or both. [NYDN]
Hell’s Kitchen: We must say, we remain fascinated with the charmingly boring blog of this HKer who posts such daily banalities as photos of his dishes in local eateries and accounts of his walks around town. [Hell’s Kitchen NYC]
neighborhood watch
Even the Raccoons Move to BrooklynAstoria: More and more folks are discovering the quiet charms of Hallets Cove, the East River tributary just a short walk from Vernon Boulevard. [Waterwire via Joey in Astoria]
City Hall: Ever wanted to know what the old City Hall subway station looked like? Prettier than most others. And that’s why it’s closed. [Gothamist]
Clinton Hill: Looks like the raccoons that have been plaguing outer Queens are now encroaching on Kings County, too. At least they’re not buying up all the brownstones. [Brooklynian]
Dumbo: Avant-tots, rejoice! A bunch of “old German hippies” will design a super-cool playground for the southern end of the waterfront Brooklyn Bridge Park. [The Brooklyn Paper]
Inwood: The kids are climbing the walls at Intermediate School 52! Or is it just a really cool artist-student collaboration? [Wooster Collective via Razor Apple]
Sunset Park: Locals force a stop-work order at 420 42nd Street, a site whose plans were “self-certified” by the twelve-story tower’s architect. But will it last? [Brownstoner]
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Inwood: So Far North, It’s CheapYou’ve heard it before: There are deals to be had in Inwood, a neighborhood that sits on the northernmost tip of Manhattan. But are there really? If a co-op apartment is what you’re after, you might find a deal this weekend. There are plenty of them here, especially two-bedrooms. Many are in buildings that wouldn’t be considered white glove in tonier sections of the city but do offer substantive (read practical) extras like children’s play spaces and garages, and they are also friendly to pets and people without fantastically large reserves of cash. The trade-off is that you’ll feel like you’re worlds away from everything, or at least a decent grocery store, though greenmarkets and CSAs (membership groups that support nearby farms from which they purchase produce) abound. And of course, there’s Inwood Hill Park, Isham Park, and Fort Tryon Park, all of which more than make up for the fact that you’re so far from that other, more central green space due south. S. Jhoanna Robledo
buy low
2 BRs — and a Year’s Free Maintenance — in InwoodEven for low-key Inwood, the 950-square-foot co-op at 117 Seaman Avenue is a steal. (Go to the Barak Realty site and enter Web ID 300191.) It’s got two bedrooms, a kitchen large enough to eat in, and a dining area that could easily be closed off to create a third bedroom — all for only $395,000. It’s a little tired, but original details that prewar fans drool over — moldings, paneled walls, and the like — are intact. Plus, the seller’s willing to pony up a year’s maintenance (about $670 a month) just to get someone to take the apartment off his hands, says listing agent William Vilkelis of Barak Realty. Why so eager? Renters were in place, which made the property inconvenient to show. Brokers had to work around their schedules, and their moving boxes cluttered up the space. Now they’re gone, and the owner, who lives all the way in Pennsylvania, doesn’t feel like playing landlord anymore.
— S. Jhoanna Robledo
