By Stephen Jacob Smith 3/26 6:48pm

Der New Yorkishe Beobakhter

The balconies on Wallabout Street are for religion, not pleasure.

Weapons of Mass Construction: Satmars’ Secret to Keeping Housing Prices Low

Strolling down Bedford Avenue, you’re greeted by a solid wall of new six-story brick buildings.

The apartments are spacious and cheap by New York standards. For half a million dollars, you can buy a three-bedroom condo in a new elevator building. The tan brick buildings won’t win any design awards, with their looming, protruding window cages and diagonally cascading balconies built solely for constructing booths during Sukkot. But the apartments are big enough to raise a kid or seven.

Cross Broadway north into the trendier section of Williamsburg, though, and half a million will barely buy you a studio. The new construction appears formidable, but it pales in comparison with the torrent of demand streaming into the neighborhood. Read More

By Eliot Brown 5/27/10 3:20pm

In Brooklyn, An Anti-Development Lawsuit Actually Advances

There’s a pattern in New York, particularly during the Bloomberg administration, for those who oppose large-scale development; it goes something like this:

1)      City presents plan for big development/rezoning.

2)      Angry neighbors mount grass-roots campaign against it; lobby local council member to vote against plan.

3)      Local council member negotiates a compromise and declares a Read More

By Eliot Brown 9/07/09 6:18pm

The Week of Amanda Burden

The giant wave of end–of–second–Bloomberg-term land-use approvals is making its way to the halls of 22 Reade Street, as the Department of City Planning, led by the powerful Amanda Burden, is tackling a mass of major planned developments this week.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s on tap:

Jean Nouvel/MoMA/Hines 53rd Street Tower — The Read More

By Reid Pillifant 6/10/09 10:08pm

Bizarro Zoning Fight in Williamsburg: Housing Advocates Want City to Build Taller and Bigger

Opponents of a Brooklyn redevelopment project packed a Community Board One meeting last night in Williamsburg, drowning out a presentation by the city’s Housing Preservation and Development office, in a battle that could influence City Council primaries in the 33rd and 34th districts this September.

Roughly 50 protesters, armed with signs and a bullhorn, chanted Read More

By Reid Pillifant 6/10/09 9:57pm

Bizarro Zoning Fight in Williamsburg: Housing Advocates Want City to Build Taller and Bigger

Opponents of a Brooklyn redevelopment project packed a Community Board One meeting last night in Williamsburg, drowning out a presentation by the city’s Housing Preservation and Development office, in a battle that could influence City Council primaries in the 33rd and 34th districts this September. Roughly 50 protesters, armed with signs and a bullhorn, chanted Read More