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 Drew Grant 7/25/12 1:59pm

Brooklyn

Fireworks on the Hudson (YouTube)

Baby You’re a (East River) Firework: Macy’s Considers Returning Fourth of July Light Show to Original Locale

For those of us living in the outer boroughs, navigating Manhattan during the holidays can serve as a great reminder as to why we migrated off the island in the first place.  New Years Eve, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving…the term “amateur hour” was practically invented to describe the hoards of revelers who descend upon NYC like a plague of locusts to “celebrate” these annual events by getting as drunk as humanly possible and clogging up the sidewalks and public transit systems.

Now, most of the time, this does not pose too much of a problem for Brooklynites and Queens residents, who would just as soon stay in their district anyway, throwing  Skrillex-themed rooftop parties.

But the 4th of July poses an issue for non-Gotham-dwellers: since 2009, the incredible light show thrown by Macy’s has been held on the Hudson River, making it almost impossible to view from the top of a Brooklyn Heights townhouse. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 4/29/11 3:39pm

In Memoriam

Remembering Hope Reichbach

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is mourning the death of 22-year-old City Council aide Hope Reichbach, who was found dead in her apartment yesterday afternoon.

“All of Brooklyn’s thoughts and prayers are with Hope’s parents, Judge Gustin Reichbach and Ellen Meyers, her friends, and of course, my condolences to Councilman Levin and his staff. Here Read More

By William Alden 7/14/10 11:44am

Vito Lopez vs. Brooklyn’s ‘Gold Coast’

Tuesday’s hearing on the 421-a Property Tax Exemption Program almost didn’t happen.

“When we mailed out the notice and we reached out to a lot of people, there was almost no response,” Vito Lopez, chairman of the state Assembly’s housing committee, said. “So it’s quite interesting.”

At issue was whether 421-a, which gives tax breaks Read More

By Eliot Brown 4/14/10 8:35pm

Council Approves Rose Plaza

Rose Plaza apparently will not be going the way of the Kingsbridge Armory.

On Wednesday afternoon, the City Council approved the planned Williamsburg waterfront development, a make-or-break vote that came after a scramble of last-minute lobbying and a boost of the affordable-housing levels.

Two weeks ago, the project looked poised for a rare defeat, Read More

By Eliot Brown 4/09/10 3:28pm

Rose Plaza Not Dead (Yet)

It seems Rose Plaza on the River, the controversial planned Williamsburg housing development just south of the Williamsburg Bridge, may actually live to see the light of day.

Earlier this week, all signs were pointing to a very rare defeat at the hands of the City Council for the 800-apartment, $410 million development planned for Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/07/09 6:46pm

Levin Gets Schumer, With Relish

Senator Charles Schumer waded into one of the more closely contested City Council races this morning, endorsing Stephen Levin in the 33rd District to replace the incumbent David Yassky.

On the steps of Brooklyn’s Borough Hall, Schumer praised Levin for his work promoting affordable housing in Bushwick, where Levin has served as Read More

By Reid Pillifant 7/16/09 4:23pm

A Liberal Operator Runs Against the Brooklyn Machine

On a recent Friday night in the backyard of Pete’s Candy Store, a neighborhood bar in Williamsburg, City Council candidate Evan Thies ate hamburgers and hot dogs with some supporters from the 33rd District’s ubiquitous kickball league. After a few beers, the crowd of 20- and 30-somethings was hushed, and Thies—looking slightly out Read More