A wealthy Brooklynite has recently inked a $27,000 per-month lease for an apartment in Downtown Brooklyn, marking the most expensive apartment in the borough’s history. The unnamed renter signed the lease for the under-construction four-bedroom penthouse at One Boerum Place, a 96-apartment building just steps from Brooklyn Borough Hall. The eye-watering monthly rent falls just short of the most expensive lease overall, which belongs to a townhouse in Brooklyn Heights for $30,000 each month that was signed back in June. The mammoth lease was first reported by Crain’s New York Business on Thursday. The One Boerum Place penthouse features 3,100 square feet of indoor space and 2,000 square feet of outdoor space, according to a rep for One Boerum developer Avery Hall. The building …
St. Francis College Leaving Brooklyn Heights for Downtown
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that St. Francis College, a four year liberal arts institution that has made its home in Brooklyn Heights since 1963, will be moving to new, smaller quarters in a high rise building being built above the Macy’s store on Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Although St. Francis plans to expand its student population from its present 2,700 or so to 3,500 by 2026, the Eagle story quotes a representative of the school as saying that while the present building at 180 Remsen Street (photo by C. Scales for BHB) wasn’t “designed specifically to be a campus” the new space is, and …
Herroner! New Ruth Bader Ginsburg statue unveiled at City Point
Local politicos unveiled a new statue of the late United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Downtown Brooklyn’s City Point shopping mall Friday to honor the Brooklyn-born pioneer. “Justice Ginsburg is a product of this borough and we are so proud of that,” said Brooklyn Democratic Party boss and Flatbush Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn at the March 12 ceremony. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg played an absolutely essential role in establishing modern law on equal protection as it relates to equality between the sexes. She is a role model to me and to everyone.” The 6-foot bronze statue lives at the Flatbush Avenue…
2021 Elections: Who’s running for City Council in the 33rd District
The 33rd Council District covers the neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, the Navy Yard, Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo, Greenpoint, Vinegar Hill and Williamsburg. Incumbent Stephen Levin was elected to represent the district in 2009 and is term-limited out of office by the end of 2021. Since Levin took office, the district’s built environment has changed dramatically, with luxury developments rising in Downtown Brooklyn — which was rezoned by the city in 2004 — and similar towers cropping up along the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront, which also underwent a major land-use change in 2005. Affordable…
Cops arrest protesters during anti-eviction march in Downtown Brooklyn
Police aggressively arrested a group of protesters during an anti-eviction protest in Downtown Brooklyn on Friday — including an 80-year-old tenant activist, who cops cuffed and tossed into a windowless van as she was attempting to comply with orders to vacate the scene. Officers from the Strategic Response Group collared the activists shortly before 1 pm after they entered a Court Street office building that houses a law firm responsible for representing landlords in eviction …
Gage & Tollner Returns on March 15
The PR blitz is on as the new owners of Gage and Tollner prepare for its re-opening on March 15. Stories have appeared in the Times and on NY1, both emphasizing nostalgia and innovation, as the 1879 restaurant re-creates itself for a 2020 clientele.The new G&T is brought to you by the owners of Red Hook’s Fort Defiance and Gowanus’ Insa, who recognize that stalwarts of the restaurant’s previous incarnations will come with high expectations, but the proprietors also acknowledge that the dining…
Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s a Teardown Option?
With reports Wednesday that Macy’s is considering a sale of its flagship location in Brooklyn, speculation begins about the fate of Fulton Mall’s largest and grandest building. According to Women’s Wear Daily, executives at the Cincinnati-based retail chain are said to be debating whether to renovate the venerable building at 422 Fulton Street or to sell the property and rebuild at a new location at 1-31 Hoyt Street, the current site of a Macy’s-owned parking garage. RELATED:This Interactive Map Shows Every Demolition In Brooklyn Since 2003 With the possibility of netting as much as $300 million dollars, this sale may proceed quickly, and it seems likely that whoever wins the bidding war will be tempted to raze the old building, whose origins date…