So after we posted yesterday about Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s new watch-list of lousy landlords, and pointed out that Sheepshead Bay was in the clear, we got a call from his office. It turns out that those outer-outerborough neighborhoods aren’t as safe as it seems, and we may indeed have our own flat fuehrers.
According to the de Blasio staffer, the watchlist does not include every landlord or building that would qualify, just the ones that the office was made aware of. We still don’t know why the only ones they’re aware of came from a particular stretch of neighborhoods – but who cares? This is good news; it means Sheepshead Bay can join the party!
If you’ve got a cruddy landlord who may have violations from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, let the Public Advocate’s office know. They will add your building to the map, and try to spread the word and pressure the owner into better practices.
You can call the Public Advocate’s office at (212) 669-7200 or report a building on the website.
Screenshot of map of worst landlords, taken from Public Advocate's website
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s latest initiative, a compilation of New York City’s worst landlords, is burdened by one conspicuous yet unmentioned fact: the vast majority of slum lords operate along the Brooklyn-Queens and Bronx-Manhattan borders.
It was the first thing that caught my attention when I brought up the map of offending landlords created by his office. Manhattan and Staten Island remain, for the most part, clear. And so do the outer areas of the outerboroughs. But clusters of pink tabs congregate like a herpes outbreak around those sticky parts rubbing against their neighbors.
Sheepshead Bay, for its part, is totally in the clear. In fact, the only pin in all of Southern Brooklyn is in Coney Island, at 2766 West 15 Street. It’s a building owned by Henry Wright, a 70-infraction piker when compared to the city’s top slumlord, who has 1049 infractions.
Brooklyn is home to the most troubled buildings, though. We’ve got 96 out of 164 citywide. But, again, they’re almost universally located in the north of the borough.
So what’s with that? Why are they in such cruddy shape? And, in your experience, how do Sheepshead Bay’s landlords fare?
Just a month after we corrected naysayers and pointed out this spot is doing just fine, the final commercial tenants of the residential-retail development on Ocean Avenue and Avenue Z are either open or gearing up to open.
The latest to welcome customers is Voyage Unisex Hair Salon, another in a long line of spiffed-up Sheepshead Bay hair salons offering the works (including manicures, pedicures, waxes and all kinds of stuff I don’t know anything about). To celebrate their grand opening, they’re doing all haircuts for the supremely mediocre price of $15. They’re also hiring, so if you have good hands and a penchant for taking aerosol fumes to the head, give a call.
The other new business, which is not yet open and is only heralded by a cardboard sign in the door, is Chipp Neapolitan Pizza (and thank you, BrooklynQ, for catching this and sending the photo). With two buses stopping in front of the store and no other pizzeria for several blocks, the business should do very well.
Good luck to all the new businesses of the now totally booked development.
Click to enlarge
Owners of the commercial development sprouting up at 30 Dooley Street told Sheepshead Bites that they’ve signed leases with a restaurant and beer garden and a “hot yoga” spa.
Benjamin Klein, of Klein Levin Associates, which developed and owns the property, said the building is just a few weeks away from completion, and expects a certificate of occupancy following inspections.
The restaurant and beer garden will take up the basement level of the four-unit property, and will have its own separate entrance on Dooley Street.
The top floor is booked for a Bikram Yoga spa. Also known as hot yoga, stretches are practiced in a room heated to 105°F with a humidity of 40 percent. The top floor of the building is a loft-style unit, with views overlooking the Sheepshead Bay marina.
Klein said two more 2,000 square foot units are still available, both with balconies and waterfront views. The building has attendant parking for 18 cars.
Here’s a shot of the view from the top level:
Site of the proposed Sheepshead Bay mosque
After Brooklyn Tea Party activists failed to get a response from Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz regarding the Sheepshead Bay mosque – primarily because it’s not in his district – the group fired off another open letter. This time their target is Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, who represents the blocks around the proposed mosque site.
Much of the letter’s contents remain the same, though its tone is notably more aggressive. The author, Brooklyn Tea Party President John K. Press, points out the assemblywoman’s absence at the June 12 rally, and tries to head off a presumed response to “deny jurisdiction.”
There are a few new tactics recommended in this latest letter, too. The Tea Party is urging Assemblywoman Weinstein to publicize the “need to know about the foreign funding” so they can assure compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a 1938 statute that requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals to disclose the relationship. They’re also asking the local pol to put pressure on Community Board 15 (which has no say unless there is a request for variance or special permit), and to seek government relief by pursuing eminent domain on the property.
View the Brooklyn Tea Party’s open letter to Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein
Site of the proposed Sheepshead Bay mosque
Brooklyn Tea Party activists issued an open letter to Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, calling on the Sheepshead Bay politician to create obstacles for the proposed 2812 Voorhies Avenue mosque.
John K. Press, president of the Brooklyn Tea Party, writes:
The Board and Standards and Appeals Chair, Meenakshi Srinivasan, has promised to render, “decisions that respect the character and context of neighborhoods.” A large proportion of the residents on Voorhies are Jewish. Having an organization that preaches hate against Jews move into the neighborhood would greatly disrupt the neighborhood character and quality of life for the current residents.
I implore you to step into this process in any way you can to slow down the permit granting process. This will allow you time to vet the buyer. And, if the concerns about the MAS prove baseless, we recognize that they should be welcomed as good neighbors.
The letter depicted Cymbrowitz’s recent opposition to a proposed 9-story garage and office building near the Sheepshead Bay Road subway station as setting a precedent for his involvement in developments that challenge the community’s character.
But the focus of the letter’s opposition to the Sheepshead Bay mosque revolves around its connection to the Muslim American Society, not development issues, and includes links to the http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Israel/Muslim_American_Society.htm about anti-semitic themes in MAS.
A staffer from Cymbrowitz’s office said they are mulling over an official response, but nothing has been decided yet. Cymbrowitz’s district ends at Voorhies Avenue and East 23rd Street; the proposed mosque will be in Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein’s district.
“[The Assemblyman is] dedicated to his community, as opposed to what’s happening other places, in terms of focusing his efforts,” the staffer told Sheepshead Bites.
View the full open letter from the BK Tea Party to Cymbrowitz.
At their June 27 rally, Bay People made their case against zoning issues. But attendees had a different message.
In a pair of Brooklyn Paper Op-Eds opponents to the Sheepshead Bay mosque reassert their criticism of zoning issues, while advocates fight for their right to religious freedom.
But the bigots, with their sensational quotes, still provide the focus for the mainstream media’s reports, and no legitimate conversation can emerge until they’ve been addressed.
Keep reading for our take on the Op-Eds and the state of the mosque debate.
With 1629 Sheepshead Bay Road nearing completion, the owner said he is in talks to bring a lounge to Sheepshead Bay Road.
A nail salon previously occupied 1629 Sheepshead Bay Rd (Courtesy of Google Maps)
Owner Rovshan Sharifov said he hopes to bring an upscale bar and lounge to the first floor of the three-floor building when construction is complete, which he thinks will be the end of this year. If not a lounge, he said the space will be for retail use.
On the third floor he’ll move the Brooklyn location of his law practice Sharifov & Russell, LLP (his other office is in Hempstead, Long Island). His current practice is down the block at 1661 Sheepshead Bay Road. The second floor will have office space.
According to Department of Buildings records, Sharifov bought the property in 2008 from the Kallas family, which owns several properties on and around Sheepshead Bay Road. The Kallas family bought the land in 2005 for $930,000 and sold it three years later for $940,000. Sharifov said he plans to hold onto the property long-term.
The property was previously occupied by a nail salon.
The development of Sheepshead Bay from 1928 to 2008, as shown in aerial maps from NYCityMap
If the urbanization of Sheepshead Bay is unavoidable, how do we make the best of it?
On my post yesterday about the planned three-story mixed-use building at 2409 Avenue Z (near the corner of Bedford Avenue), commenters Cabbie and Lisanne shared brief exchanges about the loss of the neighborhood’s “small town feel,” but also expressed that the zoning makes it unavoidable.
Keep reading and weigh in on how to make the most of urbanization.
A three-story building will soon be erected at 2409 Avenue Z, the original location of Tre Fratelli Deli. Some time in mid-June, the developer, 2409 Ave Z, LLC, tore down the existing structure to make way for the new mixed-use building.
Here’s what it used to look like:
According to Department of Buildings records, the new 33-foot-tall building will have 8,631 square feet of space, split between residential use (7,621 sq. ft.) and the ever-present “community facility,” (1,010 sq. ft.), a term rarely used to actually indicate a facility for community use, just a space they label as such to get a greater floor-area ratio (FAR).
A variance issued to the developer in 2007 gave permission to construct the triangular building with a 22-foot-wide curb cut for three cars (a curb cut no larger than 15 feet, and space for five cars are required under zoning law). The new construction will have five residential units, according to the variance documents. You can see the proposed layout here.
The demolition of the building raised complaints from a neighbor, who said they weren’t notified of the work and the shaking was causing potentially unsafe conditions in the adjacent building. They were issued no violations.
Good, bad, amazing, destructive? Your thoughts?
