Construction death in Brooklyn

From CBS 2:

It was a tragic day in Brooklyn, where a construction worker was fatally struck by falling construction material at a work site in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Chopper 2 was over the emergency response at the six-story mixed use building project near the corner of Myrtle and Marcy Avenues just before noon.

It was a tragic day in Brooklyn, where a construction worker was fatally struck by falling construction material at a work site in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Chopper 2 was over the emergency response at the six-story mixed use building project near the corner of Myrtle and Marcy Avenues just before noon.

Brooklyn neighborhood under siege

From PIX11:

This was not a forum on issues within public housing, of which there are many, but instead an attempt to focus specifically on private homeowners and tenants.

The frustration circulating through the room came to a boil when it came to deed theft – and the army of sketchy real estate investors residents say prey on struggling homeowners.

“Some of us have identified a single player who is a responsible for a disproportionate amount of skullduggery in Bedford Stuyvesant,” said Brooklyn resident Joe Gonzalez.

“The third party transfer program, broadly speaking, is really mean to protect tenants of these buildings that have been severely distressed,” said Deputy Director of NYC Neighborhood Strategies Leila Bozorg.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to the topic of gentrification, who’s responsible for it – and what can be done to neutralize the impact on private homeowners and tenants, who can no longer afford to live in their own neighborhoods.

On Brooklyn resident told the crowd, “The miseducation of the community is systemic. And the lack of empathy by the politicians has accelerated gentrification in our area. So it’s gonna be hard to stop the foreclosure process right now, because once you start feeding a beast a particular diet, it’s hard to change that diet.”

AirBnB violators face heavy fines

From the NY Post:

A Manhattan landlord and a former Corcoran realtor are the first casualties of a newly enforceable law meant to curb illegal Airbnb listings, The Post has learned.

Property owner Hank Freid — who was once crowned one of NYC’s “Worst Landlords” by a watchdog group in 2005 — and real estate broker Tatiana Cames were slapped with 17 violations, at $1,000 apiece, for their allegedly illegal listings on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brooklyn, according to documents obtained by the Post.

Freid, who manages the Marrakech Hotel, was hit with 12 violations for listing SROs in the building on several booking platforms, including Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Orbitz, the citations reveal.

Meanwhile, Cames — who was served with five violations — allegedly posted five separate listings to Airbnb advertising 320 Macon St, which records show she purchased for $2.15M in 2015.

The Macon St. property was discovered to have inadequate fire alarms, sprinklers, illegal subdivisions, and a confused bunch of French tourists in a rear unit, according the procured documents.

Cames appears to be making money off the vacancies in the building as she attempts to fill the space, as the same units are advertised as “for rent” on her personal website.

The listings also seem to suggest that drawing illegal Airbnb-ers into BedStuy will help “diversify” the locale.

De Blasio press release indicates shelter shuffle is a huge scam

The de Blasio administration has announced the imminent opening of 4 new shelters this month in Maspeth, Woodside, Bed-Stuy and Ozone Park.

Yet on August 10th, he announced the following:

So do we need to "plan capacity" or should we pat de Bozo on his head for his deft handling of the homeless crisis?

Building collapses in Bed-Stuy

From WPIX:

A four-story building at 1438 Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant collapsed suddenly around 2:30 p.m.

A person walking by the building was injured in the collapse. The extent of their injuries is unknown at this time.

Adjoining buildings at 1440, 1442 and 1444 Fulton Street are being evacuated as the FDNY and Department of Buildings evaluate their stability.

It’s still unclear if there are any occupants trapped in the debris.

Report details major rent squeeze

From Curbed:

When adjusted for inflation, rents throughout New York City have risen a staggering 32 percent since 2002. Think that's bad? Well, it is (as seen here), but in certain neighborhoods, rents have soared twice as much, or even almost threefold. A report released by the nonprofit Community Service Society says that rents in Central Harlem have risen 90 percent in the last 12 years, from a median rent of $821 to 2014's $1,560. Central Harlem is the neighborhood that's most acutely felt the rise in rents since 2002, with Bed-Stuy following with a median rent increase of 63 percent from $921 to $1,500. Other neighborhoods that follow close behind are the lumped areas of Fort Greene/Dumbo/Brooklyn Heights with a 59 percent increase, and Washington Heights/Inwood with a 55 percent increase in median rent (h/t NYDN).

The death of a pre-Civil war church isn't pretty

From Brownstoner:

Brownstoner reader brooklynverni snapped these dramatic photos Thursday of an excavator demolishing one of Bed Stuy’s oldest buildings, the pre-Civil War Carpenter Gothic church at 809 Jefferson Avenue. Demo for the St. Stephen and St. Martin Episcopal Church started in January.

Features such as the building’s stained glass and pews were removed, the interior was stripped bare, and then nothing much seemed to be happening for a couple of months.

As we have detailed in previous stories, the church struck a deal with Notias Construction, which plans to build 41 market rate apartments as well as a new two-story church building. The property includes a very large empty lot on the corner, where the church had planned a new house of worship for many years, although that never came to pass.

The church felt it could not afford repairs on the existing building, and had no choice but to sell, according to what we have heard from neighbors familiar with the situation. No sale has been recorded.

Cops to cover graffiti in certain areas

From CBS New York:

Black, red, and white. Those are the colors of spray paint that the NYPD will reportedly be using to cover up graffiti in the city.

It’s all part of the department’s new graffiti fighting program, the New York Post reported.

Some New Yorkers have already questioned the policy.

The Post said that officers have been instructed to spray over any graffiti tags, especially those found in areas like Bushwick, Brownsville, and Bed Stuy.