Williamsburg Living
Williamsburg Living
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#1Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 9:54am
So, friends, my lease is going to be up soon and I'm kicking around the idea of possibly--still not sure--buying. Since the prices in the Manhattan area are a little steep for me, I thought I'd look into the once-oh-so-trendy Williamsburg. Looking around craigslist I came across this disconcerting message from some poster. I still can't tell whether its from someone in the know or just another lunatic with access to a computer:
"Lots of new condos hitting the market in Williamsburg....more this summer and fall ....lots of supply...prices dropping..take advantage of it.
Demand BK/Willamsburg DISCOUT, not worth the ASK
Williamsburg is top toxic/polluted neighborhood- Radiac (Grand and Kent), Bayside Oil (n.9th), the huge oil spill in Greenpoint, the underground oil spill never cleaned up on southside s.4/5th...the waste tranfer station blocks from the new Toll brother buildings...
No decent schools except for 1 small private one for preschool etc
NO DECENT Hospitals...Woodhull the closes is SCARY
NO DECENT grocery store
Drunken frat boys yelling all hours, drugs (now its college boy desiner drugs versus previous crack) coming back, rapes/assaults are up but police covering the real numbers
Williamsburg Bedford L stop is too full at rush hour morning to get on train as last stop before tunnel....if you need to work a real job to pay for your mortgage.. 9-6pm good luck...Oh yeah the developers say they will have ferries? to end of Houston at 14Th? and you can walk to Union Sq? hahaha....dream on...
They charge Manhattan prices...BUT this is no way Manhattan...
BUYER BEWARE"
Hmmm....does anyone live there? (Miss Margo, I know you were once a Williamsburgian) Can you confirm/deny all this? Most of it I can deal with except the drunken frat boys and the overcrowded train stations. Any opinions/suggestions your friend Borstal would appreciate!
mejusthavingfun
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/12/06
#2re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 10:30am
>>>>>"Lots of new condos hitting the market in Williamsburg....more this summer and fall ....lots of >>>supply...prices dropping..take advantage of it.
Prices are NOT dropping. Williamsburg is also sort of expanding. Areas in Bushwick and Ridgewood are now referred to as "East Williamsburg." Now while Ridgewood has nicer areas than Williamsburg, it is not as close to Manhattan. Bushwick is really in flux right now as the rich push out the poor. It's volatile really.
>>>>>Demand BK/Williamsburg DISCOUT, not worth the ASK
I don't know what this is.
>>>Williamsburg is top toxic/polluted neighborhood- Radiac (Grand and Kent), Bayside Oil (n.9th), the huge oil spill in Greenpoint, the underground oil spill never cleaned up on southside s.4/5th...the waste tranfer station blocks from the >>new Toll brother buildings...
This IS true, and there is nothing funnier seeing the hipsters schlep their Whole Foods to these toxic areas. There is work being done, but not enough. That underground oil spill has been tied up in litigation for years. Though most areas of the city are very toxic. We have several powerplants throughout the city and very toxic pollution from drycleaners and exhaust.
>>>No decent schools except for 1 small private one for preschool etc
The reality is that poor people lived here until recently. They get **** on when it comes to schools. Schools will come, these hipsters are aging.
>>>NO DECENT Hospitals...Woodhull the closes is SCARY
City hospitals in general are scary places; the ones in this area are awful.
>>>NO DECENT grocery store
This is all changing.
>>>Drunken frat boys yelling all hours, drugs (now its college boy desiner drugs versus previous crack) coming back, >>rapes/assaults are up but police covering the real numbers
This is all true. A lot of time robberies are not reported or misreported to change the numbers. This area is close to the Queens border so criminals can pass over and the cops don't follow.
>>>Williamsburg Bedford L stop is too full at rush hour morning to get on train as last stop before tunnel....if you need to work a real job to pay for your mortgage.. 9-6pm good luck...Oh yeah the developers say they will have ferries? to end of >>Houston at 14Th? and you can walk to Union Sq? hahaha....dream >>>on...
This is so true,, I can't spell schedenfruede, but you know what I mean. Every morning when the L passes the Hipsters my friends and I have a good laugh. That's what they get for trying to push out the poor and wearing those hideous clothes.
>>>>They charge Manhattan prices...BUT this is no way Manhattan... BUYER BEWARE"
This is true. But it is close to Manhattan.
It is really great you are doing your homework.
Updated On: 5/10/07 at 10:30 AM
#2re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 10:48am
I have friends who live there. A lot of this is true. They put up with it because it's close to Manhattan and considered "cool" by some.
It's true that they charge practically Manhattan prices.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#3re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 10:49amHmmmm....good to know. ANY areas of Williamsburg that are cool? Most of the places I see are on the Graham and Lorimer L stops.
mejusthavingfun
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/12/06
#4re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 10:55am
Borstal it's all the same. There are blocks that are changing, but the important things like transportation, hospitals, schools are just not there yet.
The further you go east into Bushwick the area becomes more desolate and industrial
.
Studios go for $1000 and up there. I have friends paying less for 1 bedrooms in Manhattan.
I think they needs some gays in there to make it Fabulous.
It is not "cool" anymore either. I don't know where the art community is moving to, but Williamsburg is not hip.
Updated On: 5/28/07 at 10:55 AM
#5re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:01am
Also read the Real Estate section of the NY Times. I like reading the articles about various neighborhoods in NYC. They also run a weekly feature about people finding places to live. It follows their search and where they ultimately end up.
I used to live in the Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn up until 2000. This area is accessible to the F, 2, 3, 4 & N trains. I absolutely loved that neighborhood. I was looking for a place to buy in the late 90s, and the one bedrooms I was looking at were over 200K at the time. Obviously things are a bit more now.
#6re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:02amI don't live in the area, but I can ditto the overcrowding on the trains- a woman who I used to work with lived in Williamsburg and would walk over the bridge into the city in the am, and *then* get on a train to get to the office, as it was just easier that way.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#7re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:08amWow. This is all very good to know...thanks! Saw some cool places online at Prospect Heights close to the A/C. Maybe that will be good...or Harlem...or I'll chill for a year and buy next year since I don't know a whole lot about buying and am a little intimidated by it all.
#8re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:23amWhen it came to buying in NYC, I always thought I'd wait for the prices to come down, but they always kept going up!! Same thing happened in DC, so I just bit the bullet and finally bought something two years ago (when it really would have been to my advantage when I first moved here as things were in the low to mid 100s). The numbers are enough to make anyone intimidated, but now that all is said and done, it was the best thing I ever did (plus the tax advantage is great).
#9re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:24am
Don't know if you're open to Queens, but I'm in the middle of buying a place in Jackson Heights. I am a few minutes' walk to the E/G/V/F/R/7 - all express lines.
When things are moving, it takes 10 mins from that stop to Columbus Circle (where I work).
Jackson Heights also has a huge gay population, and is arguably the gayest part of Queens (though Astoria is quickly gaining momentum).
Astoria is another option- I have friends there, and I really love the area. The problem in finding a place to buy was that there are lots of houses, and not so many co-ops or condos.
The co-ops I did see were too far a walk to the subway, for me.
I like to keep it around a 5 min. walk.
mejusthavingfun
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/12/06
#11re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:45am
I agree. It's so diverse, and the neighborhood has such an intimate, village-y feel to it.
I never thought I'd end up there, but I really love it.
#12re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:48amL4C, what are the prices like (in terms of buying)? Thanks.
#13re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:48am
Don't know if you're open to Queens, but I'm in the middle of buying a place in Jackson Heights. I am a few minutes' walk to the E/G/V/F/R/7 - all express lines.
fyi I know the E and the 7 run express at times, but the G train is not an express train- I used to live off of the G train, in Bed-Stuy (yep, I am that hardcore :)) and the G train is not an express line.
(and I don't think the V and R are either?)
#14re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 11:50am
I think you may be right about the E and 7 being the only express trains. The E is what I take to get there.
On a good day, it's REALLY fast.
#15re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 12:04pmYou mean the G train actually runs on occasion? I have friends who have lived blocks away from a G train stop and have never actually ridden on one.
#16re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 12:20pm
It is rare (hey, they don't call is the Ghost train for nothing), but yes sometimes you can spot that rare mythical creature known as the G train... I was actually on it once when the train started operating while people were still exiting, and so people fell out of the open doors onto the platform. But that is a whole 'nother story.
sorry for the G train threadjack, I will now let you get back to your Billyburg posts. :)
#17re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 12:26pm
"and so people fell out of the open doors onto the platform. But that is a whole 'nother story."
HAHAHAHAHA! I know that it's dangerous and all, blah blah blah, but LOL!
I'm sure the MTA conductor found an itch on his ass that just needed scratching, and therefore he forgot to close the doors.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#18re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 12:28pmIt's cool. This has been very helpful. Thanks!
IAMWHATIAM
Broadway Star Joined: 1/31/06
#19re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 12:33pm
I am long time lurker, and very infrequent poster, and I never expected to post anything at all argumentative on this board, as it's not my style, but if this ends up being contstrued as such, then I must be argumentative.
mejusthavingfun - I think that you should rethink some of your post (copied below) and teh sentiment that you were trying to express. I take offense at the use of the phrase "regular people" as a way of characterizing or describing heterosexuals (or any group, for that matter), as it more than implies that anyone not in the group is not "regular", which is offensive. If your use of "regular" wasn't a shorthand way of referring to heterosexual folks in this context, then I guess I didn't understand what you meant. And just so you know, I'm one of the "regular people with ...kids".
I love the Queens gay parade in Jackson Heights. It's so interesting when you see regular people with their kids going to something like that. I really enjoy the dynamic there.
mejusthavingfun
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/12/06
#21re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 3:42pm
The G train only runs at night and on the weekends, but it does indeed run.
The Bedford stop on the L is usually crowded, but so is the Myrtle-Wyckoff stop--if a train line ever needed an express route, it's the L.
I don't know about the drugs, but i find coke baggies on the ground in every hood I go to--Battery park city, Bushwick, you name it. Parts of Bushwick are okay, others, not at all. I've lived there for 6 years off and on and it's def gentrifying, though in small pieces.
mejust, I don't know anyone who has a 1BR apt in Manhattan for less than $1000, unless they've been there since the early 80s. I share the top floor of a 3-family home for $1400/month, split three ways. And that's a bargain.
mejusthavingfun
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/12/06
#22re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 4:41pmMy friend pays $950 for a 1 bedroom appartment (she got 2 years ago) on 99th street & 3rd. It's a nice area too.
#23re: Williamsburg Living
Posted: 5/10/07 at 5:08pmI work in real estate and that's VERY rare. She got a great deal.
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