Around Brooklyn: Real estate open houses called off due to virus

March 10, 2020 Editorial Staff

A view of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Real estate open houses called off due to virus

Some New York City real estate brokers have called off open houses because of fear of the coronavirus, according to Bloomberg News. “If the coronavirus for some reason — and I hope it doesn’t — goes out of control and New York City faces drastic increases in the virus, that may have a chilling effect,” said Fritz Frigan, executive director of sales and leasing at Halstead, who compiles a weekly index of open house activity across the five boroughs. Frigan told Bloomberg News that his office has even seen a potential seller who was on the fence about whether even to list a property out of concern about having visitors come look at it.

KPF designs renovations to Red Hook Houses

Architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox has designed the redevelopment of a public housing complex in Red Hook that was ravaged by Superstorm Sandy eight years ago. Thousands of residents of NYCHA’s Red Hook Houses were left without power and access to supplies for more than two weeks following Sandy, according to dezeen, an architecture and design website. KPF’s scheme involves a resiliency and renewal program designed to lessen the community’s vulnerability to natural disasters. The measures include a series of raised flood barriers, an above-ground boiler plant and more, dezeen reported.

Three-story condo building in Red Hook nears completion

Construction is nearing completion at 730 Hicks St., a three-story condo development in Red Hook, according to New York YIMBY. The building is slated to contain 15 residences, 10 parking spaces, basement-level storage and gardens surrounding the property. The building is being developed by Shiraz Saujana and is designed by Marie Architects.

New hotel planned for 86th St. in Bay Ridge

Permits have been filed for a six-story hotel at 634 86th St. in Bay Ridge, on the current site of an auto dealership and lot, according to New York YIMBY. The lot, at the intersection of Battery Avenue and 86th Street, is a short walk to the R train’s 86th Street subway station. Xiaojun Chen, under the name Sunshine Brooklyn LLC, is listed as the developer, and Wu Chen of JWC Architect Engineer is listed as the architect. The proposed development would have 76 rooms, a rear yard and eight enclosed parking spaces. Demolition permits for the auto lot were filed last June.

New bar emphasizes wine and cured meats

And Sons, which Gothamist describes as “an American ham (and wine) bar,” opened about six weeks ago in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, according to the website. It is owned by former waitress Phoebe Damrosch and former sommelier Andre Hueston Mack, and it is named for the couple’s four sons. Mack told Gothamist that he was inspired during trips to Spain and Italy, where such spots are much more common. “The heart of the And Sons experience,” said Gothamist, “is the sliced-to-order selection of country-styled cured hams.” Both the wines and the hams are mainly from the continental United States.

Angry man defaces cop car in Bay Ridge

An angry man snapped and took his anger out on a police car in Brooklyn, footage released on Saturday shows. The unidentified man walked up to an NYPD Traffic Enforcement Division vehicle on Seventh Avenue near 92nd Street, according to the Brooklyn Reporter. After looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was there, he hurled an unknown object at the windshield, the footage shows. He then ran up and started rapidly punching the car window. Finally, he whacked the passenger’s-side mirror. He is described as a man in his 30s with a beard and was last seen wearing a bright green sweater, blue jeans and brown shoes.

Brooklyn artist visits gallery in Binghamton

Brooklyn artist Jenny Morris visited the Memory Maker Gallery in Binghamton to showcase her own artwork as well as artwork created by people who suffer from memory loss, according to Fox 40, a local channel in Binghamton. Morris spent months working with people who suffer from conditions such as Alzheimer’s to further her thesis about the relationship between memory and art. “We can’t have propriety over this idea of doing art with people with dementia,” said Christina Muscatello, co-founder of the Memory Maker Project. “The idea of the residency really grew out of the idea that we need to continue giving a voice to people with dementia.”

Movie’s noodle dish is a hit in Korean restaurants

Ram-don, a noodle dish that was essentially invented for the South Korean movie “Parasite,” has become a hit in the city’s Korean restaurants, according to New York Eater. The name ram-don is an amalgamation of ramen and udon, two types of low-cost noodles, which are combined to make a cheaper meal more interesting. Esther Choi, chef and owner of the Brooklyn restaurant Mokbar at 212 Flatbush Ave., says she makes her own noodles to serve in the dish because it “wouldn’t make sense” to serve instant ramen at an upscale noodle shop. Her version features both seafood and beef.

Councilmember Levin honors Ida B. Wells

Councilmember Stephen Levin (D-Boerum Hill-Brooklyn Heights-Downtown Brooklyn-DUMBO-Greenpoint) and other Brooklyn officials hosted a street co-naming ceremony in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday to honor Ida B. Wells. Wells was a groundbreaking investigative journalist, civil rights leader and feminist. When living in Brooklyn, she published editorials exposing lynching and helped to found the National Association of Colored Women in 1898. A plaque for Wells was unveiled on the façade of J.P. Morgan Chase at 4 MetroTech during the street co-naming.

Protesters slam alleged assault by police

Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the 69th Precinct in Canarsie Saturday to demand answers after a video captured police officers tackling a 20-year-old man during an arrest for alleged marijuana possession, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The video posted to Twitter showed a plainclothes officer holding Fitzroy Gayle at gunpoint just before a group of officers tackled him to the group, as the young man screamed. Police said Gayle was smoking marijuana outside 100% Playground on Glenwood Road and had resisted arrest, but his attorney said his client had not committed any crimes, the Brooklyn Paper said. “We had a rally outside the precinct calling on the district attorney of Brooklyn to investigate this heinous kidnapping and assault,” said Rev. Kevin McCall of the Crisis Action Center in Brownsville.

Refinance boom has lenders scrambling to meet demand

A sharp drop in mortgage interest rates has sparked a sudden and unexpected refinance boom that has lenders scrambling to handle the large volume, according to CNBC. The stress on the lending market is keeping mortgage rates higher than they could be. Mortgage rates hit 3.11 percent on Monday, CNBC said. One borrower who called Bank of America on Saturday was told there would be a two-hour wait to speak with a loan officer. At Cross Country Mortgage, a small lender in Boca Raton, Florida, phones were ringing before 8 a.m. on Monday.

Crown Heights restaurant offers vegan Ethiopian fare

Crown Heights’ newest restaurant, Ras Plant Based, brings an Ethiopian presence to the neighborhood, according to Patch. The owners, chef Romeo Regali and his wife Milka, also own the Cobble Hill Ethiopian restaurant Awash. The new restaurant features a menu centered around an Ethiopian platter consisting of a variety of vegan options, from collard greens to red lentil stew, served over a traditional spongy flatbread. Other items include a vegan kebab, traditional Ethiopian coffee, vegan desserts and more. The restaurant is at 739 Franklin Ave. near Sterling Place, Patch said.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.