Dumbo NYC

Sovereign Bank, has completed its acquisition of Independence Community Bank Corp. (”Independence”) of Brooklyn, New York. The Independence Bank branch on 40 Washington Street in Dumbo changed to a Sovereign Bank branch last week.

Also, as first reported by Peter of The Dumbo Report back in May, a Chase branch will open on the ground floor commercial space at J Condo on 100 Jay Street in late 2006 or early 2007.

   Image courtesy of Curbed.com

According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the 70 Washington Street building is 80% sold out. Last month, the largest sale at 70 Washington was the purchase of two penthouses (my guess is the combination of an E and F line, based on the total square footage) by someone who plans to combine the two units for a total square footage of 2,720. I can’t confirm that the purchaser is Busta Rhymes or any other celebrity, but one of the units is the clock face duplex apartment that was featured on Curbed back in April, 2006. The total value of the duplex penthouse with two terraces and corner views of Brooklyn Bridge, Lower Manhattan, and the Statue of Liberty is $3.42 million (that’s $1261/sq.ft.).

Compare this to the article from the NY Times in June, 2006 on the former executives at Goldman Sachs and J. P. Morgan Chase paid $5.8 million ($1211/sq.ft.) for two adjoining apartments at 1 Main Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The two units, with a combined 4,790 square feet, have views of the East River and Manhattan. In 1998 when 1 Main Street went on sale, the two apartments sold to separate buyers for a total of $1.55 million (only $324/sq.ft. for both units).

Not a bad return, but it isn’t likely that we’ll see the same ROI 8 years from now in 2014, which would make the 70 Washington Street combined penthouse at $12.8 million or over $4700/sq.ft.

“Bubby’s Pie Social – Sunday 9/24 - Bubby’s is hosting a pie social in Dumbo near their restaurant as a benefit for PS 29 (Brooklyn) and PS 150 (Tribeca) and as a social event for the neighborhood on Sunday, Sept. 24th from 12pm to 4pm. There will be face painting, balloons, drinks and lots of pie.”

Bake & bring one or more pies and get a discount on tickets to taste other pies. Bubby’s is trying to make this very kid friendly and wants to encourage pies baked by kids. For more info and an application check out Bubbys.com.

I first read about Dumbo, Brooklyn artist Anna Schuleit from the New York Daily News on September 19, 2006. Anna was named a MacArthur Fellow from Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation. After intense review of the creative efforts of thousands of artists considered for the award each year, the MacArthur Foundation selected only 25 fellowships this year. Anna, a Dumbo resident, is an artist “illuminating the lives lived within mental health institutions by transforming historic facilities into moving, multi-sensory memorials.” Her creative endeavors include art and sound installations such as “Bloom”, a 28,000 flowers in bloom and recorded sound at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston. I was lucky enough to speak with her about her inspirations and thoughts about the Dumbo neighborhood.

The MacArthur Foundation describes you as an artist who brings back to life historic sites and honor those who live in mental institutions. How would you describe your art?
I’m a painter and installation artist with an interest in people, their communities, and their institutions. Much of my site-specific installation work has revolved around psychiatric institutions, because I feel drawn and connected to outsider-history. But on a day-to-day basis it’s my paintings that keep me afloat and busy.

How long have you lived in Dumbo?
Since March of this year.

BLOOM: RED TULIPS | copyright © 2003 by Anna Schuleit

How do you think Dumbo has changed since you’ve been here? Do you feel artists are being pushed out because of higher rent prices?
I haven’t lived in Dumbo long enough to point to the ongoing changes, but I have lived in different neighborhoods throughout the city and always witnessed the artists losing their spots to the inevitable influx of higher-income renters and buyers. I don’t know how this would ever change, but I am hopeful that artists can one day be seen as necessary members of any neighborhood, that they would be supported and encouraged to STAY, not leave.

Where do you get your inspiration? How does being in Dumbo inspire your sense of creativity?
I love Dumbo for its architectural drama, its proximity to the water, and the two bridges, which dominate this neighborhood in a wonderful way. There is something about the scale of these, the awe and wonder they evoke, that makes me continually grateful to be able to live here. I hope to be able to stay in this neighborhood.

Thanks Anna for taking your time to interview with us. Best wishes and continued success!

{MacArthur Foundation Press Release}
{Also seen on Brooklynrecord.com}

   Photo by alba

Date: Thursday, September 21, 2006
Location: Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park section of Brooklyn Bridge Park

Grab a blanket or lawn chair and go to Movies With a View for a special double feature of
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure at 7:00 p.m.
The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert at 9:00 p.m.

Shows are FREE!

Movies With a View features fresh-popped popcorn, beach chair rentals, refreshments by RICE, and one of New York City’s most spectacular views.

Visit BrooklynBridgePark.org for more information.

Shootings for movies and tv shows are pretty frequent in Dumbo. The new ABC show Six Degrees was shot on location in Dumbo a few weeks back. Today, on Washington Street there’s a shooting for the feature film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (out in 2007) starring Adam Sandler, Dan Aykroyd, Jessica Biel, Steve Buscemi, and Kevin James. It looks like they’ve been shooting in Prospect Heights, Park Slope, and other locations in Brooklyn/Manhattan according to the IMDB message boards.

Rascal provided this photo who reported “Everyone and everything you see in this photo is part of the shoot–there were hundreds of extras–big set-ups.”

Thanks Rascal for the tip and photo!

In just two weeks, we’ve seen progress on the Vista in Vinegar Hill. The modern stainless steel window frames have been installed and the rear balconies are in place (not shown in pics). It would’ve been nice to see townhouses in place of this development just like the ones across the street from Vista, or the 14 Townhouses on State Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn which preserved the townhouse block, but the developers had a vision of “living that sets past, present and future into a seamless atmosphere offering the best of all worlds”. From Corcoran:

“A charming five block area characterized by brownstones and Belgian block streets, this exclusive enclave offers a way of living that sets past, present and future into a seamless atmosphere offering the best of all worlds. This is where you can take a walk in the park, watch a show, sample some the world’s best chocolate, or stroll through art galleries that are setting the trends of tomorrow.”

Pricing start at $550,474 for 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 898 sq.ft. ($613/sq.ft.) to $1,075,680 for 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1245 sq.ft. ($864/sq.ft.)

 Click photo for close-up. Vista on Vinegar Hill, September 3, 2006

 Click photo for close-up. Vista on Vinegar Hill, September 17, 2006

 taken on September 17, 2006

206 Front Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

{The Vista on Vinegar Hill, Corcoran website}

It’s a sad thing to see something that’s been around for 75 years taken down floor by floor, especially when the structures are as cool as the four aligned smokestacks in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn. Two smokestacks at the ConEd plant are coming down slowly. As mentioned in a NY Times story on August 6, 2006, ConEd is dismantling three of the five stacks. “Only two are needed now because the plant is using fewer boilers to generate steam. The job will take about four months but will begin to alter the view immediately.”

 Click photo for close-up. ConEd Plant Smokestacks, Vinegar Hill, August 22, 2006

 Click photo for close-up. ConEd Plant Smokestacks, Vinegar Hill, September 17, 2006

  Photo taken on 8/22/06

  Photo taken on 9/17/06

The story shows Nicholas Evans-Cato’s painting of the Brooklyn waterfront, a panorama that includes the Williamsburg Bridge, several new condominium buildings and a quintet of towering brick smokestacks from the ConEd Hudson Avenue Generating Station on the edge of Vinegar Hill.

 Click photo for close-up. Nicholas Evans-Cato, Amphitheatre, oil on linen, 42 x 70″, 2006

For those who are interested in viewing his painting, there is a showing at the George Billis Gallery (info below). Soon enough, we will only have his painting and our memories of the smokestacks. In the meantime if you want to see the smokestacks before they’re gone, hurry!

Nicholas Evans-Cato at George Billis Gallery NY
October 10 - November 11, 2006
Reception: Thursday, October 12, 6 - 8 PM
Georgebillis.com
511 West 25th Street, New York, NY

Related: Artist Paints Dumbo Landscape, DumboNYC.com

82 DECIBELS by Larry Keigwin
Sun, Sept. 17, 1:30 and 5:00 PM
Tues., Sept 19, 6 PM
Tobacco Warehouse in Empire Fulton Ferry State Park section of Brooklyn Bridge Park
FREE!!!

“A wacky romp for 25 pedestrians and dancers, inspired by the actual sound level at the Tobacco Warehouse, and by the nature of city sidewalk traffic. Expanded from the seven-minute work Keigwin created for last year’s BREAKING GROUND- A Dance Charrette.”

From NY Times:

Last summer Dancing in the Streets presented its first “dance charrette,” in which five choreographers were asked to fashion a short dance for a site they were told about only five days before. There has already been a second installment this summer, but a hit from the 2005 show, Larry Keigwin’s “82 Decibels,” will be presented again this week in expanded form (20 minutes, not 7) at the 2005 site, the picturesque Tobacco Warehouse in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Last year this involved 23 dancers gabbing into cellphones and being propelled horizontally along one of the warehouse’s brick walls. Today at 1:30 and 5 p.m. and Tuesday at 6 p.m., rain or shine, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, (212) 635-3505 or dancinginthestreets.org

For more details, go to www.brooklynbridgepark.org.