From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part I: Carrots Anyone?

May 30, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Those of you who wish to boost your beta carotene should head over to Noble Street. This is where the above Greenpoint goodness was captured by french toast. Nice find!

New Yorl Shitty Street Art Du Jour: Bast

From Johnson Avenue.

Williamsburg Photo Du Jour: From Graham Avenue With Love

May 30, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11211, Street Art, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

Taken May 29, 2012.

New York Shitty Photos Du Jour: Bushwick Botanical

Taken May 29, 2012.

From The New York Shitty Photo Pool, Part I: Avenue C

May 30, 2012 ·
Filed under: 10003, East Village, East Village Manhattan 

Hanging out on Avenue C

Taken by WarmSleepy.

New York Shitty Day Starter: I >^..^< NY

Taken May 29, 2012.

New York Shitty Day Ender: Muralists (Or Muralistas) Wanted!

May 29, 2012 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

This item was brought to my attention by the inimitable proprietor of the Newtown Pentacle. Re-title.com writes:

Open Call for Mural Proposal, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Open Call for Mural Proposal, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Deadline for application: June 18, 2012.

Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), in partnership with the TnT Scrap, seeks proposals for artwork to be installed on a large corrugated metal fence in Greenpoint, Brooklyn near the Newtown Creek at 1200 Manhattan Avenue.

The fence’s dimensions are approximately 60 feet wide by 20 feet high. Proposed works should integrate ideas about the community, the beauty of the creek, recycling and/or the importance of maritime industrial usage.  Brooklyn-based visual artists and collectives working in two-dimensional media are encouraged to apply. Video works will not be considered for this project. Final artwork selection will be made by a panel of community stakeholders.

Chosen artists/collectives will receive a $5,000 honorarium.
They will also receive a supply budget to be determined based on the project.

Criteria & Guidelines:

  • Artists are encouraged to visit the site prior to applying. The site is outdoors and open to the public. No appointment is necessary, though we ask that you respect TnT Scrap by not disturbing them during a site visit.
  • Please direct all inquiries to BAC.
  • Applicants are required to complete the application and upload renderings/images and a supply budget.
  • 1 artist/collective project will be chosen for the site by a panel of community stakeholders.
  • Logistical details will need to be coordinated with BAC and TnT Scrap. Applicants may be contacted for additional information during the course of the application review process in order to ensure a mutual agreement about the details of the project. As a result, please be as comprehensive as possible in your application, understanding that you may need to be flexible with regard to the final project agreement.
  • Chosen artists/collectives should be available for a start date around the beginning of August and should include in their proposal a timeline for the completion of their proposed artwork.
  • Artists must have the capability to complete the project within the allotted time frame.
  • Chosen artist(s) will be contacted mid-late July of 2012.
  • The chosen project will be visible for several years. Artists should consider this in the context of their proposal and in the types of materials they plan to use.

You can get the full run-down by clicking here. Get your art on Greenpointers!

Quicklink: How To Beat The High Cost Of Living In North Brooklyn?

I— as I imagine you, gentle readers— have often asked this very question. Thankfully we have Brooklyn Based to tell us how to make our apartments work while we play: rent it out to total strangers as a vacation rental! Preferably via Airbnb (which gets not one, not two, but three plugs in Brooklyn Based’s tome).

Yours trulys favorite passages are as follows:

“Once it’s up and running, it’s easy money,” says Julian, who first joined the Airbnb community in February 2010 (and asked that his last name not be used). The income from managing several listings around Brooklyn, all of which are already booked for the summer, covers the rent on a two-bedroom Williamsburg apartment, and has helped fund his dream: restaurant-ownership. This summer he’s opening Dear Bushwick on Wilson Avenue. (So much for anonymity; the State Liquor Authority’s web site took care of that.— Ed. Note)

It’s important to know that in May 2011, a New York state law went into effect to ban short-term residential rentals for less than 30 days, to help crack down on “illegal hotels.” While the law was designed to target apartment owners who were using residential buildings as hotels, it has created somewhat of grey area when it comes to Airbnb… 

“You have to be smart,” says Julian. He now rents and maintains four separate apartments throughout Brooklyn, three of which he uses exclusively to host Airbnb travelers. “I tell guests to keep their heads down and not make too much noise. You want to avoid 311 complaints—if you get a handful you might have a problem. But at this point the city can’t do much about it—they would have to set up a whole new department for dealing with this kind of stuff.” (So basically “Julian” concedes that what he is doing is illegal, but persists because there is a lack of enforcement. Interesting. — Ed. Note.)

It’s true that law enforcement currently only responds to complaints; assuming landlords or neighbors aren’t annoyed or bothered by what you do with your apartment. In this City Room post, Senator Liz Krueger, one of the sponsors of the bill* that makes short-term sublets illegal, says that “The city is not going to knock on doors.”

So, get permission or tread lightly. Julian relayed the story of a friend who wasn’t allowed to renew her lease after her management company found out she was subleasing her apartment through Airbnb without their approval. “You probably don’t want to rent your apartment in an area where people have been living for years,” he says. “It’s better when people are coming and going—so neighborhoods like Bushwick or the NYU area make it easier to keep a low profile.”

And last— but hardly least— my personal favorite:

“Go the extra step,” Julian says. “Leave a six-pack of beer in the fridge for guests. It doesn’t cost much, but it makes people happy.”

I can personally attest to the joy-giving properties of beer— but are the consumers Julian’s suds of legal age? He doesn’t indicate. I hope State Liquor Authority is paying attention to this.

In closing: Isn’t it refreshing to know “Julian” is able to afford to afford a two bedroom apartment in Williamsburg and open a bar in Bushwick because he is pressing residential space which could— at least theoretically— house families (or other “eyes on the street”) into service as a transient hotel? Or that Brooklyn Based saw fit to be an enabler for a phenomenon which, while in a “gray area” from a legal standpoint, indisputably undermines the quality of life and safety of those who have the misfortune of calling these “entrepreneurs” neighbors? And all in the name of “easy money”? The word “disgusting” does not even begin to cover how I feel about this.

Those of you who care to do so can read Brooklyn Based’s tome in its entirety by clicking here. Otherwise any of you who have had experiences with a neighbor (or tenant) leasing his/her apartment as a vacation rental please share your thoughts via comments or email at: missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com.

Your identity will remain anonymous if you so desire. Thanks!

*Here’s another sponsor of said bill: Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, 75th Assembly District. How do I know this? Very simple: someone from his office contacted me— two years ago.

P.S.: While I am vaguely on the subject of tourists and tourism, my comrade in the East Village, Jeremiah Moss, has authored an excellent piece. Here’s a passage I found particularly interesting:

As Fran Lebowitz said in an interview, “Present-day New York has been made to attract people who didn’t like New York. That’s how we get a zillion tourists here, especially American tourists, who never liked New York. Now they like New York. What does that mean? Does that mean they’ve suddenly become much more sophisticated? No. It means that New York has become more like the places they come from.”

Please take a moment to give it a read.

New York Shitty Photo Du Jour: Johnson Avenue

Taken May 29, 2012.

The Word On The Street, Part II: An Ingraham Street PSA

Taken May 29, 2012.

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