BIG DATA WEEK: ZoLa Show and Tell.

We're back on the ZoLa again!  

Scroll down the feature menu to the very bottom under  Basemaps and check the 3D feature, then check the Aerial Imagery box and you can choose any one of 11 different years dating all the way back to 1924 and as recently as 2016.  

Over the years, we've covered a lot of new development in the South Slope.  Here's one that we spent a good deal of time with...Lake Windsor a.k.a. 1638 Eighth Avenue, located between Windsor Place and Prospect Avenue. ZoLa offers us a chance to show off the property's unique, elongated land-locked lot over the history of development.    

In the year 2001,  1638 8th Avenue was a single story commercial warehouse with a driveway entrance on 8th Avenue.  There was a very large rear yard that extended down the block between Windsor and Prospect.

In 2006 the building was demolished to make way for a multifamily development.

ZoLa's 3D mapping feature allows you to define current as built mass.

You can tilt and rotate your viewpoint.  1638 8th Avenue as seen from 8th Avenue.

1939-1940 Tax photo of 1638 8th Avenue from the NYC  Municipal Archives. Over the years the property functioned as an office?garage for a home heating fuel oil delivery company.  Old timers say that's where they would buy their block of ice for their home iceboxes.  In 1922 ice plants in NYC and Long Island electrically manufactured over 1 million tons of ice, with an additional 20 tons of ice still being naturally harvested.

"1638"

The Loch Windsor Monster sighted.
How might 1638 Eighth Avenue look today if it were finished?
Our long delayed, ECB violation prone, 27 unit condominium project looks as if it may finally be ready to poke its head above water and introduce itself. This mythic beast has been under construction for what seems like an eternity. Sandwiched between Windsor Place and Prospect Avenue on one narrow, god forsaken sloping spit of land... Has it been 6 years already?... Workers appear to have things back under control, at least for this moment.

For now anyway, the stop work orders have been lifted, the permits renewed, the site drained of standing water, and yes the concrete finally poured.
Look folks, you can see for yourself the grandfathered-in, BSA vested foundation really does exist after all!


















In Tomorrowland
Architect Karl Fischer's Epic "Prospect Terrace" as seen in the renderings below are from the developer's website, www. BOBKER GROUP.com.

In the first image, is this what it will look like from 8th Avenue? I don't see any curb cuts. The second image gives you an idea on how they will be handling the change in grade as the property slopes southwestward towards 7th Avenue. The green open areas are confusing. The foundation as it lays now, covers the entire site. Will some of this area be topped off with grass or is the illustration just rendered in a way that the existing rear yards along Windsor Place and Prospect Avenue are shown without fences, ect?
You can check out their other projects, currently in the works for Park Slope, Williamsburg, Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, and Gravesend Brooklyn over here.












































87 complaints so far and counting.
There may come upon a time when no one remembers the disruption in the quality of life. Eventually the hardships may even be forgotten. But for those adjoining property owners still seeking some sort of retribution for damages done, did you know that you can pull back those big velvet Prospect Terrace, L.L.C. curtains and meet the Australian Bobker family? You can find Avi, Ali and Ben's photos, phone numbers, and email addresses right here. It may help to expedite those remedial repairs if you redirect your complaints right to the source instead of bothering with 311. Or, you know, maybe not.


















The yellow backhoe arching up in the distance belongs to the demolition crew of 379 Prospect Views, LLC.
Current demolition photos can be viewed here.

Past IMBY posts from the "1638" archives:

"Perspective Lessons"

"Like a virgin, being touched for the very first time."

"1638 Eighth Avenue's Stop Work Order"

Out of the hole. 1638 8th Avenue raises its iron.

Started in 2001, now eight epic years in the making, The Bobker Groups 1638 8th Avenue has finally begun to erect its iron skeleton within the poured concrete foundation. The unusual lot extends some 347 feet between Prospect Avenue and Windsor Place. Karl Fischer is the architect of record.  

We are expecting 27 condo units in all, to be built two stories (30') in height with some kind of additional Board of Standards and Appeals approved R5 residential zone bending roof decking to cap them off. Twenty off-street parking spaces have been approved with curb cuts on Eighth Avenue .  As always click on the pics to enlarge.





































































Click here: Visit the IMBY Archives for past posts on 1638 8th Avenue.

1638 8th Avenue: Going, and going, and going...

1638 8th Avenue: Our Survey of the South continues. Today another Karl Fischer, pre-filed back in 2001. Yes, Prospect Terrace is actively breaking ground. Yes, assorted foundation work is still in progress. Someday, it will look just like this...



















But for now, we can only dream. As is this week, December 2008
(Pictured Above and Below)

















(Below) Two shots from last year. Shoring in place. March of 2007







Imby's 2008 State of the Slope Address

400 15th Street

1638 Eighth Avenue's Stop Work Order

1638 Eighth Avenue in better times.
This is the fifth year of construction. Five years of disappearing backyards. Five years of cracked patios. Five years of broken foundations. Five years of sink holes. Five years of flooded basements. Five years of piles being installed and five years of misplaced piles being removed. Five years of piles pounded back in again hopefully in the right place this time, maybe? Five years of stagnant water and mosquitoes. Five years of noise and vibration. Five years of promises. Five years of absolute quiet.
Excavation has begun and the excavation has stopped again, as the contractors failed to file the proper shoring plans with the powers that be and a Stop Work Order was issued. Neighbors were shaken from their beds at 5 am as the giant machine pictured below was "dropped off" at the site in preparation for more pile driving. The DoB was worried about the existing cracks in these same neighbors properties. How will these properties be protected during this new phase of construction? Well it looks like the contractor is not that worried about placing the senior citizens who live in this building in jeopardy. They assume that after five years of constant pain and suffering, 85 complaints registered so far, that the women's spirit would be as broken as their backyards. That does not appear to be the case.

WHAT YOU DON'T SEE...

Today my good neighbors sent me over the following photo.


If you look closely at the base of the purple backhoe you will see a hole with water in it. My neighbor tells me that no mater how many times the contractors fill in the hole with dirt, everytime they return to dig it back up, it quickly fills with water.
There have always been rumors of underground streams in the area.
Another construction site a block and a half away at 1638 8th Avenue has been sarcastically named by area residents who live upon its shores, "Lake Windsor". Consider this notation from the Official Hunting and Fishing Guide to Brooklyn. "Nestled in a perfectly pristine part of the Southern Slope sleeps Lake Windsor, one of the lesser known Middle Finger Lakes of the Borough of Brooklyn. A wide array of paddling and rowing opportunities await for those who would like to take life a little slower. Now is a perfect time to purchase one of the many vacation homes and seasonal cottages that grace its shores... if you're gosh darn lucky enough! There is even the full service G&Y Marina/Bodega just a block away offering live bait, beer, and seasonal day trips by licensed professional guides."
Locals have been fighting the comercialization of the area for years sighting the recently opened WEEKI WACHEE WINDSOR LIVE MERMAID SHOW with its infamous "underwater topless tuba act" as proof that developers don't know what the area really needs. Been lots of crazy talk go'n round 'bout negotiating the Bottled Water Rights to the underground spring with Snapple, but I hear the water tastes a little bit like mermaid pee.

1638 Eighth Avenue between Windsor Place and Prospect Avenue.


This land had been empty for decades, appearently for a good reason. The current developers, and there have been several in the last years, seem to have more or less given up on trying to address the problems with the site. It has been stagnant for some time.



Closer to home, A similar building excavation just one house away at 400 15th Street had water sitting in it for weeks before they pumped it out. In that case it was really too late as the next door building, 396 15th Street, literally cracked in half and had to have emergency iron work performed to keep it from falling over. The folks at IMBY really need to have a talk with the owner of 396 15th as he has somehow secured an order of protection against the developer of 400 15th street forbidding him from working within 15 feet of his property. I understand that recent testimony at the NY Board of Standards and Appeals(B.S.A.) discussed the financial hardship to the developer that this groundwater is causing. We really need to take more blogging field trips.








As for the land at 406-408 15th Street, the truth of the matter is that if you only do a couple of engineering core/soil samples of what's under the pavement of the parking lot you will never really know what you will find. Samples taken to the full depth of the excavation and beyond, not just below the surface. Water? I am not sure what affect redirecting an undergroud stream will have on the watertable of the surrounding neighborhood. I am no geotechnical engineer, but I wonder who will manage/moniter possible surface subsidence once the three sub cellars have been dug out and lined with cement. What about damage to underground utilities if movement occurs? Shifting foundations? Raising the water table 12 inches in all likelihood will grant me 24 hour swimming privileges to my new basement wading pool. Does anyone at the DoB have any experience with STRIP MINING?

The contractors did however find and remove the large tank(s) located at the front of the lot. This past January they dug up some kind of burried tank, cut it in half, and had it trucked away. By the way, do you need a special demo permit for this kind of work? An environmental study of the surrounding soil, perhaps? Come to think of it, I did see some Giant Asian Long Horn Beetles crawl up out of the hole and scamper over to Prospect Park.

When it rains, it pours.

1504 8th Avenue-Discarded crack monitors left behind at the base of the damaged side wall.
Since July these plastic two piece monitors have been removed and replaced countless times as the wall continued to deteriorate and the cracks multiplied and got wider. Now that the building has been evacuated, most likely permanently, I wonder if the monitoring will continue. No demolition or side walk shed permits have been applied for by the buildings owner, yet. If the building must come down, it will be interesting to see how the corner building, 1502 8th Avenue, will be protected.























Yesterdays rain storm transformed the construction site, both geologically and bureaucratically speaking, into a quagmire. The sandy clay soil tried to absorb as much water as possible and then when it became over saturated, rivers formed that sought out the lowest lying areas, finally pooling at the lots southwest corner.

The construction crew took the day off. Of coarse, a Department of Buildings inspector finally showed up, (with helpful prodding by Community Board 7) in response to the multiple 311 complaints concerning unsafe conditions and damage to neighboring properties; What is known as a "failure to protect adjoining properties" complaint. Although the inspector found the fence line in terrible condition and evidence of the ground sinking, cracking, and shifting, he said he was not able to write any violations. According to him, it seems that someone needs to be actually doing construction work on the site during the inspection for a violation to be issued. The inspector listened carefully and seemed genuinely concerned, empathizing on what life must be like being surrounded by multiple knuckleheads- referring to the other construction sites at 400 15th St. and 1638 8th Avenue (aka Lake Windsor). Yet a quick look at the DoB Buiding Information System web site will show all complaints to be "resolved". Disappointing to say the least. Everyday old cracks get wider and new cracks form. At this point in the game, we are seeking an official time-out, so that foundation work already performed can be examined by engineers to see that it has been built "as per plans" and, exisiting damages can be inventoried and documented before the big dig begins.
Then there is still the matter with Memorial Baptist Church to investigate... the list gets longer everyday.

Opening Soon: Gialeti's Cafe

1658 Eighth Avenue.
Promising fresh baked pastries, paninis, crepes and more... The Gialeti's will do well if they make themselves accessible to the local south Slope stroller pushing crowd. That particular corner on Prospect Avenue and Eighth Avenue is just one-block-walk away from "Grade A" PS 10 Elementary School. Come to think of it, maybe they should spring for an advert in the school's PTA newsletter.

Re-stored
It would be smart if they were able to salvage some part of the old tin store front. Replacing the striped canvas rollout awning would help if they plan on providing outdoor table seating. The corner sees a lot of automobile traffic coming off the Prospect Expressway exit down Eighth Ave, so a sturdy well anchored iron fence would be reassuring to lounging patrons. As for Mike's old bodega, it's a total gut job. So far this week it's still just a sheet rocked "vanilla box" on the inside.

Prospect Terrace???
Let's hope that we will finally see in our lifetimes the completion of Karl Fischer's new condo development a few doors down the street at 1638 8th Ave. and
(" Lake Windsor") , as it is now referred to by the neighbors, will no longer be just a mosquito infested hole in the ground.
Abundant crepe eaters, no doubt, await occupancy.

& More...
Wouldn't mind seeing some form of old fashioned, home made ice creme fountain type place in the neighborhood that's fairly priced. I know plenty of kids (and parents) who were disappointed to hear that the stained glass candy store on P.P.W. is actually going to be just another lousy wine store.

The Legend of Zeldin

Digging trenches.

Pouring the concrete foundation.

Groundbreaking  foundation work awakens $1.6 million Prospect Avenue sleeper. Looks like Mark Zeldin, South Slope landmarker, has acquired the stalled site 379 Prospect Avenue adding to his already extensive neighborhood portfolio.   Eleven buildings and counting .
Zoned R5B, filed plans call for 10 dwelling units and 7 off street accessory parking spaces on the vacant L shaped lot.   That's going to be a building with 14,465 buildable square feet, some 33' tall, three stories and cellar.
The building's lay-out will be 2 units on the ground or first floor, 4 units on the second and another 4 units on the third floor.  Look out for a 12' curb cut on Prospect Avenue with a pass through to accommodate parking in the rear yard of the building... My guess anyway.  Antoine Sayad of Moss and Sayad Architectects have agreed to self-certify this project...

L -shaped lot between WIndsor Place and Prospect Avenue in pink.  Notice the long white roofed wedge-shaped building on the right?  That's the recently completed, on the market condo 1638 8th Avenue... The Windsor Lake Building for my devoted readers.

Persona non grata.
Zeldin, has had his troubles developing several of his previous properties in the South Slope. In February 2006,  two construction workers were injured during demolition of a wall at 226-228- 230   16th Street, a multiple building Zeldin condominium project.  A Stop Work Order Violation was served by the Department of Buildings that same day in response to the accident.  Days later, the contractors were caught working at the site disregarding the SWO, and were served an additional violation for failure to comply.  They were fined $2000.
 The adjacent home owners of  232 16th St. have filed a lawsuit against Zeldin and  16th St. Development for extensive damages to their property, they claim,  resulting from unprotected demolition and excavation work while digging the foundation for 230 16th Street.

In 2007 Zeldin  was accused by neighbors of committing "demolition by neglect" after a vacant brick apartment building, 18-20 Jackson Place, collapsed on adjacent properties during a storm. The block was closed off until HPD could finish the demolition as ordered by the DOB.  Brownstoner captured the event and the disgruntled local commentary at the time.

Again in 2007 and 2008 Zeldin's team of contractors racked up various Stop Work Order Violations and fines while building another South Slope condo project, 390 14th Street.  A recent BIS search shows $7,500 in unpaid fines issued to Marie Grasso and MMG Demolition,  Zeldin's go-to-gal for breaking all things architectural.  There are, again, violations and fines for unsafe excavation on record here and here.

The legacy: Visual illiteracy

Zeldin's infamous portfolio of projects offer future architectural historians a visual record of the prolific, opportunistic property speculation that occurred during and after the 2005 panic driven frenzy to  down-zone our South Slope neighborhood.  Maybe, someday, a round table panel of developers/architects/real estate brokers could be subpoenaed and forced to examine their role in the gentrification of the Park Slope South neighborhood and how it has created a demand for a breed of nondesign-centric, low-end, high-priced developments.
In the mean time a picture as they say is worth a 1000 words.

394 12th Street

390 14th Street

272 19th Street

18-20 Jackson Place

245 16th Street

226-228-230 16th Street

370 12th Street

"The Iroquois": Naming 620 10th Street

Mercenaria mercenaria

The name Quahog, also known as the Hard-shelled Clam or the Littleneck Clam comes from the Narragansett Indian name "poquauhock".

Wampum is the Indian name given to the beads crafted from the thick shells of the Quahog and was used like money in trade. Shell beads with purple spots are much more valuable than the solid white colored ones.









Felix Tambasco, of Sears Tambasco Architects

“People of the Longhouse"

When Long Island was first settled by the whites it was inhabited by 13 tribes or groups of Indians. The Canarsee, Rockaway, Merrick, Marsapeague, Secatogue, and Unkechaug lived on the South Shore. On the north were the Matinecock, Nesaquake, Setalcott, and Corchaug. On the east end of the Island were the Shinnecock, Manhasset and the Montauks.

Upstate New York is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy. The confederacy is composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora Nations. Their traditional territory extended from the Schoharie Creek through the Mohawk Valley to the Genesee River. The Haudenosaunee believe that the Confederacy was formed “on the last day that the green corn was ready”, about 1,000 years ago. There is much scholarly debate regarding when the Iroquois Confederacy was established, but historians and archaeologists agree that it was in existence by 1630. The traditions of the Haudenosaunee state that the Confederacy was founded before Europeans first visited their country.


Photo: Brownstoner.com

The Iroquois used a style of farming, known today as "slash-and-burn" that requires a community to move the location of its village from time to time. As the soils of the fields became exhausted, and firewood in the neighborhood became scarce, the people had to venture farther afield for these essentials of life. After awhile, the distances traveled for both became too inconvenient and difficult. For these reasons, and because the longhouses and palisades needed more and more repair, the community would decide to create a new village a few miles away.

An Iroquois village was made up of one or more longhouses, which were usually that: long houses. They ranged in length from about 60 feet to well over 220 feet, and were generally about 20 feet wide and 20 feet high. The framework of a longhouse resembled a large rigid basket made of wooden posts set into the ground, with other poles and saplings lashed to these to form the exterior walls and create the arched roof.

Bentancourt Realty has their new south Park Slope condo "The Iroquois" offering up on it's website.

"This is it. A rare new development in prime Park Slope featuring ten individually unique layouts. Exclusive and personal homes await you at The Iroquois, including townhouse-style units with separate entrances and private terraces. Light and airy simplexes, duplexes, and triplexes including two penthouses with incomparable city views, modern features and coveted privacy make your home as distinctive as your lifestyle."

Unit	Beds	Baths	Size (sq. ft.)	Price	Status
1A	2	2.5	2,195	$1,750,000	For Sale
1B	3	2.5	2,347	$2,095,000	For Sale
1C	3	2.5	2,303	$1,995,000	For Sale
2A	3	2.5	1,400	$1,450,000	For Sale
3A	3	2.5	1,400	$1,525,000	For Sale
3C	3	2	1,213	$1,325,000	For Sale
4A	3	2.5	1,400	$1,595,000	For Sale
4B	3	3	1,600	$1,825,000	For Sale
4C	4	2	1,638	$1,995,000	For Sale
5A	3	2	1,249	$1,695,000	For Sale

Mortgage Calculator
The story goes that early in the 17th century, Peter Minuit of the Dutch West India Company "purchased" the island of Manhattan from the local Indian tribe, the Lenni Lenape, for 60 guilders in trade goods, or about 24 dollars worth of glass beads, mirrors and iron axe heads.
Even in our current "buyers market" the price of NYC real estate sure has gone up quite a bit since the 1620's, so I was wondering just how many glass beads it would take to "own" unit 4B.

4B asking price $1,825,000. Wow, that's $1,140 per square foot!
Holy Shinnecock, that's a lot of wampum even for Park Slope. I'm going to need a shit load of beads.
Current wholesale price of imported Czech assorted glass beads is .02¢ per gram.
Let's try to convert it into pounds per dollar, shall we.
If there are 454 grams in a pound... at .o2¢ per gram.. that's $9.08 per pound. Looks like I'm going to have to come up with 125.5 lbs of beads for every $1,140 square foot...Or in this case 200,800 lbs (a little over 100 short tons) of tiny glass beads if I want to live in a home as distinctive as my lifestyle. Maybe I should try iron axe handles from China. I can get those for $6 a piece, wholesale. I should have listened to my accountant and been eating more clam chowder over the years. I understand that genuine Quahog shell beads are going for more than $5 a bead.

Closing Documents
Peter Schaghen, the author of the document pictured below, was the representative of the States General in the Assembly of the Nineteen of the West India Company. In the late summer of 1626 he reported the arrival of the ship Wapen van Amsterdam, newly arrived from New Netherland.
In his report to the directors of the WIC he announced the purchase of Manhattan Island for the value of 60 guilders. The Schagen letter is the earliest reference to the purchase of the island which would become the center of New Netherland. The original of this document is held by the Rijksarchief in The Hague.























Transcription of the Schagen letter
Recep.7 November 1626
High and Mighty Lords,

Yesterday the ship the Arms of Amsterdam
arrived here. It sailed from New Netherland out
of the River Mauritius on the 23d of September.
They report that our people are in good spirit
and live in peace. The women also have borne
some children there. They have purchased the
Island Manhattes from the Indians for the value
of 60 guilders. It is 11.000 morgens in size
[about 22.000 acres]. They had all their grain
sowed by the middle of May, and reaped by the
middle of August They sent samples of these
summer grains: wheat, rye, barleey, oats,
buckwheat, canary seed, beans and flax. The
cargo of the aforesaid ship is:
7264 Beaver skins
178 ½ Otter skins
675 Otter skins
48 Mink skins
36 Lynx skins
33 Minks
34 Weasel skins

Many oak timbers and nut wood. Herewith,
High and Mighty Lords, be commended to the
mercy of the Almighty,

Your High and Mightinesses' obedient

P. Schagen