Greenpoint?

bob, the G train gets a pretty horrible rap. Regular morning and evening commutes are actually ok. It's late evenings and weekends when you can get into uncomfortably long waits. I'd consider your schedule and also test it out at least a couple times to see how comfortable you are with it.

Greenpoint in general is fine. As with most neighborhoods, it can vary quite a bit block by block, I like much of Franklin St. The area around McGolrick Park is also quite nice (Diamond St is great) as long as you're not right on McGuinness or the BQE. Areas I'd avoid: anything too far from the trains (basically getting north of Huron or Green or east of McGolrick). I'd check out NY Sh!tty's blog. It's all Greenpoint all the time.

I lived in a historic townhouse on one of Greenpoints best blocks, Milton Street. as bjw states the G is fine except late nights when I had waited up to an hour for a train to arrive. There are some serious concerns about industrial pollution, Google "Newton Creek". I also would occasionally take the L train to Bedford and walk 20-25 minutes home. There are some new high rise condos on the north east corner of Mcarren Park along Driggs.

we enjoyed living there for two years and it seems to keep getting better.

Keith Burkhardt (broker)

http://theburkhardtgroup.com/agents_details.php?agent_ID=7619

Agree with Keith - do your homework about the Newtown Creek. The cancer rates are actually lower than Manhattan, but I wouldn't take my chances and live too close to it. And Keith is right - Milton and Noble are probably the prettiest blocks in the neighborhood.

The spill is in the less desirable parts of Greenpoint anyway, east of the Pulaski bridge and McGuinness Ave around the sewage treatment plant.

My Googling showed that Greenpoint actually has a lower cancer rate than NYC as a whole. Breathing in traffic fumes in Manhattan is probably less healthy than the miniscule vapors emanating from the oil plume. I don't think that a dirty city is the healthiest place to live. People should move to the country.

That said, the perception of Greenpoint being unhealthy could depress property values.

Very good schools, an expanding number of good restaurants and a very comfortable atmosphere. There will also be ferry service at India Street starting next month, which could be another transportation option depending on where you work. I think any neighborhood that does not have a direct train to Manhattan will also sell at a discount, no matter how nice it may be and how easy the 2 stop alternative may be.

"Although the gentrification of Greenpoint may not seem obvious because there are no big high rise buildings like the Edge/Northside Piers, the 2010 Census cleary shows that the neighborhood has become significantly whiter, and the new stores and restuarants on Franklin St are clearly not catering to Hispanics or blue-collar Polish people."

While census data may be indicating changes in ethnic backgrounds, a "whiter" neighborhood does not equate to gentrification. My understanding is that gentrification is about an economic state and so the focus should be on wealth.

"Although the gentrification of Greenpoint may not seem obvious because there are no big high rise buildings like the Edge/Northside Piers, the 2010 Census cleary shows that the neighborhood has more residences with higher income brackets, and the new stores and restuarants on Franklin St are clearly not catering to blue-collar people."

White people with trust funds or low paid careers as "artists" who make less money than blue-collar minorities working for the city gentrified Williamsburg. So I disagree that gentrification is about income.

I fear, however, that no matter how much gentrification there is in Greenpoint, the property there may never go up in value because (1) it's still not Manhattan; (2) negative perceptions about the G trains; (3) the waterfront was zoned for high-rise buildings, so developers can flood the area with new condos if there's ever a sudden increase in demand.

Greenpoint is Williamsburg without Bedford Avenue and with a huge Polish population. That's the sum total difference. If it were me, the discount to Wmbg would be well worth it, because you also get a little more quiet. You have noticed already how easy it is to walk to the nightlife on Bedford when you want it. If you're Catholic, lots of places to go to church in Greenpoint. If LIC ever becomes the cool place people predict, you could also talk a stroll over there without much problem. The waterfront park in LIC is accessible from Wmsburg by hiking across the bridge.

Gentrification: The process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.

gruck rureenpoint is my home now for 5 years. previously lived on ludlow st. for 8 years west village b4 that. i was looking for a lot more space & a nice garden. both of which i got. 1300 sq feet & beautiful & private garden. when i first moved here i was spending a lot of $ on car fairs cuz i live quite far from the train. i ended up buying a truck about 4 years ago since it made sense for me & i go away on weekends. i easily park my car & its made commuting easier as well. i drive to willyb & jump on the l or i ride my bike . its great i mean ur in union square in 1 stop. i personally have watched this particular area change drastically. it was 100% polish when i first got here & slowly but surely the young hipsters started moving in. lots of couples w dogs trying out the closet suburb. i love the area north of manhatten ave but its really hard to find any properties over there. ive been looking to buy nd about that time. ow for about 6 months & there is literally nothing coming up. the price difference from willyb is another perk & personally i wouldn't live in willyb & def prefer gp. its a hidden gem but its not quite so hidden anymore. about it being more white??? strange to post such obvious racist comment but to answer it i would say that its about 99.9% white .....thats not to say there isnt some crime....white peeps break the law as well. the last 2 years my trucks window was broken into for my gps. 3 times until now. its an epedemic & its happening a lot over here but its the industrial side of town so i can c why they choose to do it over here. i blame the economy since the troubles
started about that time. sll in all i love greenpoint & its nice to have city views everywhere u go .......

I'm sure much of Greenpoint is fine, but the oil plume and proximity to Newton Creek deserve some due diligence. A quick search brings up plenty of information:

http://www.newtowncreekalliance.org/community-health/meeker-ave-plumes/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/science/earth/04newtown.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/nyregion/08greenpoint.html

You really need to do some due diligence before committing to purchasing in Greenpoint. And that means coming here and walking - a lot. There are several different parts to Greenpoint. It's not for everyone, and you must really know what you're looking for. Condo prices are lower for several reasons, but I found that new construction was overwhelmingly poor for many of the condos we visited. Poorly built, or poorly planned - ultra small bedrooms, poor flooring, poor sound-proofing. there are gems, but you need to devote some time to find them. Many older buildings have been in one family's hands for at least 2-3 generations, and require either a devotion/love of older architecture, or money to rehab to modern asctetic.

Waterfront
Pros - good retail strip, good restaurants and bars, near to water. some very picturesque streets
Cons - only train is the G, waterfront has been rezoned for towers, so potential for much construction noise, waterfront itself is, at the moment, dirty industrial

Central Greepoint
Pros - lots of retail, closer to subway options, not a lot of new construction
Cons - lots of retail, building construction not ideal, lots of traffic around manhattan ave.

Greenburg (technically Greenpoint, but on the Williamsburg side)
Pros - close to subway (ie Graham stop on the L), construction limited to 4-5 story buildings, more new condos available, blend of Italian, Polish and newer residents, some buzz-worthy bars/restaurants (brooklyn star, the richardson), mcgolrick park. This area was originally a middle-class Italian neighborhood, and it still is. You will hear more Italian than Polish in these blocks, along with some Italian markets and supporting retail.
Cons - not as many amenities as other neighborhoods, quieter, more residential, you really must like walking to get anywhere "trendy" (ie bedford ave - 20-25 minutes, waterfront greenpoint 20 minutes)

"I found that new construction was overwhelmingly poor for many of the condos we visited. Poorly built, or poorly planned - ultra small bedrooms, poor flooring, poor sound-proofing"

Does this refer to those Belvedere [some long Roman numeral] "boutique" condos all over Greenpoint?

as an aside - the posts on this discussion board are what SE should be about - informative, polite, to the point (see cyber bullying discussion). A little bit of humor (Falco where are you) wouldn't hurt - keep it up.

you mean right until YOUR post dictating rules of conduct on an anonymous board to a community of adults, and giving the thumbs up to falco - and none else - to continue sharing his humor. so, how do we determine the standards? or do YOU determine the standards? it may be helpful if you listed everyone you like here, so that the rest can study their tone and language and try to improve themselves in your estimation.

actually i know that some of the beveldere buildings may look unattractive but he is one of the better dev. out there. if you c some of his newest buildings they r beautiful. attention to quality details & wonderful extra thoughts like ipod docks & heated floors. i actually am in love w his buildings now after being inside every new condo in willyb/greenpoint.

Diazepam 5 mg tabs
1-2 tabs po q6h prn agitation, nervousness
#60
refills x 4

sjtmd
28 minutes ago
ignore this person
report abuse Diazepam 5 mg tabs
1-2 tabs po q6h prn agitation, nervousness
#60
refills x 4

think that's sufficient for my pharmacy? i'll give it a try, thanks. do another one for addreall, i'm almost out. tia.

Listen to the guys who said "industrial pollution."

There used to be a cancer cluster in Greenpoint that was supposed to be related to toxins in the groundwater seeping in from Newtown Creek.

Newtown Creek is not just any old polluted body of water. It is the most polluted waterway in the United States, and has been used as an unregulated industrial dumping ground for more than 100 years.

Go look at it. Every inch of the creek banks are lined with empty factories; there must be at least a hundred ghost factories within the space of a mile along the creek banks.

Every one of those factories dumped toxic waste into the creek for years and years, with no compunction.

I wrote my masters thesis about some stuff related to Newtown Creek. I would not live near it. Nor would I live in Greenpoint.

If you have kids or expect to have them, I would advise you to do some signficant research. Go to the neighborhood and strike up conversations with old-timers. Ask if it seems like a lot of people there got cancer over the years -- more than usual.

Find the big story that New York magazine did on the creek some years back. Call the Riverkeeper organization, which has proposed a clean up program for the creek, and call the EPA, which has considered giving the site Superfund status.

Do you want to live next door to a proposed Superfund site?

sjtmd, if you write valium with 4x refills in 2011, I'm switching PCPs. [Not the angel-dust kind.]

Bob D - with respect to Belvedere projects, I visited one and wasn't overly impressed, but it certainly wasn't the worst of the bunch, and I would hesitate to use one builder as an example as it seemed there was a prevelance of shoddy new condo construction in Greenpoint, regardless of the developer, at least in comparison to Williamsburg. I think my biggest concern about some of the Belvedere projects was location; for me many weren't located in ideal areas. No, when I was house-hunting, I'd spend weekends at open houses in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. And I would get so frustrated - gorgeous finishes in Williamsburg, horrible pricing. Great pricing in Greenpoint, and a really crappy building, or decent building but horrid location, like next to a 24/7 gas station. It got to the point where, as much as i wanted to live in Greenpoint, i didn't think I'd find what I was looking for. I did, but it took more time than I expected.

As for Superfund site, I spent a lot of time reading the EPA reports, and all of the related articles out there over the past several years. And here's one thing I kept going back to; that area of Brooklyn has been used as heavy industrial since it's beginning; it's always been a cluster-fk. And in all that time, for generations,families have lived near-to.

The environmental concerns are not some new thing, but there seems to be a trend amongst a certain segment of people to play the alarmist, the enviro-purist and decry a whole neighborhood for not meeting their standards of living, which somehow seems elitist to me. They ignore the history of generations in order to support their theories. Are there toxins in the ground near to Newtown; most definitely. Are there health concerns for those living right on top of those toxins; perhaps, though that must be weighed against the general toxins of living life in a modern industrial city. The fact is, no matter where you live in New York City, you are living with the mistakes and toxins of the past. I wouldn't plant a garden in my backyard, but, I'm not sure I would do that ANYWHERE in the city.

Oh, and I've spoken to many "old-timers" in the neighborhood - the woman next door who bought her house in 1942, and the woman whose mother bought their house the year she was born, in 1926. They seem to be much more concerned with making sure you pick up your dog poop, who's cheating at bingo, and stealing someone's bundt cake recipe, then some government report. I will say, if you choose Greenpoint, be sure you know how to schmooze the older generation.

alanhart
about 6 hours ago
ignore this person
report abuse sjtmd, if you write valium with 4x refills in 2011, I'm switching PCPs. [Not the angel-dust kind.]

delayed reaction, i just realized what you mean. so...does sjt only play a doctor on the internet and is, in fact, md-less?