Flocks of 21- to 35-year-olds moved to Brooklyn in 2008, as the condo boom gave way to a renters’ market, reports The Brooklyn Eagle.

Almost half of the new renters in the first quarter of this year were between 21 to 25 years old, and 93 percent were under 35. The typical renter in neighborhoods like Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace and Boerum Heights is usually attached, works freelance in entertainment or the arts, makes around $50,000 a year, and needs no guarantor to be approved for an apartment.

What's different now is that most of the new renters do not come from Manhattan.  read more »

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The average price of an apartment in Brooklyn rose 8 percent during 2007 to $661,000, according to a report from the Corcoran Group released on Wednesday. Here are some more Brooklyn tidbits:  read more »

A middle-aged mom slowly steers a stroller down an aisle of dank aromatherapy candles, shopping bags from nearby Ann Taylor Loft slung over the handlebars, as pulsing, synthisized beats, purrs, and bleeps blare in the background.

Trance techno on staid Montague Street?

Indeed. Flamboyant cosmetics and novelty shop Ricky's NYC has arrived to spice up this lackluster strip of banks, realtor offices and cell-phone stores.

"I'm looking for something for my godson," remarks another soccer mom around 1 p.m. on Friday.

How bout an "I [HEART] MY PENIS" air freshener?

Is buttoned-up Brooklyn Heights truly ready for anal beads, Moregasm pills and chocolate-flavored body syrup?

Maybe not. All that "Red Light District" stuff is stashed away behind a beaded curtain in the far back of the basement.

But don't be fooled by the light foot traffic during the lunch hour (typically the busiest time for Montague-area retailers), warned one cashier.

Just wait until school lets out!

The median apartment price in Brooklyn rose 6 percent from 2005 through 2006 to $343,000. That's less than half the Manhattan median sale price, which ended 2006 at $799,000, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The median for one-, two-, and three-family homes in Brooklyn increased 16 percent in 2006 to $570,000. Try getting a Manhattan townhouse for that price.

You get the picture.  read more »

HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan

The housing market has been nudging downward for a while now. Add one more factor: the overhaul, recommended this morning by the city housing department, of the so-called 421a tax break. Housing commissioner Shaun Donovan said in a conference call this morning that condo "prices would potentially go down to some degree" in neighborhoods where the abatements would be eliminated. In those neighborhoods, like Tribeca, the Financial District, Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights, prices have been inflated by about 50 percent of the value of those abatements, he said.  read more »

6 pounds, 12 ounces  read more »

Just another breakfast nook.

Over the years, Mr. Isaacson has tried to keep up with the Soho building's high-profile residents, as he told The Observer last March.

"I am quite a flamboyant creature," said Mr. Isaacson. "When you have people like Lenny Kravitz in the building--and we've just lost Courtney Love--you have to hold your own."

Considering that the Piano Man is now looking at a $12.9 million townhouse in Brooklyn Heights, he probably won't be at tomorrow's open house.