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 »

Retailers in the "cradle of tough guys" are under siege as authorities crack down on a rampant form of outdoor advertising, according to a report in this week's Brooklyn Paper:

Shops in Park Slope and Cobble Hill have been slapped with $100–$300 tickets over the last three weeks for the crime of obstructing the sidewalk with their A-frame, or sandwich board, signs.

Some wary shopkeepers are now flattening the offensive frames to keep from violating the city's three-feet-from-the-storefront rule, according to the report.

“It’s kind of ridiculous," said one employee of a recently ticketed shop. "It looks like they were just going up the street giving out tickets."

While John Grisham's Playing for Pizza and Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon top the New York Times' best sellers list, we're poking our heads into BookCourt in Cobble Hill to see what Brooklynites are tucking into their totes.

Out in the Manhattan suburb (sorry, it's true!), where baby strollers, daddy-actor types and yoga-obsessed writers run rampant, it's not surprising that Tom Perrotta's new book The Abstinence Teacher tops the hardcover fiction list. After all, the guy wrote Little Children, the most angsty-cool anti-parenting guide ever written. In his new book, Mr. Perrotta abandons the kiddie playground for school to examine how a single sex education teacher will battle a herd of evangelical Christians trying to get her to ditch the old banana/condom demo and take on an abstinence curriculum. In The Abstinence Teacher, Mr. Perrotta continues "writing books for people who don't much like books—satires for nice people, fuck books for prudes," according to Benjamin Alsup at Esquire. Fun! But you could also follow Mr. Alsup's advice and just wait for the movie.  read more »

We missed this article on Friday about one of our favorite bookstores, Cobble Hill's BookCourt.

In the late 1990's, whining about the fate of independent bookstores was a favorite pastime in a certain New York demographic. But the counterexamples are starting to crop up: For every Madison Avenue Bookshop there is a Corner Bookstore; Shakespeare and Company never really went out of business; and now comes word that BookCourt is expanding for a third time in response to demand in its nook in Cobble Hill.  read more »

A tipster found the above flier in his Cobble Hill mailbox and passed it along to The Real Estate. Universal City Studios plans a film called "Baby Mama" about a 35-year-old real-estate developer played by Tina Fey (that's believable) trying to have a baby by surrogate (the surrogate's "South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowski" -- yea, class stereotypes!).

"A ONE-FAMILY TOWNHOUSE/BROWNSTONE with a large living room and an adjacent dining room, den or study, on the parlor floor.

And know this, homeowners: "a fee will be paid."

• Hamptons Post-Mortem: Now that the neighborhood is officially dead, isn't it nice to remember those 3-acre estates with private marshes and cutesy docks and six-bedroom Mediterranean castles and "heated infinity pools" and spas and putting ranges and basketball courts? It really brings back some great memories. (Luxist)
• Out in Queens, NYC is buying 24 acres of Long Island City waterfront for $100 million. There won't be any spas, but 5,000 new units of housing is a good idea anyway. (Crain's, via Real Deal)
• In case you haven't seen its 7,239,103 advertisements, Japan's chic UNIQLO is opening a New York flagship on Broadway. Western designers will be designing the high-end (but inexpensive) sweaters and (slim) trousers. Hipsters rejoice. (New York Mag/D.I.)
• There are over 500 people waiting to see the new condos at 365 Bridge Street--once called the New York Telephone Building, now "The Belltel Lofts." Art Deco is so in right now. (Brownstoner)
• But the mayor's plan to "pimp" the Red Hook/Cobble Hill waterfront into a "maritime-themed tourist attraction" is not so popular. Why? Because it will kill Brookyln's maritime industry. And because it's a maritime-themed tourist attraction. (Brooklyn Papers)
- Max Abelson]]> http://www.observer.com/node/35258#comments Real Estate Cobble Hill Japan Long Island City New York City Fri, 20 Oct 2006 04:30:39 -0400 Observer Staff 35258 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/35090

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Early in August, the Housing Works Thrift Shops flagship at 143 West 17th Street reopened after a sad two-month absence.

Why? "What we did was open it up, took everything out, ripped up the carpet" said H.W.T.S. President Matthew Bernardo. "We found the original floor," which is gorgeous hardwood.

Now it's an open 4,000-square-foot space for antique furniture, hip clothing and hipper shoes. "The old space had so many log jams," Mr. Bernardo admitted.

In one week--on September 7 at 5 p.m. sharp--the space will be filled with a new fall collection (the press release is after the jump). And come January 2007, H.W. is opening its seventh shop. "We're looking at the Heights and Cobble Hill," said Mr. Bernardo.

What about Williamsburg or Greenpoint? "You need shoppers, but you also need donors for high value stuff." Of course.

Until then, New Yorkers who can't make it to Chelsea can shop online at an auction.

On the other hand, shoppers closer to 17th Street know it's become a thrift shop mecca: there's Angel Street steps away from the renovated flagship, and 17@17 down the block. But: "We consider ourselves the father!" Mr. Bernardo said.

It's true. This year the stores will gross $11m, the highest number yet. Where does the money go? The shops bring in a third of the revenue for Housing Works, which is the largest American "community-based AIDS service organization."  read more »

Update: The store was closed for 2 months, not 12. - Max Abelson ]]> http://www.observer.com/node/35090#comments Real Estate Cobble Hill Greenpoint Manolo Blahnik Shoes Williamsburg Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:29:54 -0400 Observer Staff 35090 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/34872

Spidey, it's raining! How 'bout a kiss!
Word has come from our spies that shooting for Spider-Man 3 has engulfed the Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill neighborhood. Crusty old men are swearing at hipper-than-thou production assistants, and the Cobble Hill Cinema has been temporarily changed to Stuyvesant Cinemas.


What The Real Estate wants to know is if Mary-Jane's going to stand around in the rain wearing that pink dress again this time (the forecast looks good!). For some reason, we always thought that one scene was just so compelling!

See the Brooklyn Record's previous coverage here. -Matthew Grace]]> http://www.observer.com/node/34872#comments Real Estate Brooklyn Carroll Gardens Cobble Hill Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:48:17 -0400 Observer Staff 34872 at http://www.observer.com