Actress Michelle Williams and her fiancé, director Thomas Kail, have picked up a townhome in Brooklyn Heights, an upscale neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. The $10.8 million purchase is one of the most expensive in the area, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Williams, who recently received a Golden Globe for her performance in “Fosse/Verdon” (which Kail directed), is just the latest star to move into the neighborhood. But she is no stranger to the borough.
The “Brokeback Mountain” actress had previously purchased a mansion in Prospect Park in 2015, and sold a townhouse in neighboring Boerum Hill for $8.8 million in 2014, according to the Real Deal.
The Brooklyn Heights Association has announced that the Mayor’s panel to study the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway has finished its report and recommendations, and will brief the BHA and other interested community groups this Thursday evening, January 30. This is not a public event. According to the BHA:
We look forward to learning firsthand what conclusions the Panel has come to after these many months and are hopeful that the report will offer thousands of people all along the BQE corridor a forward-looking and transformative vision. You will hear from us again soon after we’ve met with the Panel and have assessed the report.
We will share with you the BHA’s report on the briefing, and the Panel’s conclusions and recommendations, as soon as they are available. -Brooklyn Heights Blog
On December 5, 2019, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York alleging that the Mitchell-Lama program has failed to be administered in a fair and consistent manner. The only defendants named are The City of New York, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (“HPD”) and Louise Carroll, the Commissioner of HPD. This memo addresses the general allegations of the complaint and describes some examples of alleged misconduct.
The Complaint at Large:
The plaintiffs allege that they (i) were placed on waiting lists at various Mitchell-Lama housing developments, (ii) paid non-refundable application fees, (iii) were never contacted about the availability of an apartment, and (iv) were unjustly removed from waiting lists without notice or explanation. The complaint further alleges that HPD failed to monitor and supervise these waiting lists and refers to a report produced by the Division of State Government Accountability (Report 2014-N-3) entitled “The Mitchell- Lama Program: Awarding Housing Units and Maintaining Waiting Lists” in support of such allegations. The class (meaning people who may join in this action) compromises of: all persons who any time after January 1, 2009 were placed on a waiting list and were subsequently removed from the waiting list without proper notice.
The complaint only alleges one count for relief: violation of due process, that is that each plaintiff acquired a property interest in their place on the waiting list and right to an apartment once they (the plaintiff) reached the top of the list, but were deprived of this property interest without sufficient notice or an opportunity to be heard and that they were thus deprived of a property interest without due process. We believe HPD and the other named defendants will dispute the allegations.
Plaintiff Adrian Salas and his alleged experience with the “Cadman Towers” Waiting List:
The Report 2014-N-3 dated July 2015 focused on three developments, one of which was named as Cadman Towers (a 421-unit Mitchell-Lama located in Brooklyn) but the Complaint interchangeably uses Cadman Towers and Cadman Plaza North. However, Plaintiff Mr. Salas’s claims appear to relate to the waiting list at Cadman Plaza North. KLL confirmed that Mr. Salas’s name appears at Number 291 on CPN’s third one- bedroom waitlist (from the October 23, 2009 lottery) with a notation indicating that his application fee was not received. Mr. Salas alleges that he submitted an application for a 1-bedroom apartment at Cadman Towers in 2009, paid the application fee and that the notation was inaccurate and he should remain on the waiting list as an eligible applicant. Management advises they have not reached this list, so even if Mr. Salas is correct, he has not yet suffered any loss or consequence. The Complaint, either intentionally or mistakenly intertwines Cadman Towers and Cadman Plaza North. There are also allegations relating to two apartments of other improprieties relating to occupants’ qualifications in relation to income.
The Complaint focuses upon HPD’s alleged failure to (i) ensure that applicants are offered apartments in the order in which they were placed on the waiting lists, (ii) assure that applicants receive notification prior to being removed from waiting lists, and (iii) assure that applicants are not improperly removed from waiting lists. We thought it prudent to advise the Board of the allegations raised. Cadman Plaza North is just one of 17 city-supervised Mitchell-Lama developments discussed in the Complaint. Cadman Plaza North is not a defendant. There is no need for Cadman Plaza North to take any action in relating to this complaint. We will continue to monitor the proceeding and recommend that CPN continue (as it has been) to investigate complaints of non-primary residence, follow the process for succession rights applications, and offer apartments pursuant to the applicable waiting lists.
If you have any questions regarding the above, please let us know. Thank you.
In a communication from Carlo A. Scissura, Esq., Chair of the BQE Expert Panel, dated January 7, the following information was conveyed to interested parties:
As the BQE Project Expert Panel begins to conclude our work, I wanted to provide a quick update: The Panel has been hard at work on its final report and recommendations and we will ensure that elected officials, community groups and stakeholders have an opportunity to be briefed on the report in the coming weeks. Thank you your continued involvement, and I look forward to staying in touch as our work concludes. As always, if you have questions please email me anytime at [email protected].
Additional information and opportunity to sign up for future communications can be found here: https://www.bqe-i278.com/en
In September we noted, thanks to an alert reader, that Teresa’s restaurant was listed on a real estate site as for lease. We now have it on unofficial, but we think reliable, authority that next Sunday, January 5, will be Teresa’a last day. At least I was able to get my tripe soup, kielbasa, sauerkraut and kasha with gravy, washed down with Zyweic Porter, fix on Friday. I’ll have to have at least one more.
The Chip Shop, and now Teresa’s, gone. It seems every place I love is doomed to die (the record goes back to Capulet’s on Montague, for those who can remember it). Sic transit gloria mundi. -Brooklyn Heights Blog
We were saddened to hear about the passing of Bertha Lowitt last week. She was 102; Mother to Susan Dowling and Grandmother of Jon Dowling. Here, she is seen celebrating her 100th birthday at Noodle Pudding.
An informative and entertaining look at the history and future of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade by Spectrum News Staff Brooklyn. This story is the fourth installment of NY1’s new initiative, “Street Level,” which explores the city through the history and culture of specific streets and the people who live there.
The New York City skyline as seen from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade is among the city’s most iconic views. The site may not be as well known as the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge or the Statue of Liberty, but standing on the Promenade, looking out over the water, you can see all three. For decades, the Promenade has been a fixture of Brooklyn Heights – both a rare strip of tranquility in the middle of the urban cacophony and a physical barrier separating a gentile neighborhood from the rush of the cars below. Read article/Watch Video: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/street-level/2019/09/16/the-brooklyn-promenade–a-monument-to-civic-engagement
