Uh oh, Several Break-ins In the Area

Saw this on Brownstoner today and thought I'd share:


"Clinton Hill’s Washington Avenue/Greene Avenue Block Association is reporting a rash of recent burglaries, attempted and successful, near the Hollenback Community Garden (pictured above). The group issued a statement saying that a burglary occurred last Thursday, when a thief broke into a house on Waverly between Gates and Greene, stealing a computer “and other valuables”; the association says the thief gained access to the house via the homeowner’s deck, which overlooks Hollenback Garden, and that another break-in was attempted the next day. After that, a break-in occurred “on Saturday, June 18 on Gates Avenue just around the corner from the first one” and on Monday “at approximately 2:30 p.m., a man was observed scaling a chain link fence surrounding Hollenback Garden before jumping into the garden of an adjacent house. The man ran off after being startled by someone who was home at the time.” Click through to read the rest of the group’s statement…

The alleged perpetrator is said to be a young, thin, African-American male, possibly in his 20s, with blotches on his arms. “We are a close knit group and when something like this affects one of us indirectly it really affects all of us,” said Darrell Oliver, president of the WA-Greene Block Association, whose members include residents on Waverly and as far North on Washington as DeKalb Avenue. “We will work with the 88th precinct and our elected officials to get this the perpetrator arrested and out of our neighborhood.”

From Hollenback Community Garden via Brownstoner.

Tax abatement approved!

I almost forgot to mention a happy surprise we encountered at closing - the tax abatement for 317 Greene Avenue was approved - and our taxes are now lower than originally estimated (by more than half!) Something to celebrate for sure.

Hall doors at the Lineage: From Paul in 319

Paul in #319 sent along this message about doors in the Lineage and said it would be OK for me to share it, here it is: 


"One thing I noticed when dropping some things by the apt this weekend...the entry doors to units bleed a lot of sound. Pretty sure they're hollow core. I think the issue is exacerbated on the upper levels because with the firedoors from the stairwell, the entryways function like amplifiers. Anyway, this isn't an insurmountable issue, just one I thought you might like to alert people to so that they can mitigate the degree to which they hear they're neighbors. The doors have a lot of airspace btw the frame that can and should be sealed up with adhesive cell tape (weather stripping). People should also put a sweep on the inside of the door, as there's quite a gap between the door and the threshold. This is certainly stuff that folks will want to do anyway for energy efficiency, but it'll help mitigate sound issues as well. Thanks and best, Pw 319 3A" 

Closing day

We had our closing yesterday and were thrilled that all went smoothly! We had heard from some friends that the closing process can be long, stressful and that the attorneys can be a bit cold - so we opted to bring some Donuts from "Dough" the new spot on Franklin and Lafayette (2 blocks from the Lineage) to sweeten them up. What a great idea that turned out to be. The bank's representatives and sponsor's attorney were smiling, giddy, and thanking us throughout. (So worth the $12 for the donuts!)  I hope that everyone else's closing goes as smoothly.  Our recommendation? Bring donuts.

Windows at the Lineage



Solar Shades from Smith and Noble.

As we are inching towards closing and just itching to move into our new home, one of the more exciting sights has been the appearance of new curtains popping up in the front windows at the Lineage - a sign that our neighbors are moving in! As we've been making trips to the building for walk-throughs, appraisals, etc we've been brainstorming how we will handle these beautiful large windows, and the challenges they present for us residents in the ground-level units.


We have been considering Solar Shades from Smith and Noble which are nearly opaque during the daytime from the outside, but still allow you to see the street from inside. The only strike against them for me, is that at night time you can see through them completely, which means we will need a second row of window shades for privacy.

Walking in Williamsburg this past weekend, we noticed that a lot of ground-level apartments are using a film or window decal which almost looks mirrored from outside, but allows you to see through the windows clearly from inside. I guess this would be similar in function to the decals/film that appears to wrap around NYC buses these days.

Another thought would be shutters - but where can you find custom shutters for a reasonable price?

If you have found any good window solutions - please share as I think we will all be facing this question soon! What do you plan to do with your windows?

Cable, Phone, Internet service for the building

In making some calls today, it seems like Cablevision and TimeWarner are both claiming that they do not service the 317 Greene building. (TimeWarner says Cablevision does, and Cablevision says it's TimeWarner's building.)

It may be that since it is a new building, it has not yet been established which company services the address.

Has anyone had any luck figuring out who is the cable and internet provider for the building?

Welcome home new neighbors!

We've been hearing from a few of you that you have now moved in. Congratulations! I hope that everything is going smoothly so far, though I can imagine that there will be some minor growing pains as the building adjusts to having its first residents.  How's it been going so far? With any luck, we'll be joining you in a couple of weeks!