De Niro Looks For Downtown Rental

Rober De Niro and his wife Grace Hightower are looking for a new rental.  

The actor and his wife were burnt out of their home at 88 Central Park West this summer and now they are looking for a rental while they gut renovate their burnt up unit.  The renovations could take up to three years, so they are looking for something nice and big to settle into for a while.  They are looking for a five bedroom apartment in the downtown area, but have had no luck yet.  

De Niro's son is a manager director at Prudential Douglas Elliman and he will be helping them out with their search.

Troubled NYCHA Spends $200,000 On Twitter

The NYC housing authority has been under fire lately for mismanaging funds and neglecting tenants rights.  

There is currently a backlog of over 338,000 apartment repairs on their books, but instead of trying to take care of then, they are spending $200,000 on a social media expert.

They hope that Rebecca Bilbao, will be able to turn around the housing authorities' bad image, but this could be making things worse.  

NYCHA is accused of trying to burry their problems instead of taking action and taking care of tenant's needs.  Bilbao, the new digital brand manager, plans on mainly using twitter to turn around NYCHA's image.  

Good luck with that Rebecca!

Pink Brownstone in Park Slope

A Park Slope couple just bought a pretty pink brownstone for $2 million last month and now they want to paint.  

The pink brownstone isn't part of a breast cancer awareness month, but rather a paint mixup that happened 60 years ago.  The previous owner is a 92 year old man who says he bought the wrong color paint nearly 5 decades ago and he has just stuck with it since then.  

The new owners are in the process of working with the preservation board to get it back to the original color and folks in the neighborhood are happy about that.  

New York Aquarium Gets Baby Walrus Mitik

There's a little baby walrus thats doing a little traveling of his own.  

On Tuesday, a 15-week-old orphaned walrus arrived in the city, and it's looking like he's gonna be a star at the New York Aquarium.

The aquarium, located in Coney Island, already has two older Walruses, who happen to be female.  Zookeepers are worried that the oldest one, which is 30, will die of old age soon.  The other walrus, Kulu, is 17-years-old, and they are hoping little Mitik will keep her company.  

They are hoping he likes older women, because zookeepers are hoping they will make some babies.  

Mitik will be in quarantine for a while, but will be introduced to the other two sometime this spring.  So go check it out!

Amityville Horror House For Sale At Nice Price

Just in time for Halloween.  

The house that was featured in the 1979 film "The Amityville Horror," is on the market.  The film was suppose to be set in Amityville, Long Island, but the house featured in the film is actually in Toms River, New Jersey. 

This is a 10-room colonial style building that was first put on the market last year for $1.45 million, but it has just been reduced to a mere $955,000.  The current owners are getting a divorce, so that's the reason there trying to get rid of it.  

They say it's not haunted, so if you want to come check it out then give us a call!

David Blaine Electrocuted At Pier 54 - I wish

I can't stand this guy, but maybe you like him. 

 David Blaine will be pulling another "stunt" over at Pier 54 this week.  He will stand on a platform with a metal suit on and have beams of electricity shoot the suit.  The event will be live on Facebook and Youtube, but since your a New Yorker, you can just pop on over to check it out in person.  He will start standing out there on October 5th and will be there for three days and nights continuously.  The best time to see it will be a night. 

 Pier 54 is on the West Side between W. 13th and W. 12th in the Meat Packing District.

NYC Landmarks and Preservation Adds More and More Properties Each Year

The New York City Landmarks and Preservation Commission is essential to preserving the old New York, ensuring that every building in the city won't eventually be encased in glass.  

The list of preserved buildings and landmarks grows each year, and  the commission is always on the lookout for new places to preserve.  Each year they get hundreds of requests from politicians and residents alike for spots to review.  Some seem quite silly, park benches and even an area in Brooklyn that has been use for years to illegally chop up cars.

  To qualify, a building must have some part of it that is more than 30 years old and it must have some sort of resonance with the community.  So if you have a place in mind for them to review, than let them know!

Barclays Center Parking

The new Barclays Center has been in the news a lot lately.  

It just opened up with it's first of 8 Jay-Z concerts, and now folks are wondering where to park.

The arena sits 18,000, but only has 650 parking spots and 150 of those are for VIP's.  Only 700 spots are in nearby parking garages.  So parking garages more than a half mile away are starting to advertise for shuttle service to the arena from the garage starting at around $30.  Garage owners have never seen this much action in the area, and are happy to welcome driers with boosted hourly rates. 

Don' forget, the subway will drop you off right in front of the Barclays Center and it's a brand new station, so go check it out!

QR Codes Coming To Every NYC Restaurant

Christine Quinn, announced yesterday that all restaurants will be required to post a QR (quick response) code in every restaurant with a letter grade.  

The new bill will take effect next year with the hopes of informing patrons more about the health conditions and violations at any particular restaurant.  

There's a catch though.  The codes will be posted inside where the business license is, which means in most cases it will be either behind a bar or hard to find.  It would be much easier for customers to be able to scan the QR before they enter, but the city says it would cost too much to reprint all the letter grades for individual restaurants.  In the future they say they will try to push to have them be required in an outside window.  

Guy Who Jumped Into Lion Den at Zoo Worked As Apartment Renter

Sometimes you just feel like going to the zoo and jumping in the lions pit.  

Well that's exactly what one of our fellow apartment  renters did over at Bond.  That's right folks!  25-year-old, David Villalobos worked as an apartment renter at Bond.  

Villalobos, jumped from a moving monorail at the zoo, and then he jumped a number of electrified fences in order to jump into the zoo's Asia Wild exhibit, where he then got mauled by tigers for about 10 minutes before zoo officials could come rescue him.  He had no excuse for his actions and to the police officers that, "everyone in life makes choices."  

His facebook page features many wild animals and the day before he jumped into the pit, he posted a picture of a mother tiger tending to her cub.  What a nut!

New Development Inventory Down In the City

If you're looking to buy a new apartment in the city, you better act quick.  

That's because the inventory for sales in new developments has dropped significantly in the past year.  The inventory in Brooklyn dropped by 34% since last year, 27% in Queens and 17$ in Manhattan.  

The shortage of apartments for sale could definitely drive up the demand and as a result the prices will be sure to rise.  There is also less negotiation on prices and developers are already standing firm and getting what they are asking for.  

Experts say it will only take five months for the current inventory to sell out, leaving buyers anticipating new developments that are in the works to open in 2013.

East River Ferry Service Gets More Funding

In an effort to stimulate further redevelopment of the industrial waterfronts in north Brooklyn and Long Island City, the city has subsidized the East River Ferry service to keep it up and running.  

The $4 service which can take users to either Brooklyn or 34th St, has just been granted $9 million by the city to keep it afloat for the next three years.  The city hopes that one day the waterways will be able to compete with the subways for how people get around the city.  

The only problem is that the service is rarely used by New Yorkers to get around and is mostly a cheap way for tourist to get to take a boat ride.  But ridership is low across the board, wit only 14 people taking the 8:39 ferry and 21 people taking the next one. 

 Only time will tell if these boats can really stimulate growth along Brooklyn's industrial waterfront.

No Brokers Please!

Some buildings get brokers from all over town trying to get in to show apartments.  

Certain buildings in particular are those that have open listings in which any NYC agent can find and show without it being an exclusive.  This usually means that they don't have keys for the apartment or building or both.  Some without a front door key are forced to buzz random buzzers with the hope of getting in to show their clients.  

But one East Village building is sick of it and left a note to brokers on the door reading: " The tenants of this building are not responsible for helping you get into the building or assist you with renting apartments....  Therefore, it is unacceptable for you to ring random buzzers all night.  It is disturbing to residents who have an expectation of being left alone by strangers."  

The problem really stems from building owners who rely on the brokers to rent out their apartments, but they don't give them keys to get in so they have to bother people who already live there.  

NYC & Co. To Brand and Sell NYC Logos

The city is looking to cash in on its logos and brands.

In the past it would the process for a business to use one for the cities coveted logos could take more than two years of bureaucracy.  But recently, the city has decided to work with a public tourism agency called NYC & Co. to negotiate marketing deal in less than a month.

They say that brands all over the world would be into purchasing the rights to use the city's brands, and the city is hoping it can rake in some cash from the deals. 

So lookout for Nikes emblazoned with the FDNY logo and yellow cab themed Starbucks cups!

New Short Term Listing Alert for 4 E. 80th St.

New Listing Alert!  

For you uptown cats that prefer your own building to your own apartment in one, then why not consider our newest listing at 4 E. 80th St.  

This five story townhouse built in 1916 is fully furnished and ready to go.  The townhouse commissioned by Frank Woolworth to resemble his famed downtown skyscraper.  All the original detail is still intact, but all the modern amenities you would expect have been upgraded and do not compete with the classical design.  

This one can be rented furnished or unfurnished, either way the price is firm at $150,000 a month.  Give NYC Johnny a call for more information.

Beresford Building Hotdog Stand Creates Real Life Seinfeld Episode

An episode of Seinfeld is playing out in real life for comedian Jerry Seinfeld.  

Seinfeld, along with Diana Ross and John McEnroe live in the Beresford building at 81st St and Central Park West.  

The well healed Beresford residents have somewhat of a nuisance on their block, and it's a hotdog stand.  Residents of the building are complaining that the middle eastern owner of the stand is causing too much of a disruption on the sidewalk.  They complain of hotdog smells seeping into the building and also complain about the small generator the vendor uses to power lights on his cart. 

The vendor, however, has all the necessary permits to be there and the city says they can not force him to leave.  

The building has a reputation for fussiness, because back in 2010 a proposal to put a gym in the basement was nixed because some residents said they don't want sweaty people in the elevator. 

Delancy Underground "Low Line" Park is Really Happening

Delancy Underground, also known as the Low Line, is really going to happen.  

An MTA owned space underneath Delancy Street that served as a trolly station 60 years ago will be converted into some sort of weird underground park.  

The site is only two acres, and the plans call for "light shoots" to funnel daylight underground so natural plants and vegetation can grow.  

They have just raised the funds to build a mockup of the park that  will soon be on display at the Essex Street Market building.  

By the rendering on the left, it looks even more bizarre than I had imagined.

Only One Parks Officer Patrolling All Parks In Queens

You may want to carry a baseball bat with you if you're thinking about spending the afternoon at a Queens park.  

Thats because Queens has thousands of acres of parkland, but only one Parks Enforcement Patrol officer for all the parks.  The Daily News says, "there are more rovers on Mars than there are Parks Enforcement Officers in Queens."  The lack of park security officers, that are essentially police officers permanently assigned to park duty, have dwindled down this summer due to other summer activities they are keeping an eye on outside of the parks.

Of the only twelve officers that are part of the Queens Parks Department, only one is patrolling parks while the others are busy keeping an eye on Rockaway Beach, every Queens pool and at any major event or concerts.  Once the summertime events are over, the other 11 officers will hopefully be back in the parks.  

Some in the city council are calling for more funds for parks officers, saying that taxpayers deserve to be safe in any park.

Homeless Shelter Too Pleasurable To Leave According to Bloomberg

Bloomberg recently said that the city's homeless shelters are so pleasurable to live in that people don't want to leave.  

This came as a surprise to some of the homeless families that are staying at various shelters around the city.  Families staying in shelters with small children are all forced into one room, where there is no bathroom, and have to deal with chronic rat problems and even worm infestations in the bathroom they share with all the strangers on their floor in the Auburn Family Shelter in Fort Greene.  Residents also claim that there is mental strain from living with a bunch of crazy strangers constantly doing weird things and behaving badly in the shelters.  Most families in the shelters use a bucket as a bathroom at night so they can avoid running into crazies in the hallways at nigh.  

The average stay is now 337 days for a family which is a 30% increase since last year.  Residents say they are staying longer because they cant find a way to get out.

Kimchi Food Truck Gets Own Restaurant in Prospect Heights

Phillip Lee sounds like a hell of a business man.  

He knew his kimchi (fermented cabbage dish) was a little different, but he also knew that if people could get the chance to try it out then they would become addicted.  So, instead of opening a store, Lee bought a food truck and has gained a loyal following in his Prospect Heights neighborhood.  

His plan was always to open a brick and mortar store, but he first wanted to gain his following with the truck.  

He just opened up his first real restaurant at 766 Washington Avenue, Kimchi Grill, and is excited about the business and even more excited about his bigger kitchen.  He plans on doing more experimenting in the new restaurant, since he will have more room and more helpers than he had in the truck.  

So go check it out next time you're in Prospect Heights and tell him NYC Johnny said hi, to receive one free soda with purchase of any entree.  Offer expires Aug. 22 2012.