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Retired school principal Elizabeth Mulvihill moved from Long Island to South Williamsburg a couple years ago because she's old and doesn't want to drive anymore. So she dropped $1,040,000 on a two-bedroom apartment in Schaefer Landing, a development on the East River that opened in 2006. At first life was grand, with the New York Water Taxi whisking her away to Manhattan for doctor appointments in 15 minutes. But then the boats stopped running in the winter because the line wasn't profitable. And with the L train a mile away, Mulvihill says she's "stranded" and "depressed." Other tenants at Schaefer Landing are deciding against renewing their leases because of the lack of transportation, and with Depression 2.0 well underway, many are wondering what ever will become of all these optimistic new condos. New York Water Taxi wants a subsidy from the city to keep the South Williamsburg line afloat, and Mulvihill just wants an easy way to get to the doctor. She tells the Times, “I thought this was a safe investment, given the stock market.”
Old and Stranded in South Williamsburg
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"and with Depression 2.0 well underway,..."
Hate to disappoint you but the stock market shot up today.
Anyway, if this lady can afford a million dollar apartment, she can afford a taxi to the nearest subway stop. Is this the best sob story you can find?
such compassionate conservatism, ides.
of course, i shouldn't be surprised by someone who thinks the economy is suddenly better because the market shot up today.
also, catching the J at Marcy is a million times better than trying to catch the L at Bedford. try learning the basics of your neighborhood instead of just buying a million dollar place and bitching about it
Perhaps the city can provide her with elderly accessible para-transit? (van rides to the station, etc...)
she can try and apply for access-a-ride, though she'll have to prove to them why she can't take public mass transit in a personal interview at their site. a location that's not given on their renewal form, you have to call a number.
ides is usually a tool, but has a point here.
oh yes, let's buy condos... who cares the subway is far away? and don't think about taking one of those things called buses that those poor people take! No, I prefer to be "stranded" and bitch and be on the Times...
Buyer beware. Next.
#1- of course the stock market shot up today. There are always suckers who think that we've reached the floor but It's gonna drop again in the next couple of days, probably tomorrow. This credit crisis is at least a year affair.
A. "Hate to disappoint you but the stock market shot up today."...
really? so we should get in our escalade and party!
B. send that old lady back to shoreham.
#3 word.
Shot up? Ha. Shot up from the gutter ain't saying much, #1.
When will it return to 11,500 again, O Wise One?
It's like that Richard Fariña song:
"Been down so long, it looks like up to me."
am i the only one who was surprised that a retired school principal could afford a $1.1 million apartment?
i don't have a problem with it, i'm just a bit surprised.
Seriously, the JMZ is only six blocks away! Cry me a river, lady.
What the hell? Why is this a story?
and the downturn starts, soon this will be a desolate, dark and scary area where one should venture only in the daytime. like the good old days when almost everyone had the master key to the subway gates. (it worked, too!)
She has an NYC Bd of Ed pension and collecting Social Security and a medicare patient and an educated woman and has a few good investments she can afford a car service or a taxi to take her anywhere her heart desires in the city. As a former public servant she probably knows the bureaucratic ropes and should be able to get them to authorize a few Access-A-Ride trips. Those of us non pensioned taxpayers will be happy to help.
what a crock of shit. what she should invest in is a good shrink because she is a whack job. poor doe.
*gag*
I went to Atlantic City and put down $400,000 on black at the roulette table and it came up red. Can I get reimbursed?
Who the hell would think that retiring to south williamsburg would be a good idea? the last thing I want to see when I'm old and frail is youthful and vigorous hipsters biking every morning mocking me and my oldness.
bh is right, she could get a fixie. and put her medicare card in the spokes.
the last thing I want to see when I'm old and frail is youthful and vigorous hipsters biking every morning mocking me and my oldness.
What are you talking about? You'll never get old and frail. You promised you'd kill yourself when you start going downhill. It's in black and white right here on Gothamist.
sorry mel but she is a suffolk county principal. she doesn't get a nyc pension. its whatever he system cooked up for their workers.
but she's a non-story. I'm sure she can afford having someone drive her to manhattan. she's not interested in the subway.
Rfive, sorry about the NYC pension. The Suffolk County one probably pays more anyway but the rest of my comment still stands. However, I'm trying to figure out why she moved to Brooklyn. I can't believe it was just to be near her doctors and if she's that old, it couldn't have been for the night life. Your right, it's a non-story but there's more to it.
Maybe she should have dropped lees on a place to live so she could afford a different form of transportation. Tough luck lady. Boo fucking hoo.
She is an idiot. if she could afford that kind of money on a place in Williamsburg, why didn't she buy something smaller in Manhattan?
"Hate to disappoint you but the stock market shot up today.'
Yes! The crisis is over. The stock market has recovered, to right about where it was... on Thursday.
But yeah, it's hard to feel too sorry for someone who thought they were buying into luxury but instead finds herself with a few of the same inconveniences the majority of people living in her neighborhood have always made due with.
she doesn't look old in the I've fallen and can't get up sense, so I commend her on staying young or at least young at heart. but she really shouldn't be whining about her circumstances regarding transportation.
I wonder how much is her unit worth now? if it was a little over a million 2 years ago.
#23 -it's called being figurative. I'm still in for the sky burial
Well of course you feel stranded with those big windows looking onto Manhattan.
Close the blinds and get a cat.
even if the continual bulldozification of south willy-b has been delayed by the credit crunch, the future development is inevitable (despite resistance by the short-skirt-fearing hasidim), and in five to ten years that apartment will be worth a lot more once it is surrounded by more gleaming condos, antique stores, and a waterfront parkway. also given the state of things, shaeffer landing will probably remain a better constructed building than most of the newer condos that are getting squeezed out amidst today's shakey market, with its smaller profit margins. better mass transit will come, but in the mean time, lady, either walk it off (like your older jewish neighbors) or buy a scooter. your kids will be rolling in the proceeds from that condo after you move on to that lovely condo in the clouds...
You have to walk a mile to the L train and we are supposed to feel sorry for you? HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!!
She should just swap condos with a pathetic, hermetic hipster trustfunder who's sick of the UWS and wants to hole up in that tower on the moat.
the burg sux. filthy place always a shithole why is she surprised. probaly had a hipseter realtor. No way hipsters dont really have jobs...i am confused.
I agree. Wah wah fuckity wah. She's got more to worry about after the article posted here today about machete gang wars in south williamsburg.
How predictable was it that all these luxury hi-rises were overpriced and would never be sold? They are never going to sell or rent all these ridiculous eye sore buildings that are ruining Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods and waterfront views. To hell with these greedy idiots.
Uh, the Marcy stop is only a half-mile walk from there...