Once upon a time, a magical place called Williamsburg existed where people could live on a working-class wage. Over the years, Williamsburg grew more and more popular, until eventually all the artists, musicians and Puerto Ricans got pushed out by people who could afford to buy $712,015 condo. Yes, you read that right. A $712,015 condo, and that number is only going up. more ›

We're sorry to start the day on such a tragic note, but there is a heartrending crisis unfolding on the edge of the East River in Williamsburg, where poor people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for luxury condominium units are finding that their upscale paradise is turning into a ramshackle ghetto. The eyes of the world are currently turned to Northside Piers, where a half dozen condo owners tell the NY Post "their walls are leaky and poorly insulated; mold is growing in the walls; and there is faulty plumbing, sewage, heating and air-conditioning systems." You'll recall that this is the same waterfront development that caught fire during construction. (Sorry, wrong link; here it is.) more ›

Everyone loves boobs and everyone loves food, which means everyone loves talking about that natural and naturally controversial topic, breast-feeding! First Lady Michelle Obama is promoting it, celebrities are doing it, there are foods being made from breast milk, many states require offices to have lactation rooms, and people (rightfully) get upset when they can't do so in public. But one Upper West Side condo board isn't so keen on "breast-feeding resource center" The Upper Breast Side, which is located in its first floor. more ›

You know what rich people like? Staying rich! While it's unclear why exactly super-rich Yankees slugger and serial house hunter Alex Rodriguez finally decided to buy a $6 million place at the Rushmore condo, here's one factor that probably didn't hurt: The 421a tax break that will turn what could have been an annual $60,000+ tax bill into one that's just $1200 a year. more ›

Finally: Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has finally found a place where Cameron Diaz can feed him some popcorn in privacy! The Wall Street Journal reports that Rodriguez is buying a a full-floor, five bedroom unit at the Rushmore condo development on Riverside Boulevard at 64th Street (basically south of Trumpistan), "Brokers confirmed that the sale price was between $5.5 and $6 million for the unit on the 35th floor but said a contract had not yet been drafted." more ›

You pay through the nose for an apartment you can barely afford, with roommates you can't stand, in a neighborhood where you run home from the subway station screaming to yourself like a schizophrenic to ward off muggers, all the while dreaming of a better life in a roach-free apartment in a safer part of town. Meanwhile, 21-year-old University of Central Florida senior Adam Venckauskas clicked once to enter HGTV's "Urban Oasis giveaway" contest, and won a furnished condo at the W New York Hotel in the Financial District. And a new car. "It's perfect... Whenever I have a long weekend, I'll come up," the tall, good-looking young winner tells the Post. We sincerely hope he enjoys it, and has lots of mind-blowing sex while gazing out at the Statue of Liberty and savoring how fair and perfect life really is. more ›

A woman has been fighting for the right to keep her teacup Yorkshire terrier with her at her Queens condo, after the Village View Condominium board tried to evict the 4-pound-pup (and spent $100K doing so!). Last year the Queens Supreme Court ruled the board had the right to ban pets, but the Appellate Division rejected their ruling this week, according to the Daily News. more ›

When the owner of an East Village condo died 12 years ago, two squatters moved in to his old pad, according to the owner's brother Wahid Sharaf, who is now suing the two for trashing the place. The condo is located at 184 East 2nd Street, reports the NY Post, and Sharaf says the illegal tenants did $70K worth of damage, causing him to sell it for way below the $900K market price. more ›

Some Brooklyn residents and politicians are hoping that the sprawling Jehovah's Witnesses complex in DUMBO can prevent further high-rise condo development. A member of the city board overseeing Brooklyn Bridge Park development, Paul Nelson, told the Post, "There’s a growing sentiment that the Jehovah’s Witnesses buildings are the magic bullet to keep more housing out of the park." See, over 1,200 condo units were proposed to help support the park's $16 million annual maintenance budget (the money being tax revenue from the condo units). The Jehovah's Witnesses didn't comment, but they are looking to get out of Brooklyn—they currently own dozens of properties. more ›

Yesterday, angry dog owners living in an apartment building across from Lincoln Center took up verbal arms against their condo board's attempts at installing "Draconian rules," such as banning certain breeds and forcing dogs to use service elevators. Today, the embattled pet lovers stand victorious as the condo board scrapped the strict rules. But even among the conquering owners, there is debate as to whose victory this really belongs to: "It's a victory for dog lovers," said Nick Santino, who previously called the board "an autocratic, dictatorial-like decision process." Not so fast, said Coleen Weiss, the owner of a black Lab puppy named Bongo: "It's a great day for doggies!" more ›

Tiger Woods' former favorite (we think, given that he allegedly paid her $8-10 million to keep quiet about their affair) mistress Rachel Uchitel is moving to a Manhattan condo. And, responding to potential criticism about visiting Ground Zero (her fiance died at the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 attacks) for the filming of Celebrity Rehab, she wants the haters to know, "Nobody can f--k with me about 9/11." more ›

With so many empty condos in Williamsburg, it only makes sense that some enterprising folks have decided to commandeer them for their own personal party spaces. Earlier this month, an all-night rave went down in the courtyard area of 66 North 1st Street, and now it seems the rave is coming from inside the building. Yes, the youngsters have found their way indoors, and over the weekend held a party in what seems like every empty unit in the building. more ›

Last month, it was reported that MTA Chairman Jay Walder had purchased a $1.6 million condo at Central Park West and 96th Street. The three-bedroom abode is near five subways (the B/C and 1/2/3), not to mention a number of buses, which makes it easy for Transit Workers Union members to protest! TWU Local 100 president John Samuelson told the Daily News that Walder's pricey home, high salary and vacation home in France "demonstrates he's a rich elitist completely out of touch with New York City transit workers and riders." more ›

As the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex heads into foreclosure auction later this month, both the NY Times and Wall Street Journal look at how the development, in spite of its problems under Tishman Speyer, remains attractive. People are expecting a war over the property, and one investor group thinks it'll make a lot of money by turning the rental apartments into co-ops. William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management and Winthrop Realty Trust is one of the parties in the investor group, tells the WSJ, "The value of the property as a co-op is much higher than the value of the property as a rental." If only Tishman knew that four years ago! more ›

After bitching about "ridiculous" income taxes, radio host Rush Limbaugh vowed to leave the city and never look back. And now, to the joy of every New Yorker who has ever told an out-of-towner to get out if they can't handle the city, he is actually leaving! Limbaugh reportedly sold his gaudy East 86th Street condo for $11.5 million. The 10-room apartment boasts Central Park views and skies painted right on the ceilings, but sold for about $3 million less than he originally listed it for. The city raked in about $325,000 in transfer taxes from the sale. So, where is Limbaugh off to next? We hear Costa Rica is really nice this time of year. more ›

There are now two luxury rental buildings on the Upper West Side, eager to offer high-end amenities like rooftop misting wall and "a boxcar-sized mailroom where residents can address their envelopes and packages on a long black granite table." But if you want to live the high life, of course, you'll have to pay. As Curbed put it, "To those who think paying $8,000 per month for a two-bedroom apartment at flashy new [200 West 72nd Street] rental building The Corner is a bit on the crazy side, we ask this: How about $6,000? That's the entry-level rate for a two-bedroom at equally new neighborhood rental Aire at 200 West 67th Street." more ›

New Yorkers may love their pets, but sometimes New York apartment buildings don't like them that much: The Wall Street Journal has some anecdotes of brokers turning down potential buyers of multimillion dollar apartments because the buildings don't allow pets! In fact, some buildings can be especially strict about dogs—sometimes forcing Solomonic choices. more ›

After Monday's march down Park Avenue yielded no deals, the city's building workers are coming even closer to striking. The deadline for a new contract deal between the Realty Advisory Board and 32BJ is April 21st, and a strike of 30,000 workers would affect every borough except the Bronx. 32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Doyle told NY1, "Unfortunately there's going to be an incredible disruption to the daily lives of the people of New York City. We want to avoid that but it unquestionably would be a disruption." more ›

Seems you can't have a perfectly innocent "fire massage" party in your Tribeca condo loft without the neighbors getting all bent out of shape about it. What's fire massage, you say? Well, judging by this surreal video taken at one of sex toy salesman Dimitri Dimoulakis's ragers, it's when a woman waves a wand of fire over the bare back and legs of a man, who is lying down on what looks like a kitchen counter. According to a lawsuit filed by the condo board, "The man's pants are also pulled down to his ankles." Well, yeah—does it seem like a good idea to leave your clothes on when you're getting massaged by a torch? Then again, torch massage doesn't sound like such a good idea either, but that's what these people are into, among other things. more ›

Months after residents of a Turtle Bay building found their apartments coated in a layer of dust, an environmental testing firm found "highly elevated levels" of a carcinogen inside the E. 47th Street condo tower. A toxic substance found in mortar called crystalline silica got into apartments while laborers did facade work at the L'Ecole building at 212 E. 47th Street, according to an attorney for tenants who have filed suit over the incident. "It was like there had been a snowfall," said Steven Rosenhaus, who suffered breathing trouble and eye irritation after his 20th-floor apartment was blanketed in the the powder. According to the Post, building management has denied any wrongdoing in court documents. more ›

For nearly two months now pooch owners at a Park Slope dog run have lived in fear of the eggs that fall from the windows above. At least three eggings have occurred so far behind the newly-built Novo Condominiums, provoked by nighttime dog barking. The identity of the egg tosser remains secret, but probably not for long. more ›

This is not the way to sell a condo. To illustrate a real estate listing for a DUMBO property that purportedly offers "stunning views of the Manhattan Skyline," a broker used a photo taken just days after the 9/11 attacks that shows the still-smoldering World Trade Center site. more ›

There hasn't been much news in a while on the status of the ambitious, mixed-use development planned for the former Domino Sugar refinery on the South Side of Williamsburg. You'll recall that for years now a developer has been planning to build a massive residential and retail development at the site of the landmarked plant, but it was an open question as to how the tanking housing market would affect the plans. Well, turns out the project is entering the public review phase, possibly facing the local community board this month. Here are some new renderings! more ›

According to The Real Deal, Judge Charles Ramos told lawyers for Corcoran to "read the riot act" to their client, finding the company "grossly negligent" for failing to preserve and turn over e-mails revealing that Corcoran agents canceled appointments with prospective buyers on rainy days. Apparently, the flooding in the three-bedroom Park Slope duplex was so bad that it was like "the side of a swimming pool has come down," Einstein tells the Daily News. Well, it doesn't take a genius to see that Corcoran's in a bit of hot water here. more ›

It's not all Brownstones and haunted mansions in Brooklyn; a luxury condo called the Venetian has just been unveiled in all its hideousness! Brownstoner reports that the attempt at classical opulence, located in Gravesend, "looks a lot better in reality than we had expected." Be that is it may (is it?), this doesn't look at all like Brooklyn. But is it better than the "Williamsburg Grey" Karl Fischer creations? more ›

Third quarter real estate data for Manhattan showed that sales for condos and co-ops improved from the second quarter... but sales still trail 2008 third quarter numbers. So, is the glass half full or empty? more ›

With most of Williamsburg's condos in purgatory at the moment, some are taking advantage of the empty spaces (particularly those gutter punks). Miss Heather informs us of a new gym that's opened up in the ground floor of the vacant 117 South 3rd Street condo, and the membership is only 29 bucks a month. Everyone wins! But wait, a tattle-tale tipster goes and ruins the deal, saying that while the building's retail space is rented to John Suarez, who is running a gym out of it called Cutting Edge, "there are many problems here." more ›

This week NY Mag takes a harrowing look at the Williamsburg condo implosion—harrowing, that is, if you're a developer who's losing your shirt because nobody's buying the luxury units you started building before the economic collapse. The in-depth article highlights how the city's requirement that all new buildings, no matter how small, devote 20 percent of their units to affordable housing, backfired. more ›

Bad news for squatters and survivalists: Instead of just letting abandoned condo developments turn into illegal havens for trespassers, the city is starting a $20 million pilot program to turn unsold condominiums, unrented apartments and stalled construction sites into affordable housing for middle-income families. Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced the plan, called the Housing Asset Renewal Program (HARP), in which the city will negotiate with developers and banks to turn the unoccupied units into affordable housing. more ›

Back in 2005, Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council rezoned a large swath of Williamsburg and Greenpoint to spark a boom in residential construction, and developers immediately raced in to begin work on luxury high rises. Then the economy curled up into a fetal position, and north Brooklyn is now littered with half-finished development. A team of building inspectors have found 143 stalled construction sites around the city, with the highest concentration in Brooklyn, which boasts a total 63 vacant lots and rusting steel building frames—18 in Williamsburg alone. Residents are increasingly outraged about the degentrication, which is attracting squatters and creating a fin de siècle atmosphere of urban blight. Philip DePaolo, who moved from The Bronx to Williamsburg in 1979, tells the Post his adopted neighborhood now reminds him of his old neighborhood: "It looks like I never left." And it's true—the artisanal cheese, the American Apparel, the burning buildings; life on the mean streets of Williamsburg these days makes the '70s-era Bronx seem like Greenwich, CT. more ›