CLICK HERE FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED

Q: what is the maximum building height including the 10′ set back?

A: According to the developer, the maximum building height at the rear of the building (including the 10′ setback) is 32′.

Q: do the front and rear of the building both require the 10′ setback?

A: No.

Q: the R5 zoning requirements on the city of nyc zoning website are different than those listed on your website. for instance, their maximum height is 40 feet and it also requires a front yard setback.  does this site fall under a special zoning overlay that requires the 21 foot restriction?

A: Because we’re dealing with existing structures, there are different requirements. As we will be using the current footprint, the houses will be closer to the street than they would be permitted to be if newly built – hence the different height restriction. At least, that’s my understanding of it.

Q: the website lists the lot size as 20×25 but the site plan provided shows it as 20×50.  is the 20×25 actually the zoning envelope and not the lot size?

A: The buildings are 20′x25′. The lot, including the rear yard, is 20′x50′.

Q: Do you have images of how the cottages originally looked like?

A: As far as we can tell, they looked (minus the vinyl siding) much the way they do today. You can find images here: http://theconovercottages.com/2010/03/see-the-location-and-the-buildings-that-are-there-now/

Click the title to go to a Google streetview of the houses, and then click “view larger map” for other navigational options.

Q: Do you want 3 different proposals for the 3 houses?

A: The three houses will be different from one another when completed. You may submit as many proposals as you like, but each design will be unique. If you envision an integrated streetscape, and wish to advocate for your three-part design, by all means do so.

Q: Is there a specified format/sheet size you would prefer, like 11 x 17?

A: To ease printing and review of the designs, we appreciate a format no larger than 11×17. But we can accommodate any size if necessary.

Q: In your PDF of the RFP you are referring to a sketch – I can not find the sketch; I think it is related to the section.

A: The “sketch” is being revised and will be back up soon. Watch this space!

Q: Do I understand correctly that the basement will be 4′ underground and the finished floor of the first floor about 3′ above street level?

A: The “basement” is what we call a “garden level” in South Brooklyn. It is a living level, and can have a full kitchen and bath if so designed. That’s how we envisioned the houses at the outset.

While the sidewalk is 4’ above the floor level at the street side of the buildings, there are currently steps down to the lower level from the sidewalk, allowing for an entrance there. The rear yard is partially excavated, so a level walk-out is an option, followed by steps up to the rest of the yard.

As far as ceiling heights are concerned, we are limited by the math here. They are “cottages”, of course, so we’re not expecting soaring loft-like spaces. But any clever design that can add light and a feeling of space will be greatly appreciated.

Will two person teams be allowed? How is registration handled? How do we send in the projects? Will models be accepted?  Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Stephen Woolard, Instructor

Engineering Drawing & Design

Westover Comprehensive High School

2600 Partridge Dr

Albany, GA 31707

A: Dear Stephen,

Thanks so much for your interest – we look forward to your students’ submission!

Two person teams will be allowed. The prize remains the same, regardless of how many people are involved in the design process.

In our rush to get the information out, we released the RFP without requiring registration. You can download it here:

http://theconovercottages.com/how-to-enter/

I’d love to see a model, but we are not able to return it to you. Instead, I would recommend photographing the model and sending the images with your submission.

If your design is selected, a model would certainly help!

Please feel free to get in touch with any other questions you may have.

Best,

Tina

Q: After reading the how-to-enter page I’m still not sure how registration works.  Do they need to send in paperwork?  Or is their design submission their registration?  Sorry about the confusion but we have only done one other design competition.

Thanks Again,

Stephen Woolard, Instructor

Engineering Drawing & Design

Westover Comprehensive High School

2600 Partridge Dr

Albany, GA 31707

A: There is no registration – the submission is the registration. We should have thought of this, but we didn’t.

Q: Thanks for the clarification.  The website has been helpful with understanding the neighborhood but they need some insight.  The site is 20×25.  Does the structure consume the whole site?  Is the back entry to a yard or ally?   Down here in the deep south it is hard to imagine a house without a yard J.  Or to understand typical housing in NYC.

Thanks again,

Stephen Woolard

A: The site is 20×50. The building footprint is 20×25. We need to work with the existing footprint. 

And it’s far from typical!! Most of NYC is nothing like these houses. But it’s true, most of our houses are attached to their neighbors, with access to the yard through the house.

Q: Me Again! Today’s questions are:

Is the 21’ maximum bldg height apply to railings too or just structure? As it relates to the roof deck.

What are the existing ceiling hts?  Placing 2.5 floors within 21’ is making ceilings under 8’.

To minimize bothering you with questions can you point me to the bldg codes for the area?

Stephen Woolard

A: You get 21′ for the first two floors alone. The third floor can be higher  but it has to be set back 10’ from the front face. Plan on 8’ ceiling heights on the third floor.

The zoning is r5 – here’s a link: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_resdistricts.shtml

Red Hook Day Trip, II

While slightly challenging to get to on the bus or train, Red Hook is full of great spots, so much so that we’ve updated our original Red Hook Day Trip post to bring you a whole new day of Brooklyn fun. We also highly suggest this trip as a bike ride, on those warm sunny days we’ve been getting from time to time lately.

10 AM: Starting on April 30, free tickets will be available for sailing trips on the Clipper City Tall Ship, a topsail schooner, on select Friday and Saturday mornings. Set sail from from Pier 11, Atlantic Basin in Red Hook. Definitely worth playing hooky on a Friday. Details here>>>

11AM: Once you’ve worked up an appetite out on the water (or biking, or simply need to soothe a hangover) head to Kevin’s (277A Van Brunt St., 718-596-8335) for Saturday or Sunday brunch (until 3pm!) for Stumptown French-pressed coffee brunch and cornflake encrusted challah French toast. The orange juice is freshly-squeezed but there’s no liquor license so BYO champagne.

Noon: Although the cruise ships don’t come into the Brooklyn terminal often, when they do, they are quite a sight to see–it looks like the ship is an installation IN the neighborhood). Check here for the 2010 cruise schedule, the Queen Mary sets sail today.

1 PM: Next, head around the corner to the Look North Inuit art gallery, (275 Conover St., 347-721-3995) run by Jim Clark, who spent 15 years in Alaska, including time spent on king crab vessels. Don’t let the “by appointment” scare you off. Jim is very friendly in this low-pressure environment. You could also head over to Pier Glass (499 Van Brunt St., Suite 2A, 718-237-2073) where you can gaze at the museum-quality glass pieces or you can get hands-on training with a $150 “glass experience” where you will be able to blow your own glass with guidance from Kevin Kutch and Mary Buxton, the owners.

2 PM: Head to to best couple of blocks in Red Hook for boutique shopping which includes Red Lipstick (390 Van Brunt St., 347-599-1550), Tiburon (392a Van Brunt St., 718-913-4484) and Foxy & Winston (392 Van Brunt St., 718-928-4855)?. We’ve also mentioned in the past how much we love Erie Basin (388 Van Brunt St.; 718-554-6147), named after the waterway just south of the Hook; the eclectic Metal and Thread (398 Van Brunt; 718-414-9651), and precious soapmaker a nd florist Saipua, (147 Van Dyke St.; 718-624-2929), home of the immensely popular Little Flower School. (Their color workshop on April 28 has 7 spots still.)

3 PM: Grab a mid-afternoon coffee and pastry at Fairway (450-480 Van Brunt Street) and sit at their tables out back with the gorgeous view of the Verrazano Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. For an icey alternative on a hot and sunny day, Uncle Louis G’s recently opened an outpost at 414 Van Brunt St.

4 PM: Cross the street to The Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge, (290 Conover St. at Pier 44, 718-624-4619) which has been moored here since 1994. Hours are Thursday from 4-8pm and Saturday from 1-5pm. David Sharps, the director and owner who lives on the barge, will be happy to play you a video about its history for $1.00. Or see shows aboard it, like the floating fantasia, A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things, which premieres April 23. Next to the museum is the lovely Pier 44 Waterfront Garden where you can sit for a few moments, breathing in the salt-water air and watching all the boat traffic go past.

To finish the day, read the complete article here>>>

11 AM: Get a foot-long Virginia Ham, egg, potato and mozzarella hero ($9.50) at Defonte’s (379 Columbia St., 718-625-8052, closed Sun.), touted by Edible Brooklyn as one of the best breakfast sandos in town. Dig in at Coffey Park, just down Dwight St.

Noon: Walk to Red Hook’s best trio of shops: Erie Basin (388 Van Brunt; 718-554-6147), named after the waterway just south of the Hook, where you can find jewelry made of strange materials like burnt beads and Vulcanite (an 1880s-era plastic); Saipua (392 Van Brunt Street; 718-624-2929), which just re-released their popular citronella and lavender dogbone soap; and the eclectic Metal and Thread (398 Van Brunt; 718-414-9651), where milliner Cha Cha’s House of Ill Repute unveils her new hat collection Oct. 18, 4-7 pm.

1 PM: At Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies (204 Van Dyke St,; 888-450-5463) on Pier 41, pick up a Swingle — a chocolate covered, frozen key lime tart ($5) — and take it to Louis Valentino Jr. Pier Park, where the men fish for stripers and the Red Hook Boaters offer free kayaking through October. Or take Sixpoint Craft Ales‘ free monthly tour. Email them here>> to reserve a spot in November or December.

2 PM: Get thee to Bay St. and Clinton, home of the Red Hook Vendors through mid-November Sunday, October 26, where $5 will buy you a barbacoa taco with fresh pico de gallo and a watermelon agua fresca at the third truck on Clinton St. Try a papusa from Rafael Soler, a finalist at the upcoming Vendy Awards in Dumbo. Afterward, walk to the Red Hook Community Farm, open Sat., 9-3, through Nov. and 10:30-5 on Oct. 18, when pumpkin carving, local restaurants like Applewood and sustainable experts like Tri-State Bio Diesel converge at the the Red Hook Harvest Festival.

3 PM: At Beard St. between Dwight and Ostego, Ikea’s 6-and-a-half acre Erie Basin Park is dotted with shipyard artifacts and strange walkways. Inside the big box store, dine on Swedish meatballs (kids meals just $1.99!), sparkling lingonberry juice and layered almond cake in the upstairs restaurant, with views of Ms. Liberty. Then continue to 499 Van Brunt to the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition’s Fall Group Show in the Beard St. Warehouse, dating from 1869. At 3pm on weekends they screen shorts, and this weekend The Red Hook Film and Video Festival takes over the screening room 1-5pm Sat. and Sun.

4 PM: Behind Fairway, check out Bob Diamond’s streetcars, which he dreamed of using to connect Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn. Inside, nibble free samples of Fairway’s special blended olive oils, cheeses, chips and salsas.

5 PM: In front of Fairway, admire the nautically-decorated 26 Reed St., the social club and garage where Ralph Balzano, brother of Sunny (see below), keeps classic cars like a 1959 El Camino. Stop in LeNell’s (416 Van Brunt; (718-360-0838), which has tastings and classes scheduled through December. A crash course on bitters is this weekend’s lesson plan.

6 PM: At Baked (359 Van Brunt St.; 718-222-0345) take a much needed coffee-and-chocolate-cloud-cookie break, then browse the antique shop Atlantis (351 Van Brunt; 718-858-8816) for an eggshell-blue Herman Miller Greige sideshell chair, rotary dial phones and other 1950s home accessories like hand mixers.

7 PM: At Kentler International Drawing Space (353 Van Brunt; 718-875-2098), see the floral and faunal drawings of Hedya Klein (above), whose solo show opens this Friday.

8 PM: Begin the booze cruise: stop for a drink at Red Hook Bait and Tackle (320 Van Brunt; 718-797-4892), then to the gorgeous, high-ceilinged Botanica (220 Conover St.; 718-797-2297), where they make amazing cocktails like The Hemingway, an exciting concoction of rosemary, elderflower liquor, vodka, and grapefruit juice (food and a downstairs dance club coming soon!). At Tini Wine Bar (414 Van Brunt; 718-855-4206), relax on the white couches with a glass of wine and play a game of scrabble.

9 PM: Cross the street to The Good Fork (391 Van Brunt; 718-643-6646), where the narrow dining room in front feels like the interior of a vintage yacht, and chef Sohui Kim’s “Steak and Eggs” with kimchee rice is now as much a Brooklyn classic as Junior’s cheesecake.

10 PM: If you’re there on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 8pm-4am, have a cold (ok, lukewarm) Bud and hear live bluegrass and jazz at Sunny’s (253 Conover St.; 718-625-8211), in the Balzano family since the 1920s. His abstract artwork is on the walls, along with a painting by his wife, Tone (pronounced “tuna”). Wednesdays through October Smokey Hormel, who played guitar with Johnny Cash and Beck, plays Western Swing at 10.

11 PM: Karaoke at Hope and Anchor (347 Van Brunt; 718-237-0276) Thurs-Sat. (get there by 9 on Thursdays), then have a nightcap on the ever-quiet rooftop of Rocky Sullivan’s (34 Van Dyke St.; 718-246-8060).

Getting there: The Ikea Shuttle bus departs from Court St./Borough Hall and the 4th Ave./9th St. stations every half hour M-F from 1pm-10pm, and every 20 minutes on weekends from 10am-10pm. The ferry from Manhattan’s Pier 11 leaves every 20 minutes from 1-9 on weekdays and 10am-9:40pm weekends (check schedules here>>). At the A/C/F Jay St. stop, take the B61 bus, or take the Court Express car service (718-237-8888) from the F stop at Carroll St. for $7. Call ahead for all store, bar and restaurant hours.

By Nicole and Chrysanthe. All photos by BB except Dog Bone courtesy Saipua, Vendor photo by Adam Kuban, Ikea Park photo by Beachen on Flickr, Streetcar photo by f.trainer on Flickr, Hedya Klein image courtesy Kentler Gallery, Botanica photo by Callalille on Flickr, Sunny’s photo by lightxposr on Flickr.

Enlarge this image

Photo by Stefano Giovannini

Savior or gentrifyer (or both)? Landlord Gino Vitale wants to renovate several Conover Street cottages, but residents of the decaying structures are unhappy.

A row of worn Red Hook cottages is on the road to restoration — but their path to architectural salvation might encounter a speed bump or two: the tenants currently occupying the homes.

Sea air mixed with neglect has stripped much of the luster from the homes, located on Conover Street between Coffey and Van Dyke streets, a quaint block that calls to mind that Red Hook was once a fishing village.

Developer Gito Vitale ultimately aims to sell the cottages, believed to be constructed back in the 1930s as fishermen’s homes.

Only two of Vitale’s three cottages are occupied. But tenants only found out about the redesign plan through a link on Facebook, and now fear that they will be kicked to the curb in favor of deeper-pocketed newcomers.

“Gentrification is picking up steam,” lamented a resident who wished not to be identified because of the tenuous nature of the living conditions there. “The suburbs are retaking the cities — white flight has reversed itself.”

But Vitale said that his tenants knew fully well what they were getting into. They have been paying below-market rent and received only one year-leases for the four years that they have lived in the cottages.

“They should be ecstatic that they’ve been there for four years paying close to nothing in rent,” Vitale said, adding that the tenants are “not starving artists.”

He added the homes were rented “as is” and there was never any confusion about the state of the buildings.

The landlord said tenants are on month-to-month leases, and have at least another year to live in the cottages.

“I’m a human being,” Vitale said. “It wouldn’t be fair to them to tell them they have two weeks to move.”

The debate over what should happen to the cottages is a microcosm of the larger, and seemingly endless, battle that is waged for the souls of many neighborhoods. Indeed, a real-estate company that is working with Vitale said that its goal is to see the cottages preserved, not lost.

Tina Fallon, a broker with Realty Collective, a Red Hook-based real estate company, said she came up with the idea for a design competition to restore the cottages in hopes of saving them so that they won’t be torn down to make room for a massive, out-of-scale development that would violate the neighborhood’s low-rise aesthetic.

“We are the people who want to save the neighborhood from an architectural monstrosity,” she said.

Fallon said displaced tenants are welcome to “buy the homes they once lived in,” and said she is happy to “help people relocate.”

©2010 Community Newspaper Group