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Cue Tiny Violins For Williamsburg Luxury Condo NIGHTMARE
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 24, 2011
Modified Mar 24, 2011
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alleged!
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 24, 2011
Modified Mar 24, 2011
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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.)
Only one resident was willing to speak to the Post on the record, and unfortunately for the purposes of our schadenfreude he is a social worker. But apparently there's big money in social work, because this guy paid $608,000 for his one bedroom back in 2008! Fast forward to 2011, and Andrew Turetsky just feels betrayed. "We were promised luxury living if we came across the River from Manhattan to be part of the resurgence of North Brooklyn," he tells the Post. "I was not expecting such shameful and shoddy workmanship."
His electric bill ranges from $200 to $300 a month because the windows are reportedly so thin that they let in the cold air in winter and hot air in summer, forcing Turetsky to compensate with A.C. and heat. "A worker from Con Edison told me this is their favorite building," says one resident. Apparently rain gets in as well; according to the Post, "Some residents have taped around the window panes, but they say rain and air still blows in." Honestly, it's all too much to bear. Can't Yo La Tengo get involved and play a benefit for these desperate souls? If the conditions continue to worsen, we're going to need to send the UN in there to airlift them to The Edge:
Tagged
brooklyn
condo
nightmare
Northside Piers
real estate
williamsburg
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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