A dispute over the common areas among condo owners at BellTell Lofts has sparked something of a culture war between the haves and the have-nots (the divisive factor being children, not money), unraveled in the comment section of a
Curbed.com posting on the issue. An angry childless condo owner writes that a few “loud mouth moms and dads at the expense of the other owners want to take space away from the game room (pool table), and tv room, gym room, and stretching area to make a kids play room,” contrary to the original offering plan. “The kids and their nannies and parents will hi-jack the rest of the space with all their noise and screaming.”
Quickly, the debate turned to one over whether children belong in the city at all. Downtown Brooklyn, until recently, wasn’t considered an ideal place to raise children. The “stroller wars” were mainly confined to Park Slope, where baby SUVs regularly clog narrow entryways and mornings at the café are punctuated by crying toddlers. Now, with high-rises like BellTell selling apartments with multiple bedrooms, new families are moving into Downtown Brooklyn, sharing hallways with singles and “childless by choice” couples who aren’t amused by rambunctious laughter.
Some even called children “spawn” or “larvae,” disapproving of the parents’ choice to stay in a yardless urban dwelling after breeding instead of hightailing it to the suburbs. “If I have a kid, I would be rich enough to have a genuine au pair and or move to a good suburb with a good school,” said one. Others simply resented parents in their building who expect some of the common space could easily be converted to a playroom, whereas, in their mind, the current uses are amenities everyone can use.
Parents fought back. This one takes the cake: “You people are disgusting. Who the [expletive] do you think raised YOU? Aliens? Wolves? Would you share your thoughts with your own parents?
Ungrateful [expletive]. You need to share this world. Children are part of it, and they are the future … One day that annoying kid down the hall is going to be spoon-feeding you oatmeal mush while you lie in a hospital bed with dementia.”
Another parent said, with half the building unsold, perhaps a playroom would help sell units to families. Probably not what the “childless by choice” set were hoping for.
The real issue is whether a condominium can change the original offering plan midway through sales, perhaps removing an amenity that made some people purchase the apartment over another one. But, judging by the comments, the war over the common space is symbolic of a clash in lifestyles between those who choose to have children and the growing number of people who choose not to.
Some Boerum Hill residents living near Hoyt and Union streets are organizing a petition drive to stop a bar from opening on the block, the
Eagle has learned.
“We are a small block with only 10 houses, like many blocks on Hoyt Street, and this would destroy the whole character. It’s only 198 feet long but the combined (existing) wine bar and proposed liquor bar would be 92 feet. Further, this block is zoned for residential use and we really want to keep it that way to preserve our peace and quiet,” said an appeal obtained by the Eagle.
The resident went on to complain about smokers outside and honking limos at midnight.
Construction accidents in Williamsburg/Greenpoint have increased by 600 percent in the last three years, and the shoddy work may cause the new inhabitants of these offending buildings headaches down the road, City Council candidate Evan Thies told
The Real Deal.
Borough-wide, Department of Buildings (DOB) complaints have increased 18 percent in the past year, to 21,971. He said the increased cost of building, combined with the construction boom that has put more demand on work crews, has caused developers to cut corners and hire cheap labor to get the project done, sometimes to beat new zoning laws.
“For Brooklyn, an area which has seen increased excavation work in the past years, we’ve found many contractors are failing to provide sufficient sheeting, shoring and bracing, and protection of buildings,” said a DOB spokeswoman.
— Compiled by Sarah Ryley
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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