A Moment In Time:The New Covid-19 Normal

A Moment In Carroll gardens a few days ago.

Together, but distanced.

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Dear Carroll Gardeners! During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Are You Managing To Pay Your Apartment Rent?

Currently for Rent in Carroll Gardens 

July 1, 2020 Screenshot from Apartments.com

In the past few weeks, as New York City has been dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the sighting of moving vans here in Brooklyn's Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill has increased dramatically.

Many young families relocated to the suburbs or to Upstate New York to wait out the pandemic as soon as it became clear that residents had to quarantine.

They were followed by residents who decided to move back 'home' to be closer to family, giving up on their New York City dream.

And then, there are the many Carroll Gardeners who are committed to the neighborhood in good and bad times, but have lost their jobs and just can't afford to stay. 

Friend and PMFA reader C. is currently in that situation and has the following question for you:

With rent due today, how are readers of PMFA who are apartment renters feeling about making July rent?

As you know, there are many renters in the neighborhood who have lost income because of the Coronavirus pandemic and state-wide lockdown.

In the building where I live, there are renters who have lost between 25% to 50% of their usual monthly income yet the property owners have not offered any form of Rent Relief to help their tenants. Rent is due as if life is normal.

We know of renters in other buildings in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill who have negotiated with their landlords or property managers for deferred rent or payment plans, allowing them to pay rent over installments. We know of one instance where May rent was outright forgiven.

After July 31, 2020, making the monthly rent will become an even bigger concern. That’s the week when the largest portion of the federal Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation (PUEC) package is set to expire, and therefore any renters who have been able to survive through Unemployment Benefits or some form of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance that includes that weekly $600 payment will then have to do without.

Sadly, with moratoriums on evictions that were put in place in New York state due to the pandemic that have now since expired, this probably means an increase in evictions in August, and a lot more by September, October and November, 2020.

I'm not sure how we’re going to manage. How are your readers coping with this?

We would love to start a conversation about this issue. Have many people in your BoCoCa building moved lately? Will you have to move? Have you been able to renegotiating your rent with your landlord?

Above, we have included a map of currently available apartments in Carroll Gardens.  There seem to be quite a lot on the market, which should mean that landlords face a lot of competition for their apartments. Perhaps this is not the time to raise the rent or to lose a good renter because of a reluctance to lower the rent.

We want to hear from you, renters, owners, real estate folks, or even business owners, since this affects you, too.

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Welcome Back! Many Eateries And Bars In BoCoCa Now Offer Outdoor Seating On Smith And Court Streets

Brooklyn Social, Smith Street

Brooklyn Social and Planted on Smith Street

Kittery, Smith Street

Bar Great Harry, Smith Street

Cubana Café, Smith Street

Brooklyn Pizza Market, Smith Street

White Maize, Smith Street

Wing Bar, Smith Street

Union Grounds, Smith Street

Angry Wade's, Smith Street

Café Luluc on left, Leyenda on right, Smith Street

Café Luluc, Smith Street

Purépecha on Smith Street

Clover Club, Smith Street

Fragole, Court Street

East One on Court Street

Gersi on Court Street

The Chocolate Room, Court Street

Buddy's Burrito on Court Street

Kitchen on Court Street

After months of quarantine due to the Covid-19 pandemic, New Yorkers have embraced Phase Two of the long awaited re-opening of New York City.
As of last week, New York City has allowed bars and restaurants to place tables and chairs outside on the sidewalk as well as permitted establishments to take over parking spots in front of their place of business.
Business owners have taken advantage of the outdoor seating to kick start their businesses after the three months closure, and it appears that customers were happy to patronize them over the week-end.

The City imposes quite a few regulations about distancing customers from each other while outdoor dining.  Some restaurants seemed to be pushing the limit in placing tables and chairs too close to each other and not maintaining a safe 6 feet between groups. Some others were more cautious and followed the rules to a tee, it seems.

As a pedestrian walking past the eateries, it can be a bit intimidating seeing people without a mask, eating and drinking, while one has to walk past them on the sidewalk.
This Morning, Governor Cuomo warned that perhaps, he would reverse the reopening if people continue to meet up in large crowds at bars.

What do you think? Have you eaten in one of our neighborhood's eateries yet? Or are you waiting a bit longer to dine al fresco on Smith or Court Street?
Which restaurant or bar are you most excited to return to?
We would love to hear from you.


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Picture Of the Day:Eerily Empty

Eerily empty.
Court Street during the pandemic of 2020

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Carroll Gardens Corona Diary: Social Distancing

 Nerd Be Cool

 Caputo's Fine Food

Farmacy

Carroll Gardens residents continues to adapt to life under Covid-19 as best as possible. So are the merchants who remain open to serve the community by offering take-out service. A big thank you to them. It can't be easy.

The order of the day for them and for us is 'social distancing' to keep us safe. Some establishments seem to be taking things pretty seriously, which is great.

Nerd Be Cool at 518 Court Street has been really good about creating a culture of social distancing - people have been doing it on their own but now they've put up a sign and here you can see the results

Caputo's Fine Food at 460 Court Street is also on board and has changed its hours temporarily

Brooklyn Bread at 412 Court Street approached social distancing with a bit off humor, telling its customer that they can come in, but can't stay.

Farmacy,  has  closed on March 16, and will be closed "until we design a way to serve you in the safest and sweetest of ways" A sign in the window encourages people to purchase a gift card to support small businesses.

Some bars, however, were a bit less careful about making sure their customers keep a safe distance from each other this week-end.  We understand that they are trying to survive through this difficult time by selling take-out drinks to boost their revenue, but caution should still be the order of the time. 

Bar Bruno, the Mexican bistro at 520 Henry Street, for example, offered take out margaritas, but patrons were gathering on the sidewalk "as though it was happy hour, socializing from the bar's outdoor benches or seated in groups across the street by Mazzola", as one resident reported to us.

Bar Bruno

By the way, the NYC Parks Department is also taking social distancing seriously.  The Basketballcourts in Carroll Park are now closed for group play.

Please stay safe out there, people. This is not the time to be a 'covidiot".

****We would like to thank friend and reader Christian, who has been generously sharing some of his photos with us.Thanks, Christian.

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La Vara And Saint Julivert On Clinton Street "Temporarily" Closed

La Vara on Henry Street in Cobble Hill

Sister restaurant Saint Julivert Fishery

Reader and friend Christian reported to PMFA today that LaVara and its sister restaurant Saint Julivert Fisherie on Clinton Street in Cobble Hill are currently shut.
A message to patrons on the eateries' web sites reads:
"Thank you for your support in recent days and of course over the last 8 years at La Vara and Saint Julivert. Given the intimacy of our restaurants, the time is now to temporarily close. Our primary efforts going forward will be to support our staff as best we can, provide other collective forms of relief in our community, and plan for the day we can reopen. We promise to celebrate and care for you when we resume normal operations. Thank you again for all you have done for us, and for all you are doing now to spread kindness and joy."

A note in the window mentions that a kickstarter campaign will be live soon.

We wish chefs and owners Alex Raij and Eder Montero all the best and hope to see them re-open in the neighborhood very, very soon.

Stay well!

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Some Stores Better Stocked Than Others: Carroll Gardens In The Time Of Covid-19

Park Health Foods on Court Street

Key Food on Henry Street

Union Market on Court Street

K and Y Produce on Court Street

Caputo's Bake Shop on Court

Fresh Flower shop, corner of DeGraw and Court Street

The weather and the lovely blooms all around Carroll Gardens were the perfect excuse to go for a quick walk around the neighborhood, all while keeping our distance from everyone.  After all, there is a pandemic out there.

We would like to report that most food stores seem to have been restocked. Here is a report on smoe of them.

-Union Market on Court Street seemed to have pretty much everything, including flour, which had been hard to fin in other stores. The deli section was filled with cooked food to take away.

-K and Y Fruit and Produce on Court Street had everything they normally carry, including milk and butter.

-Caputo's Bakery on Court Street was lovely as always, with fresh loaves in the window.
(Mazzola on Union and Henry Streets is also open.)

-Key Food on Henry Street, on the other hand, was experiencing some shortages like milk, butter, frozen food, and baking supplies.

-Park Health on Court Street also had empty shelves for some products, but had a good supply of produce.

-We stopped at the flower store on the corner of DeGraw and Court Street and bought some blooms, because our mental health needs some tending during this stressful time.

Also open for business:

Bar Bruno on Henry Street

Little Barber shop on Henry Street

Reader Christian reports that Caputo's Fine Foods is "still making fresh mozzarella and grilled artichokes and have pastas and prepared sauces."

He also reports that French tart delicatessen is "still open and smiling."

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