From left: Mayor Bloomberg and Silent Barn, a loft-performance space that was shut down earlier this yearSince the days Rudolph Giuliani reined as mayor of New York City, the police, fire and building departments have cracked down on lofts that double as living and performance space.

Though it has discouraged some, the Village Voice reported that the practice, which dates back to the 1930s, is still widespread.

The crackdown, dubbed Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspots (MARCH), was initiated by the Giuliani administration after the Happy Land fire in 1990, and it gained steam through the Bloomberg administration, which has increased MARCH activity by 35 percent. [more]

Median home sales prices in Brooklyn rose 5 percent in the third quarter of 2011, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Brooklyn quarterly survey of sales, as The Real Deal previously reported. BrickUnderground.com has some theories as to why the borough saw price increases in a relatively bleak quarter that saw flat prices in Manhattan. Aside from the obvious — affordability, driven in some measure at least by condominiums built with tax abatements — the factors behind Brooklyn’s sales numbers, BrickUnderground said, include less-crowded elite schools, vibrant small businesses and, of course, the best views of Manhattan you can get without living in Hoboken. [more]

Source: MNS

This month marks the three-year anniversary of the Lehman Brother’s collapse, September monthly rental reports for Manhattan and Brooklyn, released today by MNS, note. Rents in neighborhoods such as Tribeca, Soho and Greenwich Village have fared best during the recovery, mostly maintaining their values, the report shows, increasing by around 13 percent from 2008.

As for month-over-month increases, the report indicates a small degree of positive growth.

“As predicted, this September brought nominal growth in average rental prices compared to August, but the rental market in both Manhattan and Brooklyn continues to be strong,” said Andrew Barrocas, CEO of MNS.

Rents increased 1.3 percent for Manhattan one-bedrooms on a month-over-month basis, 1.6 percent for two-bedrooms, but decreased by 2.7 percent for studios. Prices are up in Manhattan 0.8 percent overall compared to August, with 0.2 percent in non-doorman units and a slight decrease of 0.04 percent in doorman properties. – Katherine Clarke [more]

Eighty-nine-year-old Brooklynite Mildred Fuyira stands to make a 11,744 percent profit from the sale of her currently listed Boerum Hill brownstone, the Post reported. She and her family paid $16,000 for the 19th century townhouse at 299 State Street, between Smith and Hoyt streets, in 1967. That same property is now asking $1.895 million.

The neighborhood has changed a lot in the 44 years Fuyira has lived there, she said. When she and her husband first moved in, the block was home to drifters and prostitutes. Now it’s full of upscale families and young professionals with children. [more]

A former vice president and director at Brown Harris Stevens has been named director of sales for Brooklyn at sister company Halstead Property, Halstead announced today.

Starting July 11, Trish Martin will manage Halstead’s offices in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill with a goal of enhancing the presence of the firm in the borough.

Martin is replacing Roberta Benzilio, who has been promoted to executive director for Terra Development Marketing, a new company overseeing new developments for Halstead and Brown Harris. TRD
[more]

Sue Wolfe, a senior vice president and associate broker with the Corcoran Group, will be honored along with 30 other women in Brooklyn for their contributions to the borough by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes at a ceremony in the county Supreme Court tomorrow. Wolfe hails from the Boerum Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn, and she said she has brokered the sales of 10 brownstone homes in the area over the past two years. She also served as president of the Boerum Hills Association for six years and is currently leading a campaign to overhaul Thomas Greene Park off Third Avenue in Fort Hill, according to the DA’s office. “I hope it brings attention to the park,” Wolfe said. TRD [more]

The 99-room Best Western Plus Prospect Park opened this weekend at 764 Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, according to Brownstoner. The Best Western website says the 10-story hotel will feature a 3,500-square-foot luxury spa, 1,000 square feet of meeting space and on-site parking. Rooms start at $130 per night. The hotel is the latest in a Brooklyn hotel boom that’s transpired over the past few years. Land is cheaper and easier to obtain than it is in Manhattan, but last year, on average, rooms cost $100 less than they did in Manhattan and had far lower occupancy rates. [Brownstoner] [more]

Bruce Ratner and the AY construction site

Bruce Ratner wants to construct the world’s tallest prefabricated structure at the Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn, according to the New York Times. The 34-story proposed tower would include 400 affordable apartment units, fulfilling a promise Ratner made when he took over the site. [more]

Local officials and residents are riled over a plan to operate an elite public school set to open inside a crumbling educational facility in Park Slope, which houses three existing troubled high schools. The school, Millennium Brooklyn, has raised hackles in the community, inciting claims of racism and discrimination against the schools inside the John Jay High School building, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Among the biggest complaints opponents have is an allotted $35,000 in extra funding to Millennium for computers and other equipment, according to local City Council member Brad Lander. [more]

After an erratic several months in Brooklyn and Queens, due largely to pent up demand and the first-time homebuyer tax credit, the residential market in the two boroughs may be stabilizing, according to a Prudential Douglas Elliman report covering both boroughs released today.

The median residential sales prices climbed in the fourth quarter compared to the same three months in 2009, while the number of sales dropped in both boroughs.

In Brooklyn, the figure rose 6.2 percent to $475,000, while sales dropped 29.9 percent to 1,468 from 2,093. In Queens, meanwhile, the price increased 5.4 percent to $369,000, as home sales plummeted 41.7 percent. Last quarter saw 2,483 sales in Queens, compared to 4,260 during fourth-quarter 2009. [more]