As an owner of a property with such a tree (actually I HAD 2 such trees) I see both sides of the picture. First, I am assuming that the owner wants to take it down.

Why? Is it diseased? Dangerous? Too high maintenance? Causing too many problems with water issues (leaves and seeds clog drains and gutters causing all manner of problems). You need to know what is going on with the tree. I bought my place almost 3 years ago and since then, I spent 6,000 dollars on trees. I took down an enormous diseased silver maple at a cost of 3500 dollars in total. It was massive and leaned over my neighbors' (several properties), and was a disaster waiting to happen. It didn't happen because I took it down.

The other one is a Norway maple which stretches over 7 properties. It is beautiful, probably 75 feet high and probably a lot like the tree you describe. It suffered from deferred maintenance and I had it trimmed last year at a cost of 1500 dollars and this year the Nor'Easter snapped two large limbs, which were perched like missles in the top of the tree -- an emergency costing 1,000 dollars. I sweep a small garbage bag of seeds per day and the terrible storm last week swept errant seeds over my drain causing a lake outside my kitchen door which made it into my kitchen (and cellar).

Are you getting my drift? My tree is majestically beautiful, it is also an expensive, high maintenance pain in the ass.

Regarding "rights" to the tree, the
tree is your neighbors. He/she is responsible for any damage it might cause to others and may remove it. It has nothing to do with landmarks. That doesn't stop you from having a conversation about it.

Posted by: donatella at August 12, 2007 2:05 PM in response to Massive Tree Doomed?

The spread between conforming and non-conforming loans has widened because of the chaos in the CD0/capital markets. 13 pct is BS though. This roiling in the Capital Markets will be worked through as sub prime-CDO debt passes to stronger hands. Brooklyn should feel the effects of tighter jumbo market, but you can still borrow. The funny money and loosey goosey people are out of the market though.

Posted by: donatella at August 13, 2007 12:01 PM in response to The Market Impact of Higher Jumbo Mortgage Rates

I heard it too. It was coming from the direction of Fulton near Vanderbilt. I only heard it once, maybe 4 or 5 shots at 12:30 am. First time I ever heard such a thing, but I am sure that's what it was.

Posted by: donatella at August 13, 2007 7:36 PM in response to Gunshots heard

My tenant heard it too.

Posted by: donatella at August 13, 2007 10:04 PM in response to Gunshots heard

You pay it but post a note saying that you did and ask for their help. There are a thousand ways to get a sanitation ticket and the best you can do is to ask the tenants to do their best. What do you do when every tenant buys an appliance and you have 20 boxes. Even if they break them down, somebody needs to string that stuff up and it isn't going to be tenants. Unfortunately, it is owners job and we can only ask for people to know the rules and do their best.

Posted by: donatella at August 13, 2007 10:11 PM in response to How to be fair to good tenants

311 or Con Ed Public Affairs. I don't know where on Carlton, but there are some very serious problems with underground electrical close to Fulton from Western Clinton Hill (Wash/Clinton to Adelphi/Carlton). I am starting to wonder about myself hearing things at night, (gunshots and all) but several times I heard extremely loud humming around this area/Eastern AY area. I called 311 which sent me to Fire Department 2X who came out to check for underground electrical fires. Around that time, there was a fire explosion caused by electrical fires at Clinton/Fulton. Con Ed had been busy at Clermont/Fulton repairing insulation etc and I had a good conversation with one of the supervisors who told me that there is a lot of work that has to be done in the area and the noise I was hearing was shorting (2 phase shorting for techies) in the system. He knew about the fire explosion on Clinton/Fulton.

Anyway, the bad news is that the OP has to deal with their sloppiness, the good news is that they are addressing the problems.

Posted by: donatella at August 16, 2007 9:54 AM in response to A Special Kind of Blackout Courtesy of Con Ed

In this current environment, it also seems unnecessary.

Posted by: donatella at August 16, 2007 9:59 AM in response to Escalation Addendum to Purchase Offer?

The person you have to call is Manny LaSalle.
I bought two marble fireplaces in pieces from Eddie Hibbert (Salvage place - Grand and Greene) and Manny patiently pieced together the mantels, identifying missing pieces, getting them out of his own supply, having iron pieces soddered and generally doing an excellent job. He also took a old marble "saddle" (is that the term?) on the floor and rather than having me buy a new one took the old one to a marble person, had it dipped in cleaning chemicals, cleaned and polished. He did an excellent job. He was fast, professional, reasonably priced and very meticulous. Manny does everything to do with fireplaces - rebuilding flues, installing liners, anything to do with making a fireplace work safely. I called him after that bad storm which knocked some bricks out of my chimney on the roof. The thing was in bad shape and the storm was the kiss of death. He rebuilt the thing quickly. Manny's number is 917-292-1825.

Good luck.

Posted by: donatella at August 16, 2007 3:40 PM in response to Marble Mantle Restorer

I think that it is possible to get someone to move out in your time frame, but improbable especially if the tenants have been there a long time and/or have families. I heard all the horror stories when I bought my place and hoped that my inherited tenant with entourage of roommates, guests, illegal subtenants, etc. would move at the end of her lease. I gave the tenant 5 months notice that I would not renew the lease, talked to her continuously (i.e. trying to be humane, amicable, above board human being that the nuns and my parents would be proud of) and to my disgust and horror, she gave me a rash of cockamamie stories of her real estate deal gone bad the week before the end of the lease. I immediately went the eviction route and the process scared her (and company) into moving out 6 weeks after the start of the process. I had to sue to get my money and got it. It wasn't fun but tenant landlord court works.

Unfortunately, this is fairly typical from what I have heard from others and I have to say that the blunt advice of 6:15 has the ring of truth. You can talk to the people and try to assess where they are at since not everyone will go the "evict me" route but if they are long time tenants, its like what do you want to do with the bandaid. Rip it off slow or rip it off fast. It's probably going to hurt a little no matter what you do. Evicting is the rip it off fast approach. A friend of mine used to approach tenants first with an offer of moving money. He said to them that the law was on his side, the courts would evict the tenant but that they had a choice of where he spent his money -- on legal fees or moving money for them. He had some success with that route.

Consult with a tenant landlord lawyer. There is a process which can take up to 6 months if you evict. Marc Aronson on Smith Street is an experienced tenant landlord lawyer who will consult with you. He will also charge a flat fee of 1500 dollars for all of the legal work involved with an eviction, including coming to court with you.
You can do everything on your own, but as new buyers you need some advice.

Hopefully, everything will go well, but be fully prepared for if it doesn't. You need to understand the law and how it works.

Good luck with your new place.

Posted by: donatella at August 16, 2007 11:08 PM in response to Getting rid of a tenant

Don't know about private schools. Studied straight in Catholic school with nuns trained in the martial arts, so anyway back to the house. It's a wide house with a great exterior in a good location and it is probably shabby inside and will require upgrades and lots of work. But who knows. You have no pictures and no information. Norman Calvo of Universal Mortgage told me this week that he couldn't get off one of his jumbo loans, so the discussion is academic for the time being.

Posted by: donatella at August 16, 2007 11:36 PM in response to House of the Day: 224 Washington Avenue

Do the research in advance, and know what you want. Don't rely on salespeople to help you decide what to buy. I never would. They're ALL pushy salespeople at appliance stores, and not always very informed about their products. For me it's only about warrantees, selection, ease of getting somebody on the phone, how much is in stock and how quickly it's available.

I ordered from AJ Madison online and was happy with them. Everything delivered quickly.

I will never set foot in a PC Richards ever again. Bad, sparse selection and SO rude! I have been to 2 different locations and both were the same in this respect, the salesmen were a55holes. I felt like asking them "are you trying to drive people away or trying to sell something?" Because 5 minutes with them and I didn't want to buy a dang thing. So I didn't. Buh bye.

Posted by: guest at June 21, 2008 11:41 AM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

PCR is staffed by idots and will rip you off if you let them or give you a fair price if you bargain, but why deal with it? J&R on 7TH will hook you up with anything you need. Always come with the price that you should pay, research it online.

Posted by: guest at June 21, 2008 12:22 PM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

I actually used Jeff Doutre from Universal mortgage, and he was excellent! No one else could come close to what he got us, and he even helped fix our credit! I closed in May 2007, so I recommend him.

Posted by: guest at June 21, 2008 7:50 PM in response to Mortgage Brokers

I have found PC Richards to be OK, though my experience varies considerably. One time it was a high pressure type thing, another a really informed, good guy, another time nobody seemed to be around. This was at the Atlantic Ave. place. I have dealt with Harry's as well, and they seemed great - but they are way out in Bensonhurst and they don't have a website that I know of. I'm thinking of buying something from AJ Madison online currently, but haven't done it yet.

Posted by: slopenick at June 22, 2008 7:43 AM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

Have bought at both PCR and AJM. Thanks to the Internet you can tell what a good price is for the appliance you want. After that, it's all about what's in stock, how soon you need it etc. You can educate yourself on the web.

Frankly, unless you're going high-end, it really doesn't matter where you buy from, so long as it's an established operation.

Posted by: guest at June 22, 2008 4:59 PM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

Check Drimmers in Brooklyn. Cheapest around, decent help. The one downside is their delivery guys were complete d-bags (missed a day of work - 4 hours late, no call).

Posted by: guest at June 23, 2008 12:25 PM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

Call Dial-a-Brand.
They are reliable and deliver the next day. Your old appliance can be removed as well.
They will take a personal check or a credit card.

Just have the manufacturer and the model number and they will give you the price.
they deliver everywhere from long Island.

Posted by: Ysabelle at June 23, 2008 1:13 PM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

Dial-a-brand delevery i always free.

Posted by: Ysabelle at June 23, 2008 1:14 PM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

I bought appliances from Appliancesbuyphone
888-828-3302
No delivery fee, no sales tax outside of NJ, great prices.

Call with model number in hand.

Posted by: Freckles at June 24, 2008 9:39 AM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears

I have bought flat screens, washer/dryer, ACs from PC Richards on 4th Ave. Mickey is older guy (former Wall Streeter) who is very helpful, knowledgeable and does his best to find or look ahead for best prices.

He is stationed in TV area but can sell anything in the store, and of course they will beat any competitor's prices.

He also hooked me up with a man with a van to delivery stuff for nearly nothing.

Posted by: bmfesq at June 24, 2008 1:36 PM in response to aj mandison, pc richards or sears