Is there an illicit residential conversion going down in the wee hours at 35 Meserole Avenue in Greenpoint? A neighbor seems to think so, and he welcomes it with open arms:
There's a building on Meserole Ave (NOT Street) and Banker St. in Greenpoint - I believe it maps as both 35 Meserole and something Banker - it's a large industrial building that might have had studios on the top floor. A few months ago I noticed they were putting in new windows on the top two floors and that can only mean one thing - residential conversions. Pshark gave up the landlords (with a little detective work) - it's the same landlords who own the Rocket Factory and 467 Troutman and a couple loft bldgs out at Morgan and some other properties. They got shut down for building for lack of permits back in May, and then I noticed that plywood was nailed up over all the windows, and heard through sources that they were building at night. Today I walked by and saw they had been busted AGAIN by the dob - notices for building without permit.
I live down the block, work this landlord's buildings and am incredibly incented to have this building done and even i didn't notice they were building. Someone clearly doesn't want this building - which is wack, because Greenpoint has even lower vacancy than the rest of the area. I know that Rocket had A TON of problems at the beginning but my experience with this landlord is that they generally follow through and do what they say - it may take them longer than you'd like but as slumlords go, I wouldn't even put them on my list. Stupid to be busting them.
That assessment may be true, because the message board that the Troutman tenants set up so residents can share information about what the heck is wrong with their apartments has been inactive for four months. Just for shits and giggles, though, a sample posting: "Since we don't yet have a buzzer to let in the UPS people (or anyone else for that matter), they have a hard time delivering packages. Apparently they're usually here at around 4:30 on weekday afternoons, a little earlier on Fridays. So if you're expecting a package, that would be a good time to linger around the front door." Ah, Brooklyn, where jobs are but a foolish lark.
· Troutman Loft Tenants [Yahoo! Groups] [35 Meserole Ave. picture from Bridge and Tunnel Club]