It Happened One Weekend: Half-Price Yards, New Buildings Not Stylish, Mom & Dad Move to Williamsburg, More!

1) Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner might end up paying the MTA only half of the $100 million he was supposed to pony up for the Vanderbilt Rail Yards land, the Post reports. Meanwhile the Times wonders if the Nets will ever play in Brooklyn, and if ground is broken on the arena by December 31 (the deadline to sell tax-exempt bonds), they very well might. Hurry up, good seats are still available! [NYPost, NYT]

2) The new motto in these times of financing difficulties and unscrupulous developers: nearly new is the new new. Newish is cheaper, stable, easy to judge because it's finished product and more mortgage friendly, writes Teri Karush Rogers. And if new buildings being a turnoff doesn't prove how the market has changed in a year, this sure as heck does: "A building should not be top-heavy with amenities (for instance, a 50-unit building supporting a doorman and a pool). Classic-leaning design is preferable to ultramodern, while starchitect imprimatur is pretty much irrelevant." ['Mint Condition, Low Miles']

3) Doesn't the couple featured in this week's Hunt column know what happens to old people who move to Williamsburg? Apparently not, because these empty nesters still decided to ditch the Jersey 'burbs for the Aurora on Karl Fischer Row. Oops, did we say empty nesters? You probably won't be surprised how quickly kids ditch their Bushwick rentals once the folks move to a shiny new condo by McCarren Park. [The Hunt/'The Six-Minute Test']

4) The limestone townhouse at 5 East 78th Street was one of the first big walk-aways once the market soured. The contracted buyer decided to forfeit a $2.35 million deposit rather than complete the $23.5 million ($500k over asking price!) sale. Now, the townhouse has finally found another buyer, likely at a price below it's latest $18.5 million price tag. [Big Deal/'Sold, Unsold, Sold']

5) Jake Mooney brings the Living In microscope to Greenpoint, explaining that the hood's relative lack of transportation options has kept it from becoming a boom-time darling like its neighbor to the south, Williamsburg. But the kids keep a-comin', and the Poles are sticking around. PBR and pierogies: two great tastes that taste great together. [Living In: Greenpoint, Brooklyn]