It's time to make up a bunch of awards and hand them out to the most deserving people, places and things in the real estate, architecture and neighborhood universes of New York City! Yep, it's time for the Ninth Annual Curbed Awards! Up now: neighborhoods.
Lost Neighborhood Landmarks
4) Brooklyn Battery Tunnel: The tunnel is still there, but we're now supposed to call it the Hugh Carey Tunnel, which no one really did during Hurricane Sandy.
3) Lenox Lounge: The iconic Harlem bar will close its door on December 31, after 70 years in business.
2) 186 Spring Street: There was a strong campaign to get 186 Spring Street, home of former Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz, landmarked, but preservationists were no match for new owner Stephane Boivin, who tore down the house to build condos.
1) Admiral's Row: It's still standing for the moment, but not for long. In the beginning of 2013, Admiral's Row will be torn down to make way for a new "suburban shopping center."
Threatened Neighborhood Landmarks that Are Somehow Still Standing
3) Broken Angel: The fanciful Broken Angel home was almost lost to foreclosure earlier this year, and then the owner tried to save his home through a Kickstarter campaign. He only raised $2,200, and we have yet to hear what's next for the house. For now, it's still standing.
2) Slave Theater: Bed-Stuy's Slave Theater has been surrounded with controversy for more than a year. It was headed for the auction block, then a local group tried to save it, and now the auction has been delayed. Condos could be next for the historic building.
1) Domino Factory: Two Trees will be turning the old Domino Factory into some massive residential complex, and parts of it will definitely be torn down. But even if parts are saved and restored, the decrepit sugary allure will certainly be wiped away.
Most Anticipated Opening That Turned Out to be a Shitshow
The re-opening of McCarren Pool was hyped by the Bloomberg administration for years before it actually happened earlier this summer. We anxiously awaited the moment we could splash in the cool new waters, but alas. The whole thing turned out to be the shitshow of the summer, what with long lines, absurdly strict rules, lifeguard-punching kids, and, of course, people vomiting and crapping in the pool.
Newest Hated Sports Arena
With the Barclays Center up and running, New Yorkers need a new sports stadium to debate and argue about. Enter, the proposed MLS stadium in Flushing. Major League Soccer wants to plop a pro soccer stadium in part of the park, and local residents aren't too happy about it. We predict at least eight more years of planning and at least one lawsuit before the thing actually happens.
Most Anticipated Non-Gamechanger
There aren't many parts of Williamsburg left to transform, but everyone thought that the Wythe Hotel was going to bring a new wave of gentrification to the North Brooklyn neighborhood. But it opened earlier this spring, and it has attracted much the same cast of characters you can find at any hip establishment along Bedford Avenue. No one really noticed a change, except, of course, the Times.
Whiniest NIMBYs
3) Kevin Bacon - He really hated the penthouse proposed for 176-182 West 82nd Street, and lucky for him, the LPC agreed.
2) Sperone Westwater Gallery - the gallery, with its big red glowing box, does not like the plans for the Christie Street Hotel. Why? Because the gallery thinks the building is "out of context with the Lower East Side." Hmm...
1) The Upper East Side - the neighborhood fought against too-large street signage and newsstands. No one was surprised.
Most Ungrateful Neighborhood
If someone gives you $40 million, you'd likely be eternally grateful for such a generous gift. Not Brooklyn Heights. Neighbors got pretty worked up when Joshua Rechnitz gave Brooklyn Bridge Park $40 million to transform a dilapidated warehouse into an indoor cycling track. Long story short, they think indoor cycling is stupid, and it would cause a lot of traffic.
Most Pissed Off Neighborhood
Park Slope had a rough year. Here are a few things that outraged parents in the neighborhood:
6) Barclays Center and public urination
5) People having sex and doing heroin in an alley near an elementary school
4) Backyard chickens
3) Frozen yogurt shops
2) Ice cream vendors
1) New school zones
Worst Celebrity Neighbor Who Isn't Even A Neighbor Yet
David Schwimmer has been angering East Village residents for more than a year. He promptly tore down the historic EVill home he purchased, and has been slowly erected a new on in its place. It's been slow going, as the place has been hit with at least one Stop Work Order, as debris was falling from the building, among other things. Work seems to finally be coming to a close, so perhaps Mr. Schwimmer should invite all his neighbors over to convince them he's a nice guy.
Best New Neighborhood Names That No One Will Ever Use
5) LoDel - Below Delancey
4) NoMad - North of Madison Square Park
3) Empire District - Apparently some people use this to describe the area around the Empire State Building
2) SoPo - South of Power during Hurricane Sandy
1) FloZo - Flood Zone, any area situated in a flood zone
Angriest Neighborhood Letters
3) Residents of Chelsea wrote a not-so-nice letter to visitors of the High Line, demanding that they treat the historic neighborhood as a neighborhood and stop trampling through like it's Times Square.
2) The recent Carroll Gardens dog poop wars. It could have been a nice note, but then it wasn't.
1) The angriest of all angry notes, written to the owners of the roofdeck at 312 Bowery, where there was the noisiest part ever.
Nicest Neighborhood Letters
There are a lot fewer nice letters than there are nasty letters.
2) All this lady wanted to do was swim in the pool and eat borscht and then people made her feel like she was in Stalinist Russian.
1) All neighborhood note writers should take lessons from this letter posted to weed smokers in 808 Columbus. Despite being written in all caps, the letter gives helpful tips as to how to solve the problem of everything smelling like marijuana.
· All Curbed Awards 2012 [Curbed]
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