Most Popular Stories of 2022: The Demolition of the Dangler Mansion, Affordable Housing Lotteries

The year is drawing to a close and it is time to look back at what stories readers were drawn to in 2022. Multiple stories on housing affordability made the list as well as two stories on the same issue — the controversy over the demolition of Bed Stuy’s Dangler mansion.

Click through the list below to find our top 11 stories of the past year.

11. Workers Tear Into Bed Stuy’s Beloved Dangler Mansion After Landmarks Fails to Act

The clock has run out on efforts to save Bed Stuy’s Jacob Dangler mansion: The New York City Department of Buildings issued a permit for full demolition of the building Tuesday. Video posted on Instagram by neighbors Wednesday shows demolition of the 1890s structure has started.

10. Living the Good Life on Eastern Parkway

Developed in the early 20th century, a time when the apartment house was coming into its own, Eastern Parkway is a panorama of grand apartment buildings.

9. Opulent, Newly Revamped Prospect Park South Manse With Ballroom, Garage Asks $12.95 Million

The exterior of this grand Colonial Revival in Prospect Park South has always been an attention-grabber, and after a renovation the interior certainly is eye-popping. In the Prospect Park South Historic District, the weathered but grand early 20th century standalone at 1305 Albemarle was in need of restoration when it sold for $2.75 million in 2017. Now it is back on the market after an exterior restoration and an interior makeover for a substantially higher price.

8. Bed Stuy’s Dangler Mansion Razed in Hours. Now a Stop Work Order Has Been Issued (Video)

There were tears on Willoughby Avenue Thursday night as a crowd gathered to watch the demolition of Bed Stuy’s beloved Jacob Dangler mansion.

7. Hidden Prospect Heights Carriage House With Wood Burning Stove Asks $5.495 Million

Looking like a charming dollhouse, this 1880s former carriage house is tucked in the middle of a block in the Prospect Heights Historic District. Reached via a long driveway, 158 Prospect Place no longer sports horse stalls and instead is a single-family abode with a rustic flavored interior and a generous yard.

6. Affordable Housing Lottery Still Open as Conversion of Downtown Brooklyn YWCA Wraps

A YWCA that opened in Downtown Brooklyn in 1912 and has served for decades as temporary housing for clients of the Office of Mental Health is just about ready to debut new affordable and supportive housing.

5. A Petite 18th Century Stone House Packed With Charm in Piermont, Yours for Under $550K

There are lots of historical caveats given with this property: It’s possibly the oldest house in Piermont, N.Y., possibly a former tavern and, naturally for a house of this vintage, George Washington is rumored to have visited. No matter what is fact or fiction, what is clear is that the 18th century stone structure has charm a-plenty with wide plank wood floors, beamed ceilings and working fireplaces.

4. Landlord Evicts Popular Brazilian Hangout, Cafe Tucum, From Bed Stuy Building

On a walk by the usually popular and lively Cafe Tucum in Bed Stuy on Friday morning, we were sad to see a marshal’s notice posted to the door and a completely empty interior.

3. Crown Heights Landlord Harassment, ‘A Living Hell,’ Includes Sewage, Drug Deals: Lawsuit

Over the past six months, 76-year-old Park Place tenant Francis Roberts says he has had sewage bubbling up through his kitchen sink due to broken plumbing and more leaking in front of his bedroom windows from two portable toilets set up outside. He alleges drug deals have taken place in tents set up around his front door where unknown people sleep and that he has woken up to a stranger using his computer at his table. That he has had music blared into his living room 24 hours a day through a hole in the ceiling. All the while, he said, he has seen no action on the increasing deterioration of his garden-floor apartment, which is plagued by mold, leaks, and gas and electricity outages.

2. Affordable Bed Stuy Development Has Studios From $365, Three-Bedrooms From $652

A lottery has launched for 199 affordable apartments in an under-construction development at 1911 Atlantic Avenue in Bed Stuy.

The 14-story building will include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for households of one to seven people who earn between 30 and 70 percent of the Area Median Income. That ranges from $16,218 for a single person to as much as $132,400 for a family of seven.

1. Bed Stuy Family Watches as Possessions Thrown in Trash, Locks Changed in Alleged Deed Theft Case

Earlier this month, Salvanita and Moses Foster got a phone call. Someone was changing the locks on the Bed Stuy home they purchased in 1999 and had lived in until a 2019 fire. Their possessions were being thrown from the windows into the trash, the neighbor said.

Related Stories

• Most Popular Stories of 2021: Development in Downtown Brooklyn, an Ikea Hack
• Most Popular Stories of 2020: Coronavirus in Brooklyn and a Renovation Diary
• Most Popular Stories of 2019: New Life for Leverich Towers, Development in Downtown Brooklyn

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