Tag: real estate

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Quoted Exclusive: A Day in the Life of Luxury With Carl Gambino by Kristine Hansen (realtor.com)
"It is unusual to find a 25-foot-wide Brooklyn Heights townhouse that preserves its 1848 Greek Revival character while offering a fully rebuilt interior," says Gambino.

I came across an article about a “fully restored 1840s Brooklyn Heights townhouse” available for the low price of $12.75 million. It looks nice. But the artcile does leave out some potentially important notes about its location. It is in Brooklyn Heights, unlike Old Fulton Street. But there is a caveat here. Beginning at Hicks Street, Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights goes sharply downhill, descending to Furman Street and Brooklyn Bridge Park, both of which are about level with the East River. There are two one-block side-streets coming off that sharp-downhill section of Joralemon, connecting it with State Street. Those two side-streets are Willow Place and Columbia Place. This residence is on Willow Place. Thus, I will submit that it is on a side street in the middle of a steep hill between the main, “high” part of Brooklyn Heights, and Brooklyn Bridge Park. I do like both Willow Place and Columbia Place (although I would be wary of living on or right off of Joralemon in the current Brooklyn Bridge Park era), but this would certainly be something to evaluate before throwing down $12.75 million for the Brooklyn Heights experience.

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Let us complete our perfect Pook-Emu Bee link week before our regularly scheduled day off for Newsletter Saturday.

A brown wooden TV shelf with doors seen on the sidewalk in front of a large pile of trash bags. A note taped to the top says "FREE /GOOD CONTITION"
I spotted this TV cabinet in Downtown Brooklyn at approximately 7:40 in the evening on June 28, 2026. The note says “Free / Good Condition”

1 | Sekiwake Wakatakakage Begins Rehabilitation After Narrowly Avoiding Leg Amputation in Emergency Surgery (Sumostats. July 29, 2026.)
Scary stuff. Hoping first for a safe and speedy recovery and second for him to quickly return to the lofty rank he achieved with his win in the May Basho once he is back in competition.

2 | Sixth Circuit Reverses Pretrial Release for Antifa Member Accused of ICE-Related Threats (Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy. August 14, 2026.)
Excellent. Quoting the opinion of the Court: “The Bail Reform Act focuses on the danger the defendant poses to ‘any other person and the community.’ The district court’s views on the Executive Branch’s immigration policy have no bearing on that inquiry….”

3 | Tankhouse to Raze Historic Boerum Hill Church After $28.25 Million Purchase (Anna Bradley Smith for Brownstoner. August 13, 2026.)
Funny timing. I was just sitting there thinking to myself “what we need is more ugly tall buildings designed by architects who read too many Superman comic books.” The news has a way of delivering.

4 | Preview: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Dials The ‘Three Houses Formula’ Up To 11 (Jim Norman for Nintendo Life. August 13, 2026.)
It looks great. I dare say this is the first game to make not buying a Switch 2 sting. But I’m still not throwing down $500+ for a Switch 2 and Fortune’s Weave.

5 | Simon & Schuster Doubles Down on Notorious Writer Who Calls Jews ‘Ghouls,’ Will Publish Her New Novel: Writer Taunts Angry ‘Zionists’ Who Oppose Her Deal (Jon Levine for The Washington Free Beacon. August 13, 2026.)
I suppose the question is was she published by Simon & Schuster despite being an Islamist terrorist-supporting antisemite or because she is an Islamist terrrorist-supporting antisemite? I have my suspicions it’s the latter.

6 | I finally switched Linux desktops, and COSMIC is the one to blame (João Carrasqueira for XDA Developers. August 10, 2026.)
Cosmic looks interesting but I will stick with KDE for my daily driver needs for the foreseeable future (certainly at least until Cosmic is “stable”).

7 | Sweet Hamster Days Game Review (Bolts for Anime News Network. August 14, 2026.)
This is certainly a visual novel concept. A good concept? I didn’t say that. But it’s A concept.

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Quoted Timeless Brooklyn Reimagined: Minerva Development Unveils 263 Sackett in the Heart of Carroll Gardens by Bartolucci Team at Douglas Elliman (CityBiz)
Located moments from Court Street, the building is surrounded by local favorites including Gersi, Nabila’s, Le French Tart, and Poppy’s Brooklyn, alongside cultural destinations like Congress Bar and Cobble Hill Cinemas.

I added a significant number of Google News feeds for specific Brooklyn neighborhoods to my feed collection (future article topic?). I then went through the initial set of articles that came up. I decided to read Timeless Brooklyn Reimagined: Minerva Development Unveils 263 Sackett in the Heart of Carroll Gardens since I know the area. While the sure-to-be-affordable residence looks nice, something else caught my attention. “Located moments from Court Street…” Moments? I do not think I can learn how to speak like a realtor.

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I was working late into the night (unfortunately not on articles), but I am back for another Pook-Emu Bee link (one away from Sunday-Friday perfection before we yield the floor on Saturday for The Newsletter Leaf Journal).

My hand holding a tube of Sensodyne Pronamel Kids Berry Twist toothpaste over a sink.
I use SLS-free toothpaste because of canker sores. I also want toothpaste with fluoride. My options at Lot Less in late July were limited. This is what I came up with (photograph from July 29, 2026).

1 | Some Claude users are mad that Anthropic’s new watermarks will catch them using it at their jobs, classes (Lucas Ropek for TechCrunch. August 12, 2026.)
The thought that these people may be too lazy to paste the output into a text editor and sanitize it is almost as concerning as how lazy they are in using Claude.

2 | Twenty-Five in Blog Years (Dave Peck. August 11, 2026.)
I offer my congratulations to Mr. Peck on his blog’s quarter-century anniversary. What was I doing 25 years ago? Elementary school.

3 | Koei Tecmo releases 90-minute Atelier Ryza ASMR featuring Klaudia, picnics, bathing, and ear-cleaning (Amber V for Automation West. August 13, 2026.)
I think it may be time for “Ryza” to join “Palworld” on my gaming-related Miniflux global block list.

4 | Houston Man Charged For Terroristic Threat Over Anime (Rafael Antonio Pineda for Anime News Network. August 13, 2026.)
His rant raises many questions. I don’t think I want the answers.

5 | Bob Iger, Josh Kushner shockingly purchase Lakers months after Mark Walter became majority owner (Ryan Morik for Fox Business. August 12, 2026.)
I went on record when the Lakers went for $10 billion last year noting that the price struck me as high. To be sure, I was not expecting the Lakers to be flipped for $12 billion just over one year later. Perhaps it has something to do with the report’s note that Mr. Walter is under investigation for tax fraud.

6 | Clicks have killed the Inverted Pyramid (Gordon Meyer. August 8, 2026.)
I have more than 200 feeds in my feed collection and many feed items, so I have more than enough to read to allow me to check out when I see what appears to be a rambling SEO introduction. My bigger problem lately has been seeing obvious indicia of AI junk in articles, which also leads to a quick close.

7 | Rite Aid-Replacing Tower for Corner of Smith and President? (Cate Cocoran for Brownstoner. August 11, 2026.)
That is not the nicest stretch of the Carroll Gardens section of Court Street (it looks better from the air than the ground), so this could be an improvement provided that they do not make it too tall. While I cannot say that I am optimistic, I would agree that Carroll Gardens survives pretty well without the benefit of the historic district designation that neighboring Cobble Hill has.

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I was busy this morning and forgot to write daily Pook-Emu Bee links. But since tomorrow is newsletter day and there are no Pook-Emu Bee links on newsletter day, I figured I would publish a late-night edition of the Pook-Emu Bee.

1. Can subway rats give New Yorkers hantavirus? Only if you do something extremely disgusting (Natalie O’Neill for the New York Post. May 8, 2026.)

I wouldn’t put it past the TikTok “creators.”

2. Iryna Zarutska Murder Suspect Deemed Incompetent, But Case Will Continue (Amy Furr for Breitbart. May 8, 2026.)

He was competent enough to choose his target on that train car very carefully and deliberately. But not when it comes time for consequences. Many such cases, alas.

3. Military begins prescreening recruits for 28 medical conditions (Patty Nieberg for Task & Purpose. May 6, 2026)

Sounds like a good efficiency gain.

4. Texas-based teleradiologist wins court battle over California income taxes (Marty Stempniak for Radiology Business. May 7, 2026.)

I offer this “content” in California for free just to avoid the potential tax complications.

5. New York’s Teachers’ Unions Are So Progressive, They’re Even Alienating Teachers (Adam Lehodey for City Journal. May 7, 2026.)

I look at who wields power in New York City and conclude that Mr. Lehodey may be engaging in some wishful headline thinking.

6. Brooklyn Heights Greek Revival Asks $9.2 Million (Susan De Vries for Brownstoner. May 7, 2026.)

I like the plaster-work. Roof and garden are clutch. Monroe Place is a nice block. I’ll save up I guess.

7. Cobble Hill’s most expensive listing finds a buyer after a $5M price cut (Jake Indursky for The Real Deal. May 6, 2026.)

I’d take the Monroe Place above for half the price. Monroe Place is also better than Cobble Hill right across Atlantic.

8. Justice Department Finds UCLA Medical School Discriminated Based on Race in Wake of Explosive Free Beacon Reports (Aaron Sibarium for The Washington Free Beacon. May 6, 2026.)

UCLA forgot to tell the Department of Justice that it wasn’t supposed to notice.

9. Xteink blocks installation of custom firmware on some eReaders, launches a new Android-powered model (Brad Linder for Liliputing. May 2, 2026.)

I need to work on this project for an article already. Many such cases.

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Pook-Emu Bee was off yesterday because it was Newsletter day. But the newsletter is out, and Pook-Emu Bee links are back.

1. FDNY changes policy after clout-chasing models turn NYC fire station into their own sorority house (Tina Moore for the New York Post. April 18, 2026.)

The change came after The Post exclusively reported Saturday that two models turned a Greenwich Village fire station into their own personal sorority house — sauntering inside with firefighters, climbing on a firetruck and shaking their booties to Lil Wayne’s ‘Fireman.’

I approve of keeping social media-addled idiots out of fire houses. I am sad that we needed a new directive to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

2. Life Sentence for Sinaloa Cartel Smuggler Busted with 2 Million Lethal Fentanyl Doses (Randy Clark for Breitbart. April 18, 2026.)

Life is the correct punishment for most fentanyl trafficking offenses.

3. When Did “The Nerds” Start Ruining Each Sport? (Neil Paine. December 20, 2024.)

I’d describe the trend as analytics strategies flattening the sports.

4. Daniel Jones’ Impossible Cap Math (Troy Chapman at Cap & Trade Football. April 17, 2026.)

Given the salary cap rules and number of players on football teams, making the math work is complicated.

5. Almost 90% of Japanese people dislike random and “blind bag” merch, but the majority still buys it, large-scale survey shows (Amber V for Automation West. April 18, 2026.)

I have never purchased “blind bag merch.” I have purchased Kinder eggs. I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

6. E-bikes are all over mountain trails. Some want them banned (Jack Dolan for the Los Angeles Times. April 15, 2026.)

I don’t have a stake in mountain bike trails, but I do want to see e-bikes banned. I’m willing to make common cause with the California mountain bikers if they support me on the sidewalks.

7. The Black Hole of Brooklyn Heights Finally Lists (Adriane Quinlan for Curbed. April 17, 2026.)

I linked to an article about this house back in Newsletter 239.

8. Open-border legal activists instruct migrants to fabricate false gay asylum claims, BBC finds (Carl Deconinck for Brussels Signal. April 15, 2026.)

Likely common here in the United States as well since asylum claims based on sexual orientation are cognizable under controlling precedent and the stories can be structured in such a way as to explain the lack of corroborating evidence. That is not likely to say that they are likely to succeed, however, and these activists hurt applicants who have legitimate claims on this basis.

9. City Deems Fort Greene Manse Unworthy of Protection (Anna Bradley-Smith for Brownstoner. April 10, 2026.)

I like the house. Bad call by the landmarks commission.

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I am winding down a big project today. But I take a brief break to publish our daily Pook-Emu Bee links.

1. I Just Moved From Manjaro Linux To EndeavourOS (Danie van der Merwe at GadgeteerZA. March 25, 2026.)

I made the same Manjaro-to-EndeavourOS move back in July or August of 2022. No regrets. Good move.

2. USC Cancels Gubernatorial Debate Due to Absence of Candidates of Color (Jonathan Turley. March 25, 2026.)

Xavier Baccera, the previous Secretary of Health and Human Services and former Attorney General of California, is running for Governor. He was locked out of the then-upcoming debate because he failed to hit the 3% polling threshold. Normal people would think “wow, I can’t hit the 3% polling threshold that is being hit by political titans of our time such as U.S. Representatives Eric Swalwell (who may or may not actually live in California) and Katie Porter and former long-shot presidential candidate Tom Steyer, maybe I should drop out and preserve my dignity.” But Mr. Baccera is no mere normal person. He fell on the sword and performed a public service by getting the entire debate cancelled. He may not be the next Governor of California, but let no one question is service in support of the greater good.

3. Stadia Controller Reborn As Bluetooth Gamepad Adapter (Ian Bos for Hackaday. March 25, 2026.)

I praised Google back in 2023 for making it possible for unfortunate owners of its former Stadia service to continue using their controllers. Stadia controller owners are becoming creative here in 2026.

4. Hochul’s ‘ominous’ poll results give GOP challenger Bruce Blakeman a potential path to victory (Vaugn Golden and Carl Campanile for the New York Post. March 25, 2026.)

“Wishful thinking” is not a “path to victory.”

5. Meadow is a distraction-light phone with a 3 inch screen and just a few apps (Brad Linder for Liliputing. March 25, 2026.)

The form-factor is adorabe. The product is.,.. odd.

6. Wine 11 rewrites how Linux runs Windows games at the kernel level, and the speed gains are massive (Adam Conway for XDA Developers. March 23, 2026.)

The technical specifics are a bit beyond me but it sounds very promising in the aggregate.

7. City Council approves plans for a 72-story Brooklyn tower (Emily Davis for the New York Post. March 11, 2026.)

It will be the second tallest building in Brooklyn behind Brooklyn Tower, which loomed in the background in one of my recent articles.

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I am busy with work today. But today is a day ending in -day that is not Newsletter Satur-day, so I briefly set aside my business to deliver my not-yet-world-famous Pook-Emu Bee links.

1. FCC bans imports of new routers made in other countries, on national security concerns (Brad Linder for Liliputing. March 23, 2026.)

My MikroTik hAP ac3 should be supported for a long time. Maybe I will build my next router someday. See my related post from a while back on questions about TP-Link.

2. Sam Smith said MJ lied in 95′ about not returning in case of Pippen trade (John Jefferson Tam for Basketball Network. March 22, 2026.)

The possible 1995 Scottie Pippen-Shawn Kemp trade is an interesting “what if,” but I think things ended up working out decently well for the Bulls in staying put (understatement of the issue).

3. A rogue AI led to a serious security incident at Meta (Stevie Bonifield for The Verge. March 19, 2026.)

That’s a roundabout way of saying that a Meta employee caused a serious security incident at Meta.

4. Planned Tower for Duffield Street Lacks Identity, LPC Says (Anna Bradley Smith for Brownstoner. March 23, 2026.)

It could be worse. In any event, I am glad they are protecting the Duffield houses (for now, at least).

5. Former Syrian Prison Boss Convicted on Immigration Fraud, Torture Charges (Andrew R. Arthur for Center for Immigration Policy. March 23, 2026.)

But other than that…

6. Kim Jong-un’s Daughter Drives a Tank in North Korean Propaganda Images (Frances Martel for Breitbart. March 20, 2026.)

That probably makes her a general.