July 17, 2025

64 Clifton Place Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Compass

Prices are up, I’m afraid. Clinton Hill has become totally unaffordable, while Bed-Stuy rents are climbing at a distressingly quick pace. Hung out around Ditmas Park, where your dollar will still go further, but probably not for long. Oh, and I dragged my a** up to Morningside Heights for a friend who is moving there in the fall, and I wasn’t impressed by the neighborhood’s price-to-bedroom ratio, either! Maybe best to stay inside, beat the heat, and learn to love what ya got, because the landscape is not looking good, my friends.

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$13,500, 3-bedroom: Decided to start unrealistic and work my way backward. Three-story, renovated-but-not-too-renovated brownstone, anyone?

64 Clifton Place Photo: Compass

$8,250, 3-bedroom: It says three bedrooms, but none are listed? Guess we’ll have to take the broker’s word that this is a true three in a condo building with a nice built-in bookshelf.

$6,200, 3-bedroom: Have you noticed that stainless-steel kitchens are everywhere? The staying power of the mid-century modern movement is truly impressive. This duplex has one, and it also has a lovely backyard.

778 Hancock Street Photo: Compass

$3,300, 2-bedroom: Funky floor-through on my favorite block (Hancock). The kitchen and part of the living room have large-format linoleum tiles, which I like. And the shape of the office is idiosyncratic in a nice way.

$3,300, 2-bedroom: Another day, another floor-through. Unlike most floor-throughs, this appears to have two true bedrooms. The kitchen isn’t as Home Depot as it might be, which is nice, though it bleeds into the living room. Would recommend extending the island to create an illusion of separation.

$3,295, 1-bedroom: Pretty raw loftlike space in a converted-residential building. I’m here for the exposed beams and high ceilings.

$3,500, 1-bedroom: More exposed beams! Very minimal, bright-white renovated floor-through with obligatory fanback chair (that they’d probably throw in for you).

$4,750, 2-bedroom: Very unusual, very designed duplex with a lot to like: the kitchen (which blends stainless steel and subway tile nicely), the rough-face stonework in the dining area, the raised railing on the staircase.

1087 Herkimer Street Photo: Compass

$5,900, 2-bedroom: Very under-renovated duplex that gets more light than is typical with these garden and parlor floor-throughs. I like how the kitchen gets its own very grand room, though I’d recommend throwing in some temporary tile (see here).

$4,500, 3-bedroom: It seems like they got halfway through the renovation and gave up? Love the parquet, but could use a nice bucket or two of paint.

$2,300, 1-bedroom: I love a mysterious, no-photos-except-for-the-lobby listing. Please scope out and report back!

$3,500, 3-bedroom: A whole freaking house! For the price of a one-bedroom in Bed-Stuy. What are we even doing?!

588 E. 22nd Street Photo: Nest Seekers International

$2,795, 2-bedroom: Another great deal for a true two. This one has windows aplenty, and it’s .2 miles from the B,Q. Beware the drop ceilings, though.

$4,800, 3-bedroom: One of the best deals I’ve seen up here: prewar in suitable condition with great parquet floors, good light, and some nice original molding. The bathtub is only big enough to fit a single leg, however.

515 W. 113th Street Photo: Manhattan Spaces

$5,145, 1-bedroom: The staging is some of the ugliest I’ve seen in a while, and the photos are so overly corrected that they’re blinding — but all that said, this is a perfectly nice prewar with a sunken living room that I can get behind.