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NYT Discovers Marine Park: Did The Grey Lady Get It Right?

Marine Park's historic Hendrick I. Lott House. Source: Lotthouse.org
Marine Park’s historic Hendrick I. Lott House. Source: Lotthouse.org

Boasting a wide-open skyline, pretty, modest homes and the largest park in Brooklyn, we all know that Marine Park — the neighborhood — is seriously underrated.

A New York Times profile this week sums up the southern Brooklyn nabe in its headline “Marine Park, Brooklyn: Block Parties, Bocce and Salt Air.”

In its real estate section, “The Grey Lady” zooms in on Marine Park’s multigenerational feel, middle class values, and well kept lawns, all of which have been somewhat insulated from dramatic changes happening in other parts of the borough — in part due to a lack of easily accessible subway lines. The piece also explores rising housing prices, recent demographic shifts, area schools, and Marine Park’s historic Hendrick I. Lott House.

Here’s an excerpt:

If Marine Park can feel close-knit, deep roots might have something to do with it. Many residents are members of families that have lived there for generations, which can seem like an anomaly in a city where so many come and go without putting down stakes.
Phyllis Howell, 67, moved to the neighborhood as a child in 1963 from East Flatbush and today is a mere eight blocks from the house where she grew up, and where her mother still lives. Both her parents were nurses, in a neighborhood that has historically been home to many employed by the city and the state, including firefighters, police officers and sanitation workers.
Ms. Howell’s husband, Robert J. Howell, 69, a retired fire captain, has even longer connections: His family arrived in Marine Park in 1947.
Today the couple live in a 1929 detached house with four bedrooms, three and a half baths and parquet floors; the American flag flies from a pole outside. The house, on Marine Parkway, cost $287,500 in 1996. Ms. Howell, a retired real estate agent, estimated it could sell for close to $1 million today.
But in a neighborhood that can seem to revolve around tradition — Ms. Howell has attended most home games of the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team in Coney Island since its stadium opened in 2001 — escalating prices are a change some do not welcome. They have caused some first-time buyers to be frozen out of the market, Ms. Howell said, which is threatening Marine Park’s multigenerational vibe.

What do you think? Did the New York Times get it right? Would you buy a house in Marine Park? What did they miss?