South Burg Degentrification Watch: ‘Feeling Stranded'

Let's start with this, which comes from a woman named Elizabeth Mulvihill, a retired Suffolk County school principal, who made what the Times calls "the unlikely move from Long Island to South Williamsburg, Brooklyn" and invested. $1.04M in a 2BR apartment at Schaefer Landing: "I thought this was a safe investment, given the stock market." And, why is Ms. Mulvihill so pissed to be living in what might rightly be called the ass end of Williamsburg, at least, in the sense of being able to get from Point A to Point B? Because one of the big selling points was the NY Water Taxi stop at Schaefer Landing, which is on Kent Avenue south of the Williamsburg Bridge. The only trouble is that while the Water Taxi was promised as an amenity, it doesn't run that often and it, uh, now going on long winter vacations. Quoth Ms. Mulvhill: "I found myself feeling stranded. You get depressed. You just don’t want to leave the house" No Water Taxi may be a pain in the ass for the younger bicyclist who doesn't mind riding a mile to the train. But for a retiree? A word that starts with "F" comes to mind. To people that have been watching the plans to build thousands of new waterfront apartments (many of which promise water taxi service) the "expansion of development ahead of infrastructure" as the planning types say, is no surprise. Hard to say if it's a glitch or an Achilles Heel? But poor Ms. Mulvhill, she's screwed.
· When an Expansive Waterfront View Promises More Than It Can Deliver [NYT]
· Water Taxi Lives On in Williamsburg's Hopes & Dreams [Curbed]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.