Toasty Brooklyn

04/13/2018

Bittersweet message from Airbnb in my inbox yesterday. NYC aggressively shuttered our short-term rental a few months ago.

The greedy hotel lobby is winning the battle against home sharing. They're spending millions of dollars in PR, scraping data, targeting responsible hosts, sending thugs house-to-house, trumping up Dept. of Building violations, using scare tactics, slapping us with huge fines. And they're doing it under the cloak of advocating for "affordable housing."

I will always be a "super-host." Because I love hospitality and welcoming strangers into my home. We had six years of hosting wonderful guests from every continent in the world. Never once had a problem guest. I wonder if big hotel corporations can say the same? Are hotels helping NYC's affordable housing crisis when they build expensive hotels in residential neighborhoods like Boerum Hill and Park Slope?

09/15/2017

Free entrance to NYC museums!

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/museums/free-museum-days-in-nyc

A little light in the pocketbook? Here are the ways to save on admission during the best free museum days in NYC.

08/01/2017

Summertime in NYC. Beach is 30 minutes away on subway... swimming last night!

05/08/2016

Join me on a walking tour of Fort Greene -- Sunday 5/15 at noon.

https://www.airbnb.com/meetups/jd29hqcm8-fort-greene-culture-and-historical-walking-tour

04/18/2016

NYC is a water-lover's paradise. Many opportunities for free kayaking. Check out Red Hook Boaters and get on the water this summer! http://redhookboaters.org/

03/29/2016

It's flea and food market season!

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/here-are-the-opening-dates-for-all-your-favorite-flea-and-food-markets-032816

It's finally here... flea season! Whether you're looking for vintage finds, unique jewelry or a ramen burger, we've got the opening dates of all the best flea m

03/07/2016

Everybody's talking about the new transportation hub, opened this week. Check it out when you come to NYC. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and located in the Financial District, near ground zero.

02/23/2016

Fort Greene Park, down the street from our house, was the first park in Brooklyn. Poet Walt Whitman led efforts to create it 1847. Read more about this jewel in our neighborhood:

http://www.fortgreenepark.org/fort-greene-park/

02/20/2016

Very real estate focused article, but gives a feel for our neighborhood and some nice photos:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/realestate/fort-greene-brooklyn-a-neighborhood-with-many-faces.html

Several new high-rises, now in the works, will bring change to a landscape of low-rise brownstones, rowhouses and occasional frame houses.

02/14/2016

Brooklyn is frozen today. This photo taken last month, after a big snowfall. Fort Greene park magically dusted.

01/30/2016

A grid with (almost) all our guests from 2015. A year-long art project making portraits of Toasty guests on the stoop. Each visitor got the image after their stay, a memento of Brooklyn.

12/02/2015

Grainne and Charlie (with their kids) are the brains and brawn behind Neal's Yard Creamery, in the UK. They stayed with us for a family vacation, and I felt so lucky and delighted to meet my cheese heroes. They brought me a hunk of cheddar, a gift and guests I won't soon forget!