Bid To Rent A Vacant Bed-Stuy Lot Owned By The City

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Have you ever wanted to lease vacant land from the city? How about if the rent was as low as $1,720 a month?

If you dream of a community gardens or of a chain-link fence protecting an assortment of automobiles, then get yourself to the Department of Administrative Services hottest auction item: a 1,500 square-foot lot of vacant land at 681 Marcy Avenue.

The bidding hasn't started yet, and starts on Dec. 8 at the price of $1,720.

But be careful with your bids, as the winning offer instantly becomes the price of a month-to-month lease from the city.

There isn't much information about the lot, aside from city records which show the city acquired the property after a tax foreclosure in 1973.

Historic tax-lot photos offer only a bit more information.

A 1940's tax lot survey shows a three-story brownstone standing, with a grocer on the ground floor. The 1980's lot photograph shows the property much as it is today: vacant and overgrown.