January 31, 2015

January’s 10 Most-Read Stories & This Week’s Features

January’s 10 Most-Read Stories Photo Series Captures Three Years of NYC Subway Cars Being Dumped in the Atlantic Ocean Get Free Access to 33 Museums with the New NYC Municipal ID The Lena Dunham Real Estate Effect: Looking at the Homes of the Stars of ‘Girls’ New Study Reveals It’s More Important to Have a […]

January 30, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Jessica Siskin of Misterkrisp Builds Food Art from Rice Krispies Treats

Food artist Jessica Siskin requires just three ingredients before getting to work: Rice Krispies, marshmallows, and butter. Yes, Jessica's specialty is masterfully molding Rice Krispies Treats, but these are far from your average after-school snack. She has taken the childhood favorite up a few notches to create edible works of art, and developed it into her business, Misterkrisp. The company was born a little over a year ago in Jessica's New York kitchen. Since then, she's been exploring the Rice Krispies possibilities all the while growing a loyal following on Instagram where 15,000 followers delight in her work. A quick scroll through Misterkrisp's photo page reveals everything from classic New York bagels to emojis to a bowl of ramen–all made out of Rice Krispies Treats. It's fair to say that Jessica's creativity is limitless, especially since many of her krisps, as she calls them, are customer requests. We recently spoke with Jessica to learn more about the architecture of Rice Krispies Treats and the daily rewards of providing New Yorkers with food art.
Read the full interview here
January 30, 2015

$1.25M Lower East Side Loft Offers a Beautiful Blank Slate and a Glass Bedroom Wall

The expansive living area of this rare-to-the-market designer loft in the former Garfield Building on the Lower East Side offers complete flexibility within its gorgeous exposed brick walls. Floor-to-ceiling double-paned windows, beamed ceilings, and white oak floors all artfully combine to present a beautiful blank slate easily configured to perfectly suit your needs.
More pics this way
January 30, 2015

‘Workplace of the Future’ Winner Attaches Health-Conscious Sky Gardens to Existing Buildings

Wouldn't it be great if you could stock up on kale during the workday without having to wait on the lunchtime line at Whole Foods? If Organic Grid+, the winner of Metropolis magazine's "Workplace of the Future" design competition, comes to fruition you'll be able to grow your own greens at the office while taking in the various other health benefits that the proposed sky gardens afford. Conceived by London-based interior designers Sean Cassidy and Joe Wilson, Organic Grid+ proposes a flexible office layout, health-conscious technology, and glass sky gardens that latch onto existing buildings–all with the goal of improving the physical and mental well-being of employees as well as changing "the negative associations of working in open-plan offices."
More details here
January 30, 2015

Philippe Malouin Designs Space-Saving Hanger-Chair Hybrid

Hosting dinner parties can be a challenge for those of us who live in cramped city apartments. If you don't enjoy asking your guests to eat while sitting on the floor, there's a simple space-saving solution that will help with this common dilemma. Created by London-based, Canadian-born designer Philippe Malouin, the Hanger Chair is an elegant collision between, you guessed it, a hanger and a folding chair. When you don't need the extra seating, you can hang the chairs in the closet, neatly and out of sight.
Learn more about this innovative chair with a hook
January 30, 2015

Cedar-Clad House on Mt. Merino Boasts Breathtaking Views of the Hudson River and Mountains

Award-winning firm Joel Sanders Architect specializes in designing residential spaces with an approach that merges architecture, interiors and landscape. One expertly-executed example is the design of a house on Mt. Merino. The contemporary home located in Hudson is perched at the peak of a mountain and features a distinctive butterfly roof and beautiful cedar and bamboo cladding. Being so well-sited, this lovely retreat takes full advantage of iconic views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.
Learn more about this stunning modern home
January 30, 2015

RES4 Brings a Beautiful Prefab Home to the Hamptons with the ‘Swingline’

When a brownstone-living couple were looking to build an idyllic family home in the Hamptons, they turned to Resolution: 4 Architecture to create a place the could call home far from the city. Called “Swingline,” this wonderful retreat was completely prefabricated and assembled on site. And with six bedrooms, seven baths, a pool house, a rooftop deck and numerous […]

January 30, 2015

Gale Brewer Shows Support for One Vanderbilt, Negotiates Even More Public Improvements

Gale Brewer is no shrinking violet when it comes to city planning, and having her on your side is never a bad thing. The borough president of Manhattan has just come out as a full-fledged supporter of not only Midtown East's rezoning, but more notably, One Vanderbilt, the controversial 1,514-foot supertall slated to pop up right next door to Grand Central. Curbed reports that Brewer coupled her approval with an announcement that her office negotiated a slew of additional community benefits from developer SL Green—the developer that has already put up $210 million for the improvement of Grand Central’s subway station.
More on what's included in the plan
January 30, 2015

MTA’s ‘Courtesy Counts’ Etiquette Campaign Is Brought to Life in a New Video Parody

Regardless of which side of the man-spread debate you're on, you've definitely heard plenty about the MTA's new Courtesy Counts etiquette campaign. To get their point across, the MTA has deployed a new set of posters featuring the ubiquitous faceless green and red stick figures doing uncourteous things on the subway, including pole dancing, grooming, and, of course, manspreading. Two New Yorkers, Christian “CJ” Koegel and his partner Chris Zelig, have now created a one-minute, tongue-in-cheek video where they don full-body red and green spandex suits to bring Courtesy Counts to life as part of the #ridewithclass hashtag campaign.
Watch the amusing video
January 30, 2015

Soho Pad with ‘Ghost’-ly Past Returns to the Market as a $32,500/Month Rental

This pristine full-floor condo at 102 Prince Street has a lot to brag about. For starters, it's newly renovated and stunning, landing a spot in Interiors magazine’s "Best of 2011" issue. But its biggest claim to fame is that the apartment above is where Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze shot their iconic pottery scene in Ghost. The only thing more brag-worthy would be if Whoopi Goldberg dropped by occasionally to tell the future tenants, “You in danger, girl!” The unit sold for an impressive $13.8 million just this past March, netting the seller a $4.9 million profit (they had purchased it in March of 2013 for $8.9 million). The 2014 sale was the highest price anyone had paid for a non-penthouse unit in Soho. And now, after just six months, it's back on the market as a $32,500/month rental.
More pics inside
January 29, 2015

Bushwick Buzz: A Look at the Neighborhood That’s Dethroned Williamsburg as Brooklyn’s Most Hipster

Of Brooklyn's gentrifying neighborhoods, few have seen such rapid change as Bushwick. The neighborhood, which sits in the northern portion of the borough, running from Flushing Avenue to Broadway to Conway Street and the Cemetery of the Evergreens, has grown as a natural extension of Williamsburg—a haven for creatives and young folks looking for lower rents. But well before its trendy vibe put it on the map, Bushwick was a forested enclave originally settled by the Dutch—its name is derived from a Dutch word "Boswijck,"defined as “little town in the woods”—and later, German immigrants who began building breweries and factories. Unfortunately, as the breweries along Brewer’s Row and factories closed and farms disappeared, derelict buildings and crime took hold—with the looting, arson and rioting after the city’s blackout during the summer of 1977 playing a starring role. According to the New York Times, "In a five-year period in the late 1960s and early 70s, the Bushwick neighborhood was transformed from a neatly maintained community of wood houses into what often approached a no man's land of abandoned buildings, empty lots, drugs and arson.”
More on Bushwick's past... and present
January 29, 2015

Reduced! $125 Million Pierre Penthouse Now Asking Just $63 Million

Desperate times call for desperate measures? This dazzling former home to eccentric stock investor Martin Zweig has just received a near 50 percent price cut by the late investor's widow, Barbara Zweig, who is now asking a mere $63 million. The 41st floor co-op at the Pierre first hit the market in 2013 for what would have been a record-breaking $125 million, but the home didn't sell—even after being slashed to $95 million in December 2013. Now it looks like Zweig just wants to rid herself of the property which occupies the top three levels of the Pierre. The penthouse is the highest prewar co-op apartment in Manhattan, meaning not only do you have views of the skyline, but you're also part of the skyline. But that's not to discount the 360-degree vistas of the city, which include all of Central Park. So, will someone bite at $63 mill?
Let's take a look inside
January 29, 2015

Historic $1.4M Brooklyn Heights Charmer Solves Dilemma of Classic 1960s TV Series

As soon as we saw the country charm inside this city dwelling we couldn't help be reminded of the classic TV series Green Acres. Even if you're too young to remember the clash of wills between attorney-turned-farmer Oliver Wendell Douglas (played by Eddie Albert) and his metropolis-loving and glamorous wife Lisa (played by Eva Gabor), it doesn't mean you can't appreciate the exquisite juxtaposition of rustic beauty and urban convenience found in this historic wood frame home at 80 Poplar Street in Brooklyn Heights.
See more of this country-meets-city home
January 29, 2015

Stephen Moser’s Luxurious Renovation of a 1950s Ranch Was Inspired by a Treehouse

Architect Stephen Moser gained thirty years worth of experience by working in contemporary luxury projects, including a hotel/spa in Beirut and private residences in New York and London, as well as by creating fashion boutiques in Asia for the likes of Chanel and Armani. He recently set up his own practice, translating that experience into refined homes like the Mamaroneck Residence. This family home is actually a beautifully renovated 1950s ranch that features stylish interiors, custom-made wooden furniture, an indoor pool, and even a treehouse, which served as the inspiration for the whole redesign of the house.
Learn more about this treehouse-inspired home
January 29, 2015

Modern Smart Home in Cobble Hill Sells for $6M

The blogosphere was not impressed last year when they saw the contemporary brownstone conversion at 325 Degraw Street in Cobble Hill, calling the grey structure a "sad transformation." And while the nondescript façade may pale in comparison to its neighboring historic homes, what lies beyond is an impressive 5,800-square-foot smart home, complete with over 800 square feet of outdoor space, a landscaped roof deck, and a basement media room. Known as the Light House, the modern mansion designed by architect James Anzalone has now found an owner, a couple who paid a hefty $6 million, according to city records released today.
Check out the rest of the smart home
January 29, 2015

See New York’s Subway Through the Eyes of a 17-Year-Old Stanley Kubrick (Photos)

As one of the world's most respected film directors, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers and editors, it's really no surprise that Stanley Kubrick was also quite the shutterbug. Well before creating mind-bending movies like A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick was shooting for New York's (now defunct) LOOK magazine as a way to help make ends meet. His street photos, which are quite dramatic in subject and composition, give us a look into the mind of a young Kubrick, who at just 17 was already showing a talent for creating atmosphere with a lens.
See more photos ahead
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January 29, 2015

Wishbone: The World’s Smallest Smart Thermometer Checks Body, Object, and Environment Temperature

There's only so much our iPhones can do when it comes to thermometer functions. They can tell us the temperature in a specific geographic location, but not in the exact spot where we're standing, and they can't read our personal body heat or that of a pot of water. Enter Wishbone, the world's smallest smart thermometer that can accurately check body, object, or environment temperature in two seconds (compared with 30 seconds for a traditional thermometer) just by hooking up to your smart phone. And it requires no contact at all.
More info ahead
January 29, 2015

Actress Gina Gershon Sells Chelsea Duplex in Celeb-Favorite 200 11th Avenue for $8.2M

Just after Robert Pattinson checked out a $20 million penthouse with a private, drive-in elevator at 200 Eleventh Avenue, actress Gina Gershon sold her duplex unit in the building for $8.2 million, reports the Post. She and her partner Bobby Dekeyser, founder of outdoor furniture brand DEDON and subject of the biography Not for Sale!, purchased the $2,391-square-foot Chelsea pad in 2012 for $6.6 million, and after listing in June for $9.5 million, they've made the sale for a little more than a million under the asking price.
See inside here
January 28, 2015

Living Breakwaters: An Award-Winning Project Brings ‘Oyster-tecture’ to the Shores of Staten Island

We know what you're thinking: what is oyster-tecture, anyway? Just ask Kate Orff, landscape architect and the founding principal of SCAPE Studio. SCAPE is a landscape architecture and urban design office based in Manhattan and specializing in urban ecology, site design, and strategic planning. Kate is also an associate professor of architecture and urban design at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she founded the Urban Landscape Lab, which is dedicated to affecting positive social and ecological change in the joint built-natural environment. But the Living Breakwaters project may be the SCAPE team’s most impactful yet. The “Oyster-tecture” concept was developed as part of the MoMA Rising Currents Exhibition in 2010, with the idea of an oyster hatchery/eco-park in the Gowanus interior that would eventually generate a wave-attenuating reef in the Gowanus Bay. Describing the project as, “a process for generating new cultural and environmental narratives,” Kate envisioned a new “reef culture” functioning both as ecological sanctuary and public recreation space.
Find out more about what oysters and other creatures can do for NYC
January 28, 2015

No Need to Read, Now You Can Watch ‘The New Yorker’ Magazine on Amazon

As much as we love The New Yorker, we have to admit it's often difficult to find time every week to read the magazine from front to back. But enter Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney and producer Dave Snyder, ready to save us from our literary guilt. Now you can watch every issue of the magazine comfortably from your screen. Amazon has just launched The New Yorker Presents, a brand new docu-series that compacts the experience of reading the weekly mag into an easily digestible half-hour.
Find out more here
January 28, 2015

A 12-Acre Mixed-Use Project Is Set to Wake Up Sleepy Red Hook

If you've been to Red Hook lately chances are you were visiting the Fairway for lunch or taking the ferry to Ikea for a new $10 end table and some Swedish meatballs. But we soon may have many more reasons to visit the sleepy, industrial, square-mile Brooklyn neighborhood. The Red Hook Innovation District is a plan for a 12-acre, 1.2 million-square-foot, mixed-use project that would include offices, retail space, performance venues and a promenade. Last month, Los Angeles-based development firm Estate Four purchased the final property on the site. They now plan to roll out the $400 million project in phases over five years.
More details ahead
January 28, 2015

Bunny Mellon’s Mansion Sells for $37M; East New York Focuses on Affordable Development to Stop Gentrification

Netscape co-founder James Clark has scooped up Bunny Mellon’s incredible Upper East Side mansion for $37 million. [TRD] As a way to “cushion against gentrification” in East New York, the city is vying to reserve the area for up to 7,000 affordable housing units. [DNA Info] Trump Soho may turn its condo component into hotel […]

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More than just current events, here you'll learn about the places, people, and ideas that are shaping your city.