October 31, 2015

Mapping the Most Popular Halloween Candy by State

6sqft has already brought you a map of what Americans love to eat most by state, but when October rolls around, New Yorkers forget about the avocados (yes, that's our state's favorite food) and move on to sweeter treats. So before you get yourself into a sugar coma today, check out this fun map of the most popular Halloween candy by state (h/t Mashable). Turns out, the most number of states chose candy corn, but Reeses Peanut Butter Cups had the highest number of total votes. New Yorkers, however, have a very strange favorite...
See what it is
October 31, 2015

October’s 10 Most-Read Stories and This Week’s Features

October’s 10 Most-Read Stories Affordable Housing Lottery Launched for Bjarke Ingels’ Epic Pyramid, VIA 57 West New Video Takes Us Inside Anderson Cooper’s Converted Village Firehouse PHOTOS: Go Inside the NYC Subway Cars Dumped in the Atlantic Over a Decade Ago Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ Beachside Home Is Selling for $299,000 October 18th Is […]

October 30, 2015

Buyer of Andy Warhol’s Montauk Estate Lists Nearby Home for $29.5M

Though it may seem unlikely, there are some similarities between art and real estate, one of the biggest being that with big fish come big numbers. That's definitely the case for billionaire art collector and gallery owner Adam Lindemann–buyer of Andy Warhol’s former Montauk estate, Eothen, which was listed for $85 million. The contemporary art world high-roller recently listed his nearby property at 406 Old Montauk Highway for $29.5 million. The home was built in 2004; After he acquired it, Lindemann–who is married to gallerist Amalia Dayan, granddaughter of the late Israeli politician Moshe Dayan–hired British architect David Adjaye to take on a complete redesign. The 5,000- square-foot, six-bedroom home is now a unique residence in the far-east end of Long Island affectionately referred to as “the end of the world,” though the former fishing enclave has in recent years become a more-chill-than-the-Hamptons hip celebrity party spot.
Check it out
October 30, 2015

Spotlight: Witch Starr RavenHawk, Founder of the New York City Wiccan Family

New York is a very diverse city, so it should be no surprise that within the city’s midst are witches—and we're not talking the kind starring on Broadway’s "Wicked." Witches is one term for women and men who practice the religion Wicca. (Of note, not everyone who practices Wicca refers to themselves as a witch—but more on this ahead). Starr RavenHawk is a witch and the founder of The New York City Wiccan Family Temple. On October 31st, Starr and fellow witches/Wiccans will celebrate Samhain, a holiday that marks their new year. While this happens to be on the same day as Halloween, Samhain is not about sweets, scaring people or merriment. Rather, the new year is a time to honor those who have passed away. As Starr explains, this is a very personal holiday and how one celebrates it will vary. This week 6sqft spoke with Starr to debunk some myths about witches and Wicca and to learn more about The New York City Wiccan Family Temple and Samhain.
Everything you need to know this way
October 30, 2015

Insane Skylights at this $18 Million Tribeca Penthouse Loft

140 Franklin Street in Tribeca is a prewar building designed by Albert Wagner (also the architect of the Puck Building in Soho) in 1887. It's considered one of the city's best Romanesque Revival buildings, with its grand arched windows and detailed facade. Although it was built for the Walton Company, a manufacturer of wrapping papers, it has since been converted into 12 luxe condo apartments. This one, a penthouse unit, occupies the entire top two floors of the building and spans over 4,000 square feet. The skylights in here are just as grand as the building facade, creating a truly awe-worthy living area. And don't even get us started on the 1,640-square-foot roof top patio...
Check it out
October 30, 2015

Talk Dock Is the Retro Alternative for Hands-Free Chitchat

These days there are a variety of fancy gadgets that allow for hands-free chitchat, but that doesn't mean we want to take our headsets home from the office. Before the small square smartphone became part of our daily routine, the old-school receiver was designed to nestle perfectly between your cheek and shoulder, hands-free. This retro-style rotary phone was the inspiration for Talk Dock, a charging station and receiver reminiscent of yesteryear.
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October 30, 2015

PBDW’s Nomad Hotel Prepares for 20-Story Addition to Historic McKim Mead & White Building

Alex Ohebshalom’s Empire Management may finally be moving forward with plans to convert a McKim Mead & White-designed bank building at 250 Fifth Avenue and construct a 21-story hotel-tower behind. The project is the latest to join Nomad's recent hotel boom that has produced the Ace Hotel, Nomad Hotel, Flatiron Hotel, and the upcoming Virgin Hotel. While building permits filed in July have yet to be approved, the existing six-story building recently cleared out its retail tenants, and its upper office floors now appear empty. Since the site lies within the Madison Square North Historic District, the owners, under the LLC Quartz Associates, had to secure approvals from both Community Board 5 and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. With a proven track-record of steering projects in historically sensitive areas towards approval, architects Platt Byard Dovell White were commissioned. PBDW uncovered that a mid-rise loft building was once proposed for the site and this evidence allowed for LPC to more seriously consider a taller addition to the 1907, palazzo-like building designed for Second National Bank.
Find out more
October 30, 2015

New Renderings and New Tenant Revealed for 90-Story Hudson Yards Tower

Curbed reports that Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group officially announced the signing of private equity firm KKR & Co. for 343,000 square feet of their upcoming mega-tower at 30 Hudson Yards. Marking the event, the developers have released a slew of renderings for the project, which is rising from the southwest corner of 33rd Street and Tenth Avenue. The 90-story building will soar nearly 1,300 feet high, and the deal dictates that the firm will occupy the supertall's top ten floors. KKR will have a dedicated elevator bank, a private sky lobby, and access to the tower’s hotly anticipated observation deck (which will be the highest in the city). The firm will relocate from the Solow Building at 9 West 57th and is slated to occupy the space by 2020.
Lots more renderings and details
October 30, 2015

Listings Launch for Zaha Hadid’s High Line Condos

Though sales launched earlier this month at Zaha Hadid's curving High Line condo building, her first commission in NYC, there were no public listings. The wait is over, though, as they've just gone live, providing long-anticipated pricing and floorplans. The eleven-story building at 520 West 28th Street in Chelsea will offer 39 two- to five-bedroom homes, all of which take advantage of the starchitect's signature swooping construction. They'll range from $4,950,000 to $50 million for the largest penthouse, but the three residences listed on Corcoran are a $6.4 million two-bedroom unit; a $9.4 million three-bedroom; and a $16 million four-bedroom.
Ogle the floorplans and renderings
October 29, 2015

Times Square’s Marriott EDITION Hotel Breaks Ground, Will Boast 76,000SF of Food Space

Earlier this week, the five-star Marriott EDITION hotel, slated to tower over Duffy Square, broke ground. The 39-story, 517-foot tall building is being developed by a partnership between the Witkoff Group, Howard Lorber’s New Valley LLC, Winthrop Realty Trust, and Maefield Development. Going by the invented address of 20 Times Square (701 Seventh Avenue), the 370,000-square-foot tower will be the first hotel to rise directly along the Square's "bow-tie" area since Gary Barnett opened the W Times Square in 2000. Taking full advantage of its coveted, highly-trafficked location, the project will contain 76,000 square feet of retail and food and beverage space, as well as an outdoor roof terrace. Its six-story podium anchors the northeast corner of 47th Street and Seventh Avenue and will be wrapped by a 120-foot-tall, 18,000-square-foot LED display, which according to the Witkoff Group, "will be one of the largest and most technologically advanced in the world today."
More details and renderings ahead
October 29, 2015

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – Halloween Edition!

Halloween week is my favorite time of the year, and this week I've rounded up a mix of art and Halloween events that lets uncreatives feel a part of (and even look like) something arty this weekend. Get into the spirit with Margaret Bowland's compelling paintings that brush on wealth and violence at Driscoll Babcock. Susanne Bartsch heads from her museum show at FIT to MoMA PS1's Halloween party for a complete night of museum-quality art (on both counts) and fun. Performance impresario Anna Copa Cabanna hits us twice, with hellish go-go in Williamsburg, then Old New York fun at Sid Gold's Request Room. Performance art group CHERYL invite guests to become part of their immersive world once again with Psychopomp, partnered with Gayletter. After you've washed the glitter out of your hair, rejoin society and check out the beautiful Donald Byrd and Charles Wuorinen dance performance at the Guggenheim, before getting a leg up on the inaugural Honolulu Biennial at a special panel sponsored by Artnet.
All the best events to check out here
October 29, 2015

$721,000 West Village Apartment Has a Cozy Floorplan With the Kitchen in the Living Room

Sure it's not in the seven-figure category, but $721,000 is no drop in the bucket, and that's exactly what this very cozy one-bedroom with the barely-there kitchen smack in the middle of the living room is asking. What it lacks in space and appliances, it makes up for in brick walls and dark-stained maple floors, three closets, and chic decor. The location helps, too; it's on the picturesque "Sex and the City" block at 77 Perry Street and "overlooks and clears the beautiful townhouses across the street with open views reminiscent of a Hopper painting," according to the listing. So, would you trade in your pots and pans for this "rare opportunity to own on the most coveted block in the West Village?"
Decide here
October 29, 2015

Starchitect Vishaan Chakrabarti Scoops Up a $5.78M Condo at FXFowle’s 35XV

Vishaan Chakrabarti is closing out 2015 with a bang. After not only making a $4.995 million sale on his Flatiron loft earlier this month but also leaving his position at SHoP Architects to start his own firm, Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), the starchitect has just closed on a $5.78 million unit a FXFowle's dramatic Flatiron tower, 35XV. According to the Post, Chakrabarti's new pad measures just slightly smaller than his last at 2,324 square feet, but hosts three spacious bedrooms, each with en suite baths, and comes outfitted with a Lutron home automation system that includes touch-pads, remote controlled shades, lighting systems and temperature control.
Check out the floorplan here
October 29, 2015

It’s Only $275,000 to Live in This Old Stone Meeting House in Upstate NY

New York City real estate got you down? There's nothing more refreshing than perusing properties upstate, which have plenty of history and charm for loads less money. Exhibit A is this "old stone meeting hall," an 1810-era home that was originally built as a Presbyterian church in the town of Barneveld, New York, at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. The current owners purchased it back in 1970 and converted it to a single family home, and the result is a wonderfully warm, quirky and historic house. And yes, this five-bedroom home, which sits on .45 acres of land, is only asking $274,900.
There's lots more to see
October 29, 2015

REVEALED: 26-Story, LEED-Certified Hotel Coming to the Financial District

Here's our first look at Tribeca Associates upcoming 26-story hotel at 143 Fulton Street in the Financial District, where demolition at the site is already underway. The 90,000- square-foot tower designed by SLCE Architects will contain 228 rooms, ground-level retail, and typical hotel amenities such as a fitness center and a bar/lounge on the third floor. Hotel suites, found on floors 5 through 25, average ten per floor. The building will also seek LEED accreditation.
More details
October 29, 2015

Get the Blueprints: Learn About the Architecture of Shots With This New Book

With the holiday season right around the corner we've got three things on our minds, booze, gifts and of course design. This new book, "The Architecture of the Shot," from author Paul Knorr and architectural planner Melissa Wood, speaks to all three. In keeping with the authors' expertise, this clever piece of literature includes 75 blueprints detailing the creation of "the perfect shot from the bottom up," as if they were each a mini building.
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October 29, 2015

Map Shows Where Our Pumpkins Really Come From

Unfortunately, the pumpkins at Whole Foods don't come with labels like "local" or "wild caught," but the good news is that your Halloween purchase likely comes from nearby. This interactive map from the Washington Post highlights the total acres of pumpkins harvested, by county, in 2012. It was created using data from USDA Agricultural Census and shows that "pumpkins are grown commercially in just about every county in the Northeastern states."
Find out more
October 29, 2015

‘Ghostbusters’ Firehouse Now a Lego Set; Abandoned North Brother Island May Open to Public

The famous “Ghostbusters’ firehouse has been given the Lego treatment. The 4,634-piece set, which will come with the requisite ghost containment unit and figures of the movie characters, will go for $350. [Tribeca Citizen] Halloween survival guide for adults: what wine to pair Halloween candy with. [Mental Floss] The “windy” history of the Flatiron Building. […]

October 29, 2015

POLL: Would You Like to See the MTA Use This Modern Subway Map?

Yesterday, 6sqft brought you this modern subway map redesign by Tommi Moilanen. His version keeps the current map’s basic structure, but infuses it with a bit of Massimo Vignelli‘s famous graphic style. Geographically and systemically accurate, Moilanen’s map also uses thick and thin lines to represent express and local service; tints skipped stops a lighter shade; more clearly […]

October 29, 2015

Animated Video Illustrates the Dire Need for New Hudson River Tunnels

People are getting fed up with the century-old, crumbling Hudson River tunnels. One Jersey resident even went so far as to hire an architecture firm to design a sky bridge connecting Jersey City to Battery Park City. But grand visions aside, the state of the infrastructure is serious. To illustrate this point, but make it a bit more simple to digest, the Regional Plan Association has released a three-minute animated video called "Tunnel Trouble" that, as Crain's puts it, "shows a hellish commute for New Jersey Transit and Amtrak riders if new tunnels are not built." The narrator states, "they are the biggest bottleneck in the metro region's transit network, causing delays that ripple up and down the northeast corridor."
Learn more and watch the video
October 28, 2015

Tommi Moilanen’s New Subway Map Design Makes It Easier to Navigate the City

The subway is one of New York City's greatest assets, but this only holds true if you can actually navigate through the various tunnels and platforms. And despite the countless transportation apps out there today, the good 'ole subway map is still the best way to find your way around. There's certainly been no shortage of map redesigns, but 6sqft is particularly impressed with the stylings of this new map by Tommi Moilanen, a Finnish industrial and interactive designer. His version uses the system's existing design language, but incorporates a fresh, modern aesthetic.
More details and the full map
October 28, 2015

Surreal Estate: NYC Listings That Are Scary, Hairy, and Totally Hideous

As if New York City home prices, monthly rents and apartment sizes weren’t scary enough. Between the horrors of Airbnb, overpriced dorm-style “co-living,” super-expensive micro-apartments, and Donald Trump, it’s hard to imagine we'd need Halloween to scare ourselves silly. But scare we do. Because of listings like these that know no season. Because sometimes real estate gets a little too real. From spookily dilapidated to eerily obscure to downright hideous, 6sqft has rounded up some of the most horrifying listings out there.
Be very afraid
October 28, 2015

VIDEO: Ride the Elevator Up to the Marriott Marquis’ Secret 55th Floor

The Marriott Marquis may not have the illustrious, storied past of NYC's landmarked hotels like The Plaza or the Algonquin, but that doesn't mean it doesn't keep its fair share of secrets. As you probably know, the Times Square locale is famous for its spectacular high-tech Schindler Miconic 10 elevators which zip passengers up and down the building while offering incredible views over the hotel's massive atrium lobby below. While the building is said to be just 48 floors tall, rumor has it there's actually a secret 55th floor that no regular person has been to before. Could it be true? One intrepid guest of the Marriott was daring enough to find out.
check it out here

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