This pint-sized penthouse perched atop an elevator building at 368 West 23rd Street in West Chelsea manages to pack everything you need into two levels of renovated, sun-filled space and look good doing it. Asking $1.6 million, the one-bedroom co-op is freshly renovated with two full baths, new hardwood floors, central air conditioning, a wood-burning fireplace, and a washer/dryer. But it’s the impressive expanses of terrace that make the biggest impression.
Coney Island, History, Video
On June 26, 1927 the Coney Island Cyclone opened in Brooklyn. The iconic wooden coaster, located on the corner of Surf Avenue and West 10th Street, is one of the oldest functional amusement rides in the United States. While it only cost $.25 to ride when it first opened, today it costs about $10. Found at Luna Park, the coaster takes you over 2,640 feet of track at 60 miles per hour, with 12 drops (the highest an 85-foot, 60-degree plunge) and 27 elevation changes in roughly two minutes.
Long Island City, real estate trends
Following the country’s economic recession, neighborhoods throughout the United States have witnessed an apartment boom. According to a report by RENTCafe, since 2010, apartment buildings have been popping up at an increasingly faster rate. Unsurprisingly, Long Island City came in first for the largest number of new rental apartments, with 41 new apartment buildings and 12,533 new units built in the past seven years. Nearly 36 percent of all apartments are brand new in this Queens waterfront neighborhood.
Major Developments, Policy, Staten Island
The New York Wheel, Staten Island’s under-construction 630-foot Ferris wheel, has been plagued with cost overruns (it’s gone from a $230 to $590 million project), delays, and skepticism from the beginning, and it appears that these missteps have finally come to a head. The Post reports that the project’s design team, European company Mammoet-Starneth who was also responsible for the London Eye, walked off the job in late May and threatened to terminate their contract after they “got into a bitter pay dispute with the developer.” The New York Wheel LLC then filed a federal suit claiming that halting work was putting the borough’s waterfront revitalization at stake and that Mammoet is responsible for “extortionate” billing, “defective” equipment, and shotty, dangerous construction.
Celebrities, Interiors, Recent Sales, Tribeca
Gwyneth Paltrow’s pristine, all-white Tribeca penthouse has officially sold. City records reveal that the home Paltrow previously shared with former husband Chris Martin has closed for $10.727 million (h/t Observer). The 3,892-square-foot spread at 416 Washington Street has been on the market since March 2016, listed about a year after the “conscious uncoupling” of the flaxen-haired duo. Although the penthouse saw some price chops from its original price tag of $14.25 million, it did sell above its last ask of $9.995 million—and well above the $5.1 million it was purchased for back in 2007.
Features, Green Design, Interviews, Top Stories
Since Thomas Kosbau began working for a New York consultancy firm running its sustainable development group, in 2008, much has changed in the city’s attitude toward green design. Kosbau has gone from “selling” the idea of LEED certification to building developers, to designing some of the most innovative sustainable projects in New York to meet demand. He founded his firm, ORE Design, in 2010. Soon after, he picked up two big commissions that went on to embody the firm’s priority toward projects that marry great design alongside sustainability. At one commission, the Dekalb Market, ORE transformed 86 salvaged shipping containers into an incubator farm, community kitchen, event space, community garden, 14 restaurants and 82 retail spaces. At another, Riverpark Farm, he worked with Riverpark restaurant owners Tom Colicchio, Sisha Ortuzar and Jeffrey Zurofsky to build a temporary farm at a stalled development site to provide their kitchen with fresh produce.
From there, ORE has tackled everything from the outdoor dining area at the popular Brooklyn restaurant Pok Pok to the combination of two Madison Avenue studios. Last November, ORE launched designs for miniature indoor growhouses at the Brooklyn headquarters of Square Roots, an urban farming accelerator.
Art, West Village
To coincide with pride weekend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that artist Anthony Goicolea had been chosen to design the first official monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to be commissioned by the State of New York. According to the New York Times, the statue will be built near the waterfront piers in Hudson River Park. The monument’s design features nine boulders bisected in places with glass, which can act as a prism, emitting a rainbow pattern. Governor Cuomo formed the LGBT Memorial Commission after the deadly attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. in 2016; A request for designs for a new memorial went out in October of this year. Hudson River Park’s waterfront piers have figured prominently in the history of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
More Top Stories, Policy
The former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, announced a new philanthropic project on Monday aimed at investing and empowering the country’s cities. The $200 million program, called the American Cities Initiative, will help mayors push for policies that deal with climate change, gun violence, public health and immigration. As the New York Times reported, a major component of Bloomberg’s project will be a “Mayors Challenge,” which will award six-and seven-figure grants to mayors who draft interesting policy proposals.
Celebrities, Cool Listings, Park Slope
No bribes or back-door deals necessary. Al Capone’s former Park Slope townhouse, where he lived in the 1920s before heading to Chicago, has just hit the market for $2.85 million, reports the Post. “Scarface” may not recognize his former home today, as listing broker Bren Salamon notes that while the exterior remains nondescript, inside, the three-family residence has been completely renovated with high-end appliances, outdoor decks, and all new finishes.
Cool Listings, Interiors, Morningside Heights
Any Columbia students out there in search of summer housing? This charming apartment, from the prewar cooperative 609 West 114th Street, is now renting. Besides the great Morningside Heights locale, a half block from the campus and a half block from Riverside Park, you get interior details like 10-foot ceilings, crown moldings and French doors. A corner location and windows everywhere you look stream in sunlight throughout the day. Although in a co-op building this apartment has been rented out for years, and was last asking $2,900 a month in 2015.
Cool Listings, Interiors, ridgewood
This historic frame home is looking picture perfect in Ridgewood, Queens. It’s located at 62-46 61st Street, a block off the neighborhood’s main drag of Metropolitan Avenue. The listing says you “step back into 1899 every evening in this beautiful two-story Victorian.” We have to admit the property remains impressively intact, from the front porch to the ornate woodwork and pocket doors inside. After selling back in 2014 for $560,000, then getting some modern structural upgrades, it’s now on the market for $850,000.
Brooklyn, CityRealty, Manhattan, New Jersey, Queens, Rentals
Images (L to R): Hub, The Forge, The Corner and The Lane
- A Look Inside Harlem 125 as the New Rental Debuts on Harlem’s Main Street [link]
- Leasing Special on West 72nd Street: Apartments Above Trader Joe’s Listed with 1 Month Free [link]
- Newly Launched Jersey City Rental Partners with Airbnb, Achieves Record Price Per Square Foot [link]
- Live in Brooklyn’s Tallest Building: New ‘Hub’ Rental Tower Leasing with 1 Month Free[link]
- Leasing Launches at Long Island City’s The Forge; Luxury Rentals from $2,485/Month [link]
- Williamsburg Mega-Rental, “LEVEL” Launches Leasing for July 1 Move-ins [link]
- Kips Bay Rental Tower Relaunches as The Lanthian; Renovated Apartments from $3,438/Month [link]
- Pair of Rental Buildings Debut on Greene Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant [link]
- Teaser Site Launches for 21-Story Rental Tower Coming to Downtown Brooklyn[link]
- Leases with 1 Month Free at West 52nd Street Rental Tower, The Ellington [link]
History, Midtown East, Top Stories
A vintage postcard of the Airlines Terminal Building, via drivingfordeco.com
For more than 30 years, the Art Deco-style Airlines Terminal Building served millions of travelers as a spot where flight tickets servicing New York could be purchased and where passengers could board shuttle buses to take them to the various airports. The building, located on the southwest corner of Park Avenue and 42nd Street, sat on the former site of the Hotel Belmont, which was built in 1906 and later demolished in 1930. Construction of the Airlines Terminal began in 1939 to create the chic, futuristic design, which included a steel frame and a crown flanked by two eagles.
Cool Listings, Interiors, Upper East Side
This south-facing apartment comes from the prewar cooperative known as Morgan Studios, at 170 East 78th Street on the Upper East Side. A thoughtful renovation didn’t take anything away from the prewar charm—the living room still looks stunning with 13-foot ceilings and large casement windows, alongside a wood-burning fireplace with a custom mantle. A ladder helps access the floor-to-ceiling shelving, and a staircase leads to the upper-level bedroom and kitchen. This was just listed under $1.5 million, after last selling in 2009 for $1.35 million.
Policy, Technology
In May 2015, New York City’s Department of Transportation began an initiative to replace roughly 250,000 old streetlights with new LED fixtures in all five boroughs. The city chose to switch over to energy-efficient lights to save money and time; the lights last 15 years and require less maintenance. Following hundreds of complaints from residents about the harshness of the lights, the city had to then replace these new lights with dimmer bulbs. Now, the American Medical Association (AMA) warns of the potential harmful human health and environmental effects of LED lights, including damage to one’s eyesight and disruption in sleep patterns. As CNN reports, the AMA has released guidelines for communities to follow when choosing LED streetlights.
Most Popular Posts
A History of New York in 101 Objects: 6sqft Edition 
PHOTOS: First steel column installed at 1401-foot One Vanderbilt, NYC’s second-tallest skyscraper 
The history behind 42nd Street’s lost Airlines Terminal Building 
American Medical Association issues health warning over LED streetlights 
Construction to finally begin on the new Penn Station – see new renderings! 
The 10 best plants for apartment dwellers 
Forest Hills Gardens: A Hidden NYC Haven of Historic Modernity 
$1.5M UES co-op features 13-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling shelving
