This $9 Device Can Save Drivers from the Much-Loathed Parking Ticket
August 25, 2015

This $9 Device Can Save Drivers from the Much-Loathed Parking Ticket

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After driving around for what seems like an eternity, you finally find a parking spot. You read all the signs, double check that there's no yellow curbs or fire hydrants nearby, feed the meter, and go on your merry way. A few hours later, you walk back up to your car and see that tiny orange rectangle (the infamous NYC parking ticket) taunting you from the windshield. If this sounds familiar, here's your chance to stop shelling out $65 for being one minute over your last quarter. AwareCar, a smartphone app and Bluetooth device, keeps drivers in check by reminding them where they parked, when the meter is expiring, and at what time they need to leave to head back to their vehicle (h/t CityLab). And all this will only set you back $9.
Find out how this genius technology works
Surfers and New Residents Clash in the Rockaways; Times Square Pedestrian Plaza Reduces Traffic Injuries
August 25, 2015

Surfers and New Residents Clash in the Rockaways; Times Square Pedestrian Plaza Reduces Traffic Injuries

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The surfing crowds are multiplying in the Rockaways, but residents of the huge new Arverne by the Sea development are eyeing the same stretch of beach. [NYT] Traffic injuries and casualties are down in Times Square since the 2009 pedestrian plaza conversion. [WSJ] And on that note, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer released a statement in […]

Estate of Huguette Clark, Famous Reclusive Heiress, Loses $95M Suit Against Beth Israel

In her middle years, Clark liked to take “self portraits” of herself at home; here, in her Fifth Avenue apartment. Photo: Estate of Huguette Clark from EmptyMansionsBook.com

August 25, 2015

Estate of Huguette Clark, Famous Reclusive Heiress, Loses $95M Suit Against Beth Israel

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Copper heiress Huguette Clark did not live the life of luxury like so many other wealthy New Yorkers in her shoes. The famously reclusive figure died in 2011 at the age of 104, but instead of spending her last 20 years in her palatial, Gilded-Age co-op at 907 Fifth Avenue (which was filled to the brim with her doll, dollhouse, and art collections), she decided to live in a tiny hospital room at Beth Israel. Clark admitted herself to the hospital in 1991 for operable skin cancer, but then refused to leave. According to Gothamist, her estate, "made up of nineteen of Huguette's distant relatives, a private foundation in Huguette's name, and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C.," didn't buy the hospital's story and sued Beth Israel in 2013 for $95 million. The suit claimed the hospital spent millions of dollars on unnecessary medical care and by forming "fake friendships" with the heiress who was known for writing out checks on a whim to people she just met. However, last week, Manhattan Surrogate Court Justice Nora Anderson ruled that the statute of limitations had run out on the case.
More on the ruling and Huguette Clark's legacy
Experience Brooklyn Townhouse Living Without the Commitment in This Pretty Cobble Hill Rental
August 25, 2015

Experience Brooklyn Townhouse Living Without the Commitment in This Pretty Cobble Hill Rental

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If you've ever harbored a certain kind of Brooklyn townhouse fantasy–but aren't ready for the responsibility (or the mortgage)–this is about as close to the dream as it gets. And though it might require a tiny bit of imagination (picture it with furniture!) this just-renovated triplex rental at 198 Warren Street checks all the boxes--charming restored original details, five bedrooms (though one is tiny) if you've got a big family or just want to share the rent, 2,500 square feet of living space, a brand-new kitchen, central A/C, and outdoor space. And you're in one of Brooklyn's most desirable enclaves in Cobble Hill on a picture-postcard block near, as the brokers say, all.
Check out the historic interiors, this way
August 24, 2015

Should Poor Neighborhoods Stay Poor to Avoid Gentrification? Mayor De Blasio Speaks Out

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Recently on the Brian Lehrer radio show on WNYC, Mayor De Blasio addressed questions about the effects inclusionary development–i.e. giving developers the green light to build market rate housing if they set aside 25-30 percent of the units for low- and middle-income residents–has on the quality of life in lower-income neighborhoods. A growing concern among housing activists is that reliance on this kind of inclusionary zoning leads to gentrification that pushes out the lower income residents due to the 70-75 percent of market rate units bringing new, wealthy residents and new businesses that will cater to them.
Hear what the mayor has to say
Are You Picking Up After Your Dog? Map Shows Neighborhoods With the Worst Offenders
August 24, 2015

Are You Picking Up After Your Dog? Map Shows Neighborhoods With the Worst Offenders

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Remember: Don't blame the dog, blame its lazy owner. On some NYC streets, navigating the crap that covers the sidewalks can be like running a gantlet. And as this map created by The Economist shows, there are definitely some neighborhoods that have it worse than others. Compiled from complaints submitted across all the boroughs, as seen above, the shittiest nabes of 2014 include Upper Manhattan on the east side, a good deal of the Bronx, Bed-Stuy and, unsurprisingly, Bushwick, where just last year neighborhood artists were glittering the deserted turds of their furry friends in gold.
find out more here
Top Design Pro’s Impressively Renovated Bed-Stuy Brownstone Asks $2.375M
August 24, 2015

Top Design Pro’s Impressively Renovated Bed-Stuy Brownstone Asks $2.375M

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This townhouse at 806 Greene Avenue may not make much of an impression from the outside–though it sits on a pretty, historic block in the neighborhood's Stuyvesant Heights district–but a top NYC designer-helmed renovation and a double duplex layout may be what it takes to move this four-story, two-family brownstone at what would be one of the neighborhood's highest-priced trades to date if it gets its current ask of $2.375 million. At 18 feet wide (2,709 square feet total), it's a little on the narrow side, but there's plenty of space in both units by NYC standards. What makes us sit up and take notice is the sexy renovation by the home's current owner, Siobhan Barry, a partner at high profile design firm ICRAVE, whose work includes this modern Hamptons pool house and dozens of buzzy commercial projects like the W Hotel VIP lounges, Delta Airlines terminals at LaGuardia and JFK, the JetBlue terminal at JFK and jet-set nightclub Lavo, to name just a few.
Tour the townhouse here...
New Renderings Revealed for Garden-Topped High Line Jardim Condos

Renderings via New York YIMBY.

August 24, 2015

New Renderings Revealed for Garden-Topped High Line Jardim Condos

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A new full set of renderings has surfaced from New York YIMBY revealing designs for the West Chelsea condominium project at 527 West 27th Street known as Jardim. The High Line-adjacent project, designed by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, is being developed by Centaur Properties and Greyscale Development Group.
See the latest renderings

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Preston Scott Cohen Builds a Brilliant Upstate Home from an Old Dutch Barn
August 24, 2015

Preston Scott Cohen Builds a Brilliant Upstate Home from an Old Dutch Barn

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To create the beautiful Goodman House, architect Preston Scott Cohen had to transport, restore and re-assemble a Dutch barn frame at a new location in Pine Plains, NY. The structure affords an unpolished but warm atmosphere with open-plan interiors wrapped in an industrial skin. The space was crafted to follow the client's desire for an "excessively lit space" with an "undivided interior," and as such, the home uses an ample number of slide-up screens and roll-down glass doors to make way for an open abode with a modern aesthetic.
Learn more about this contemporary barn-home
The Significance Behind the Flag Atop Cobble Hill’s Trader Joe’s; Hold the Phone – Cinnabon Now Delivers
August 24, 2015

The Significance Behind the Flag Atop Cobble Hill’s Trader Joe’s; Hold the Phone – Cinnabon Now Delivers

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Have you ever noticed the flag atop Trader Joe’s in Cobble Hill? Here’s the reason why the chain store flies the flag. [DNAinfo] Feeding your suburban-mall-food craving, Focus Brands (parent company to Carvel, Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s) will now be delivering in the city starting this week. [CNN Money] A timeline of how Empire Stores went […]

A Modern Loft Asks $2.2 Million at the Historic McIntyre Co-Op Building
August 24, 2015

A Modern Loft Asks $2.2 Million at the Historic McIntyre Co-Op Building

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This modern, uniquely-designed loft comes from the McIntyre Building, an historic co-op built in 1892 by Ewen McIntyre at 874 Broadway in Flatiron. The current apartment design takes all the good things about a loft—the high ceilings and big windows—and amplifies them, creating a bright, airy apartment. If that's right up your alley, you also have the opportunity to combine this one-bedroom, which is asking $2.2 million, with another unit in the building for a total of $5.4 million. The result would be the ultimate four-bedroom, three-bathroom duplex loft apartment. But for now, let's focus on this one-bedroom...
Check it out
MTA Rolls Out Startling New Campaign to Reduce Railroad Crossing Accidents
August 24, 2015

MTA Rolls Out Startling New Campaign to Reduce Railroad Crossing Accidents

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In response to the tragic Metro-North Railroad crash back in February which killed six and injured over a dozen, this summer the MTA released a new campaign hoping to get pedestrians and motorists to be more aware of their surroundings when around train tracks. The campaign—made up of five posters and three videos—is illustrated in the same vein as the also recently rolled out "Courtesy Counts" posters found throughout the city's subways. But what's most surprising about the agency's railroad crossing adverts is that like those in the subway (e.g. man-spreading and poll hogging), they're all inspired by real life events.
see more of the posters and the videos here
Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff
August 22, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

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VIDEO: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Rats Coming up Your Toilet NeighborhoodX’s 3D Map Reveals the Blocks Where Real Estate Prices Are Soaring 22,000 New Apartments Coming to Northern Brooklyn by 2019 Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo Nabs $18.5M Trump Tower Loft Model and Daughter of Zipcar Founder, Cameron Russell Scoops Up a $1.5M […]

New Yorker Spotlight: 100 GATES’s Natalie Raben on Beautifying the Dreary Metal Gates of the LES
August 21, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: 100 GATES’s Natalie Raben on Beautifying the Dreary Metal Gates of the LES

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Natalie Raben spends her days thinking about closing time, specifically the gates businesses roll down when they lock up for the night. For Natalie, these metal gates represent blank canvases waiting to tell stories. And over the last several months, she has been focusing on turning them into works of art as she oversees and manages the 100 GATES Project. Natalie spends much of her time connecting interested businesses with artists to support a collaboration that creates a sense of community each evening. With a mixture of well-known artists like Buff Monster and up-and-comers making their debut, these once-bland metallic gates are livening up the area, engaging residents visually as well as inspiring conversations around the works themselves. So far over 40 gates have been completed and more will be finished later this month. We recently spoke with Natalie to learn more about this unique project and how the neighborhood is responding to it.
Read our interview with Natalie here
VIDEO: Flashback to When Times Square Was a Car-Filled Hellscape
August 21, 2015

VIDEO: Flashback to When Times Square Was a Car-Filled Hellscape

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There's currently no hotter topic in NYC than Mayor de Blasio's backwards proposal to rid Times Square of its pedestrian plazas. Because how could returning one of the city's busiest areas back to a battle between man and vehicle (and man and man) be a good idea? Let's remember the Times Square of just a few years ago, shall we? In this video filmed back in 2006, Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton brings Danish architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl to the center of Times Square to get his opinion on the area and his thoughts on what could be improved. The pair's fascinating conversation is punctuated with cars honking and brakes screeching, but Gehl makes his views clear despite all the distraction: “It would be completely idiotic to chase people away by giving them very poor conditions. If we are to talk about the conditions for pedestrians here, it’s really lousy... The balance is all wrong and something ought to be done to celebrate this unique place, so that more people, in a dignified way, can enjoy it."
watch the video here
Modern Magpies and Hipster Hoarders Will Flock to This Greenpoint Dream Loft
August 21, 2015

Modern Magpies and Hipster Hoarders Will Flock to This Greenpoint Dream Loft

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So we’re guessing there are several kinds of people this rental listing will appeal to. First, if you've been planning to film your pilot episode of “Hipster Hoarders,” your search is over. Lovers of real industrial lofts, log cabins, treehouses, birdhouses, she sheds, cowboy camping, glamping or pods in your living room: This one will go fast! In all seriousness, this 1,400 square foot three-bedroom (or whatever room you need!) loft that’s renting for $4,600 a month might not be a bargain, but it's a decent amount of lovely Greenpoint space. And if you're into lofts (and assuming this is actually a legal dwelling. Or a semi-legal dwelling with good karma), the possibilities are endless. This lovely loft is in a terrific neighborhood, near the waterfront and surrounded by cafes, quirky boutiques, bars both chic and chill, the ferry, the G train, picturesque streetscapes and lots of friendly neighbors in their super-cool cowboy-treehouse lofts. We're hoping the current tenants have found a new dream home, because clearly this listing is an invitation to Live the Dream.
This way to curated chaos
Model Agyness Deyn’s $3.6M Former Williamsburg Loft Has a Tax Bill of Just $24 a Year
August 21, 2015

Model Agyness Deyn’s $3.6M Former Williamsburg Loft Has a Tax Bill of Just $24 a Year

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A renovated 2,911 square-foot corner loft in Williamsburg's Mill Building at 85 North 3rd Street just hit the market for $3.6 million. The spacious loft condominium with dramatic open spaces and original details is the former home of Brit model Agyness Deyn, who bought the Northside pad for $1.97 million in 2008 and sold it in 2012 for $2.175M. New owners have given it a rustic-luxe update and hope to keep the upward trend going, with a current ask of $3.65 million. An expensive loft in the 'burg wouldn't faze us, (and the building has an impressive menu of amenities–doorman, garage, roof deck–for a loft), but the tax bill was a shocker: Taxes on the pricy pad are a mere–as per the listing–"unheard-of $24 a year," due to a J-51 exemption and tax abatement in effect until 2025.
Find out why the taxes are so low
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Amazing Detailed Map from the 1950s Shows 300+ ‘Wonders of New York’

Historical Map: “Wonders of New York” by Nils Hansell, c. 1953-1955; courtesy of Transit Maps. 

August 21, 2015

Amazing Detailed Map from the 1950s Shows 300+ ‘Wonders of New York’

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Click to expand >> One of a growing collection of transit maps, this cool detailed New York City map, designed by graphic designer/sailing enthusiast/IBM employee Nils Hansell sometime around 1953-1955, offers a mind boggling tableau of (mostly) Manhattan's points of interest, numbered, with a corresponding key. There's also a color-coded schematic to the subway system, which was at the time divided up by its operators, BMT, IND and IRT; the map also shows a remaining few of the city's elevated railway systems, the last of which was ended in 1955.
Check it out here
An Incredible Private Hideaway Asks $12.75 Million in the Adirondacks
August 21, 2015

An Incredible Private Hideaway Asks $12.75 Million in the Adirondacks

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The listing calls this "a private hideaway for those who seek the finest craftsmanship and location." For sure, the house at 553 Hawk Ridge Road, nicknamed Camp Big Rock, is pretty special. It's located on 30 sprawling acres near Saranac Lake, up in the Adirondacks. The modern house, designed by the architect Shope Reno Wharton, was even impressive enough to land on the cover of Architectural Digest. And there is so much more than the home: the grounds include a boathouse, beach cabin, guest house, barn, gym cabin, caretaker's cabin and tennis court. There's no "roughing it" here. This is the luxurious day camp of your dreams.
See more
Mayor de Blasio Proposes Ripping Out Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas
August 21, 2015

Mayor de Blasio Proposes Ripping Out Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas

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There are a lot of nuisances to be found in Times Square, but apparently for Mayor de Blasio, none are as bothersome as the topless women and aggressive Elmos traipsing around the area's overly lit streets. As the NYDN reports, de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have formed a special task force aimed at ridding the bustling tourist destination of its "jiggly panhandlers." And the solution at the top of their list is tearing up the pedestrian plazas and letting cars back in.
Find out more on the issue here, as well as alternative plans
Clément Brazille Reinvents the Iconic Bertoia Chair with Comfortable Knitted Upholstery
August 21, 2015

Clément Brazille Reinvents the Iconic Bertoia Chair with Comfortable Knitted Upholstery

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Sometime ago we showed you a high-tech redesign of the iconic Eames sofa made from lightweight carbon fiber. This time we've got another classic redesigned; Harry Bertoia's beloved Wire Chair reinterpreted with a new, knitted skin. Customized with corduroy, linen, cashmere wool and cotton strips, French designer Clément Brazille's vision adds texture to the iconic seat.
Learn more about this knitted redesign
City Defends Supertalls, Won’t Limit Size of Midtown Towers
August 20, 2015

City Defends Supertalls, Won’t Limit Size of Midtown Towers

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The Department of City Planning announced that although it shares residents' concerns about the effects of the new crop of supertall towers rising near Central Park, it does not intend to lower the size limits on buildings in the dense Midtown district. Crain's reports that department director Carl Weisbrod said in a written response to elected officials on August 12 that the slender structures may actually preserve historic buildings nearby and that they enhance the city's iconic skyline.
Read more on the city's response
1920s Popular Science Illustration Stacks the Future American City Like a Layered Cake
August 20, 2015

1920s Popular Science Illustration Stacks the Future American City Like a Layered Cake

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As the automobile became more widely available in the 1920s, the idea of living in the suburbs became far more appealing to Americans. Residents of large cities sought to escape increasingly crowded streets (thanks to industrialization), and with newly paved roads and auto ownership, taking on a commute was well worth the space and comfort that was paid out in return. While many urbanists and architects in the '20s predicted that suburban migrations would give way to sprawl (and it eventually did), other urban "futurists" balked at the idea of decentralization, and believed instead that Americans would be living and thriving in high-density vertical cities. Architect Harvey W. Corbett's “May Live to See, May Solve Congestion Problems” is one such proposal that sees everything from homes, offices, schools, green space and even aircraft landing fields stacked on top of each other for the ultimate metropolis.
Have a closer look at the complete plan here

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