All articles by Dana Schulz

MTA Flaunts Future Subway Map With Second Avenue Line
May 27, 2016

MTA Flaunts Future Subway Map With Second Avenue Line

By
Perhaps in an attempt to distract disgruntled riders from looming shutdowns and never-ending delays, the MTA has released a new subway map that features stations along phase one of the Second Avenue line and the reinstated W line to Astoria. The former isn't planned to open until December (which, as Gothamist notes, we'll believe when we see) and the latter November, but if you were stuck on a sweaty platform this morning, this eye candy is surely a welcome treat.
See the full map here
Lottery Launches for 30 Affordable Units in Large New Crown Heights Building, From $913/Month
May 26, 2016

Lottery Launches for 30 Affordable Units in Large New Crown Heights Building, From $913/Month

By
The building itself, designed by Issac & Stern Architects, may be pretty unremarkable, the same for the block on which it's located, but 505 Saint Mark's Avenue is in a prime Crown Heights location and offers some great amenities. It has 147 brand new units and is just steps off foodie haven Franklin Avenue and right around the corner from trendy food/beer hall Berg'n. While the market-rate apartments are pretty par for the course (a one-bedroom goes for about $2,500/month and a two-bedroom for around $3,600), a housing lottery has launched today for 30 affordable units, including $913 one-bedrooms and $1,065 two-bedrooms for individuals and households earning between $31,303 and $51,780 annually.
Find out if you qualify here
Jamestown Will Spend up to $50M to Double Retail Space at Chelsea Market

Views of addition courtesy of Neoscape

May 26, 2016

Jamestown Will Spend up to $50M to Double Retail Space at Chelsea Market

By
Back in March, 6sqft got a first look at renderings for Jamestown Properties' 240,000-square-foot addition to Chelsea Market. Known as BLDG 18, the nine-story topper designed by Studios Architecture will sit atop the westernmost building of the complex. In addition, the developer plans to spend $35 to $50 million doubling the size of the retail space. Though there's no new images to accompany the news, Crain's explains that the additional 80,000 square feet of retail will go in the building's now mostly unused lower level. Here, among other renovations, Jamestown will convert a boiler room into a restaurant and add a central corridor similar to the existing one on the ground level.
More details ahead
Apply for 55 Middle-Income Apartments in Prime Murray Hill
May 26, 2016

Apply for 55 Middle-Income Apartments in Prime Murray Hill

By
A common complaint about the city's affordable housing lotteries is that they don't often pertain to middle-income New Yorkers who are struggling to pay market-rate rents just the same. But here's the chance for this often-overlooked group to get in on the action -- a lottery launches tomorrow for 55 middle-income apartments at 325 East 25th Street. Not only do the rents range from $1,715/month studios to $2,216/month two-bedrooms, but the building is located in a prime Murray Hill location just north of Gramercy and right in the mix of restaurants and bars (okay, maybe just bars) for which the 'hood is known.
Get the full breakdown here
Fleet Week Sails into NYC; Art Gallery Pops Up in An Abandoned Brooklyn Subway Station
May 25, 2016

Fleet Week Sails into NYC; Art Gallery Pops Up in An Abandoned Brooklyn Subway Station

By

3 World Trade Center is getting its concrete core before its steel columns and beams, a construction technique rarely used in New York. [NYT] A new analysis of ticket sales shows that New York is now a Mets town. [Gothamist] Here’s your full Fleet Week schedule! [DNAinfo] A secret art gallery popped up in the abandoned platform of Brooklyn’s Nevins Street […]

POLL: Can New York’s Middle Class Stage a Comeback?
May 25, 2016

POLL: Can New York’s Middle Class Stage a Comeback?

By
The lack of affordability in New York is typically, and justly, blamed on skyrocketing rents, but when it comes to the middle class it might be more closely tied to a lack of jobs. The Wall Street Journal shares a new report from the Center for an Urban Future, which finds that "while the city added a record number of jobs since 2011, middle-wage industries paying between $40,000 and $80,000 a year added the fewest positions, and a lot of those were temp jobs." Additionally, middle-wage jobs lost the most employees. Low-wage industries (paying under $40,000) such as restaurants and home health care services disproportionately added the most jobs. However, the report also points to a few factors that may indicate a comeback for the middle class. For one, middle-wage industries accounted for three of the eight sectors with a net gain of at least 10,000 jobs since 2011. These are employment services, building equipment contractors, and colleges/universities, respectively. In total, 23 middle-wage sectors added at least 1,000 jobs during this time, not far off from the low-wage sector's 24 and high-wage's 28. But are these figures enough to give the middle class staying power?
Cast your vote here!
Governor Cuomo Finally Approves MTA’s $27B Capital Plan
May 25, 2016

Governor Cuomo Finally Approves MTA’s $27B Capital Plan

By
Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio, notorious for their icy relationship, have been squabbling for well over a year about the MTA's $27 billion, five-year capital plan. Last October, they reached an agreement where the state would contribute $8.3 billion and the city $2.5 billion, neither of which would come from increasing taxes. Seven months later, the Daily News reports that Albany has finally approved the plan, which covers track and station repairs, new train cars, new high-tech buses, a MetroCard replacement, the Long Island Rail Road's East Side Access project, and, of course, the beginning of the Second Avenue Subway's phase two into East Harlem.
More details ahead
15 Central Park West Takes Back the Title of Most Expensive Manhattan Condo
May 24, 2016

15 Central Park West Takes Back the Title of Most Expensive Manhattan Condo

By
Six months ago when CityRealty released its last CR100 report -- an index comprised of the top 100 condominium buildings in Manhattan -- One57 surpassed long-time frontrunner 15 Central Park West as the most expensive condo, coming in at $6,010 per square foot, compared to 15 CPW's $5,726. But this time around, 15 CPW has retaken the crown with an average sales price of $6,039 per square foot over the last 12 months. Coming in second is the Residences at the Mandarin Oriental at $5,956, and One57 falls to third at $5,175, a 13 percent drop over the last year. CityRealty notes, however, that the Robert A.M. Stern-designed condo may have difficulty maintaining its top spot, as big-time new developments 432 Park Avenue, The Greenwich Lane, and 10 Madison Square West have now made their debut on the CR100.
More trends and data
This Lamp Only Turns On If You Turn Your Phone Off
May 24, 2016

This Lamp Only Turns On If You Turn Your Phone Off

By
If you don't posses the willpower to put your smart phone down once and for all, this lamp will give you that extra nudge -- that is, if you don't want to walk around in the dark. Tranquillo, created by industrial designer Avid Kadam, is "an interactive piece of lighting where the user’s phone acts like a switch." Basically, if you want to see, you'll need to put your phone on the dock, where it'll go into do-not-disturb mode.
READ MORE
Empire State Gateway Plan Stretches Twin Suspension Bridges from NJ to Queens
May 23, 2016

Empire State Gateway Plan Stretches Twin Suspension Bridges from NJ to Queens

By
Just two months ago, the state allocated $70 million for early engineering work on a new Hudson River tunnel, part of the larger $20 billion Gateway project to fix the crumbling, century-old tunnels that currently carry New Jersey Transit and Amtrak trains under the Hudson River. Despite the move forward, a traffic consultant from Delaware thinks he has a better idea. NJ.com shared Scott R. Spencer's proposal for twin suspension bridges that would stretch 3.5 miles from New Jersey, across Manhattan at 38th and 39th Streets, and in to Queens. He believes the plan, aptly titled the Empire State Gateway, would be a much quicker solution to the current transportation woes, with one bridge taking about five years to complete versus 20+ years for the tunnels. Spencer's idea, however, would also cost $20 billion, and as Untapped points out, would cast quite the shadow over Midtown (not to mention the countless approvals and variances it would require).
Get all the details this way
Developers Used a Four-Foot-Wide Lot to Build a Taller Upper East Side Tower
May 23, 2016

Developers Used a Four-Foot-Wide Lot to Build a Taller Upper East Side Tower

By
The go-to move for building taller than zoning allows is snatching up some air rights, but at 180 East 88th Street in Yorkville, developer DDG Partners found an obscure loophole to increase their building's height. Back in 2014, as the Times explains, DDG received approvals to slice off a four-foot-wide lot from the 30-foot-deep site. This became an official taxable lot, but because it provided a buffer between the building and the street, it allowed the building to avoid typical zoning for structures touching the street, rising to its 521-foot height (60 feet taller than would have been permitted otherwise) and having its entrance on Third Avenue. Now that the motive has become clear, local residents and elected officials are not happy, and adding fuel to the fire is the fact that DDG contributed at least $19,900 to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The full story ahead
Bjarke Ingels Designed the VIA57 Chair As an Homage to His West Side Tetrahedron
May 23, 2016

Bjarke Ingels Designed the VIA57 Chair As an Homage to His West Side Tetrahedron

By
For those of us who love the unusual shape and dramatic angles of Bjarke Ingels' famed VIA 57 WEST tetrahedron, but aren't in the market to pay $3,800 a month for a one-bedroom (or didn't qualify for the building's affordable housing lottery), there's now a way to bring a piece of the starchitecture into our own homes. Dezeen reveals the VIA57 chair, designed by Ingels for furniture brand Fritz Hansen along with KiBiSi to mark the completion of the pyramid-shaped building. "The rotated corners allow a variety of social configurations while also evoking the tetrahedronical geometry of its parent architecture," he explains.
More this way
Own a Piece of the ‘Mad Men’ Set; Pommes Frites Opens New Location
May 23, 2016

Own a Piece of the ‘Mad Men’ Set; Pommes Frites Opens New Location

By

At least 1,500 props from the set of “Mad Men” are up for auction starting today. [NYT] Following a deal between the MTA and the publishers of amNY and Metro, free newspaper hawkers will no longer be in subway stations. [WNYC] 14 months after the East Village’s deadly gas explosion that destroyed Pommes Frites, the beloved Belgian-style fry cafe […]

Tour Eli Zabar’s Yorkville Rooftop Greenhouses; Automated Selfie Stick Features Lights and Fans
May 17, 2016

Tour Eli Zabar’s Yorkville Rooftop Greenhouses; Automated Selfie Stick Features Lights and Fans

By

Here’s how to wash every kind of tote bag. [Racked] A selfie stick with built-in studio lights and fans for perfect wind-blown-Beyonce-hair. [Mashable] Tour Eli Zabar’s rooftop greenhouse gardens in Yorkville. [92nd Street Y] Ralph Modica, Compass broker and creator of Burgopoly, is hosting Williamsburg Terrace Tour two nights this week. Peek inside 20 homes […]

Controversial Lower East Side Waterfront May Get Even More Tall Towers

One Manhattan Square on the left, the JDS/SHoP Project in the center. The above image, created by CityRealty, depicts the possible massing of the new towers if built to 50 stories; No official design has been released

May 16, 2016

Controversial Lower East Side Waterfront May Get Even More Tall Towers

By
Just a few weeks ago 6sqft learned that the supertall super-team of JDS Development and SHoP Architects are planning a 900-foot, 77-story rental building at 247 Cherry Street, directly next to Extell's 850-foot One Manhattan Square. These waterfront developments in the Two Bridges area caused quite a stir since the neighborhood has historically been mostly low-income and low-rise, but now two more supertalls may rise at the site. Bowery Boogie reports that L+M Partners are looking to erect two 50-story towers on the nearby lots at 265-275 Cherry Street. Together, the buildings would hold about 1,000 units.
Find out more
Safer and Smaller Crane Could Cut Building Costs by Millions, But the City Doesn’t Allow Use

The Skypicker in use, via JOMAC

May 16, 2016

Safer and Smaller Crane Could Cut Building Costs by Millions, But the City Doesn’t Allow Use

By
Crane safety has made major headlines in recent months, after a crane collapse in February killed a passerby in Tribeca and reports surfaced about an uptick in construction site deaths. But at the start of the city's current building boom, there was a man and a crane who sought to make skyscraper construction safer, not to mention quicker and cheaper. Crain's introduces Dan Mooney, president of crane leasing company Vertikal Solutions and designer of the Skypicker, a lightweight mobile crane. It's only 10-feet tall with a 30-foot boom (compared with tower cranes that rise hundreds of feet), but Mooney says that's the point, that it "can fit in small spaces and is ideal for midsize buildings where tower cranes are overkill and mobile cranes or derricks are not big enough." When it was employed in 2012 for Midtown's Hilton Garden Inn, the 34-story building went up in just six months. After that, Mooney's phone was ringing off the hook with developers looking to save time and money on smaller projects, and he had four more Skypickers built. So why are they now sitting idle in a warehouse in Astoria?
Find out here
Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff
May 14, 2016

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

By

7,500-Name Waitlist Opens for 975 Affordable Units at Harlem’s Riverton Complex Rafael Viñoly Admits 432 Park ‘Has a Couple of Screw-Ups’ Behind This $1.25M Greenpoint Duplex Is a Barefoot Backyard Paradise Forgotten Four Acres of Central Park Reopens to Visitors After Almost 90 Years Williamsburg Unsurprisingly Tops List of NYC’s 15 Fastest Gentrifying Neighborhoods Preserved […]

Rafael Viñoly Apologizes for Dissing 432 Park

Image of Rafael Viñoly via Rafael Viñoly Architects Facebook page for Fall 2011/Winter 2012 issue of Pin-Up: Magazine for Architectural Entertainment

May 13, 2016

Rafael Viñoly Apologizes for Dissing 432 Park

By
Image of Rafael Viñoly via Rafael Viñoly Architects Facebook page for Fall 2011/Winter 2012 issue of Pin-Up: Magazine for Architectural Entertainment On Monday, the architecture world was gobbling up the comments starchitect Rafael Viñoly made about 432 Park Avenue at a Douglas Elliman talk last week. He admitted that the 1,400-foot supertall "has a couple of screw-ups," referring to the interior design and layout, as well as the window framing, which he blamed on developer Harry Macklowe. But it looks like the architect is a bit red in the face, because he penned a lengthy public letter to design blog Dezeen apologizing for his loose lips. "In the context of what we understood to be a private and off-the-record conversation, I expressed frustration, inartfully, about the consequences of my profession's diminished position in the real estate development eco-system. Sometimes I get a little excited and say things that can easily be taken out of context and stripped of their humor. I have to improve," he said.
Read more of his apology letter
Why Do Subway Conductors Always Point After Pulling Into a Station?
May 12, 2016

Why Do Subway Conductors Always Point After Pulling Into a Station?

By
If you've ever been able to tear your eyes away from your targeted entry point when the subway doors are about to open, you might've noticed that every time a train pulls into the station, the conductor is pointing out his window at something. And believe it or not, he isn't calling out the crazy person screaming on the platform or gesturing to his fellow employees in the booth. This is actually a required safety precaution. Halfway down every subway platform is a "zebra board," a black and white-striped wood panel that's meant to line up perfectly with the conductor's window, signaling that all cars are at the platform. "Because opening the doors without a platform to step onto is such a serious concern, conductors are required to point at the sign every time to show that they've stopped at the right spot," Mental Floss explains.
Find out more this way
7,500-Name Waitlist Opens for 975 Affordable Units at Harlem’s Riverton Complex
May 12, 2016

7,500-Name Waitlist Opens for 975 Affordable Units at Harlem’s Riverton Complex

By
Like Stuyvesant Town, the Riverton Square residential development in Harlem opened in 1947 as an affordable complex for World War II veterans and was built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. But unlike Stuy Town (and Met Life's Parkchester in the Bronx), black and Hispanic tenants weren't barred from renting in Riverton. According to the Times, over the years the seven-building site was a sought-after address for the middle-class and was home to such notables as jazz pianist Billy Taylor, former Mayor David Dinkins, and former vice president of Motwon Records Suzanne de Passe. But in 2005, again similar to its downtown counterpart, Riverton was sold to Stellar Management, who tried to swiftly remove long-term tenants and replace them with higher-paying residents. Unable to convert the rent-stabilized units to market-rate and saddled with debt, Stellar lost Riverton to its lenders in 2008. This past December, after nearly a decade in limbo, the 12-acre site was sold to A&E Real Estate Holdings for $201 million in a deal with the city which, like the recent terms at Stuy Town, dictated that 975 of the complex's 1,229 units be reserved for working- and middle-class families for 30 years. In return, the buyer will receive about $100 million worth of tax breaks and incentives. The waitlist is now open for these affordable units, and 7,500 randomly selected applicants will earn themselves a spot.
Find out if you qualify here
Pitch a story icon

Pitch a Story

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Interested in seeing the property in person?

It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544

Interested in seeing the property in person?

It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo

Distinctive Post Form

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544
Contact us image

Get in Touch

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Send us a tip image
Delivering New York stories focused on design, lifestyle & real estate.

Send us a Tip

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Interesting in learning more about purchasing a new home?

Let us know what you are looking for and we’ll help you find the home of your dreams. It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo
or Call (212) 755-5544

Thinking about selling your home?

We’ll provide current market comps and connect you with a trusted expert.

CityRealty Logo

Sell a Home (Footer)

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Subscribe for NYC's Lastest Design, Lifestyle,
and Real Estate Trends!

No Worries. We Don’t Spam.

By providing your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Your Daily Dose
of NYC Life!

No Worries. We Don’t Spam.

By providing your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe at any time.