All articles by Dana Schulz

Dana is a writer and preservationist with a passion for all things New York.  After graduating from New York University with a BA in Urban Design & Architecture Studies, she worked at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, where she planned the organization's public programs and wrote for their blog Off the Grid. In her free time, she leads walking tours about the social and cultural history of city neighborhoods. Follow her on Twitter @danaschulzNYC.
FiDi Residents Get the Largest Tax Returns in the City, According to the IRS
April 25, 2016

FiDi Residents Get the Largest Tax Returns in the City, According to the IRS

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It's time for Uncle Sam to start writing tax refund checks, and according to the IRS he'll be shelling out the most in the Financial District. As the Post reports, "One-percenters living in the Financial District have the highest taxable income, the biggest tax bills and get the largest refunds in New York City."  Though zip codes 10012 and 10013 (which make up parts of the West Village, Soho, Tribeca and the Lower East Side) are the most expensive in terms of real estate, it's FiDi's 10005 that is the richest in terms of earnings. The average annual taxable income for residents here is $948,979, and they pay $254,835 in taxes and get refunded $74,079.
Which other neighborhoods topped the list?
Live Near the Newly Opened High Bridge for $975/Month

Photo by Shinya Suzuki / Flickr

April 25, 2016

Live Near the Newly Opened High Bridge for $975/Month

By
The latest in a wave of recent affordable housing lotteries includes six buildings in the Bronx -- three in High Bridge, right near the newly opened and much-hyped overpass, and three farther east in Soundview. All together there are 20 newly constructed units up for grabs (though it's not clear how many are at each address), ranging from $975/month studios to $1,709/month three-bedrooms.
More details ahead
Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff
April 23, 2016

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

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LPC Approves Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower; New Renderings and Details Donald Trump’s Failed and Fraught Attempt to Own the Empire State Building SHoP’s East River Towers Named American Copper Buildings; Go Inside Their Skybridge Live Across the Street From Michelle Williams in Ditmas Park for $679K How Long Should You Wait For the Subway […]

The Met Struggles While MoMA Gets $100M; Illustrated Bodega Cats
April 22, 2016

The Met Struggles While MoMA Gets $100M; Illustrated Bodega Cats

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This week, MoMA received a $100 million gift for an expansion and renovation, while the Met owned up to serious financial issues and possible staff cuts, a sign of today’s preference for contemporary art. [NYT] A Bed-Stuy artist created an illustrated series of bodega cats around Brooklyn. [DNAinfo] Germany installed traffic lights on the ground to prevent […]

Rendering, Details Revealed for Glassy Condos Replacing Streit’s Matzo Factory
April 22, 2016

Rendering, Details Revealed for Glassy Condos Replacing Streit’s Matzo Factory

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If you're getting ready for this evening's seder, you've likely picked up a box of matzo, and chances are pretty good that your unleavened bread comes from Streit's. For 90 years the company produced matzo at the rate of almost 900 pounds an hour at 150 Rivington Street, but in early 2015 news hit that the country's last family-owned matzo factory would be relocating to Rockland County. Developer Cogswell Realty bought the site for $31 million, embarking on plans for a condominium, and today, ironically timed with the first day of Passover, the first rendering of the project has been revealed. The image was published in a New York Times article about Lower East Side institutions being replaced by condos. Design-build firm Gluck+ are the architects, and they've created a fairly standard, seven-story, glass box with some planted terraces along the top-floor setbacks. Though the design lacks any reference to the iconic business, the developers have said they plan to include Streit's memorabilia in the lobby.
This way for pricing details
100architects Propose a Vertical Park Made of Stacked Glass Pods for Times Square
April 21, 2016

100architects Propose a Vertical Park Made of Stacked Glass Pods for Times Square

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Shanghai-based architecture firm 100architects noticed how New Yorkers are always trying to get out of Times Square as fast as possible, which made them wonder if there was a way to engage people in the urban setting without them having to deal with the chaos at street level. That's where their proposal for Vertical Times comes in (h/t Architizer). The 180-foot-tall tower is a stack of six cylindrical glass pods along a central column that "multiplies the intended space for public recreation in a vertical way." Within these spaces would be a carousel, ball pit, hammock plaza, sky garden, restaurant, and bar.
Get the rest of the details
SHoP’s East River Towers Named American Copper Buildings; Go Inside Their Skybridge
April 20, 2016

SHoP’s East River Towers Named American Copper Buildings; Go Inside Their Skybridge

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We've been referring to SHoP Architects' pair of East River rental buildings at 626 First Avenue as the "dancing towers," but now that they've shimmied up to their full 470- and 540-foot heights, they've been officially named with a more mature moniker, the American Copper Buildings. First reported by Curbed, the title is "a nod to the 5,000 metal panels that make up the facade," which weigh in at a whopping 2,100 tons. In addition, developer JDS has released a teaser site and a fresh set of renderings that finally show the interior of the three-story, amenity-filled skybridge.
Get a look inside
How Long Should You Wait For the Subway Before Giving Up?
April 20, 2016

How Long Should You Wait For the Subway Before Giving Up?

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To wait or not to wait, that is the question that engineer Erik Bernhardsson answered in his recent analysis of the MTA's real-time API. In his post titled NY Subway Math he determined that if you're in a hurry, you should only wait for a train to arrive for 11 minutes (h/t Technically). At this point, the chance that there's a serious delay begins to rise. As he notes, "The interesting conclusion is that after about five minutes, the longer you wait, the longer you will have to wait. If you waited for 15 minutes, the median additional waiting time is another 8 minutes. But 8 minutes later if the train still hasn’t come, the median additional waiting time is now another 12 minutes.”
More on the conclusion
Spring House Tour Round Up: 10 Chances to Get Inside the Most Spectacular Residences!
April 19, 2016

Spring House Tour Round Up: 10 Chances to Get Inside the Most Spectacular Residences!

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It's finally time to start planning outdoor activities, and what better way to enjoy spring in NYC than strolling around picturesque neighborhoods while getting a special look inside some of their most spectacular dwellings. House tour season is kicking off on May 1st with the Greenwich Village Society's annual event, followed by nine other tours from standard historic house 'hoods like Fort Greene and Park Slope to more under-the-radar gems like the secret gardens of Hoboken and the Victorian beauties of Flatbush. Whatever your budget and preferred architectural style, there's a tour for you ahead.
All the house tour info ahead
This Map Visualizes Manhattan As a (Unimpressive) Mountain
April 19, 2016

This Map Visualizes Manhattan As a (Unimpressive) Mountain

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The Manhattan skyline is inarguably getting taller and taller, and when we look up at the towering behemoths surrounding us, it's easy to feel completely dwarfed. But this man-made landscape pales in comparison to the soaring heights of many natural wonders. That's where this cool visualization from Vivid Maps comes in. "If Manhattan was a mountain..." uses the height of the city's buildings and plots them as a mountain topography map, using actual geologic monikers like Greenwich Valley, One World Trade Center Peak, and Bellevue Plateau. As you can see, save for the Financial District and Billionaires' Row areas, Manhattan mountain is actually quite unimpressive.
Get a look a the full map
26 Bushwick Homes to Be Vacated During M Train Work; Can You Legally Take Selfies While Voting?
April 19, 2016

26 Bushwick Homes to Be Vacated During M Train Work; Can You Legally Take Selfies While Voting?

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This website turns your Instagram photos into customized adult coloring books. [Mashable] Dozens of Bushwick homes will have to be vacated for six to 10 months for work on the M train line. The MTA says it “provide suitable accommodations, relocation assistance and compensation.” [DNAinfo] The history of the Forward Building–from labor citadel to luxury condos. [Forward] […]

Annual Subway Ridership Hits 1.7 Billion, Highest Since 1948
April 19, 2016

Annual Subway Ridership Hits 1.7 Billion, Highest Since 1948

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The MTA has released its 2015 figures, which show the highest weekday subway ridership since 1948, reports the Daily News. Not only does this account for daily riders, which hit 5.7 million, but annual ridership as well, reaching 1.763 billion. Another interesting tidbit, especially considering the looming shutdown, is that L train usage decreased for the first time in about 20 years. This occurred from Third Avenue to Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn, resulting in a 4.2 percent increase along the J/Z and M lines.
More findings ahead
Donald Trump’s Failed and Fraught Attempt to Own the Empire State Building
April 18, 2016

Donald Trump’s Failed and Fraught Attempt to Own the Empire State Building

By
In 2000, shortly after ending his first presidential run, Donald Trump was asked for what he would like to be remembered. He responded, "I'd like to own the Empire State Building," adding that it would make him "New York's Native Son." As Crain's recalls, he came awfully close to renaming the iconic tower the "Trump Empire State Building Tower Apartments." For nearly a decade, Trump had a 50 percent, no-cost stake in the building, but he lost it when he attempted a hostile takeover of the structure in the late 90s.
Read about the entire saga
Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff
April 16, 2016

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

By

Apply for 86 Affordable Apartments in Brownsville’s Prospect Plaza, Starting at $689/Month Uma Thurman’s Newly-Listed $6.25M Gramercy Duplex Comes With a Key to the Park New Photos of Judy Garland’s Former Dakota Apartment Designed by Sasha Bikoff Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo Put Sexy Soho Loft on the Market for $5.5M Funky Rockaway Houseboat Dubbed […]

20-Unit Brooklyn Heights Apartment Building Hits the Market As a $22M Mega-Mansion

Photo by Rich Caplan

April 15, 2016

20-Unit Brooklyn Heights Apartment Building Hits the Market As a $22M Mega-Mansion

By
If 2015 was the year of the nine-figure condo sale, 2016 may be the year of the makeshift mega-mansion. From Roman Abramovich's troubled attempt to combine three Upper East Side townhouses to a $50 million Tribeca spread with 18 toilets, wealthy New Yorkers are going to great lengths to create their dream homes. The latest over-the-top offering is in Brooklyn Heights, where a five-story, 20-unit rental building just hit the market as a $22 million single-family residence. As noted by the Wall Street Journal, the building at 50 Orange Street just sold in January for $13.5 million to Benchmark Real Estate Group, who quickly hired Lee Stahl of design/build firm The Renovated Home to draw up plans for how it could be converted to a single-family dwelling. These plans include four bedrooms (only four?), a gym, an 800-bottle wine cellar, and a roof terrace and would cost an additional $10.6 million to complete over a 16-month period.
But what about the tenants?
Post-Modern Bronx Mansion With 35-Foot Atrium and 10 Skylights Wants $2M
April 15, 2016

Post-Modern Bronx Mansion With 35-Foot Atrium and 10 Skylights Wants $2M

By
The Bronx's Fieldston neighborhood is considered one of the city's best preserved early 20th century suburbs, unique for its collection of revival-style homes (Tudor, Mediterranean, and Colonial, mainly). But this mansion at 4545 Delafield Avenue is in a category all its own. The post-modern structure was built in 1994 by noted local firm Isaac & Stern, who designed a stucco-covered, geometric creation that looks straight out of "Miami Vice." Now on the market for $1,950,000 (down from the original $2.4 million ask last year), the residence is just as mod inside as it is outside, with a 35-foot entry atrium complete with huge skylights, arched columns, and black granite floors.
Check it all out
NYC Buildings in the Desert; ‘Shark Tank’ Searching for Entrepreneurs in the Bronx
April 14, 2016

NYC Buildings in the Desert; ‘Shark Tank’ Searching for Entrepreneurs in the Bronx

By

Brooklyn photographer and designer Anton Repponen’s “Misplaced Monuments” series puts famous NYC buildings in the desert, the mountains, or the depths of the ocean. [designboom] Mapping the states that love bacon the most. [Mental Floss] Think you’ve got a million-dollar business idea? “Shark Tank” is holding a casting call in the Bronx. [DNAinfo] “Murder of a […]

Lottery Opens for 10 Affordable Units in the Bronx’s Crotona Park East Neighborhood
April 14, 2016

Lottery Opens for 10 Affordable Units in the Bronx’s Crotona Park East Neighborhood

By
In 1977, when President Jimmy Carter visited the South Bronx and declared it the worst neighborhood in the country, he was standing in Crotona Park East, a small neighborhood nestled in the triangle bordered by the Cross Bronx Expressway, the Harlem River, and Crotona Park. Though the Bronx dropped this reputation a long time ago, Crotona Park East was one of a few areas that seemed slow to catch up with the rest of the borough, but five years ago, the city rezoned this stretch from light industrial use to residential, creating a boom in affordable housing opportunities. The latest such development is located at 1702 Bryant Avenue, where 10 newly constructed affordable units are up for grabs through the city's housing lottery. The unit are $931/month one-bedrooms for one person earning between $31,920 and $38,100 annually and two people earning between $31,920 and $43,500.
READ MORE
‘Breaking Bad’-Themed Coffee Shop Opening in Bushwick; Pencils Are Big Business
April 13, 2016

‘Breaking Bad’-Themed Coffee Shop Opening in Bushwick; Pencils Are Big Business

By

Walter’s Coffee Roastery, a “Breaking Bad”-inspired shop that started in Istanbul, is opening in Bushwick. Coffee is served in little beakers and some employees wear HazMat suits. [Eater] Here’s what today’s female architects have to say about sexism, equal pay, and more. [NYT] After being put in jeopardy of a massive “de-calendaring,” Long Island City’s Pepsi-Cola sign […]

Bid on Dinner at Daniel Libeskind’s Tribeca Apartment or Cocktails With the Lowline Founder
April 13, 2016

Bid on Dinner at Daniel Libeskind’s Tribeca Apartment or Cocktails With the Lowline Founder

By
Sick of just reading about today's architects and designers? Now's your chance to meet some of these prolific figures in the flesh, through the Van Alen Institute's third annual Auction of Art + Design Experiences. Launched today, the experiences you can bid on include dinner at Daniel Libeskind's Tribeca apartment cooked by his wife Nina, the chance to harvest cocktail ingredients in the Lowline Lab with founder James Ramsey, pedicures in Brooklyn with artist Diana Al-Hadid, and a recipe tasting in Bon Appétit's One World Trade Center offices.
Get the scoop on some of the most exciting experiences
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