All articles by Dana Schulz

Bjarke Ingels Reveals Design for Supertall Cascading Hudson Yards Tower, the Spiral
February 8, 2016

Bjarke Ingels Reveals Design for Supertall Cascading Hudson Yards Tower, the Spiral

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It seems safe to say at this point that two of starchitect Bjarke Ingels' favorite architectural elements are stepped facades and integrated natural spaces. His latest creation, an office tower appropriately dubbed the Spiral, incorporates both of these features, with a "cascading series of landscaped terraces and hanging gardens as its signature element," according to a press release sent out today. The 1,005-foot-tall, 65-story tower will rise at 66 Hudson Boulevard, at the intersection of the High Line and Hudson Yards, occupying the full block bound by West 34th Street, West 35th Street, 10th Avenue, and the four-acre Hudson Boulevard Park (BIG is also designing a pair of towers at the southern end of the High Line). Ingels said his conceptual design "combines the classic ziggurat silhouette of the premodern skyscraper with the slender proportions and efficient layouts of the modern high-rise."
Check out more views of the Spiral
Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff
February 6, 2016

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

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Anne Hathaway Buys $2.55M Upper West Side Co-op De Blasio to Announce $2.5B Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Line Maya Angelou’s Historic Harlem Brownstone Lists for $5M Bjarke Ingels Is Designing a $50M NYPD Station House in the South Bronx They Paved Washington Square Park and Put Up a Parking Lot For $23 Million You Can Be Donald […]

Does the City’s Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Plan Actually Make Sense?
February 5, 2016

Does the City’s Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Plan Actually Make Sense?

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Like most grand, government-backed plans, yesterday's announcement by Mayor de Blasio that he'd be supporting a proposed Brooklyn-Queens streetcar was met with flashy renderings and promises of how underserved areas and populations would finally get the access they deserve, as would booming commercial hubs like the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Sunset Park. But Streetsblog dug a little deeper and came up with several reasons why the $2.5 billion project doesn't quite add up.
Find out why
Map Shows Where Foreign-Born New Yorkers Live
February 5, 2016

Map Shows Where Foreign-Born New Yorkers Live

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New York's immigration history is a long and complex one, and still today 37 percent of city residents are foreign-born. Using data from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey, the NYU Furman Center created this easy-to-read map that shows the top ten countries of origin, how many such New Yorkers there are (each dot represents 500 residents born in the respective country), and where they live (h/t Untapped).
The full map and more info
A Congresswoman’s Quest to Bring Pandas to NYC; Governor’s Island Will Be Year-Round Attraction
February 5, 2016

A Congresswoman’s Quest to Bring Pandas to NYC; Governor’s Island Will Be Year-Round Attraction

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Mapping Manhattan’s parking tickets by type of car. [CityLab] Representative Carolyn B. Maloney is on a mission to bring a pair of Chinese pandas to NYC, an obsession that would cost the city tens of millions of dollars. [NYT] Mayor de Blasio revealed plans to transform Governor’s Island into a year-round “center of culture, commerce and […]

De Blasio to Announce $2.5B Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Line
February 4, 2016

De Blasio to Announce $2.5B Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Line

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Earlier in the month, 6sqft shared news of a detailed proposal from non-profit advocacy group Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector that called for a Brooklyn-Queens streetcar line to connect "underserved, but booming" areas of the boroughs. The city must've been listening, because Mayor de Blasio is expected to announce today in his State of the City speech that he'll be backing such a proposal. Like the original scheme, the city's plan will run 16 miles along the East River, from Astoria to Sunset Park, but at a projected cost of $2.5 billion, it will be significantly more expensive than the previous estimate of $1.7 billion, but significantly less than a new underground subway. Not only would the streetcars serve bustling commercial hubs like the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Long Island City, but they'd provide access for about 45,000 public-housing residents.
More details
The History of Kossar’s Bialys; S.S. United States May Once Again Become a Cruise Ship
February 4, 2016

The History of Kossar’s Bialys; S.S. United States May Once Again Become a Cruise Ship

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The New York Transit Museum is accepting proposals for PLATFORM, its cross-disciplinary program series. [NYTM] Explore the history of Kossar’s, NYC’s most famous bialy bakery. [Gothamist] A pneumatic waste-removal system is coming to the High Line. [CityLab] Confessions of a real estate agent in gentrifying Brooklyn. [Billfold] Crystal Cruises is optioning returning the historic S.S. United States back to […]

Bronx Rail Yards Could Become a $500M Mega-Development

Concourse Yard, via Zach Summer/YouTube

February 3, 2016

Bronx Rail Yards Could Become a $500M Mega-Development

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Back in September, Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. put forth a plan to transform an abandoned stretch of rail tracks in Mott Haven into a Lowline-style park. There hasn't been much in the way of updates since then, but now Diaz is turning his sights to another set of tracks, this one much larger and in the northwest Bronx. The Real Deal cites findings from the borough prez that claim the MTA's Concourse Yards, a 19-acre open-air subway depot, could be decked over to yield two million square feet of development rights, resulting in a mega-project like Hudson Yards. At an estimated cost of $350-$500 million (Hudson Yards cost $800 million by comparison), the project would require no rezoning and would be "a real opportunity to not only provide much-needed homeownership, mixed-income housing and retail space, but to allow Lehman College to expand by better connecting it to the Bedford Park neighborhood and making it a true community campus," according to Diaz's report.
More details
Bjarke Ingels Is Designing a $50M NYPD Station House in the South Bronx
February 2, 2016

Bjarke Ingels Is Designing a $50M NYPD Station House in the South Bronx

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Taking a break from his glitzy builds like the Via tetrahedron and 2 World Trade Center, starchitect Bjarke Ingels is taking on a project that is much more modest, yet just as laudable–a station house for the NYPD's 40th Precinct in the South Bronx (h/t Curbed). The $50 million commission, facilitated under the Department of Design and Construction, is located in the Melrose section of the borough and will resemble a "stack of bricks," according BIG's website, "referencing the rusticated bases of early NYC police stations." Spanning three stories, rising 59 feet, and encompassing 43,000 square feet, the precinct will be the first ever to include a green roof, not surprising considering Ingels' commitment to incorporating nature into his buildings.
More details ahead
East and West Side Bedbugs Are Not the Same; Staten Island Chuck Says Spring Is Coming
February 2, 2016

East and West Side Bedbugs Are Not the Same; Staten Island Chuck Says Spring Is Coming

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Weill Cornell scientists have mapped genetic differences in NYC’s bedbug population. They’ll use their findings to create more effective insecticides. [Crain’s] Peter Ruta is turning 98 this month. But the oldest living painter in Westbeth is still not getting his due. [Tablet] Thought last night’s 6 train commute was hell? Check out these pictures of 100,000 […]

Maya Angelou’s Historic Harlem Brownstone Lists for $5M
February 1, 2016

Maya Angelou’s Historic Harlem Brownstone Lists for $5M

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During the last decade of her life, author, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou split her time between Winston-Salem, NC (she taught American studies at Wake Forest University) and New York. While in the Northeast, she resided in an historic Harlem brownstone, located at 58 West 120th Street in the Mount Morris Park Historic District, according to the Times, which is now on the market for $5.1 million. The four-story home was built in the early 1900s, but when Dr. Angelou purchased it sight unseen in 2002, "it was a dilapidated shell...the victim of vandals, with missing stairs and rotting floor beams." She hired architect Marc Anderson of East Harlem-based firm M. Anderson Design to oversee a gut renovation that preserved the brownstone's historic details while adding contemporary amenities.
See the whole house
How Do Rents at NYC’s First Micro Apartment Complex Compare to Regular Studios?
February 1, 2016

How Do Rents at NYC’s First Micro Apartment Complex Compare to Regular Studios?

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Just before the new year, listings went live for NYC's first micro apartment complex Carmel Place (aka My Micro NY aka 335 East 27th Street) in anticipation of its opening in March. The nine-story modular development in Kips Bay has 55 studios that are 260 to 360 square feet. Of these, 22 are affordable (more than 60,000 people applied for them), and they'll go from $950 to $1,500 a month depending on size and income. The remaining market-rate units will range from $2,500 to $2,900 per month, which has left many skeptics questioning why anyone would fork over nearly three grand for a space that is far smaller than conventional studios. To put this argument into an actual visualization, the data gurus over at NeighborhoodX created a simple, yet informative graph that compares the rental price per square foot at Carmel Place with that of regular studios across the city (h/t Curbed).
More here
Jeanne Gang’s FDNY Training Center; Derek Zoolander Wants a ‘Cure’ for Brooklyn
February 1, 2016

Jeanne Gang’s FDNY Training Center; Derek Zoolander Wants a ‘Cure’ for Brooklyn

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Starchitect Jeanne Gang is designing an FDNY training facility in Brownsville, Brooklyn. [ArchDaily] Staten Island Chuck vs. Punxsutawney Phil: Who’s the better forecaster? [DNAinfo] The city will cut helicopter traffic in half. [NYP] In a promo for the new movie, Derek Zoolander participates in Vogue’s 73 Questions. When asked his thoughts on Brooklyn, he says, […]

January’s 10 Most-Read Stories and This Week’s Features
January 30, 2016

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

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January’s 10 Most-Read Stories REVEALED: 45 Broad Street, Slated to Be Among the Highest Condo Buildings Downtown First Look at the 331-Foot Sheepshead Bay Tower Set to Dwarf Its Neighbors Judy Garland’s Former Dakota Apartment, Now a Designer Pad, Asks $16.7M $1.7B Light Rail Connecting the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront Proposed My 1,400sqft: Painter Stephen Hall Brings […]

Donald Trump’s United Nations Tower Is the City’s Most Valuable Condo
January 29, 2016

Donald Trump’s United Nations Tower Is the City’s Most Valuable Condo

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He may have taken a hit last night with his anti-debate veterans rally, but Donald Trump has come out on top here in the city. The Real Deal analyzed the Department of Finance’s preliminary tax rolls and found that his Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza is the most valuable condo building in New York City based on tax collection purposes. "The 362 condo units in the Midtown East building, which Trump completed in 2001, have a total market value of $238.27 million in fiscal year 2016," they say. To boot, Trump Place at 220 Riverside Boulevard comes in eighth on the list.
See the other frontrunners
City Mistakenly Gave Away $10M in Tax Rebates to Condos and Co-ops
January 28, 2016

City Mistakenly Gave Away $10M in Tax Rebates to Condos and Co-ops

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In a city where time is money, it's hard to believe that for four years the city’s Finance Department was mistakenly giving away tax rebates reserved for residential condo and co-op owners to those that are corporate-owned, totaling more than $10 million between 2013 and 2016. The Post reports that the program gave out money to "indoor parking garages, gardens, cabanas and even storage spaces," as well as "three office buildings and two retail shops," according to a recent audit. More than 1,000 building owners were improperly awarded the tax abatements, accounting for up to 28.1 percent of their total annual tax bills.
How did it happen?
Harsenville to Carmansville: The Lost Villages of the Upper West Side

Via NYPL

January 27, 2016

Harsenville to Carmansville: The Lost Villages of the Upper West Side

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In the 18th century, Bloomingdale Road (today's Broadway) connected the Upper West Side with the rest of the city. Unlike lower Manhattan, this area was still natural, with fertile soil and rolling landscapes, and before long, countryside villages began sprouting along the Hudson River. They were a combination of farms and grand estates and each functioned independently with their own schools and roads. 6sqft has uncovered the history of the five most prominent of these villages–Harsenville, Strycker's Bay, Bloomingdale Village, Manhattanville, and Carmansville. Though markers of their names remain here and there, the original functions and settings of these quaint settlements have been long lost.
Find out the history of these lost villages
In 1933, a Ham Sandwich Cost 25 Cents at the Empire State Building Observatory

Click here to enlarge menu >>

January 27, 2016

In 1933, a Ham Sandwich Cost 25 Cents at the Empire State Building Observatory

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Today, the only thing you'll be spending money on when you travel to the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building is the $50+ Observation Deck ticket. But back in the '30s, it was a much more glamorous experience, complete with the Empire State Observatory Fountain and Tea Room. The New York Public Library recently digitized 18,000 of its 40,000 restaurant menus, which range from 1851 to 2008, including this one from the Empire State Building in 1933. As you'll see, sandwiches (ham, peanut butter, and tomato and lettuce, to name a few) were a mere 25 cents, the same price as their six types of ice cream sundaes and ten flavored sodas. In terms of actual food, your only choice other than a sandwich would've been a pretty blah-sounding salad, some pastries, or a selection of "candy and cigarettes."
More right this way
January 27, 2016

POLL: Will Open Gangway Subway Trains Be a Success in NYC?

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New Yorkers are notoriously hard to impress, so it’s not surprising that some are finding fault with the MTA’s proposed open gangway subway trains, which are pretty much the norm everywhere else in the world. Despite the fact that they’ll reduce congestion and platform pileups, as well as reportedly increase safety, jaded city dwellers fear […]

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