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.
New Report Says Landmarked Districts Don’t Protect Affordable Housing

Historic brownstones in Brooklyn Heights via City Realty

September 15, 2015

New Report Says Landmarked Districts Don’t Protect Affordable Housing

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The war wages on between the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and citywide preservationists. Many thought the contention between the groups over whether or not historic districts lessen affordable housing was a personal sentiment of former REBNY president Steven Spinola. But his successor John Banks has released a new report that claims landmarking doesn't protect affordable housing. The report looks at the number of rent-stabilized units in landmarked and non-landmarked districts between 2007 and 2014, finding that "citywide, landmarked properties lost rent stabilized units (-22.5%) at a much higher rate (-5.1%) than non-landmarked properties." Of course preservationists quickly fired back. Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) calls the study "bogus" and says it does nothing to address how many units would have been lost had these areas not been landmarked.
More on the report
Russian Castle on Long Island With 35 Bathrooms Asks a Whopping $100M
September 14, 2015

Russian Castle on Long Island With 35 Bathrooms Asks a Whopping $100M

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Imagine stepping into an overly opulent palace in St. Petersburg where you find an indoor lazy river, myriad fountains, a two-story built-in dollhouse, a private shooting range, 13 bedrooms and 35 bathrooms. You'd probably guess you had stumbled upon the estate of a former czar. But then imagine you weren't actually in Russia, but on Long Island, New York, and the property's owner had no royal lineage, but rather made his fortune in the NYC real estate market. This is the Estate at Kings Point, an over-the-top estate designed to resemble the Peterhof Grand Palace in St. Petersburg, built in 1928 by the late Soviet Union billionaire Tamir Sapir as a display of his wealth (and possibly his ego). An unknown buyer (shielded by an LLC) bought the palace from Sapir in 2013 for $15.85 million, and they're now looking to make an unfathomable profit, re-listing the home for $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Check out the unbelievable estate
Explore the Met From Your Desktop With This Interactive Hand-Illustrated Map
September 14, 2015

Explore the Met From Your Desktop With This Interactive Hand-Illustrated Map

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Now that adult coloring books are sweeping the nation, we don't have to hide our love for youthful illustrations and activities--like this new hand-drawn map of the Metropolitan Museum of Art called MetKids Map. The fun interactive platform is dotted with yellow and red circles for which children search and click, opening a separate window full of information about a gallery or work of art.
See more of the fun illustration and learn how it works
Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff
September 12, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

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Mapping the Never-Built Highways of NYC from Robert Moses and Others You Can Call One of Manhattan’s Last Skybridges Home Hamptons Island Could Go for $1B, Despite Being Contaminated With Foot-And-Mouth Disease Norah Jones Is Buyer of $6.25M ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Carriage House in Cobble Hill Turn Hot Coffee to Iced in Minutes With the […]

‘True Size Map’ Will Change Everything You Think About World Geography
September 11, 2015

‘True Size Map’ Will Change Everything You Think About World Geography

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"Did you know that California is more than four times the size of Portugal? Or that you could fit China, the U.S. and India into the continent of Africa, with room to spare?" The Huffington Post shares these mind-blowing facts in a reveal of the "True Size Map," which shows countries in their true, relative sizes and lets users move them (along with states) around to compare sizes. This layout is as opposed to the Mercator projection, our typical map, which, because it's translating a spherical planet into a flat 2D representation, distorts many countries. For example, nations near the poles appear larger than they actually are while those close to the equator are smaller.
Check out new views of the world here
Times Square Characters and Performers May Get Confined to Designated ‘Activity Areas’

Map courtesy of the Times Square Alliance

September 11, 2015

Times Square Characters and Performers May Get Confined to Designated ‘Activity Areas’

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It looks like Mayor de Blasio's wish of coralling the costumed characters and topless performers in Times Square may be coming true. The Daily News reports that the Times Square Alliance has endorsed the "Times Square Commons" plan, which Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmen Daniel Garodnick and Corey Johnson publicized in an op-ed in the paper yesterday. The proposal would rezone Times Square's pedestrian plaza so that instead of being mapped as a street it would become a special district called Times Square Commons. This area would be divided into three zones: general civic zones, which would feature tables and chairs and arts events; pedestrian traffic flow zones, areas to walk with no physical obstructions; and the aforementioned designated activity zones, small slivers of space that "would allow any activity involving the immediate exchange of money for goods, services or entertainment."
More this way
You Can Call One of Manhattan’s Last Skybridges Home

Image via vivnsect’s flickr

September 10, 2015

You Can Call One of Manhattan’s Last Skybridges Home

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We've seen our fair share of quirky listings before, but a personal skybridge included with an apartment is a first. Gothamist reports that, in a very serendipitous twist of fate, the two Tribeca residences (one a townhouse, one an apartment) on either side of the Staple Street skybridge are currently for sale. And according to the Post, the whole package will cost you $30 million. In a recent newsletter, Town Real Estate noted the unusual offering: "By way of total coincidence, 9 Jay Street and 67 Hudson #3B are being offered for sale, off market, by one of those guys on 'Million Dollar Listing.' This will include the bridge connecting 9 Jay to the third floor apartment across Staple Street. Yes—the bridge will be all yours. The interiors are extremely bare, and open, compared to the historical exteriors. The price is available by request only."
More on the historic skybridge
Mapping the Never-Built Highways of NYC from Robert Moses and Others
September 10, 2015

Mapping the Never-Built Highways of NYC from Robert Moses and Others

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If there's one thing most people attribute to Robert Moses it's highways. The master planner built 13 expressways throughout New York, including the Cross Bronx Expressway, Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the FDR Drive, and the West Side Highway. Love him or hate him, this was a pretty profound feat of urban planning. But had he been granted free rein, Moses would've constructed even more highways. The two failed attempts that remain most notorious are the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would've cut east-west along the residential areas of Broome Street, as well as a Mid-Manhattan Expressway, a proposed six-lane elevated highway along 30th Street. After mapping these aforementioned Moses proposals, cartographer Andrew Lynch decided to take his project one step further and create a map series of all the never-built highways in NYC, both from Moses and others.
Check out the full-size maps here
3,000 ‘Nerdy Knitters’ to Unite Next Weekend; Wear a T-Shirt of Your City’s Map
September 10, 2015

3,000 ‘Nerdy Knitters’ to Unite Next Weekend; Wear a T-Shirt of Your City’s Map

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Next weekend, the three-day NYC Yarn Crawl will take up to 3,000 “nerdy knitters” from yarn shop to yarn shop. [DNAinfo] Citees are wearable maps of more than 80 global cities. [CityLab] Airbnb now has an Apple TV app for trip planning. [Mashable] Fodor’s published its first Brooklyn guide, and the illustrations are pretty great. [Brownstoner] The world’s largest […]

Fall House Tours: Go Inside Tribeca Lofts, Victorian Mansions, and Google’s Headquarters

Brookmill Farm in Lambertville via C.C. Chapman/Flickr

September 9, 2015

Fall House Tours: Go Inside Tribeca Lofts, Victorian Mansions, and Google’s Headquarters

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While spring is the main season for house tours, the fall also offers up some great options to satisfy design-loving New Yorkers. From Tribeca lofts to New Jersey Victorians and mid-century modern estates to World's Fair relics, this October's tours have a little something for everyone. To help you plan your schedule, we've put together all the tours we could find.
Get the full Fall house tour lineup
Colorful Dot Maps Paint a Picture of Immigration in the U.S.
September 9, 2015

Colorful Dot Maps Paint a Picture of Immigration in the U.S.

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First spotted by CityLab, these dot maps called Mapping Immigrant America are colorful in two senses of the word. Kyle Walker, assistant professor of geography at Texas Christian University, used census tract data to map America's immigrant population. The nine countries of origin (Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, East and Southeast Asia, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and Southwest Asia, Europe, Oceania, and Canada) are represented with a different hued dot, creating a picture of diversity and ethnic enclaves. With each dot standing in for 20 immigrants, a quick look at a city's color palette tells a lot about its cultural makeup.
More maps ahead
Hedge Fund Tycoon May Be the Buyer of $200M Penthouse at 220 Central Park South
September 8, 2015

Hedge Fund Tycoon May Be the Buyer of $200M Penthouse at 220 Central Park South

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We first got wind of the potentially record-setting penthouse listing at 220 Central Park South back in March, when it was reported that the unit could sell for between $150 and $175 million. In June, sources said that a Qatari billionaire was looking to combine multiple apartments in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building to create a $250 million mega-penthouse. Then last month, the Post speculated that another high-profile buyer was Ken Griffin, the billionaire hedge fun tycoon who is currently in the midst of a messy divorce from wife Anne Dias-Griffin (she's asking for $1 million a month in child support). Now the paper reveals that it's Griffin who's looking to snatch up the $200 million+ penthouse in what's being called the "billionaire's bunker."
More details this way
What It’s Like to Ride the Subway for 14 Hours; City’s First Food and Drink Museum to Open in Williamsburg
September 8, 2015

What It’s Like to Ride the Subway for 14 Hours; City’s First Food and Drink Museum to Open in Williamsburg

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Mapping the 900 million Wi-Fi signals in the world’s biggest cities. [Business Insider] The Museum of Food and Drink is opening its first permanent space, called Mofad Lab, in Williamsburg this October. [NY Times] Here’s what it’s like to the ride the longest known subway route — 54.6 miles, 54 transfers, 13 hours and 48 minutes. [WNYC] Time Warner […]

New South Street Seaport Will Be the City’s Next Foodie Destination by 2017

Rendering of the revamped Tin Building via SHoP Architects

September 8, 2015

New South Street Seaport Will Be the City’s Next Foodie Destination by 2017

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Perhaps spearheaded by the Smorgasburg foodie culture, putting multiple local food vendors in one place has become a recipe for success in NYC development projects. There's the Hudson Eats food hall at office-filled Brookfield Place, the forthcoming food court by Anthony Bourdain at Pier 57, Danny Meyer's possible giant food hall at Hudson Yards, the 55-vendor Dekalb Market Hall planned for Downtown Brooklyn's City Point, and the food hall at Sunset Park's Industry City, to name just a few. So it comes as no surprise that the South Street Seaport redevelopment will boast not one, but two massive food halls. The Post reports that none other than three Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten (ABC Kitchen, the Mercer Kitchen, and JoJo are just a few of his famed restaurants) will be spearheading the foodie revolution at the Howard Hughes Corporation's $1.5 billion mega-development. According to the paper, "The great chef and his business partner Phil Suarez have signed a lease/partnership contract with NYSE-listed Hughes to launch two major Seaport projects — a 40,000 square-foot, seafood-themed marketplace inside the Tin Building and a 10,000 square-foot restaurant in a rebuilt Pier 17." Both are expected to open in 2017.
Find out more right here
Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff
September 5, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

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Liza Minnelli Makes an $8.4M Sale on Her Upper East Side Apartment Miraculously Unscathed by Time, This Historic Wooden UES Townhouse Seeks Tenants The UWS Apartment Babe Ruth Once Called Home Is Selling for $1.595M Interactive Map Shows Where and When to Find Fall Foliage at Its Peak Taylor Swift May Be the Reason Sir […]

In the 19th Century Men Who Didn’t Pay Alimony Went to the Ludlow Street Jail

Ludlow Street Jail (L) and men playing billiards inside (R), via NYPL

September 4, 2015

In the 19th Century Men Who Didn’t Pay Alimony Went to the Ludlow Street Jail

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Public shaming of cheaters was around long before the Ashley Madison scandal. In fact, in the 19th century, men who divorced their wives and didn't pay alimony were sent straight to jail. Atlas Obscura uncovered the fascinating history of the Ludlow Street Jail, New York City's federal prison on Ludlow and Broome Streets. Built in 1862, the jail mostly held debtors, but it also was where men who cheated on their alimony payments ended up, thus turning the "prison" into a glorified clubhouse for divorced men known as the New York Alimony Club. In addition to cigar smoking and unsavory jokes, the Ludlow Street Jail became known for back-door deals, rampant corruption, and the baffling semi-imprisonment of Boss Tweed.
Get the full story
Get All Your Local Foodie News in This New Interactive Map
September 3, 2015

Get All Your Local Foodie News in This New Interactive Map

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If you're a regular 6sqft reader you know that real estate and architecture news here in NYC moves at the speed of light. Projects change architects overnight; celebrities are constantly buying and selling their multi-million-dollar pads; and it seems like everyday there's a new development announcement. The gastronomy crowd can make the same claim, though, as restaurants constantly open and close, chefs come in and out, and the food of the moment goes from cronut to fried chicken sandwich in a matter of days. To help foodies stay up on their news, Blockfeed, a news app that uses geographic location to determine one's feed, has created the Food News in NYC map, a five-borough interactive platform that provides local food happenings (h/t DNAinfo). According to the site, "This map frees you to explore the last 60 days of food news in NYC, amounting to roughly 3,000 articles about new restaurants, festivals, pop-ups, nightlife, and more."
More on the map
Here’s How Many Calories You’ll Burn if You Walk, Jog, or Cycle Instead of Taking the Subway
September 3, 2015

Here’s How Many Calories You’ll Burn if You Walk, Jog, or Cycle Instead of Taking the Subway

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Looking to shed a few pounds after all the summer cookouts and outdoor happy hours? Perhaps you should consider ditching the old Metrocard and traveling by foot or bicycle instead. To put into perspective just how fit this will get you, the folks over at Treated have calculated how many calories you'll burn by walking, jogging, and cycling between subway stops. As Curbed notes, the analysis provides calorie info for every single subway stop and also charts the longest stops, which unsurprisingly are mostly over bridges, and the shortest stops, mostly located in lower Manhattan.
See the full map and calorie charts here
VIDEO: What Ever Happened to This 1927 Parallel Parking Solution?
September 3, 2015

VIDEO: What Ever Happened to This 1927 Parallel Parking Solution?

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If you don't have the bucks to fork over for a parking garage, having a car in the city can be quite the debacle thanks to alternate side of the street parking, indecipherable street signs, and the wrath of the meter maid. There's also the challenge of physically getting into the parking spot, which usually requires several attempts at parallel parking. But this 1927 video shows a car with wheels that turn sideways, making urban parallel parking a no brainer.
Watch the video
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