All articles by Dana Schulz

Lawsuit Against City Wants to End Affordable Housing Allotments to Certain Communities
July 8, 2015

Lawsuit Against City Wants to End Affordable Housing Allotments to Certain Communities

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Currently, the city allots half of its new affordable housing stock to residents of the specific community district where the project is being built and who meet the income requirements. But the Anti-Discrimination Center says this "community preference" policy violates the 1968 Fair Housing Act, "which prohibits discrimination in housing sales, rentals and financing based on race or national origin," according to an article today in the Wall Street Journal. The New York-based group filed a suit against the city on these grounds, claiming that it adds to existing segregation patterns. If they are successful, the verdict would undoubtedly impact Mayor de Blasio's plan of adding 80,000 new affordable housing units in the next ten years.
More details ahead
July 7, 2015

VIDEO: Port Authority Was Considered a ‘Milestone of the Century’ When It Opened

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When Port Authority bus terminal opened in 1950 it was considered "among the miracles of transport and the milestones of the century." Though we're pretty sure this sentiment is entirely lost today, it's still interesting to see how shiny and new Port Authority was regarded as 65 years ago. This video was a promotional newsreel for the terminal, and it notes that Port Authority wasn't just built to keep buses off the busy Manhattan streets, but because "the states of New York and New Jersey also wanted to make life pleasanter for the traveler."
Watch the video here
New York Was the First City to Dial 9-1-1 for Emergencies
July 6, 2015

New York Was the First City to Dial 9-1-1 for Emergencies

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Around the country, little children are taught to dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency as soon as they know their ABCs and 123s. But, believe it or not, this universal number hasn't even been around for 50 years. It was first implemented right here in New York City in July of 1968. Before that, New Yorkers had to call the police department's main phone line at 440-1234. At first, it was only for police calls; it wasn't until 1970 that the three-digit number also reached the fire department and ambulance services.
READ MORE
Studio Museum in Harlem Reveals New 125th Street Building; Remembering Coney Island’s Elephant Hotel
July 6, 2015

Studio Museum in Harlem Reveals New 125th Street Building; Remembering Coney Island’s Elephant Hotel

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ShelfPack is a genius suitcase that pulls out into a series of collapsible shelves, which means you never have to actually unpack. [Travel + Leisure] The Studio Museum in Harlem reveals renderings for its new $122 million David Adjaye-designed building on 125th Street. [NYT] Check out the New York Hall of Science’s renovated Great Hall, designed to […]

June’s 10 Most-Read Stories and This Week’s Features
July 4, 2015

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

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June’s 10 Most-Read Stories Own a Mansion with Celebrity History on a Private Island Overlooking NYC for $11M Beastie Boy Mike D’s Brilliant Brooklyn Townhouse Can Be Yours for $5.7M Queen Elizabeth Comes to NYC: Royal Family Picks up $8M Apartment at 50 UN Plaza Winston Marshall, Banjoist for Mumford & Sons, Buys $3.2M Nolita […]

A Hungarian Princess Once Kept a Pet Lion Cub at the Plaza

The Plaza (L) and Goldfleck’s headstone at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery (R)

July 2, 2015

A Hungarian Princess Once Kept a Pet Lion Cub at the Plaza

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Last week, we explored the history of the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, America's oldest and largest cemetery of its kind. We mentioned that beloved pets laid to rest in this upstate burial ground include much more than just cats and dogs. One of the most notable unconventional pets is Goldfleck, a lion cub who lived the life of royalty in the Plaza Hotel. Goldfleck belonged to Princess Elisabeth Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy of Hungary. She was a well-known portrait painter with a love for animals. After visiting New York twice, she moved to the city permanently in 1909, taking up residence in a 14-room suite on the third floor of the Plaza. She had seen a cute lion cub at the Ringling Brothers circus, but when she asked to buy him, the circus owners refused. They did, however, agree to sell him to Daniel E. Sickles, a Civil War hero whose portrait the Princess had just painted. He immediately turned the cub over to Princess Elisabeth.
Find out the rest of the story
NYC Makes Up 5 Percent of the Nation’s Property Value
July 1, 2015

NYC Makes Up 5 Percent of the Nation’s Property Value

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We know New York City is ridiculously expensive, but what about its property values? Because of the city's confusing "market value" system, true property values are often grossly underestimated. To provide a more accurate look, the data buffs over at Metrocosm have put together these visually telling cartograms of real property values in NYC, substituting land area for total property value. The maps not only compare values in New York with those throughout the rest of the country, but they also look at how property values are concentrated within the five boroughs. The data reveals some striking facts. New York City makes up a whopping 5 percent of the nation's property value, coming in at $1.5 trillion. When you single out Manhattan's $733 billion, it could be the 14th most valuable state in the country. The Upper East Side, which occupies less than one square mile, has $96 billion in housing value–more than entire states like New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming and Alaska.
More findings, maps, and graphs ahead
432 Park Unveils Model Unit; Renderings for Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 Condos
July 1, 2015

432 Park Unveils Model Unit; Renderings for Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 Condos

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The model unit at 432 Park is unveiled on the 38th floor of the almost-completed building. [TRD] Developers secure a $725 million loan for their supertall and super-skinny tower 111 West 57th Street. [Crain’s] Renderings revealed for Brooklyn Bridge Park’s controversial Pier 6 condos, designed by ODA Architecture. [Gothamist] A ten-story condo will rise on the […]

Wave Cabinet by Sebastian Errazuriz Opens and Closes in One Fluid Motion
July 1, 2015

Wave Cabinet by Sebastian Errazuriz Opens and Closes in One Fluid Motion

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Sebastian Errazuriz is one of the most diverse designers around. Not only does he create quirky, functional furniture like this spiky-skinned chest, but he also comes up with unique public art works such as last year's giant golden cow piñata and the more recent yawning video installation in Times Square. His most recent thought-provoker is the Wave Cabinet, a furniture piece that opens and closes in one fluid motion. Made from lacquered baltic birch, steel, and glass, the "functional sculpture" can open in various movements thanks to 100 linked slats, each of which pulls on the following one like a paper fan.
Watch a video of the cabinet in action
Average Sales Price in Manhattan Hits Record High of $1.8M
July 1, 2015

Average Sales Price in Manhattan Hits Record High of $1.8M

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The second-quarter market report from Douglas Elliman is fresh off the presses, and it shows that Manhattan sales have never been more expensive, averaging $1.87 million for all apartments, which is an 11.4 percent jump from this time last year. New developments averaged $2,011 per square foot, which is the first time ever prices have exceeded the $2,000 per square foot mark. Other records set during this quarter are for median co-op sale price ($795,000, up 9.7 percent from last year) and average price for luxury apartments ($8.2 million, up 12.8 percent from last year).
More from the report here
$12.8M Upstate Castle May Look Medieval, but It’s Only 30 Years Old
June 30, 2015

$12.8M Upstate Castle May Look Medieval, but It’s Only 30 Years Old

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Knights, turrets, life-size lion statues, secret passageways...this stone castle looks like something straight out of "Game of Thrones." But, believe it or not, the upstate mansion is not medieval at all; it was built just 30 years ago. Located in Bolton Landing, New York, up in the Adirondacks and overlooking Lake George, Highlands Castle was conceived by John Lavender, a man who (for some unknown reason) told his then-three-year-old son that he'd build him a castle. A decade later, he did just that, and he's now listed the one-of-a-kind home for $12.8 million.
Explore the castle here
NYU Expansion Plan Gets the Final Green Light from Court of Appeals
June 30, 2015

NYU Expansion Plan Gets the Final Green Light from Court of Appeals

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Last October, the appellate court overturned a previous decision by the New York Supreme Court that prohibited NYU’s $6 billion, 1.9 million-square-foot Greenwich Village expansion plan. But in Feburary, opponents of the plan (including community groups like GVSHP, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, local residents, NYU Faculty against the Sexton Plan, and even actor Mark Ruffalo) announced that the New York State Court of Appeals would hear their case one final time. According to DNAinfo, though, today the state's highest court ruled in favor of NYU, giving the expansion plan the final go ahead.
Find out more about the ruling
New Map Plots Every Airbnb Listing in NYC
June 30, 2015

New Map Plots Every Airbnb Listing in NYC

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"Adding data to the debate" is the tagline of this new interactive map called Inside Airbnb, which has plotted all listings as of June 1st from the popular room-sharing website. The searchable bird's eye map was created by Bed Stuy photographer Murray Cox to show "how Airbnb is being used to compete with the residential housing market" in cities around the world (h/t Gothamist). In addition to looking at the trend across the city as a whole, the map allows users to zoom into a specific neighborhood and look at how an Airbnb presence has changed in a given area over the past few years.
Learn more about the map
VIDEO: See the 1970s Graffiti Culture of NYC in This BBC Documentary
June 29, 2015

VIDEO: See the 1970s Graffiti Culture of NYC in This BBC Documentary

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Watch this 26-minute video without sound and you'll see a striking, visual portrait of the 1970s graffiti movement in NYC, where everything from park monuments to subway cars was covered in tags. Listen to the commentary, though, and you'll find something much deeper. Created as a mini-documentary for BBC, the video explores the root of graffiti culture. Is it folk art, youngsters marking their territory, planned-out vandalism, a result of pent-up anxiety, or quiet rebellion? Keep in mind this one of the roughest and crime-ridden decades in the city, so it's interesting to see how some of those interviewed saw graffiti as a parallel to the crime, while others felt it was an artistic alternative that typified the energy of New York.
Watch the video here
June 29, 2015

Domino Sugar Factory Might Get a Photobook; NYC’s Economic Pizza Principle

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Urban photographer Paul Raphaelson is raising funds on Kickstarter to produce a photobook called “Sweet Ruin: The Brooklyn Domino Sugar Refinery” in which he’ll feature his shots of the abandoned site. [CO] Check out these fun photos from yesterday’s “exultant” Gay Pride Parade 2015. [Gothamist] Though it won’t open for another year, here’s a first look […]

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff
June 27, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

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Landmarks Preservation Commission Maps 150 Years of LGBTQ History in Greenwich Village For $1.25M You Can Live Like a Governor’s Daughter in This Historic Victorian Home Are You Rich? The Wealthometer Will Tell You 2,000 NYCHA Apartments Are Vacant Despite 270,000-Name Waiting List Unique Brooklyn Heights Studio Comes with Clever Space-Saving Ideas and a Private […]

Study Says Wood Buildings Are Cheaper to Build; New York Wheel Groundbreaking Delayed Again
June 26, 2015

Study Says Wood Buildings Are Cheaper to Build; New York Wheel Groundbreaking Delayed Again

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The world’s oldest person  lives in Brooklyn, and she attributes her longevity to sleep. [NYDN] New study shows that timber buildings can be up to 10-15 percent cheaper to construct than traditional designs. [ArchDaily] Photo exhibition at the Four Seasons pits Philip Johnson’s Glass House against Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. [Untapped] Groundbreaking for the New York Wheel, a.k.a. the […]

2,000 NYCHA Apartments Are Vacant Despite 270,000-Name Waiting List

Photo via Wiki Commons

June 25, 2015

2,000 NYCHA Apartments Are Vacant Despite 270,000-Name Waiting List

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Photo via Wiki Commons For many New Yorkers, public housing is the only affordable way to live in the city, but despite an ever-growing waiting list, thousands of these homes are sitting empty, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal about an audit of NYCHA by Comptroller Scott Stringer. At a release of the findings yesterday at the Raymond V. Ingersoll Houses in Brooklyn, Stringer said: "Even though 270,000 New Yorkers are on the waiting list for housing, desperate to put a roof above their heads, we found that NYCHA is sitting on over 2,000 apartments they identify as vacant." The audit shows that 1,366 apartments are empty awaiting repairs, and 967 are between tenants.
More audit findings ahead
$2M Gefter-Press House Was Designed as an Homage to Philip Johnson’s Glass House
June 25, 2015

$2M Gefter-Press House Was Designed as an Homage to Philip Johnson’s Glass House

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This must be the week of glass houses: Yesterday we took a look at Philip Johnson's Wiley House–built as a successor to his world-famous Glass House–which is on the market for $14 million; today we're checking out the $1,950,000 Gefter-Press House, inspired by Johnson's Glass House as well as Mies van der Rohe's Farnswoth House in Plano, IL. The U-shaped, single-story, all-glass-and-steel home was designed in 2007 by Columbia University professor and architect Michael Bell, "as an essay in transparency," according to the listing. He had previously displayed a model of the home at a 1999 MoMA exhibit titled "The Un-Private House." Philip Gefter, the former culture pictures editor at the New York Times, and his partner, filmmaker Richard Press, had seen the model, and called Bell when they were ready to build their own version of the modernist masterpiece on their 12-acre property in Ghent, NY.
Check out the entire home here
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