All articles by Dana Schulz

December 29, 2016

6SQFT’S TOP STORIES OF 2016!

As we wrap up 2016, 6sqft is taking a look back at the top stories of the past 12 months in topics like apartment tours, celebrity real estate, new developments, transportation proposals, and history. From a look inside a Williamsburg loft filled with more than 500 plants to news of Brooklyn's first 1,000+ foot tower receiving approvals, these are the stories that readers couldn't get enough of.
See the full list here
December 29, 2016

Ride Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel for free on New Year’s Eve

Since it opened on the Coney Island boardwalk in 1920, the landmarked Wonder Wheel has given more than 35 million rides. If you want to add to this number, a press release from Deno's Wonder Wheel tells us that it will offer free rides from 6 to 10pm on New Year's Eve. They'll also charge only $5 from 11am to 2pm on New Year's Day to coincide with the annual Polar Bear Plunge (50 percent of January 1st's profits will go to the Plunge's charity Camp Sunshine).
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December 28, 2016

City says Trump Tower evacuations to be ‘a common occurrence’

Yesterday afternoon, after a suspicious package was found in the building atrium, Trump Tower was evacuated along with the entire area between 50th and 59th Streets and Madison and 6th Avenues. Ultimately, it was found to be a bag of children's toys left behind, but in a tweet after the incident, de Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips said such evacuations at the Tower "will be a common occurrence." According to the Daily News, Trump spokesman Dan Scavino sent out a thank you tweet, to which Phillips replied, "No problem. We’ll send you the bill."
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December 23, 2016

New Yorkers love ‘It’s a Wonderful Life:’ Mapping every state’s favorite holiday movie

New Yorkers tend to be a distinct mix of cynicism and optimism, so it's not surprising that our favorite holiday movie is "It's a Wonderful Life," the classic Christmas tale of George Bailey being saved from his suicidal state by a guardian angel who helps him see the positive impact he's had in his life. This data comes from CableTV's fun map of every state's favorite holiday movie, which they arrived at by cross referencing AMC's top-rated holiday movies with state data over the past decade from Google Trends.
See the full map and find out the country's top pick
December 23, 2016

‘Subway Therapy’ gets a book deal; a NYC Santa reveals his identity

Not only will the “Subway Therapy” Post-Its will be preserved in an exhibit at the New-York Historical Society, but they’ll also be made into a book. [Gothamist] Watch how subway cars get loaded onto the tracks. [Business Insider] Bill Ackman bought the $91.5 million penthouse at One57 in hopes of flipping it, but his plans may be changing now that […]

December 22, 2016

Bloomingdale’s iconic train car restaurant is closing; the USPS has a package-tracking ornament

Le Train Bleu, Bloomingdale’s French bistro modeled after a historic train dining car, will close on December 28th after 37 years. [Untapped] A new app called Shovler will let New Yorkers hire last-minute snow shovelers. [Brick Underground] The U.S. Postal Service made an ornament that changes color based on when a holiday package is out for delivery, […]

December 22, 2016

POLL: Is Governor Cuomo’s plan to get rid of tollbooths a good idea?

In a press release sent out yesterday, Governor Cuomo gave an update on his $500 million overhaul of NYC's bridges' and tunnels' tolling systems. When he first put forth the plan in October, he included flashy renderings of the new cashless collection systems, complete with LED light shows, but his latest announcement tells us that by the end of 2017, old-fashioned tollbooths will be a thing of the past at all MTA-operated bridges and tunnels in the New York metropolitan region.
Is this a good idea?
December 22, 2016

Apply for 59 affordable apartments throughout the South Bronx, starting at $822/month

Starting tomorrow, qualifying New Yorkers can apply for 59 newly renovated, affordable apartments throughout the South Bronx. Spread across six addresses (1171 Clay Avenue, 1183 Clay Avenue, 1202 Clay Avenue, 384 Grand Concourse, 1129 Morrison Avenue and 1038 Rogers Place), the units are all nearby in the Grand Concourse, Soundview, Foxhurst, and Mott Haven neighborhoods. The availabilities are for those earning 100, 60, and 50 percent of the area media income, ranging from $822/month studios to $1,875/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
December 21, 2016

Fairway emerges from bankruptcy with new Bergen Beach store; Meet the half Christmas tree

Pacific Park’s 461 Dean Street, the world’s tallest modular tower, is offering a market-rate studio for $2,134/month. This is less than the affordable units at nearby 535 Charlton Street. [Atlantic Yards Report] Recovering from filing for bankruptcy over the summer, Fairway will soon open its second Brooklyn store in Bergen Beach. [Brooklyn Eagle] With Christmas just around the […]

December 21, 2016

VIDEO: Neil Patrick Harris gives a holiday tour of his Harlem brownstone

Neil Patrick Harris and hubby David Burtka first made real estate headlines when they purchased a $4 million Harlem brownstone in 2013, setting a neighborhood record. They then spent over a year renovating the five-story residence at 2036 Fifth Avenue to be the perfect family home for their twins Gideon and Harper (now five years old) and two dogs. Last year, the couple invited Architectural Digest in for a tour, showing off their elegant but fun design choices, impressive art collection, and restored architectural features. They've now opened up their home again, this time for Vogue's 73 Questions (h/t Apartment Therapy), complete with Christmas decorations.
Watch the video here
December 21, 2016

First look at the artsy common spaces of 5Pointz-replacing rental towers

It's been three years since Long Island City's beloved graffiti mecca 5Pointz was whitewashed overnight and a year and a half since renderings first surfaced of the bland 41- and 47-story rental towers that would replace the site at 22-44 Jackson Avenue. Despite a perceived lack of respect towards the artistic community, G&M Realty’s David Wolkoff eventually said he planned to set aside 20 artists’ studios and displays to make up for those lost at 5Pointz, and it looks like he's making good on his word. HTO Architect, who designed the towers, initially put forth views of a large public park and rotating mural exhibit that would fill the space between the buildings, and now 6sqft has uncovered renderings from Mojo Stumer of the artsy entryway, lobby and pool, which reveal the graffiti-inspired logo for the project.
See it all right here
December 20, 2016

Subway passageway reopens as a vestige of the original WTC; One57 apartment sells at $13M discount

A passageway connecting the Chambers Street subway station to the Oculus Transportation Hub has opened for the first time since the 9/11 attacks, and it’s the last remnant of the original World Trade Center. [NYT] A gingerbread village at the Museum of Food and Drink depicts tiny bakeries from different countries, each serving their traditional bread. […]

December 20, 2016

City adds 13,000+ new subway maps ahead of Second Avenue Subway opening

With just 11 days left until the public opening of the Second Avenue Subway, Governor Cuomo has made another show of good faith, announcing that more than 13,000 subway maps featuring the new line have been added throughout the transit system. This includes the installation of 12,600 new in-car maps and 1,000 large station maps in addition to even more maps at Metro-North and LIRR hubs and one million pocket maps that are currently being printed.
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December 20, 2016

Second Avenue Subway will run with limited service for its first week

If you thought yesterday's news that the Second Avenue Subway would meet its deadline and open on January 1st was too good to be true, you were partially correct. Though service will in fact begin as of the new year, a press release from the Governor's office tells us that for its inaugural week, the line will only run from 6am to 10pm, a blow to late-night commuters and those visiting the city for the holidays.
Find out more
December 19, 2016

Map highlights the correlation between evictions and rent stabilization loss in NYC

View the map from ProPublica in its interactive form here >> Last year close to 22,000 tenants across the city were evicted from their homes, an issue that the folks at ProPublica trace to a 1994 City Council vote on "vacancy decontrol," which allowed landlords to evade rent regulation and charge market rate for vacated apartments that cost $2,000 or more a month (it's now $2,500). Not only did this incentive rent hikes, but it's led to a major blow to the city's rent stabilized inventory. To show the correlation between evictions and rent regulation, ProPublica has created this interactive map of the more than 450,000 eviction cases filed between January 2013 and June 2015. It shows the number of evictions in a given building (it's shocking how many have had more than 50 in less than three years) and whether or not that building is rent stabilized.
Find out more on the issue
December 19, 2016

Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum has closed; $1 happy hour drinks are probably illegal

Unable to raise the $75,000 it needed to stay afloat, Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum has shut its doors. [Gothamist] Jared Kushner and his family have an estimated $1.8 billion fortune. [Forbes] Here’s a list for last-minute shoppers of the latest you can order from major retailers for Christmas delivery. [Quartz] Kiss your $1 martini goodbye; the […]

December 19, 2016

Number of Chinese visitors continues to grow as NYC sets new tourism record

For the past decade, the number of Chinese tourists visiting NYC has been on the rise, and of the city's record-breaking 60.3 million visitors in 2016, more than 950,000 were from China. This is a "sevenfold increase since 2007," reports the Times, which notes how the city's tourism department, NYC & Company, is catering to the growing demographic, as they're spending more freely than visitors from Europe who have seen the value of the euro decrease in comparison to the dollar.
Get the scoop
December 19, 2016

Second Avenue Subway officially opens to the public January 1, 2017!

Recent weeks have brought conflicting reports of whether or not the Second Avenue Subway would meets its December 31st deadline, but Governor Cuomo has announced that the public will be able to swipe their cards on the new line as of January 1, 2017! The stations will be officially open for business on New Years Eve, at which time the Governor will host a group of dignitaries to celebrate the nearly 100 years-in-the-making project. As the Daily News reports, this also means that there will be no partial opening as previous accounts speculated, and all stations (96th, 86th, and 72nd Streets, along with the transfer point at 63rd Street), entrances, and elevators will be ready to go. "We believe in the team, and that’s why we’re saying we’re going to open Jan. 1. It’s a leap of faith, but I’m willing to take that leap of faith," said Cuomo.
More details ahead
December 16, 2016

Olin reveals renderings for $30M activity-filled eco-park on Tribeca’s Pier 26

It was announced just over a year ago that starchitect Rafael Viñoly would donate his services to the Hudson River Park Trust to design an estuarium, a science education and research center, at the base of Tribeca's Pier 26. Now, Tribeca Citizen has brought us the first set of conceptual renderings of the $30 million Pier, which don't include Viñoly's building (other than as a placeholder), but show how landscape architects OLIN will transform the 800-foot pier between North Moore and Hubert Streets into a ecological park, complete with huge lounge net areas, sports fields, expansive lawns, a river esplanade, sandy dunes, wetlands to attract birds and wildlife, and elevated tree-lined pathways that are "inspired by being in the woods," according to DNAinfo.
See all the renderings
December 16, 2016

JFK’s TWA Hotel breaks ground, gets new renderings

The shovels were out at JFK's TWA Flight Terminal yesterday, as MCR Development and JetBlue broke ground on their project to turn Eero Saarinen‘s mid-century modern masterpiece into the high-end, 505-room TWA Hotel. According to a press release, Governor Cuomo attended the festivities, noting that the conversion "will preserve this iconic landmark while cementing JFK’s status as a crown jewel of aviation." The news also came with two renderings that show the two, six-story, crescent shaped hotel buildings that will rise on either side of the existing structure.
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December 15, 2016

Dry your plates between the buildings of Midtown with this skyline dish rack

For many New Yorkers, the after-dinner ritual of loading up the dishwasher is pure fantasy. But while we're stuck scrubbing away in our under-sized sinks, this fun dish rack from the Whitney museum's gift shop is a nice reminder as to why we make the compromises we do. The flexible 3D model of Midtown Manhattan comes from Italian designer Luca Nichetto, who was inspired by the scene in the 2010 movie "Inception" where NYC folds into itself "like rubber."
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December 15, 2016

Interview: Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector discuss bringing a streetcar to NYC

After working for decades advocating for transit equity and environmental justice at various organizations, Ya-Ting Liu came on board as the Executive Director of Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector. It's been almost a year since the non-profit advocacy group first released a proposal for a streetcar to run along the borough's waterfront, and since that time the city has stepped in to back the estimated $2.5 billion project, even appointing a director and creating preliminary maps of the streetcar's possible routes. As one of several transportation undertakings on the table, the BQX certainly has a big year ahead. 6sqft recently sat down with Ya-Ting To get the scoop on what's to come, as well as some insider thoughts on the streetcar's common misconceptions.
Read the full interview this way