All articles by Devin Gannon

A retro dresser inspired Beam Group’s new Bushwick condo

Rendering of 127-129 Troutman via Beam Group/ Photo via Shanna Shryne Design

June 9, 2017

A retro dresser inspired Beam Group’s new Bushwick condo

By Devin Gannon

The neighborhood of Bushwick, known for its artistic hipsters, is about to get even cooler. The Brooklyn-based firm Beam Group/ J. Goldman Design revealed plans for their project at 127-129 Troutman Street in the western part of the neighborhood. The project, designed by the firm’s Adele Schachner, is inspired by the mid-century “luck of the drawer” dresser that features an incredible tri-geometric pattern in bright colors framed by a wooden border, as CityRealty learned. Renderings show the building's exterior will be composed of both opaque and screened panels.
See the renderings here

Proposed state Senate bill would ban brokers from using ‘SoHa’ in listings

June 9, 2017

Proposed state Senate bill would ban brokers from using ‘SoHa’ in listings

By Devin Gannon

As real estate developers and brokers continue rebranding neighborhoods with new nicknames, some community members fear this gentrifies and strips the history away from their nabes. Like NoLo (SoHo + Nolita + Lower East Side) and DoBro (Downtown Brooklyn) before it, SoHa, the new branding moniker for South Harlem, has been met with resistance from residents. According to Crain’s, newly elected state Senator Brian Benjamin, a native of Harlem, talked with so many residents that opposed the term SoHa, he has introduced a bill banning people, specifically brokers, from using the nickname as a marketing tool.
Find out more

Former Hamptons cottage of late New York Times editor Arthur Gelb asks $2.8M

June 8, 2017

Former Hamptons cottage of late New York Times editor Arthur Gelb asks $2.8M

By Devin Gannon

The former Water Mill home of New York Times managing editor, the late Arthur Gelb, is for sale at an asking price of $2.77 million, according to the Post. Swiss writer Rose-Marie Bordihn bought the Hamptons cottage in 2007 for $2 million. The recently restored 2,550-square-foot home boasts an acre of land, five bedrooms, and views of a pond--the perfect summer beach house.
See inside the cottage

Distinctive Homes

De Blasio denies funding half-priced MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers

Image by Ged Carroll via flickr CC

June 8, 2017

De Blasio denies funding half-priced MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers

By Devin Gannon

Despite months of lobbying efforts by transit advocates and public officials, Mayor de Blasio declined to fund a $50 million program for half-price MetroCards for low-income riders. The mayor has previously said the city could not afford the pilot program, and also shifted the responsibility for funding the program to the state, since Governor Cuomo oversees the MTA. As the Gothamist reported, a study released by the Community Service Society of New York and the Riders Alliance, the NYPD arrested 5,137 New Yorkers for fare evasion between January and mid-March of this year, 90 percent of whom were black or Latino.
Find out more

City Planning Commission officially approves Midtown East Rezoning

Conceptual image depicting all of the proposed sites of the East Midtown rezoning fully built out, via CityRealty

June 7, 2017

City Planning Commission officially approves Midtown East Rezoning

By Devin Gannon

The City Planning Commission unanimously approved the long-awaited rezoning plan for Midtown East on Wednesday, which will rezone 78 blocks in hopes of modernizing the neighborhood. The plan, which was released last August, follows Mayor Bloomberg’s failed attempt to rezone the area in 2013. According to the Real Deal, the proposal would create 6.5 million square feet of new office space over the next twenty years. This would potentially encourage taller and more modern office towers, attracting more commercial and corporate tenants.
Find out more

Policy

The MTA considers a ‘car-free busway’ as L-train alternative

L train via Wiki Commons

June 7, 2017

The MTA considers a ‘car-free busway’ as L-train alternative

By Devin Gannon

L train via Wiki Commons To mitigate the nightmare commuters will face during the 15-month L-train shutdown, the MTA and the Department of Transportation presented four possible alternatives that would make a portion of 14th Street a car-free busway. Streetsblog NYC reported that during a Manhattan Community Board 6 meeting on Monday, the agencies laid out the following options: a standard Select Bus Service (SBS) along 14th Street, enhanced SBS that includes turn and curb restrictions, a car-free busway in the middle lanes along 14th and a river-to-river car-free busway. Agency officials predict between 75 and 85 percent of the daily 275,000 daily L riders will use other subway lines, with bus service possibly absorbing between 5-15 percent of displaced trips.
Find out more

The MetLife Building’s letters are getting a makeover

June 7, 2017

The MetLife Building’s letters are getting a makeover

By Devin Gannon

While the Brutalist architecture of the MetLife Building, formerly the Pan Am Building, makes this 59-story skyscraper stand out among Midtown's many tall towers, its large sign touting its namesake makes it easy for all to identify. Beginning this week, the insurance company will replace the massive letters with a brand new typeface, as Crain’s reported. The installation of the new, more modern logo will be the first time the building’s sign has changed since 1993 when 15- and 18-foot-long letters spelling out MetLife replaced Pan Am’s sign. Additionally, the firm's new corporate logo--made more colorful in an attempt to shift their marketing strategy along with a new tagline "Navigating life together"--is being installed on the tower's east side.
Find out more

Architecture And Design

The National Debt Clock will move back to One Bryant Park

June 6, 2017

The National Debt Clock will move back to One Bryant Park

By Devin Gannon

While the debt continues to grow, the ticker that estimates the current national figure is temporarily coming down this month. The National Debt Clock at 1133 Sixth Avenue will be moved on June 8 to make way for a new entrance at the Durst Organization’s building just one block away to One Bryant Park (aka the Bank of America Tower), the spot where the original clock first stood, as the Post reported. Real estate developer Seymour Durst first put up the ticker on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street in 1989, when the debt was a mere $3 trillion. Today’s debt totals over $19 trillion, with each family’s average share more than $168,000, according to data from the US Treasury.
Find out more

Uncategorized

Brooklyn developer Zproekt plans a craggy condo for East Williamsburg

Renderings created by the Vyater Group

June 6, 2017

Brooklyn developer Zproekt plans a craggy condo for East Williamsburg

By Devin Gannon

Renderings created by the Vyater Group Brooklyn real estate developers RYBAK and BK have laid out their collaborative plan for a new luxury condominium in East Williamsburg at 88 Withers Street. The building, when officially approved, will be called Element88 and will capture the neighborhood’s creative and eclectic residents. As CityRealty learned, renderings show a sculpted pile of floors, offset from one another. In addition to its 33 new residences, the building will also provide workspaces in its cellar that can be used for home offices, workshops, wine cellars or art studios.
See the electic renderings

Set up a vacation home anywhere with these pop-up smartdomes

June 5, 2017

Set up a vacation home anywhere with these pop-up smartdomes

By Devin Gannon

As a way to escape the stress of urban life, a dome construction company has created a mobile geodesic dome for do-it-yourself nature lovers. The Slovenia-based firm smartdome construction created a dome that users set up and dismantle themselves. The elevated dome can be set up almost anywhere, is built on a set of adjustable steel legs, and is made of prefabricated modules engineered for energy efficiency.
See the DIY smartdomes

Popular Articles

An NYU project hopes to virtually track 10,000 New Yorkers for 20 years

June 5, 2017

An NYU project hopes to virtually track 10,000 New Yorkers for 20 years

By Devin Gannon

Beginning this fall, a research project led by a neuroeconomic professor from New York University will follow 10,000 New Yorkers for two decades in hopes of understanding the future of big data and human decision making. The Human Project, developed by Paul Glimcher, will gather a ton of data from residents, including medical records, diet, credit card transactions, social interactions, sleep, educational achievement, blood work, stool and urine samples and even more. As the New York Times reported, the goal is to create an atlas of the entire human experience. With a $15 million budget, the project hopes to start making some findings by 2020.
Find out more

Some Trump Palace apartment owners want to remove the building’s name

Google Street View

June 5, 2017

Some Trump Palace apartment owners want to remove the building’s name

By Devin Gannon

Google Street View Despite winning the presidential election last fall, Donald Trump’s New York City properties have hit a losing streak. Trump-branded hotels and condos throughout the city have seen a sharp decline in event bookings and property values. And at the 55-story Trump Palace at 200 East 69th Street, one of the tallest towers in the neighborhood, the average unit sits on the market for 107 days, 35 percent longer than the average luxury unit. To combat declining property values, an apartment owner at Trump Palace has written a letter asking neighbors to come together and remove the name “Trump” from the building, as the Hollywood Reporter discovered.
Find out more

Celebrities

Buy this entire 62-acre ghost town in Connecticut for just $1.9M

June 2, 2017

Buy this entire 62-acre ghost town in Connecticut for just $1.9M

By Devin Gannon

Johnsonville, an abandoned, small town in East Haddam, Connecticut, is on the market for an asking price of $1.9 million (Yes, the entire 62-acre town is asking less than $2 million). Founded in the 1800s, it includes semi-neglected Victorian homes, a general store, post office, restaurant, mill, and a covered bridge (h/t WTOP). The current owner is hotel company Meyer Jabara Hotels, who paid $2.5 million for the town in 2001. The property was previously listed in an online auction in 2014 and sold for $1.9 million, but the bidder was unable to seal the deal. It’s been a ghost town for nearly two decades.
See the abandoned town here

Waterfront Alliance’s ‘Harbor Scorecard’ says if your NYC neighborhood is at risk for severe flooding

June 2, 2017

Waterfront Alliance’s ‘Harbor Scorecard’ says if your NYC neighborhood is at risk for severe flooding

By Devin Gannon

This week marked the beginning of hurricane season and experts predict storms will be worse than usual, especially following President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord on Thursday. To better inform New Yorkers about the risks of rising sea level and storm surges, the Waterfront Alliance, a nonprofit that works to protect waterfronts, released a Harbor Scorecard, as reported by the Brooklyn Eagle. The interactive scorecard lets users view each neighborhood by its waterfront safety and coastal resiliency. The group found that more than 400,000 New Yorkers face a 50 percent risk of a major flood by 2060.
Find out more

Policy

New Jersey is the official owner of Ellis Island

Photo via Wiki Commons

June 2, 2017

New Jersey is the official owner of Ellis Island

By Devin Gannon

Photo via Wiki Commons Sorry, New York. Ellis Island, America’s first and biggest immigration center, technically belongs to New Jersey. In May of 1998, the Supreme Court ended a long-standing argument between New Jersey and the Empire State over who actually owns the Island, as Smithsonian Magazine discovered. Based on a land claims agreement between the two states made before Ellis Island became a gateway for nearly 12 million immigrants, the Court decided it belonged mostly to New Jersey, in addition to the federal government, since it's overseen by the National Park Service.
But it wasn't so easy

History

U.S. officials argue 650 Fifth Avenue is a secret front for the Iranian government

Image via Google Street View

June 2, 2017

U.S. officials argue 650 Fifth Avenue is a secret front for the Iranian government

By Devin Gannon

Image via Google Street View For the past few years, the federal government has claimed that the tower at 650 Fifth Avenue, owned by nonprofit the Alavi Foundation, is controlled by the Iranian government, which would violate U.S. sanctions. Since the court decision that allowed the government to seize the 36-story building was overruled last year, a trial has kicked off again this week to determine if the organization was funneling money to Iran. As reported by amNY, the government must prove the office tower, worth just under $1 billion, is a front for the Iranian government and will do so using emails, letters and journal entries from an Alavi board member.
Find out more

Policy

101 affordable units up for grabs in the Bronx’s Morrisania, from $368/month

June 1, 2017

101 affordable units up for grabs in the Bronx’s Morrisania, from $368/month

By Devin Gannon

Applications are currently being accepted for 101 affordable apartments in La Casa Del Mundo, a newly constructed housing development at 3475 Third Avenue in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx. New Yorkers earning 30, 40, 50 and 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the available units, ranging from a $368/month studio to $1,224/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Tour Manhattan’s only lighthouse at Fort Washington Park this Saturday

The Little Red Lighthouse found at Fort Washington, via Wiki Commons

June 1, 2017

Tour Manhattan’s only lighthouse at Fort Washington Park this Saturday

By Devin Gannon

If looking to learn more about historic New York City this weekend, head over to Fort Washington Park and check out the Little Red Lighthouse, Manhattan’s only remaining lighthouse. The city’s Urban Park Rangers are hosting a tour this Saturday, June 3, from 1 to 4 p.m. and will be on hand to provide information about this unique landmark (h/t Time Out).
Learn the interesting history of the lighthouse

MoMA reveals final design for $400M expansion

June 1, 2017

MoMA reveals final design for $400M expansion

By Devin Gannon

The Museum of Modern Art revealed on Thursday its final design for its $400 million renovation project, which calls for more space and a chronological and thematic approach to its exhibitions. In addition to the expansion of gallery and public spaces, the museum plans to feature more work of minority and female artists. Architecture firms Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Gensler have collaborated on the design, and the overall expansion will provide 50,000 square feet of new gallery space. The renovation is expected to wrap in 2019.
Check out MoMA's makeover

Help bring the world’s largest rhino sculpture to Astor Place

Rendering of the rhino sculpture in Astor Place

May 31, 2017

Help bring the world’s largest rhino sculpture to Astor Place

By Devin Gannon

The Northern White Rhino species faces imminent extinction as only three remain on Earth. To raise awareness, a husband-and-wife sculpting duo are creating the largest rhino sculpture in the world and installing it in Astor Place (h/t Time Out). Gillie and Marc plan on putting $150,000 of their own money behind the project and created a Kickstarter page to raise the additional $50,000 needed to complete it. If all goes according to plan, the sculpture, titled "The Last Three," will be installed in January 2018.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

Renderings revealed of Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower transformation into ‘Panorama’

May 31, 2017

Renderings revealed of Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower transformation into ‘Panorama’

By Devin Gannon

Last summer, developers CIM Group, Kushner Companies and LIVWRK acquired the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower building at 25-30 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn Heights for $340 million. The building, known for its iconic red sign, served as the world headquarters of the religious group for years, but they're relocating to Warwick, New York. Now, work has begun to turn its three 19th century brick and timber buildings into 635,000 square feet of office space, as well as 35,000 square feet of retail and outdoor areas, as Fast Company reports. The new space will be known as Panorama, for its stunning views of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge.
See renderings of the Panorama complex

Cuomo announces $151M elevated promenade to improve Staten Island’s coastal resiliency

Rendering via Governor Cuomo’s office

May 31, 2017

Cuomo announces $151M elevated promenade to improve Staten Island’s coastal resiliency

By Devin Gannon

Governor Cuomo announced a $151 million plan on Tuesday to build an elevated promenade to improve the resiliency of Staten Island’s east shores during natural disasters. The seawall will stretch from Fort Wadsworth to Oakwood Beach to protect residents from coastal flooding, while simultaneously creating new wetland habitats and recreational amenities. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a series of community-based design forums, allowing for Staten Island residents to offer direct input into the project's final design, which will be complete in the winter of 2018, with construction expected to begin in 2019 and a completion date of 2022.
Find out more

MAP: Battery Park City is the country’s most expensive zip code for renters

May 30, 2017

MAP: Battery Park City is the country’s most expensive zip code for renters

By Devin Gannon

With little surprise, Manhattan comes in first for the highest apartment rents in the country, with Battery Park City leading the way for the most outrageous prices. According to data collected by RentCafe and assembled into an interactive map, the average rent in this downtown 'hood is about $6,000 per month, followed by the Upper East Side averaging $4,898 per month and the Upper West Side $4,892. Other pricey Manhattan zip codes that made the top ten include the Lower East Side, Soho and Clinton.
Find out the average rent of your zip code

Real Estate Trends

With delays and long lines, some New Yorkers are frustrated with new ferry service

May 30, 2017

With delays and long lines, some New Yorkers are frustrated with new ferry service

By Devin Gannon

Mayor de Blasio’s citywide ferry service initiative, which launched May 1, was meant to provide commuters with an alternative to the problem-plagued subway. However, just under a month after the city launched the NYC Ferry service, passengers have faced delays, long lines, and overcrowding. As the New York Times reports, the ferry service transported roughly 26,000 passengers in total this past holiday weekend, with the East River Route carrying more than 9,600 people each day. In response to high demand, an extra three boats were put into service.
Find out more

Transit

Doon Architecture turned a run-down A-frame cabin into a family-friendly Hamptons home

May 27, 2017

Doon Architecture turned a run-down A-frame cabin into a family-friendly Hamptons home

By Devin Gannon

Led by architect Edgar Papazian, Doon Architecture has revamped a once dilapidated cabin into a cozy family home in Sag Harbor, an affluent neighborhood on Long Island (h/t architecture lab). The cottage, appropriately dubbed the Triangle House, provides a small, unique footbridge from a road to the entrance of the home because it sits on a sloped site. The interiors showcase incredible Douglas fir wood paneling, a curvy staircase, and a yellow cedar shake roof.
See the interiors

Architecture And Design

123
124
125
126
127