All articles by Devin Gannon

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

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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
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

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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.
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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

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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
Ahead of L train shutdown, developers flock to properties along G, J, M and Z lines

G Train at Court Square via Wikipedia

May 26, 2017

Ahead of L train shutdown, developers flock to properties along G, J, M and Z lines

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In response to the looming 15th-month L train shutdown, which will affect its nearly 225,000 daily riders beginning April 2019, real estate developers have started looking at Williamsburg’s hip and slightly cheaper neighbors, Greenpoint and South Williamsburg. Both areas sit nearby the G, J, M and Z trains, and in the past have offered a variety of housing options at cheaper prices. According to the New York Times, as developers begin their plunge into Greenpoint, sites along these train lines have become pricier and more difficult to lock down.
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Trump SoHo sees sharp drop in event bookings, increase in layoffs

Photo of Trump SoHo via Trump Hotels

May 25, 2017

Trump SoHo sees sharp drop in event bookings, increase in layoffs

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Trump SoHo, a $450 million, 46-story hotel condominium at 246 Spring Street, has suffered from a sharp decline in corporate event bookings and an increase in staff layoffs. Documents reviewed by WYNC show the once $700-per-night hotel now offers rooms for under $400 a night, less than most of the city’s five- and even four-star rated accommodations. Plus, managers plan on laying off 12 room attendants out of the hotel’s 80 total housekeeping staff and removing turn-down service. While last year the hotel booked 29 large corporate events between January and mid-May, this year just 11 events were booked, with fewer well-known names.
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Despite revised capital plan, MTA does not increase spending for subway improvements
May 25, 2017

Despite revised capital plan, MTA does not increase spending for subway improvements

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While just a few days ago Governor Cuomo announced his “aggressive” action plan to combat the chronic problems of the city’s subway service, the MTA’s new version of its capital plan released Wednesday shows barely any increase in spending for system improvements. As the New York Times reported, the agency increased its current five-year capital plan from $29.5 billion to $32.5 billion, adding $1.6 billion in debt. However, instead of allocating funds for subway service improvements, spending instead will go towards projects seen as priorities for Cuomo, like electronic tolling at bridges and the next phase of the Second Avenue Subway.
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‘Sounds of New York’ uses city noise to improve your focus
May 24, 2017

‘Sounds of New York’ uses city noise to improve your focus

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As a tribute to New York City, Breather, a company with rentable workplaces worldwide, developed a website that lets you listen to the sounds of different city neighborhoods and iconic Big Apple locations. Called Sounds of New York, ambient noises play in the background to help workers concentrate on their daily tasks. Enhance your productivity by listening to the atmospheric sounds of the Strand bookstore, McSorley’s Ale House, Zabar's, the Comedy Cellar, the Oculus, or Harlem’s Apollo Theater all from the comfort of your office.
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First look at CetraRuddy’s proposed hotel-apartment tower for Hudson Yards
May 24, 2017

First look at CetraRuddy’s proposed hotel-apartment tower for Hudson Yards

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Back in September, the developer Joseph Chetrit filed plans to build a 48-floor mixed-use tower with 421 hotel rooms and 135 residential units in the Hudson Yards neighborhood. Now, the wait is over as renderings of Chetrit Group’s proposed tower at 541-545 West 37th Street have officially been revealed. As CityRealty learned, CetraRuddy Architecture is designing the high-tech skyscraper, which is expected to rise 622 feet and overlook the future Hudson Boulevard Park. The building will span 621,000 square feet and include exhibition, retail, hotel and residential spaces.
More details and renderings
Governor Cuomo and the MTA announce a competition to fix the NYC subway system

Image via Alan Bloom/Flickr

May 24, 2017

Governor Cuomo and the MTA announce a competition to fix the NYC subway system

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Image via Alan Bloom/Flickr Seeking innovative solutions to fix the mess that is the New York City transit system, Governor Cuomo on Tuesday launched a competition called the “MTA Genius Transit Challenge.” Just one of the governor’s recently proposed ideas to fix the subway, the international competition challenges participants to develop ideas for better signaling, new car designs, and WiFi throughout the system, including in tunnels. The winner of each category will receive $1 million and a possible contract deal with the state. In addition to the challenge, Cuomo announced he has created a Penn Station Task Force to devise alternative transportation solutions during Amtrak’s track work at the station this summer.
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REVEALED: Early studies of David Adjaye’s Wall Street Tower, his first skyscraper in NYC
May 23, 2017

REVEALED: Early studies of David Adjaye’s Wall Street Tower, his first skyscraper in NYC

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Three years after completing his first New York City building, an affordable housing complex in Harlem called the Sugar Hill Development, starchitect David Adjaye is back. This time, he'll be working with David Lichtenstein's Lightstone Group to design a 61-story, 750-foot-tall condominium in the Financial District at 130 William Street known as the Wall Street Tower. Early conceptual studies uncovered by CityRealty show a gold-trimmed prism set against rigid rows of arched windows, as well as a glimpse at what the 244 apartments and amenity spaces will look like.
See the impressive renderings
Midtown’s tiny Greenacre Park fights for light among sky-high skyscrapers

Terry Tynes via flickr (CC)

May 23, 2017

Midtown’s tiny Greenacre Park fights for light among sky-high skyscrapers

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As a small oasis in the center of Manhattan, Greenacre Park is home to honey locust trees, azaleas, pansies and a 25-foot-high waterfall, all taking up just 6,360 square feet of space. However, the city’s plan to rezone Midtown East to allow for more commercial buildings worries some advocates who say it may deplete Greenacre Park from any sunlight, as the Times reported. But the Municipal Art Society, New Yorkers for Parks, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmember Daniel Garodnick, are backing a campaign called "Fight For Light" to protect the park's right to sunlight.
Get the full scoop
VIDEO: West 8’s proposal for NYC’s largest private garden at One Manhattan Square
May 23, 2017

VIDEO: West 8’s proposal for NYC’s largest private garden at One Manhattan Square

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Adding to its unique character, Extell's One Manhattan Square will soon be home to NYC's largest outdoor private garden, detailed in a new video released today by the developer. The proposal, designed by urban planning and landscape architecture firm West 8, includes more than an acre of garden space for residents to both work and socialize, boasting indoor and outdoor grilling spaces, ping-pong tables, a putting green, children's playground, adult tree house, tea pavilion, and an observatory made for stargazing.
Watch the video here
52 wave sculptures designed by celebrities like Slash and Cara Delevigne hit NYC

Jason deCaires Taylor’s “Silent Evolution” wave via Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation

May 22, 2017

52 wave sculptures designed by celebrities like Slash and Cara Delevigne hit NYC

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Ocean conservation nonprofit Project 0 has partnered with luxury skin care brand La Mer, to bring 52 wave-shaped sculptures designed by artists and entertainers like Keith Richards, Slash, Sienna Miller, Rita Ora, Cara Delevigne to NYC. Between May 20 and June 21, the La Mer Wave Walk will feature public art pieces throughout the five boroughs to raise awareness about ocean conservancy, as DNA Info learned. The installations will be up for auction on June 21, with all proceeds going to the charity La Mer Blue Heart Oceans Fund for Project 0.
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Governor Cuomo asks Trump for emergency assistance during Penn Station repairs
May 22, 2017

Governor Cuomo asks Trump for emergency assistance during Penn Station repairs

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As his administration finalizes its budget plan, Governor Cuomo wrote a letter Sunday to President Trump asking for emergency federal funds to lessen what he called Penn Station’s “summer of agony,” reports the Daily News. With six weeks of infrastructure repairs coming to the transit hub this July and August, the governor said the station’s daily flow of 600,000 passengers will face a 20 percent reduction in service during peak hours while Amtrak shuts down some of its tracks, which will then have a ripple effect on the subway system and regional transit.
More details ahead
Renderings revealed for controversial mixed-income tower on top of UES playground

Rendering via NYCHA

May 19, 2017

Renderings revealed for controversial mixed-income tower on top of UES playground

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After over a year-long debate, the city has finally unveiled renderings of a mixed-income tower set to rise on an existing playground at the Holmes Towers public housing complex in Yorkville. The New York City Housing Authority’s plan, which falls under the city’s NextGen program, will construct a 47-story building among the complex on East 93rd Street, as well as a new 18,000-square-foot recreation and community center run by Asphalt Green (h/t DNA Info). The new building will feature 300 total units, with half of them at market-rate prices and half of them affordable. However, an alleged plan to separate the floors by income level, as well as the fact that high-end housing is coming to a low-income site where the community wasn't consulted, has sparked a good deal of controversy.
Get the whole story
Lower East Side’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema will close next year

Photo via East End Capital

May 19, 2017

Lower East Side’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema will close next year

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The Lower East Side will be losing a neighborhood fixture next year. Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema at 139-143 East Houston Street will be closing its doors when its lease expires in January 2018, to make way for a new mixed-use development with retail and office space. As the Post reports, the theater, which was built in 1889 and first opened in 1909 as the Houston Hippodrome, was sold for $31.5 million to developers East End Capital and K Property Group.
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Costly and inefficient construction is causing NYC’s subway system to lag (STUDY)
May 18, 2017

Costly and inefficient construction is causing NYC’s subway system to lag (STUDY)

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As the nation’s largest transit system, the New York City subway helps connect millions of people to its five far-reaching boroughs each day. While it has helped shaped the city’s indisputable wealth, density and culture, the cost of subway construction remains incredibly expensive, with the time of projects taking much longer than they should. According to a study, "Building Big for Less," by the Regional Plan Association Lab (RPA), with the exception of a few minor projects, New York’s subway system peak performance was in 1937. Since the 1930s, there has been little increase in system capacity and today there are fewer miles of track and commuter rail than in 1937. RPA’s study focused on NYC and other world capitals in order to compare transit data on a large scale.
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Amtrak may relocate to Grand Central as Penn Station undergoes repairs

Grand Central Terminal Lobby via Wikipedia

May 18, 2017

Amtrak may relocate to Grand Central as Penn Station undergoes repairs

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With major infrastructure repairs taking place at Penn Station this summer, state officials have suggested rerouting some Amtrak trains to Grand Central Terminal to ease train congestion. While no plans have been finalized, and it’s still unclear how long the switch would take to begin, crews are already training for the new path down Park Avenue into Grand Central, as Politico NY reports. Swapping stations, however, could cause temporary problems at the 42nd Street transit hub, which currently serves 750,000 passengers per day on four commuter lines via Metro-North.
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HWKN redesigns iconic Art Deco landmarks with modern construction techniques
May 17, 2017

HWKN redesigns iconic Art Deco landmarks with modern construction techniques

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Architecture firm Hollwich Kushner (HWKN) has just released a design research project that applies contemporary construction techniques and designs to famous NYC Art Deco landmarks. Part of their goal is to redesign landmarks so that aren’t just beautiful, but so they have unique personalities and remain relevant over time. Through their research project, called New(er) York, HWKN selected twelve timeless landmarks that represent New York. Some of these include iconic structures like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, One Wall Street, the Woolworth Building and the Flatiron.
See the renderings
87 mixed-income apartments up for grabs at new Mott Haven rental The Graham, from $386/month

255 East 138th Street via MHG Architects

May 17, 2017

87 mixed-income apartments up for grabs at new Mott Haven rental The Graham, from $386/month

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Applications are currently being accepted for 87 affordable apartments in The Graham, a new sustainable building located in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx. The eight-story building at 255 East 138th Street has a full floor of retail at the street level, bike room, outdoor terrace and underground parking garage. New Yorkers earning 30, 40, 50, 60 and 100 percent of the area median income can apply for the mixed-income units, ranging from $368/month studios to $1,683/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
MTA announces six-point plan to combat subway delays and improve service

Photo via Dan Phiffer’s Flickr

May 16, 2017

MTA announces six-point plan to combat subway delays and improve service

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After a week full of delays and malfunctions, the MTA has announced a six-point plan to address the subway’s chronic service problems. The agency’s plan will increase testing of tracks and signals, place more emergency personnel and police officers in stations and add more cars into service at a faster rate. The first phase of the MTA’s plan focuses on the A, C and E lines from 125th Street to Fulton Street in Manhattan, and at the 149th Street-Grand Concourse and 3rd Avenue-138th Street in the Bronx. Bottlenecks frequently occur at these sites, which cause delays that spread throughout the entire system.
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Nine affordable units in the Bronx’s West Farms up for grabs, from $1,348/month

Photo @6sqft/Stephanie Hoina

May 16, 2017

Nine affordable units in the Bronx’s West Farms up for grabs, from $1,348/month

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Applications are currently being accepted for nine newly constructed affordable units at 866 East 178th Street in the West Farms section of the Bronx. West Farms, which underwent the largest private rezoning in the Bronx ever a few years ago, is located in the southwest of the borough. Residents here can enjoy plenty of green space with access to the Bronx Park, Zoo and the Bronx River. New Yorkers earning 80 percent of the area median income can apply to rent four one-bedrooms for $1,348 per month and five two-bedrooms for $1,521 per month.
Find out if you qualify
Apply for 14 affordable apartments in Bed-Stuy’s luxury Atrium rental, from $833/month

785 Dekalb Avenue via Durukan Design

May 15, 2017

Apply for 14 affordable apartments in Bed-Stuy’s luxury Atrium rental, from $833/month

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Located in the hub of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, 14 newly constructed affordable units are available to rent at The Atrium at 785 Dekalb Avenue. The six-story lavish rental contains 70 units and features a six-story brick atrium in the lobby, fitness center, lounge, wet room, game room and a spacious open roof deck. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which range from $833/month studios to $1,043/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
To ease Penn Station woes, a new plan calls for a transit hub in Sunnyside, Queens

Via ReThink Studio

May 15, 2017

To ease Penn Station woes, a new plan calls for a transit hub in Sunnyside, Queens

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With its constant delays and malfunctions, Penn Station is becoming a worse and worse nightmare for countless commuters and visitors. Last year, Governor Cuomo revealed a plan to redevelop the train hub, one of the busiest in the country, by building a new train hall with restaurants and shops, but while the artful renovation will make Penn Station more attractive, it will do little to address the passenger congestion problem, according to think tank, ReThink Studio (h/t Crain’s). In response, the group came up with an idea called ReThinkNYC that would create a new transit hub in Sunnyside, Queens, to connect commuter lines with the subway system. Instead of making Penn Station the final stop for NJ Transit and LIRR commuters, trains would pass through instead of stopping and turning around.
All the details ahead
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