All articles by Devin Gannon

New Astoria rental launches lottery for 28 middle-income apartments, from $2,275/month

Rendering courtesy of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

October 1, 2024

New Astoria rental launches lottery for 28 middle-income apartments, from $2,275/month

On a central Astoria block, a brand new rental is launching a lottery for below market-rate apartments. At 29th Street and Broadway, the Amara offers high-end apartments and amenities, including a parking garage and electric vehicle charging. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the 28 middle-income apartments, priced from $2,275/month studios to $3,700/month two-bedrooms.
Do you qualify?

Affordable Housing

October 1, 2024

Construction begins on new 96th Street bus lanes

By Devin Gannon

The daily commute for 15,500 bus riders in Manhattan is about to speed up. Construction officially began this week on 1.7 miles of new bus lanes on 96th Street, stretching between West End Avenue on the Upper West Side and Second Avenue on the Upper East Side, the city's Department of Transportation announced Monday. The redesign of 96th Street includes dedicated bus lanes for the M96 and M106 routes, left-turn bays, and treatments to "calm turning drivers' speeds," according to the agency.
roll this way

Minetta Lane townhouse with an 83-foot rock climbing wall asks $20M

Photos courtesy of Real Estate Production Network for Sotheby’s International Realty

September 26, 2024

Minetta Lane townhouse with an 83-foot rock climbing wall asks $20M

By Devin Gannon

One of New York City's most unique homes hit the market this week. The Greenwich Village townhouse at 16 Minetta Lane underwent a 10-year renovation led by owner architect Adam Kushner that transformed the original building and rear carriage house into one unbelievable compound. Leaving the exterior structures intact, Kushner constructed a new interior separate from the original building, creating a front courtyard between old and new. Asking $20,065,000, the home measures an incredible 4,200 square feet, with four full bedrooms, a rooftop lounge, and an 83-foot outdoor rock climbing wall.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

September 25, 2024

Archtober 2024: The best design tours to book during this year’s festival

By Devin Gannon

It's beginning to feel like Archtober. In its 14th year, the annual festival dedicated to architecture and design kicks off next month with the theme "Tracing the Future," focusing on New York City's evolving landscape through affordable housing, infrastructure projects, and sustainable design. Archtober's Building of the Day series returns this year, offering architect-led tours of the projects across the city. Our must-visit list includes the sunrise-inspired Far Rockaway public library branch designed by Snøhetta, the new bike path and pedestrian space on the East Midtown Greenway, and Annabelle Selldorf's first residential project.
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New public plaza Domino Square opens on the Williamsburg waterfront

Photos courtesy of Daniel Levin for Two Trees Management

September 23, 2024

New public plaza Domino Square opens on the Williamsburg waterfront

By Devin Gannon

The Domino Sugar Factory site in Williamsburg gained more park space this week. Domino Square, a one-acre public plaza between the new condo One Domino Square and the office building The Refinery at Domino, has officially opened. Designed as a civic space by landscape architecture firm Field Operations, the new plaza offers community events and programming year-round, from salsa nights and farmers markets to an ice skating rink, the first to ever open on Williamsburg's waterfront.
get the details

New Developments

Newark breaks ground on $336M arts campus with apartments, retail, and park space

Cooperman Family Arts Education and Community Center. View north on Mulberry Street. Rendering © Weiss/Manfredi | Courtesy of NJPAC

September 19, 2024

Newark breaks ground on $336M arts campus with apartments, retail, and park space

By Devin Gannon

A project to transform an area of downtown Newark into a walkable and livable destination centered around a cultural institution is officially underway. The nonprofit arts organization New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) this week broke ground on a $336 million redevelopment of its 12-acre campus, which includes hundreds of new apartments, retail, cultural spaces, community facilities, and a new urban park. The reimagined site is expected to be completed in the fall of 2027.
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Deal reached for new Court Square public library at 5Pointz development

View of 5 Pointz LIC in September 2020; Photo: © CityRealty

September 17, 2024

Deal reached for new Court Square public library at 5Pointz development

By Devin Gannon

After over four years, Court Square in Long Island City is getting its public library back. The Queens Public Library (QPL) announced a tentative deal for a new branch at the 5Pointz LIC rental development on Jackson Avenue. After occupying the ground floor of One Court Square for 30 years, the branch closed in 2020 when Amazon's plan to open a headquarters there fell through.
details this way

Policy

New York fall foliage: This map tracks the best time for leaf peeping

Courtesy of I LOVE NY

September 13, 2024

New York fall foliage: This map tracks the best time for leaf peeping

By Devin Gannon

While it's still technically summer, the first signs of fall have already been spotted in New York. This week the state released the season's first Fall Foliage report, an annual guide and interactive map highlighting the progress of changing leaves across the Empire State. Based on observations by 85 volunteer leaf spotters, regions like the Adirondacks, Catskills, Thousand Island-Seaway, Capital-Saratoga, Central New York, Finger Lakes, and Greater Niagara are starting their colorful autumnal transformations.
fall is coming

Events & Things To Do

A guide to Little Italy’s 98th annual Feast of San Gennaro

Photo by Tom Marvel on Flickr

September 12, 2024

A guide to Little Italy’s 98th annual Feast of San Gennaro

By Devin Gannon

One of New York City's most popular street fairs returns to Manhattan's Little Italy neighborhood this week. The 11-day Feast of San Gennaro began in 1926 as a way for immigrants in New York to maintain the Italian tradition of honoring the patron saint of Naples, Saint Januarius, with a feast every September. While Little Italy has evolved over the last century, shrinking in size from 30 blocks to about nine, the Feast of San Gennaro remains one of the city's best events of the year. Ahead, get a taste of all things Italian American with our guide to one of the city's largest street fairs, which takes place September 12 through September 22.
Get the guide

Events & Things To Do

Food hall opening at Amazon’s Fifth Avenue office

Photo credit: WRNS Studio, SCAPE, Bilyana Dimitrova

September 11, 2024

Food hall opening at Amazon’s Fifth Avenue office

By Devin Gannon

New York City is getting another food hall. Earlier this year, Texas-based operator Food Hall Co. announced plans to open Shaver Hall, a 35,000-square-foot culinary experience on the ground floor of the historic Lord & Taylor building on Fifth Avenue. After serving as the department store's flagship for over a century, the landmark was bought by Amazon and converted into office space, which opened last year.
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Food & Dining

Village Halloween Parade theme celebrates the ‘inner cat lady’ in everyone

By Devin Gannon

Cat ladies are having a moment. In response to the sexist trope put forward by Republican Vice President candidate Sen. JD Vance, who called Democrats "childless cat ladies" who should have fewer voting rights, the theme for this year's annual Village Halloween Parade will be "Meow," a celebration of the "inner cat lady in everyone." Leading the parade this year as grand marshal is Tony Award-winning actor André De Shields, who recently starred as Old Deuteronomy in "CATS: 'The Jellicle Ball.'"
DETAILS HERE

Events & Things To Do

All images courtesy of Brooklyn Public Library

September 5, 2024

Brooklyn Public Library begins next phase of Central branch renovation led by Toshiko Mori

By Devin Gannon

Brooklyn Public Library on Thursday kicked off the next phase of the major renovation of its main branch. Led by renowned architect Toshiko Mori, the project at the Central Library includes an updated adult learning center, a new teen center, a restored collections area, and a renovated children's center. The first phase of the renovation, which wrapped up in 2021, added more light-filled, publicly accessible spaces, and a modernized career center.
READ MORE

Architecture And Design

Andy Cohen lists West Village duplex for $14M

Photo credit: Eytan Stern Weber, Evan Joseph Images

September 4, 2024

Andy Cohen lists West Village duplex for $14M

By Devin Gannon

TV host Andy Cohen is selling his longtime West Village home. The one-of-a-kind apartment at 2 Horatio Street is a combination of four units assembled by Cohen over the last 20 years. While not on the market publicly yet, the home will be listed later this month for $14 million. Ryan Serhant of SERHANT., a former Bravo alum and current star of "Owning Manhattan" on Netflix, has the listing.
See more here

G train resumes full service after summer shutdown

Photo credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

September 3, 2024

G train resumes full service after summer shutdown

By Devin Gannon

After a summer-long shutdown, the G train is back. Tuesday marked the first morning of full service on the G train since the end of June, ending a nine-week partial closure of the 11.4-mile line. During the shutdown, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority replaced 1930s-era signal infrastructure with communications-based train control (CBTC), allowing trains to run closer together, improving the reliability and efficiency of the line.
get the details

Transit

Everything you need to know about NYC’s Caribbean Carnival

Photo by Brian Lin on Flickr

August 30, 2024

Everything you need to know about NYC’s Caribbean Carnival

By Devin Gannon

New York City's West Indian-American Day Carnival and Parade returns to Brooklyn this Labor Day. The festival, which typically attracts over a million spectators, takes over a stretch of Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, celebrating the diversity of Caribbean culture with dancing, elaborate costumes, traditional music, and food.
What you need to know

Events & Things To Do

Vintage bus festival rolls into Brooklyn Bridge Park

2019 Bus Festival. Photo by Filip Wolak, New York Transit Museum

August 29, 2024

Vintage bus festival rolls into Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Devin Gannon

Buses of a bygone era will be rolling into Brooklyn Bridge Park. The New York Transit Museum's annual Bus Festival takes place at Emily Warren Roebling Plaza on Sunday, September 8, bringing a collection of retro buses under the Brooklyn Bridge for transit buffs to explore.
ride this way

Events & Things To Do

The 15 best parks in NYC for outdoor grilling

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels

August 28, 2024

The 15 best parks in NYC for outdoor grilling

By Devin Gannon

While our tiny apartments and fire escapes may not always be the greatest spots to host a barbecue, the city's parks provide some of the best places to dine on hamburgers and hot dogs this holiday. Ahead, 6sqft rounded up 15 of the best NYC parks to host outdoor barbecues, from old standby Prospect Park to less-known locales like Staten Island's Clove Lakes Park.
Fin the best BBQ spots in your neighborhood

60 luxury condos planned for the Flatiron Building

Photo by David Becker on Unsplash

August 27, 2024

60 luxury condos planned for the Flatiron Building

By Devin Gannon

More details on transforming one of New York City's most iconic buildings into apartments were revealed this week. Developers GFP Real Estate, the Brodsky Organization, and the Sorgente Group filed plans with the city to convert the Flatiron Building into 60 residential units, as first reported by Commerical Observer. The homes could be complete by 2026, according to the Environmental Assessment Statement (EAS) filed with the Department of City Planning.
more this way

Celebrities join last-minute effort to save Elizabeth Street Garden

Photo by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft

August 23, 2024

Celebrities join last-minute effort to save Elizabeth Street Garden

By Devin Gannon

With its eviction looming, Little Italy's Elizabeth Street Garden is throwing one last hail mary. New York celebrities Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Patti Smith penned letters to Mayor Eric Adams this week, asking him not to build an affordable senior housing development on the city-owned site of the community garden, a plan approved in 2019 but delayed by legal challenges. The A-listers join thousands of residents who oppose replacing the unique green space with apartments, despite the city's current housing crisis. Demolition of the garden could begin next month after the nonprofit that runs the space lost two separate court battles.
find out more

Adams directs NYC agencies to find city-owned land for potential housing development

Photo © 6sqft

August 21, 2024

Adams directs NYC agencies to find city-owned land for potential housing development

By Devin Gannon

Mayor Eric Adams is finding new ways of meeting his goal of building 500,000 new homes in New York City over the next decade. The mayor on Wednesday signed an executive order directing every city agency to determine if housing can be built on property it owns. As the New York Times first reported, this could mean constructing new homes on properties like underused parking lots or garages.
more here

NYC is selling authentic ‘Cornelia Street’ signs

Image courtesy of NYC DOT

August 13, 2024

NYC is selling authentic ‘Cornelia Street’ signs

By Devin Gannon

Attention Swifties! New York City's Department of Transportation (DOT) is selling a limited number of authentic, commemorative Cornelia Street signs, as part of the agency's monthly "sign drops." Taylor Swift once rented a home on the Greenwich Village street and name-dropped the block in the 2019 song "Cornelia Street."
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Pre-war penthouse on the Upper West Side with soaring ceilings and a huge terrace asks $5.95M

Photos courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

August 9, 2024

Pre-war penthouse on the Upper West Side with soaring ceilings and a huge terrace asks $5.95M

By Devin Gannon

Sitting atop an Italian Renaissance palazzo-style apartment building on the Upper West Side, this penthouse at 257 West 86th Street brings the drama. Upon entering from a semi-private landing, you're greeted by the duplex's sprawling living room that measures 28 feet by 20 feet but feels even larger thanks to the massive window and 20-foot ceilings. Asking $5,950,000, the penthouse has three bedrooms and a stunning private terrace with open views from nearly every angle.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

August 7, 2024

Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin at the New York Public Library

By Devin Gannon

The New York Public Library is honoring one of its most legendary patrons. Considered one of the best writers of the 20th century, and a key figure in the civil rights movement, James Baldwin discovered his love of reading at his local public library in Harlem. In celebration of what would have been Baldwin's 100th birthday this month, NYPL will present two exhibitions featuring his papers, manuscripts, and other materials never displayed publicly, as well as host book giveaways and discussions on Baldwin's work.
learn more

Events & Things To Do

Brooklyn’s greenest block is in Crown Heights

Lincoln Place. Photo by Artchan Nadura

August 6, 2024

Brooklyn’s greenest block is in Crown Heights

By Devin Gannon

The greenest block in Brooklyn is in Crown Heights. And so is the second-greenest block. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Tuesday crowned Lincoln Place between New York and Nostrand Avenues as the winner of its Greenest Block competition, an annual contest open to all blocks and community gardens in the borough. Another win for the neighborhood, the garden awarded Eastern Parkway between Bedford and Franklin Avenues second place.
and the winners are

NYC to extend lifeguard shifts during heat waves

Rockaway Beach. Photo by Shinya Suzuki on Flickr

July 31, 2024

NYC to extend lifeguard shifts during heat waves

By Devin Gannon

New York City will extend lifeguard shifts at public beaches during heat waves after a series of drownings this summer. Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said 66 lifeguards will be on call for emergencies until 8 p.m., two hours after beaches close, during extreme heat. Swimming will still not be permitted after 6 p.m. and lifeguards will not sit on the stands so they don't "give the false impression that the beaches are open and that it's safe to swim," Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi said.
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Policy

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