All articles by Michelle Cohen

Michelle is a New York-based writer and content strategist who has worked extensively with lifestyle brands like Seventeen, Country Living, Harper’s Bazaar and iVillage. In addition to being a copywriter for a digital media agency she writes about culture, New York City neighborhoods, real estate, style, design and technology among other topics. She has lived in a number of major US cities on both coasts and in between and loves all things relating to urbanism and culture.

Once a parking garage, this $85M Village penthouse is now in line to break neighborhood sales records

Photo credit: March Made

December 4, 2025

Once a parking garage, this $85M Village penthouse is now in line to break neighborhood sales records

By Michelle Cohen

Here's how far Manhattan real estate has come (or perhaps how far, to hat-tip the late Jimmy Cliff, it has to fall). With no sign of a slowdown in sight, this penthouse at 125 Perry Street is asking $85 million. The apartment could set a price record for Downtown Manhattan, but it's competing with a nearby condo last listed for $87.5 million that entered contract this past summer. The 7,000-square-foot condo residence on Perry Street sits atop a corner brick building that was once a parking garage, as Mansion Global reported.
going up...

Distinctive Homes

$4M Prospect Heights penthouse has three bedrooms, a wraparound terrace, and views in every direction

Photos courtesy of Alejandro Leon with DD-Reps

December 3, 2025

$4M Prospect Heights penthouse has three bedrooms, a wraparound terrace, and views in every direction

By Michelle Cohen

Occupying the entire 12th floor of 856 Washington Avenue, this sprawling condo has dazzling views of Manhattan, the East River, and beyond from 3,172 square feet of interior living space. Better yet, you can take your daily sunset views outdoors to the terrace. Asking $3,995,000, the Prospect Heights residence has plenty of amenities and a Brooklyn location just steps from Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
take the penthouse tour

Distinctive Homes

Starbucks to pay $39 million in historic settlement over violation of NYC labor law

Photo by Anthony Fomin on Unsplash

December 2, 2025

Starbucks to pay $39 million in historic settlement over violation of NYC labor law

By Michelle Cohen

Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga announced on Monday a $38.9 million settlement with Starbucks over violations of New York City’s law that guarantees fair working conditions. According to city officials, the resolution was the largest worker protection settlement in the city’s history. Starbucks agreed to the settlement after an investigation by DCWP showed the company had denied thousands of workers the legal right to stable schedules as well as the right to pick up additional hours, arbitrarily cutting schedules to prioritize their own bottom line over workers’ rights.
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Policy

This $2.85M Crown Heights townhouse is an unspoiled historic beauty on an extra-long lot

All photos courtesy of Amiri NYC of The Corcoran Group

November 26, 2025

This $2.85M Crown Heights townhouse is an unspoiled historic beauty on an extra-long lot

By Michelle Cohen

The ornate two-family townhouse at 882 Park Place possesses an impressive collection of the covetable details this historic neighborhood's homes are known for, in addition to being blessed with one of its deep 135-foot lots, giving it a park-sized backyard. The four-story Renaissance Revival limestone residence is a spacious blank canvas of original details, including four fireplaces. Asking $2,850,000, the home consists of a garden-level apartment with a triplex above.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Park Slope ‘pink house,’ now in a more muted hue, asks $5M

Photos courtesy of Russ Ross for The Corcoran Group

November 24, 2025

Park Slope ‘pink house,’ now in a more muted hue, asks $5M

By Michelle Cohen

For decades, the first thing passersby would notice about the otherwise stately townhouse at 233 Garfield Place was its facade, painted a shade referred to as "bright magenta" in a 2006 New York Times article. The bubblegum-hued exterior was updated in 2012 with one more in keeping with its historic brownstone neighbors. The four-story Park Slope home, configured as a triplex above a two-bedroom garden flat, is now on the market for $4,995,000.
no longer pink, but still pretty

Distinctive Homes

50 places to shop locally in NYC for that perfect gift

Clockwise from top left, photo credits: Beacon’s Closet, Astoria Bookshop, Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store, Friends NYC, Coming Soon NY, Michele Varian Shop

November 21, 2025

50 places to shop locally in NYC for that perfect gift

By Michelle Cohen

We do so much of our shopping online that we sometimes forget the excitement of finding the just-right gift right in front of our eyes. New York City still considers shopping a high art, and some of the best shops on the planet are just around the corner from wherever you are. You’re sure to find a treasure for everyone on your list from the local shops below.
100% amazon-free shopping, this way

Shop

Greenwich Village townhouse where Oscar Wilde once stayed asks $7.45M

All photos courtesy of Emily Collum

November 20, 2025

Greenwich Village townhouse where Oscar Wilde once stayed asks $7.45M

By Michelle Cohen

The 22-foot-wide townhouse at 48 West 11th Street is already ahead of the game for location and timeless charm. Asking $7,450,000, the three-family brick home also has literary cachet: According to Daytonian, Irish writer and playwright Oscar Wilde rented rooms in the Village townhouse while in New York City in 1882 for a lecture tour, entertaining guests and becoming a familiar face on the neighborhood's streets.
get a closer look

This $3.5M Noho co-op remembers the origins of loft living

Photos by Bernadett Pava. Staging by A List Designs.

November 19, 2025

This $3.5M Noho co-op remembers the origins of loft living

By Michelle Cohen

This classic loft at 652 Broadway is the kind we remember, with plenty of wide open space and lots of flexibility. The floor plan currently offers two bedrooms and two bathrooms, but a third bedroom can be added. Asking $3,495,000, the pre-war co-op has the benefit of location, square footage, and details that add up to the kind of unspoiled downtown space we don't see too often in the 21st century.
Noho loft living, this way

Distinctive Homes

Renderings courtesy of Visualisation One unless otherwise noted

November 14, 2025

Get a first look inside the new Flatiron Building condos

By Michelle Cohen

Interior renderings of the condominium residences at the iconic Flatiron Building at 175 Fifth Avenue have been revealed. As 6sqft previously reported, the building is being converted to 38 condos after 120 years as a commercial property. Sales are underway at the 22-story landmarked Beaux-Arts tower, with three-bedroom homes starting at $11 million and a five-bedroom residence on the 21st floor priced at $50,000,000. New images show off the lobby, amenity space, and the expansive great rooms, unique layouts, and exposed steel structures of the residences.
first look at the new flatiron condos, this way

New Developments

A long-neglected Clinton Hill townhouse gets a total glow-up and a $5.5M ask

Photo credit: Hayley Ellen Day

November 14, 2025

A long-neglected Clinton Hill townhouse gets a total glow-up and a $5.5M ask

By Michelle Cohen

Built in 1899, the pale green wood-frame townhouse at 175 St. James Place has, for years, stood in a neglected state, leaving passersby to wonder what its fate would be. After a lengthy top-to-toe renovation, the three-story, single-family townhouse is dressed and ready for its 21st-century debut, asking $5,500,000. The 22-foot-wide home spans 4,500 square feet, along with a large private backyard.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

For $9M, a Noho penthouse that captures the spirit of the neighborhood’s past, and then some

By Michelle Cohen

Built in 1893, the six-story loft at 21 Bond Street, anchored by a street-level shop in the Noho Historic District, is a classic example of the neighborhood's commercial Renaissance Revival architecture, with brownstone piers framing its cast-iron storefront with Palladian-inspired second-story windows above. Asking $8,995,000, this top-floor unit has been completely overhauled to become a modern-day home, surrounded by the carefully revealed original character of the loft.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

30+ furniture finds for easy holiday hosting

Photo by Nicole Michalou via Pexels

November 10, 2025

30+ furniture finds for easy holiday hosting

By Michelle Cohen

Whether you live in a huge loft or a tiny apartment, hosting holiday dinners can be a great way to bring friends and family together–and put your culinary (or food-finding) skills on display. The food is often the main event, but a meal needs a great frame to allow guests to mix and mingle. The key to successful hosting is to survey your space and make it as people-friendly as possible. Below are our picks to get your space ready for dinner party success.
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Color, drama, and detail define this $12.5M Upper East Side co-op

All photos courtesy of Shannon Dupre

November 6, 2025

Color, drama, and detail define this $12.5M Upper East Side co-op

By Michelle Cohen

This eight-room, 3,250-square-foot home in the classic 535 Park Avenue co-op residence is a fine example of gracious pre-war proportions and glamorous interior design. Shades of sepia, gray, aubergine, and violet, accented by dramatic patterns and burnished gold, form a color palette created by interior designer Danielle Richter. Asking $12.5 million, the sprawling co-op offers both a Park Avenue address and 21st-century luxury.
space, pattern, texture and color, this way

Distinctive Homes

Famous skinny house in the Village is back on the market for $4.2M

Photo credit: MW Studio for Sotheby’s International Realty

November 4, 2025

Famous skinny house in the Village is back on the market for $4.2M

By Michelle Cohen

At just nine-and-a-half feet wide, New York City’s narrowest townhouse at 75½ Bedford Street is once again for sale, asking $4,195,000. The historic 1873 townhouse is known as much for its famous past residents as for its narrow size. Known as Millay House, it has been home to poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, anthropologist Margaret Mead, and cartoonist William Steig, as well as screen luminaries Cary Grant and John Barrymore. The townhouse has since been renovated for modern living, making the most of its slender proportions.
Tour this storied village home

Distinctive Homes

Rendering courtesy of Paul A. Castrucci Architect

November 4, 2025

New $21M home for Lower East Side’s ABC No Rio art space tops out

By Michelle Cohen

After breaking ground in summer 2024, construction began for a new home for ABC No Rio, the iconic DIY punk rock venue and arts/cultural space that had been a fixture on the Lower East Side’s street scene since 1980. On Friday, leaders and volunteers from ABC No Rio joined city officials to celebrate the “topping out” of their new home at 156 Rivington Street. The $21 million facility, funded by the city, will replace the tenement building previously occupied by the venue. The new building, designed by Paul A. Castrucci Architects and scheduled to open in late 2026, will meet LEED Silver and Passive House energy efficiency standards.
find out more

Photos courtesy of The Corcoran Group

November 3, 2025

For $1.2M, this Park Slope brownstone co-op gets the top-floor perk of a private roof deck

By Michelle Cohen

Living on the top floor of a historic townhouse has its advantages and trade-offs. Atop a 20-foot-wide brownstone at 117 Park Place in Park Slope, this one-bedroom co-op is a walk-up, but a private rooftop terrace makes the climb worthwhile. Asking $1,175,000, the pre-war home has plenty of historic warmth, like a wood-burning fireplace, with modern updates for livability.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

This $18.5M penthouse is Village living on a luxury level

Photo credit: Evan Joseph Studio for The Corcoran Group

October 31, 2025

This $18.5M penthouse is Village living on a luxury level

By Michelle Cohen

The Greenwich at 65 West 13th Street may be the perfect example of the homes you'll find in 21st-century Greenwich Village, a one-time bohemian enclave known more for colorful street life than pricey penthouses. Asking $18.5 million, this dazzling duplex atop a curve-cornered pre-war loft building offers a private rooftop terrace from which to survey the surrounding neighborhood, and a sprawling terrace for dining and dancing 12 stories above it.
penthouse tour, this way

Distinctive Homes

This $599K Ditmas Park co-op has a ‘secret’ private park

Photos courtesy of The Corcoran Group

October 30, 2025

This $599K Ditmas Park co-op has a ‘secret’ private park

By Michelle Cohen

This bright top-floor co-op at 570 Westminster Road, asking $599,000, has pre-war details and a creative layout that makes the most of its floor plan. The building may not have every modern amenity, but residents get a rare urban oasis in the form of a secret private garden with winding paths, shade trees, a gazebo, and seating.
take the elevator to the top floor

Distinctive Homes

For $5M, be the first new owner of this historic Cobble Hill wood-frame home in 40 years

Photo credit: Andrew Brincka | DD Reps

October 29, 2025

For $5M, be the first new owner of this historic Cobble Hill wood-frame home in 40 years

By Michelle Cohen

There aren't many well-preserved wood-frame townhouses left in the city, and this circa 1842 home at 34 Bergen Street is a fine example. The two-family home hasn't changed hands in 40 years, though it has been lovingly updated by the current owners while retaining its original details. Asking $4,995,000, the four-story home in the heart of Cobble Hill offers outdoor space in the form of terraces and a backyard, and plenty of options for one- or two-family living.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Lily Allen’s Brooklyn townhouse is for sale for $8M

Photo credit: Hayley Ellen Day

October 28, 2025

Lily Allen’s Brooklyn townhouse is for sale for $8M

By Michelle Cohen

The celebrity news cycle is abuzz with the drama surrounding the breakup of singer Lily Allen and actor David Harbour (Hopper on "Stranger Things") after four years of marriage. Her just-released album gives voice to the star-crossed pairing and its demise–the New York Post calls it a "revenge album"–with the Carroll Gardens home at 381 Union Street symbolizing the blissful early days of the couple's brief union. Asking $7,995,000, the 22-foot-wide brownstone got a top-to-toe renovation by architect Ben Bischoff of MADE–and a not-for-everyone makeover by AD100 designer Billy Cotton.
get a closer look

This $4.5M Sutton Place penthouse has a wraparound terrace and a literary pedigree

All photos courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

October 27, 2025

This $4.5M Sutton Place penthouse has a wraparound terrace and a literary pedigree

By Michelle Cohen

On the top floors of a pre-war co-op at 444 East 52nd Street, on a quiet cul-de-sac between Beekman and Sutton Place, this duplex penthouse is Manhattan living at its most iconic. A sun-drenched terrace wraps the home on all sides; from the windows, there are Manhattan skyline and East River views. Within is a rich literary history: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dorothy Parker once called this elegant residence, now available for $4,500,000, home.
repeat the past in this literary refuge

Distinctive Homes

For $5.5M, a gallerist’s Soho loft is the perfect backdrop for your art collection

Photo credit: Evan Joseph at Vibra Inc.

October 24, 2025

For $5.5M, a gallerist’s Soho loft is the perfect backdrop for your art collection

By Michelle Cohen

Soho's live-work artist lofts are hard to find these days, but this co-op at 519 Broadway is a classic. It's currently owned by gallerist and art collector Lio Malca, who recently opened the gallery 60 White. Asking $5,500,000, the 4,000-square-foot loft spans the entire second floor. White walls and 17-foot ceilings contrast with dark wood floors for a dramatic gallery effect, with an elevated mezzanine open to the space below. The co-op currently has one bedroom and a home office, but like all lofts, it can be configured as needed.
soho loft living, this way

Distinctive Homes

For $2M, a Boerum Hill co-op with a colorful Scandi kitchen

All photos courtesy of Matthew Gordon Studio

October 22, 2025

For $2M, a Boerum Hill co-op with a colorful Scandi kitchen

By Michelle Cohen

This two-bedroom home at 320 State Street in Boerum Hill is a classic brownstone floor-through with northern and southern exposures. Asking $1,995,000, the top-floor apartment is the home of award-winning director Gregory Brunkalla, who brought color and European flair to the timeless Brooklyn co-op.
get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

A celebrated artist’s Upper East Side co-op asks $4.75 million

Photo credit: MW Studio for Sotheby’s International Realty

October 21, 2025

A celebrated artist’s Upper East Side co-op asks $4.75 million

By Michelle Cohen

A duplex loft co-op with an artistic pedigree is now on the market. Asking $4,750,000, the Upper East Side co-op at 130 East 67th Street has been the longtime home of celebrated sculptor Joel Shapiro and his wife, artist Ellen Phelan. The New York City-born Shapiro, who died this year at 83, is known for his spare sculptures made from wooden beams. The creative pair enhanced the two-floor pre-war apartment with a thorough renovation featuring timeless details like casement doors and windows of steel and beveled glass, and an architectural staircase.
tour this classic, creative home

Distinctive Homes

Sky mansion with dramatic curves on Billionaires’ Row asks $10M

All photos courtesy of Tim Waltman (Evan Joseph photography)

October 20, 2025

Sky mansion with dramatic curves on Billionaires’ Row asks $10M

By Michelle Cohen

If you're aiming for a condo high above Midtown's famous Billionaires' Row at 252 East 57th Street, you'll already be expecting a certain level of living; this four-bedroom home delivers, with dazzling views, top-tier amenities (like a pool and spa), and room for memorable events. There's even a terrace tucked away off the living room, so you and your guests can experience Manhattan's iconic skyline beneath the open sky. Asking $9,995,000, the sprawling residence adds some unexpected curves for standout appeal.
check out the view from here

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