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.

February 16, 2016

Waterfront Neighborhoods Fear Proposed BQX Streetcar Would Favor ‘Tourists and Yuppies’

By Michelle Cohen

Recent news has focused on plans announced by Mayor De Blasio for a streetcar line, dubbed the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX), to connect “underserved, but booming” areas of the boroughs. The city’s plan would run for 16 miles along the East River, from Astoria to Sunset Park, at a projected cost of $2.5 billion, serving bustling commercial hubs like the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Long Island City, as well as providing access for about 45,000 public housing residents. With concerns from local businesses and residents growing, the Times looks to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, an already-existing streetcar line in New Jersey that travels from Bayonne through Jersey City and Hoboken to Weehawken. It's been moving passengers for over a decade and today serves 46,800 passengers on a typical weekday. By most accounts it's been a success, helping employees get to work (with a skyline view, no less) and encouraging development in areas along the waterfront that had suffered from blight and neglect. Two rivers over, it's the areas through which the proposed "BQX" would travel that are the subject of some concern.
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Transit

Vaults Under the Brooklyn Bridge Once Held Private Wine Cellars

Image via Stanley Greenberg

February 16, 2016

Vaults Under the Brooklyn Bridge Once Held Private Wine Cellars

By Michelle Cohen

We know the cavernous passageways and underground chambers of the Brooklyn Bridge hold many secrets–6sqft previously mentioned the Cold War-era bomb shelter, chock-full of supplies and provisions, hidden inside one of the massive stone arches below the bridge’s Manhattan side entrance. But the landmark also harbors a more pleasant secret: In the 1900s, the city rented out vaults beneath the ramps leading up to the bridge entrances for use as wine cellars (h/t NYT). A wine vault on the Manhattan side cost $5,000 a year, while Brooklyn-side storage was a mere $500 annually.
The full story

History

February 16, 2016

$775K Ridgewood Duplex Is an Urban Loft on the Brooklyn-Queens Border

By Michelle Cohen

Those who stake their claim beyond the fringes of New York City's upscale or trendy enclaves aren’t looking for the same things their more mainstream counterparts are. Every neighborhood can’t be the West Village–or even the Brooklyn version of it. Looking for lower prices and cheaper rent calls to the adventurous–Andy Warhol and his crew carved out their Factory scene in Midtown, for example. Similarly, in the ‘90s, a flock of young space-seekers moved into former industrial spaces in Bushwick. Ridgewood was a bit further on the L and so its notable population of new residents came a little later, but they brought the same spirit. Even for the early Bushwick crowd, Ridgewood, the quintessential border town, is different, with its mix of streetscapes from historic row houses (Ridgewood has one of the largest federal historic districts in the nation) to industrial blocks much like the one on which you’ll find this one-bedroom condominium at 852 Cypress Avenue on the Ridgewood-Bushwick border.
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Distinctive Homes

February 12, 2016

Office Romance by the Numbers: Which Professions Are Pairing Up

By Michelle Cohen

If you’ve got the urge to merge, it might be time for a career change. With the romance-obsessed holiday around the corner, the folks at Bloomberg Business delved into the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey to find out which professions are pairing off. To that end, they've created a fascinating interactive chart that reveals the most common occupation/relationship marriage matchups for any selected occupation. Some findings aren’t surprising: "High-earning women tend to pair up with their economic equals, while middle- and lower-tier women often marry up. In other words, female CEOs tend to marry other CEOs; male CEOs are okay marrying their secretaries."
So Who's Marrying Whom?

City Living

February 12, 2016

Rent the Landmarked Clinton Hill Townhouse From ‘White Collar’ for $7,995/Month

By Michelle Cohen

This wood-frame townhouse at 106 Cambridge Place in historic Clinton Hill is in much better shape than some of its nearby Civil War-era brethren, many of which have been shored up and shined up with modern conveniences, leaving little remaining of their 19th century details. This 1860s house, however, is both gracefully preserved and filled with modern comforts both practical and stylish. Another distinction: The house appeared on the TV series "White Collar," as the home of FBI Agent Peter Burke. This five-bedroom, 20-foot-wide townhouse, after being listed for sale for $2.89 million last year, is now on the rental market for $7,995 a month. Since the listing refers to the upper triplex, we're assuming the garden apartment is either separately rented or otherwise used by the owners.
Take a look around

February 12, 2016

Buyout Legends: Developers Paid 15 CPW Hermit Holdout $17M to Move Into a Free Apartment

By Michelle Cohen

What do you do when you're a developer who has a 52,000-square-foot property with one tenant...who won't leave? While we've all heard legends about holdouts in rent-controlled apartments getting big buyouts from deep-pocketed developers, none to date could beat the good fortune of Herbert J. Sukenik. The reclusive septuagenarian lived in his 350-square-foot apartment (which happened to have four exposures and Central Park and two river views) at the Mayflower Hotel for three decades. But he ended up walking away with $17 million, the most money ever paid to a tenant to leave a New York apartment, and walked into an almost-free, 2,200-square-foot, 16th-floor home in the venerable Essex House on Central Park South.
So what happened?

History

February 11, 2016

Penny Marshall Lists $5.5M UWS Penthouse With Terrace, Views and a Fireplace in the Bathroom

By Michelle Cohen

Director, actress, producer and “Laverne & Shirley” star Penny Marshall is parting ways with the Upper West Side penthouse at 470 West End Avenue that she purchased back in the early 1980s. Marshall just listed the 1,800-square-foot penthouse with a wrap-around terrace and Hudson River views for $5.5 million. The Bronx-born actress, who has been based on the left coast for some time, used the two-bedroom pad as a pied-a-terre, and it certainly makes an impressive one. Though the interiors don't appear to have been updated recently, dramatic pre-war details (11-foot-plus beamed ceilings, wood-burning fireplaces, paneled doors and original hardware) and 1,050 square feet of private outdoor space don’t ever go out of style; with some updating, this will definitely be a "Big" beautiful space.
Check out the rest of the penthouse

February 10, 2016

Live in a Former Bed-Stuy Underwear Factory With City Views and Rustic Flair for $895K

By Michelle Cohen

This converted two-bedroom condominium is located within a former industrial building in an equally industrial, but rapidly changing, stretch of Bed-Stuy near the Clinton Hill border, with the Navy Yard just to the north. In what was once the Kaiser Underwear Factory at 970 Kent Avenue, you'll find open city views, 12-foot ceilings, a wall of city-facing windows and wide-plank wood floors setting the stage for a cool loft feeling. Recently renovated by the current owner, the home's interior has been transformed into quite a unique living space, and it's now on the market for $895,000.
See the whole space

Distinctive Homes

February 9, 2016

For $1.2M This Cobble Hill Garden Co-op Is a Perfect Place to Curl Up for a Nap

By Michelle Cohen

In the charming neighborhood of Cobble Hill near the border of equally charming Brooklyn Heights, on a tree-lined picture-postcard street, this sweet, old-fashioned (yet updated) garden apartment appears as cozy as they come. The 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom co-op at 119 Pacific Street, asking $1.195 million, looks–except for the price (which isn't even that bad)–almost the way apartments in this part of south Brooklyn used to look, from its wood-burning fireplace to its enchanting backyard.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

February 9, 2016

Student Project Gets Subway Riders to Scratch and Sniff

By Michelle Cohen

"If You Smell Something, Smell Something Else." Those words introduce a handful of signs that have been popping up at a few subway stations around the city, including Canal Street, Herald Square and Union Square. And most people, quite frankly, would rather do just that, if they had a choice...and now they do. School of Visual Arts graphic design student Angela Kim was acutely aware of this fact, and she decided to add a few more to the collection.
What's that smell?

Mapping 22 Million Citi Bike Rides Across NYC

By Michelle Cohen

Software Engineer Todd W. Schneider is a super data geek in his spare time, analyzing New York City’s publicly available stats on topics like the transportation system. Recently, he took a closer look at the Citi Bike system (h/t Untapped), which clocked over 10 million rides in 2015–22.2 million rides from July 2013 through November 2015–making it one of the world's largest bike share systems. Schneider's findings spotlight general trends in Citi Bike usage and give us the big picture, via charts, maps and some fascinating animation, on the migrations and tendencies of our busy population of blue and white bikes.
See where all those bikes are going

February 8, 2016

Brooklyn’s Most Expensive Rental Ups Its Price to $29K/Month

By Michelle Cohen

The listing calls this 6,300-square-foot Brooklyn Heights townhouse at 11 Cranberry Street, for rent at $29,000 a month, "five floors of fabulous.com." We'd hope it lives up to the praise: The meticulously restored and painstakingly designed historic home is available furnished, for short or long term, and the asking rent (up from last summer's $25K monthly ask) makes it the borough's most expensive rental. The pretty–and pricey–neighborhood, transcendent bridge and river views, and proximity to Brooklyn Bridge Park already count for a premium. In addition to historic bones and soaring ceilings, the home has designer flair and up-to-the-millisecond modern conveniences like "an epic 5 zone Sonos music system" (though with five stories, we're noting the lack of an elevator).
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

February 7, 2016

$6M Newswalk Duplex Loft Has a Private Screening Room

By Michelle Cohen

The somewhat anomalous Newswalk building at 535 Dean Street in Prospect Heights was developed by the somewhat notorious Shaya Boymelgreen (who, for the record, is not known for aesthetically pleasing designs) just before the neighborhood became popular. The condo conversion named for its former life as the 1927-built New York Daily News printing plant doesn’t fit into any of the latest crop of easily dismissible residential building categories. There’s a certain credibility to be had, both from an invasive and a pioneering spirit in this complex neighborhood. And that makes its residences unique if a little confusing. This latest offering is no exception. The two-bedroom penthouse loft's interior design looks more Manhattan than Brooklyn, which may help explain the asking price of $5.9 million. Private outdoor space goes on for days, as does the list of building amenities–and there are a few surprises.
So what's with that home theater?

Distinctive Homes

February 5, 2016

UES Townhouse With Hermès Leather Walls and Smoking Room Could Set Record at $84.5M

By Michelle Cohen

Somerset Partners’ Keith Rubenstein just put his 15,000-square-foot townhouse at 8 East 62nd Street on the market for $84.5 million, outdoing Carlos Slim's $80 million listing. The luxury-filled Upper East Side home is one of the city's priciest townhouse listings ever (h/t WSJ), and if it fetches the listing price it would set a Manhattan townhouse record, besting the Harkness Mansion’s 2006 $53 million sale. In addition to marquetry flooring inspired by those at Pavlovsk Palace in St. Petersburg, there are his and hers suites, a basement spa and gym, and a pretty unique modern art collection (see the massive KAWS bunny sculpture in the living room). Some off-the-wall features include red Hermès leather walls, a smoking room equipped with ventilation system, and a dressing room with a lighted handbag display and temperature-controlled fur vault.
Check out the rest of the zany house

February 5, 2016

432 Park Avenue’s First Recorded Sale Just Became Its First Listed Rental for $60K a Month

By Michelle Cohen

Less than a month after 432 Park Avenue recorded its first sale at $18,116,000, the first unit to close at the Billionaires' Row blockbuster has appeared on the rental market for $60,000 a month (h/t Curbed). As 6sqft previously reported, "The unit is #35B, a massive 4,003-square-foot, three-bedroom pad with four-and-a-half baths, a private elevator landing, and 10-foot by 10-foot windows providing southern and western exposures with park views." It was purchased via an LLC, 432 PARKVIEW, but now that it's been re-listed as a rental, it's also the first apartment whose interiors we get a peek at outside the generic, digitally-enhanced promotional images that accompany listings.
Take a look at the generic, non-digitally-enhanced interiors

February 5, 2016

Combine This Matched Pair of UES Townhouses for a $22M Mega-Mansion

By Michelle Cohen

Last year, three massive UES townhouses were marketed for megamansion potential and listed for $120 million, and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought this sprawling townhouse combo for his own makeshift manse. Now, here's an opportunity to combine a pair of more modest–though by no means small–late-1800s townhouses for an Upper East Side mansion of your own, albeit on–let's call it a more human scale (forgetting for a moment that some lucky human gets to live in 6,700 square feet with 38 feet of frontage.). When you first see this matched pair of houses side-by-side at 159-161 East 82nd Street, you're struck by their charm and how much they epitomize the neighborhood's tree-shaded, brownstone-lined blocks. The fact that both four-story homes are for sale as a package deal for $22 million presents a mind-boggling list of options. There are even alternate plans that show you where to put a cellar pool (plus a sauna and a gym)!
Take a look inside

They Paved Washington Square Park and Put Up a Parking Lot

Image via NYU Local

February 4, 2016

They Paved Washington Square Park and Put Up a Parking Lot

By Michelle Cohen

It's true: Washington Square Park was, in part, Washington Square parking lot. In the 1960s, at the peak of the nation's car culture fixation, the Greenwich Village park was put into use as a parking lot, until cars were finally banished altogether in the 1970s, when the large circular plaza around the fountain was added. Some say the parking lot was an effort to keep hippies from gathering in the beloved public space.
Find out more

February 4, 2016

Sarah Jessica Parker Peeps Shephard Condo Conversion in West Village

By Michelle Cohen

She's no Little Bo Peep, but according to the Post, SJP and hubby Matthew Broderick may be flocking to the Shephard, a new condo conversion at 275 West 10th Street. The 19th century warehouse and former rental building is in the process of being converted to luxury condominiums by Naftali Group. On a pretty tree-lined West Village street, the 38-unit Shephard boasts interior design by Gachot and oversized arched windows; a definite possibility for Parker would be one of three penthouses currently listed at the building, starting at $18.5 million. The pair sold their Greenwich Village townhouse for $18.25 million last year (they'd bought it for $19 million in 2011–and apparently never moved in.)
See what's cool about the Shephard

Celebrities

February 3, 2016

Interactive Website Lets You Listen to New York City in the Roaring ’20s

By Michelle Cohen

We love looking at footage from 1920s New York City and watching the bustling street life from a bygone era, but we aren't nearly as familiar with its sounds. The Roaring Twenties, "an interactive exploration of the historical soundscape of New York City," created by historian Emily Thompson, compiles a wealth of historic data to re-create and share the city's sonic history, giving context to the sounds of the city in the 1920s and '30s. In an introduction, there’s a quote from a 1920 New York Times article that speaks of how the city was “defined by its din."
Learn what the site has to offer

February 3, 2016

For $23 Million You Can Be Donald Trump’s Downstairs Neighbor

By Michelle Cohen

A sprawl-o-rama of a penthouse a few floors below the Donald’s Trump Tower apartment is on the market for $23 million, but you’re paying for dizzying views and a palatial floor plan, not proximity to the building’s progenitor–though he did once own the apartment back when it was home to his mom and pop. It’s also rumored (according to Page Six) that Trump rented the pad out to his pal Michael Jackson and his new bride Lisa Marie Presley for $110,000/month back in the day, so you’ve got all sorts of party tidbits to go with your ridiculously enormous apartment. And if your dream is to re-live the '80s like a boss (and by that we mean nonagenarian dowager), the 3,725-square-foot, four-bedroom pad is ready for your key in the door. Otherwise you might want to do a little renovation.
See the whole spread

Distinctive Homes

February 2, 2016

Escobedo Solíz Studio’s Wild ‘Woven’ Design Will Fill MoMA PS1’s Summer Courtyard

By Michelle Cohen

MoMA has announced that the Mexico City-based architecture firm Escobedo Solíz Studio was selected as the winner of the 2016 Young Architects Program (YAP). Chosen from five finalists, the winning project,"Weaving the Courtyard," will create a "temporary urban landscape" for the 2016 Warm Up summer music series in MoMA PS1's outdoor courtyard in Long Island City, beginning in early June. The site-specific architectural intervention will use the courtyard’s concrete walls to generate both sky and landscape, with embankments in which platforms of soil and water suggest the appearance of a unique topography. The architects describe their project as "neither an object nor a sculpture standing in the courtyard, but a series of simple, powerful actions that generate new and different atmospheres."
Find out more

February 2, 2016

$985K Renovated UWS Co-op Checks a Lot of Boxes; Just Hope You Don’t Have to Carry Them

By Michelle Cohen

When you’ve got a recently- and well-renovated three-bedroom co-op on the Upper West Side, a block from Central Park with low monthly fees, and it’s under $1 million, it’s pretty safe to say "this won’t last!" This fresh-faced, turn-key, pre-war home at 113 West 96th Street was just listed at $985,000, and while there are pros and cons, it looks like a super-comfortable place to live in a classic Manhattan neighborhood that gets an A-plus for convenience.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

February 1, 2016

$3,400/Month Greenpoint Waterfront Mini-Loft Is Cozy and Cool With Killer Views

By Michelle Cohen

The once-sleepy waterfront neighborhood of Greenpoint is in the midst of a transformation into one of the most coveted and talked-about Brooklyn 'hoods. The Pencil Factory condominium at 122 West Street was one of the first conversions of the area's historic industrial buildings. Built in 1872 and expanded in 2012 from the original Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory complex, the name of the building was also used by artists, designers and other creatives who had studios in the building. The $3,400 per month rent may seem high for this sophisticated-yet-comfortable one-bedroom-plus pad, but with popularity comes higher rent.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

February 1, 2016

Why Is There a Sixth-and-a-Half Avenue in Midtown?

By Michelle Cohen

If you've never heard of it, that may be because this quarter-mile, pedestrian-only street is nearly hidden among the office towers of Midtown. Sixth-and-a-Half Avenue was the first fractional street in the city’s grid system, created in 2012 by the Department of Transportation to encourage people to use the public plazas and covered areas that form a path between 51st Street to 57th Street.
So where is it?

Graphs Show How Skyscrapers Relate to Their Cities–and Whether We Need More of Them

Graph: The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

February 1, 2016

Graphs Show How Skyscrapers Relate to Their Cities–and Whether We Need More of Them

By Michelle Cohen

Tall buildings help make cities great. Except when they don’t. Citylab looks at a new study and graphs that show where skyscrapers fit into what makes cities great–and suggests that the middle is where the magic happens. 2015 was a record year for the skyscraper; 106 tall buildings (higher than than 656 feet) went up across the globe, according to The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), more than in any previous year; emergent countries that appeared at the forefront of the global economic stage with the dawn the 21st century (China, Indonesia, UAE, Russia) show a big uptick in building upward. The majority of newly-built skyscrapers have risen in Asian nations—especially China–but the United States is in sixth place, with just two skyscrapers completed in 2015.
More infographics this way

Architecture And Design

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