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.

August 29, 2016

$1.4M Chelsea duplex has lots of charm and a magical garden, but a few flaws

By Michelle Cohen

If you're looking for an apartment that's, as the saying goes, "perfect for one person or a couple," this charming Chelsea co-op at 335 West 21st Street looks to be every bit the "jewel box oasis" the listing claims. On a prime and pretty block near the High Line, asking $1.395 million, this one-bedroom-plus-den duplex has been optimized for livability–if you can live with a few flaws.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

August 26, 2016

With $2.5 billion in Brooklyn real estate, Hasidic investors are a formidable gentrification driver

By Michelle Cohen

We hear so frequently about the players behind Manhattan’s billion-dollar real estate projects and how foreign investors are pouring a global vault's worth of currency into New York City property, often shielded by LLCs. It's illuminating to get a closer look at the city’s larger real estate landscape–one that has changed so much in recent decades–and learn who's behind the soaring property values, skyrocketing rents, frenzied flipping and veritable horse-trading that has driven the unprecedented and transformative gentrification beyond Manhattan’s rarified development scene. A recent story by The Real Deal titled “Learning and earning: Hasidic Brooklyn’s real estate machers” reveals that a huge slice of the borough’s real estate pie is owned by the Hasidic community. The ultra-orthodox sect reportedly includes some of Brooklyn’s wealthiest property owners, to the tune of $2.5 billion.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

August 26, 2016

$3.5M Boerum Hill carriage house comes with a three-family townhouse in the front for rental income

By Michelle Cohen

And that's only one of the many possibilities for this unusual Brooklyn property. On a quaint and classic Brooklyn block in Boerum Hill, this three-family row house at 104 Butler Street is currently being used as a source of income from three separate apartments. Through the picturesque garden at the back, a three-story, four-bedroom carriage house is occupied by the home's current owners. A new owner could leave the setup as-is, use both of these 19th-century houses as a multi-generational home for family, or create condos in the front, with many more options imaginable. The ask is $3.45 million.
See some of the interiors and get ideas

Distinctive Homes

August 25, 2016

Bad tech: Landlords use stalker-like surveillance to weed out ‘risky’ tenants

By Michelle Cohen

6sqft recently covered the practice of offering landlords “blacklists” of tenants who may have withheld rent or taken action against previous landlords. Now Quartz reports on the growing use of screening software services and surveillance technology that lets landlords know if prospective tenants have recently arrived from another country, what their social media profiles say about them and even how often they’ve been hitting the bars. Could high-tech data collection and surveillance tools become as dangerous to the diversity of communities as redlining was decades ago?
Is this as scary as it sounds?

Policy

August 25, 2016

Will a (rent stabilized) Williamsburg address make a shower in the kitchen hip?

By Michelle Cohen

It's always fun when yet another listing with a shower in the kitchen surfaces; 6sqft has covered versions of the quirky New York City phenomenon previously. The East Village and LES are the usual suspects, and this Bed-Stuy brownstone home makes the kitchen shower look positively chic. But once again, lovely, expensive Williamsburg draws the short straw. For a mere $1,574 a month ($1,604 for a two-year lease), you, too, can discover the joys of the shower beer. To be fair, the one-bedroom at 18 Skillman Avenue has some definite selling points. It's rent stabilized, for one, and the neighborhood is popular, convenient (except for that year without the L train) and fun.
The apartment's actually pretty cute

August 24, 2016

This 1927 city subway map shows early transit plans

By Michelle Cohen

If you're navigating the NYC subway and wishing you could start from scratch, these map outlines from 1927 might prove interesting. Found by hyperreal cartography, the maps, from the state's Transit Commission Office of Chief Engineer, outline the "plan of existing and proposed rapid transit lines" for New York City. What's shown on the map appears to be the Independent Subway System; the ISS or IND, as it was known, was first constructed in 1932 as the Eight Avenue Line. As one of the three networks that was integrated into the modern New York City subway, the IND was meant to be fully owned and operated by the city government, as opposed to the privately-funded Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) companies. The three lines merged in 1940.
Investigate the possibilities

August 24, 2016

Rent this fabulously curated Village loft with civilized co-op amenities for $4,000 a month

By Michelle Cohen

The look is architect's design meets artsy loft at this one-bedroom co-op in the International Tailoring Company Building at 111 Fourth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Modern finishes provide a backdrop for cool collections and funky details (like a baby blue retro Smeg refrigerator), while the overall result "exudes a refined aura of contemporary city living." The "duplex" has a classic loft setup, meaning it's comprised of a sleeping loft perched above the apartment's main space. Located at the crossroads of Greenwich Village, the East Village and Union Square, it's not a spot for peace and quiet, but it gets top marks for supreme convenience to just about everything downtown Manhattan has to offer, which might make the $4,000 rent worthwhile. And unlike some historic loft buildings, this particular co-op offers an elevator, a doorman, laundry on every floor, and two landscaped roof decks.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

August 22, 2016

Off the avenue: Is Park Avenue losing its edge in the office market?

By Michelle Cohen

Park Avenue has for decades been the office district of choice for many of the city's high-profile–and high-rent–corporations. But a recent Crain's article points to impending departures–such as the decision of investment firm Black Rock to decamp for new space in Hudson Yards or the World Trade Center, raising the question of whether the avenue's biggest office zone, from East 45th to East 59th streets, is falling out of favor with big-ticket business tenants. The city's office market is, without a doubt, changing. Industries like tech are growing and the financial industry is consolidating and in some cases downsizing its office space. The neighborhood, which charges the city's highest average rents, has been slow to catch up with the needs of new office tenants.
People moving out, people moving in

Real Estate Trends

August 22, 2016

Scarlett Johansson looks to the Cielo for an Upper East Side rental

By Michelle Cohen

Scarlett Johansson, the all-time highest-grossing actress on the planet with movies that have pulled in over $3.3 billion, is reportedly looking for an Upper East Side home for herself, hubby Romain Dauriac and daughter Rose. Among the neighborhood's rental offerings to spark the actress's interest was a three-bedroom corner unit in the Cielo at 450 East 83rd Street, according to the Post. The 21st-floor pad offers enviable views and sunlight through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Take a look

August 19, 2016

Video: Take a gritty summertime subway ride to Coney Island–in 1987

By Michelle Cohen

From the archives of '80s NYC nightlife videographer Nelson Sullivan comes this summertime classic video. Young Village Voice writer Michael Musto, artist Albert Crudo, and photographer Liz Lizard with her two kids in tow join Sullivan on the trip to Coney Island from Manhattan on a very different subway than we're used to today (h/t acapuck via Reddit). Their destination, too, won't look the least bit familiar to anyone who's visited the aforementioned beach destination in recent years, though there are many among us who fondly remember the beautiful decay of the boardwalk environs and the thrill of its garish attractions in the pre-MCU, pre Keyspan days. We never tire of checking out the graffiti-covered cars and fellow riders who probably only look more menacing. And at some moments if you don't look too hard, everything appears pretty much the same: The noise, the heat, the underground grit–and the fact that when it comes to fashion, everything a few decades old looks cool and new again.
Take a day trip to the '80s

History

‘Game of Thrones’ star Michiel Huisman conquers $2.2M Flatiron loft

By Michelle Cohen

Dutch actor Michiel Huisman, well-known for his role as rugged lover/fighter Daario Naharis on HBO's "Game of Thrones," has purchased a big, sunny corner loft in the Macintyre Building at 874 Broadway in the Flatiron district for $2.2 million, according to Luxury Listings and city records. Like the character Huisman portrays, the two-level loft is charmingly rough at the edges yet undoubtedly handsome.
See the loft from more angles

Celebrities

August 18, 2016

Kim and Kanye try to snag $30M Airbnb pad for free

By Michelle Cohen

Airbnb certainly doesn't mind giving celebs free lodgings; Kardashian satellites Kylie and Kendall Jenner recently stayed gratis in a Turks and Caicos villa hosted by the home share site in return for posting bikini-ed beach shots on social media, and now according to a report by the Post, Kim K. and hubby Kanye West have been in negotiations with the company to stay for $0 in a big-ticket Manhattan penthouse for several months this fall. A source at Airbnb told Page Six: “The plan would be for Kimye to live there for a few months for free, and Kim will post on social media about the apartment," with Airbnb picking up the tab for the listing.
Find out where they're looking

Celebrities

August 18, 2016

For $887K in Prospect Heights, Chilled Out ‘Fuzzy Nap Zones’ for Non-Celebrities

By Michelle Cohen

6sqft covered celeb mom/lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow's infamous $14 million Tribeca loft with its luxurious lounge vibe and what she calls "fuzzy nap zones." Here in–arguably just as desirable–Prospect Heights, this surprisingly flexible two-plus-bedroom co-op at 130 Prospect Place is sun-filled and laid back, with plush chill-out zones of its own for a much less one percent-y price of $887,000. With 1,165 square feet of space, a brand new roof deck, and Prospect Park a few blocks away, this laid-back lair looks to be quite a catch.
Hang out, stay awhile

Distinctive Homes

Tenant Blacklists Stack the Deck Against Renters in an Already Unfair Equation

Image by Jorbasa Fotografie / Flickr

August 17, 2016

Tenant Blacklists Stack the Deck Against Renters in an Already Unfair Equation

By Michelle Cohen

In a tight market, landlord blacklists, where owners are called out for sleazy–or worse–practices may have little impact if renters are desperate to find living quarters. But at least they have a choice. The New York Times reports that “blacklists” containing names of tenants who have run afoul of landlords in the past have created a bias against potential tenants to the point where the home-hunters–even those with stellar credit, a clean record and a perfectly good explanation–feel they have no chance of finding an apartment anytime soon. Going beyond background and credit checks, a database known to housing advocates and lawyers as the tenant blacklist provides prospective landlords throughout the country with a means to, as the Times puts it, "weed out risky tenants." The list, however, is filled with errors and cases in which, for example, tenants legally withheld rent due to unlivable conditions and later won their cases. But without explanation, the list can make renting an apartment an impossibility.
Is this even legal?

Policy

August 17, 2016

Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber Swap Cute Amagansett Cottage for $5.4M Montauk Beachside Retreat

By Michelle Cohen

The hot Hollywood couple may be downsizing as far as the number of bedrooms they'll have, but they’re getting ocean views from everywhere in the house. As 6sqft reported, Watts and Schreiber put their stylish six-bedroom Amagansett cottage on the market for $6 million back in December. Now, 27East reports they’ve purchased a four-bedroom house further out on the Island in boho-trendy Montauk. The 3,600-square-foot home, for which the award-winning actors paid $5.4 million, sits on a half-acre across the street from the beach and abuts a 100-acre nature preserve. Similar to their former retreat, there's a heated gunite pool and pool house, a chef’s kitchen and garage parking.
Take a look inside this elegant beach house

August 16, 2016

City Says Yes to Bronx Complex, No to Flatiron Site for Affordable Housing Plan

By Michelle Cohen

The New York City Planning Commission has voted to approve a boutique condominium project on Manhattan's west side without the mayor's new Mandatory Inclusionary Housing plan in place, the New York Times reports; a much larger development in the Bronx also got the green light, and will be among the first to be included in the new affordable housing program. 6sqft reported previously on the controversy over whether a 17-story condominium slated to replace a parking lot and two low rise buildings at 6th Avenue at West 18th should be among the first recipients of the mayor’s new mandatory inclusionary housing (M.I.H.) program. Both the city and the project's developers, Acuity Capital Partners, made the argument that the proposed project is “more of a rejiggering of the zoning than an enlargement,” and therefore does not fall under the M.I.H. rules.
Find out more

August 16, 2016

Flexible West Village Co-op Has Lots of Outdoor Space and a Bit of Mid-Century Charm

By Michelle Cohen

This furnished co-op at 256 West 10th Street offers flexible lease terms, but the attractive, understated West Village apartment is flexible in other ways–and even manages to throw a few curves. On the rental market for $12,500 a month, the unusual home's three bedrooms–one in an enclosed loft–are joined by a small office/study, and adventurous architectural details add more space for living between rooms. The 1,600-square-foot Hudson Mews apartment's steep rent is undoubtedly based on its location behind a gated courtyard on a block where the streets toss off their rigid grid and boast some of the city's finest restaurants, shops and historic buildings. The enviable landscaped private courtyard and lushly planted roof deck won't send anyone running, either.
See more of this off-the-grid co-op

Distinctive Homes

August 15, 2016

Food Network’s Ina Garten Buys Former House & Garden Editor’s Park Avenue Pad for $4.65M

By Michelle Cohen

In November 6sqft featured the Upper East Side co-op at 563 Park Avenue listed by Nancy Novogrod, former editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure magazine and Condé Nast’s House & Garden, and her husband, John, noting the just-right decor and roll-up-your-sleeves renovated kitchen. The Observer reports that sleeves will indeed be rolled up in the marble-topped chef's paradise, as Food Network's Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten and her husband, Yale University dean emeritus, Jeffrey, have purchased the two-bedroom home for $4.65 million.
Take another look at the couple's new Park Avenue pied a terre

August 14, 2016

Design Firm Décor Aid Helps a Soho Couple Turn an Outdated Duplex Into a Modern Multitasking Home

By Michelle Cohen

While the company's name might sound like a designers' fund-raising rock concert, the method offered by design firm Décor Aid simplifies renovation and redecorating for clients like the Soho resident who needed to hit refresh on the downtown Manhattan apartment that serves so many functions for himself and his girlfriend–and their four-legged companion. The stale duplex emerged as a stylish and user-friendly home base, office and entertaining space with the help of these savvy and straight-shooting design pros.
See more of the striking results

August 12, 2016

Triarch Uses Lipstick Hues and Gallery Walls to Meld Two Downtown Apartments

By Michelle Cohen

At this Beekman Street residence, two small apartments had been combined into one large one by a previous owner. Architecture and design firm Triarch reworked the floor plan to better connect the apartment's series of separate rooms. The end result combines candy-coated pops of pink, red and purple, eye-popping art and contemporary finishes to make the home feel playful and creative, as well as livable.
See more of the interiors this way

August 12, 2016

The Real Estate Loopholes That Let Donald Trump Look Penniless on Paper

By Michelle Cohen

As chatter surrounding Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's refusal to make his tax returns public grows louder, the New York Times explains what all the fuss is about, pointing out that while he's under no legal obligation to open up the books to public scrutiny, every presidential candidate has chosen to do so since Richard Nixon. Despite the hundreds of millions in gross revenue from his vast real estate holdings, there's a good chance that Trump has paid little–perhaps even zero–federal income tax in past years. The interesting point is that technically the candidate hasn't done anything "wrong," but rather is in the business of doing business, and that business is real estate. The opportunities that real estate can provide for the wealthy to legally avoid forking over the taxes that their incomes would otherwise dictate they pay are numerous, from hiding behind LLCs to swapping real estate purchases to avoid paying taxes.
Get the full scoop

August 11, 2016

Sting and Trudie Styler Buying 220 Central Park South Triplex

By Michelle Cohen

The NY Post reports that Sting and Trudie Styler are in negotiations to purchase a condo in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed 220 Central Park South. The tantric twosome aren't new to the parkside circuit; they're currently among the significant celebrity contingent at the also-Stern-designed 15 Central Park West, where the pop star purchased a 5,413- square-foot penthouse for $26.5 million in 2008.
Find out more

Celebrities

August 11, 2016

$2.8M Tribeca Pad Will Remind You Why You Love Lofts

By Michelle Cohen

The big open rooms, tall ceilings, warm exposed brick and ductwork, private elevator entry and solid-walled prewar construction in this two-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot Tribeca co-op at 36 North Moore Street provide a refresher course in loft love. And while the loft details are hard to miss, the apartment, listed at $2.8 million, has been renovated for comfort and luxury with new fixtures, central A/C and new walnut floors.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

August 10, 2016

Mapping Subways, Buses, and Free Transfers in One Place

By Michelle Cohen

One MetroCard. One map. Done.This new set of maps from map obsessive Anthony Denaro shows all the ways we can use the New York City transit system's unlimited MetroCard and transfers in one convenient, color-coded place. This includes both subways and buses, and important junctions where you can transfer within and between them. Included are all NYC transit services that can be accessed with an unlimited MetroCard. As the map's creator puts it, "Millions of NYC residents live beyond a 15-minute walk to a subway station. Hundreds of thousands of people start their commute by boarding a bus and then transferring to the subway. This is a map for us. One complex transit map, for one complex transit-reliant city."
The map, and the idea behind it

Transit

August 10, 2016

Revealed: Kenneth Park Architects Reimagine Penn Plaza as a Vibrant Public Space

By Michelle Cohen

The past decade has seen an increasing effort to transform New York City's under-utilized–and sometimes dismal–public spaces into pedestrian plazas and other vibrant and attractive public oases. From Columbus Circle and Times Square to Downtown Brooklyn's Willoughby Street, new car-free spaces encourage passersby to linger and enjoy their surroundings. Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), one of the city's biggest landlords, has been working on a similar transformation of the urban sprawl that surrounds Penn Station and Madison Square Garden by implementing kiosks, seating and attractive architecture. Now, CityRealty.com has revealed new renderings from Kenneth Park Architects (KPA) showing their ideas and recommendations for repositioning retail space and optimizing pedestrian and vehicular circulation.
Take a look at the reimagined Penn Plaza

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