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.

January 30, 2016

A Well-Considered Layout Makes This $3.8M Tribeca Loft Feel Like Home

By Michelle Cohen

Though $3.8 million is no bargain for a two-bedroom apartment–even a 1,900 square-foot loft in pricey Tribeca–the layout of this sixth-floor penthouse at 38-40 North Moore Street gives it some unusual advantages. On the one hand there really isn’t a whole lot of "extra" space to play with; on the other, as it’s currently configured, the bedroom, bath and laundry portion of the home seems pleasantly sheltered and removed from the vast rectangular living/dining/entertaining area, conferring the feeling that it's a private wing for private life.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

January 29, 2016

Interactive Graph Compares L Train Commute Times and Rents With Other NYC Neighborhoods

By Michelle Cohen

We're hearing lots of anguish and anxiety over the possibility of an L subway shutdown for repairs for as long as a year or more, and we've taken a look at some possible solutions. Now, we've asked the real estate data geeks at NeighborhoodX to go a little deeper beneath the grumbling to find out just how much convenience can be had along that thin grey line, and how it stacks up against other neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. So which other neighborhoods offer commute times similar to the L train stops—and—just as important when choosing a neighborhood–how do their rents compare? And if you're living along the L, in light of the shutdown, what neighborhood alternatives do you have in the city that provide a similar commute?
Find out here

Image via Jason Farrar

January 29, 2016

Developers Rushed to Get Nearly 8,000 Permits Ahead of 421-a Tax Break Expiration

By Michelle Cohen

With the fate of the city's 421-a tax abatement remaining uncertain, developers scurried to obtain permits before the year's end, resulting in a number of permits granted in December that was more than four times the number issued the previous month, reports the Wall Street Journal. According to new U.S. Census figures, permits for 299 projects containing 7,781 residential housing units were granted during the month of December, indicating that as New York City’s most lucrative property-tax abatement approached its last hours, architects and developers rushed to get building permits and begin construction.
Find out more

January 28, 2016

NYC Creatives Pimp Out Their Pad on Airbnb With ‘Netflix and Chill’ Theme

By Michelle Cohen

With Valentine's Day approaching, the "Netflix and chill" pick-up line is going to be getting a lot of use, but this Airbnb listing takes the meme to a whole new level. New Yorkers Tom Galle, who works in advertising, artist Moises Sanabria, and Alyssa Davis, an engineer who works for Art404, have decked out Sanabria and Davis’s one-bedroom West Village apartment as a “Netflix and Chill” zone and put it on Airbnb for $400/night.
Any takers yet?

January 27, 2016

This ‘Map of Every City’ in the World Is Hilariously Spot On

By Michelle Cohen

Click here for the full-size version >> This “Map of Every City,” penned by Chaz Hutton (via Big Think) supplies us with a bite-sized answer to the question we’ve probably all asked at one time or another -- why do all major cities seem to be carbon copies of one another? And chances are there's at least one burg in your borough that fits the description of "Cool Area That Your Parents Would Have Avoided in the '80s."
Look familiar? Check out the full-size map here

City Living

January 27, 2016

Intergalactic Mill Basin Mansion Returns for $17M With a Two-for-One Deal

By Michelle Cohen

The StarMansion from “Star Trek: Mill Basin” has landed on the market once again after few interplanetary laps–one of which included a precipitous price-drop from $30 million to $17 million in 2014–this time even bigger and better with some stellar cargo added. The slightly notorious former mob manse currently belonging to the family of “the Russian-American Paris Hilton” (h/t Curbed) is also the one-time second-most expensive home in Brooklyn (after this massive pad at One Brooklyn Bridge Park). With some seriously tricked-out custom interiors and features like a "circular meditation room,” 257 feet of waterfront, indoor parking for six cars, a Lalique fireplace mantel, 1,000-square-foot pool, spa, outdoor pavilion with kitchen, three-boat marina and water views from every room, the waterfront mansion is still asking $17 million, but with a sweet two-for-one deal attached: The next-door “guest house” property–formerly listed at $8 million–is included in the price.
Take the journey

January 27, 2016

$33K/Month Penthouse With a Custom Koi Pond Is a Bit of Bay Ridge in Trendy Tribeca

By Michelle Cohen

If you've always dreamed of interior features like a "dramatic floating staircase rising a full three stories from a custom koi pond," a dangerously high number of marble-covered surfaces, and lots of shiny lacquered wood, but didn’t want to give up the sophisticated surroundings of Manhattan’s downtown Gold Coast, this triplex penthouse atop the striking 19th century brick building at 11 Vestry Street could be your jacuzzi-positive dream apartment. For $33,000 a month, this super-luxe Tribeca rental has undeniable perks–like four different outdoor spaces with amazing views–and a few opulent additions that are usually reserved for more far-out 'hoods like Bay Ridge.
See more of this marble-clad pad

Distinctive Homes

January 26, 2016

What to Do if Your Sidewalk Hasn’t Been Shoveled

By Michelle Cohen

If you're trying to get somewhere this week and there's a mountain of snow left by the weekend storm in your path, Mayor de Blasio wants to help. On Monday, in response to complaints about businesses with unplowed sidewalks, the mayor said that the city would "definitely be focusing today on businesses that aren't doing that–we will be applying fines to any business that does not shovel out” (h/t DNAinfo). City code states that "every owner, property manager, tenant or other individual in charge of a lot or building must clean snow and ice from the sidewalks in front, on the side of and in back of their properties within a certain time frame." The snow officially stopped falling at 3:30am on Sunday, meaning that anyone with shoveling to do had until 11 a.m. Monday to get the job done before the possibility of getting hit with fines.
So whose job is it, anyway?

January 26, 2016

$25K a Month Is the Price of Near-Perfection in This West Village Townhouse Triplex

By Michelle Cohen

Sometimes with listings, pictures just speak for themselves. This 2,250-square-foot West Village townhouse triplex at 407 Bleecker Street is a fine example. In addition to being in one of the city’s most covetable neighborhoods, this pretty, historic home checks all the boxes that might be on a tenant wish list. Modern but not aggressively so, grand without ostentation—the $25,000 a month rental price doesn’t surprise, though it might well put the three-plus-bedroom home out of reach for many. One might just bring up the fact that you’re not, in fact, getting the whole house; there’s a retail store at the street level, and the home is on the three floors above. There’s no yard (though there’s a sun deck, which really is just as good); the oodles of recessed lighting and ceiling speakers might not be to everyone’s taste–but then again you’re not buying the house. At 2,250 square feet it’s not exactly huge. But by Manhattan standards it's palatial.
See what else this townhouse has going for it

Distinctive Homes

January 25, 2016

Maisonette Meets Loft in This Central Williamsburg Duplex Asking $5,500 a Month

By Michelle Cohen

This duplex apartment at the Sophia Lofts at 234 North Ninth Street, a former bakery converted to 11 loft residences in 2007, has a private entrance on Williamsburg's bustling crossroads of Roebling Street. You can come and go as you like from your own slice of prime 'burg, a 1,480 square-foot duplex that will put you right in the middle of where all the action is, for $5,500 a month. The interiors are loft all the way, though there are plenty of custom comforts and chic additions that give the classic converted space a distinct modern personality.
See what's inside

Distinctive Homes

QUIZ: Answer 9 Questions to Find Out Which NYC Neighborhoods Best Match Your Lifestyle

By Michelle Cohen

Some of us are all too familiar with matching services where you provide info about yourself and you get back a list of, er, interesting possibilities. But sorting data to find your ideal neighborhood match could be especially helpful when home-hunting in New York City, given the mind-boggling set of choices–it makes sense to get potential picks from things that actually exist (like parks and grocery stores), rather than being hopefully embellished. From the neighborhood data entrepreneurs at PlaceILive comes match.placeilive.com, a newly-launched lifestyle-based home finder that matches you with your ideal New York City neighborhoods based on your answers to nine quick questions.
Find out which neighborhood's right for you

City Living

January 25, 2016

NYC’s 190 Miles of Scaffolding a Result of ’80s Law and Billion Dollar Industry

By Michelle Cohen

It definitely seems that every day, more of New York City is covered by the ubiquitous wood and steel building shed scaffolding, making daily life an urban obstacle course of weaving and tunnel trekking. It's not just your imagination: Currently there are almost 9,000 sheds camped out over city streets, reports Crains, based on numbers from the Department of Buildings, up from around 3,500 in 2003. That adds up to 190 miles–one million linear feet—worth of sheds, enough to encircle Manhattan six times. The city’s maze of construction sheds are the result of a 1980s law and a billion dollar industry that keeps growing. "New York is insatiable right now when it comes to sheds," says George Mihalko, a shed-equipment supplier. "I've never seen anything like it in 30 years." This demand is driven in part by the new wave of construction spurred by the city's building boom. But there is apparently another, more important reason.
Why don't the sheds ever go away?

January 22, 2016

Watch the Seasons Change in Three Directions From This Unusual Prospect Heights Co-op

By Michelle Cohen

When we're looking for a new home we're often hoping for something different and, well, special, especially after seeing space after generic space. This Prospect Heights pad at 296 Sterling Place is definitely unique. It's spacious at 1,400 square feet, with 13-foot beamed ceilings and windows everywhere with open views on all three sides–because the building has three sides. You get the elegant original details of a classic pre-war co-op (original parquet wood floors, for example), plus the exposed brick and beams you'd love in a loft. And with two bedrooms plus an office/third bedroom, there's room for everyone. Overall, charming modern updates and the above cool-old-building-of-the-day infrastructure–plus the fact that the perfect Prospect Heights location tops pretty much everyone's list–are the stuff bidding wars are made of. The ask–$1.799 million–could get you an entire townhouse worth of quirky charm a few years back, but not in Brooklyn of 2016.
Take a look around this unique space

Distinctive Homes

January 22, 2016

SOM Architects Reveal New Renderings of Hudson Yards-Adjacent Manhattan West Towers

By Michelle Cohen

Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has released new drawings of the Brookfield Properties-developed Manhattan West project located between 32nd and 33rd Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues, Dezeen reported today. The glass-clad Manhattan West towers–punctuated by green public space–will be rising next to the Hudson Yards development. The five-million-square-foot project will include two office towers, a rental tower with 844 apartments at 435 West 31st Street, retail space and a new landscaped public plaza designed by James Corner Field Operations, the firm responsible for the design of the High Line.
Take a look at the latest images

January 21, 2016

Colorful, Classic and Costly—This Full-Floor Flatiron Rental Loft Asks $9,800/Month

By Michelle Cohen

To be honest, we're finding this 2,500 square-foot full-floor rental loft in a pre-war Flatiron District building at 4 West 22nd Street super exciting... It's got a somehow just-right combination of gorgeous loft bones, creative-cool decor, lots and lots of space, and two actual bedrooms (that are decent-sized) plus possibly room to create a temporary third, actual closets, and a kitchen that looks like it can't wait to cook, party, or both at once; the neighborhood is a fortunate confluence of everything newly-trendy in Manhattan. The rent, it seems, has been assigned accordingly at $9,800—the owners are banking on plenty of people getting just as excited.
Take a look inside

January 21, 2016

Victoria’s Secret Angel Lais Ribeiro Struts Into $2.5M Chelsea Condo

By Michelle Cohen

Victoria's Secret Angel and top model Lais Ribeiro recently closed on a 1,279-square-foot, two-bedroom unit in the Karl Fischer-designed Slate condo at 165 West 18th Street listed at $2.49M (h/t NYP). The 25-year-old Brazilian model has walked for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs among others, and has a seven-year-old son, Alexandre. The unit–for which Ribeiro reportedly paid close to the $2.49 million ask–has a private balcony, walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, and Brazilian hardwood floors.
Check out the new model HQ

January 20, 2016

The Best Address for Less: Live in the Dakota for $1.85M

By Michelle Cohen

While it’s not exactly what we’d call affordable housing, you don’t have to be as rich as Yoko Ono or as famous as Lauren Bacall (whose apartment recently sold for $21 million) to live in the iconic Dakota overlooking Central Park. This pint-sized top-floor aerie on the Upper West Side offers a seriously rare chance to rub elbows with venerable co-op’s celebrity residents–and the memories of notable residents past–for a relatively earthbound $1.85 million. Though there’s still the nearly $3,000 monthly co-op fee to contend with, it’s not often that a space here that isn’t a storage unit finds its way to the market for less than four or five million at the very least; there are currently three eight-figure units listed, including Roberta Flack's pad and Judy Garland's former home. And the one-bedroom apartment itself is just the bright and elegant pre-war gem you’d imagine it to be.
Have a look around this rare little gem

Are Shuttle Buses a Viable Alternative to the L Train During a Shutdown?

Image via Allen1628famm/YouTube

January 20, 2016

Are Shuttle Buses a Viable Alternative to the L Train During a Shutdown?

By Michelle Cohen

The MTA’s announcement of possible plans to close the L train for months or even years at a time to repair the Hurricane Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel has businesses scrambling and commuters (the train has 300,000 riders on the average weekday) fearful. Data mapping company CartoDB offers a bit of “location intelligence” to better understand the consequences of a shutdown for people living in Brooklyn and, more importantly, what some realistic alternatives to the L train might be. For example, shuttle buses: "If the shuttle bus takes 20 minutes, we are able to calculate the best choices for riders along the L needing to get to Manhattan. Should they go all the way to Lorimer and take the shuttle bus or should they transfer earlier at Myrtle-Wyckoff to the M train or at Broadway Junction to the A?"
Will shuttle buses save the day?

Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week of March!

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

January 19, 2016

Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week of March!

By Michelle Cohen

The Port Authority has announced today in a press release that the World Trade Center Transportation Hub—anchored by architect Santiago Calatrava's Oculus–will open the first week of March. The hub will link the World Trade Center PATH station and "enable travelers to have a seamless connection with 11 New York City subway lines and the East River ferries in addition to access to PATH trains."
What about the mall?

January 19, 2016

The West Village In Springtime, Yours for $5,995 a Month in This Cozy Sublet

By Michelle Cohen

New York City is at its best in springtime, and we can't think of too many places that illustrate this better than the West Village. This furnished two bedroom co-op at 29 Perry Street is available for sublease from March through June, which is just about perfect, season-wise—as the listing gushes, "walking these blocks feels like being on a movie set." It's just a matter of whether the $5,995 monthly rent works, wallet-wise.
See what's here and what's missing

Distinctive Homes

Loophole Allows Developers to Build ‘Skyscrapers on Stilts’ to Give Residents Ocean Views

Image by CityRealty

January 18, 2016

Loophole Allows Developers to Build ‘Skyscrapers on Stilts’ to Give Residents Ocean Views

By Michelle Cohen

There has been plenty of heated discussion over the city’s latest supertall towers such as 432 Park Avenue, 111 West 57th Street, and 225 West 57th Street; they block light, alter the skyline and cast long shadows, for example. To add fuel to the fire, Crain’s reports today on a recent discovery in developers’ attempts to construct the tallest towers possible–with views above 700 feet that not only stretch south over Manhattan, but reach to the open Atlantic Ocean 14 miles in the distance. Currently, regulations govern how many square feet of livable space can be built on a development plot, which limits the height to which residential towers can rise. But rather than squandering those square feet on lower, less-in-demand floors, developers are vertically expanding the mechanical spaces used in their buildings–which don't count toward the square footage allotment. This allows them to start their apartments higher up, essentially "putting a skyscraper on stilts."
Start higher, build taller

Lower Income Residents of Extell’s ‘Poor Door’ Building Find Glaring Disparities

Image via One Riverside Park

January 18, 2016

Lower Income Residents of Extell’s ‘Poor Door’ Building Find Glaring Disparities

By Michelle Cohen

After receiving 88,000 applications for 55 affordable apartments last February, the residents chosen from among them have been moving in to the rental side of the 33-story luxury building at Extell Development's 50 Riverside Boulevard in Lincoln Square. The lower-income/luxury split sparked the heated “poor door” controversy due to the significant amenity differences and efforts to physically separate the two parts of the building (the rental, low-income portion of the building actually has a separate address of 40 Riverside Boulevard). Now, according to the Post, low-income tenants have been discovering that the differences are indeed notable.
A lavish lobby and a forbidden courtyard

January 18, 2016

This $3M Chelsea Loft Condo Works Two Ways, Depending on Your Lifestyle

By Michelle Cohen

This 1,500 square-foot modern loft in the Chelsea Mercantile building at 252 Seventh Avenue, with interiors by popular decorator and current owner Anthony Baratta, has at its center a 600-square-foot living room, making it the perfect home if you entertain regularly; a wall of windows in said living room also makes for an easy upgrade if you'd prefer to add another bedroom instead. That, plus the popular building's impressive landscaped roof deck and celebrity cachet have undoubtedly figured into its $2.995 million ask.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

January 15, 2016

With a Cool Renovation and a Sunroom, This Tiny East Village Home Transcends the Ordinary

By Michelle Cohen

It's probably a good idea to start off by saying that this quirky co-op at 228 East 13th Street is comprised of 300 square feet of interior space. That's about the same as the "large" model in most luggage sets. Ok, it's actually bigger than a suitcase, but not by much; that fact aside, there's a lot you can do with a small space. And if you're going to live in one, it might as well be a good one, in a great location–like a gorgeous brick-and-brownstone block of the East Village a few blocks from Union Square and actually near subways. With something special–like a sunroom.
Definitely worth further investigation

Distinctive Homes

January 15, 2016

Study Suggests Competition From Uber May Curb Cabbie Rudeness

By Michelle Cohen

Is the rise of car share services like Uber and Lyft making taxi drivers nicer? The Washington Post reports that according to research presented this week by the Technology Policy Institute's Scott Wallsten, complaints are down in New York and Chicago, including those about general rudeness, busted A/C, and that bit about the credit card machine not working. The drop in complaints corresponds with the rise of availability of Uber and Lyft in those cities, they claim.
What are New Yorkers complaining about less

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All articles by Michelle Cohen

A Well-Considered Layout Makes This $3.8M Tribeca Loft Feel Like Home

Interactive Graph Compares L Train Commute Times and Rents With Other NYC Neighborhoods

Developers Rushed to Get Nearly 8,000 Permits Ahead of 421-a Tax Break Expiration

NYC Creatives Pimp Out Their Pad on Airbnb With ‘Netflix and Chill’ Theme

This ‘Map of Every City’ in the World Is Hilariously Spot On

Intergalactic Mill Basin Mansion Returns for $17M With a Two-for-One Deal

$33K/Month Penthouse With a Custom Koi Pond Is a Bit of Bay Ridge in Trendy Tribeca

What to Do if Your Sidewalk Hasn’t Been Shoveled

$25K a Month Is the Price of Near-Perfection in This West Village Townhouse Triplex

Maisonette Meets Loft in This Central Williamsburg Duplex Asking $5,500 a Month

QUIZ: Answer 9 Questions to Find Out Which NYC Neighborhoods Best Match Your Lifestyle

NYC’s 190 Miles of Scaffolding a Result of ’80s Law and Billion Dollar Industry

Watch the Seasons Change in Three Directions From This Unusual Prospect Heights Co-op

SOM Architects Reveal New Renderings of Hudson Yards-Adjacent Manhattan West Towers

Colorful, Classic and Costly—This Full-Floor Flatiron Rental Loft Asks $9,800/Month

Double turreted condo in a Central Park West castle is a quirky NYC dream home for $10.5M

Victoria’s Secret Angel Lais Ribeiro Struts Into $2.5M Chelsea Condo

The Best Address for Less: Live in the Dakota for $1.85M

Are Shuttle Buses a Viable Alternative to the L Train During a Shutdown?

Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week of March!

The West Village In Springtime, Yours for $5,995 a Month in This Cozy Sublet

Loophole Allows Developers to Build ‘Skyscrapers on Stilts’ to Give Residents Ocean Views

Lower Income Residents of Extell’s ‘Poor Door’ Building Find Glaring Disparities

This $3M Chelsea Loft Condo Works Two Ways, Depending on Your Lifestyle

With a Cool Renovation and a Sunroom, This Tiny East Village Home Transcends the Ordinary

Study Suggests Competition From Uber May Curb Cabbie Rudeness

9 DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn

All articles by Michelle Cohen

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