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.
Alan Cumming Lists Charming, Quirky East Village Home for $2.2M
May 13, 2016

Alan Cumming Lists Charming, Quirky East Village Home for $2.2M

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"The Good Wife" star Alan Cumming is selling the East Village apartment that stole his heart when the Scottish-born actor first saw it back in 2005. Listed for $2.2 million, the four-bedroom co-op at 297 East 10th Street overlooking Tompkins Square Park definitely looks like the kind of place you could call home for at least a few years, a rare thing in the otherwise great neighborhood. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cumming and husband Grant Shaffer have been renovating a nearby 19th-century townhouse that they bought in 2013 for $4.65 million, and the time seemed right to part with this cozy co-op.
Have a look
Preserved Stuyvesant Heights Brownstone Was Jackie Robinson’s First Home in Brooklyn
May 12, 2016

Preserved Stuyvesant Heights Brownstone Was Jackie Robinson’s First Home in Brooklyn

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Besides being a newly-hot neighborhood, Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant holds one of the city's finest collections of historic brownstones. Though many beautiful homes didn't survive the neglect of the late 20th century, many that did have been remarkably preserved or painstakingly restored to their original splendor. One of the highest concentrations of those impressive townhouses can be found in the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in the south-central part of the neighborhood. It's here that you'll find this landmarked four-story home at 407 Stuyvesant Avenue, just arrived on the market for $2.875 million. According to the listing, baseball icon and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson lived here, and the brokers tell 6sqft that this was his first residence in Brooklyn. They add that when the current owners moved in, they found a treasure trove of memorabilia. So let's just say this 20-foot-wide Romanesque Revival-style brownstone hits it out of the park when it comes to intact historic detail and unspoiled 19th century architecture.
Explore this central Brooklyn treasure
That Time a NYC Bus Driver Said %#$# It, I’m Driving This Bus to Florida
May 11, 2016

That Time a NYC Bus Driver Said %#$# It, I’m Driving This Bus to Florida

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If you’ve ever fantasized about leaving work at lunchtime and heading for a faraway beach, you probably know you’re not alone. Though many dream, the afternoon more likely finds us stifling a yawn in that meeting instead of watching the runway grow smaller in the distance. But collectively we love the idea enough that there are few who wouldn’t make a hero of New York City bus driver William Cimillo, a 37-year-old married father of three from the Bronx who, in 1947, drove into the pages of history by taking life by the you-know-whats and giving himself a “busman’s holiday.” The term refers to a vacation where you’re basically doing the same stuff you’d be doing at work anyway, which is just what Cimillo, a driver on the BX15 bus route, did when he drove all the way to Florida.
We hope this story ends well
Behind This $1.25M Greenpoint Duplex Is a Barefoot Backyard Paradise
May 11, 2016

Behind This $1.25M Greenpoint Duplex Is a Barefoot Backyard Paradise

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You're thinking of living in Greenpoint; you've fallen in love with the neighborhood. If the magical words, "two bedrooms plus office," and "outdoor space" don't get you to investigate further, you're not trying hard enough to make it happen. This nicely-outfitted duplex at 687 Leonard Street in the heart of north Brooklyn's waterfront paradise may not turn heads from the outside, but there are some pleasant surprises within.
Have a look
400-Bed Designer Dorm Headed for Williamsburg
May 10, 2016

400-Bed Designer Dorm Headed for Williamsburg

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When you spend your student years living in an architect-designed former car radio button factory in the ultra-hip Berlin neighborhood of Kreuzberg, face it, you’re just going to be a little spoiled for everything else. And it should come as no surprise that, thanks to a developer specializing in student living, students in de facto hipster sister city Williamsburg will be getting a similar opportunity to live in architectural bliss rather than institutional semi-squalor. New York City-based real estate development company Macro Sea piloted the design-friendly dorm—outfitted with found furniture and slatted ladder-style stairs–in Berlin's Kreuzberg district last year. FastCompany quotes company principal David Belt: "Most people build student housing and they want to build it as cheaply as possible and the furniture to be as rugged as possible, because they think that students will wreck it." Diverging from this idea, Belt's company "sought to create an environment that treats students as savvy global citizens rather than wards of an institution."
Student housing or co-living for adults, what's the difference?
The Elegantly Designed Interiors at This Carroll Gardens Brownstone Can Be Yours For $3M
May 10, 2016

The Elegantly Designed Interiors at This Carroll Gardens Brownstone Can Be Yours For $3M

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The location of this lovely Brooklyn townhouse at 357 Hoyt Street is a dream combination of breezy, funky Gowanus and quaint, historic and classic Carroll Gardens. Everything surrounding it is either pretty or cool (or both), and on top of being subway adjacent, the borough's flagship Whole Foods market is within just a few blocks. This enviable home is about as perfect as you can get if you’re a brownstone buff and you're not looking for four stories or a big yard. At three stories and 2,360 square feet, it's not huge, but space is used efficiently and it's still more spacious than many apartments at its asking price of $2.9 million. Renovated to perfection, the home’s interiors - designed by mother-daughter design team McGrath II - have been featured in both the New York Times home and garden section (according to the listing) and recently on 6sqft.
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Off the Beaten Path, This $1.8M Seaport Loft Keeps It Real
May 9, 2016

Off the Beaten Path, This $1.8M Seaport Loft Keeps It Real

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Though the appliances and fixtures are state-of-the-art, and lots of consideration has been given to comfort and daily life, this 1,000-square-foot lower Manhattan loft at 330 Pearl Street is no "loft." It's just the sort of authentic downtown space your cool friends lived in when they moved to the city back in the late '80s, with its flexible open spaces (or lack of actual rooms, depending on how you look at it), industrial finishes, big windows, beams, brick, white, and custom-built almost-everything. And though it's less common to find a loft like this on the market in the places you might have back then (Soho, Noho, Tribeca), the Seaport comprises a rare corner of the city that's geared up for growth but still a bit undefined–perhaps the perfect spot for an authentic loft.
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Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Brownstone Purchase LLC Tells of Escaped Slaves’ Brave Journey
May 9, 2016

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Brownstone Purchase LLC Tells of Escaped Slaves’ Brave Journey

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Atlantic Writer, National Book Award winner and MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient Ta-Nehisi Coates recently made an appearance in real estate news; Coates, who is among today's most prominent writers on African-American issues, and his wife recently purchased a landmarked five-bedroom townhouse in Prospect-Lefferts Garden for $2.1 million. Not one to miss an opportunity to explore a facet of cultural history, the couple worked an interesting story into the LLC they used to purchase the property, DNAinfo tells us. Buyers commonly register Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) to purchase property in order to conceal their identities (celebrities, for example, or when making a big-ticket buy), and LLC names are often mundane, using the name of the property itself. But the Coateses LLC, "Ellen and William Craft Excursions LLC” has an inspiring tale behind it: The Crafts were an escaped slave couple from Georgia in the 19th century. Disguised as a white male slave owner and his slave, they escaped to Philadelphia in 1868.
Find out more
L Train Shutdown: MTA Will Decide in Three Months Which Way to Make Riders Suffer
May 6, 2016

L Train Shutdown: MTA Will Decide in Three Months Which Way to Make Riders Suffer

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The MTA announced at a town hall meeting Thursday night that they would "decide in the next three months at most" on the final details for the planned Canarsie Tunnel work to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy that would halt L train service west of Bedford Avenue, according to DNAinfo. The agency is considering two options: shutting down service for that portion of the line completely for 18 months, or having partial service that would give only "one in five passengers service to Manhattan" (or 20 percent of current service) and last up to three years.
Find out more about your hellish subway-less nightmare choices
Former Bushwick Factory Gets a Stunning Designer Upgrade, Asks $3.5M
May 6, 2016

Former Bushwick Factory Gets a Stunning Designer Upgrade, Asks $3.5M

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Bushwick has gained an international reputation for its creative and innovative culture; artists have lived and worked here for decades (long before Vogue magazine ponounced it hip), and the neighborhood's low-rise industrial infrastructure lent itself to the creation of open workspaces. Though we'd be more likely to see an impeccably designed carriage house on the market for $3.5 million in a neighborhood like Cobble Hill, rising property values and creative residents have always been inseparable. This converted two-story Swiss Army knife of a building at 326-328 Menahan Street justifies its ask by offering the "ultimate live/work home." The home's renovation was undertaken by its current owners, Norwegian artist Haavard Homstvedt and Stine Christiansen Homstvedt, an interior designer. Its 6,000 square feet are definitely configured unconventionally; the meticulous remodel that created this unique property is as modern and as creative as the pair behind it.
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489 New Units of Affordable/Elderly Housing to Rise on Land in Brooklyn and the Bronx

Photo via Wiki Commons

May 5, 2016

489 New Units of Affordable/Elderly Housing to Rise on Land in Brooklyn and the Bronx

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The de Blasio administration is expected to announce plans to lease New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) land to build nearly 500 apartments for low-income and elderly tenants in three buildings of up to 16 stories within existing housing projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to the New York Times. The sites, on parking lots and grasslands within the projects, were included in the housing authority's initiative to improve deteriorating public housing, as well as increase the number of new affordable units. More controversial plans are also in the works to add market-rate housing within public housing projects in prime real estate locations.
Find out more
A Quiet Oasis on the West Village’s ‘Sex and the City’ Block for $720K
May 5, 2016

A Quiet Oasis on the West Village’s ‘Sex and the City’ Block for $720K

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Home to movie stars, models, moguls, designers and plenty of lucky mortals in possession of a small fortune (at the very least), the West Village is one of New York's most sought-after neighborhoods. This one-bedroom co-op at 77 Perry Street on the famed "Sex and the City" block is all sunbeams and charm when the afternoon sun shows off its exposed brick walls, 10-foot ceilings and beautifully restored original hardwood floors. Its ask of $720,000 definitely reflects the neighborhood's cachet, but anything with even a memory of six figures in this neighborhood could be considered a find.
Get a closer look
432 Park Avenue Reveals Glowing White Cube for Retail Space
May 4, 2016

432 Park Avenue Reveals Glowing White Cube for Retail Space

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While most of the news surrounding Rafael Viñoly's iconic 432 Park Avenue has been about big ticket closings at the Billionaire's Row blockbuster with a $3.1 billion projected sellout, developer Macklowe has revealed more about what the news-making skyscraper's 130,000 square feet of retail and office space, divided over several floors, will look like. Adding an even more attention-getting element to the tower, a portion of the building's retail space will be located in a two-story white glass cube at the corner of East 57th Street and Park Avenue.
Find out more
$14M Gilded Age Mansion in Murray Hill Was the Home of J.P. Morgan’s Attorney
May 4, 2016

$14M Gilded Age Mansion in Murray Hill Was the Home of J.P. Morgan’s Attorney

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Most of New York City's grand and historic homes have been altered for modern-day use as apartments, libraries, hotels, diplomatic buildings and the like. And when it comes to those that have remained as opulent single- or multi-family homes, most have changed hands so many times that we don't know much about their history. That is not the case for this massive 9,300-square-foot townhouse across the street from the Morgan Library. The home was originally the residence of J.P. Morgan's attorney John Trevor, Sr. and is currently in use as a 10-unit apartment building–albeit a rather special one with some unique spaces like a private office and a gorgeous rear parlor with symphony-ready acoustics and 13-foot ceilings. Whoever purchases the home, on the market for $14 million, could create a vast five-story mansion (there's already an elevator), or any number of alternate configurations–but they'll still have great sound in that back parlor.
The neighborhood blows up, then the lawyers move in
VIDEO: A Visit to the ‘Creepy’ Depths of the ‘90s Subway Finds Some Things Haven’t Changed
May 3, 2016

VIDEO: A Visit to the ‘Creepy’ Depths of the ‘90s Subway Finds Some Things Haven’t Changed

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Here’s a video that drops a subway token on the dark ages of 1990, when the city's underground transit system may have been a little “creepy,” but buses still took forever. While our ideas of what’s merely unruly (afterschool hordes) and what’s downright dangerous (the NYPD, eek!) may have been changed by the intervening years, it’s interesting to note the things that have stayed the same (capacity crowds on the Lexington Avenue line). Our host, a Fonzie-meets-Geraldo-esque Newsday columnist by the name of Ellis Henican, skims the surface of the many, many things that are going on below it in the city’s subway tunnels of the day, including ghost stations, locked restrooms and more.
Find out what's changed, what hasn't and what's still creepy
Late Portrait Artist Aaron Shikler’s UWS Co-op in the Iconic Studio Building Asks $7.8M
May 3, 2016

Late Portrait Artist Aaron Shikler’s UWS Co-op in the Iconic Studio Building Asks $7.8M

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Late portraitist Aaron Shikler is best known for his classically gorgeous paintings of the American elite, most notably an official White House portrait of Jacqueline (then) Kennedy as First Lady and (posthumously) President John F. Kennedy as well as paintings of notables like Lady Bird Johnson, the Duchess of Windsor and the portrait of Ronald Reagan that appeared on Time magazine’s Man of the Year cover in January 1981. The Brooklyn-born artist and his wife, who died in 1998, lived at the standout Studio Building cooperative at 44 West 77th Street overlooking Central Park for over 50 years with their family. Shikler passed away last year at 93, and since ownership appears to have been transferred to the couple's two children in 2013, we'll assume they're the ones who have just put this classically grand three-bedroom Upper West Side co-op on the market for $7.795 million. Among the most thrilling of its many assets is the light-filled, enormous art studio where Shikler worked. The artist's fascinating paintings are visible throughout the apartment (though we doubt they're part of the deal).
Take a look around this creative co-op
Study: Hudson Yards Will Add $18.9 Billion to the City’s GDP
May 2, 2016

Study: Hudson Yards Will Add $18.9 Billion to the City’s GDP

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According to a recent study, economic activity at the $20 billion Hudson Yards West Side development–the nation's largest construction site–will contribute $18.9 billion to the city–more than the gross domestic product of Iceland ($15.3 billion), Crains reports. The study, commissioned by the project's developer, Related Cos., predicts that the companies projected to occupy the massive project that will stretch between West 30th Street and West 34th Street along the Hudson River will generate economic activty in the form of, among other things, salaries for new jobs and money paid to the MTA by the developer both during the 14-year construction period and once the development is complete in 2025.
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This $7,600/Month West Chelsea Duplex Has a Secret Garden and a Hidden Bedroom Bar
May 2, 2016

This $7,600/Month West Chelsea Duplex Has a Secret Garden and a Hidden Bedroom Bar

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As the weather warms and green things begin to grow, thoughts turn to our own gardening fantasies. Whether you've got a green thumb or a license to grill (with apologies to Mike D), with the private garden of a picturesque 1900s West Chelsea townhouse at 411 West 22nd Street all to yourself, what more do you need? This interesting custom-designed garden duplex has its quirks, and it's a rental so there's no long-term commitment necessary.
Take a tour
Charming $1.15M Greenpoint Garden Duplex Arrives Just in Time for Spring
April 29, 2016

Charming $1.15M Greenpoint Garden Duplex Arrives Just in Time for Spring

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If you find yourself drawn to the idea of living in Greenpoint, you're definitely not alone. An afternoon in the neighborhood that was until recently a sleepy north Brooklyn Polish enclave on the waterfront with artists' lofts and good schools would convince almost anyone that it's a perfect place to call home. There's a building boom happening along the river, new ferry service has arrived and the G train is becoming the popular underdog. All of that makes this two-bedroom condominium at 182 Huron Street a hot prospect, though the 1,250-foot duplex with a landscaped garden makes a good case all on its own.
More Greenpoint living this way
Website Launches for New City-Wide Ferry, Win a Free Annual Pass
April 29, 2016

Website Launches for New City-Wide Ferry, Win a Free Annual Pass

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The new city-wide ferry system is on schedule to launch in summer 2017, and ahead of that launch, the ferry service, which will be run by the San Francisco-based Hornblower, has launched their new website. Visitors can find out about the ferry, and, more importantly, enter to win a free annual pass. Winners will be announced when the service launches next summer. The site features updates, public meeting info, maps and schedules, and postings for more than 150 jobs that will be created by the new service.
Find out more
Don’t Look Up: Would Traffic Signals in the Pavement Protect NYC Phone Gazers?
April 29, 2016

Don’t Look Up: Would Traffic Signals in the Pavement Protect NYC Phone Gazers?

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We've already seen the creation of texting lanes for smartphone addicts (in Antwerp, Belgium and Chongqing, China) so pedestrians don't have to be stuck behind someone hunting for the perfect emoji. Recently the German city of Augsburg has taken the step of actually installing traffic lights in the pavement so text-walkers could be made aware of when it's unsafe to walk–by which we mean they're about to walk into the path of a 50-ton train. The idea came about after a 15-year-old girl was fatally hit by an oncoming tram while wearing headphones and looking down at her smartphone. As reported in The Telegraph, the lights look like ordinary road markers, but flat to the ground. Bavarian public-works/transportation provider Stadtwerke Augsburg has installed the experimental earthbound traffic signals in two rail stations. The LED lights blink green when it's safe to walk and red when a train is approaching. They're visible from a distance, so they might even give pedestrians some lead time to realize an intersection is up ahead.
Find out more
Ozzy Osbourne Meets Hansel and Gretel in Video Director Johan Renck’s $3M Tribeca Loft
April 28, 2016

Ozzy Osbourne Meets Hansel and Gretel in Video Director Johan Renck’s $3M Tribeca Loft

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With classic industrial loft bones and downtown shabby chic interiors, this big, bold loft at 79 Worth Street in Tribeca is asking $3.1 million. At 1,909 square feet, there's plenty of room to choose between shabby and chic, and to be fair, the decor is not only on-trend but fairly awesome. According to records, the current owner is noted Swedish video director Johan Renck (he's worked with everyone from David Bowie and Madonna to Karl Lagerfeld and directed episodes of "Breaking Bad"), who purchased the loft in 2009 for $1.5 million. We don't know if he's responsible for the apartment's current look, but we can definitely see both a creative and a Scandinavian influence.
Check out the rest of the loft this way
Transit Think Tank Says MSG Move Could Be a $5B Example of ‘Architects Run Wild’

Rendering for a proposed new MSG by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

April 27, 2016

Transit Think Tank Says MSG Move Could Be a $5B Example of ‘Architects Run Wild’

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Moving MSG to make room for a bigger, better Penn Station train hub would be really expensive and probably not a good idea, according to a new report by transit think tank Rudin Center for Transportation Policy. Commercial Observer reports that the just-released study outlines the concern that moving the arena would come with a price tag of over $5 billion, take, like, forever, and would generally "become an urban planner’s worst nightmare." The study refers to the proposed overhaul of Pennsylvania Station and the idea of extending it to the post office off Eighth Avenue as well as suggestions by urban planners for relocating MSG.
So what's going to cost so much?
Cheery Two-Bedroom in Boerum Hill Asks Less Than a Million
April 27, 2016

Cheery Two-Bedroom in Boerum Hill Asks Less Than a Million

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Though not by much -- this pretty second-floor, two-bedroom co-op on a prime Boerum Hill street comes in at $925,000, to be exact. Friendly and quaint yet urban and diverse, this neighborhood was pricey and sought-after long before Brooklyn nabes were vying for “coolest in the world” status. The apartment for sale at 368 State Street has plenty going for it in the looks department. Pre-war details like decorative moldings, high ceilings and hardwood floors complement interiors that have been updated for modern comfort. It’s only one flight upstairs, and a common roof deck even puts outdoor space into the equation.
Get a closer look
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