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.

Photo credit: Alkenz courtesy of Artechouse

February 6, 2020

‘Submerge’ yourself in Pantone’s Color of the Year at this hypnotic Chelsea installation

By Michelle Cohen

With a press preview on February 4, Artechouse NYC kicked off its 2020 season with "Submerged," an immersive installation inspired by Pantone Color of The Year 2020, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue. The new Chelsea art space dedicated to immersive digital art launched the exhibition during New York’s Fashion Week, and it will be on view until February 23, 2020. Artechouse opened in September in the 6,000-square-foot boiler room beneath Chelsea Market’s main concourse.
Immersion, submersion and multi-sensory exploration, this way

Events & Things To Do

For $588K this Upper East Side co-op is chic, efficient and totally New York City

Photo credit: Al Siedman of VHT, courtesy of The Corcoran Group

February 5, 2020

For $588K this Upper East Side co-op is chic, efficient and totally New York City

By Michelle Cohen

It's easy to overcomplicate things when it comes to real estate, but this Upper East Side co-op at 333 East 66th Street keeps things simple. It's basically an alcove studio, but custom-designed built-in storage makes great use of every inch of space. A recent designer renovation makes it easy on the eyes, and a high floor means light and city views.
Have a look around

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‘Pressed: Images from the Jewish Daily Forward’ tells the story of American Jews in the early 20th century

Lower East Side Matzoh Line, 1930; image courtesy of the Museum at Eldridge Street.

February 5, 2020

‘Pressed: Images from the Jewish Daily Forward’ tells the story of American Jews in the early 20th century

By Michelle Cohen

An exhibition now on view at the Museum at Eldridge Street shares a treasure trove of photographs and documents from the Jewish Daily Forward, a newspaper that has been published on the Lower East Sid since 1897–and today still thrives in digital format. For over 120 years, the Forward was the go-to source for news, culture, and opinion both global and everyday for New York City's Jewish community. The printed paper's deep archives trace its history and the stories it covered in "Pressed: Images from the Jewish Daily Forward."
Find out more

K-pop boy band BTS brings Antony Gormley’s ‘New York Clearing’ to Brooklyn Bridge Park

Antony Gormley, “NEW YORK CLEARING,” 2020; Approximately 18km (11mi) of 25.4mm (1in) square section aluminum and steel spigots. Installation view, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 3, New York City, 2020. Photograph by Christopher Burke. © the artist

February 5, 2020

K-pop boy band BTS brings Antony Gormley’s ‘New York Clearing’ to Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Michelle Cohen

Top British sculptor Antony Gormley's "giant drawing in space" opened Wednesday at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 3 as part of an international public art project, Connect, BTS. The project is a collaboration between popular South Korean boy band BTS, who introduced the project's New York City installation, and a select group of artists in cities around the globe. The installation, "New York Clearing" (2020), will be open to the public from February 5 to March 27, 2020.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

A private sleeping nook makes this $400K Park Slope studio feel like a one-bedroom

Photo credit: Elizabeth Dooley for Lisa Garcia and Cindy Fazio, Compass

February 4, 2020

A private sleeping nook makes this $400K Park Slope studio feel like a one-bedroom

By Michelle Cohen

Along the hip "main drag" in the heart of Park Slope, this charming co-op at 285 Fifth Avenue is priced like a studio, asking $400,000, but a separate internal sleeping area keeps the one-room-living blues at bay. What's more, monthly maintenance is only $290, so your monthly outlay won't overwhelm, even in this pricey, though heavenly neighborhood.
See all the angles

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This $10M Hudson Valley equestrian estate is spread across 150 acres

Photo credit: Ren Nickson/Heather Croner Real Estate/Sotheby’s International Realty

February 3, 2020

This $10M Hudson Valley equestrian estate is spread across 150 acres

By Michelle Cohen

Grace Hill Farm, an equestrian estate in Millbrook, NY, in the Hudson Valley, is a horse-lover's fantasy world set on five combined parcels of land spread over 150 secluded acres. On this skillfully curated property, asking $9.95 million, are six ponds, a stream and miles of trails for walking and riding. Well-trimmed gardens surround a postcard-worthy three-bedroom English-style main house. What makes this property special, however, is its state-of-the-art equestrian facility.
Saddle up and check it out

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Photo credit: H5 Property, courtesy of Compass.

January 31, 2020

This Upper West Side brownstone co-op gives you three levels to love for $725K

By Michelle Cohen

Tucked into one of the elegant brownstones that, along with stately apartment buildings, line an enviable Upper West Side block, this one-bedroom home at 169 West 73rd Street has pre-war charm–with a twist. On the second floor of a brownstone co-op building, the space has a main living area, a step-down kitchen and dining area, a lower bedroom, and a lofted home office/bonus room, fitting more rooms into what would be a more limited space if it were on just one level.
Look up, look down

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This $2.5M Gramercy co-op comes with a key to the park and an opportunity to buy the place next door

Photo credit: DDReps, courtesy of Compass.

January 30, 2020

This $2.5M Gramercy co-op comes with a key to the park and an opportunity to buy the place next door

By Michelle Cohen

First things first: If you should happen to move into this elegant pre-war residence at 34 Gramercy Park East, we hope you like Jimmy Fallon. Because he owns five apartments in the building (Richard Gere also owns a unit here). Built in 1883, it's also NYC’s oldest co-op, known for its Aesthetic Movement architecture and stunning lobby with a Tiffany glass ceiling. The $2.495 million asking price for this two-bedroom co-op also gets you Gramercy Park views, and, of course, that mythical key to New York City's only private park.
Get a closer look

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The best Valentine’s Day gifts for modern design lovers

Image courtesy of The Sill.

January 30, 2020

The best Valentine’s Day gifts for modern design lovers

By Michelle Cohen

Long after the day of chocolate boxes and candy hearts is over, these gifts will still be as cool as the person who gave them. Because if you're going to wear your heart on your sleeve, it had better look good! Ahead, we've rounded up 15 great gift ideas, from chic pottery and lamps to heart-shaped succulents to a hot sauce kit to spice things up.
Great Valentine gift ideas, this way

Renderings courtesy of Krispy Kreme

January 30, 2020

Krispy Kreme opening five new NYC stores ahead of Times Square flagship

By Michelle Cohen

Iconic doughnut chain Krispy Kreme announced in June that it will bring its "doughnut theater experience" to a 45,000-square-foot retail space at the corner of 48th Street and Broadway in Times Square where visitors will be able to watch the doughnut-making process–complete with glaze waterfall–or just grab one to go at the walk-up window. It won't open until May, but to hold you over, Krispy Kreme will soon open five new Manhattan locations, in addition to reopening their long-time Penn Station outpost after a renovation (h/t Time Out NY).
More, this way

Food & Dining

This $8M modern home on the Hudson comes with a Greek Temple playhouse

By Michelle Cohen

This modernist upstate riverfront home in the hamlet of Garrison, NY, asking $7.9 million, comes with a deep water dock on the Hudson, a guest house and a "play house" that looks like a Greek temple (h/t Curbed). The nine-acre estate is located just over an hour away from New York City. The 3,777-square-foot main house is a boxy, modernist dwelling painted dark green, with windows in every direction.
Check out those amazing river views

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Stanford White-designed round house overlooking Stony Brook Harbor asks $1.5M

Image courtesy of Icon Properties

January 28, 2020

Stanford White-designed round house overlooking Stony Brook Harbor asks $1.5M

By Michelle Cohen

This estate in quaint St. James, NY--located in Suffolk County on the north shore of Long Island overlooking Stony Brook Harbor--is indeed, as the listing describes it, a piece of architectural history. Built in 1895 by famed and scandalous architect Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White (the firm who penned such icons as the Washington Square Arch and the former Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan), the rambling New England-style 16-bedroom estate spans 8,000 square feet and sits on 3.75 acres. Though it calls to mind a time long past, the home's historic charm is more literal than most; it will likely take substantial effort beyond its $1.5 million ask to make it the 21st-century residence it undoubtedly could be.
Tour the many rooms of this Long Island mansion

14 un-boring ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day in NYC

Image via Pixabay.

January 28, 2020

14 un-boring ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day in NYC

By Michelle Cohen

There are more ways to say “Be my Valentine” than we can count, and purveyors of all things romantic will be out in full force trying to win hearts this February 14. If February's second week has you scrambling for a worthy celebration, it might be the perfect time to try something a little bit different. Below, we've rounded up 14 unexpected Valentine-inspired events–from whiskey and chocolate to bugs and sewage.
Details, this way

Events & Things To Do

January 28, 2020

Michelle Williams and Tommy Kail just bought a Brooklyn Heights townhouse for $10.8M

By Michelle Cohen

Actress Michelle Williams and her fiancé, theater and film director Tommy Kail (he directed the Broadway hit "Hamilton"), have just purchased a townhouse in historic Brooklyn Heights, the Wall Street Journal reports. The $10.8 million the pair reportedly paid for the 3,000-square-foot house, built in the 1820s, makes it one of the neighborhood's most expensive sales.
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In Westchester, this $3.5M Gothic Revival home has 6 fireplaces, Tiffany windows, and NYC skyline views

Photos courtesy of Houlihan Lawrence.

January 27, 2020

In Westchester, this $3.5M Gothic Revival home has 6 fireplaces, Tiffany windows, and NYC skyline views

By Michelle Cohen

With a 10,442-square-foot interior, 50 Crows Nest Road–known more casually as Crows Nest–in the Westchester County village of Bronxville, NY seems worth its $3.5 million ask (recently reduced from $4.4 million) on that information alone. This 1849 Gothic Revival manor house was built of local stone and sits on 1.3 acres of hilltop land–with the Manhattan skyline visible in the distance. It's a suburban mansion rich with well-preserved dramatic flourishes, with modern infrastructure and design added to make it a 21st-century family home.
Tour this impressive stone mansion

$775K East Village co-op in a former rectory has 13-foot ceilings and a loft

Photo credit: Melanie Greene courtesy of Compass.

January 27, 2020

$775K East Village co-op in a former rectory has 13-foot ceilings and a loft

By Michelle Cohen

This cozy East Village pad at 300 East 4th Street has the modern chic vibe that gives apartments in this neighborhood such charm. The building also has the architectural distinction of being in a former rectory that was converted to co-ops, giving each unit within a unique footprint. Asking $775,000, the one-bedroom home near picturesque and lively Avenue C gets 13-foot ceilings and a loft for storage or sleeping.
Get a closer look

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For $2.75M, this dreamy Village duplex is the next best thing to a private townhouse

Photo credit: Matt Vacca for Douglas Kampsen, Compass

January 24, 2020

For $2.75M, this dreamy Village duplex is the next best thing to a private townhouse

By Michelle Cohen

It's easy to forget that this gorgeous duplex at 136 West 13th Street isn't an entire townhouse. Located on the kind of Village block that inspires envy in even the most jaded passerby, it has all of the best bits within its two gracious floors. With historic charm in full effect and a stylish, sophisticated renovation adding custom design, the two-story, one-bedroom co-op is asking $2.75 million.
Take the tour

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For $875K, this bright two-bedroom with lots of exposed brick is a Lower East Side classic

Image credit: RISE Media courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

January 23, 2020

For $875K, this bright two-bedroom with lots of exposed brick is a Lower East Side classic

By Michelle Cohen

It's a challenge to find a nice apartment of any size for under $1 million–save perhaps a studio–in prime downtown neighborhoods like the Lower East Side. This two-bedroom co-op at 85 Stanton Street is a classic tenement walk-up with a small second bedroom; but in addition to location, it has a sparkling renovation on its side plus lots of brick and pre-war charm, and it's only asking $875,000.
Have a look around

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Rent a 9,600-square-foot Nolita mansion in a former convent for $65K a month

Photo credit: Elizabeth Dooley for The Trentham Team, courtesy of Compass.

January 22, 2020

Rent a 9,600-square-foot Nolita mansion in a former convent for $65K a month

By Michelle Cohen

This rare historic mansion right in the middle of Nolita on the Soho border at 38 Prince Street is on the rental market for a princely $65,000 per month. The historic Federal-style Manhattan townhouse, built in 1826, is unique in many ways. It was once the Saint Patrick's Convent dating back to 1826. The building has seen a thorough overhaul with no expense spared, and it's now a five-story, 9,600-square-foot mansion with an elevator and top-quality finishes throughout, anchored by a dramatic spiral staircase at its midst. Also here: A Pilates room, a "zen pillow room," a music room–and more!
Explore the many rooms of this Soho mansion

Rendering courtesy of Murr Architekten

January 22, 2020

Finalists announced for this year’s City of Dreams pavilion on Roosevelt Island

By Michelle Cohen

Arts organization FIGMENT, the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) have just announced the finalists in the 2020 City of Dreams Pavilion Design Competition. The competition is an annual program that invites designers to create a temporary architectural pavilion that is efficient and sustainable while considering the life cycle of the building materials used. This year's pavilion will be in Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island.
See more of the winning entries

In Park Slope, this $500K compact co-op has a working fireplace and lots of brownstone charm

Image credit: RISE Media courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

January 21, 2020

In Park Slope, this $500K compact co-op has a working fireplace and lots of brownstone charm

By Michelle Cohen

This one-bedroom, pre-war co-op at 19 7th Avenue is just one flight up from a classic north Park Slope street. Asking $499,000, it has the proper postcard charm of a lovely landmarked brownstone–working fireplace included–and it's just a few blocks from Prospect Park.
Brooklyn brownstone charm, this way

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In debate over $119B sea wall to protect NYC from superstorms, Trump says ‘get your mops’

Flooded Battery Park Tunnel after Hurricane Sandy. Image: Timothy Krause via Flickr.

January 21, 2020

In debate over $119B sea wall to protect NYC from superstorms, Trump says ‘get your mops’

By Michelle Cohen

A barrier wall proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers as one of several options being evaluated to shield the New York area from rare storms–which may well become less rare and more destructive with global warming–is the subject of a heated debate among planners and environmental experts. Supporters suggest that a barrier be constructed in the outer New York Harbor where it's mostly hidden from view, saying it would go the farthest in protecting people, land and valuable landmarks along the waterfront from a storm surge. Others fear the idea is a short-sighted measure that doesn't address major climate threats–and could even worsen matters by trapping sewage and toxins during flooding from high tides and storm runoff. President Donald Trump, however, remains the sole proponent of the mop-and-bucket approach, as the New York Daily News reports.
What will save us from a tweetstorm?

This $529K co-op tucked between Columbia and Riverside Park could be a smart move

Image credit: RISE Media courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

January 17, 2020

This $529K co-op tucked between Columbia and Riverside Park could be a smart move

By Michelle Cohen

Asking $529,000, this first-floor home at 606 West 113th Street is on a pretty tree-lined street in Morningside Heights between Riverside Park and Columbia University/Barnard College. Located in an historic co-op building with a gorgeous lobby and plenty of pre-war details, this charming one-bedroom apartment has bay windows, 10-foot ceilings, and exposed brick in the living room and bedroom.
Get a closer look

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Image courtesy of Gammahaus

January 17, 2020

New looks revealed for 3 Hudson Boulevard, the next office tower to rise at Hudson Yards

By Michelle Cohen

A new design–the third so far–has been revealed for 3 Hudson Boulevard, the next office tower to rise at Hudson Yards. Located at the northwest corner of West 34th Street and Hudson Boulevard, the tower, which has long been in planning stages, will have 1.85 million square feet of office space. The latest designs reveal a height of just under 1,000 feet with 56 stories, the New York Post reports. Some floors will have ceilings of almost 30 feet with terraces at the end.
Find out more

$5.2M Chelsea loft is a showcase of design talent, with endless room options

Images courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

January 17, 2020

$5.2M Chelsea loft is a showcase of design talent, with endless room options

By Michelle Cohen

This renovated loft, asking $5.175 million, spans the full ninth floor of a classic early 1900s building at 142 West 26th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The 4,000-square-foot co-op apartment was designed by Fernando Santangelo, who is known for the famous Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles. In addition to reflecting a brilliant eye for color and detail, the home hits every luxury loft high note, from 11-foot ceilings to vast room proportions. Though it's currently set up with three "official" bedrooms, its current collection of spaces--including a formal living room, a great room, and a library--offer room for many more (see the "alternate" floor plan in the gallery below for just one version).
Tour the fabulous, flexible loft

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