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.

July 22, 2019

Upper East Side townhouse with artist connections, a garage, and a studio gets a price chop to $15M

By Michelle Cohen

If you’re an artist who needs space to create–or you're just into having an artist-approved address–you’ll enjoy living and working in this 7,200-square-foot townhouse at 167 East 69th Street on the Upper East Side. The 25-foot-wide Neo-Georgian former carriage house–listed in April of 2018 for $18.95 million–is currently owned by Ann Brashares, author of the young adult series “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and her husband, painter Jacob Collins. Previously, the building was owned by the Sculpture Center. Neighbors have included Mark Rothko and art dealer Larry Gagosian. Now, after a broker change and a price cut, it’s asking $14.995 million, studio, garage, curb cut, and artistic pedigree included.
Explore the possibilities

Distinctive Homes

July 19, 2019

This $3.8M Village live/work duplex condo was among the neighborhood’s first lofts

By Michelle Cohen

After 25 years as the home of The Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, this 3,200 square-foot duplex condo asking $3.75 million is still a classic Village live/work loft. The late, famed photographer Phillip Leonian is known for his iconic portrait of Muhammad Ali in a crown and red velvet robe; the foundation has funded photographic education and documentary photography across the United States. The American Felt Building at 114 East 13th Street was once home to the suppliers of the hammer and bushing felt for the Steinway piano company; it was among the area's first to be re-purposed for loft living, loved for the high ceilings and massive windows that made former industrial spaces so popular.
See more, this way

Distinctive Homes

First NYCHA federal oversight report recommends using drones to help with building inspections

Via Wikimedia

July 19, 2019

First NYCHA federal oversight report recommends using drones to help with building inspections

By Michelle Cohen

Independent federal monitoring of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) began this year, and the first resulting quarterly analysis is expected to be released as early as Monday, POLITICO reports. The quarterly analysis will provide a summary of progress made to date in addressing issues that have long plagued the public housing authority such as lead paint, mold, broken heating systems and shabby kitchens and bathrooms. According to sources familiar with its content, the report also contains the unexpected suggestion of using drones to inspect building rooftops and facades.
Find out more

Deluge of dirty water from construction site next door floods Queens subway station

Image courtesy of @subwaycreatures via Youtube.

July 19, 2019

Deluge of dirty water from construction site next door floods Queens subway station

By Michelle Cohen

A rush of brown water flooded into the Court Square-23rd Street station in Long Island City Wednesday night, making for a soggy commute–and a dangerous one for one passenger who was nearly swept onto the tracks. The MTA said the unfortunate overflow was caused by a plywood construction wall in a nearby building site, where the skyscraper known as Skyline Tower is rising, giving way in the recent downpour, the Daily News reports.
More subway surfing, this way

July 18, 2019

New court ruling may mean more delays for Lower East Side’s Two Bridges megaproject

By Michelle Cohen

A recent ruling by a panel of state appellate judges may add more delays–at the very least–to the rise of JDS Development Group's proposed addition to the multi-tower Two Bridges development on the Lower East Side/Chinatown waterfront, The City reports. The ruling states that the property's long-term leaseholder, Little Cherry LLC, which has 25 years left on their lease at the currently-vacant 235 Cherry Street, must have a say in how the property’s development rights are used. The developer plans to stack a 1,000-foot, 100-story waterfront apartment tower on top of and cantilevered over the Two Bridges Senior Apartments and one-story retail space–and they need the Cherry Street property's development rights to move forward.
More details this way

July 18, 2019

Live in a charming garret tucked above the gables in the Dakota for $1.3M

By Michelle Cohen

This compact co-op at 1 West 72nd Street would be charming even if it weren't perched above the gables of the iconic Dakota residence. The building's instantly recognizable historic architecture anchors Central Park West, symbolizing the elegance of old New York City. Asking $1.295 million, this rare one-bedroom unit gets all the benefits of the full-service building in addition to the famous address.
Take a peek inside

Distinctive Homes

July 17, 2019

This $2.2M Tudor home is part of the Upper West Side’s ‘hidden’ Pomander Walk

By Michelle Cohen

As one of New York City’s many hidden-in-plain-sight secret addresses, Pomander Walk is a gated 1920s community of Tudor-style mini-homes resembling an English village tucked away in the middle of Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Asking $2.175 million, the landmarked three-story Tudor-style co-op triplex behind a private gate at 263 West 94th Street, landscaped with hydrangeas and rose bushes and framed by window boxes and enchanting views is part of a unique village-in-the-city community.
Get a closer look

Port Authority seeks ideas for JFK Central mixed-use hub from top designers and developers

Illustrative rendering of the developed northwest corner of the site courtesy of PANYNJ.

July 17, 2019

Port Authority seeks ideas for JFK Central mixed-use hub from top designers and developers

By Michelle Cohen

As part of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's planned $13 billion transformation of JFK into a modern international airport, it was announced Tuesday that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is issuing a Request for Information for the design and development of JFK Central, a 14-acre mixed-use space at the airport's core at the Ground Transportation Center. The site offers designers and developers a blank canvas for creating a unique centrally located public space for travelers, employees and the community, offering commercial and recreational services.
Ideas and examples for the site, this way

Tribeca stays on top and Hudson Yards emerges as #2 on the city’s priciest neighborhood list

Photo: Ajay Suresh via Flickr.

July 16, 2019

Tribeca stays on top and Hudson Yards emerges as #2 on the city’s priciest neighborhood list

By Michelle Cohen

According to Property Shark's just-released ranking of New York City's most expensive neighborhoods, Tribeca once again takes the top spot in residential sales with a median price of $4.34 million. The bigger news is Hudson Yards, on the list for the first time as the city's second-costliest neighborhood in Q2 of 2019 at $3.86 million. Also notable was Little Italy, the city's third most expensive neighborhood, which saw median home prices increase by 153 percent over last year's numbers.
More of the list, this way

Real Estate Trends

July 16, 2019

Citi Bike reveals new expansion plans that keep Queens, Bronx, Upper Manhattan waiting on wheels

By Michelle Cohen

Citi Bike has revealed details for the much-anticipated rollout of the popular bike share program with plans to double its reach with docks in the Bronx and more of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. But according to maps and information released in a Tuesday morning meeting obtained by Streetsblog, large swaths of the city won't see the blue bikes for four more years. As the NY Post reported, some see the Citi Bike rollout as heavily weighted toward more affluent NYC districts, which prompted a letter from several New York City Council members to the NYC Department of Transportation asking for assurance that expansion plans include low-income neighborhoods.
Where will the next blue bikes be?

Transit

Con Ed warns of potential blackouts from impending NYC heat wave

By Michelle Cohen

The most recent intel on Saturday's power outage that left the country's densest urban area dark from 72nd Street south to 30th Street is that a burning 13,000-volt cable at a substation near West 65th Street was the culprit, according to the New York Times. Consolidated Edison said Monday that the burning cable shut down the flow of electricity to more than 72,000 Midtown Manhattan customers. And while the blackout wasn't a direct result of an overtaxed grid, the New York Post reports, Con Ed warned Monday that mind-melting temperatures in the 90s expected this weekend–Saturday's 97 degrees will feel like 106–could lead to service outages.
What havoc will the heat wreak

City Living

Blackstone halts improvement work on Stuy Town apartments following rent law changes

Via StuyTown Property Services

July 15, 2019

Blackstone halts improvement work on Stuy Town apartments following rent law changes

By Michelle Cohen

As 6sqft reported last month, the state recently passed legislation containing landmark changes to rent regulations that were set to expire, significantly strengthening New York’s rent laws and tenant protections. Private-equity giant Blackstone Group, who purchased the massive 11,000+ unit Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment complex for $5.5 billion in 2015, is among landlords who say the new rent regs will keep them from making important property upgrades, Crain's reports. Blackstone says it is pausing apartment renovations and other planned work at Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village as a result of rule changes which dramatically limit the allowable rent increases landlords can charge as a result of renovations and repairs.
Find out more

Affordable Housing

New consulting firm report suggests the MTA cut costs by merging 40 groups into six departments

Image via Flickr.

July 15, 2019

New consulting firm report suggests the MTA cut costs by merging 40 groups into six departments

By Michelle Cohen

AlixPartners, a Manhattan-based consulting firm hired by the MTA this year has released a report with recommendations for ways the organization can save money, AM New York reports. Suggestions include a reorganization plan that would see the MTA, including the Long Island Rail Road, consolidating back-office operations and merging more than 40 groups into six departments. The firm was paid $3.75 million to come up with two reports; additional suggestions for the first reorganization in 50 years include the hiring of new high-level positions to oversee changes, and updating union contracts to attract top talent.
Also: new hires and no more cheating on overtime

$3M East Hampton retreat mixes Hollywood glam with contemporary geometry

Photo credit: Rise Media, courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

July 12, 2019

$3M East Hampton retreat mixes Hollywood glam with contemporary geometry

By Michelle Cohen

The Hamptons are known for being a showplace of eye-catching architectural styles from cute cottages to sprawling stone mansions and contemporary creations. This sleek retreat at 5 Discovery Lane in the Settlers Landing section of East Hampton, asking $2.890 million, is definitely the latter. Its glam-packed modern angles conceal a wealth of breezy living spaces and cool comforts like a heated pool and several gas fireplaces.
Get all the angles

Distinctive Homes

Boerum Hill residents sue to undo 80 Flatbush rezoning as tower plans advance

Rendering via Alloy Development and Luxigon.

July 12, 2019

Boerum Hill residents sue to undo 80 Flatbush rezoning as tower plans advance

By Michelle Cohen

Nearly a year after the New York City Council voted to approve 80 Flatbush, a five-building mixed-use development in Downtown Brooklyn, a group of Boerum Hill residents has mounted a court battle to halt the rise of tall buildings on the site and roll back the rezoning that allows them. As the Brooklyn Eagle reports, the 400 & 500 State Street Block Association, comprised mainly of residents who live in the neighborhood's sprinkling of low-rise brownstones, have filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of the 2018 zoning changes that gave the green light to an 840-foot skyscraper, a 510-foot tower, 670 market-rate apartments and 200 affordable units, two public schools and office and retail space on the property, which is bounded by State Street, Third Avenue, Schermerhorn Street and Flatbush Avenue.
More details, this way

Real Estate Trends

$18M Beaux-Arts mansion is an Upper West Side architectural icon with Dakota views

Photo credit: Yale Wagner for Sotheby’s International Realty.

July 12, 2019

$18M Beaux-Arts mansion is an Upper West Side architectural icon with Dakota views

By Michelle Cohen

On the market for the first time in over 60 years, asking $17.995 million, this 20-foot-wide Beaux-Arts mansion stands among the most desirable blocks of the Upper West Side. Designed by the architectural firm Welch, Smith and Provot–the firm also designed the Duke-Semans Mansion on Fifth Avenue later owned by Carlos Slim–the six-story, 9,575-square-foot home at 5 West 73rd Street is one of the neighborhood's most architecturally significant houses; among its most compelling features are iconic views of another Upper West Side classic, the Dakota.
Take the grand tour of this grand home

Lottery opens for 93 affordable units at Bedford Arms complex in Crown Heights, from $590/month

image via Google Earth

July 11, 2019

Lottery opens for 93 affordable units at Bedford Arms complex in Crown Heights, from $590/month

By Michelle Cohen

Applications are now being accepted in the lottery for 93 newly-constructed rental apartments at Bedford Arms at 1336 Bedford Avenue, Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The new building's 93 units are available to households earning between 40 percent and 165 percent of the area median income, ranging from $590/month one-bedrooms to $3,060/month three-bedrooms.
All the details, this way

Affordable Housing

328 new affordable apartments available at Compass III residences in the Bronx from $331/month

The larger Compass Residences via Dattner Architects

July 11, 2019

328 new affordable apartments available at Compass III residences in the Bronx from $331/month

By Michelle Cohen

The lottery has just launched for 328 newly-constructed Compass III residences at 1560 Boone Avenue, Crotona Park East and 101 East 173rd Street in Mount Hope, Bronx. In 2011 the West Farms Redevelopment Plan for the 17-acre, 11-block former industrial area in Crotona Park East by Dattner Architects became the largest Bronx rezoning ever passed. When complete, the complex will offer 1,325 units of affordable housing along with retail and community facilities. The new building's 328 units are available to households earning between 30 percent and 100 percent of the area median income, ranging from $331/month studios to $1,921/month three-bedrooms.
All the details

Affordable Housing

July 10, 2019

Two rooms of this $1.2M Murray Hill maisonette open onto a private patio garden

By Michelle Cohen

This sunny co-op at 142 East 37th Street in Murray Hill has the bragging rights to being a Manhattan brownstone maisonette. In addition to its separate entrance, this two-bedroom flat tucked in at the garden level of a 19th-century townhouse, asking $1.195 million, has a private patio accessible from both the kitchen and one of the bedrooms.
Step out into the garden

Distinctive Homes

July 10, 2019

Immersive installation with hammocks and a waterfall has arrived at MoMA PS1

By Michelle Cohen

Back in March, as 6sqft reported, MoMA PS1 revealed the winning design in the museum's 20th annual Young Architects Program. This year’s winning architectural installation, “Hórama Rama” by Pedro & Juana, a Mexico City-based studio founded by Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo and Mecky Reuss, is an immersive “junglescape” with a cyclorama perched atop the museum courtyard's concrete walls. The 40-foot-tall, 90-foot-wide structure now floats over this year's Warm Up outdoor dance music series which kicked off on July 6.
See more pictures of the 40-foot

Events & Things To Do

The Wing will open new locations in Bryant Park and Williamsburg this year

Rendering of the new Bryant Park location courtesy of The Wing.

July 9, 2019

The Wing will open new locations in Bryant Park and Williamsburg this year

By Michelle Cohen

The Wing women-centric community and work space has announced the forthcoming launch of two new NYC locations this year. Along with news of a Bryant Park space–their first in Midtown–come renderings that reveal more of the thoroughly modern and chic-yet-welcoming interiors that have become the brand's signature. More news: A Williamsburg, Brooklyn location is on the way.
Renderings of the new space this way

Architecture And Design

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim becomes a UNESCO World Heritage site

Photo via Wiki Commons

July 8, 2019

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim becomes a UNESCO World Heritage site

By Michelle Cohen

Eight buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright have been named UNESCO World Heritage sites, including New York City's iconic Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The buildings were given heritage status by the organization's World Heritage Committee at a July 7 meeting (h/t Dezeen). Additional Wright creations named to the list are Fallingwater (Pennsylvania), Frederick C. Robie House (Illinois), Hollyhock House (California), the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House (Wisconsin), Unity Temple (Illinois), and Wright's homes and studios at Taliesin, Wisconsin and Taliesin West, Arizona.
Find out more

July 5, 2019

For $1.9M, this tranquil Tudor on the banks of the Hudson is surrounded by greenery and views

By Michelle Cohen

In a gorgeous wooded corner in the Bronx neighborhood of Spuyten Duyvil (just south of Riverdale on the banks of the Hudson River), this charming Tudor home at the aptly-named 3033 Scenic Place has breathtaking views from just about every corner. Asking $1.85 million, the four-bedroom home boasts the hand-crafted finishes often found in the area's classic Tudors including wood paneling and hand-hewn beams, while picture windows offer a front-row seat to the surrounding woodlands
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

$20M first phase of Brooklyn’s new 407-acre Shirley Chisholm State Park opens

Photo by Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via Flickr.

July 3, 2019

$20M first phase of Brooklyn’s new 407-acre Shirley Chisholm State Park opens

By Michelle Cohen

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Tuesday the opening of the first phase of New York's newest park–and the largest state park in New York City. Brooklyn's 407-acre Shirley Chisholm State Park on Jamaica Bay offers hiking, biking, fishing and picnicking under the watch of a colorful mural honoring Chisholm by Brooklyn muralist Danielle Mastrion. Under a second $20 million phase currently being designed and expected to be completed in 2021, the park will include a grand entrance on Fountain Avenue, lawn patios, a patio overlooking Hendrix Creek and pop-up environmental education facilities. A native of the borough, Chisholm, a former representative of the 12th Congressional district in New York for seven terms, was the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968; she ran for President in 1972 as the first African American woman to do so.
Find out more

July 2, 2019

Storied Westchester Skinny House seeks a buyer with a big heart and $275K

By Michelle Cohen

It's easy to see that the little red house at 175 Grand Street in Mamaroneck, NY, is no ordinary home just by looking: At a mere 10 feet wide, the Skinny House stands out for its size alone. As 6sqft previously reported, this unique dwelling, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has quite a tale to tell. The little house on a 12.5-foot lot was built in 1932 by Nathan T. Seely, one of New York’s first African American builders. Its story is one of ingenuity and skill, and it provided for its creator during hard times. In need of a new chapter and some real TLC, the house is on the market–for only the second time since its construction–for $275,000.
Get the skinny on this diminutive dwelling

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