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.

For $14M, this full-floor Upper East Side condo feels like a designer show house, wine room and gallery included

Photo credit: MW Studios for Sotheby’s International Realty

August 23, 2023

For $14M, this full-floor Upper East Side condo feels like a designer show house, wine room and gallery included

By Michelle Cohen

Situated a prime Park Avenue location, in the Parkside condominium building at 525 Park Avenue, this sprawling 4,000-square-foot home occupies an entire floor, with a layout that feels like a townhouse in the sky. Designed by noted decorator David Kleinberg, each room of the pre-war condo, asking $13,995,000, is a showcase of elegant texture, color and pattern. An extra-large gallery is perfect for a sizable art collection; a wet bar and a wine room await grand-scale entertaining. A high floor location means iconic unobstructed views in every direction.
Upper east side design, this way

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Listed for $7M, this Bronx mansion could be the borough’s most expensive sale ever

Photo credit: Russ Ross for The Corcoran Group

August 21, 2023

Listed for $7M, this Bronx mansion could be the borough’s most expensive sale ever

By Michelle Cohen

Located in the historic Fieldston section of Riverdale in the Bronx, this 10,000-square-foot neo-Georgian home at 5020 Grosvenor Avenue was built to resemble the grand estates of the 1920s, with a formal driveway and an elegant motor court highlighted by a colonnaded portico. The home is one of 15 contemporary mansions in a private community known as Villanova Heights, with homes designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the firm behind high-profile Manhattan residences like 15 Central Park West. If it sells for its current $7 million ask, the Bronx residence would be the borough's most expensive sale, as the New York Post reported. That record is currently held by the $6.25 million sale of a 17-room Fieldston mansion that was built in anticipation of a visit from Jesus, as 6sqft previously reported.
Mcmansion tour, this way

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For $1.95M, this Morningside Heights co-op has pre-war elegance in a building with a presidential past

Photo credit: Michael Alley for The Corcoran Group

August 18, 2023

For $1.95M, this Morningside Heights co-op has pre-war elegance in a building with a presidential past

By Michelle Cohen

This pretty pre-war co-op at 622 West 114th Street in Morningside Heights has gracious proportions and the rare-for-Manhattan four-bedrooms. Filled with well-preserved architectural details and elegant wood built-ins, this uptown "classic seven," asking $1,950,000, doesn't need a celebrity angle to attract buyers–but a presidential pedigree never hurts: President Barack Obama lived in a fourth-floor walkup in the same building (that unit was listed for $1,450,000 back in 2020) after graduating from Columbia University in the 1980s.
take the tour

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This $2.4M Manhattan Valley condo overlooks Morningside Park from a 1,000-square-foot terrace

Photo credit: Brown Harris Stevens

August 17, 2023

This $2.4M Manhattan Valley condo overlooks Morningside Park from a 1,000-square-foot terrace

By Michelle Cohen

Tucked between Central Park and Morningside Park, the Manhattan Valley neighborhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side is convenient to everything great about New York City, yet surrounded by green space. Asking $2,399,000, this two-bedroom condo at 352 Cathedral Parkway offers the best of city living while taking advantage of its parkside location. The star feature of this spacious, modern apartment: A 1,051-square-foot private terrace with unobstructed park views.
park views and outdoor living, this way

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Avoid rodent run-ins–or rat out your landlord–with NYC’s newest interactive rat map

Map courtesy of New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

August 16, 2023

Avoid rodent run-ins–or rat out your landlord–with NYC’s newest interactive rat map

By Michelle Cohen

The mayor's notorious war on rats is heating up. Along with the recent appointment of Kathleen Corradi as the city's $155K/year rat czar, New Yorkers have some new tools in our digital rat-fighting arsenal in the form of an updated interactive map and a revamped rat information portal. Adding firepower to the battle are a handful of super-military-sounding RMZs (Rat Mitigation Zones), complete with training academies to help neighborhood combatants put up their best fight. And Harlem recently hosted an Anti-Rat Day of Action.
New rat map, this way

Policy

This $31M Upper East Side mansion with long and layered history is now four beautiful apartments

Photos courtesy of Francisco Rosario/DDreps for The Corcoran Group

August 16, 2023

This $31M Upper East Side mansion with long and layered history is now four beautiful apartments

By Michelle Cohen

This beautifully renovated limestone townhouse in Manhattan's Carnegie Hill, adjacent to Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was built in the 1890s as part of a row of four mansions for members of New York City's wealthiest families. The home at 9 East 82nd Street, now asking $31 million, was first owned by stockbroker J. Prentice Kellogg. The home's facade, built in the Neoclassical style, features a raised portico entrance and a secondary service entrance. A fifth floor was added to the 25-foot-wide townhouse in 1920. The property's current configuration as four turn-key luxury rental apartments is the result of a 2021 stem-to-stern renovation and restoration effort.
One mansion, four apartments, this way

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Newly-minted Bed-Stuy townhouse is filled with sunlight and fresh design for $3M

All photos courtesy of Interiors by Kat for The Corcoran Group

August 15, 2023

Newly-minted Bed-Stuy townhouse is filled with sunlight and fresh design for $3M

By Michelle Cohen

For all the ways townhouse living is near perfection in the city, modern homes with new interiors and tons of light can be a refreshing refuge. This four-story townhouse at 151 Monroe Street in Brooklyn's brownstone-filled Bed-Stuy neighborhood gives you both: The two-family home, asking $2,995,000, has four stories of living space, six bedrooms, and plenty of outdoor space. It's also a showcase of contemporary design and comfort, with sun-filled open rooms, colorful details, carefully-selected materials, and top-quality craftsmanship on every level.
see inside

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$65M UES mansion is a showcase of Gilded Age history, updated for a new era of grand-scale living

Photo credit: Yoo Jean Han for Sotheby’s International Realty

August 14, 2023

$65M UES mansion is a showcase of Gilded Age history, updated for a new era of grand-scale living

By Michelle Cohen

On a Central Park-adjacent block near Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, the 35-foot wide limestone mansion at 4 East 79th Street is a historic testament to Manhattan's Gilded Age; asking $65,000,000, it's among a handful of the most expensive townhouses to ever be listed in New York City. The six-story home with over 15,000 square feet of interior space offers an opportunity for living and entertaining befitting a new era of opulence, including two elevators, a professional-grade catering kitchen, a security office, a wine cellar and reception room, a grand center stair hall, and a top-floor skylit gym.
READ MORE

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$2.25M Hudson Valley home with pool and guest house is a mid-century icon

All photos courtesy of Gabriel Zimmer Studio for Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty

August 10, 2023

$2.25M Hudson Valley home with pool and guest house is a mid-century icon

By Michelle Cohen

If you dream of a mid-century modern house surrounded by forest, you’ll want to take a look at this perfect specimen of a home, surrounded by 11 acres of meadow, wildflower fields, trails, and forest in Millbrook, New York. As one of a handful of Deck House homes in the area, this iconic Hudson Valley property, asking $2,250,000, includes a gunite pool, a two-bedroom vintage-inspired guest house, and an organic garden.
Modern dream house, this way

Photo credit: Russ Ross Photography for The Corcoran Group

August 2, 2023

This $1.2M Clinton Hill prewar triplex condo unfolds beneath the arches of a former seminary

By Michelle Cohen

This one-bedroom home at the rarely-available Cathedral Condominiums at 555 Washington Avenue on the border between Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights has a unique history to go with its dramatic architecture. Built in 1914, the striking building was first home to Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception. Converted to a 53-unit condominium in 1988, the building is a neighborhood landmark, noted for its Gothic design. In addition to access to the building's lushly landscaped common courtyard, the unit, asking $1,195,000, has a private, fenced-in brick patio for entertaining or growing one's own tranquil seminary garden.
More this way

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$1.5M Upper West Side brownstone co-op has a cozy cottage vibe

By Michelle Cohen

Located on a tree-lined Upper West Side street less than a block from Central Park, this eye-pleasing co-op at 71 West 83rd Street is one of those non-cookie-cutter Manhattan apartments everyone dreams of–but rarely finds. Asking $1,450,000, the two-bedroom home is blessed with rustic exposed brick walls, arched windows, and large, sunny rooms in a gracious floor plan. There's even a terrace for an outdoor version of the French country villa effect.
Take the tour

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For $11M, live in a Brooklyn Heights mansion with perfectly restored details and a literary past

All photos courtesy of SERHANT. Studios

July 31, 2023

For $11M, live in a Brooklyn Heights mansion with perfectly restored details and a literary past

By Michelle Cohen

From the wine cellar to the landscaped roof deck, this 19th-century Greek Revival mansion represents five stories of pristine restoration, with historic flourishes accenting modern style and ease of living. Asking $11,500,000, the 6,094-square-foot two-family townhouse at 20 Remsen Street in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District has some notable literary history: Norman Mailer had his writing studio here. The house was also, according to the listing, the inspiration for Mailer's 1951 novel "Barbary Shore."
Take the tour

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This $2M garden flat in Margaret Mead’s former home is the picture of cozy West Village charm

Photo credit: Compass

July 27, 2023

This $2M garden flat in Margaret Mead’s former home is the picture of cozy West Village charm

By Michelle Cohen

On a postcard-perfect West Village street among the neighborhood's historic brownstones, this garden co-op at 72 Perry Street is a rare chance to live a bohemian dream not often found in today's New York City. Asking $1,995,000, the two-bedroom home in a restored townhouse has a landscaped private back garden as the almost-too-good-to-be-true addition to the elegance of its interior living spaces. The boutique co-op building is known as Mead House in honor of one-time resident Margaret Mead. The famous anthropologist lived in the townhouse with her husband Gregory Bateson and other colleagues from 1941 to 1955.
West Village charm, this way

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Industrial chic and Soho street life meet in this $4.4M loft condo

Photo credit: Yale Wagner for Sotheby’s International Realty

July 25, 2023

Industrial chic and Soho street life meet in this $4.4M loft condo

By Michelle Cohen

If you've often strolled the streets of Soho admiring the iconic former warehouses and tall-windowed lofts within, this concrete and steel-filled condominium at 487 Greenwich Street could be your dream come true. Asking $4,400,000, the sprawling 4,000-square-foot-plus renovated duplex in the former Tetley Tea Company warehouse offers open-plan living on a grand scale with impossibly high ceilings, concrete columns, and beams–and a sauna in the basement.
Loft living, this way

10 best under-the-radar picnic spots in NYC

Photo by Tatiana Rodriguez on Unsplash

July 25, 2023

10 best under-the-radar picnic spots in NYC

By Michelle Cohen

The city is filled with picnic possibilities in the form of parks and gardens. New York City is also known for its accessible secrets, and our shortlist of urban escapes–whether hidden in plain sight or tucked away–are great to visit any time, but as off-the-beaten-path picnic spots, they shine.
Discover a new favorite picnic place

Photo credit: Nina Poon for The Corcoran Group

July 24, 2023

$7.9M Soho penthouse feels like a country estate with a magical rooftop garden, hot tub included

By Michelle Cohen

This 3,121-square-foot Soho co-op at 80 Greene Street is the real downtown loft deal, disguised as a perfectly decorated home (enchanted 1,200-square-foot roof terrace with hot tub included). The three-bedroom triplex tops a classic Soho cast-iron building on a historic Belgian block street. Comprised of a designer-renovated main floor, mezzanine, and dramatic top-floor bedroom suite, the tranquil apartment, asking $7,900,000, is bathed in white, with outdoor space to rival a country manor.
Take the triplex tour

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This $1.2M Princeton home is a modernist gem designed by Otto Kolb

Photo credit: Robert Manella/Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty

July 20, 2023

This $1.2M Princeton home is a modernist gem designed by Otto Kolb

By Michelle Cohen

This Otto Kolb original home at 140 Heather Lane, asking $1,195,000, is tucked into a wooded 2.39-acre lot on a quiet Princeton street. The Swiss-born Modernist architect designed this one-of-a-kind jewel box of a single-story home in 1959. Rooms in the five-bedroom house wrap around two courtyards, surrounding them with nature and sunlight.
Get a closer look at this Modernist masterpiece

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A retreat reborn in Bridgehampton, this $6M home has every detail covered–including the furniture

Photo credit: Ryan Scott Fitzgerald

July 18, 2023

A retreat reborn in Bridgehampton, this $6M home has every detail covered–including the furniture

By Michelle Cohen

While older Hamptons properties are often torn down to make way for new construction, this modern estate at 325 Mitchell Lane was reimagined with architectural finesse in a complete renovation. Now on the market for $5,995,000, the iconic Bridgehampton house, grounds, and pool were painstakingly redesigned with every detail considered, right down to the furniture, which is available to purchase as well.
Take the tour

For $2.8M, this two-family Red Hook home with endless outdoor space is a modern townhouse dream

Photo credit: Anastazia Swerer-McNutt for The Corcoran Group

July 14, 2023

For $2.8M, this two-family Red Hook home with endless outdoor space is a modern townhouse dream

By Michelle Cohen

The Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood of Red Hook is known for its architect-designed modern townhouses; if you've ever admired their sleek interiors and unique facades, 138 Coffey Street is just what you're looking for. Asking $2,800,000, this three-story home with several decks, a landscaped backyard, and a roof terrace includes a two-bedroom garden apartment. A carefully considered renovation transformed the 1899 townhouse into a 21st-century multi-family home with 2,000 square feet of outdoor space. You can use the apartment for rental income or as a guest suite–or use the entire space as a single-family home.
Take the modern townhouse tour

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Stephen Sondheim’s Turtle Bay townhouse is on the market for $7M

Photo credit: Compass

July 13, 2023

Stephen Sondheim’s Turtle Bay townhouse is on the market for $7M

By Michelle Cohen

The Turtle Bay townhouse at 246 East 49th Street that was home to late songwriter Stephen Sondheim is now on the market, asking $7,000,000. The celebrated songsmith, who received eight Tonys, eight Grammys, an Oscar, and a Pulitzer for the iconic words and melodies to Broadway hits like “West Side Story,” "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," and many more, bought the historic townhouse in 1960. Sondheim needed the privacy of a townhouse, according to Curbed, so he could finesse melodies on the piano without bothering the neighbors.
A home filled with Broadway history, this way

Spend summer in your rooftop garden with a wet bar and shower in this $12.95M Chelsea penthouse loft

Images by Rinze

July 12, 2023

Spend summer in your rooftop garden with a wet bar and shower in this $12.95M Chelsea penthouse loft

By Michelle Cohen

The 4,800-square-foot full-floor penthouse atop the prewar co-op at 227 West 17th Street is a perfect summertime paradise, featuring a fully irrigated private rooftop garden space with a bar and outdoor shower. Asking $12,950,000, this renovated three-bedroom home is an all-season refuge as well; in addition to the warm-weather haven, there's a massive great room with a wood-burning fireplace for cozy winter nights.
Tour the loft

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Photo credit: Rich Caplan

July 10, 2023

Live at the Plaza with hotel-style service and condo convenience for $9.5M; minimalists need not apply

By Michelle Cohen

This two-bedroom condominium in the Plaza Private Residences at 1 Central Park South offers one of New York City's most iconic addresses and suitably lavish interiors by AD 100 designer Richard Keith Langham. Pristine and newly-renovated, this parkside home, asking $9,500,000, has 12-foot ceilings and all of the conveniences of modern living, along with the peerless hotel services available to Plaza residents.
Step inside for a tour

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For $1.9M, this compact, renovated brick townhouse is a turn-key home in the heart of Stuyvesant Heights

Photo credit: Allyson Lubow

July 7, 2023

For $1.9M, this compact, renovated brick townhouse is a turn-key home in the heart of Stuyvesant Heights

By Michelle Cohen

This compact three-story townhouse at 703 Monroe Street in Bed-Stuy's historic Stuyvesant Heights district packs a lot of modern function and form into its 2,478 square feet. In addition to three stories above, the single-family property, asking $1,850,000, features a finished basement with a rec room and bath. There are four bedrooms within and a covetable freshly landscaped yard in the back.
More Bed-Stuy townhouse, this way

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There’s a room for everyone in this $4.7M Museum Mile co-op

Photo credit: Eitan Gamliely for Sotheby’s International Realty

July 6, 2023

There’s a room for everyone in this $4.7M Museum Mile co-op

By Michelle Cohen

This elegant Upper East Side residence at 980 Fifth Avenue starts with the building's reputation for spectacular views; within are four bedrooms and an amount of living space most New Yorkers only dream of. Steps away you'll find Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and other destinations that have immortalized the iconic neighborhood in film and legend. Asking $4,650,000, this sprawling co-op currently offers a cozy media room, plus numerous closets, a laundry room, a large pantry, central A/C, and fabulous city and park views.
Explore this iconic uptown apartment

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This $5M home is a rare early 20th-century hidden architectural gem on the Hudson River

Photo credit: Jump Visual/Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty

July 5, 2023

This $5M home is a rare early 20th-century hidden architectural gem on the Hudson River

By Michelle Cohen

This private architectural masterpiece at 99 Corbett Lane in the historic Palisades, NY enclave of Snedens Landing occupies a secluded spot overlooking the Hudson River. Known as Moon River, the historic house has a creative and modern sensibility along with its five bedrooms, a pool, and a garage. The 4,252-square-foot home is certainly a trophy property for anyone with an eye for modern architecture–and the $4,995,000 required to purchase it–but it's definitely no McMansion.
Stroll around the grounds, check out the pool and the view

All articles by Michelle Cohen

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