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.

NYC Council legislation and electric buses may aid L train shutdown agony

Via Wikimedia

September 13, 2018

NYC Council legislation and electric buses may aid L train shutdown agony

By Michelle Cohen

Several bills were passed in New York City Council on Wednesday to help address the inconvenience and traffic chaos expected during the planned 15-month L train tunnel closure for repairs due to damage from Hurricane Sandy, slated to begin in April 2019. The legislation calls for information centers in both Brooklyn and Manhattan, complaint investigation resources, and the fast-tracking of a new electric bus fleet, Curbed reports.
Find out more

Transit

September 13, 2018

Get a sneak preview of the 2018 Open House New York sites!

By Michelle Cohen

If you love architecture and urban design from historic to contemporary, you'll have already been looking forward to this year's Open House New York! This much-anticipated and rare weekend of access to typically off-limits sites is now in its 16th year; this year’s OHNY will take place on Friday, October 12, Saturday, October 13 and Sunday, October 14. Thanks to partnerships with over 400 arts and cultural organizations, city agencies, architecture firms and others, OHNY Weekend will open more than 250 buildings and projects across the five boroughs for tours and talks with architects, urban planners, historians, preservationists, and civic leaders. OHNY has just released a sneak preview of the program, which includes recently-opened sites like 3 World Trade Center, Domino Park and Pier 17, construction previews of 150 Rivington and Hauser & Wirth Gallery West 22nd Street and specially curated series like Works by Women, MAS 125, Factory Fridays and Open Studios.
This way to see what's on the list for OHNY 2018

September 13, 2018

This cozy South Slope co-op with a private roof deck just might have $1M worth of charm

By Michelle Cohen

With a working fireplace and a private roof deck with Manhattan skyline views, this sweet two-bedroom co-op definitely has every season covered. Tucked into the top of a row house at 452 15th Street at the south Park Slope/Windsor Terrace border, asking $999,000, this cozy co-op looks like a great spot to escape hectic city life in an ideal Brooklyn location half a block from Prospect Park.
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

Public waterfront space to be part of massive Long Island City Innovation Center project

Image: TF Cornerstone

September 12, 2018

Public waterfront space to be part of massive Long Island City Innovation Center project

By Michelle Cohen

Developer TF Cornerstone has released new details about public open space slated to be part of the proposed project spanning over 1.5 million square feet at 44th Drive on city-owned land along the Long Island City waterfront, LICpost reports. Known as the Long Island City Innovation Center, the proposed massive city-led development, which will need zoning changes in order to move forward, includes office, retail, and manufacturing space and two high-rise residential towers with over 1,000 units, 25 percent of which would be affordable. The latest news concerns the acre of publicly accessible open space that is also part of the controversial development. According to TF Cornerstone, this open space will become a waterfront park with a focus on resiliency and sustainability.
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Rafael Viñoly reveals new photos and video of Three Waterline Square

Image courtesy of CityRealty.

September 12, 2018

Rafael Viñoly reveals new photos and video of Three Waterline Square

By Michelle Cohen

Catching up with the rise of Waterline Square has been a pastime of skyline watchers since the project was announced. Now, CityRealty shares a recent Instagram post by designer Rafael Viñoly revealing the newly-installed final piece of the façade at Three Waterline Square, completing its multi-faceted crystal-planed exterior. On the inside, Three Waterline Square’s carefully expressed corners and gently sloping walls allow stunning panoramic river, park, and skyline views.
New images and video this way

September 12, 2018

Live in a historic Williamsburg firehouse with a garage/studio and Japanese garden for $5.2M

By Michelle Cohen

Living in a historic firehouse is cool enough as it is, but this 4,652-square-foot carriage house at 11 Scholes Street in Williamsburg also comes with just about every other cool thing you could imagine finding in a Brooklyn pad. The three-story home, asking $5.2 million, starts with a garage and a sleek workspace/art studio and adds walls of glass and a private outdoor paradise, complete with a Japanese-style bamboo garden and luxurious outdoor shower.
Take a look, you won't want to leave

Distinctive Homes

September 11, 2018

Storied Philip Johnson house in New Canaan, CT asks $7.7M, including plans for a modern mansion

By Michelle Cohen

The stories behind some of New Canaan, Connecticut's treasure trove of modernist homes have been less than uplifting. In addition to Philip Johnson's famous Glass House, the wealthy enclave boasts dozens of homes by Johnson and his colleagues known as the Harvard Five. An ongoing battle simmers between some of the town's wealthy residents who favor sprawling McMansions and a passionate contingent of modern architecture fans. At least 20 of the homes, built in the 1940s, '50s and '60s–have been torn down, usually to build larger houses on the property. One embattled example is a lesser-known Johnson house known as the Alice Ball House. The 1,700-square-foot home, built in 1953, has been referred to as a "livable version of the Glass House." And it's now for sale for $7.7 million–along with approved plans by the current owner, an architect who has envisioned a companion property on a much grander scale, including an indoor pool and a massive skylit underground garage.
Find out more about this storied modernist gem

September 11, 2018

It’s high glamour at this $2.3M Greenwich Village duplex

By Michelle Cohen

This two-floor "penthouse" co-op at 53 West 11th Street on one of the most charming landmarked blocks in Greenwich Village is the result of a combination of two upper-floor townhouse units; as with many apartment combos, you get a bit more space than you'd normally have, though layouts can be odd. After a full gut renovation, this sweet one-bedroom, asking $2.295 million, is chic and well-designed enough to make up for narrow rooms and a few flights to climb. And those super-high, 18-foot ceilings and massive skylight don't hurt, either.
Take a peek

Distinctive Homes

September 10, 2018

This $6.2M Tribeca loft perfects a clean, modern look with an indoor vertical garden

By Michelle Cohen

This two-floor loft condominium at 11 Vestry Street isn't your ordinary downtown loft space, though it has classic bones and a covetable Tribeca address. In addition to a picture-perfect warm-modern renovation, state-of-the-art appliances and huge windows, the loft's lower floor is a self-contained space with a second kitchen. Like any loft, it would be easy to configure the space however you'd like, but the current version–asking $6.195 million–has plenty of interesting nooks and crannies. The home's transformation from its former outdated '80s look by Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm Isaac-Rae was featured in Dwell magazine.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

September 10, 2018

NYC fall art roundup: highlights of the season’s new exhibitions, openings and events

By Michelle Cohen

29 Rooms Once the calendar flips to September, New York City’s fall arts season heats up with high-profile museum exhibits, important gallery openings, music, dance and film events and more. Here, we offer our top picks and suggestions for the best ways to get swept up in the season’s art whirl, from Warhol at the Whitney to goats in a gallery.
Add some great art to your fall calendar

Events & Things To Do

$3M upstate estate is like a private park, complete with a lake and a windmill

By Michelle Cohen

Located in the upstate wilderness of Armonk in Westchester County, this 13.5-acre estate is as cool as it is unusual. Asking $3 million, the property includes a nine-acre private lake, a 5,500-square-foot mid-century-modern home built in 1959, and a private windmill, all just 45 minutes from New York City.
Check out this private paradise

Distinctive Homes

September 7, 2018

Archtober 2018: Top 10 NYC events and program highlights

By Michelle Cohen

Archtober is New York City’s annual month-long architecture and design festival of tours, lectures, films, and exhibitions taking place during October when a full calendar of events turns a focus on the importance of architecture and design. Organized by the Center for Architecture, in collaboration with over 70 partner organizations across the city, the festival raises awareness of the important role of design and the richness of New York’s built environment. Now in its eighth year, Archtober offers something for everyone—from the arch-intellectual who wants to talk about the relationship between architecture and power to the armchair landscape architect with a thing for waterways, parks or sustainable design—in the 100+ event roster. Below, we pick 10 don't-miss highlights in this year’s program.
Learn about the architecture of NYC at these cool events

Sales to begin at super-skinny supertall 111 West 57th Street; priciest units are $57M

Image: Hayes Davidson

September 7, 2018

Sales to begin at super-skinny supertall 111 West 57th Street; priciest units are $57M

By Michelle Cohen

Despite a long history of financial and legal woes, Property Markets Group, Spruce Capital Partners and JDS Development’s tall and slender tower at 111 West 57th Street is gearing up to begin sales (for real this time) according to the New York Times. After years of lawsuit threats, reports that construction had stalled over budget overruns and a potential foreclosure, the 1,428-foot, 86-story tower will kick off sales, to be handled by Douglas Elliman, on September 13.
Pricing and more, this way

September 6, 2018

Historic Bed-Stuy mansion smashes neighborhood record with $6.3M sale

By Michelle Cohen

Bedford-Stuyvesant's most expensive home has sold for $6.3 million, setting a record price for the neighborhood and sending a message that rising property prices are making their way further into Brooklyn, according to the Wall Street Journal. At nearly twice the previous record sale of $3.3 million in 2017, the Renaissance Revival-style John C. Kelley mansion at 247 Hancock Street is the most expensive single-family house ever sold in Bed-Stuy. The 8,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom townhouse was built in 1887 for water-meter magnate John Kelley, designed by noted architect Montrose Morris and modeled after a Gilded Age Vanderbilt mansion along Fifth Avenue.
Take a look inside this incredible mansion

September 5, 2018

This $2.4M Prospect Park South house is a Victorian fantasy of colonnades, turrets, and a veranda

By Michelle Cohen

In Brooklyn's Prospect Park South Historic District, a block from the park, this Victorian beauty built in 1908 is asking $2,395,000. Per the listing, the home at 85 Westminster Road is a "unique blend of Greek Revival temple style with the asymmetry and turrets of a Queen Anne." In addition to 3,578 square feet of historic detail-filled living space, it has tons of curb appeal with a grassy green paint job, two-story colonnade, and wrap-around veranda that follows the curve of the turrets.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

September 5, 2018

‘I ♥ NY’ designer Milton Glaser’s former Upper West Side artist’s studio asks $5M

By Michelle Cohen

Built in 1903, the 12-story building at 27 West 67th Street is the oldest of eight that comprise the West 67th Street Artists’ Colony Historic District. The studio buildings–which now find themselves next to Central Park, Lincoln Center, and the Time Warner Center on the Upper West Side–were built by a group of artists to provide live/work space on what was then a block of ramshackle stables. Asking $4,950,000, this graceful pre-war duplex is as much an important part of New York City history as it is creative and cool. The stylishly renovated three-bedroom co-op was, until 2007, the residence of graphic designer Milton Glaser, creator of the "I ♥ NY" campaign among other iconic designs and co-founder of "New York" magazine. Another unusual thing about this pretty property: It comes with an additional room on the building's top floor, perfect for a gym, home office–or artist's studio.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

September 4, 2018

This $1.6M South Slope townhouse condo has grown-up style and room for the whole family

By Michelle Cohen

Though it's a fourth-floor walk-up, this easy-on-the-eyes apartment at 567 8th Street on a quaint south Park Slope block has lots of advantages, even beyond its colorful good looks. For $1,575,000 Prospect Park is half a block away and with at least three potential bedrooms, a dining room, and an eat-in kitchen, there's space for everyone. The top floor comes with light and views, and charming pre-war details abound. What's more, this seems to be the rare townhouse apartment that actually offers its residents a gym (we'd love to see it).
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

Newark complex designed as Amazon HQ2 bid would include the city’s tallest towers

HQ2 concept rendering by Heller Manus Architects via Jersey Digs

September 4, 2018

Newark complex designed as Amazon HQ2 bid would include the city’s tallest towers

By Michelle Cohen

Since the announcement that Amazon would be choosing the city that would host its second headquarters by the end of the year, competition between contenders has been heating up. 6sqft reported last month that Newark, still in the running along with Los Angeles, Denver, Miami, New York, Boston, three sections of the Washington, D.C., region and Toronto, approved a shiny new incentive in the form of ordinances offering nearly $1 billion in payroll tax exemptions to companies that create at least 30,000 jobs and invest $3 billion in the city over 20 years. Now, Jersey Digs reports that a group consisting of local residents and a California-based architecture firm have come up with a snazzy proposal for Amazon's HQ2 that includes a location and designs for a futuristic complex that would include Newark's tallest towers.
Find out more

Uncategorized

The West 35th Street/Hudson Blvd entrance under construction. Image via Wiki Commons.

September 4, 2018

The second entrance at 34th Street-Hudson Yards 7 station is finally open

By Michelle Cohen

The Manhattan 7 subway extension makes it the only line south of 59th Street to offer service west of Ninth Avenue, providing a long-awaited public transit option–with a station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue–for the Jacob Javits Convention Center, the High Line, and Hudson River Park and serving as a selling point for Hudson Yards and the many new developments rising on the far west side. Delays plagued the extension overall, with its opening in September of 2015 happening two years behind its original scheduled date. It was announced at the time that the station's second entrance on 35th Street would take longer to complete. Now, two years later, the second entrance is open.
More ways to hit the west side

Transit

August 24, 2018

A romantic roof deck atop this $1M Village garret brings you sunshine, moonlight and views

By Michelle Cohen

The penthouse at 71 Washington Place may be petite, but it gives you the best of several enviable worlds, starting with Greenwich Village townhouse living. The co-op studio's interiors are freshly-renovated with plenty of charm and good taste. Best of all, top-floor status gives you a nice, big private rooftop paradise from which to gaze out over the city below. It's asking just about $1 million.
Check out all the angles, and the view

Distinctive Homes

Image: istolethetv via Flickr.

August 23, 2018

Help save Tompkins Square Park’s Halloween Dog Parade

By Michelle Cohen

One of the city's favorite Halloween diversions for almost 30 years, the annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, may not happen this year due to lack of funds. As Gothamist reports, the annual celebration of canine (and owner) creativity is facing a financial shortage due to a ballooning budget–mostly due to insurance costs–that has corresponded with growing attendance, according to Garrett Rosso, the parade's organizer and a longtime volunteer at the Tompkins Square dog run. A fan of the parade, Therese Moriarty, has started a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $15,000.
Find out how you can help

Events & Things To Do

August 23, 2018

Rent a designer couple’s dream urban farmhouse in Ridgewood for $5,700/month

By Michelle Cohen

On a landmarked cobblestoned street near the border between Ridgewood and Bushwick, 1886 Stockholm Street is one of a row of quaint row houses. The duplex for rent, asking $5,700 a month, comprises the top two floors of the house, which belongs to a couple whose renovation turned the three-story house into a charming reminder of their favorite upstate farmhouse–and led to a career in interior design. The hand-built shiplap kitchen and dreamy garden are only a few highlights.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Image: Luca Vanzella via Flickr

August 23, 2018

New rides and a boutique hotel to help reawaken Coney Island

By Michelle Cohen

On the heels of news that Coney Island will be getting its first new hotel in 50 years, plans have surfaced for a 150,000-square-foot expansion of Luna Park that will bring new rides, food and arcade games. The faded but beloved seaside icon has been in the news recently for a renewed pace of development that many see as new promise for the area. A log flume ride, zip lines and a ropes course are coming to the block between Surf Avenue and the boardwalk and between West 15th and West 16th streets, with food, arcade games and seating planned for two more streets nearby. And according to NY1, developer PYE Properties has proposed a boutique hotel in the historic Shore Theater, a 1920s landmark that has fallen into disrepair and has been vacant since 1978, attracting the homeless and graffiti but little attention.
Find out more

New city-sponsored ‘freelancers hub’ will open in Dumbo

Image via Pexels

August 22, 2018

New city-sponsored ‘freelancers hub’ will open in Dumbo

By Michelle Cohen

In a city where two out of five workers is a freelancer, a significant workforce doesn't always have ready access to health care or even a tranquil space to work. The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment hopes to address those needs, among others, with a new freelancer's hub, the first government-backed initiative to help media freelancers across NYC with networking, legal and business assistance and advice on projects. Plans for the new hub, which will be located at the Made in NY Media Center in Dumbo, Brooklyn, were announced this morning by Made in NY Commissioner Julie Menin. The mayor's office is partnering with The Freelancers Union and Independent Filmmaker Project to create and operate the space, which will open in October.
Find out more

August 22, 2018

Massive $39M Trump World Tower ‘sky mansion’ has 16 rooms, 24 hidden TVs, and 20+ closets

By Michelle Cohen

The listing for this 7,500-square-foot, 16 room, six-bedroom property in the Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza calls the massive home a "mansion in the sky," and that gives you an idea of just what to expect, though you might already guess what to expect from the (almost) entire 82nd floor of the modern-luxe-encrusted tower. There are, of course, the 360-degree views, which reach to the moon. And a peek at the floor plan affirms a dizzying magnitude of square footage in one single Turtle Bay condominium.
Take the sky mansion tour

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