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.

Queens shows how diversity is driving NYC’s economic boom

Elmhurst’s Chinatown. Image: Wiki Commons.

August 7, 2018

Queens shows how diversity is driving NYC’s economic boom

By Michelle Cohen

Recent economic snapshots issued by the state comptroller show that New York City has continued to experience record economic expansion in the past three years. This growth has been led by notable gains in the economies of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx (Staten Island's report is expected later this year), which since the 1990s have seen an economic boost from a large increase in their immigrant populations, Crain's reports. The revitalization of these immigrant-rich areas has led to an uptick in the number of businesses as well as sales and job growth. Unemployment is at its lowest rate since 1990. Queens, the borough that is home the city's most diverse population and becoming more so, is clearly one to watch.
More jobs, great food

City Living

August 7, 2018

Asking $735K, this little slice of a West Village co-op is big on options

By Michelle Cohen

This sweet little one-bedroom co-op at 82 Horatio Street in just about the most perfect part of the historic West Village has plenty of pre-war charm, a wood-burning fireplace, and a sparkling new renovation. It doesn't have lots of extra living space, and it's asking $735,000, but there's plenty of potential: subletting is allowed upon closing–rare for a co-op–and there are no issues with financing, pieds-a-terre, or any other creative ideas involving in-demand downtown Manhattan property.
Suck it in and take the tour

Distinctive Homes

August 6, 2018

This $1.4M Westchester estate was inspired by Versailles

By Michelle Cohen

Though it has been, according to the listing, completely renovated for modern living by architect/designer David Easton, this three-bedroom home on eight acres–known as Folie Du Lac–got its inspiration from Versailles and "recalls the romantic 18th century," complete with reclaimed materials imported from France including antique limestone flooring, 18th century paneling and speckled mirrors. The Waccabuc, NY estate is on the market for $1.4 million.
Folie Du Lac, this way

Distinctive Homes

August 3, 2018

Rent this chic East Hampton house with a pool and outdoor fireplace for $12K/week

By Michelle Cohen

This three-bedroom East Hampton rental on a half-acre of landscaped greenery could be the perfect place to spend an end-of-summer getaway week (h/t Curbed). Dressed to the nines in on-trend decor and fun, fine finishes, this vacation home comes complete with heated pool, grill and outdoor fireplace for $12,000 a week in season or $40,000 a month ($20K after Labor Day).
More cute rooms, this way

80 Centre Street; image: Wikimedia Commons.

August 3, 2018

Lower Manhattan’s Marriage Bureau building may become new jail tower as Rikers replacement

By Michelle Cohen

Last year, Mayor de Blasio announced his support of closing the jail on Rikers Island after protests from activists and public officials over the conditions at the aging complex. In the ensuing months, the focus turned to possible replacements for housing the jail's 5,000-plus inmates over the next decade. Now, the New York Daily News reports, the city is considering 80 Centre Street for a towering detention center as part of the plan.
The building now houses the city's Marriage Bureau

Broadway Arcade Railway, 1884, New York Transit Museum, via Wikimedia Commons

August 3, 2018

Proposed ‘arcade railway’ below Broadway would aid 1860s gridlock

By Michelle Cohen

Post-Civil War, pre-subway New York City had–surprise–a traffic problem. The number of horse cars and stages that clogged the streets was growing at an alarming rate. Among the proposed solutions was a railway that would be built beneath Broadway, branching out to the east and west at 23rd Street all the way up to the northern tip of Manhattan. The idea was gaining political support, but not everyone was onboard with the idea.
So what happened?

August 2, 2018

Topped by a 300-square-foot skylight and a rooftop grill, this $3.5M Chelsea triplex is a looker

By Michelle Cohen

This 2,223-square-foot three-bedroom triplex condominium looks for all the world like a modern townhouse–or, as the listing says, a Tribeca loft or a Hamptons house–in the heart of Chelsea. Topped by a rooftop terrace and lit by a 300-square-foot skylight, the three-bedroom home is definitely unique for a condo.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

August 2, 2018

Joe Torre’s upstate lake house with a waterfront terrace asks $1.4M

By Michelle Cohen

Beloved former Yankees manager Joe Torre has just put his Putnam County lakefront home up for sale asking $1.39 million, the New York Post reports. Torre, who is now MLB’s chief baseball officer, led the Yanks to four World Series titles. Built in 1936, his shingled, ranch-style lakeside home at 318 West Lake Boulevard in Mahopac, NY offers a definite break from the dugout in the form of stunning panoramic views from every room, a waterfront dining room, and a guest cottage.
More pictures this way

August 1, 2018

$2.1M Park Slope townhouse has a backyard paradise and expansion options

By Michelle Cohen

This cheerful yellow brick townhouse at 235 8th Street in the heart of Park Slope looks like a pretty good deal for the neighborhood at $2.1 million. Interiors have been updated in a clean and contemporary style, with plenty of charm and original details remaining. Though it's currently being used as a single-family home, it's a legal two-family and can be expanded to more than double its size with remaining FAR on the 100-foot-deep lot. Currently on that same lot is a garden oasis that would make it hard to spend a moment indoors on warm-weather days.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

An archive of 24,000 documents from Frederick Law Olmsted’s life and work is now available online

Early designs for Central Park. Image courtesy of the National Park Service, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site.

August 1, 2018

An archive of 24,000 documents from Frederick Law Olmsted’s life and work is now available online

By Michelle Cohen

When thinking of influential creators of New York City’s most memorable places, it’s hard not to imagine Frederick Law Olmsted near the top of the list. Considered to be the founder of landscape architecture–he was also a writer and conservationist–Olmsted was committed to the restorative effects of natural spaces in the city. Perhaps best known for the wild beauty of Central and Prospect Parks, his vast influence includes scores of projects such as the Biltmore estate, the U.S. Capitol grounds and the Chicago World’s Fair. In preparation for the bicentennial of Olmsted’s 1822 birth, the Library of Congress has made 24,000 documents providing details of Olmsted’s life available online, Smithsonian reports. The collection includes journals, personal correspondence, project proposals and other documents that offer an intimate picture of Olmsted’s private life and work. The collection is linked to an interactive map at Olmsted Online showing all Olmsted projects in the United States (and there are many). You can search the map according to project name, location, job number and project type.
Explore the documents and map

Is there a 200th Street in Manhattan or the Bronx? Yes and no.

By Michelle Cohen

The official word is: There is no 200th Street in the Bronx or Manhattan; Manhattan numbered streets skip from West 196th Street straight to West 201st. But if you happen to be passing through the Dyckman Street station on the Eighth Avenue line, you wouldn't know it. What's up with the phantom 200?
Is there more to the story?

City Living

July 31, 2018

LPC landmarks Philip Johnson’s AT&T Building at 550 Madison

By Michelle Cohen

This morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the AT&T building at 550 Madison Avenue as an individual landmark. Designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1984, the world’s first postmodern skyscraper originally served as the AT&T headquarters. A decade later, Sony moved in and it became known as the Sony Tower. Recently, a growing roster of preservationists and architects have been urging the LPC to landmark the building after plans surfaced showing significant changes to its architecture.
So what happens now?

July 31, 2018

1.5M Midtown duplex has every season covered with a roof deck and a wood-burning fireplace

By Michelle Cohen

This two-bedroom condominium at The Armory at 520 West 42nd Street may not have its own rooftop bocce court, but it has spring and summer sussed with a large private rooftop terrace for gardening, barbecuing, and entertaining. In colder months, head indoors where a working fireplace awaits, and watch the snow fall through big greenhouse windows. The Hell's Kitchen home is asking $1.499 million.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

July 30, 2018

This 1946 map shows how Native American trails became the streets of Brooklyn

By Michelle Cohen

While we take for granted the paths and roads we use on a daily basis, it's interesting to find out how they came to be. It's not a new concept that paths worn by the comings and goings of early dwellers and subsequent settlers in a particular area became roads, streets and thoroughfares, often with names that reflect their beginnings. Brooklyn Heights Blog (via Viewing NYC) shares some insight into Brooklyn's familiar roads that began as Native American trails on a 1946 map titled "Indian Villages, Paths, Ponds and Places in Kings County."
Peruse the map

History

July 30, 2018

Cozy Chelsea co-op with a ’70s vibe asks $975K

By Michelle Cohen

This one-bedroom co-op at 250 West 15th Street in Chelsea shows off its considered design and just enough of an of-the-moment look and laid-back 1970s feel for us to almost overlook its compact size and slightly odd layout. The turn-key apartment is priced to sell at less than a million–and a wood-burning fireplace with an exposed brick hearth and drawers galore can't hurt its chances.
Have a seat by the fire

Distinctive Homes

July 30, 2018

The New York City subway in fascinating facts and figures

By Michelle Cohen

When it comes to New York City’s subway system, you may think you know the letters (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,J,L,M,N,Q,R,S,W,Z) and numbers (1 through 7), all too well. But a few of the fun facts and staggering stats that add up to the seventh busiest public transit system in the world might surprise you. From the longest route (the A line is 31 miles) to the world's highest rapid transit station at Smith-9th Streets (it's 88 feet above street level), there are plenty of figures that even the most well-versed New Yorker likely doesn't know.
More stuff you never knew about the subway

July 27, 2018

$2M Soho co-op packs three bedrooms and a terrace into a stylish full-floor home

By Michelle Cohen

This full-floor, three-bedroom apartment at 118 Sullivan Street is on a classic stretch of Soho that combines commercial and nondescript with expensive and charming in a way few downtown Manhattan neighborhoods do. The co-op itself, asking $2 million, conveys the same un-fancy classic chic, with spacious rooms, three bedrooms, and an elegant patio.
Step in, stay awhile

Distinctive Homes

July 27, 2018

For $10K/month, this West Village duplex is a tranquil townhouse retreat

By Michelle Cohen

In the enviable Abingdon Square enclave, above a neighborhood shop and next door to iconic Rebel Coffee, this bright and cozy aerie at 21 8th Avenue is a certain kind of West Village dream. Asking $9,995 a month, the home is comprised of the top two floors in a charming brick townhouse. As the building's only residential unit, it's tucked above a quiet village boutique.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

‘The New L’ luxury shuttle service promises to solve L train shutdown, snacks included

Photo via The New L Train

July 27, 2018

‘The New L’ luxury shuttle service promises to solve L train shutdown, snacks included

By Michelle Cohen

As the doomsday clock ticks down the minutes to the dreaded L train apocalypse–the line is being shut down between 8th Avenue in Manhattan and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn for Hurricane Sandy repairs starting in April of 2019–the powers that be have been telling us to take the bus, take the bus and take the bus or ride a bike. But Gothamist reports that a service called The New L hopes to keep us out of commuter hell by offering ultra-luxe commuter vans with professional chauffeurs at the wheel plus wi-fi, breakfast bars, and phone chargers.
And how much will it cost us?

Transit

July 26, 2018

For $16K a month, this unique Lincoln Square loft has a double-height plant wall in the living room

By Michelle Cohen

This four-bedroom pre-war duplex would be unusual for its double-height living room alone, but the soaring internal space is graced with a stunning living wall feature that you definitely won't find in the average Upper West Side living room. You can rent this cool space–originally an artists' loft when the Atelier at 33 West 67th Street was constructed in 1903–for $16,450 a month.
Take the tour

This fall, 1,000 New Yorkers will perform an ‘opera’ on the High Line

Photo byLiz Ligon via Mile Long Opera.

July 26, 2018

This fall, 1,000 New Yorkers will perform an ‘opera’ on the High Line

By Michelle Cohen

For five consecutive nights from October 3-7, 2018 "The Mile-Long Opera: a biography of 7 o’clock," will bring together 1,000 singers from across New York for free performances on the High Line. The project is a collaboration between architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, with words and lyrics by acclaimed poets Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine. The free collective choral work shares personal stories, gathered through first-hand interviews with hundreds of New Yorkers about city life.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

July 26, 2018

Test out townhouse life at this newly restored Harlem mansion for $13,000/month

By Michelle Cohen

This renovated, turn-key townhouse at 133 West 122 Street in Harlem combines 4,745 square feet of gorgeous historic details with the space and convenience of a modern mansion in one low-commitment rental opportunity for $12,950 a month. This uptown stunner was built in the 1880s by architect Francis Kimball; a recent renovation by David Mann brings contemporary chic and 21st-century comfort to the home's five bedrooms and five stories of living space, all while highlighting historic details like stained glass transoms, inlaid floors, and a whopping seven decorative fireplaces.
Tour this stunning Harlem mansion

July 25, 2018

$699K Bushwick ‘penthouse’ comes with a private roof deck and a 421-A tax abatement

By Michelle Cohen

We know that displaying guitars along a funky apartment wall or leaning one or two casually against a doorway is a regularly-employed home-staging move, but in this Bushwick "penthouse" at 38 Wilson Avenue, it somehow works. And you might not even have to have a record deal yet, as the one-bedroom condo with a private roof deck and platinum-selling views also comes with a 421-A tax abatement in place 'til 2035, lowering monthly common charges to $641 a month.
Rockin' views, this way

Distinctive Homes

Tribeca and Yorkville top the list for new development condo sales in 2018

Photo via Chris Goldberg/Flickr

July 25, 2018

Tribeca and Yorkville top the list for new development condo sales in 2018

By Michelle Cohen

For followers of Manhattan real estate it would be hard to miss the bumper crop of innovative, eye-catching and pricey new developments rising what seems like daily in Tribeca; but big numbers for new towers may come as a surprise when they're attached to old-school Yorkville on the Upper East Side. In the city that never fails to surprise, recent research from CityRealty shows that Tribeca and Yorkville are the top neighborhoods for new development condo sales so far this year. There are, of course reasons for the unlikely pairing at the top.
See who else is on the list

July 25, 2018

$4.4M Upper East Side penthouse tops the townhouse where Marc Chagall once lived

By Michelle Cohen

Like many grand Manhattan properties in the neighborhood, this duplex penthouse atop a five-story townhouse at 57 East 73rd Street has an interesting past: It was once home to painter Marc Chagall (though another former Chagall residence nearby at 4 East 74th Street has attracted a bit more buzz in recent years, especially since Michael Jackson lived there in the 1990s). The 73rd Street townhouse has been divided into five condos since the artist's time. Besides having painterly penthouse bragging rights, there's a terrace that looks out over the Upper East Side neighborhood, which in turn is one block from Central Park and the Carlyle Hotel. The 1,350-square-foot home is asking $4.35 million–after several price chops from its original ask of $4.95 million in June.
Get a closer look

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