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.

Asking $2.25M, this modern townhouse is a two-floor home in a converted Bed-Stuy garage

Photo credit: M William Studio for The Corcoran Group

July 3, 2023

Asking $2.25M, this modern townhouse is a two-floor home in a converted Bed-Stuy garage

By Michelle Cohen

This unique converted garage at 222 Madison Street Brooklyn's buzzing Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood has the open, industrial feel of a loft and the privacy and space of a 3,000-square-foot townhouse, with two separate outdoor spaces. Bonus perk: Drive into your own private garage, all for $2,250,000.
Tour this unique Brooklyn home

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Manhattan Park’s annual Pop-Up Pool Party gets new art that imagines a bright and sustainable future

Photo credit: Michael Alley with Allyson Lubow Photography

June 30, 2023

Manhattan Park’s annual Pop-Up Pool Party gets new art that imagines a bright and sustainable future

By Michelle Cohen

Roosevelt Island luxury rental community Manhattan Park has unveiled its ninth annual outdoor pool art transformation. Colorful, transformative art has graced the community’s Pop-Up Pool Party each summer, beginning on Memorial Day. This year's artist, James Gortner, was selected for his artistic and colorful vision; Gortner's themes for this year's art are the joy of existence and sustainability.
See more of the pool's colorful murals

Events & Things To Do

With Deco details and dazzling interiors on the Upper East Side, The Harper launches sales

Images courtesy of The Harper

June 29, 2023

With Deco details and dazzling interiors on the Upper East Side, The Harper launches sales

By Michelle Cohen

The Upper East Side residence The Harper at 310 East 86th Street has begun sales of its 63 two-, three-, and four-bedroom homes. The new condominium project was designed by the renowned architectural practice ODA, known internationally for innovative and skyline-changing designs. For the latest addition to the iconic Manhattan neighborhood, the firm used large format windows with stepped framing, creating a stunning Art Deco vibe inspired by classic New York City architecture. With occupancy expected this year–a furnished model is available now–the new building features interiors also designed by ODA and an impressive suite of state-of-the-art amenities.
See the interiors and amenities at the Harper

This $6.5M Montrose Morris-designed Clinton Hill corner mansion has a three-story round tower

Photo courtesy of Chapoteau Real Estate

June 28, 2023

This $6.5M Montrose Morris-designed Clinton Hill corner mansion has a three-story round tower

By Michelle Cohen

Even among its historic, landmarked Clinton Hill neighbors, architectural distinctions like a three-story round tower set this $6,500,000 Montrose Morris-designed corner mansion at 289 Dekalb Avenue apart. Built in 1891, the brick home, with its conical-roof-topped castle tower, is one of a trio of American Romanesque Revival-style row houses. Inside the 6,342-square-foot property you'll find beautifully preserved elegant interiors and seven bedrooms across three floors. There's also a deck and a modern parking garage.
Explore this romantic mansion

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An architect’s $3M Chelsea townhouse duplex gets every detail right, including a fantasy roof garden

Photos courtesy of Al Siedman / VHT

June 28, 2023

An architect’s $3M Chelsea townhouse duplex gets every detail right, including a fantasy roof garden

By Michelle Cohen

This townhouse upper duplex at 332 West 19th Street is currently owned by one of New York City's most sought-after architects, James Corner, principal of James Corner Field Operations. The firm is known for high-profile projects like the High Line and Domino Park, among many others. An architectural eye is evident here, as the two-bedroom home's interiors are not only easy on the eyes, but configured so that every inch of space is just right for living. Asking $2,995,000, the perfectly-designed duplex is capped by a gardener's dream of a private roof deck; this idyllic outdoor space is on another level both literally and figuratively.
More Chelsea duplex perfection this way

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This $3.6M Bed-Stuy townhouse has bay windows, a full-floor bedroom suite, and a basement speakeasy

Photo credit: DDreps & Hovey Design

June 26, 2023

This $3.6M Bed-Stuy townhouse has bay windows, a full-floor bedroom suite, and a basement speakeasy

By Michelle Cohen

Surrounded by the historic homes of Bedford-Stuyvesant, this 1893 limestone townhouse has been impeccably restored with loads of historic glamor intact. Filled with fabulous design flourishes, the 4,635-square-foot two-family house, asking $3,600,000, is fronted by carved octagonal bay windows. Within, chic, modern elements are right at home among classic architectural details. Configured as a one-bedroom garden apartment with a triplex above, the home has an unusual secret: A speakeasy room in the basement.
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$9.9M four-bedroom Upper West Side co-op makes a charming case for living large

Photo courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

June 23, 2023

$9.9M four-bedroom Upper West Side co-op makes a charming case for living large

By Michelle Cohen

Occupying over 3,500 square feet on the 6th floor of the Beaux Arts building at 285 Central Park West known as The St. Urban, this rare corner unit has (at least) four bedrooms and space to spare. Designed with a fabulous eye for style and color, this Upper West Side home has retained all of its pre-war charms, but it's anything but stuffy. Impressive Central Park vistas and open exposures add up to a $9,900,000 HQ for a big, busy family, grand-scale entertaining–or both.
Stylish sprawl at the St. Urban, this way

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From firehouse to Spike Lee’s movie HQ, this $4.35M Fort Greene home has a century of stories to tell

Photos courtesy of The Corcoran Group

June 22, 2023

From firehouse to Spike Lee’s movie HQ, this $4.35M Fort Greene home has a century of stories to tell

By Michelle Cohen

This decommissioned firehouse at 124 Dekalb Avenue–currently asking $4,350,000–has a fascinating history that began in 1895, when it was built as a water tower. Converted into a neighborhood firehouse in 1903, the building's cellar was fortified as a bomb shelter at some point in the 20th century. After the firehouse was disbanded in 1974, the building became a live/work space for celebrated filmmaker Spike Lee, who headquartered his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks studio here. In the mid-1980s, the building was converted into two duplex loft apartments–and a multi-car garage.
The full eyeful, this way

A 110-acre woodland sanctuary surrounds this $6M Hudson Valley hilltop estate

Photos courtesy of Douglas Elliman

June 20, 2023

A 110-acre woodland sanctuary surrounds this $6M Hudson Valley hilltop estate

By Michelle Cohen

Looking for all the world like the cover of a magazine filled with dream estates surrounded by woods and water, this singular property, asking $5,950,000, spans 110 acres high on a hill in the Hudson Highlands of Garrison, New York. The architecturally stunning main house at 236 Old Albany Post Road, known as La Formentera, is joined by a studio/guest house with a three-car garage and a circa 1800s caretakers' cottage (also with a garage), adding up to five structures in all. The surrounding property includes a private lake, waterfall, and brook, an outdoor fireplace, and a 60-foot pool served by a stone pool house pavilion, all just an hour from New York City.
Tour this idyllic country estate

This $2.4M Brooklyn Heights co-op is a turnkey classic six with a private balcony and skyline views

All photos courtesy of DDReps

June 19, 2023

This $2.4M Brooklyn Heights co-op is a turnkey classic six with a private balcony and skyline views

By Michelle Cohen

This spacious co-op at 75 Henry Street in one of the city's most sought-after neighborhoods is ready for whatever life brings. Asking $2,395,000, the three-bedroom home has three baths and a layout that provides privacy and plenty of work-from-home space, as well as closets to keep clutter out of the way. A private double balcony and bridge and city views are an inspiration in every season; an on-site parking garage adds rare convenience.
More details, this way

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Popular Articles

Asking $2.5M, this classic Tribeca loft was starchitect Rafael Viñoly’s studio and pied-à-terre

All photos courtesy of Udi Almog/H5 for the Corcoran Group

June 16, 2023

Asking $2.5M, this classic Tribeca loft was starchitect Rafael Viñoly’s studio and pied-à-terre

By Michelle Cohen

Now on the market asking $2,500,000, this full-floor loft co-op at 137 West Broadway in Tribeca recently served as the office, art studio, and pied-à-terre of renowned late architect Rafael Viñoly. Viñoly, who designed notable buildings like 432 Park Avenue, 277 Fifth Avenue, and Three Waterline Square, kept the space until his passing in March of this year, overseeing renovations and using the living room walls to create life-sized figure drawings on wall-sized sketch pads.
Get the details

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Live in a former sculptors’ studio in a historic East Village carriage house for $8K/month

Photos courtesy of DDReps/ Alexandra Rhea

June 14, 2023

Live in a former sculptors’ studio in a historic East Village carriage house for $8K/month

By Michelle Cohen

We've all envied those charming celebrity carriage houses in the Village–like Taylor Swift's Cornelia Street home–but we also know they cost millions to own. Built in 1892, this quaint brick building at 249 1/2 East 13th Street was once the studio of sculptors Karl Bitter and Giuseppe Moretti (Bitter created the East Doors for the Trinity Church and medallions on the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Moretti, the "Vulcan," the world's largest cast iron statue), and is often referred to as an important part of neighborhood history. You can now rent the entire home for $8,000 per month.
Carriage house tour, this way

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Met Museum will open a 3,500-square-foot science and art play space for young visitors

Rendering of 81st Street Studio, designed by KOKO Architecture + Design. Image courtesy of Brick Visual

June 13, 2023

Met Museum will open a 3,500-square-foot science and art play space for young visitors

By Michelle Cohen

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced it will open the 81st Street Studio, a free science and art play space for the museum's youngest visitors, on September 9. The newly-designed space will occupy a 3,500-square-foot area in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education at the Upper East Side museum; children aged 3 to 11 can enjoy interactive play to create new experiences and inspire exploration of the museum's vast collection.
More cool stuff for kids at the Met, this way

Events & Things To Do

Former North Fork general store is now a sweet little $595K beach cottage with separate studio

Photo credit: Brown Harris Stevens

June 12, 2023

Former North Fork general store is now a sweet little $595K beach cottage with separate studio

By Michelle Cohen

Formerly known as the Park Store, this charming cottage was the sole community general store in the Reeves Park Beach neighborhood of Long Island's Baiting Hollow from the 1940s to the 1980s. The compact one-bedroom-plus-sleeping-loft home, asking $595,000, has been renovated with many of its original details preserved. Located in a highly desirable Long Island Sound beach community, the property includes an equally compact separate studio.
Get a closer look

This elegant $1.6M Upper East Side co-op has hand-painted murals and classic pre-war details

Photo credit: Travis Mark for Sotheby’s International Realty

June 9, 2023

This elegant $1.6M Upper East Side co-op has hand-painted murals and classic pre-war details

By Michelle Cohen

Live the timeless, classic Upper East Side life in this corner co-op at 901 Lexington Avenue. In addition to retaining the grandeur of its original 1907 design, interiors by renowned designer Suzanne Rheinstein render its elegance unique. Hand-painted hardwood floors and murals by Bob Christian are just a few of the timeless details that elevate this $1,600,000 home.
Take the tour

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The Westchester Colonial home of late fashion icon André Leon Talley asks $1.25M

Photo credit: Joe Kravetz at Laurel and Grand

June 8, 2023

The Westchester Colonial home of late fashion icon André Leon Talley asks $1.25M

By Michelle Cohen

The longtime Westchester home of André Leon Talley, the larger-than-life former Vogue creative director and fashion-world influencer who died in 2022, has just been listed for $1,250,000. According to the New York Times, Talley, who was the first Black creative director at Vogue, considered the White Plains property his "sanctuary" from rough-and-tumble city life. The home is currently owned by an LLC created by the designer–and longtime friend–Diane von Furstenberg to assure that Talley wouldn't lose the property after an ownership dispute. At the end of a long private drive, the classic four-bedroom 1854 home on one-and-a-half acres reminded Talley of the estates in his native city of Durham, North Carolina.
Leopard print carpets and classic proportions, this way

For $1.8M, this design lover’s upstate dream house uses color and texture to update history

Photo credit: Annabel Taylor of Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty/Gabriel Zimmer

June 7, 2023

For $1.8M, this design lover’s upstate dream house uses color and texture to update history

By Michelle Cohen

Situated on two verdant Columbia County acres, this circa-1789 Federal-style home's design takes a detour from the strict proportions that previously defined its Georgian rooms in an enchanting mix of curved walls and sophisticated color schemes. While keeping many of its architectural details intact, the current designer-owners of the Kinderhook, New York home, known as Orchard House, have in this way breathed colorful new life into this country retreat, asking $1,800,000.
More country dream house, this way

30+ ways to celebrate Pride Month in NYC

Photo by Anthony Quintano on Flickr CC

June 7, 2023

30+ ways to celebrate Pride Month in NYC

By Michelle Cohen

The New York City Pride March is back at full tilt for 2023, and the month of June promises to be a wall-to-wall celebration around what has grown to be the world’s largest Pride march since it was first held in 1970, bringing in an average of two million visitors annually. Here in the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement at the Stonewall uprising of 1969, the list of Pride events is seemingly endless. Heritage of Pride, the nonprofit organization behind New York City’s official LGBTQIA+ Pride celebration, offers a calendar to help navigate the month of June. Below, you'll find dozens of ways to participate.
Pride, parades and parties, this way

Events & Things To Do

This $8M Boerum Hill home was an abandoned Navy boarding house before a total designer renovation

Photos courtesy of Eytan Stern Weber at Evan Joseph Images

June 1, 2023

This $8M Boerum Hill home was an abandoned Navy boarding house before a total designer renovation

By Michelle Cohen

This 1920 Federal-style brick townhouse at 82 Dean Street in Boerum Hill was, in a former life, a boarding house for World War II Navy veterans. After being left vacant for half a decade, the building was stripped bare and brought back to life by a couple in search of a blank slate, according to a Curbed account of the multi-year renovation that yielded a designer home courtesy of the design firm Ashe + Leandro and Mercer Street Restoration. Asking $7,999,000, the home's interiors balance stunning design with comfort and ease of living; the renovation raised the ceilings and added an entire floor, a roof deck, a newly painted stucco facade, a custom bluestone stoop, and all-new windows.
Take the tour

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$1B office complex revamp of Chelsea’s historic Terminal Warehouse tops out

Rendering by COOKFOX

May 31, 2023

$1B office complex revamp of Chelsea’s historic Terminal Warehouse tops out

By Michelle Cohen

Terminal Warehouse, the newest reimagined workplace destination in the West Chelsea historic district, is nearing completion; a six-story addition atop the 130-year-old landmarked building recently topped out, as the New York Post first reported. The historic building, once home to the iconic 1980s and '90s nightclub Tunnel, is slated to become 1.3 million square feet of wellness-focused office and retail space, with an investment of over $1 billion. The project's developers, L&L Holding Company and Columbia Property Trust, along with architectural firm COOKFOX and New Line Structures, have made every effort to maintain the building's character as New York City's first major industrial facility with direct access to the Hudson River, streets, and rail lines.
Find out more, this way

British actor Kunal Nayyar just listed his Nomad penthouse for $2.8M

Photos by Eitan Gamliely for Sotheby’s International Realty unless otherwise noted

May 30, 2023

British actor Kunal Nayyar just listed his Nomad penthouse for $2.8M

By Michelle Cohen

The duplex penthouse owned by actor Kunal Nayyar–you may know him as Raj on "The Big Bang Theory," is now on the market asking $2,800,000. The one-bedroom condo in Nomad's Grand Madison at 225 Fifth Avenue has 11-foot ceilings for plenty of light indoors, and the covetable existence of a large patio and roof deck, high above Manhattan.
Get a closer look

This $4.75M North Fork waterfront estate brings theme park fun to a Victorian-style dream house

Photo courtesy of The Corcoran Group

May 25, 2023

This $4.75M North Fork waterfront estate brings theme park fun to a Victorian-style dream house

By Michelle Cohen

This pale blue Italianate Victorian-style confection of a seven-bedroom North Fork mansion might fit right in at Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A., but the 10,000-square-foot home's stylized interiors and carefully groomed grounds make it look like a really fun place to live. After all, how many East End estates boast an indoor pool with a twisty water park slide? And if it looks a little bit like Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House–there's a reason for that, too. Asking $4,750,000, the home on nine acres of tidal pond at 13555 New Suffolk Avenue in Cutchogue may be filled with whimsy, but the included sugar sand beach across the street is a serious treasure.
Take the grand ole tour

NYC’s best rooftop hotel pools offering day passes

Photo courtesy of The Williamsburg Hotel

May 24, 2023

NYC’s best rooftop hotel pools offering day passes

By Michelle Cohen

Coming soon: Full-time sun and swimsuit season. Some lucky apartment dwellers count a private pool among their building’s amenities. Otherwise, your local options include public pools or pricey pool clubs and gyms. One way to hack summer in NYC is to snag a day pass to a pool atop one of the city’s trendy hotels. Usually reserved for hotel guests, some hotels allow visitors to pay by the day–often with poolside restaurant and bar privileges. Some venues host events like pool parties with DJs, live music, and drink specials. Read on for cool pools with day rates. Many hotel pools will open on Memorial Day weekend. Pools may be reserved for private events, or rates and access information may change; be sure to check in with the venue before finalizing your plans.
Everyone in the pool

Events & Things To Do

California dreamin’ in a unique Bay Ridge townhouse for $1.3M

Photo credit: Russ Ross Photography for The Corcoran Group

May 23, 2023

California dreamin’ in a unique Bay Ridge townhouse for $1.3M

By Michelle Cohen

This chic single-family townhouse may be in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but the semi-detached home at 356 94th Street has a decidedly laid-back Cali vibe that's evident the moment its sky-blue-painted brick facade comes into view. The home's modern casement windows let the sunshine in and provide a preview of the considered and livable design within. Asking $1,279,000, the home spans three levels and includes a finished basement, a driveway, and a garage.
More Venice Beach in Brooklyn, this way

Distinctive Homes

This $5.4M Park Slope penthouse has the luxuries of city living–with a rooftop yard and parking

Photo credit: Allyson Lubow Photography and Leonard Lo Russo for The Corcoran Group

May 18, 2023

This $5.4M Park Slope penthouse has the luxuries of city living–with a rooftop yard and parking

By Michelle Cohen

This full-floor corner penthouse condo at 133 Sterling Place has the sleek interiors and views you'd expect from a $5,350,000 New York City apartment, with the full-house perks of parking and a huge roof terrace that doubles as an urban backyard. Inside are three bedrooms, two baths, and plenty of closets. It's the 1,800 square feet of outdoor space that make this Park Slope home extraordinary.
Take the tour

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