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.

January 20, 2017

‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ screenwriter lists Chelsea townhouse with a private yoga studio for $7.1M

By Michelle Cohen

Built in the 1830s when this quiet, tree-lined residential block was home to well-to-do families, the four-story, 3,600 square-foot Greek Revival townhouse at 240 West 21st Street has seen a lot of change through the years. From its beginnings as an impressive residence for a successful engraver (h/t Daytonian), the home has been a boarding house, apartments and, in more recent years, the well-designed and thoroughly updated home of screenwriter/directors Leora Barish and Henry Bean (Barish wrote the screenplay for the cult favorite Madonna film "Desperately Seeking Susan" and the more recent "Basic Instinct 2;" Bean wrote and directed the award-winning film "The Believer"). The Chelsea townhouse, on the market for $7.1 million, is once again a comfortable single-family home boasting several terraces and a big, bright garden-facing yoga studio.
Come on in, there's plenty of room

January 19, 2017

Amid fears of Russian hackers, expert warns of threat from squirrel cyberattack

By Michelle Cohen

As the U.S. goes collectively nuts over the possibility of alleged Russian hacking and its effects on the election, the Washington Post tells of at least one cybersecurity expert devoted to exposing the very real threat of cyberattack by "an insidious bushy-tailed foe." We're reminded that in 1987, a squirrel nibbled Nasdaq’s computer center (literally) into the black for 90 minutes, upending 20 million trades.
More de-tails this way

Policy

January 19, 2017

Curl up by the fire in this cozy East Side one-bedroom for only $495K

By Michelle Cohen

On the ninth floor of Stewart Hall at 10 Mitchell Place, this sunny one-bedroom co-op definitely says "home" more than "investment property." Maybe it's pre-war details like an original mantlepiece, beamed ceilings and hardwood floors, or maybe it's the wood-burning fireplace, many closets and open sky views, or the almost-secret storybook Manhattan enclave near the East River and elegant Beekman Place. Given the apartment's size, layout and location, the ask is definitely welcoming at $495,000.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

January 18, 2017

There’s a room for every color of the rainbow in this $5M Upper East Side co-op

By Michelle Cohen

In New York City's interior landscape of neutral hues and fifty shades of white, it's rare to see bright colors, especially in a classic pre-war co-op on the Upper East Side. But the current residents of this apartment at 129 East 69th Street, who undertook a two-year renovation, clearly favored the brighter side of the crayon box. The best thing about it is that with eight spacious rooms, colors, patterns and fun decorating ideas never have to clash.
READ MORE

Distinctive Homes

January 18, 2017

POLL: Will construction begin on a new Port Authority bus terminal by 2021?

By Michelle Cohen

After stalling repeatedly over design disagreements, budget woes, and funding squabbles, NJ.com reports that The Port Authority said it hopes to have a new midtown Manhattan bus terminal built in New York by 2030, shovels in the ground by 2021 and be "well underway" by 2026. Though some lawmakers expressed doubt about the ambitious schedule, Steven P. Plate, Port Authority chief of major projects, said at a Legislative Oversight Committee joint hearing about the agency's $32 billion revised capital plan, "We will have full environmental approval, permits in place and construction well underway" according to that timeline.
Think it will happen?

Transit

January 18, 2017

Governors Island to open a month early on May 1st with new oyster garden

By Michelle Cohen

A springtime 2017 opening date will extend the park's season from 120 to 146 days, give the public a longer season to enjoy the island's bounty of arts programming and outdoor activities–and give us yet another reason to look forward to spring. Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news release, “An extra month on Governors Island means more arts, culture and outdoor time for New York families...a May Day opening stands as a symbol of changes as we create a more livable and affordable city.”
More of what's new on Governors Island

City Living

Click here to enlarge infographic

January 17, 2017

128 tall buildings were constructed in 2016, a world record

By Michelle Cohen

We've just been looking at the amazing growth of the skyscraper in its early years, and now ArchDaily informs us that 2016 was a record year for tall buildings throughout the world. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) announced in its 2016 Tall Building Year in Review that 128 buildings 200 meters/656 feet or higher were completed in 2016, beating the previous year's record of 114 completions. Of those buildings, 18 nabbed the spot of tallest building in their respective city, country or region; 10 were classified as supertalls (300 meters/984 feet or higher). And it looks like we're on a roll...
Find out where the supertalls are rising and what the future might hold

Architecture And Design

January 17, 2017

$8.8M 20-room limestone Park Slope mansion was built in 1905 for a furniture tycoon

By Michelle Cohen

Even in the land of many mansions otherwise known as north Park Slope, 106 Eighth Avenue is, as the listing says, a rare Brooklyn treasure. Built in 1905 for furniture tycoon Henry Wallace Partridge, this Beaux Arts mansion built to accommodate "family, full time employees and guests" spans 8,000 square feet and 20 rooms, including seven bathrooms and nine fireplaces. Maintained with care, this extraordinary home has retained original details throughout, including hand-painted frescoes and a Tiffany stained glass atrium. It's currently on the market for $8.789 million (still far below the 17,500-square-foot Low mansion at 3 Pierrepont Place for $40 million), and awaits more family, full-time employees and guests to reimagine it for the 21st century.
Take the grand tour

January 16, 2017

‘Ten & Taller’ exhibition maps the rise of Manhattan’s first skyscrapers from 1874 to 1900

By Michelle Cohen

Though it might seem that each recent generation attempts to take credit for the rise of the futuristic "skyscraper," buildings that rise ten floors or higher were born with the Gilded Age. "Ten & Taller: 1874-1900," on view through April 2017 at the Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park City examines every single building 10 stories and taller that was erected in Manhattan between 1874 through 1900 (h/t Curbed). Beginning in the mid-1870s, the city's first ten-story office buildings rose on masonry to 200 feet high with spires that stretched 60 more feet. By 1900 New York City could boast of 250 buildings at least as tall; the world’s tallest office building was the thirty-story 15 Park Row; framed with steel, it soared to 391 feet. As technology brought elevators and new methods of construction, the vertical expansion was becoming a forest of tall towers.
Follow the city's march skyward

January 16, 2017

This renovated historic townhouse in Mott Haven is only $800,000

By Michelle Cohen

File this one under things you won't find in Brooklyn: This pretty, totally modernized 2,828 square-foot Queen Anne row house at 418 East 136th Street in the Bertine Block Historic District offers four bedrooms with room for more, and four stories of townhouse loveliness, all for the well-under-a-million price of $800,000. Caveats apply, of course: It’s a narrow house at only 14 feet wide, and single-family so no rental income if you live there. But The Bronx is the place to be if you’re looking for townhouse living for under a mil.
Take a look

Lake Bell’s enchanting Clinton Hill townhouse gets a price chop and new photos

By Michelle Cohen

Back in 2013 director/actress/screenwriter Lake Bell and tattoo artist to the stars Scott Campbell bought this quaint townhouse in north Clinton Hill in the Wallabout Historic District for $1.55 million. Three years, a baby and some creative renovations later they listed the home at 119 Vanderbilt Avenue for an ambitious $3 million. After a price cut last November to $2.55 million and a broker switch, the home with the enchanted Zen garden and top-floor atelier is now asking $2.3 million with new photos to boot.
Check out the cool, quirky townhouse interiors

January 13, 2017

Pieces of Thomas Heatherwick’s massive, climbable ‘Vessel’ arrive at Hudson Yards site

By Michelle Cohen

Back in September, Related Companies chairman Stephen Ross finally unveiled the large-scale artwork that would anchor the central public space within Hudson Yards. As Ross revealed, Thomas Heatherwick was chosen to design the piece, and it would cost an incredible $150 million to build. Dubbed "The Vessel,” the climbable sculpture would rise 16-stories—150 feet tall, 50 feet wide at its base and 150 feet wide at the top—and consist of a web of 154 concrete and steel staircases with 2,500 steps, 80 landings and an elevator; the piece, in fact, so massive that it could comfortably accommodate 1,000 visitors at a time. The sculpture was to be constructed in Monfalcone, Italy before being shipped to its home on the Hudson River. And now CityRealty reports that parts of what Ross once called "New York's Eiffel Tower" have officially arrived at the site and await assembly.
More photos this way

January 12, 2017

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith lists upscale Greenwich Village condo for $5M

By Michelle Cohen

Shepard Smith has been bestowed with the dubious title of "most likeable anchor on Fox News," and the popular breaking news chief won even more points for defending competitor CNN against PEOTUS ranting. But he's also looking to get some real estate points by selling his Greenwich Village apartment at 65 West 13th Street for $4.9 million (h/t Luxury Listings). Smith bought the 2,341-square-foot condo in 2004 for $1.875 million, briefly listing it for $4 mil in 2011.
Take a peek

January 12, 2017

Video: Zaha Hadid speaks about what influenced 520 West 28th Street’s design

By Michelle Cohen

Zaha Hadid Architects has released a new video in which the firm's late principal, internationally celebrated starchitect Zaha Hadid, discusses the ideas that influenced the iconic, innovative and controversial design of her first residential project in New York City, the High Line adjacent 520 West 28th Street, developed by Related Cos. The 11-story residence was voted 6sqft's 2016 Building of the Year and is currently nearing completion.
'more freedom to innovate'

January 11, 2017

Area businesses estimate $40M in lost revenue because of Trump Tower ‘occupied zone’

By Michelle Cohen

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to remain in his Manhattan HQ is causing concern among businesses in the area. Business leaders and local officials spoke out Tuesday at a City Council hearing on the threat that blocked sidewalks and traffic snarls are posing to jobs, tax revenues, tourist appeal and “global reputation,” reports Crain’s. Local merchants claim they’ve taken a significant hit, and that many are considering not renewing their leases or moving elsewhere. Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District president Tom Cusack estimated that local businesses have lost $40 million in revenue since Election Day due to the security maze that the area surrounding Trump Tower has become.
Business leaders call for 'extraordinary action'

Celebrities

January 11, 2017

Rent a triplex in the townhouse where Jack Kerouac wrote ‘On the Road’ for $12.5K a month

By Michelle Cohen

The loft-like, rustic-modern interiors in this renovated triplex could be straight out of a hip Brooklyn brownstone–except they can be found on a serene Seminary block amid the galleries and condos of prime West Chelsea. But the townhouse at 454 West 20th Street has some cool cred beyond its on-trend finishes: Original hipster Jack Kerouac reportedly composed his seminal novel "On the Road" in 1951 while in residence here.
Find out more, take the tour

Distinctive Homes

January 10, 2017

Study: Getting to work by public transit is easiest in NYC, San Francisco and D.C.

By Michelle Cohen

A recent report from the University of Minnesota takes a look at major U.S. cities in terms of the number of jobs that are accessible to city residents via transit; Streetsblog brings us the news that you'll find the best transit access to jobs in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, D.C., Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Jose and Denver. The study concludes that in those (top 10) cities, "accessibility ranks all exhibit a combination of high density land use and fast, frequent transit service." According to the report, public transit is used for about five percent of commuting trips in the U.S., making it the second most widely used commute mode after driving. But the commute mode share accorded to transit varies quite a bit from city to city: 31 percent in the New York metropolitan area; 11 percent in Chicago; 8 percent in Seattle.
Find out more and compare cities

January 10, 2017

Gorgeously sophisticated loft in Soho artists’ building seeks $1.9M

By Michelle Cohen

We're seeing a lot of downtown live/work lofts on the market lately, and we can't help but wonder whether longtime artist-inhabitants are moving on to better things, but we're guessing they're cashing in on the cachet of loft living. And if you've ever drooled over these huge and versatile spaces, this 1,200 square-foot co-op at 138 Grand Street will definitely put stars in your eyes.
See more details

Distinctive Homes

January 9, 2017

Built in Poland and shipped in pieces, NYC’s biggest modular hotel project is 55 percent complete

By Michelle Cohen

The 20-story, 300-room project at 185 Bowery was constructed in Poland and shipped to New York in 210 pieces. Owned by Dutch hotel developer/operator Citizen M with Brack Capital Real Estate, the high-rise hotel at 185 Bowery is more than half done, reports the Wall Street Journal. It will be the largest permanent modular hotel project ever in NYC. Modular construction is more common in Europe; the developer already has nine hotels up and running and 14 in the works. They’ve used the technique of stacking sealed, factory-made units containing finished hotel rooms on the majority of those projects.
Check out photos of the sealed hotel pods arriving

January 9, 2017

There’s enough room for all of your startup dreams in this $5M live-work Soho loft

By Michelle Cohen

While lofts are often vast and cavernous by their very nature–most are former warehouses and factories after all–at 5,200 square feet this sprawling space at 514 Broadway in Soho–currently on the market for $4.995 million–is large even by those big-shouldered standards. We're guessing two units were combined at some point, and since you're officially allowed to do business here, we can imagine a buzzing hive of innovation, with more than enough room left over for leaving work behind. According to records, former Tiananmen Square activist and student leader during the 1989 protests and current tech mogul Shen Tong purchased the loft for $2.9 million in 2004, which is also when he founded software company VFinity. The avid art collector's office is listed at this address, and we're guessing he's lived here with his wife and three children during that time.
Check out the possibilities

Distinctive Homes

January 6, 2017

Go for baroque in this $18M Upper East Side townhouse with a three-tiered garden, two kitchens and gym

By Michelle Cohen

For anyone who can't decide between an Italian palazzo and a townhouse on the Upper East Side, this 6,800-square-foot "slice of Manhattan" might be just the answer. Rising six stories (five plus a gym/laundry/storage enhanced-cellar) at 115 East 79th Street just off Park Avenue and two blocks from Central Park, this beyond-opulent single-family home was built in 1903 but was far more recently renovated with just about every move-in ready modern upgrade you can think of. There are two kitchens, four outdoor spaces and seven wood-burning fireplaces–all accessible by an elevator or stairs.
Tour this opulent uptown mansion

Distinctive Homes

January 6, 2017

Plans filed for a 21-story Coney Island ‘Dreams’ project on the boardwalk

By Michelle Cohen

Developer John Catsimatidis' Red Apple Group has filed plans for a 21-story tower on a Surf Avenue parcel that he purchased last summer according to Brooklyn Daily; the tower is part of a three-building Coney Island project that will likely include 415 apartments and retail. In the billionaire grocery mogul's typically patient fashion, he has slowly been acquiring the Boardwalk-adjacent lots between West 35th and West 37th streets for the project, called Ocean Dreams, since 2005.
Find out more

January 5, 2017

NYC documents dating back to 1674 will get a new home after gathering dust for centuries

By Michelle Cohen

While paper might be becoming a thing of the past, it's often the one thing that remains of our recorded history. And while it was often our sole means of recording that history, paper is among the most difficult media to preserve. To that end, New York City's painstakingly stacked, filed and boxed New York Supreme Court records, part of an immense collection of official documents dating back as far as 1674, are being moved from the archival homes they’ve occupied for, in some cases, centuries. The New York Times reports on a heroic effort by dedicated archivists to round up the these city records in order to preserve them for posterity and make them more accessible to researchers.
From early immigration papers to Aaron Burr's divorce

History

January 5, 2017

$8M Tribeca loft is artist-owned and comes with a spacious studio and sculptor neighbor

By Michelle Cohen

The interiors at this jumbo Tribeca loft are a work of art even at first glance; that's likely because the 4,223 square foot home at 173 Duane Street is currently owned by artist Merrill Steiger, who bought it in 2008 for $3.85 million. Incidentally, the two-bedroom loft co-op is also in the building where sculptor Richard Serra has lived and worked since the 1990s. Serra, who is known for his large-scale site-specific works, has at various times purchased the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the classic early 20th-century cast iron building with his wife, Clara. The sprawling second floor apartment with a separate art studio is currently listed by Steiger for $7.95 million.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

All articles by Michelle Cohen

‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ screenwriter lists Chelsea townhouse with a private yoga studio for $7.1M

Amid fears of Russian hackers, expert warns of threat from squirrel cyberattack

Curl up by the fire in this cozy East Side one-bedroom for only $495K

There’s a room for every color of the rainbow in this $5M Upper East Side co-op

POLL: Will construction begin on a new Port Authority bus terminal by 2021?

Governors Island to open a month early on May 1st with new oyster garden

128 tall buildings were constructed in 2016, a world record

$8.8M 20-room limestone Park Slope mansion was built in 1905 for a furniture tycoon

‘Ten & Taller’ exhibition maps the rise of Manhattan’s first skyscrapers from 1874 to 1900

This renovated historic townhouse in Mott Haven is only $800,000

Lake Bell’s enchanting Clinton Hill townhouse gets a price chop and new photos

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith lists upscale Greenwich Village condo for $5M

Video: Zaha Hadid speaks about what influenced 520 West 28th Street’s design

Doors of steel and glass make this $3M Soho loft feel like a box of light

Area businesses estimate $40M in lost revenue because of Trump Tower ‘occupied zone’

Rent a triplex in the townhouse where Jack Kerouac wrote ‘On the Road’ for $12.5K a month

Study: Getting to work by public transit is easiest in NYC, San Francisco and D.C.

Gorgeously sophisticated loft in Soho artists’ building seeks $1.9M

Built in Poland and shipped in pieces, NYC’s biggest modular hotel project is 55 percent complete

There’s enough room for all of your startup dreams in this $5M live-work Soho loft

Go for baroque in this $18M Upper East Side townhouse with a three-tiered garden, two kitchens and gym

Plans filed for a 21-story Coney Island ‘Dreams’ project on the boardwalk

NYC documents dating back to 1674 will get a new home after gathering dust for centuries

$8M Tribeca loft is artist-owned and comes with a spacious studio and sculptor neighbor

252 East 57th Street in Midtown East

All articles by Michelle Cohen

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