Brooklyn

Starting on Wednesday, applications will be accepted for three new, middle-income units in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Found at 1157 Myrtle Avenue, the rental sits just a block away from the J, M and Z trains as well as the B54 and B 15 buses. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the two $2,714/month two-bedrooms and one $3,131/month three-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

20 affordable studios in Bed-Stuy up for grabs for $666/month

Photo via Matthew Rutledge on Flickr

August 7, 2018

20 affordable studios in Bed-Stuy up for grabs for $666/month

A newly constructed Bed-Stuy rental launched a lottery this week for 20 affordable studios. Located at 500 Gates Avenue, the five-story, 68-unit apartment building sits on the corner of budding Thompkins Avenue, a block home to nearby favorites like Bed-Vyne Brew and Peaches Hot House. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the $666/month studio apartments.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Our 2,500sqft: New homeowners Mark and Lauren take us inside their relaxed Bed-Stuy brownstone

6sqft’s series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Bed-Stuy brownstone of Mark and Lauren. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

August 7, 2018

Our 2,500sqft: New homeowners Mark and Lauren take us inside their relaxed Bed-Stuy brownstone

The Upper West Side to Bed-Stuy may seem like a big jump, but Mark Macias and Lauren DeGregory haven't looked back. Last August, the lovely couple bought a renovated brownstone in the 'hood, upgrading from a one-bedroom apartment to a three-story 1890 house complete with a rental apartment, owner's duplex, and, best of all, rear deck and backyard. Having a warm, comfortable home was especially vital to the couple because of their schedules. Though he runs his own PR firm, Mark spent their first year as homeowners finishing up his play about Elvis Presley, "The King, The Final Hours." And Lauren's life sciences consulting job keeps her traveling and living out of a suitcase for most of the work week. 6sqft recently paid Mark and Lauren (and their dog Einstein!) a visit, got a tour of their pretty home, and learned a bit more about their new lives as homeowners.
Take the tour

The L-train will not run between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 weekends

L train stop at Bedford; via Roshan Vyas on Flickr

August 7, 2018

The L-train will not run between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 weekends

The MTA announced on Saturday that the L train will not run between Manhattan and Brooklyn over 15 weekends. Between this coming weekend and mid-April, the L will only operate between Broadway Junction and Carnasie-Rockaway Parkway during specific weekends. As Gothamist reported, this "pre-shutdown shutdown" will prepare for the 15-month shutdown of the L-train scheduled to begin sometime in April.
More L-shutdown nightmares

August 6, 2018

15 middle-income units available in up-and-coming Midwood, from $1,350/month

As we recently noted, "Midwood might not yet be considered an up-and-coming ‘hood," but it is getting a Target and the food hall treatment, which seems to be NYC's answer to the "Whole Foods effect." And for New Yorkers who are keen to get in at the very beginning of a possible transformation, the city's latest affordable housing lottery could be just the answer. As of today, middle-income households earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for 15 units at the newly constructed rental 1930 Avenue M. It's located right at the corner of Ocean Avenue, which in recent years has seen a surge of new residential development. The available apartments range from $1,350/month studios to $2,050/month two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): One Flatbush, Bridgeline, BRiQ and The Windermere

August 4, 2018

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): One Flatbush, Bridgeline, BRiQ and The Windermere Greenpoint Landing’s One Blue Slip Readies for Leasing; 90% of Apartments to Have Water Views [link] Contemporary Upper West Side Rentals at The Windermere Leasing with 1 Month Free [link] BriQ Debuts in Downtown Brooklyn: No Fee Rentals with 1 Month Free [link] See […]

Real Estate Trends

Pilot program to legalize basement apartments developing in East New York

Via HPD

August 3, 2018

Pilot program to legalize basement apartments developing in East New York

Mayor Bill de Blasio in June announced the city would help landlords create and renovate legal basement and cellar apartments in Brooklyn. This includes making the apartments up to code by ensuring proper safety requirements and windows, among other modifications. As a part of the pilot program, homeowners can apply for the basement pilot program through a city-approved, community-based organization. "This program will increase the stock of affordable housing in East New York, provide additional income to homeowners, and ensure tenant safety," de Blasio said. The deadline for the basement conversion program is August 15 (h/t City Limits).
Find out more

New renderings released for Crown Heights Bedford Union Armory redevelopment, permits still pending

Bedford Union Armory Redevelopment, rendering by JM Zoning via NY Yimby.

August 2, 2018

New renderings released for Crown Heights Bedford Union Armory redevelopment, permits still pending

By Annie Doge

Last November, 6sqft reported that the proposed Bedford-Union Armory Crown Heights redevelopment project had begun a land use application evaluation process before the City Council, submitted by BFC Partners and the nonprofit NYC Economic Development Corporation, who intend to jointly develop the massive armory that was once housing for the National Guard. Though permits filed four months ago for a fifteen-story building are still pending approval, New York Yimby reports that new renderings have been revealed for the residential portion of the project. As planned, Marvel Architects is responsible for the design.
New renderings, this way

Rendering via WXY architecture + urban design

August 1, 2018

City seeks proposals for film and television studio at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park

New York City is seeking proposals to develop and operate a 200,000-square-foot media production space on the Sunset Park waterfront. The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced Thursday it is looking to build a state-of-the-art film, television, sound recording or other similar production space at the Made in New York Campus at Bush Terminal. Scheduled to open in 2020, the campus is expected to become a hub for garment, manufacturing and media production.
Get the details

New Developments

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

The city’s first shared electric moped service launches in Brooklyn

Photo via Revel Transit

July 30, 2018

The city’s first shared electric moped service launches in Brooklyn

More than 60 electric mopeds will hit the streets of Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bushwick on Monday, as part of a new ride-sharing program. Developed by Revel Transit, the mopeds are available to anyone with a driver's license and for rides within Brooklyn in Queens, as the Wall Street Journal reported. Through an app, users can find nearby mopeds and reserve one up to 15 minutes in advance. While moped sharing exists in a few other cities, including Berlin and Paris, this is the first service of its kind in New York City.
Roll this way

Transit

This August, party on the rooftop of the New York Aquarium

Photo via Flickr/cc

July 30, 2018

This August, party on the rooftop of the New York Aquarium

Sure, there are plenty of rooftops to get your drink on this summer, but here's a chance to do it with fireworks and fish. As part of the inaugural season of their new Ocean Wonders: Sharks! exhibit, Coney Island's New York Aquarium is hosting late-night Friday and Saturday night rooftop parties during August and Labor Day weekend. The aquarium usually closes at 7pm, but for Summer Nights they'll welcome guests until 10pm with cocktails and a fireworks display on the roof of their new building, as well as extended access to the nine new spaces, including a 40-foot-long immersive coral reef tunnel, a rare look into the underwater "Grand Canyon," and a real hull from a local shipwreck.
All the details

Events & Things To Do

RENTING IN NYC: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): 485 Marin Boulevard, Lewis Steel Building, Heritage Dean Street and 321 Wythe Avenue

July 28, 2018

RENTING IN NYC: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): 485 Marin Boulevard, Lewis Steel Building, Heritage Dean Street and 321 Wythe Avenue 321 Wythe Debuts in Williamsburg: Luxury Rentals with All-Star Amenities + Skyline Views [link] The Alabama in Greenwich Village: Furnished Rentals for Students and Young Professionals [link] Clinton Hill’s Latest Rental Debuts with Homes from $2,175/Month [link] Meet […]

Real Estate Trends

July 26, 2018

880+ affordable homes, new performing arts center and public space upgrades coming to Brownsville

A proposal to revitalize Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood was announced one year ago, with a plan to bring a seven-building housing development to the area unveiled last month. And on Thursday, city officials released more details about the massive project, with new renderings and updates on its progress. As part of the Brownsville Plan, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development will bring a new arts center and school run by a group from the Brooklyn Music School and a media lab run by BRIC, new retail and commercial space, and a rooftop greenhouse with locally sourced produce. Plus, two proposals were selected as the NYCx Co-Lab Challenge winners, a competition that sought to find ways to enhance the area's "nighttime experience."
Find out more

July 26, 2018

5 chances to live in the hip hub of Bushwick, from $926/month

Photo via Victoria Pickering on Flickr If you live at 682 Bushwick Avenue, chances are you would never go hungry. The rental building, which sits at the corner of Bushwick and Willoughby Avenues, is near local bars like Happyfun Hideaway and Birdy's, Mexican eatery Regalo De Juquila and artsy cafe Little Skips. A lottery launched this week at the building for five units set aside for New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income. Available apartments include two $926/month one-bedrooms and three $1,042/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

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

Men of steel: How Brooklyn’s Native American ironworkers built New York

Roger Horne, a Mohawk Ironworker in the Raising Gang, ca. 1970 via the Smithsonian

July 25, 2018

Men of steel: How Brooklyn’s Native American ironworkers built New York

By Lucie Levine

The Empire State Building. The George Washington Bridge. The United Nations. The Woolworth Building. 30 Rock. The Seagram Building. Lincoln Center. The Waldorf Astoria. Virtually all of New York’s most iconic structures were raised in part by Mohawk Native American ironworkers. Since 1916, when Mohawk men made their way to New York to work on the Hell Gate Bridge, ironworkers from two Native communities, Akwesasne (which straddles Ontario, Quebec, and New York State) and Kahnawake (near Montreal), have been “walking iron” across the city.
Get the rest of this stories-high story

Amazon launches same-day delivery from Whole Foods in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan

Image via Whole Foods Market

July 24, 2018

Amazon launches same-day delivery from Whole Foods in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan

You can now have all of your organic needs met within as little as an hour--without waiting in line. Amazon launched on Tuesday "ultrafast" same-day delivery from Whole Foods Market in 24 cities, including Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and select areas of Long Island. The service, for Prime members only, began earlier this year and will continue to expand to more neighborhoods in NYC and in the country throughout 2018. "Today’s announcement is another way that we are continuing to expand access to our high-quality products and locally-sourced favorites," Christina Minardi, executive vice president of operations for Whole Foods Market, said in a statement.
Find out more

City Living

Images (L to R): Summit, 333 Grand Street, Astor Broadway and Otto

July 21, 2018

RENTING IN NYC: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): Summit, 333 Grand Street, Astor Broadway and Otto New Rentals Debut in Williamsburg from $1,999/Month at 150 Union Avenue [link] New No Fee Rentals Debut in Astoria; Live at Astor Broadway from $1,999/Month [link] Otto Greenpoint Debuts; Brooklyn Rentals at 211 McGuinness Boulevard from $2,339/Month [link] Live at Lyric: Upper West […]

Real Estate Trends

The history of Weeksville: When Crown Heights had the second-largest free black community in the U.S.

Historic Hunterfly Road Houses via the Brooklyn Historical Society

July 18, 2018

The history of Weeksville: When Crown Heights had the second-largest free black community in the U.S.

By Lucie Levine

It’s a mighty sounding moniker, but the name “King’s County” also speaks to Brooklyn’s less-than-democratic origins. At the turn of the 19th century, the city of Brooklyn was known as the “slaveholding capital” of New York State and was home to the highest concentration of enslaved people north of the Mason-Dixon Line. But, after New York State abolished slavery in 1827, free black professionals bought land in what is now Crown Heights and founded Weeksville, a self-supporting community of African American Freedman, which grew to become the second-largest free black community in Antebellum America. By 1855, over 520 free African Americans lived in Weeksville, including some of the leading activists in the Abolitionist and Equal Suffrage movements.
More about free black Brooklyn

History

Our 1,000sqft: Creative couple Amy and Brian show off their newly renovated Prospect Park South co-op

6sqft’s series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Prospect Park South co-op of an adorable and creative couple. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

July 17, 2018

Our 1,000sqft: Creative couple Amy and Brian show off their newly renovated Prospect Park South co-op

Back in 2015, 6sqft visited bubbly Amy Sprague at her Boerum Hill studio. Three years, two dogs, and one adorable meet-cute story later, Amy has moved over to Prospect Park South with her fiance Brian Schundler. After their dogs, Charlie and Ladybug, brought them together in the dog park, these two lovebirds decided to not only become homeowners but to undertake a complete gut renovation of their pre-war co-op. Brian, a landscape architect, favors mid-century-modern decor and minimalism, while Amy, a packing designer, loves vintage finds and earthy vibes. Luckily, this creative couple was able to mix their styles to create a comfortable home that uses clean lines and crisp architectural elements as a backdrop for their more eclectic finds and textures. Amy and Brian recently gave 6sqft a tour of their recently completed two-bedroom apartment and shared how the reno process went, how they mixed their aesthetics, and what it's like living with two 80+ pound pups.
Take the tour!

July 17, 2018

8 chances to snag an apartment near the Pulaski Bridge in Greenpoint, from $2,270/month

Via EXR A Greenpoint rental building located near the foot of the Pulaski Bridge launched a housing lottery this week for eight middle-income apartments. The development, dubbed Freeman's Corner, contains two buildings at 215 and 216 Freeman Street. Units boast oversized windows, polished concrete floors, built-in Bluetooth speakers and some feature private balconies. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which include four $2,270/month one-bedrooms and four $2,733/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

July 16, 2018

Live one block from the J, M, Z trains in Bushwick, from $1,979/month

Photo via CityRealty Three middle-income units in Bushwick are up for grabs for New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income. Located at 20 Jefferson Street, the newly constructed rental building sits right next to J, M and Z trains at the Myrtle Avenue subway station. The apartments boast state-of-the-art appliances and on-site laundry. Available units include one $1,979/month one-bedroom and two $2,387/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Cuomo to investigate allegations of tenant harassment by Kushner Cos. at Williamsburg condo

Rendering via Morris Adjmi Architects

July 16, 2018

Cuomo to investigate allegations of tenant harassment by Kushner Cos. at Williamsburg condo

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday launched an investigation into allegations of tenant harassment by Kushner Companies at the Austin Nichols House in Williamsburg. The announcement comes on the same day a group of 19 current and former residents of the building are set to file a $10 million lawsuit against the company for creating unlivable conditions from construction noise and dust and pushing them out to make room for condo buyers. The company, run by the family of Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, purchased the 338-unit property at 184 Kent Avenue in 2015, and has since sold or emptied 75 percent of the rent-stabilized apartments, the Associated Press reported.
Find out more

Policy

Preservationists, LGBT groups push Landmarks to designate Walt Whitman’s Clinton Hill home

Photo of Whitman via Wikimedia; Photo of 99 Ryerson Street via NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project

July 16, 2018

Preservationists, LGBT groups push Landmarks to designate Walt Whitman’s Clinton Hill home

A coalition of preservationists, LGBT groups and literary experts is asking the Landmarks Preservation Commission to reassess their decision last year to not landmark Walt Whitman's Brooklyn home, the last residence of the 19th-century poet remaining in New York. Located at 99 Ryerson Street in Clinton Hill, the home was where Whitman and his family lived between May 1, 1855 and May 1, 1856. While living at the home, Whitman wrote "Leaves of Grass," a collection of poems considered to be one of the most significant American works ever. The home is also one of the earliest extant buildings in NYC associated with a member of the LGBT community.
More here

Images (L to R): The Modern, The Forge, 178 North 11th Street and 1009 Willoughby Avenue

July 14, 2018

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news