Neighborhood Tours

October 10, 2023

Your guide to the West Village: New York City’s downtown heart of cultural history

It may seem challenging to navigate the winding, narrow streets in one of the few Manhattan neighborhoods not arranged on a sensible grid. Fortunately, it’s also hard to make a wrong turn no matter where you end up in the West Village. And there’s so much to see and do in this iconic and charming neighborhood, that you may find it even harder to leave.
discover the west village, old and new
June 19, 2023

Chelsea Waterside Park reopens after $15.2M overhaul

Hudson River Park's Chelsea Waterside Park reopened last week after an extensive $15.2 million renovation. Designed by Abel Bainnson Butz, LLP and CDR Design Studio Architects, the park has been enhanced with new plantings, a public restroom, a permanent picnic area with lighting, a spacious turf sports field, and an expansive dog run. Located at West 23rd Street and the Westside Highway in Manhattan, the revamped park's layout prioritizes usable green space for New Yorkers.
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June 14, 2023

New Jersey’s largest resiliency park can hold up to 2 million gallons of stormwater

A brand new park in Hoboken will also work to prevent flooding during storms. Located at 12th and Madison Streets, ResilenCity Park includes five acres of public open space, basketball courts, and athletic fields, and has the ability to detain up to two million gallons of water. Considered the largest resiliency park in New Jersey, the new park is part of a broader effort by Hoboken to build more resilient storm infrastructure after Hurricane Sandy flooded most of the city in 2012.
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May 25, 2023

NYC’s first multi-family geothermal project tops out in Coney Island

New York City's first multi-family geothermal project has topped out in Coney Island. The residential development at 1515 Surf Avenue will include 463 apartments, of which 139 will be designated as affordable. The building's geothermal system will use the Earth to heat and cool the property and power its water systems, eliminating the need for equipment that would run on fossil fuels.
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April 24, 2023

$700M climate research campus designed by SOM headed to Governors Island

New York City has revealed its vision for a first-in-the-nation climate research hub on Governors Island. Led by Stony Brook University, the New York Climate Exchange will be a nonprofit organization dedicated to climate research and solutions and serve as a center for climate education and green job training. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the 400,000-square-foot campus includes classrooms, laboratories, new open space, student and faculty housing, university hotel rooms, and more. Construction on the $700 million project is expected to begin in 2025, with the first phase slated for completion in 2028.
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March 27, 2023

Adams proposes NYC’s first composting mandate

For the first time ever, New York City residents will be required to separate their organic waste from their other garbage or face fines. Mayor Eric Adams on Monday proposed NYC's first composting mandate, a new policy that will require New Yorkers with yards to separate yard waste, which are biodegradable materials like leaves, flowers, twigs, and grass clippings, into a separate bin for pickup by the NYC Department of Sanitation. Residents who fail to do so will have to pay fines similar to the penalties for failing to recycle properly.
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January 30, 2023

NYC will require Uber and Lyft to go fully electric by 2030

All New York City Uber and Lyft rideshare vehicles must go 100 percent electric by 2030, Mayor Eric Adams announced during his State of the City address last week. The decision will affect roughly 100,000 drivers for the two rideshare platforms, which both applauded the city's announcement, as first reported by The Verge.
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January 27, 2023

NYC announces plan for $20M biotech hub at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

During his State of the City address, Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced plans to open a $20 million biotech innovation hub at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The "first-in-the-nation incubator" would include 50,000 square feet of office, lab, and programming space for biotech startups and companies at the former shipyard, as THE CITY first reported.
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November 17, 2022

See Snøhetta’s lush public garden now open at 550 Madison Avenue

The new public garden at Philip Johnson's 550 Madison Avenue building opened this week, the final component of the postmodern landmark's renovation led by the Olayan Group. Designed by Snøhetta, the lush privately-owned public space (POPS) is located adjacent to 550 Madison in a formerly enclosed mid-block passageway. Increasing the public space at the site by 50 percent, the half-acre garden is now the largest in Midtown East.
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November 9, 2022

Along with electing Hochul, New York voters approve $4.2B in climate spending

In addition to electing Gov. Kathy Hochul, voters in New York on Tuesday approved four new ballot measures that focus on fighting climate change and improving racial equity. Nearly 70 percent of voters said yes to the landmark "Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act," which gives the state permission to borrow $4.2 billion for funding projects that will protect New Yorkers from future extreme weather due to climate change. It's the largest initiative for environmental protection in New York State history.
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November 3, 2022

Here’s what Rikers Island could look like as a green infrastructure hub

A new report released this week details how New York City's notorious Rikers Island could become a green energy center after the prison complex closes. The Regional Plan Association and Rhode Island School of Design on Wednesday revealed their vision to transform the over 400-acre Rikers Island into a green energy hub with solar energy production, recycling and composting infrastructure, a research and training facility for the formerly incarcerated, and a wastewater treatment plant.
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August 23, 2022

NYC receives $7M federal grant to expand greenway network in underserved communities

New York City received a $7.25 million federal grant that will be put towards the expansion of the city's greenway network, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday. The expansion aims to improve the greenway network's reach in historically underserved, lower-income neighborhoods that lack access to public transportation and jobs by filling in "critical gaps" in the network, improving cyclist and pedestrian safety, and enhancing green transportation alternatives and waterfront access.
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August 3, 2022

New York will invest $70M to ‘decarbonize’ NYCHA

A new investment by the state aims to make New York City public housing more environmentally friendly and effective for tenants. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced an initial investment of $70 million in a clean energy initiative to install 30,000 new heat pumps, considered more eco-friendly than traditional units, at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings across the city. The investment is part of the state's Clean Heat for All Challenge, which launched in 2021 to spur ideas on how to revamp the way NYCHA units are heated and cooled.
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July 18, 2022

New affordable housing building in the Bronx has a rooftop greenhouse and aquaponic farm

A new housing development with more than 100 deeply affordable and supportive apartments, a rooftop greenhouse, and an aquaponic urban farming system officially opened last week. Located at 2865 Creston Avenue in Bedford Park, the project was developed by homeless services nonprofit Project Renewal. Bedford Green House includes social services for residents and amenities that center around healing through nature.
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May 9, 2022

NYCxDESIGN 2022: What to see and do at New York City’s biggest celebration of design

Taking place in one of the world's most innovative design capitals, New York City's largest design festival will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. NYCxDESIGN: The Festival is a showcase of the newest and most creative offerings in furniture, lighting, textiles, and accessories–many of which you'll be seeing for the next several years in magazines, blogs, and showrooms–with festival attendees from points far and near converging on the city’s five boroughs from May 10–20. Design theory, urbanism, and big-picture issues like the environment and inequality inform brainy panel discussions and workshops. And if modern objects are your thing, you'll be in design heaven with popular programs like Apartment Therapy's Small / Cool providing a serious opportunity to get ideas for your own urban living space. Read on for a handful of highlights.
NYC X Design Festival 2022 highlights, this way
April 29, 2022

NYC lawmakers call for mandatory citywide compost program at residential buildings

A bill introduced in the New York City Council on Thursday calls for the creation of a mandatory citywide composting program at residential buildings. Under the legislation, sponsored by Council Member Shahana Hanif, New Yorkers would be required to separate organic waste from other waste for curbside collection. Pickup of organic waste from residential buildings would begin by the middle of 2023.
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April 21, 2022

NYC finally launches containerized trash bin pilot

Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Wednesday unveiled a new containerized waste bin that the city will eventually deploy across all five boroughs in hopes of thwarting rats, making more room on the sidewalks, and improving the overall quality of life for residents. The new bins are part of the city's Clean Curbs Pilot program, which was announced two years ago. The first bins were installed in Times Square on Wednesday.
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April 11, 2022

New public orchard on Governors Island grows fruit not found in NYC for centuries

An orchard with trees containing fruit varieties native to the New York City region will open to the public this month on Governors Island. Created by artist Sam Van Aken, the artwork, The Open Orchard, consists of 102 trees bearing fruits grown in the state within the past 400 years but which have gone extinct due to climate change and industrialization. The orchard will serve as a gene bank for rare fruit species that can no longer be found naturally here, allowing New Yorkers to taste fruit that has not existed for hundreds of years, while also preserving them for future generations. The Open Orchard will officially open on Arbor Day, April 29, the Trust for Governors Island announced on Monday.
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April 8, 2022

NYC celebrates Frederick Law Olmsted’s bicentennial birthday with a month of parks programs

Throughout April, the city's parks will celebrate the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect whose visionary work on Central Park, Prospect Park, and many other public parks helped influence the future of urban green space design. The Parks Department will be teaching New Yorkers about Olmsted's influence on urban design with an exhibition at the Arsenal Gallery, tours led by the Urban Park Rangers, and much more.
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March 17, 2022

NYC architects reimagine the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Morningside Heights campus

The Jewish Theological Seminary on Thursday released images of its newly redesigned campus in Morningside Heights. The campus was redesigned by the award-winning Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects who have reimagined it with the community-focused form of Judaism that JTS teaches and practices through new open, outward-facing architecture.
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March 17, 2022

New York City’s first net-zero energy library opens on Staten Island

The New York Public Library on Wednesday opened its 14th branch on Staten Island and the first net-zero energy library in New York City. Located in the Bricktown Commons shopping center on the South Shore in Charleston, the $17 million, 10,000-square-foot building was designed by Ikon 5 Architects to be energy efficient, with solar panels providing nearly 100 percent of the energy the building will use. Managed by the city's Economic Development Corporation with the Gilbane Building Company, the new branch offers patrons a variety of amenities, including dedicated spaces for adults, teens, and children and flexible multi-purpose rooms for programs and classes.
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March 17, 2022

This $2.5M Red Hook townhouse gets sustainable modernism right

This stunning free-standing townhouse at 19 Wolcott Street in Red Hook is a well-executed combination of sustainable construction and beautiful modern design. Innovative materials and an architect's eye are the backdrop for 21st-century living, with enviable features that include a spacious raised deck, an outdoor garden, and a fully enclosed garage with an electrical panel ready to install a charger. This modern classic of a three-bedroom Brooklyn townhouse, asking $2,500,000, was built using energy-efficient passive house construction throughout and solar panels above.
Tour this modern Brooklyn house
March 14, 2022

NYC to resume work on over 100 delayed parks projects this spring

Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday announced over 100 park projects halted due to the pandemic will resume work this spring. The city has invested $417 million in NYC Parks to break ground on the 104 projects, which is a 142 percent increase in new park projects compared to 2021. According to a press release, more than 86 percent of the new projects implement sustainable features like LED lighting, rain gardens, new trees, stormwater capture systems, and the use of recycled materials. Roughly 62 percent of these new projects are being installed in neighborhoods classified as underserved and are expected to be completed by the summer of 2023.
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March 10, 2022

Project transforming run-down city buildings into ‘green’ affordable housing kicks off in Queens

Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced a milestone has been reached in a major project designed to improve quality of life and tackle the affordable housing crisis in Southeast Queens. Construction has begun on "Habitat Net Zero," a project that will transform 13 run-down buildings owned by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) into 16 green homes for affordable homeownership.
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March 3, 2022

South Brooklyn Marine Terminal to become one of nation’s largest offshore wind ports

Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced an agreement that will transform New York City's South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into one of the country's largest offshore wind ports. As part of the deal made with the city's Economic Development Corporation, Equinor, and the Sustainable South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, L.P., the terminal will become a power interconnection site for the Empire Wind 1 project, with heavy-lift platforms being built on the 39th Street Pier for use as wind turbine staging. The terminal's transformation will help the city meet its climate goal of having 100 percent clean electricity by 2040.
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