Netherlands-based architecture firm MVRDV on Thursday broke ground on its first major project in the United States: a 22-story tower in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Dubbed the Radio Tower & Hotel, the mixed-use building will feature a hotel, retail, and office space all in a colorful, boxy structure. According to the architects, the vibrant boxes take inspiration from the colors of “storefronts in the majority-Hispanic neighborhood” and keeps them the same size as other buildings in the area.

See it here

Connie passes under the Eastern Trail in Maine; Courtesy of TWA Hotel, photo by Aaron Flacke

Over the last week, a 1958 Lockheed Constellation, or “Connie,” made its way from Maine to its new home in Queens at JFK Aiport, where it will become a cocktail lounge at the TWA Hotel. Traveling 300 miles through five states, the Connie, with a “Queens or Bust!” sign on its back, was disassembled, loaded on two separate tow trucks, and escorted by state police and civilians. Connie, one of only four remaining L-1648As in the world, will sit on the “tarmac” outside of the 512-room hotel.

More on the journey here

Photo by Scott Frances for the Mark

Most New Yorker don’t spend $75,000 a year on rent, but a hotel room on the Upper East Side is asking that hefty sum for just one night. First reported by Bloomberg, the duplex penthouse suite is at the swanky Mark Hotel and boasts six bathrooms, five bedrooms, two wet bars, a 25,000-square-foot rooftop terrace overlooking Central Park, and a living room under the landmarked building’s cupola that can be converted into a full-sized Grand Ballroom. In addition to being the country’s most expensive hotel suite, it’s also the largest at 10,000 square feet.

See the whole place

In June, a petition was filed in New York Supreme Court to prevent the construction of an eight-story hotel next door to the historic Merchant’s House Museum in the East Village. Now, Curbed reports, the proposal to build the hotel was unanimously rejected Thursday by the City Council’s subcommittee on zoning and franchises. The 186-year-old townhouse belonged to hardware merchant Seabury Tredwell, who bought the 10,000-square-foot residence for $18,000 in 1832.

Find out more

Image: Luca Vanzella via Flickr
On the heels of news that Coney Island will be getting its first new hotel in 50 years, plans have surfaced for a 150,000-square-foot expansion of Luna Park that will bring new rides, food and arcade games. The faded but beloved seaside icon has been in the news recently for a renewed pace of development that many see as new promise for the area. A log flume ride, zip lines and a ropes course are coming to the block between Surf Avenue and the boardwalk and between West 15th and West 16th streets, with food, arcade games and seating planned for two more streets nearby. And according to NY1, developer PYE Properties has proposed a boutique hotel in the historic Shore Theater, a 1920s landmark that has fallen into disrepair and has been vacant since 1978, attracting the homeless and graffiti but little attention.

Find out more

Photo via Wikimedia

When the iconic Waldorf Astoria closed in 2017 for the massive renovation promised when Chinese company Anbang Insurance Group acquired it in 2014, the hotel’s future held jumbo condos and massive guest rooms. The fate of the Park Avenue landmark has been a topic of drama and discussion ever since, especially given the takeover of Anbang by the Chinese government after the incarceration of the company’s chairman, Wu Xiaohui, last year during a fraud investigation. The New York Post now reports that although contractor AECOM Tishman has signed a deal with Anbang and construction is underway for the promised 350 condos and 350 hotel rooms, the project’s completion date has been moved from 2020 to 2021.

Find out more

Via Ismael Leyva Architects

The plan to convert the landmarked Battery Maritime Building into a hotel and Cipriani rooftop restaurant is back on schedule after an injection of capital into the project, Crain’s reported on Thursday. Developer Midtown Equities will take a 30 percent stake, allowing construction to resume this fall or winter. In 2009, the city first approved a plan to redevelop the building, which sits at 10 South Street in the Financial District, but was delayed after a series of legal and financial setbacks.

More details here

The Starstream Ballroom, via MCR

Getting married next spring? Or maybe you’re planning a large conference? Either way, if mid-century-modern is your thing, then the news that the TWA Hotel is now booking events for the spring of 2019 and beyond is sure to be exciting. Ahead of reservations for guestrooms opening in December, we now have a first look at the 50,000 square feet of event space, including two ballrooms, a pre-function space complete with Saarinen-designed Knoll furniture like tulip tables and womb chairs, and six high-tech skyboxes.

Get a look at all the spaces

The museum via Google street view

The Merchant’s House Museum and its supporters filed a petition on Monday in New York Supreme Court against the construction of an eight-story hotel planned next door. The 186-year-old East Village home at 29 East Fourth Street belonged to hardware merchant Seabury Tredwell, who bought the 10,000-square-foot residence for $18,000 in 1832. The museum, which has been remarkably preserved since then, became the first property in Manhattan to be designated a New York City landmark in 1965. But landmark status does not guarantee protection from any adjacent construction projects. The museum is now taking legal action against the hotel project because, as its executive director, Margaret “Pi” Halsey Gardiner, told the WSJ: “It’s not going to be able to survive construction next door, I guarantee you.”

Get the details