The Rite Aid at 81 1st Avenue. Photo © Adam Friedberg

In 2015, photographer Adam Friedberg was passing through Astor Place and took notice of the two single-story buildings on Third Avenue and St. Marks Place–the one that housed Continental Bar and the other a McDonald’s. From there, Friedberg began a project to photograph all the single-story buildings throughout the changing East Village and Lower East Side neighborhoods and the negative space they created. After capturing 97 of the roughly 105 structures, his work is now on view at the Center for Architecture in an exhibit titled “Single-Story Project.”

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Images courtesy of Halstead.

In addition to top-floor light and a never-be-bored location, this one-bedroom Lower East Side walk-up at 118 Suffolk Street has an added bonus: a compact spiral staircase that ascends to a lofted den, which in turn accesses a private roof deck. For that, plus high ceilings, exposed brick, and fabulous finishes, the co-op is asking $950,000.

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Sione in early October 2019, photo by CityRealty

The Sioné, located at 171 Suffolk Street on the corner of East Houston, has launched an affordable housing lottery for 23 units, available to those earning 40, 60, and 130 percent of the area median income. Not only does the building sit in a prime Lower East Side location (just one block from Clinton Street Baking Company and three from Katz’s), but it offers a slew of amenities like a gym and outdoor terraces, as well as apartments with modern finishings and high-tech upgrades. The available units range from $613/month studios to $2,200/month one-bedrooms, a much lower price than the market-rate rentals which start at $3,926/month for studios and $5,078/month for one-beds.

Find out if you qualify

Photo courtesy of QuallsBenson

After years of anticipation, The Market Line food hall at Essex Crossing is officially open to the public today. Like most large-scale food halls in the city, there are plenty of options to choose from (24, to be exact), and the space is a stylish spot to hang out. But where The Market Line is most successful is in its curation of “locally-sourced vendors and restaurants reflecting the character, culture and grit of the Lower East Side,” as the press release says. From long-time local favorites like Nom Wah and the Pickle Guys to establishments that are important to the cultural history of other NYC neighborhoods–the Upper East Side’s Schaller & Weber and the East Village’s Veselka–to newcomers making their mark on the small-business food scene, The Market Line really does feel like a neighborhood space.

Check out all the vendors

Rendering courtesy of the Department of Design and Construction

The $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), designed to protect a section of Manhattan’s east side from flooding, was approved on Thursday in a full City Council vote. The vote is the final City Council approval of the project, which passed the city’s land use committee earlier this week and is the culmination of a long and at-times controversial process. As 6sqft previously reported, the project was born in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and was designed to flood-proof over two miles of Manhattan’s east side between East 25th Street and Montgomery Street and improve waterfront access to waterfront space. According to the city, the ESCR project would protect over 110,000 New Yorkers.

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Images courtesy of QuallsBenson

A few months after it was initially expected, Essex Crossing’s expansive and bazaar-like food hall, The Market Line, finally has an opening date. Phase one of the rollout is set to open its doors to the public on November 22, offering an initial mix of 30+ local vendors and restaurants, including NYC institutions like Ukrainian diner Veselka, family-run German butcher shop and Grocer Schaller & Weber, and 1920s tea parlor and bakery turned hip dim sum eatery Nom Wah.

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Rendering of Essex Crossing via Moso Studio

The New York Times recently suggested that the boxy, ordinary-looking Essex Crossing, with its Trader Joe’s, Target, movieplex, historic Essex Street Market and subsidized affordable housing was the “anti-Hudson Yards,” a convincing foil to the buzzy midtown tourist magnet. The obvious contrast between the glittering far-west-side megaproject that in the right light resembles Dubai on the Hudson and the six-acre $1.9 billion development abutting the Williamsburg Bridge speaks to each one’s intended audience, of course. But a diversity of options for both locals and visitors and a broad offering of affordable housing could make Essex Crossing more than just Liverpool on the Lower East Side.

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Map data © 2019 Google

A developer this month filed an application with the city to build a 30-story condo building next to a landmarked nursing home on the Lower East Side. The plan comes a year after developer Round Square failed to obtain air rights from the Seward Park Cooperative to build two towers at 232 East Broadway, adjacent to the Bialystoker Nursing Home. After ditching the original two-building project, Round Square is now moving forward with a proposed one tower that will contain 54 condos, as Patch reported.

Details here

Photo credit: QuallsBenson

The Essex Crossing mega-development hit another milestone this week, with its seventh building topping out at the Lower East Side site. The mixed-use tower at 202 Broome Street includes 83 luxury condominiums, 175,000 square feet of office space, and 34,500 square feet of retail space. Designed by CetraRuddy, the building joins 242 Broome as the nine-site development’s second condo building.

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Preliminary design of Corlears shared use path; via DDC.

Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Council Member Carlina Rivera announced Thursday the completed report by independent consulting firm Deltares on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR). As 6sqft previously reported, the project was first developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and is intended to protect 2.2 miles of Manhattan’s East Side, between East 25th Street and Montgomery Street, from flooding and improve access to waterfront space. According to the city, the ESCR project would protect over 110,000 New Yorkers in the area.

Find out more and read the report