Photo © 6sqft

This morning, hundreds of local residents, news outlets, and local school children packed into Riverside Park at 120th Street to see a herd of 24 goats released into the park. The spectacle kicked off the Riverside Park Conservancy’s GOaTHAM, an initiative to use “retired” goats from a local farm to help clear out a surge of invasive species from a hard-to-access area of the park. From today until August 30th, the team of goats will be noshing on poison ivy, bittersweet, wineberry, and more.

Watch the hungry goats in action

Located in the picturesque Upper West Side/Morningside Heights neighborhood it shares with Columbia University’s campus, Amele Hall at 536 W 111th Street is a classic elevator co-op built in 1910 by architect partners Mulliken and Moeller. This classic six apartment, listed for $1.595 million, has been modernized but retains its turn-of-the-century charm.

Get a closer look

Usually when we think of bringing an architect to a viewing, it’s because the property is in serious need of TLC. This two-bedroom, one-bath co-op at 509 west 122nd Street near Columbia University in the heart of Morningside Heights is move-in ready, with pre-war details and a modern remodel. But the bath is somewhat exiled on a complicated path to any bedroom on the floor plan, the living and dining rooms and the kitchen that serves them don’t seem to be on speaking terms–and inspiration from a pro can’t hurt. And while it won’t kill anybody, at the very least this pretty co-op’s new owner should throw away the floor plan and wing it. At least there’s an elevator.

Take a look around

Morningside Heights‘ the Strathmore, the Bing & Bing co-op at 404 Riverside Drive designed by architects Schwartz and Gross, is so iconic that it was used as Midge and Joel’s home in the 1950s period series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The unit used as a backdrop for the show is the childhood home of architect Allegra Kochman, who also owns–and designed the interiors of–this one-bedroom beauty, now on the market for $1.825 million (h/t NYP).

See more, this way

Any Columbia students out there in search of summer housing? This charming apartment, from the prewar cooperative 609 West 114th Street, is now renting. Besides the great Morningside Heights locale, a half block from the campus and a half block from Riverside Park, you get interior details like 10-foot ceilings, crown moldings and French doors. A corner location and windows everywhere you look stream in sunlight throughout the day. Although in a co-op building this apartment has been rented out for years, and was last asking $2,900 a month in 2015.

Check it out

Image via Wiki Commons

On Tuesday the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the 125-year-old Cathedral Church of St. John The Divine, the world’s largest cathedral; in addition, 115 neighboring buildings became the Morningside Heights Historic District. The designated district runs from West 109th to 119th streets between Riverside Drive and Amsterdam Avenue and includes the famously unfinished cathedral and surrounding campus. With the designation, calendared by the LPC in September, comes a 3-D online map that provides more information about the buildings in the district, most of which were constructed between 1900 and 1910, including townhouses dating back to the late 1800s as well as pre-war apartment buildings.

Find out more

A New Yorker with a big book collection should like this Morningside Heights apartment, which has a room lined with floor-to-ceiling book shelves. Otherwise, the two-bedroom co-op at 611 West 111th Street has all sorts of prewar charm, like parquet floors, moldings and a bay window. The pad last sold in 2010 for $790,000 and it just hit the market yesterday with an ask of $915,000.

Go inside

After much deliberation, Barnard College’s administration announced plans last year to build a new teaching and learning center at the heart of its four-acre campus in Morningside Heights. Now with demolition of the former library nearly complete, groundwork and excavation for the new 11-story structure will soon begin.

The upcoming 128,000-square-foot interdisciplinary building is being designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and will incorporate several tiers of terraces to increase outdoor access for students and faculty. The 189-foot-tall structure aspires to become the college’s hub of academic and intellectual life and will feature an updated and expanded library, a digital commons with five teaching labs, and a computational science center that will connect to the adjacent Altschul Hall. All three of the resources will utilize new media and digital technologies to enhance student learning methods.

More details ahead

The Enclave at the Cathedral is a set of two brand-new rental buildings in Morningside Heights from the Brodsky Organization. Offering a total of 428 residential units, the 13- and 15-story undulating towers were involved in quite a bit of controversy for their position obstructing the 123-year-old Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which just happens to be the world’s largest cathedral. But if this little issue doesn’t bother you, and you earn between $29,726 and and $51,780 annually, you can apply starting today for one of 87 affordable units, according to the NYC HDC. They include 27 studios priced at $827/month; 40 one-bedrooms at $931/month; and 20 two-bedrooms at $1,123/month.

Find out if you qualify