Two of the biggest trends in the current NYC real estate market are tall, glass towers and eco-friendly design. Oftentimes, though, these two architectural movements don’t meet, and now environmentalists are calling for stricter regulations that would make this marriage a requirement, by way of decreasing the huge expanses of curtain wall windows that the towers have adopted as their hallmark.

More of the debate this way

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has just approved the creation of the Park Avenue Historic District, but with major modifications that could mean big changes for the neighborhood.

The boundaries of the district were proposed to run from 79th to 96th Street, but the final version passed today excludes the blocks north of 94th Street, which encompasses the Morris Ketchum Jr.-designed Hunter College School as well as The Loyola Grammar School at 48 East 84th Street.

More importantly, today’s ruling would appear to give Extell Development the green light to replace a Park Avenue church rectory with a condominium tower.

Park Ave will soon be afoot with change

Scaffolding in New York City is as much a part of the city’s skyline as the Empire State Building itself—and has been around for much longer. On the surface, scaffolding seems to be a necessary ugly; a kind of urban cocoon from which a beautiful new butterfly building emerges.

But if you are one of those people who cringes every time you see a building wrapped in scaffolding, you better get used to it because it’s only going to get worse. All while the scaffolding companies laugh all the way to the bank.

What’s with all the scaffolding?