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November 5, 2019

Starbucks opens its first pickup-only store in Midtown

Last year, Starbucks opened a massive roastery in Chelsea with two coffee bars, a cocktail bar, and a bakery, inviting java drinkers to stay awhile. On Tuesday, the company will offer a different option for on-the-go customers in Manhattan with a new store that primarily accepts to-go orders from the Starbucks mobile app. Located in Penn Plaza at 242 West 34th Street above the busy transit hub, the Starbucks "pickup" store is the first of its kind.
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October 24, 2019

Tickets on sale today for Edge, Hudson Yards’ 1,100-foot-high observation deck

6sqft reported back in March that Hudson Yards had opened a reservation list to experience Edge, the observation platform perched at a record-setting 1,100 feet in the sky. Now you can officially buy tickets to the Western Hemisphere's highest outdoor sky deck. Visitors can gaze out on a 360-degree view of New York City's iconic skyline from the champagne bar, or peer down through a glass floor. The platform-in-the-clouds will open on March 11, 2020; you'll be able to sip cocktails or get a light bite at the 100th-floor bar or dine at Peak, the 101st-floor restaurant, café and event space.
Tickets and more this way
October 24, 2019

‘Welcome’ sign will soon replace the iconic Watchtower sign in Brooklyn Heights

The Brooklyn skyline will soon get a new sign to replace the iconic ‘Watchtower’ one that was put in place by the Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1970 and removed in 2017. The 15-foot-tall red sign crowned the building at 25-30 Columbia Heights for nearly five decades while the Jehovah’s Witnesses owned the campus, which served as their headquarters. The new sign will read ‘Welcome’ in similar red lettering and will be installed before the end of the month, as first reported by the New York Post.
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October 22, 2019

City seeks operator for long-planned memorial and cultural center at Harlem’s African burial ground site

The city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is now accepting bids for the long-planned redevelopment of the East 126th Street Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bus Depot into a memorial and cultural education center honoring the historic African burial ground found in the early 2000s at the site. In collaboration with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the EDC has released a request for expressions of interest looking for a non-profit organization to operate the cultural center and outdoor memorial in Harlem.
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September 27, 2019

Community board wants to rename Willoughby Square Park to honor area’s abolitionist ties

During a Brooklyn Community Board 2 meeting on Wednesday, the group's Youth, Education, and Cultural Affairs Committee voted to rename Downtown Brooklyn's proposed Willoughby Square Park, as Curbed NY first reported. Jacob Morris, a historian and the head of the Harlem Historical Society and the New York City Freedom Trail, initially brought forward a resolution to co-name the square Abolitionist Place Park. By the end of the meeting, the board decided to recommend a full renaming to the city's Economic Development Corporation. The resolution will be voted on by CB2's full board on Oct. 7.
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September 26, 2019

The Nets reveal new Barclays Center court design, inspired by Brooklyn

Images by Mike Lawrence; courtesy of the Brooklyn Nets The Nets have revealed a new primary court design just in time for the 2019-20 season. It's the first full redesign of the court since the Nets moved to Barclays Center in 2012 and it's very much inspired by the team's roots.  The new floors retained their trademark herringbone pattern but got updated with a fresh gray hue—an unusual, but symbolic, choice.
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September 25, 2019

Facebook sets its sights on Midtown’s former Farley Post Office for new office space

Facebook has been on the hunt for office space in NYC for several months and now the tech giant has set its sights on the former James A. Farley Post Office, as the New York Post first reported. Sources say the company plans to lease all 740,000 square feet of office space currently being built in the old post office across from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. The landmarked building—redubbed Moynihan Train Hall—is being redeveloped by a team including Related, Vornado Realty Trust, Skanska USA and architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It's on track to open next year.
Here's what we know so far
September 24, 2019

IKEA will open in Queens next summer

IKEA is coming to Queens. The Swedish furniture store announced on Tuesday plans to open a new location at a shopping center in Rego Park next summer. The store, located in the Rego Center, will be the first in the United States with a new layout, according to the company.
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September 20, 2019

Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship reopens with famed glass cube and new public plaza

Apple's famous Fifth Avenue flagship reopens Friday after more than two years of renovations. The glass cube has returned as an entrance to the store, set above the newly updated and locust tree-lined public plaza. As 6sqft previously reported, it cost $2 million to remove the cube in 2017 during the Midtown Manhattan store's expansion.
Take a step inside
September 19, 2019

Development plans for ex-Amazon site in LIC move forward with emphasis on local community goals

Soon after Amazon canceled plans to build a new headquarters in Long Island City, the city began reviving earlier plans to bring a mix of residential and industrial spaces to the neighborhood. Developers and city officials are still in talks over how the 28-acre site—which includes land owned by both the city and plastics company Plaxall—will be used. As Politico recently reported, the vision is starting to come into sharper focus with property owners now engaging the neighborhood and community board to help determine the future of the waterfront site.
Here's what we know so far
September 13, 2019

Join the cash mob to help save St. Mark’s bodega Gem Spa

The East Village's Gem Spa first opened in the 1920s on the corner of St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue and received its current moniker in the 1950s. The shop became famous when it was frequented by Beat writers such as Allen Ginsberg and featured in a painting by Jean-Michelle Basquiat and then later as an all-night punk hangout and tourist stop for egg creams. Today, however, the store is struggling to stay afloat due to the ever-increasing gentrification of the neighborhood and losing its cigarette and lottery licenses in the spring. In an effort to save the icon, small business advocacy group #SaveNYC is hosting a cash mob this Saturday. In preparation, a faux storefront was installed that reads "Schitibank coming soon," in reference to rumors that Citibank is trying to take over the storefront.
All the details
September 12, 2019

Condo board at Trump’s Central Park West building votes to keep president’s name on signage

The condo board of the glass tower at One Central Park West on Tuesday voted unanimously to retain the Trump name on the signage at the front of the building, the New York Post reports. However, the word “tower” will be removed from the marquee over the front entrance, to be replaced with the building's address. As 6sqft previously reported, as part of a larger renovation of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Columbus Circle, the Trump Organization was reconsidering its heavily-branded signage, and some building owners say Trump’s polarizing presidency is depreciating the value of their investments.
A compromise of sorts
September 12, 2019

‘Friends’ in NYC: How plausible were the Greenwich Village apartments depicted in the hit ’90s series?

On September 22, 1994, the TV show Friends premiered on NBC. Airing 10 seasons, it was consistently one of the most popular shows on television, and after decades of syndication, one of the most popular in history. And for a generation of young 20-somethings, it shaped their views of, and in many ways reflected their experience of, what their lives were supposed to be like. While the show was shot in Burbank, California, almost all it was supposed to take place in Greenwich Village, where the apartments of all of its main characters were located. Thus it also shaped a generation’s views of what living in Greenwich Village, even if your job was a joke and you were broke, was like. In honor of the show's 25th anniversary, we take a look at the places where Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, Monica, and Chandler were supposed to have lived, and how the TV world Friends created lined up (or didn't) with reality.
Get the scoop
September 4, 2019

Fashion brands reportedly boycott The Shed over Stephen Ross ties

After news broke last month about the Hamptons fundraiser Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross hosted for President Donald Trump, there were calls to boycott organizations owned by his company. While Equinox, SoulCycle, and David Chang's Momofuku Restaurant Group separated themselves from Ross to clear the air, some fashion brands have more recently blacklisted Ross-linked entities, including the arts center The Shed at Hudson Yards, which was developed by Related. The New York Post reported this week that Michael Kors, Vera Wang, and the Academy of Art have canceled shows at the venue following the fundraiser fallout in August.
Is The Shed so last year?
August 26, 2019

Trump Organization considers rebranding the Trump International Hotel and Tower

As part of a larger renovation of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Columbus Circle, the Trump Organization is expected to reconsider its heavily-branded signage, the New York Times reports. The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has proposed a compromise to appease building owners who say Trump's polarizing presidency is depreciating the value of their investments without losing the Trump branding entirely.
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August 22, 2019

East Williamsburg’s historic Moore Street Market is getting a $2.7M makeover

City officials have announced that a major renovation is coming to East Williamsburg’s Moore Street Market, one of Brooklyn’s oldest public markets. $2.7 million will go toward improving the 15,000- square-foot facilities at 110 Moore Street. The market, which opened in 1941 and is also known as La Marqueta de Williamsburg, currently houses 15 vendors—fresh produce, seafood, groceries, specialty foods, and even a barbershop—and offers year-round events including cooking classes and small business seminars.
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August 21, 2019

JetBlue installs its logo on Long Island City’s landmarked Pepsi-Cola sign

The iconic red Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City got a new look on Tuesday. In partnership with the soda company, JetBlue began installing this week an illuminated logo, a blue arrow, and a picture of an airplane on the sign that overlooks the East River, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The signage, which will only be up until Oct. 1, advertises the airline's switch from serving Coca-Cola to PepsiCo products earlier this summer.
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August 15, 2019

Over 275,000 sign petition to rename stretch of Fifth Ave in front of Trump Tower after Obama

An online petition to rename a stretch of Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower after former President Barack Obama has taken off in the last week, garnering over 275,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. The appeal, written by Elizabeth Rowin from Los Angeles, asks city officials to change the name of Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Avenues to "President Barack H. Obama Avenue."
A new address for Trump Tower?
August 8, 2019

Facebook in talks to lease up to 1.8 million square feet at Hudson Yards

In June, reports surfaced that Facebook was considering a lease for one million square feet of office space at 50 Hudson Yards, but the latest news from sources close to the deal indicate that the social media company will scoop up an even bigger footprint. As Crain's most recently reported, Facebook is negotiating a lease for 1.5 million square feet across several Hudson Yards properties, with some sources saying that number could expand up to 1.8 million square feet.
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August 7, 2019

Search begins for artist to design Hurricane Maria memorial in Battery Park City

The search is on for the architect or artist who will design the Hurricane Maria Memorial in Battery Park City. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans for the project last September, on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s landfall. The tragic event claimed more than 3,000 lives and brought more than 11,000 displaced victims to New York. The memorial will be a way for the city to honor the victims and survivors, as well as the city’s strong connection to Puerto Rico.
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July 30, 2019

Amazon might end up in Queens after all, considers Maspeth site for new distribution facility

As Amazon's search for new warehouse space continues, the retail giant is looking to Queens again, as Crain's reports. Several sources have said the company is considering leasing the site at 55-15 Grand Avenue in Maspeth, which can accommodate over 700,000 square feet of space. If the deal goes forward, Amazon would scrap the existing, former warehouse and build a custom distribution facility from the ground up.
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July 26, 2019

Amazon considers leasing historic former Lord & Taylor flagship from WeWork

Earlier this week reports circulated that Amazon might be eyeing Industry City for new office space in Brooklyn, but the company’s search isn’t limited to one borough. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Amazon is searching throughout New York City for a space large enough to accommodate its growing workforce and is in talks with WeWork to lease space in the historic Lord & Taylor flagship store, which WeWork bought earlier this year. Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment, but sources say Amazon is considering leasing a part of the building or the entire 12 stories. The Journal also noted that Amazon is looking into other locations, including the Farley Post Office across from Penn Station.
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July 24, 2019

Sources say Amazon is eyeing Industry City for new logistics facility

Months after breaking up with Long Island City, Amazon is scoping out locations in neighboring Brooklyn, as Crain’s reported today. Sources say the company is searching for “a massive space” to house a new logistics facility and is considering renting out roughly one million square-feet at Industry City in Sunset Park, though that wasn’t confirmed by anyone involved directly in the potential deal.
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July 2, 2019

Two new gardens in Queens will provide a space for immigrant communities to grow

Building on the success of the New Roots Community Farm in the Bronx, two additional New Roots Gardens are currently underway in Queens, the Sunnyside Post reports. The gardens are being planted on both sides of 69th Street near Woodside Avenue and will include vegetable beds, flowers, a greenhouse, and seating areas. As part of a Department of Transportation initiative with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and NYC Parks GreenThumb, the gardens aim to create a community space for immigrants and refugees, as well as access to fresh and affordable produce.
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