Harlem

A brand new East Harlem mixed-use development, known as Acacia Gardens, now has 124 middle- income apartments up for grabs. The 12-story brick building at 411 East 120th Street, the site of a former parking lot, includes over 180,000 square feet of residential space. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 and 100 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from an $822/month studio to a $1,706/month three-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Three historic East Harlem buildings designated as New York City landmarks

Photos via LPC

March 27, 2018

Three historic East Harlem buildings designated as New York City landmarks

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) on Tuesday officially designated three East Harlem buildings as individual landmarks, marking them as some of the neighborhood's most culturally significant structures. The landmarks include a former 19th-century meatpacking house and two former public schools. The LPC chair, Meenakshi Srinivasan, said the buildings were designated for their architectural and cultural significance. "They embody East Harlem's unique development history and recognize the civic institutions and businesses that helped shape the lives of the neighborhood's immigrant groups," Srinivasan said in a statement.
More here

Policy

Our 900sqft: Native New Yorkers Aria and John open up their retro, colorful Harlem home

6sqft’s series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Harlem apartment of Aria and John Chiaraviglio. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

March 14, 2018

Our 900sqft: Native New Yorkers Aria and John open up their retro, colorful Harlem home

When asked to sum up the aesthetic of their Harlem apartment in a few words, Aria and John Chiaraviglio chose "inviting, unique, open, retro and fun," and after a recent visit to the full-floor brownstone home, we couldn't agree more. Aria, a Doctoral student in Child Psychology, and John, Vice President of the Financial Intelligence Unit of a major bank, both grew up in NYC--she in Tribeca and he on the Upper East Side. The old-school, quirky vibes reminiscent of artist-loft Tribeca are seen everywhere, from Aria's Elvis collection to the couple's countless vintage finds, yet the traditional style one would associate with uptown are brought out through mid-century modern furnishings and an attention to entertaining. Ahead, take a tour of this spunky couple's colorful, comfy, and classy home and learn about their best thrifted pieces, the theme parties they host, their Derby collection, and why they love living in Harlem.
Get an inside look!

The Urban Lens: Documenting 20 years of Harlem architecture

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Albert Vecerka shares some images from his “Harlem project.” Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

February 16, 2018

The Urban Lens: Documenting 20 years of Harlem architecture

By Hannah Frishberg

After moving to New York in 1992 and earning a degree in architecture from City College, Yugoslavia-born photographer Albert Vecerka moved to Harlem and started documenting the neighborhood. Originally an attempt to dispel the notion that Harlem was "dangerous," his "Harlem project," also captures its architectural fabric and aesthetic changes over time. 6qft recently caught up with Vecerka to hear his thoughts on Harlem--what it was like 20 years ago and why he still calls it home.
See more photos and hear from Albert

Places

February 15, 2018

In a former Harlem school building, this rococo-inspired studio asks $695K

By Emily Nonko

There's no overlooking this studio apartment from the former Harlem public school at 220 West 148th Street. Carved from the early 1900s school building, this is a 750-square-foot pad with 12-foot ceilings and light through three exposures. In this bright space, the current owner has packed every corner with a rococo-inspired design. Plenty of elaborate touches make this feel less like a tight studio and rather a lofty apartment with plenty to look at.
Head right in

Distinctive Homes

February 8, 2018

East Harlem housing lottery offers less-than-affordable prices

Despite the city's recent rezoning efforts to make East Harlem more affordable, it seems as though the latest batch of lotteries are anything but. Last month, a middle-income lottery came online for 111 East 115th Street, where some of the "affordable" apartments were actually more expensive than the market-rate units. As of today, New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for five one-bedroom apartments at the new rental 1992 Third Avenue, just off 110th Street. The units are reserved for one- and two-person households earning between $77,246 and $99,320 annually and are renting for $2,253/month--not much less than the neighborhood's $2,392/month average for one-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

February 7, 2018

This chic and affordable Harlem co-op, asking $512K, has just one catch

By Emily Nonko

This is quite the appealing one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located on the first floor of the Harlem cooperative 1919 Madison Avenue. And it's asking $512,000, a reasonable price for NYC real estate. There is, however, a catch behind that asking price. This is an HDFC apartment, meaning that to qualify to buy it you may need to make less—rather than more—money. (Such tight income restrictions have kept hundreds of HDFCs empty around the city.) Still, the apartment value has seen a boost in recent years, as it last sold in 2013 for $140,000.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

Live around the corner from Central Park in a renovated Harlem rental, from $675/month

Photo of Randolph Houses via HPD

February 7, 2018

Live around the corner from Central Park in a renovated Harlem rental, from $675/month

Applications are now being accepted for 106 newly constructed, affordable units at Central Harlem's Randolph Houses. Named in honor of civil rights leader, Phillip Randolph, the houses consist of 36 buildings along West 114th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 50 and 60 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $675/month studios to a $1,289/month three-bedrooms. Located at 265 West 114th Street, the building is just a five-minute walk to Central Park.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

February 2, 2018

The Urban Lens: ‘Once in Harlem’ is a portrait of ’90s New York City

By Hannah Frishberg

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Katsu Naito shares his 1990s portraits from Harlem. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. In 1983, when Katsu Naito immigrated to America at the age of 18, he spoke barely any English. Growing up in Maebashi, a small city about 90 miles north of Tokyo, he had never heard of Harlem before moving to New York but was drawn to the energy of the neighborhood, quickly realizing he wanted to document it with his camera. Now, more three decades since he first fell in love with Harlem, Naito’s photos of the 'nabe's residents in the early to mid-‘90ss are being published in a book and unintentional time capsule titled “Once in Harlem,” out now from TBW Books. 6sqft chatted with Naito about his journey and what makes Harlem so special to him, and he shared a collection of his amazing images.
See them all here

Earn less than $30,560 annually? Apply for affordable units in East Harlem, from $613/month

1955 First Avenue, image via Aspen Management Office

January 24, 2018

Earn less than $30,560 annually? Apply for affordable units in East Harlem, from $613/month

An East Harlem building, dubbed the Aspen, is currently accepting applications for low-income studio and one-bedroom apartments and will also replenish its waitlist. Designed by Costas Kondylis and Magnusson Architecture and Planning, the building, located at 1955 First Avenue, rises seven stories and features 232 apartments. Qualifying New Yorkers earning between $22,903 and $26,720 can apply for $613/month studios, and those earning between $25,549 and $30,560 are eligible for $659/month one-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

My 460sqft: Comedian Pat Brown recharges in her relaxed Harlem home

6sqft’s series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to comedian Pat Brown‘s Harlem apartment. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

January 23, 2018

My 460sqft: Comedian Pat Brown recharges in her relaxed Harlem home

When it comes to her stand-up routines, comedian Pat Brown (you may recognize her from the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" or as the winner of the Las Vegas Comedy Festival's best female comic) doesn't shy away from bold topics, touching on personal issues, politics, and NYC-specific themes. But after finishing a set at one of New York's many comedy clubs, Pat prefers a less in-your-face aesthetic at home, opting for comfortable furniture, soothing colors, and a display of keepsakes from several trips to Africa. 6sqft recently paid Pat a visit at her Harlem apartment and got a glimpse into her professional and personal lives. She filled us in on how she decorated her place after moving from her hometown of Atlanta, what makes performing comedy in New York City unique, and how she's seen the neighborhood change--"I'm beginning to see white people on the weekdays now," she jokes.
Have a laugh and tour Pat's apartment

Live in a one-bedroom off of East Harlem’s bustling 116th Street for $2,270/month

Photo of East Harlem’s 116th Street via Wikimedia

January 10, 2018

Live in a one-bedroom off of East Harlem’s bustling 116th Street for $2,270/month

A brand new residential building at 245 East 115th Street in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood is currently accepting applications for four middle-income one-bedroom apartments. The eight-story building sits just one block from 116th Street, the business hub of Spanish Harlem that features lots of restaurants and shops. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the one-bedroom apartments for $2,270/month.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Replacement of Harlem icon Lenox Lounge to be a decidedly less jazzy commercial building

New rendering of 288 Lenox Avenue via Gambino + La Porta Architecture; Lenox Lounge photo via Ciro Miguel’s Flickr

January 9, 2018

Replacement of Harlem icon Lenox Lounge to be a decidedly less jazzy commercial building

The proposed replacement of the Lenox Lounge, a Harlem Renaissance club that once featured jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, is nothing to sing about. Designed by Gambino + La Porta Architecture, a rendering of the commercial building at 288 Lenox Avenue between 124th and 125th Streets reveals a non-descript four-story building, as CityRealty reported. While the space is rumored to bring Harlem's first Sephora, a tenant for the retail space on the ground floor has not been confirmed. There will be offices located on the second through fourth floors.
Find out more

New Developments

Harry Houdini’s one-time Harlem townhouse conjures a buyer at $3.6M

Houdini image: Wikimedia Commons.

January 9, 2018

Harry Houdini’s one-time Harlem townhouse conjures a buyer at $3.6M

The 6,008-square-foot four-story townhouse at 278 West 113th Street that once belonged to master escape artist Harry Houdini has sold for $3.6 million–a full $1 million below its original ask–according to Mansion Global. 6sqft reported last June that the former home of the illusionist, magician and one of the most talked-about celebrities of the early 20th century and his wife, Bess, had hit the market for $4.6 million. Houdini–born Erich Weiss, the son of a rabbi from Budapest, lived at the Harlem home for 22 years until his death in 1926.
This house is no illusion

Middle-income housing lottery in East Harlem provides little financial relief

View of 111 East 115th Street wrapping up construction in August, via CityRealty

January 8, 2018

Middle-income housing lottery in East Harlem provides little financial relief

In most cases, the city's affordable housing lotteries provide an opportunity to live in market rate-level apartments for a lower price. But at the new East Harlem rental building at 111 East 115th Street, the middle-income units provide minimal financial relief, and in some cases are even more expensive than the market-rate units. The general listings include $2,025/month studios, $2,300 one-bedrooms, and $3,100 two-bedrooms, while the "affordable" offerings for those earning 130 percent of the area median income start at $2,099/month studios and go up to $2,253 one-bedrooms and $2,716 two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Five chances to live near Columbia’s Manhattanville campus from $950/month

Photo of 517 West 134th Street via CityRealty

January 2, 2018

Five chances to live near Columbia’s Manhattanville campus from $950/month

Applications are now being accepted for five affordable units at 517 West 134th Street, in the burgeoning Manhattan neighborhood of West Harlem. Developed by KP Developers, the eight-story building sits between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, near Columbia University's Manhattanville Campus. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for four $950/month one-bedrooms and one $1,050/month two-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Battle heats up over East Harlem park where a 760-foot tower is planned

Rendering of 321 East 96th Street via Perkins Eastman Architect

January 2, 2018

Battle heats up over East Harlem park where a 760-foot tower is planned

Located on Second Avenue between East 96th Street and East 97th Street, the Marx Brothers Playground boasts a jungle gym and ball fields spread out over 1.5 acres. The East Harlem green space, which first opened in 1947 on land formerly occupied by the car barn of the Second Avenue Railway, has found itself at the center of a debate between preservationists and developers. As the New York Times reported, park advocates and city officials disagree on whether the parcel is considered a park or a playground. If it's a park, any plans to modify it require the approval from the State Legislature and the governor; playgrounds do not. While it seems irrelevant, the categorization of the land will determine whether a 68-story mixed-use tower will rise on its site, a project backed by city officials and affordable housing advocates.
More this way

November 30, 2017

Art-filled ‘Musée Maison,’ Hamilton Heights home of artist/acrobat, still a tough sell at $2.7M

In 2015, 6sqft took a look at this unusual Hamilton Heights three-family townhouse at 532 West 148th Street, then on the market for $2.5 million. The home was purchased by Portuguese-born architect/artist Luis Da Cruz in 2006 for $995,000 and thoroughly renovated, emerging as a canvas for the artist's personal creative vision. Cruz restored the 1920 home's carved wood stairways and railings, moldings, five fireplaces, beamed ceiling and exposed brick walls, and added his signature art pieces to an eclectic industrial/bohemian decor. Luis called the home Musée Maison (aptly, Museum House), and made it his studio and workshop; he also hosted art events during which all of the work was for sale and he would perform tricks on aerial silks suspended from the ceiling. The home has apparently yet to find the perfect match, and has seen its asking price rise with the market rather than fall to entice buyers; the four-bedroom house was just re-listed for $2.7 million.
Get lost in this amazing home

Waitlist opens for middle-income units at East Harlem’s Riverton complex, from $1,968/month

Riverton Houses, via NYC Housing Partnership

November 29, 2017

Waitlist opens for middle-income units at East Harlem’s Riverton complex, from $1,968/month

East Harlem's Riverton Square complex is once again accepting applications for its 7,500-name waitlist for one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The affordable seven-building development, built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, first opened in 1947 for World War II veterans, later becoming a coveted address for middle-class families. After it was sold to A&E Real Estate for $201 million in 2016, the city mandated that 975 of its 1,229 units be reserved for working- and middle-class families for 30 years. The waitlist opens tomorrow, with apartments set aside for New Yorkers earning 110 percent of the area median income. Units range from a $1,968/month one-bedrooms to $2,729/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Bjarke Ingels’ curvy East Harlem tower tops out

Rendering of E126 courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

October 18, 2017

Bjarke Ingels’ curvy East Harlem tower tops out

The concrete, t-shaped residential tower designed by starchitect, Bjarke Ingels and his firm BIG, topped out over the weekend, adding diversity to Upper Manhattan’s usual upright architecture. The East Harlem project at 158 East 126th Street, known as E126, uniquely slopes inward as it rises upward, allowing more sunlight to hit the street. As CityRealty learned, the unusual configuration will provide residents incredible views of the East River and Central Park from a rooftop garden.
Check it out

Architecture And Design

City Planning Commission approves East Harlem rezoning plan

Photo via Wikimedia

October 3, 2017

City Planning Commission approves East Harlem rezoning plan

The City Planning Commission approved on Monday Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to rezone East Harlem. With this crucial approval, the plan moves to the City Council for the last stage of the public review process, which began in April (h/t City Limits). The de Blasio administration’s rezoning efforts, run by the city’s Department of City Planning, aim to create affordable housing, create economic opportunities and restore East Harlem’s role as a major transit hub and job center. Over a decade, the plan hopes to create about 122,000-square-feet of stores and restaurants and 275,000-square-feet of office and industrial space.
More this way

David Adjaye’s design for Harlem’s new Studio Museum building revealed

Exterior view from 125th Street Plaza. Courtesy Adjaye Associates

September 27, 2017

David Adjaye’s design for Harlem’s new Studio Museum building revealed

The Studio Museum in Harlem is scheduled to break ground on a new 82,000-square-foot home, designed by internationally renowned British architect David Adjaye, in late fall of 2018. Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Raymond J. Mc Guire unveiled designs for the new building Tuesday along with the announcement of a $175 million capital campaign to fund and maintain the new museum space. The groundbreaking coincides with the celebrated cultural institution's 50th anniversary year. In 2015, the museum announced that it would be working with Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson on the new building, having outgrown its current home, a century-old building on West 125th Street that it has occupied since 1982.
See more renderings and find out more

Apply for five affordable apartments in East Harlem, from $867/month

The East Harlem neighborhood, via Wikipedia

September 18, 2017

Apply for five affordable apartments in East Harlem, from $867/month

Applications are now being accepted for five newly constructed, affordable units at 230 East 124th Street in the Manhattan neighborhood of East Harlem. Located between Third and Second Avenues, the six-floor building features 20 apartments. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the units that range from a $867 per month studio to a $1,123 per month two-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims in Central Park. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

August 21, 2017

East Harlem statue of unethical M.D. should be the next ‘hero’ to fall, says community board

As protest and debate sweep the nation over the toppling of statues, centered around well-known Confederate names like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, here in New York City a lesser-known monument to medicine is in the spotlight for its offensive nature. The New York Times reports that Manhattan Community Board 11 is calling upon the city to remove an East Harlem statue of a white, southern doctor, Dr. James Marion Sims. Regarded as the father of modern gynecology, Sims achieved his success by performing experiments on slaves without consent and without anesthesia.
Definitely no hero here

Uncategorized

New renderings of East Harlem’s Sendero Verde, the country’s will-be largest passive house project

Renderings via Handel Architects

August 9, 2017

New renderings of East Harlem’s Sendero Verde, the country’s will-be largest passive house project

Despite Mayor de Blasio's success meeting his affordable housing goals, East Harlem has fallen behind. As 6sqft recently reported, out of the 21,963 new units added in 2016, just 249 were built in East Harlem, prompting the city to expedite the construction of 2,400 affordable units there over the next few years. A large chunk of this will come from Sendero Verde, a massive, mixed-use development that will bring 655 affordable rentals to the block bound by East 111th and 112th Streets and Park and Madison Avenues. Back in February, Jonathan Rose Companies and L+M Development Partners released a rendering from Handel Architects of the 751,000-square-foot project, but now CityRealty has uncovered an entire batch of drawings from the firm that detail how it will be the country's largest passive house project and weave together the residences, a school, supermarket, and four community gardens, all surrounding a multi-layered courtyard.
More looks and details ahead

Live around the corner from Harlem’s new Whole Foods for $1,015/ month

Image via Whole Foods’ Facebook

July 13, 2017

Live around the corner from Harlem’s new Whole Foods for $1,015/ month