Manhattan

Formed over 90 years ago to develop and build Rockefeller Center, developer Rockefeller Group has never built a residential tower in its New York City hometown–until now. Their new condominium tower, Rose Hill has just been unveiled along with the launch of the building's teaser site. The 600-foot tower is currently under construction at 30 East 29th Street. The building will be designed by CetraRuddy; first looks show an Art Deco-inspired facade that does not diverge heavily from the architectural style of Rockefeller Center.
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$14.8M historic Tribeca penthouse has a rotunda with a gorgeous stained-glass oculus

Listing images by Will Ellis of Donna Dotan; courtesy of the Corcoran Group

March 6, 2019

$14.8M historic Tribeca penthouse has a rotunda with a gorgeous stained-glass oculus

Once featured on the cover of Architectural Digest, this penthouse in the landmarked American Thread Building at 260 West Broadway just hit the market for $14,800,000. The current owners, an art collector and his fashion executive partner, bought the space in 2013 and have filled the 3,777-square-foot Tribeca residence with art by the likes of Richard Serra, Gerhard Richter, and Ai Weiwei to name just a few. Their collection extends to furniture and includes Nanda Vigo chairs from the ’70s, a 19th-century baker’s table from Marseille, and a Karl Springer acrylic table from the 1980s. They describe the blend of period architecture, contemporary art, and design accents as a "speakeasy atmosphere" perfect for entertaining. Speaking to Architectural Digest, the owner revealed that “when we closed on the place, the super took me aside and reminded me that we had a huge responsibility. ‘You’ll be living in one of the most incredible spaces in the city,’ he told me. ‘And you’d better not mess it up.’”
Look inside

Distinctive Homes

NYPL’s new entrance and public plaza on 40th Street gets green light from Landmarks

Rendering of the Marshall Rose Plaza by Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle

March 6, 2019

NYPL’s new entrance and public plaza on 40th Street gets green light from Landmarks

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved the New York Public Library's plan to add a new public entrance and plaza to its Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in Midtown. The changes fall under the library's larger master renovation plan, a $317 million project first unveiled in 2017. The LPC approved the changes to the exterior of the building--subject to the city's landmark rules--after design modifications suggested at a presentation in February were made by the library, Curbed NY reported.
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Moishe’s East Village kosher bakery has closed after 42 years

Photo by James and Karla Murray of the store in 2015 afte rthe original signage was replaced following the East Village gas explosion nearby.

March 6, 2019

Moishe’s East Village kosher bakery has closed after 42 years

Moishe's, the beloved kosher bakery on 2nd Avenue, instantly recognizable by what the New York Times called its "stopped-in-time storefront," has served its last hamantaschen. Owner Moishe Perl told local photographers James and Karla Murray that yesterday was the bakery's last day, and that the entire building has been sold. In business since 1977, everything was baked on the premises daily. Moishe's challah bread, rye bread, hamantaschen, rugelach, babka and sugar kichel were legendary.
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Food & Dining

56 Leonard sidewalk gets outlined in anticipation of Anish Kapoor’s bean sculpture

Rendering by Anish Kapoor.

March 6, 2019

56 Leonard sidewalk gets outlined in anticipation of Anish Kapoor’s bean sculpture

Herzog & de Meuron's striking "Jenga" condo tower at 56 Leonard Street in Tribeca is a conversation piece on its own, with its cantilevered rectangles of glass rising into the sky. The long-anticipated flourish that will anchor the skyscraper–artist Anish Kapoor's reflective bean-shaped sculpture–is finally on the way, as evidenced by an intricate set of circles and arrows that just arrived on the building's sidewalk. The spray-painted outline will inform installation of the sculpture, which resembles a similar public art icon in Chicago, where Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" sculpture apparently attracts millions of tourists every year and has become an Instagram staple.
What's taking so long, the anticipation is killing us

Events & Things To Do

Bespoke finishes and hanging gardens create an enchanted oasis at this $10M Soho penthouse

Photo courtesy of Compass. Photo credit: Donna Dotan.

March 6, 2019

Bespoke finishes and hanging gardens create an enchanted oasis at this $10M Soho penthouse

The interiors of this fifth-floor co-op at 12 Greene Street in Soho bring to mind a perfectly redesigned deco-era London terrace house or a dreamy country estate more than the average Manhattan penthouse. To top it off, three levels of private roof terrace gardens wouldn't be out of place in either, complete with mature trees and a reflecting pool. As unusual as it is expensive–it’s asking $9.95 million–this three-bedroom downtown oasis boasts a renovation that spared no luxury and considered every angle, from a rustic loft-like kitchen and a fabulous array of bespoke floor tiles to the aforementioned gardens.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

March 5, 2019

Live in a Tudor City penthouse like the one in ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Spider-Man’ for $2.85M

This pre-war triplex penthouse, listed for $2.85 million, sits atop the Murray Hill apartment complex known as Windsor Tower at 5 Tudor City Place where "Scarface," "The Godfather," and "Spider-Man" were filmed; a nearly identical penthouse unit can be seen onscreen as the home of Spider-Man’s green nemesis, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin in the popular movie and yet another penthouse was featured in both Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway” and “The Godfather: Part III.” But you don't need Hollywood cachet to appreciate 18-foot ceilings, a wall of casement windows overlooking the East River, a wood-burning fireplace, or a dramatic staircase that curves its way up to an intimate terrace.
Three floors of charm, this way

Distinctive Homes

Hudson Yards Park renamed in honor of activist and former NY congresswoman, Bella Abzug

Rendering via MVVA and the Hudson Yards Development Corporation

March 5, 2019

Hudson Yards Park renamed in honor of activist and former NY congresswoman, Bella Abzug

Update 3/25/19: Tishman Speyer bought last week an auto repair building on West 36th Street for $20 million, the New York Post reported Monday. The company will demolish the two-story building to make way for a greenway that will be the next segment of Bella Abzug Park. In exchange for paying for the new park, Tishman Speyer will get air rights from the city to put up a tower bounded by Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. The city on Friday renamed a park near Hudson Yards in honor of the late Bella Abzug, a former U.S. Representative of New York and stalwart supporter of the women's rights movement. The greenspace, formerly Hudson Yards Park, stretches just over two acres between West 33rd and 36th Street. First developed with the extension of the 7 subway line to 34th Street, the park will soon be extended to 39th Street and run over an Amtrak rail cut.
Details here

Architecture And Design

Latest StuyTown lottery provides ‘affordable’ apartments for single people earning $120K

Via StuyTown Property Services

March 5, 2019

Latest StuyTown lottery provides ‘affordable’ apartments for single people earning $120K

By Dana Schulz

You're a single New Yorker earning over $120,000 a year--do you really need subsidized housing? Apparently, yes. And apparently, a $2,975/month one-bedroom or a $3,695/month two-bedroom is now considered "affordable." These are the benchmarks for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village's 2019 affordable housing lottery, which opens the waitlist for one- and two-bedroom units to households earning 165 percent of the area median income.
Get the scoop

Affordable Housing

35 Hudson Yards reveals new interior renderings and details ahead of March 15 sales launch

35 Hudson Yards. Image courtesy of Related-Oxford.

March 5, 2019

35 Hudson Yards reveals new interior renderings and details ahead of March 15 sales launch

New details and lots of renderings were released this week revealing the 143 residences at 35 Hudson Yards, the tallest residential building in the Hudson Yards mega-development, ahead of a just-announced March 15 sales launch with units starting at $5 million. At over 1,000 feet, the building was designed by David Childs and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with interiors by Tony Ingrao. In addition to the neighborhood's loftiest homes, the building is home to the world's first Equinox Hotel.
New renderings, this way

March 5, 2019

Get a rare look inside 220 Central Park South thanks to this $59K/month rental

Here's a rare chance to glimpse inside the secretive interiors of 220 Central Park South, which have previously been kept completely private by developer Vornado Realty Trust (h/t NYP). This is the first rental listing to open up in one of New York's most coveted addresses, where billionaire Ken Griffin closed on a penthouse for just shy of $240 million, setting the record for the most expensive home ever sold in the United States. For $59,000 a month, the 3,114-square-foot home comes with some of the best views in town--even from the bathroom!
Look inside

Emily Ratajkowski and millionaire hubby live rent free thanks to city’s loft law, Noho landlord says

The loft building at 49 Bleecker Street in Noho. Image: Google maps.

March 4, 2019

Emily Ratajkowski and millionaire hubby live rent free thanks to city’s loft law, Noho landlord says

There have been a lot of discussions recently about the city's lack of affordable living space causing artists to flee the city, and about the relevance of regulations like the Loft Law, created to allow artists to live in neighborhoods like Noho and Soho. The New York Post now brings us the case of millionaire movie producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, 31, and his wife, model/actress Emily Ratajkowski, 27. The pair is reportedly living rent-free in a sprawling Noho loft at 49 Bleecker Street. The pair's landlord, of course, isn't happy with the fact that Bear-McClard, who is apparently worth an estimated $12 million, has been claiming protection under the state's Loft Law since 2017, to the tune of $120,000
unfair advantage, this way

DXA Studio’s pedestrian bridge design would connect Hudson Yards and Moynihan Train Hall

Rendering: DXA Studio.

March 4, 2019

DXA Studio’s pedestrian bridge design would connect Hudson Yards and Moynihan Train Hall

A curvy urban pathway designed by DXA Studio could allow commuters to pass between the new Moynihan Train Hall at West 31st Street to the High Line and Hudson Yards at 30th Street without having to deal with cars at all. The design is the grand prize-winning entry–for a $15,000 prize–in the 2019 Design Challenge by Metals in Construction magazine. The contest asked architects, engineers, and students to create a pedestrian bridge that could safely move the approximately 100,000 people daily that travel from the train hall to Hudson Yards while keeping the foot traffic from affecting the street below.
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Architecture And Design

It’s a loft! It’s a townhouse! It’s a full-service co-op! It’s $825K!

Image courtesy of Compass; photo credit: Rise Media.

March 4, 2019

It’s a loft! It’s a townhouse! It’s a full-service co-op! It’s $825K!

As if the building name–The Penny Lane–of this unusual home at 215 East 24th Street in Manhattan's Kips Bay wasn't sweet enough, the building is a former ice cream factory that was transformed into a full-service co-op. On the market for $825,000, this maisonette-style apartment is accessible through a private entrance from the street or via a full-service lobby. It's a duplex of sorts, with loft-like proportions and an interesting layout.
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Distinctive Homes

March 1, 2019

$650K Chelsea studio proves maximalism is possible in 500 square feet

It doesn't take much for a studio to feel cramped, but this maximalist co-op at 465 West 23rd Street manages to toe that fine line. Asking $650,000, this cozy, sun-drenched unit packs a lot into just 500 square feet. And if you ever need to stretch out, the studio is located in Chelsea's massive London Terrace Towers—a virtual mini-city in itself—which offers residents a ton of amenities.
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Distinctive Homes

Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner just put their Nolita condo on the market for $7M

Photo of Karlie via Flickr

February 28, 2019

Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner just put their Nolita condo on the market for $7M

Recently-wed supermodel Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner, venture capitalist, and brother of presidential son-in-law/advisor Jared Kushner have just listed their two-bedroom condo at 211 Elizabeth Street for $6.995 million, the New York Post reports. The 2,000-square-foot home boasts interiors by Roman and Williams and a 1,120-square-foot landscaped, irrigated terrace.
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Why Ken Griffin’s $238M condo is taxed like it’s worth $9.4 million

220 Central Park South. Image via Vornado Realty Trust and Robert A.M. Stern Architects.

February 28, 2019

Why Ken Griffin’s $238M condo is taxed like it’s worth $9.4 million

We've heard it before, but it's always a shock to hear about how the city’s tax system undervalues big-ticket apartments in expensive neighborhoods. The Wall Street Journal reports that the effective tax rate on billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin’s sky mansion at 220 Central Park South comes out to about 0.22 percent–compared with about one percent in the city's less affluent neighborhoods. The reasoning behind this is tied to a complicated city property tax system that assesses all co-ops and condos as if they were rental properties. Rental income at nearby buildings is assessed in order to estimate a condo's value.
What's going on here?

Policy

From natural history museum to municipal weather bureau: The many lives of Central Park’s Arsenal

The Arsenal c. 1914, via Library of Congress

February 28, 2019

From natural history museum to municipal weather bureau: The many lives of Central Park’s Arsenal

By Lucie Levine

New York City boasts more than 1,700 parks, playgrounds, and recreational facilities covering upwards of 14 percent of the land across all five boroughs. This sprawling network of greenery falls under the jurisdiction of the NYC Parks Department. Once the storied provenance of Robert Moses, the Department functions today under the less-Machiavellian machinations of Mitchell Silver. Though no longer the fiefdom it once was, Parks still operates out of a medieval fortress known as the Arsenal, a commanding bulwark stationed in Central Park at 5th Avenue and 64th Street. The Arsenal also houses the Arsenal Gallery, the City Parks Foundation, the Historic House Trust, and the New York Wildlife Conservation Society. This wide array of agencies reflects the varied legacy of building itself. Since construction began on the Arsenal 1847 (completed 1851), it has served a stunning array of purposes, from police station to menagerie to weather bureau. The Arsenal has had time to live so many lives: it is one of just two buildings in Central Park that predate the park itself, which was established in 1857.
Hear more history of this historic headquarters!

History

City Winery files lawsuit against Trinity Church following $650M deal with Disney

Via Wikimedia

February 28, 2019

City Winery files lawsuit against Trinity Church following $650M deal with Disney

The Walt Disney Company announced last July it would move its offices from the Upper West Side to Hudson Square after buying the rights to develop a property owned by Trinity Church. For $650 million, Disney plans to develop 4 Hudson Square, which currently contains four buildings. One of those buildings was occupied by City Winery, an entertainment space whose flagship has been located at 143 Varick Street for over ten years. Now after being forced to relocate because of the deal with Disney, the venue's owner, Michael Dorf, is filing a lawsuit against its landlord Trinity Church seeking over $2 million in damages for “misleading” information.
More details here

Real Estate Trends

180 East 88th tower tops out at 524 feet, set to be tallest tower north of 72nd Street

Rendering via DDG; Construction shot of 180 E 188th in early January via CityRealty

February 28, 2019

180 East 88th tower tops out at 524 feet, set to be tallest tower north of 72nd Street

The highly anticipated tower rising at 180 East 88th Street recently topped out, taking the title of the city’s tallest building north of 72nd Street, as CityRealty first reported. Developed by DDG, the 524-foot structure will bring 48 expansive condos to the Upper East Side and is expected to open this Spring. Photos from a recent construction visit show crews adding the final pieces of the concrete-enclosed rooftop bulkhead. Crews are still working to fully cover the facade of the 32-story tower in hand-laid Kolumba brick (there are 593,987 individual bricks) which will be accented by bronze-colored window frames.
See the shots

Trump’s Soho hotel experiences business boom after rebranding without the president’s name

Image: Trump Soho; Donald Trump via Wikimedia Commons

February 27, 2019

Trump’s Soho hotel experiences business boom after rebranding without the president’s name

After a prolonged economic slump and a not-so-subtle rebranding, Soho’s Dominick Hotel—formerly known as the Trump Soho—has experienced a formidable increase in revenue, as Bloomberg reports. The revenue per available room rose more than 20 percent from last year. The hotel’s average nightly rate increased by $51 (a 20 percent increase compared to just 2 percent among the hotel's competitors) and had 7,000 more bookings in 2018 than in 2017.
More info

Events & Things To Do

Senior housing complex at Elizabeth Street Garden site gets borough president approval

Rendering courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

February 27, 2019

Senior housing complex at Elizabeth Street Garden site gets borough president approval

Update 3/6/19: The Elizabeth Street Garden (ESG) and the garden's creator Allan Reiver filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the city and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to challenge the development of Haven Green. The plan to build an affordable senior housing development at the site of the Elizabeth Street Garden in Nolita got a much-needed push forward on Tuesday after receiving approval from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. In December 2017, the city revealed plans for Haven Green, a passive house with units reserved for seniors earning between roughly $20,000 and $40,000 to be built on the site of the park. Elizabeth Street Garden advocates are fighting the city's plan to demolish the one acre of green space to make way for affordable housing and are taking legal action to save the park.
More here

Reservations to climb Hudson Yards’ giant public sculpture are open!

Rendering of the completed Vessel and plaza, courtesy of Heatherwick Studios for Related-Oxford

February 27, 2019

Reservations to climb Hudson Yards’ giant public sculpture are open!

By Dana Schulz

As of today, those who did not sign up for advanced tickets to enter Thomas Heatherwick's 150-foot-tall, honeycomb-shaped public art installation at Hudson Yards can reserve their one-hour time slot. Formerly known as The Vessel, (it's now awaiting an official name), the climbable sculpture officially opens along with the entire development this Friday. The free tickets must be reserved 14 days in advance, so chances are even though the structure can hold a whopping 1,000 people at a time, it's going to be a crowded spring.
More details

Events & Things To Do

My 1,300sqft: Artist Rob Wynne’s glass installations mix with eclectic decor in his Soho loft

Our series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to artist Rob Wynne’s Soho loft. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

February 27, 2019

My 1,300sqft: Artist Rob Wynne’s glass installations mix with eclectic decor in his Soho loft

By Dana Schulz

"If you have something to say, you figure out what material will help you fulfill that destiny," said artist Rob Wynne, referencing the various mediums in which he works, from hand-embroidered paintings to sculpture to molten glass. It's this "alchemy" that is currently being explored through his exhibit "FLOAT" at the Brooklyn Museum, a show of 16 works that "seemingly floating within the American Art galleries." But Wynne's talent is perhaps on display nowhere more so that his home and studio in Soho. Wynne moved to the artist's loft in the '70s, and what has resulted is an organic and eclectic mix of decor and furniture from decades of travel, meeting fellow NYC artists, and finding inspiration through various disciplines. 6sqft recently visited Rob at his home and explored his collections of curiosities. We also got an up-close look at the process behind his large-scale mirrored glass installations, as well as many of his other incredible works.
Hear more from Rob and explore his studio

February 27, 2019

This classic Upper West Side one-bedroom is a steal for $595K

Half a block from the American Museum of Natural History, this classic one-bedroom offers a prime Upper West Side location on a tree-lined block in the midst of the bustling Broadway Corridor, where you'll find some of the area's best cultural institutions, restaurants, and shops. It boasts high ceilings, a decorative fireplace, and a fully renovated kitchen and bathroom. Best of all, this cozy co-op at 155 West 80th Street is asking just $595,000.
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

February 26, 2019

An unusual layout and original details paint a pretty picture at this $4.25M Soho artist’s loft