Manhattan

July 24, 2018

‘Oversized’ Upper West Side studio earns its $600K ask with cute and clever details

Here's a large studio apartment in the Upper West Side's Verdi co-op building at 175 West 73rd Street, just two blocks from Central Park. The eighth-floor unit has a Murphy bed to free up space, some original details, and is decently priced for those who value the location.
How would you arrange the space?

Distinctive Homes

July 24, 2018

Our 1,600sqft: Inside the Tribeca live-work showroom of Vipp, a Danish ‘tool building’ company

By Devin Gannon

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the showroom-apartment of Tribeca's Vipp, a third-generation Danish company. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Nearly 80 years ago in Denmark, Holger Nielsen designed a trash can with a pedal for his wife Marie's hair salon. Despite having no intention of selling it, demand grew for Nielsen’s sleek, and hygienic, trash bin and it became a fixture in Danish clinics, and later home use, over the next several decades. Nielsen called the bin “Vipp,” Danish for tilt, which describes the lid's movement. In 2009, the design was accepted into the permanent design collection at MoMA. Today, Vipp is a third generation family-owned company run by Nielsen’s daughter, Jette Egelund, and her two children Kasper and Sofie. In addition to its classic bin, Vipp now offers a wide range of lifestyle products, from entire kitchens and bathrooms to tableware and lighting. Based in Copenhagen, Vipp came to the United States four years ago and opened a showroom in Tribeca. Sofie Christensen Egelund, along with her husband and business partner Frank Christensen, turned the showroom into their actual apartment, outfitted with Vipp products. The designer-couple gave 6sqft a tour of their live-work space and Sofie talked to us about the company's design DNA, the move from Denmark to Manhattan and what it's like to work together as a married couple.
Take a tour of the apartment-showroom

Amazon launches same-day delivery from Whole Foods in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan

Image via Whole Foods Market

July 24, 2018

Amazon launches same-day delivery from Whole Foods in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan

By Devin Gannon

You can now have all of your organic needs met within as little as an hour--without waiting in line. Amazon launched on Tuesday "ultrafast" same-day delivery from Whole Foods Market in 24 cities, including Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and select areas of Long Island. The service, for Prime members only, began earlier this year and will continue to expand to more neighborhoods in NYC and in the country throughout 2018. "Today’s announcement is another way that we are continuing to expand access to our high-quality products and locally-sourced favorites," Christina Minardi, executive vice president of operations for Whole Foods Market, said in a statement.
Find out more

City Living

East Village Target’s CBGB odes get mixed reviews

Photo by Tia Richards for 6sqft

July 23, 2018

East Village Target’s CBGB odes get mixed reviews

By Devin Gannon

Target officially opened its first store in the East Village on Saturday, to mixed reviews from locals. During its grand opening, the chain recreated the storefront of CBGB, a famous punk rock club where the Ramones, Patti Smith and Blondie played, with a red-and-white awning that reads "TRGT." Located on 14th Street and Avenue A, the design included red newspaper boxes similar to old ones of the Village Voice paper, fake fire-hydrants and a temporary facade made to look like the housing tenements of the Village in the 1970s and 1980s. Jeremiah Moss, the author behind the Vanishing New York blog, called the new store "the most deplorable commodification of local neighborhood culture I've ever witnessed." As of Monday, the CBGB-themed storefront is no longer up.
Details here

July 23, 2018

$970K Hamilton Heights condo has a sunny disposition and a farmhouse vibe

By Michelle Cohen

The interiors at this Upper Manhattan condo at 370 Convent Avenue are as tranquil as they are feminine, and as spacious as they are cozy. The corner apartment is on the 4th floor of a five-story pre-war condo with only two apartments per floor. It's asking $969,000, and while it doesn't currently have a craft room, it's roomy enough to find space for one, and it would certainly fit the surroundings.
Take the tour

RENTING IN NYC: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): Summit, 333 Grand Street, Astor Broadway and Otto

July 21, 2018

RENTING IN NYC: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): Summit, 333 Grand Street, Astor Broadway and Otto New Rentals Debut in Williamsburg from $1,999/Month at 150 Union Avenue [link] New No Fee Rentals Debut in Astoria; Live at Astor Broadway from $1,999/Month [link] Otto Greenpoint Debuts; Brooklyn Rentals at 211 McGuinness Boulevard from $2,339/Month [link] Live at Lyric: Upper West […]

Real Estate Trends

July 20, 2018

$1.8M Flatiron loft has a solarium, terrace, and room for another bedroom

By Michelle Cohen

This floor-through loft is indeed unique, as the listing claims. While the second-floor walk-up comes with over 1,000 square feet of interior space, it's the wrap-around terrace and magical greenhouse that set this Flatiron co-op apart from so many others. 6sqft brought news of the 41 East 19th Street loft's $5,000/month rental price back in February; now it's for sale, asking $1.8 million. In addition to all of the interesting architectural details and loads of sunshine, the apartment comes with an alternate floor plan that shows you how to carve out a three-bedroom home and still have room to spare.
Have a look around

Distinctive Homes

July 20, 2018

See photos from Karla and James Murray’s ‘Storefront’ project on NYC’s mom and pop stores

By Michelle Cohen

6sqft has been closely following the progress of photographers James and Karla Murray‘s Seward Park art installation “Mom-and-Pops of the LES,” featuring four nearly life-size images of Lower East Side business that have mostly disappeared. The pair, who have spent the last decade chronicling the place of small neighborhood businesses in 21st century New York City, was chosen for the public art project by Art in the Parks UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant Program and ran a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the wood-frame structure’s build out. James and Karla will be having a free public exhibition of their photography for "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York" at The Storefront Project (@thestorefrontproject) at 70 Orchard Street from July 25-August 12, 2018, with an opening reception on Wednesday, July 25th from 6-9 PM.
Find out more about this cool project

Events & Things To Do

July 20, 2018

Development dispute over P.S. 64 in the East Village continues, two decades later

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

P.S. 64 in 2013, courtesy of GVSHP Twenty years ago, on July 20, 1998, Mayor Rudy Giuliani sold former Public School 64 on the Lower East Side, then home to the Charas-El Bohio Community and Cultural Center, to a developer, despite opposition from the building’s occupants and the surrounding community. The decision and the building remain mired in controversy to this day. Community groups and elected officials will hold a rally in front of the building at 605 East 9th Street on Friday at 6 pm to mark the 20th anniversary of the sale and to call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to return the building to a community use.
More here

History

Second Avenue Subway’s next phase won’t be done until 2029

Photo via Flickr cc

July 20, 2018

Second Avenue Subway’s next phase won’t be done until 2029

By Michelle Cohen

According to new documents, the next leg of the extension of the Q line to 125th Street that comprises the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway will be done in 2029, the Daily News reports. And that completion date only holds if work is begun on time, in mid-2019, according to the same document from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Federal Transit Administration. The expected phase two completion date is nearly a decade after Governor Andrew Cuomo opened the first section of the project in 2017. That 2029 date refers to the time all construction equipment has left the site; MTA officials hope to begin running trains through the tunnels, bringing vital service to Harlem, in 2027.
Find out more

Transit

July 19, 2018

New East Village Target store now open in Extell’s EVGB rental building

By Michelle Cohen

It might seem like it's been there forever, but the new East Village Target store at 14th Street and Avenue A opened its doors this week ahead of a scheduled grand opening Saturday, July 21. The small-format chain icon occupies the corner spot in the EVGB ("East Village's Greatest Building") rental building that opened at 510 East 14th Street this year and is now stocked and ready to supply residents (the building is 50 percent leased according to a press release from developer Extell) and the rest of the 'hood with everything from cosmetics and cleaning supplies to apples and Amy's Bowls to the cheap-but-funky home goods the store is famous for. Also beer.
Already, complaints about the beer selection

July 18, 2018

First phase of Bjarke Ingels’ BIG U storm protection system begins planning process

By Dana Schulz

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rebuild By Design contest sought proposals for flood protection systems. Among the seven finalists was Bjarke Ingels' and One Architecture & Urbanism's BIG U, a flooding solution for Manhattan that doubles as a social environment. Now after five years, the first phase of the 10-mile barrier system is getting underway. Rebuild By Design and Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) have released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the BIG U's East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a $335 million reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park. With construction expected to kick off in spring 2019, the partner will "explore stewardship models with funding mechanisms that could enhance the long-term operating budget while addressing issues of equity."
All the details

July 18, 2018

$3.7M Flatiron duplex boasts sophisticated interiors and a huge garden

By Michelle Cohen

In a fortunate spot where the Flatiron district and Chelsea meet, this architect-designed two-bedroom duplex at 31 West 16th Street feels like a private house. A private entrance in the pre-war townhouse building leads to an interior where timeless details were created with an eye for design and for providing all the comforts of 21st-century city living. But what really makes this $3.65 million listing exceptional is the large, gorgeous garden in the rear.
Tour both floors

Distinctive Homes

$150M revamp announced for Central Park’s Lasker pool and ice rink

Via Central Park Conservancy

July 18, 2018

$150M revamp announced for Central Park’s Lasker pool and ice rink

By Devin Gannon

Central Park's Lasker pool and ice rink is set to undergo a major makeover, funded collectively by the Central Park Conservancy and the city. As first reported by the Daily News, the pool and rink will close for construction in 2020 for three years. The refurbishment will better connect the North Woods and the Harlem Meer, both currently blocked from one another by the rink.
Get the details

Architecture And Design

Rendering of 200 Amsterdam Avenue via SJP Properties/ Elkus Manfredi

July 18, 2018

City says 668-foot UWS supertall complies with zoning rules despite community protests

By Michelle Cohen

The city's Board of Standards and Appeals found Tuesday that a 668-foot-tall tower proposed for a zoning lot at 200 Amsterdam Avenue does, in fact, comply with zoning rules, The Real Deal reports. The decision gives developers SJP and Mitsui Fudosan the green light to proceed with development of a condominium tower on the site at 69th Street despite a growing body of community groups opposed to the project. The Committee for Environmentally Sound Development had challenged the Department of Buildings' approval of the project on the grounds that developers assembled an illegal zoning lot in the form of a 39-sided polygon 10 times larger than the actual building's planned footprint with the intent of building a larger tower.
Find out more

July 17, 2018

$1.8M Chelsea loft is industrial meets country-chic with tin ceilings and cast-iron columns

By Devin Gannon

While it measures just over 1,050 square feet, the design of this Chelsea co-op packs a punch. The beautiful two-bedroom apartment boasts unique touches which fuse an industrial and country aesthetic, from its ten-foot restored pressed ceilings to its original cast-iron columns. The loft, located on the fifth floor of the pre-war building at 107 West 25th Street, has hit the market for $1.79 million.
See Inside

Distinctive Homes

July 17, 2018

Formerly pink West Village townhouse returns for $7.8M with a period-perfect facade and sleek interiors

By Michelle Cohen

Built in 1826, the four-story townhouse at 39 Barrow Street resembles many of the neighborhood's historic gems with its brick facade and traditional black shutters. You'd never know that sometime between its construction and 2010 when it was purchased for $4.125 million by the son of a pharmacy mogul bent on renovation, the house was a quirky pale pink stucco standout with bright lemon-yellow trim. We don't know who bestowed the Lilly Pulitzer treatment, but in previous listings it bore a rather charming resemblance to a Palm Beach palazzo. With that era long over, the home's facade is now the picture of 19th century correctness; inside, however, Reed Morrison Architects have transformed the house into a showcase of contemporary sleekness and modern convenience. The turnkey home is once again on the market, this time for $7.775 million.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

July 17, 2018

PHOTOS: Pier 55’s undulating support structure takes shape on the Hudson River

By Devin Gannon

Construction photo via CityRealty; Rendering via Heatherwick Studio Construction has moved along quite nicely at Pier 55, the on-again, off-again public park project funded by billionaire businessman Barry Diller planned for the Hudson River. While there was not much to show when the park broke ground in April, photos recently taken by CityRealty reveal new concrete pylons arranged in various heights. These will act as the wave-shaped floating park's support structure.
See the photos

July 16, 2018

Asking $740K, this big, bright Morningside Heights co-op has character but could use another bathroom

By Michelle Cohen

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

Distinctive Homes

Image via Wikimedia Commons

July 16, 2018

The New York bagel: The ‘hole’ story from history and chemistry to where you’ll find the good ones

By Michelle Cohen

A few international symbols of New York City–like the tough cabbie, the expensive apartment and the pizza-snatching rat–need no explanation and are too scary to think about except when absolutely necessary. Others, like the humble-yet-iconic bagel, possess New York City cred, but when asked, most people can’t quite come up with a reason. Bagels weren’t invented in New York, but the party line is that if they're made here, they’re better than anywhere. Some say it’s the water; others chalk it up to the recipe, the method, ethnic preference or all of the above. What’s the story behind the New York bagel? Who are the true bagel heroes? What makes a great bagel great? And those frozen bagels? Blame Connecticut.
Bagel squirrel vs. Pizza rat

July 16, 2018

James Gandolfini’s former West Village apartment sells for $6.2M

By Annie Doge

After nine months on the market, the late James Gandolfini's one-time West Village apartment that he shared with ex-wife Marcy Wudarski Gandolfini has found a buyer. In 1999, the couple bought one unit at 99 Jane Street for $850,000, followed by another for $1 million in 2002, combining them into one large, four-bedroom condo. Marcy took ownership the following year after they split, and the residence first hit the market in 2015 as a $21,000/month rental before listing for $7.5 million this past October. Mansion Global now reports that the home has sold for $6.2 million.
Take a look around

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): The Modern, The Forge, 178 North 11th Street and 1009 Willoughby Avenue

July 14, 2018

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): The Modern, The Forge, 178 North 11th Street and 1009 Willoughby Avenue Fort Lee’s The Modern: 47-Story Tower Launches with 2 Months Free [link] Rooftop Lounge + Pool Now Open at The Forge – and Up to 3 Months Free [link] Williamsburg Boutique Rental Near McCarren Park Offers 3 Months Free […]

Real Estate Trends

July 13, 2018

The Urban Lens: Artist Paul Morris twists the NYC skyline into a colorful kaleidoscope

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Paul Morris shares his digitally altered streetscapes. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. New York City is full of urban photographers, capturing streetscapes and buildings as they morph and grow and alter our neighborhoods. But very few can find a way to do this that is totally new, which is why the work of local artist Paul Morris is so refreshing. By juxtaposing his original photography with his graphic design skills, his large-scale patterns "capture and restructure elements discovered in urban landscapes to create innovative perspectives on objects found in everyday life." His latest series focuses on the city's biggest, and arguably most anticipated, new development--Hudson Yards. He's also created "False Mirror" images of everywhere from the Rockaways to the Financial District. Ahead, Paul shares with 6sqft an exclusive collection of his photos and chats with us about his unique process and inspiration.
See and learn about Paul's work

Places

Second Avenue Subway eases ridership at 4,5,6 stations by 30%

Photo via Flickr cc

July 13, 2018

Second Avenue Subway eases ridership at 4,5,6 stations by 30%

By Dana Schulz

The MTA has released updated ridership figures for 2017, giving an even better look at how the Second Avenue Subway is growing in popularity and impacting the Lexington Avenue line. By looking at the three comparative stations--96th Street, 86th, and 77th/72nd Streets--we can see that average weekday ridership on the 4,5,6 line has dropped 29.5, 29.2, and 23.6 percent respectively. More impressive is the fact that in 2017, the annual number of riders at the 96th Street station and 77th and 72nd Street stations were almost identical on both lines at roughly 8.5 million. And at 86th Street, the Q station hit 7.7 million riders, still impressive compared to the Lexington line's $14 million considering there are two express trains there, too.
A deeper dive

July 13, 2018

Rotating panels at Storefront for Art and Architecture converted into shelves for books ‘yet to be written’

By Devin Gannon

Photo by Naho Kubota The iconic rotating facade panels at the Storefront for Art and Architecture have been reconstructed as mostly-empty bookshelves in an installation currently on view at the Soho gallery. Abruzzo Bodziak Architects (ABA) designed the sidewalk-encroaching shelves for the exhibition, dubbed Architecture Books-Yet to Be Written. As its name suggests, the installation "seeks to celebrate and evaluate both existing and the missing volumes of a history still in the writing." ABA's design will be on display until August 25 as part of the New York Architecture Book Fair, an initiative introduced by the gallery.
Learn more

July 13, 2018

Beautiful design details and some unexpected curves make this $1.5M Nolita duplex a sunny sanctuary

By Michelle Cohen

Good design can lift the spirits, which is why this stylish condominium at 259 Elizabeth Street is more than just easy on the eyes. The two-bedroom-plus-office duplex, asking $1.545 million, is filled with lovely custom details and designs, from bespoke Calico wallpaper in a bohemian version of spun gold to the solarium that comprises a bedroom's outer wall.
Bask in the glow

Distinctive Homes

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720 West End Avenue

Upper West Side

Serene Upper West Side homes near Riverside Park

1 beds starting at $1,005,000
2 beds starting at $2,495,000
3 beds starting at $3,495,000
4 beds starting at $5,850,000

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Manhattan

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