Manhattan

On its own, the fact that the landmarked five-story tenement building at 244 West 4th Street was designed in 1884 by John B. Snook, the architect responsible for the original Grand Central Station, wouldn't likely be enough to entice a buyer. Fortunately, the covetable West Village neighborhood and the thoroughly livable two-floor, one-bedroom layout of this pretty co-op asking $948,000 would be sufficiently convincing even without its historic bragging rights.
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Distinctive Homes

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

Images (L to R): The Mason, The Amberly, Tower 28 and 181 Front Street

July 7, 2018

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

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): The Mason, The Amberly, Tower 28 and 181 Front Street Live in NoMad at The Mason, Boutique Madison Ave Rental Residences with 2 Months Free [link] The Amberly Gets Ready to Launch in Downtown Brooklyn; See New Images of 33-Story Rental Tower [link] Elevated Living at its Finest: Tour the Views […]

Real Estate Trends

Governors Island is now open late all weekend

Island Oyster, via Trust for Governors Island

July 6, 2018

Governors Island is now open late all weekend

In April, the Trust for Governors Island announced extended Friday hours for the 2018 season, allowing visitors to explore the island until 10pm. And now, thanks to a sponsorship from Grey Goose, they'll also remain open late on Saturdays, all the way to 11pm. "Late Saturdays" begin tomorrow and run through September 1st, with all ferries free after 6pm. As Governors Island says, "Visitors can now enjoy stunning sunsets overlooking New York Harbor, take leisurely bike rides around the Hills and visit Island Oyster for a Grey Goose Fair Winds Fizz specialty cocktail."
All the details

July 6, 2018

City says Trump can’t claim $48K tax break on his NYC apartment

New York City has said no to a $48,000 break President Trump has been receiving on the annual tax bill for his Trump Tower condo after inquiries by the Daily News into his eligibility. The News reports that the city says the president was set to get $48,834.62 knocked off his condo taxes for the tax year beginning July 1 via the city's condominium abatement, which is available for condo and co-op owners on their primary residence. Tax rules state that only “the dwelling unit in which the owner of the dwelling unit actually resides and maintains a permanent and continuous physical presence” is eligible for the savings, and Trump hasn't kept a “permanent and continuous physical presence” in the Midtown pad since he moved to the White House in January of 2017.
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Policy

July 6, 2018

Jesse Tyler Ferguson trades up to a $3M Chelsea pad

6sqft recently noted “Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson and husband Justin Mikita's listing of their 900-square-foot one-bedroom Gramercy Park co-op for $1.5 million. Three months on, the New York Post reports that the pair have advanced to a bigger, blingier home in the new D'Orsay condominium at 211 West 14th Street. All signs point to that unit being a 1,402-square-foot two-bedroom pad that was listed at $2.995 million and sold for $3.05 million according to city records. The boutique Chelsea condo building boasts interiors by internationally acclaimed designer Jacques Garcia, known for the decor at Hotel Costes in Paris and NYC's NoMad Hotel.
Have a look

July 6, 2018

Bob Weinstein takes another loss on $20.5M sale of Central Park West apartment

Producer Robert "Bob" Weinstein continues to unload his real estate portfolio amid business parter and brother Harvey's sexual abuse allegations. In December, he sold his Upper West Side townhouse for $15 million, the same exact price he paid for it in 2009 with ex-wife Annie Clayton. Just last month, he unloaded his Greenwich, Connecticut mansion for $17 million after three years on the market and a 15 percent price chop. And according to city records released yesterday, his massive Central Park West duplex at the Beresford has now closed for $20.5 million, just a hair above the $20 million he bought it for in 2004 and much less than the $29.5 million it listed for nearly a year ago. The buyer is listed as Pamela Schein Murphy, wife of restauranteur Marc Murphy. Not only does the 14-room spread encompass 7,000 square feet, but it boasts two large terraces overlooking the park.
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Live in new ‘hipster haven’ Washington Heights for $1,705/month

Coogan’s Restaurant in Washington Heights, via CityRealty

July 5, 2018

Live in new ‘hipster haven’ Washington Heights for $1,705/month

A recent Post article dubbed Washington Heights "the new Williamsburg," referencing census data that shows the upper-Manhattan 'hood has more millennials than any other area in the entire city. Noting that New Yorkers age 20 to 34 have been priced out of places like Bushwick, NYU adjunct professor of urban planning Michael Keane said, "they’re thinking, ‘Hey, Washington Heights is in Manhattan, it’s easy to get to Midtown, crime is down and the rent is several hundred dollars less.’" And this new middle-income housing opportunity at 516 West 162nd Street, is even less, with five one-bedrooms up for grabs for $1,705 a month and one two-bedroom for $2,055. By comparison, market-rate one-beds in the building go for $2,300 and two-beds for $3,050.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Three Harlem and Bronx subway stations to get upgrades for the first time in 114 years

Image via Wiki Commons

July 5, 2018

Three Harlem and Bronx subway stations to get upgrades for the first time in 114 years

The MTA Board has approved an $88 million contract to Citnalta/Forte with Urbahn/HAKS for work at three of the city's subway stations in Harlem and the Bronx after nearly a century of wear and tear. The 145 Street, 167 Street and 174-175 Street stations will be getting modernizing, structural and functional repairs beginning in July. MTA New York City Transit will be addressing needed upgrades for the nearly 20,000 subway customers on the Concourse B,D and Lenox 3 lines.
Find out when the stations will be closed for repairs

Transit

July 5, 2018

Live in Al Pacino’s former Central Park South condo for $2.7M

Before the stretch became known as Billionaires' Row, Al Pacino called 301 West 57th Street home. The Oscar-winning actor, best known for his roles in "Scarface" and "The Godfather," lived in different units in the building between 1988, when the building was built, and 2013, including a 14-floor corner condo that just hit the market for $2.7 million, reports the Post.
Check it out

Qatari fund closes on $600M Plaza Hotel buy

Photo via Wally Gobetz/Flickr

July 5, 2018

Qatari fund closes on $600M Plaza Hotel buy

In May, the minority owners of the iconic Plaza Hotel, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, went into contract on the landmarked building, matching the $600 million offer made earlier in the month by a separate group of investors. However, reports out today tell us that the deal closed on Monday, with Katara Hospitality, a subsidiary of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, buying the minority owners' 25 percent stake, along with Indian business group Sahara's 70 percent stake and hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal's five percent stake. Katara is the Qatar Investment Authority’s hotel division and this is their first foray into the NYC market. According to sources referenced by The Real Deal, the minority group decided to drop its bid because Katara offered greater “certainty” of closing.
The long road to selling the Plaza

Uncategorized

July 5, 2018

Russell Simmons tries to sell his $10M FiDi penthouse for the third time in 13 years

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Will the third time be a charm for Def Jam's Russell Simmons and his FiDi penthouse? The Post reports that the music mogul is trying to sell his five-bedroom duplex at 114 Liberty Street after an unsuccessful listing in 2005 and another two-year listing in 2012 (both times asking $11 million). The sprawling pad--there's 7,175 square feet of interior space and 3,500 square feet of outdoor space split among three terraces--is now asking a bit less at $9,925,000.
Get a look around

July 3, 2018

Billionaires’ Row coalition sues NYC to keep homeless men out of their neighborhood

By Devin Gannon

Image © 6sqft A group of New Yorkers who live near Billionaires' Row, an area with some of the most expensive residences in the world, filed a lawsuit on Monday to block a homeless shelter from opening in the Midtown West neighborhood. The West 58th Street Coalition sued New York City to stop the conversion of the old Park Savoy Hotel at 158 West 58th Street into a homeless shelter for men, a plan announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio in February. The coalition claims the shelter, which would house 140 single men, would have "an enormous impact on our densely populated, narrow, high-pedestrian-traffic street." While describing themselves as a group of "compassionate New Yorkers," the Change.org petition says instead of the city paying $50,000 per person to stay at the Park Savoy, "a homeless man could have his own apartment, living in the neighborhood where he came from." The new shelter sits behind One57, a known for the city’s most expensive residential sale ever: a penthouse that sold for $100 million in 2015.
More here

Policy

Judge tells Madonna to stop “harassing” her Upper West Side co-op

1 West 64th Street via CityRealty (l); Madonna via Wikimedia Commons (r)

July 2, 2018

Judge tells Madonna to stop “harassing” her Upper West Side co-op

1 West 64th Street via CityRealty (l); Madonna via Wikimedia Commons (r) Back in September, a Manhattan judge threw out a lawsuit that Madonna had filed against her Upper West Side co-op after they enforced a rule that prohibited her family members or staff to live in the apartment at 1 West 64th Street without her being present. As 6sqft previously explained, "The judge dismissed the star’s suit because she filed two years after the co-op created the rule, in April of 2014, missing the deadline to proceed with legal action." But this didn't stop her; during the past 10 months, Madonna was "merely harassing" her neighbors, demanding access to board records, according to the Post.
Madonna gets reprimanded again

Celebrities

July 2, 2018

The picnic-perfect terrace at this $10M Tribeca penthouse feels like a slice of Paris

We can imagine errant children in this worth-every-bit-of-$9.995 million Tribeca duplex penthouse being sent, for punishment, to the room without a terrace. The listing for 41 Warren Street in Tribeca calls it "Parisian perfection" in reference to the authentic Parisian wrought-iron balconies that wrap the apartment's many terraces; a hat tip to the Scandinavian countries is in order for the wood-paneled sauna. And 3,000 square-feet of chic, subtly luxurious interiors would be worthy of envy under any flag.
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Distinctive Homes

Images (L to R): Henry Hall, The Clark, Denizen Bushwick and Monterey at Park

June 30, 2018

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

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): Henry Hall, The Clark, Denizen Bushwick and Monterey at Park Henry Hall in Hudson Yards Offers 4 Months Free on 25-Month Leases [link] Live at The Clark in Prospect Lefferts Gardens from $1,920/Month [link] The Denizen Launches; Modern Bushwick Rentals with Impressive Amenities [link] Murray Hill’s Emery Roth-Designed Monterey at Park […]

Real Estate Trends

Historic fireboat gets marbled ‘dazzle’ design before it sets sail around the NY Harbor this summer

Photo by Nicholas Knight

June 29, 2018

Historic fireboat gets marbled ‘dazzle’ design before it sets sail around the NY Harbor this summer

By Devin Gannon

Marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, local artist Tauba Auerbach has transformed a historic fireboat into a modern "dazzle" ship. First invented by British painter Norman Wilkinson during WWI, dazzle camouflage patterns were painted onto ships to distort their forms and confuse enemy submarines. The Public Art Fund and 14-18 NOW, a U.K.-based art program, commisioned the painting of the John J. Harvey fireboat, which first launched in 1931 and helped the FDNY extinguish fires until it retired in the 1990s. "With Flow Separation, I didn't want to ignore the John J. Harvey's identity, so I took the boat's usual paint job and scrambled it. Dragged a comb through it," Auerbach said. "The palette also exaggerates the fact that 'dazzle' was more about confusing and outsmarting, than about hiding."
Get the dazzling details

June 29, 2018

For $7M, an Upper East Side penthouse with a floating study and four terraces

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Inspired by his trip to Therme Vals in Switzerland and the architecture of Pritzker-prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, the owner of the penthouse at 206 East 73rd hired architect Wayne Turret to create his very own spa in New York City. Turret decked out this two-bedroom, two and a half, 2,650-square-foot penthouse loft on the Upper East Side with a high design, minimal modernist, spa-like aesthetic. This unique triplex penthouse, asking $6,950,000, sits on top of the Blanca Loft Condominium near the corner of 73rd Street and 3rd Avenue.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

June 28, 2018

Aspiring real estate developer Kanye West takes a loss on Noho condo sale

For those who were skeptical about Kanye West's recently announced foray into real estate ("I’m going to be one of the biggest real estate developers of all time. Like what Howard Hughes was to aircrafts and what Henry Ford was to cars," he humbly said.) here's proof that Yeezy might want to stick to rapping and Kardashian kuddling. TMZ reports that Kanye has just sold his Soho condo at 25 West Houston Street for $3 million, even less than the $3.14 million he paid for it.
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June 28, 2018

Be Cynthia Nixon’s Noho neighbor for $2.2M

An apartment right next door to gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon is now on the market for $2.22 million. The available co-op at 10 Bleecker Street, located off the Bowery in Noho, sits on the third floor, the same level where the "Sex and the City" star lives with her wife, Christine Marinoni. According to the New York Post, Nixon first purchased her apartment for $3.25 million in 2012. She also owns a small co-op nearby in the East Village, but when she purchased it for $1.5 million in 2016, it was speculated to be an investment property.
Get the details

June 28, 2018

Head to 116-year-old Glaser’s Bakery before they close Sunday for NYC’s best black-and-white cookie

Four months after they announced their imminent closing, Yorkville’s 116-year-old German bakery Glaser’s will serve its final treats this Sunday. They shared the news via a bittersweet Facebook post that read, "After many years of daunting hours and hard work, the third generation of bakers have come to the difficult decision to hang up their bakers’ hat and move towards retirement." Since last weekend, the lines have been wrapping around the block, with the bakers whipping up 1,650 of their black-and-white cookies at a time (they're widely regarded as the original and the best in the city).
Get a look at those lines

Uncategorized

June 28, 2018

Judge Judy’s former Sutton Place penthouse with two terraces asks $3M

Photo of Judge Judy via Wikimedia The former Sutton Place pad of the queen of court TV, Judge Judith Sheindlin, has hit the market for $3.29 million. The Brooklyn native sold the duplex penthouse at 60 Sutton Place South with her husband, Gerald Sheindlin, for $2.25 million in 2010 (h/t NY Post). Found on the 19th floor of the building, the co-op features three bedrooms and three and a half baths. Plus, the 2,250-square-foot apartment comes with two terraces overlooking the East River.
Take the tour

City says work can resume on Sutton Place’s controversial 800-foot tower

Proposed massing of the tower, via CityRealty

June 27, 2018

City says work can resume on Sutton Place’s controversial 800-foot tower

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

A relatively staid neighborhood, things are heating up at the Upper East Side’s Sutton Place, again. Last December, 6sqft reported that Gamma Real Estate had to stop work on Sutton 58, their proposed 800-foot residential tower. After three years of community protest over what many consider an out-of-context supertall building, the New York City Council spoke loudly (with a 45-0 vote) and approved a height rezoning of 10 blocks between 51st and 59th Streets east of First Avenue. The rezoning required 45 to 50 percent of a building should rise below 150 feet. This was a huge blow to Gamma and would require massive changes to their plans. Most immediately, it required a halt of construction on the project. But that just changed.
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June 27, 2018

VIDEO: See ‘Mom-and-Pops of the Lower East Side’ sculpture being installed in Seward Park

6sqft has been excitedly following the progress of photographers James and Karla Murray's Seward Park art installation "Mom-and-Pops of the LES," from the announcement that they'd been chosen through the Art in the Parks UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant Program to their wildly successful Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the wood-frame structure's build out. And now the piece, featuring four nearly life-size images of Lower East Side business that have mostly disappeared, is finally complete. James and Karla shared with 6sqft an exclusive time-lapse video of the installation process and chatted with us about why they chose these particular storefronts, what the build-out was like, and how they hope New Yorkers will learn from their message.
Watch the video and hear from James and Karla

Events & Things To Do

June 27, 2018

Landmarks approves Frick expansion plan despite protests from preservationists

All renderings courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle and Selldorf Architects On Tuesday the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the most recent plan submitted by the museum for the expansion and renovation of the 1914 Gilded Age mansion it calls home in a 6 to 1 vote with one abstention, the New York Times reports. Three prior attempts by the museum in a quest to gain more space for exhibitions and programs were turned back amid vocal protests by neighborhood advocates and preservationists. The revised plan submitted by the project's architects Beyer Blinder Belle and Annabelle Selldorf includes the decision to restore the museum's original gated garden, which had been a point of controversy with those opposed to the project.
Find out more

June 26, 2018

242-square-foot West Village “Wee Cottage” is asking $550K

6sqft previously featured this unique West Village studio for its clever design back in 2014, when its owners, Jourdan Lawlor and Tobin Ludwig, turned the 242-square-foot pied-a-terre at 352 West 12th Street into a marvel of Swiss Army knife-like usefulness with brilliant design and custom solutions. The pair, who bought the charming co-op for just $270,000, christened it "The Wee Cottage" and invested about $33,000 in a renovation that became the stuff of micro-apartment legend, having been featured in numerous publications and heaped with accolades (Refinery29 named it the Coolest Tiny Apartment in NYC, for example, and it's an Instagram favorite). They rented it out for $3,000 a month in 2016, and now it's for sale asking $500,000.
Take a tiny tour

Distinctive Homes

June 26, 2018

$12M Soho loft was inspired by an opulent Parisian hotel and an art gallery past