Manhattan

In what may be shaping up to be one of New York City's biggest preservation battles of the coming year, Mayor Bill de Blasio's application Monday for a rezoning in order to move forward with a proposed tech hub at 124 East 14th Street in Union Square led neighborhood preservation and affordable housing groups to escalate cries of protest. Community organizations, including the Cooper Square Committee and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), restated the urgent need for assurance that rezoning would come with protections for the adjacent residential neighborhood. Preservationists fear the creation of a new "Silicon Alley" near Union Square will bring rent hikes and more condo and office towers. The proposed tech center, which the mayor hopes will nurture budding entrepreneurs in the technology field and bring over 600 jobs to New Yorkers, is planned at the site of a P.C. Richard & Son store, in an area already filled with new developments with more on the way.
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January 29, 2018

$8.5K/month Chelsea duplex has a sweet roof deck and plenty of character

Right from the beginning you'll feel fortunate–if you can swing the $8,495 a month rent–living in this charming townhouse condominium at 360 West 19th Street: You'll only have one neighbor, as the building only contains two units. Two sun-filled upper floors hold the standard townhouse bounty of three bedrooms above a spacious living area, plus a private roof deck, all on a pretty Chelsea block.
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January 29, 2018

New renderings revealed for Union Square’s Tammany Hall redevelopment by BKSK

The makeover of the landmarked Tammany Hall at 44 Union Square East, formerly home to the Democratic party machine that dominated New York City politics for years, continues to progress, with recently released renderings showcasing a bright, unique office and retail space. As CityRealty learned, there will be multiple retail scenarios on the building's first three floors, with three levels of office space, most likely for finance or TAMI companies, above. Designed by BKSK Architects, the top floor will feature the glistening, shell-like glass dome, allowing an abundance of natural light in, as well as spectacular Union Square views.
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Two new Grand Street Guild towers will bring 400 all-affordable units to the Lower East Side

Proposed site; Image via Google Maps.

January 29, 2018

Two new Grand Street Guild towers will bring 400 all-affordable units to the Lower East Side

Housing organization Grand Street Guild has announced plans to build two 15-story towers as part of a 100 percent affordable housing project that will bring 400 new apartments–including over 150 reserved for seniors–to the Lower East Side. The not-for-profit group, which was formed by the Archdiocese of New York, is the owner of the 26-story Grand Street Guild towers, built in 1973 and home to over 1,500 residents, that surround St. Mary's Church on Grand Street. According to The Lo-Down, one of the proposed sites for the new towers is the corner of Broome and Clinton streets (now a parking garage) and another is 151 Broome Street, currently housing the Little Star Daycare Center.
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Bruce Willis sells $18M Central Park West co-op in just one week

Photo of Bruce Willis via Wikimedia

January 29, 2018

Bruce Willis sells $18M Central Park West co-op in just one week

Just a little over a week ago, Bruce Willis and wife Emma Heming Willis put their six-bedroom co-op at 271 Central Park West on the market for $17.75 million. They bought the duplex apartment back in 2015 for $17 million (from Milwaukee Bucks owner Wesley Edens), after Willis unloaded his nearby El Dorado co-op for $13 million. The couple recently decided to scale back since they don't spend enough time in the Upper West Side spread, and lucky for them the unit is already in contract, according to Curbed.
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January 26, 2018

Real estate bigwig drops $4.35M on Seth Meyers’ West Village condo

Real estate bigwig Michael Fuchs (he co-founded RFR Realty with his childhood friend Aby Rosen) paid $4.35 million for Seth Meyers' West Village condo at 302 West 12th Street, according to the Post. The “Late Night” host and his wife Alexi Ashe bought the two-bedroom unit in 2013 for $3.5 million, but after dropping $7.5 million on a five-bedroom Washington Square West co-op in summer 2016, they listed their smaller pad this past September for $4.5 million. And Fuchs must've really seen something in the apartment, because he went into contract on it just a month later.
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January 26, 2018

The Eleventh, Bjarke Ingels’ pair of twisting towers, takes shape along the High Line

The Eleventh, a pair of slanted towers designed by Bjarke Ingels', officially went vertical in West Chelsea this week. Developed by HFZ Capital, the two-building complex at 76 Eleventh Avenue sits near the High Line between West 18th and 17th Streets. A space between the buildings at their base gives the illusion that the buildings are being pulled apart, and its ruled corners highlight the towers' movement. The project is expected to be completed sometime in 2019.
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January 26, 2018

$9M Upper East Side duplex is dressed up like a Park Avenue socialite

Besides being an architectural gem, designed by William Alciphron Boring and completed in 1911, 521 Park Avenue is the rare classic pre-war Upper East Side building that's also a condominium (it was converted in 1987). This sprawling duplex is the result of a high-floor two-unit combo. The resulting 3,000+ square-foot corner apartment has as much space and impressive pre-war detail as you'd expect from an address like this one.
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Distinctive Homes

How the Manhattan neighborhood of Turtle Bay got its name

Turtle Bay and Blackwell’s Island around 1840 at the foot of what now is 49th Street, courtesy the Turtle Bay Association

January 26, 2018

How the Manhattan neighborhood of Turtle Bay got its name

The Manhattan neighborhood of Turtle Bay, a stretch of Midtown East that holds everything from skyscrapers to brownstones, has a history dating back to 1639. Modern-day New Yorkers might envision the area got its name from "hundreds of turtles sunning themselves on the rocks along the East River between 45th and 48th Streets," as Ephemeral New York puts it. Back then, that's where an actual bay was once located in Colonial-era Manhattan, surrounded by meadows, hills and a stream that emptied at the foot of today’s 47th Street. Some historians do think actual turtles lent to the neighborhood name, as they were plentiful in Manhattan at the time and were commonly dined on. But another reading of history suggests otherwise.
The name may have been a mistake

History

January 26, 2018

For $75M, you can have your own mega-mansion in the Meatpacking District

The listing calls this building at 799 Washington Street "one of the last grand historic structures in prime meatpacking district." And it could be yours for a cool $75 million. Turning it into a mega-mansion, however, will require serious work. (Though there's no lack for inspiration when it comes to mega-mansions in New York.) The 23,000-square-foot structure is currently configured as a high-end film studio and commercial space, topped off with a residential penthouse unit. Other suggestions to any deep-pocketed buyer, per the listing, include conversions to a boutique hotel or a multi-unit, live/work building.
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

January 26, 2018

Sleek Soho penthouse with a sunken great room asks $10M

Most Soho penthouses are spread across warehouse space--so it's unique to see a floorplan with a large, sunken great room. But that's what you get with the penthouse unit at 154 Spring Street, in Soho, which has just hit the market for $9.95 million. A private key-locked elevator opens to a 4,131-square-foot pad (with an extra 875 square feet outside!) lined with arched windows and skylights. There are three bedrooms over three floors, plus lots of fancy interior touches that include a glass staircase.
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Distinctive Homes

Taylor Swift gets sued for not paying the broker commission on her $18M Tribeca townhouse

Google Street View of 153 Franklin Street; Taylor Swift via Wiki Commons

January 25, 2018

Taylor Swift gets sued for not paying the broker commission on her $18M Tribeca townhouse

For someone who claims to stay away from "bad blood," Taylor Swift certainly seems to conjure up drama wherever she moves in New York City. After she bought a $20 million penthouse at Tribeca's celeb-studded 155 Franklin Street, Orland Bloom listed his unit in the building in just five months, claiming the pop star's mobs of fans and “Girl Squad” activities were too much to take. Rumors then began circulating that when she bought the apartment she got Sir Ian McKellen evicted. But now things have taken a legal turn, as The Real Deal reports that Swift is being sued by Douglas Elliman for stiffing a broker on the comission for the $18 million Tribeca townhouse she bought this past fall.
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Celebrities

Leonardo DiCaprio is renting at this shiny new Nomad tower

Promotional photo of 172 Madison Avenue; Leonardo DiCaprio photo via UN Climate Change/Flickr

January 25, 2018

Leonardo DiCaprio is renting at this shiny new Nomad tower

Leonardo DiCaprio has spent the last few months breaking in a newly-minted three-bedroom penthouse apartment at the shiny new development at 172 Madison Avenue, according to the New York Post. He's starring in Quentin Tarantino's Charles Manson-themed movie, set to be released in 2019–his first big gig since his Oscar turn in 2015’s “The Revenant.” Leo has been living in a three-bedroom unit in the recently-completed luxury condo "for several months,” a spy says.
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Celebrities

January 24, 2018

Subway map designer Massimo Vignelli’s Upper East Side home hits the market for $6.5M

The Upper East Side home of iconic designer-duo Lella and Massimo Vignelli will be listed for $6.5 million, according to the New York Times. The 3,900-square-foot three-bedroom duplex at 130 East 67th Street features super high ceilings, wide plank oak floors and a beautiful library. The Italian-born couple first bought the home in 1978 for $250,000, and it served as their first New York abode. While best known in NYC for his 1972 design of the subway map for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Massimo, who died in 2014, is also credited with creating iconic branding for companies, like the big brown bag logo for Bloomingdales. His wife, Lella, who died in 2016, was a licensed architect and created furniture and tableware for Vignelli Designs. According to the son of the late couple, Luca, the apartment served as a "cultural hub for artists and designers."
See inside the mod duplex

Photos from 1968 show the Museum of Natural History’s 94-foot blue whale being hung

Photo courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History Library

January 24, 2018

Photos from 1968 show the Museum of Natural History’s 94-foot blue whale being hung

Back in 1968, the staff and contractors at the American Museum of Natural History got to constructing, mounting, and finally hanging the 94-foot fiberglass-and-polyurethane blue whale model that's become an icon of the museum. Though the hulking whale looks like it's been hanging from the Hall of Ocean Life ceilings since the museum's opening, it's actually the second version of the installation. According to Slate, the museum made the decision in the early 1960s to overhaul a paper-mâché model hung in the early 20th century because it looked outdated. The replacement was set to be nothing less than dramatic: a display to "create the illusion of having joined the whale in its own domain," as As Alfred E. Parr, oceanographer and past director of the AMNH, wrote at the time.
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History

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

Did the Obamas just close on this classy Upper East Side duplex for almost $10M?

Barack and Michelle Obama via Wiki Commons; One of 10 Gracie Square’s terraces overlooking the East River, via CityRealty

January 24, 2018

Did the Obamas just close on this classy Upper East Side duplex for almost $10M?

In October, 6sqft reported that Barack and Michelle Obama had been spotted on their way to view a listing in Yorkville's 10 Gracie Square. At the time, it was speculated that they checked out a five-bedroom duplex that had gone into contract for $10 million shortly following the visit. The buyer wasn't confirmed, but the unit has now closed for $9.64 million (h/t Katherine Clarke), purchased through a "Gracie Square Revocable Trust. So while it's still not confirmed that the Obamas are moving to the Upper East Side, the building is one of New York City's most prestigious addresses, located just a stone's throw away from the Mayor's residence and over the years attracting the likes of Alexander Woollcott, conductor Andre Kostelanetz, Gloria Vanderbilt and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek.
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After seven years, Landmarks approves controversial Canal Street apartment building

Revised Design for 312-322 Canal Street courtesy of Paul A. Castrucci Architects

January 23, 2018

After seven years, Landmarks approves controversial Canal Street apartment building

For Trans World Equities and Paul A. Castrucci Architects, the third time is truly the charm. Nearly seven years after they first proposed a plan to replace a row of five buildings at 312-322 Canal Street with a residential building, the Landmarks Preservation Commission officially approved on Tuesday the duo's revised design. The updated plan reduces the height of the building from nine to seven stories and mutes the color of the facade from a bright-red brick to terracotta. During the developer's third presentation for LPC, the commissioners said the building's rhythm and height will now fit better with the district, according to CityRealty.
See the approved replacement

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

By Dana Schulz

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

January 23, 2018

$1M West Village condo looks chic with high ceilings and exposed brick

223 West 10th Street is a historic five-story, 20-unit brick building that went condo back in 2005. We've featured units here before, like this one asking $999,000 last summer. The latest unit to hit the market is #3A, a chic one bedroom asking a hair over $1 million. It's a sponsor sale, completely renovated, with the high ceilings and exposed brick giving it a lofty vibe.
The location isn't bad either

Distinctive Homes

Jason Biggs sells custom-designed Tribeca loft for $2.7M

Photo of Jason Biggs via Wikimedia

January 22, 2018

Jason Biggs sells custom-designed Tribeca loft for $2.7M

"American Pie" actor Jason Biggs and his wife Jenny Mollen have sold their spacious three-bedroom Tribeca loft for $2.65 million, after first putting the pad on the market nearly a year ago. The 2,200-square-foot apartment at 288 West Street boasts authentic details throughout, like timber beams and columns, as well as hardwood oak floors. As the Observer learned, Biggs and Mollen bought the apartment for $2.55 million in October 2013 and tapped designer Cliff Fong to decorate the space. The couple moved to the West Village this past summer after purchasing a $6.98 million four-bedroom condo at the Shephard.
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This boxy glass tower will replace the Lower East Side’s Sunshine Cinema

Rendering by Real Estate Arts via New York Times.

January 22, 2018

This boxy glass tower will replace the Lower East Side’s Sunshine Cinema

As planned, the beloved Sunshine Cinema's screens went dark for good Sunday night in fittingly dramatic fashion, after a 10:15 showing of “Darkest Hour.” The movie theater, which served as a cultural touchstone in the rapidly changing Lower East Side neighborhood for its offerings of independent and foreign films since 2001, will be demolished and replaced by a 65,000-square-foot nine-story office building, according to East End Capital, who, with K Property Group purchased the 30,000-square-foot building for $31.5 million last year. The New York Times recently showed new renderings of the theater's replacement-to-be.
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New Developments

Cuomo says New York will pay $65K per day to keep Statue of Liberty open during shutdown

Photo of the Statue of Liberty courtesy of the NPS

January 22, 2018

Cuomo says New York will pay $65K per day to keep Statue of Liberty open during shutdown

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday said the state of New York will pay $65,000 per day to reopen the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island during the ongoing federal government shutdown, which forced the park to close over the weekend. Cuomo said the state made an agreement with the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, to keep New York Harbor's landmark open. The government closed midnight on Saturday after Republican and Democrats in Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill. "The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom and opportunity for all, and it is a gross injustice that this administration's dysfunction caused it to shut down," Cuomo said. "When this administration tries to deport immigrants, when they close down the Statue of Liberty, they are attacking who we are."
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Policy

January 22, 2018

Josh Hartnett’s Tribeca penthouse just sold for $3.55M

Back in July, 6sqft reported that the elusive Josh Hartnett ("Black Hawk Down," "Pearl Harbor") had surfaced to list his sprawling Tribeca co-op at 16 Hudson Street for $4.25 million. Though the corner penthouse, which Hartnett bought in 2004 for $2.4 million, looks massive, it’s only got one bedroom. The heartthrob actor-turned-producer just had a second child with longtime girlfriend Tamsin Egerton, so we're guessing more space is key. The 1,965-square-foot apartment with One World Trade Center views recently sold for $3.55 million, according to Mansion Global.
Get a final look

January 19, 2018

A magical private patio is tacked onto this $599K co-op in Lenox Hill

Summer feels far away... but this apartment's lovely patio will at least bring back memories of New York's warmer months. The very private, enclosed outdoor space is a part of this one-bedroom at the Lenox Hill cooperative 150 East 61st Street. After selling in 2010 for $400,000 it's back on the market asking $599,000. The ground-floor abode boasts some unique design quirks like colorful wallpaper and decor, but a new buyer will have an opportunity to make the interior--as well as that awesome patio--their own.
Head inside

Distinctive Homes

Under proposed congestion plan, driving a car into Manhattan will cost $11.52

Photo courtesy of Davide Gabino’s Flickr

January 19, 2018

Under proposed congestion plan, driving a car into Manhattan will cost $11.52