Manhattan

New Yorkers today know Castle Clinton, in Battery Park, as a national monument and departure point to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But the circular sandstone fort dates all the way back to 1811--and has served as everything from an immigration station, exhibition hall, theater, and public aquarium since. One forgotten fact of the historic structure is that it's considered the site of America's first beer garden, which opened as Castle Garden on July 3rd, 1824. The illustration above shows the beer garden--which also had a grand theater--featured in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in the 1800s. The open-air space, which eventually got a roof, was considered one of the premier attractions in Manhattan.
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History

To save Nolita’s Elizabeth Street Garden, a nonprofit wants to take ownership from the city

Sketch of Elizabeth Street Garden’s Site A courtesy of Ella Barnes/ESG

January 9, 2018

To save Nolita’s Elizabeth Street Garden, a nonprofit wants to take ownership from the city

A nonprofit with a mission to protect and preserve the Elizabeth Street Garden in Nolita released on Tuesday a plan to designate the park as a Community Land Trust (CLT), meaning it would no longer require funding from the city. The group, aptly named Elizabeth Street Garden (ESG), unveiled renderings of what the park could look like as a CLT, including a new composting station, solar panels, a volunteer work shed and more. The proposal from ESG comes after the city announced last month plans to demolish the garden to make way for an affordable senior housing development.
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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.
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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

Roberta Flack’s ‘architect ready’ co-op in the Dakota is in contract

Photo of Roberta Flack via Wikimedia

January 8, 2018

Roberta Flack’s ‘architect ready’ co-op in the Dakota is in contract

By Annie Doge

Roberta Flack's co-op apartment with mirrored walls in the iconic Dakota has finally found a buyer, after being on and off the market since 2015. As the New York Post reported, the unidentified buyer plans to combine the four-time Grammy Award winner's five-room pad with an adjacent apartment, which was allegedly the one-time home of Judy Garland. While the final sale price of the combined package is not known yet, it appears the merge will restore the exact floor plan of one of the Dakota's 65 original units back when the building was finished in 1884. Flack's apartment was last listed for $6.99 million and the co-op next-door was most recently listed for $10 million.
See inside

January 8, 2018

Window-wrapped turrets offer three-way views in this $6M Chelsea aerie

This almost-3,000-square-foot corner condominium on the fifth floor of Chelsea's historic O'Neill Building at 655 6th Avenue is the result of a 2007 conversion designed by award-winning architectural firm CetraRuddy. Asking $5.975 million, the three-bedroom loft is one of the building's most dramatic units due to its window-wrapped, curved rooms, enormous living space, and panoramic cityscape views.
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Distinctive Homes

Report claims Mayor de Blasio inflated benefits of Stuyvesant Town sale to preserve affordable housing

Photo courtesy of Stuy Town

January 5, 2018

Report claims Mayor de Blasio inflated benefits of Stuyvesant Town sale to preserve affordable housing

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

The sprawling Stuyvesant Town complex on Manhattan's east side is no stranger to controversy and drama, and here's some more to add to the list. The city’s budget watchdog agency is saying that Mayor de Blasio’s office inflated the benefits of a deal to keep affordable housing at the complex in exchange for $220 million in taxpayer subsidies, according to the Daily News. This is based off the highly-publicized 2015 sale of Stuy Town, the biggest single deal done under de Blasio’s affordable housing plan. But a new report by the Independent Budget Office believes the city is getting less from the complex sales agreement than it claimed.
Get the scoop

Fire Patrol House #2: From Benjamin Franklin’s fire prevention ideas to Anderson Cooper’s stylish home

Fire Patrol #2 in 2009, via Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Image Archive

January 4, 2018

Fire Patrol House #2: From Benjamin Franklin’s fire prevention ideas to Anderson Cooper’s stylish home

The former firehouse located at 84 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village is often noted for being the renovated and restored home of TV personality and journalist Anderson Cooper. But it’s just as noteworthy for an unusual history connected to Benjamin Franklin and insurance underwriters, and for not being the kind of firehouse you think it is at all.
The whole history and current use

History

January 4, 2018

$6.95M historic West Village townhouse has a rooftop solarium with Freedom Tower views

In the middle of a lovely cobblestoned block in the coveted West Village, the five-story Federal-style townhouse at 334 West 12th Street was built in 1853, but its charms hold up against its neighbors in the Greenwich Village Historic District and beyond. Asking $6.95 million, the 20-foot-wide single-family townhouse has two entrances, five bedrooms, a rear garden that looks like something out of an Italian villa, a large south-facing terrace with views of the Freedom Tower, and its crowning jewel, a skylit solarium brimming with greenery.
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Anti-Trump financier sells Trump Palace pad for less than half of original ask

“The problem is real and will not go away anytime soon.” Image via Google Street View.

January 4, 2018

Anti-Trump financier sells Trump Palace pad for less than half of original ask

Back in June 6sqft reported on efforts by former Goldman Sachs executive Laurence Weiss, who had been trying to sell his 3,600-square-foot, four bedroom apartment at Trump Palace at 200 East 69th Street for two years, to get the building's residents to agree to ditch the Trump name. Weiss had originally asked $15 million for the Upper East Side condo and still had no buyer even at $8.9 million. The building's name remains, but Weiss has finally sold the apartment–for $7.4 million, The Real Deal reports.
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Real Estate Trends

January 3, 2018

$1.2M Upper West Side co-op comes with potential to design a roof deck

This two-bedroom apartment occupies the top floor of the townhouse at 39 West 87th Street on the Upper West Side. It comes with private, undeveloped roof space accessible through an internal staircase within the apartment--meaning that the owner has a blank slate to design their dream roof deck. The co-op, decked out with historic carved wood and some quirky modern additions, has just been listed for $1.195 million.
Walk through the space

Distinctive Homes

January 2, 2018

Michelin star chef David Bouley lists French-inspired Tribeca duplex for $5.5M

By Annie Doge

Michelin star chef David Bouley has been a fixture in Tribeca since 1987 when he opened his famed French restaurant Bouley at 161 Duane Street. He later opened Bouley Bakery, Danube, Brushstroke, and Botanical in the neighborhood and even bought an apartment in the same building as his namesake restaurant in 2007. The restaurant closed its doors this past summer, and now it looks like Bouley himself is also looking to exit the building, as he just listed his sprawling, rustic duplex for $5.5 million. The biggest selling point? The woodburning fireplace was built with 17th-century stone from the same quarry used to construct Chateau de Versailles.
Take a look around

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

January 2, 2018

The evolution of Hudson Square: From the Printing District to ‘affordable’ luxury

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Hudson Square is undergoing another transformation. The neighborhood was once known as the Printing District because of the printing companies attracted to the large concrete and steel factory buildings located close to their Wall Street clients. In the 1970s and ‘80s, technology and design companies replaced the printing industry, attracted by the architecture, location, transportation options, and affordable rents. But the area is once again evolving. This time it's experiencing a boom of what developers and realtors call “affordable luxury" condominiums (in the $1 - $2 million range) due to the largest privately-initiated rezoning efforts in the history of New York City. Not only is the neighborhood growing in height and residences but a large fund has been set aside to increase the neighborhood's commercial mix, greenery, and traffic flow.
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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

January 2, 2018

This $28.75M Upper East Side townhouse is seven floors of wow factor, plus a roof terrace

The listing for this 10,000-square-foot townhouse at 51 East 80th Street calls it an "inspirational brownstone oasis," and for mere mortals who aren't planning to acquire a $28.75 million home, it's inspirational living at its finest. The 1883 Upper East Side residence recently received a thoroughly modern renovation that elevated the home's historic charm to "wow" levels.
Take the grand tour

Distinctive Homes

The Urban Lens: Abandonment and decay along the 1970s Greenwich Village waterfront

Abandoned buildings along the Christopher Street Pier. Ca. 1974. © Jack Dowling Collection for GVSHP.

December 29, 2017

The Urban Lens: Abandonment and decay along the 1970s Greenwich Village waterfront

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, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation shares a collection of archival images by Jack Dowling that documents the crumbling piers of Greenwich Village in the 1970s. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. The fetid smell of rotted wood and the Hudson River nearly rises from these photos of the sorry state of Greenwich Village's collapsing piers in the 1970s. The contrast is stark between the neighborhood's disinvested, abandonment, pictured here, and its current culture of high rents and pricey coffee shops. Among New York City's main concerns when photographer Jack Dowling created, "Decay and Rebirth Along the Greenwich Village Waterfront in the 1970s," were its murder rate and the looming threat of bankruptcy when these photos have taken; the city as a whole has changed drastically in the decades since.
The visible difference from the present is astounding

December 29, 2017

Philanthropist’s condo at 15 Central Park West sells for $8.5M under ask

Robert A.M. Stern's 15 Central Park West may be New York City's most expensive condo, but that didn't help financier and philanthropist (and onetime president of the building's board) Jeffrey C. Walker and his wife Suzanne in selling their four-bedroom pad there. They listed the unit for $38 million in March of this year, but it just closed for the considerably lower amount of $29.5 million (The buyer, as public records show, is hidden behind the title "Ciel CPW LLC"). Lucky for the Walkers, though, they paid a little over $21 million for the pad back in 2007, so they've still made a nice little profit.
It boasts Central Park views and a wine cellar

Real Estate Trends

December 28, 2017

65th-floor unit at 432 Park changes hands for the third time in a year-and-a-half

The end of 2017 has seen a lot of record-setting headlines for 432 Park Avenue, namely the $91 million, three-penthouse sale that was the city's most expensive all year. And a sale at the supertall that came through city property records today makes it clear that there's no sign of slowing down. Unit 65A, a half-floor, three-bedroom spread, first sold in June of 2016 for $27 million to an anonymous LLC dubbed "432 Holdings LLC." This past September, the building's developers CIM Group and Macklowe Properties bought back the apartment for $27.9 million in a presumed attempt to let the seller buy a larger unit in the building. As The Real Deal reported, the seller did just that, upgrading to an 80th-floor unit that cost $39 million. But as of today, the developers have all but made their money back, as the 65th-floor residence sold yet again for $26.4 million to another LLC called "Mallow Enterprises."
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Real Estate Trends

VIDEO: Travel back to 1904 for the first New Year’s Eve in Times Square

A crowd in Times Square; screenshot via TheLazyCowOnUTube

December 28, 2017

VIDEO: Travel back to 1904 for the first New Year’s Eve in Times Square

In 1904, the New York Times moved from the City Hall are to the triangular piece of land at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway, and 42nd Street. People thought they were crazy for moving so far uptown, but this was the same year the first subway line opened, passing through what was then called Longacre Square. Not only did their new Times Tower have a printing press in the basement (they loaded the daily papers right onto the train and got the news out faster than other papers), but it was the second-tallest building in the city at the time. To honor this accolade, the company wanted to take over the city's former New Year's Eve celebration at Trinity Church, and since the church elders hated people getting drunk on their property, they gladly obliged. So to ring in 1905, the Times hosted an all-day bash of 200,000 people that culminated in a midnight fireworks display, and thus the first New Year's Eve in Times Square was born. But it wasn't until a few years later that the famous ball drop became tradition.
Get the full history in this video

December 28, 2017

Sen. Jacob Javits’ former Sutton Place co-op sells for $4.4M

After first hitting the market in June for roughly $5.2 million, the former Sutton Place home of influential New York senator, Jacob Javits and his wife Marian, has found a buyer. Last listed for $4.35 million, the three-bedroom co-op at 322 East 57th Street was designed in 1933 by Joseph Urban, an architect known for his Art Deco style. According to the New York Post, Javits entertained socialites and political players, like Henry Kissinger, in his spacious 3,300 square foot duplex.
Check out the glass cube

Construction suspended at the World Trade Center’s St. Nicholas Shrine amid financial woes

Photo courtesy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

December 27, 2017

Construction suspended at the World Trade Center’s St. Nicholas Shrine amid financial woes

Construction company Skanska USA stopped work at the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church this month after the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America failed to make payments on the project. The cost of rebuilding the church, which was destroyed in the terror attacks on 9/11 more than sixteen years ago, increased to an estimated $78 million from a 2013 estimate of $20 million. While the archdiocese raised $37 million in donations, it was still unable to pay its bills, prompting an independent investigation of the church's financial mismanagement, as the New York Times reported. Since learning of its deficit, the archdiocese has cut 25 percent of its staff and 25 percent of its expenses. A new treasurer and a chief financial officer have also been hired.
More this way

New Developments

Where I Work: Artistic duo Strosberg Mandel show off their Soho studio and glam portraits

David Mandel (L) and Serge Strosberg (R) in their studio, photo by James and Karla Murray

December 27, 2017

Where I Work: Artistic duo Strosberg Mandel show off their Soho studio and glam portraits

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring artistic duo Strosberg Mandel's Soho studio.Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Last year, Belgian-American figurative painter Serge Strosberg had an exhibit about feminism in the East Village. The show's curator introduced him to David Mandel, a theatrical stylist, jewelry designer, and former drag queen. Though the two came from very different artistic backgrounds, they immediately hit it off on both a personal and professional level. Fast forward to today, and they've formed the NYC-based artistic duo Strosberg Mandel, creating large-scale assemblage portraits--mostly of rock n' roll icons such as Prince, David Bowie, Elvis, and Cher--using found materials and glamorous add-ons like Swarovski diamonds and luxury fabrics. In anticipation of their upcoming debut solo exhibition "Troubadours of Eternity" at Lichtundfire from January 24th to February 4th, in which they'll unveil the full portrait series as "a celebration of authentic musicianship and timeless spirits," Serge and David invited us into their Soho studio to get an advanced preview of the pieces and learn about their unique work and partnership.
Tour the studio and hear from David and Serge

December 27, 2017

Greta Garbo fans buy the actress’ longtime Sutton Place co-op for $2.5M over ask

This sprawling three-bedroom at the exclusive Sutton Place co-op The Campanile may have a private location, incredible East River views, and old-world details such as wall-to-wall pine wood paneling, working fireplaces, and tons of built-ins, but it was its longtime resident who encited a bidding war. Mansion Global reports that Greta Garbo's longtime home (she lived there from 1954 until her death in 1990) has sold for $8.5 million, 43 percent higher than the $5.95 million it listed for back in March. The late actress' great-nephew Craig Reisfield said the buyers have “a reverence for my great aunt” and added that he anticipates them being "great stewards" of the home that's very much intact from Garbo's days.
See the high-end apartment here

December 26, 2017

Office of Architecture replaced walls with walnut cabinetry and sliding doors in this Tribeca reno