Manhattan

After 34 years of serving giant Cajun-Creole portions alongside obscure jukebox music, Great Jones Cafe is closing its doors for good tonight. The notorious Noho bar at 54 Great Jones Street opened in 1983 when the block was so empty patrons used be able to play whiffle ball in the street, but its closure serves as a reminder of the history of Great Jones Street. This superlative name dates way back to 1789 when politician Samuel Jones donated land to the city under the terms that they name any street within the property after him. But there was one little issue....
Where did the street name come from?

History

July 25, 2017

Manhattan’s first-ever water park is coming to the Upper East Side—and it looks like a giant dishwasher!

For three Saturdays in August, nearly seven miles of NYC thoroughfares, from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, will be closed to traffic as part of the city’s annual Summer Streets program. And this year's event has some pretty adventurous offerings, including a 270-foot waterslide, rock-climbing wall, and a 165-foot-long zipline. Guests will also get to visit Manhattan's first-ever water park on the Upper East Side, courtesy of LG Electronics. The giant inflatable park, called LG QuadWash™ Water Park, will measure 30-feet wide by 50-feet long and it's designed to look like both the interior and exterior of LG's new dishwashers, including cutlery-shaped slides, jet stream sprinklers, and "3rd rack" monkey bars.
Learn how you’ll be able to play in a giant dishwasher

Events & Things To Do

July 25, 2017

Meg Ryan’s moody, ‘Megan-ized’ Mercer Street loft sells for $9.9M

Meg Ryan's 4,100-square-foot apartment at 84 Mercer Street in Soho has been officially scooped up for $9.9M, LLNYC reveals. 6sqft previously reported that the actress had listed the full-floor home–which she bought from fellow actor Hank Azaria for $8 million in 2014–for $10.9 million back in February of this year. After a designer gut renovation and a spread in Architectural Digest, the three-bedroom home didn't stay on the market long—it went into contract just three months after Ryan listed it.
Tour the loft

July 25, 2017

$350K UES studio designed in the ’80s by Adam Tihany resembles a luxury train car

By Emily Nonko

A quirky studio designed by the interior designer Adam Tihany, praised as one of the greatest American interior architects by the New York Times, has hit the market for $350,000. The design has essentially remained unchanged since the apartment was featured in an early 1980s issue of Metropolitan Home, which compared the design to that of a luxury train car. According to the listing, this modest interior, packed with inventive storage, is an early example of Tihany's world renowned hotel work (some of his commissions include the Mandarin Oriental in Vegas, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and two Four Seasons in Dubai). It's located in the 16-unit Upper East Side co-op 223 East 78th Street, which has one more studio for sale asking $315,000.
Check it all out

Distinctive Homes

Aby Rosen signs fashion company Totokaelo as first retail tenant at 190 Bowery

Image: Before the 2005 sale

July 25, 2017

Aby Rosen signs fashion company Totokaelo as first retail tenant at 190 Bowery

It's been two-and-a-half years since developer Aby Rosen of RFR Realty scooped up the former Germania Bank Building for $55 million. He bought it from photographer Jay Maisel, who in 1966 turned the then-abandoned landmark into his own private 72-room mansion. After removing the Nolita building's iconic graffiti last summer, Rosen is now all systems go for his conversion to an office building with ground-floor retail. As the Post reports, Seattle-based fashion retailer Totokaelo (who counts among its designer offerings Acne Studios, Comme des Garçons, Jil Sander and Proenza Schouler) signed a lease for 8,918 square feet at street level. However, the deal only covers early fall through March 2018 for a large-scale pop-up store.
All the details ahead

Uncategorized

A rejected design for Central Park from 1858 shows colorful, whimsical topiaries

John Rink’s rejected design proposal for Central Park, via NY Historical Society

July 24, 2017

A rejected design for Central Park from 1858 shows colorful, whimsical topiaries

Central Park, which celebrated its 164th anniversary this month, required elaborate planning to make it what it is today: the most visited urban park in the country. New York City launched a design competition in 1857 for the development of the open space between Manhattan’s 59th and 110th Streets. Most New Yorkers know that out of 33 total entrants, the city chose Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's "Greensward Plan." However, just five of the losing designs survived and can be seen at the New York Historical Society. One particularly unique design was submitted by park engineer John Rink, who planned Central Park to be highly decorated with whimsically shaped sections dominated by topiaries (h/t Slate).
Find out more

July 24, 2017

Jon Bon Jovi tries to sell West Village duplex as part of a $30M combo unit

By Annie Doge

Jon Bon Jovi hasn't released a new album in quite some time, but one way he's managed to stay in the spotlight is his real estate game. In 2015, he sold his Soho penthouse for $34 million, shortly thereafter picking up a sprawling duplex condo at new celeb-favorite 150 Charles Street for $13 million. Less than two months ago, he listed the West Village pad for $17.25 million, but he's already gotten impatient, now offering the pad as part of a $29.5 million combo unit with the neighboring duplex according to Curbed.
Check out both duplexes

July 24, 2017

565 Broome Soho aims to be Manhattan’s first ‘Zero Waste’ residential high rise

New York City developers have been increasingly competing to seek environment-friendly accreditations based on standards like Passive House, LEED and wellness to distinguish their offerings. Recently "Zero Waste," defined by the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council as, “achieving over 90% diversion of waste from landfills, incinerators and the environment,” is rising in popularity, with good reason: Certified buildings won't be generating the mountains of garbage that are the bane of NYC living. 565 Broome Soho, the under-construction condominium tower at the crossroads of Soho, Hudson Square and Tribeca, hopes to be Manhattan’s first Zero Waste-certified residential building, CityRealty reports.
Find out more

July 24, 2017

Form meets function at this cute $2,850/month Chelsea studio

This cute little studio at 410 West 23rd Street in Chelsea has a lot going for it in the looks department thanks to a considered renovation that kept an eye on form as well as function. A massive dressing room/closet makes sure your living space stays uncluttered, and a petite entry foyer adds class to the one-room-living experience.
Get a closer look

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

Images (L to R): 363 Bond Street, 525W52, Offerman House and 100 Steuben

July 22, 2017

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

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 363 Bond Street, 525W52, Offerman House and 100 Steuben Tour Hell’s Kitchen’s Industrially-Inspired 525W52 Courtesy of Field Condition [link] Bond Street Development Redefines Living Next to the Gowanus Canal; See Inside [link] New Rentals Launch with 1 Month Free at Historic Offerman House in Downtown Brooklyn [link] Leasing Kicks Off at […]

Real Estate Trends

Nearly complete tunnels under Hudson Yards need more funding to finish

Photo of Hudson Yards Amtrak tunnel encasement via Tutor Perini

July 21, 2017

Nearly complete tunnels under Hudson Yards need more funding to finish

Currently, the first part of two box tunnels under the Hudson Yards development, below 10th and 11th Avenues on Manhattan’s west side, sits mostly finished. While construction of the final piece has yet to begin, when it’s complete the remaining section would link the tubes to the proposed new tunnel under the Hudson River, providing better access to Penn Station. However, according to the New York Times, both tunnel projects, which fall under the multi-billion dollar Gateway Program, lack the funding needed to finish.
More details here

July 20, 2017

eBay exec’s madly mod and colorful Chelsea pad asks $2.2M

eBay executive and Fab.com shopping site founder Bradford Shellhammer raced back from a vacation weekend to tour the Chelsea home he's now selling for $2.2 million. He's looking for more space that's "more about texture than color," the New York Post reports. In the years he's been a resident at 575 Sixth Avenue, Shellhammer has transformed the Chelsea loft into a Memphis-style-meets-mid-century-modern masterpiece in sherbet hues, complete with art by Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. Refinery29 once called the home “The Most Colorful Apartment We’ve EVER seen.”
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

July 20, 2017

Colorful Pop art-filled East Village townhouse designed by Annabelle Selldorf asks $7.5M

The neighborhood is known for its tiny, cramped apartments, so living in an East Village townhouse already seems impossibly fortunate. But this four-story, 5,200-square-foot townhouse at 26 East 5th Street has the extra bragging rights to a top-to-toe renovation by starchitect Annabelle Selldorf. Built in 1900, this single-family home uses a 35-foot deep extension to add light and square footage, and the current residents have packed those square feet with a colorful Pop art collection and perfectly imperfect details. Minus the art, it's asking $7.5 million.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Photo via Nick Allen on Flickr

July 19, 2017

Experts say NYC’s noise issues will only grow worse

With its 8.5 million residents, honking taxis, constant construction and vibrant nightlife scene, New York City remains one of the noisiest places on Earth. Although quieter neighborhoods like the Upper East Side once offered a quiet reprieve from the city’s cacophony, these pockets of peace are getting harder to find as NYC’s population expands. As the New York Times reported, despite the fact that noise pollution has already been linked to harmful health effects like stress, hypertension and heart disease, about 420,000 noise complaints were filed citywide with the city’s 311 hotline in 2016, more than doubling the number of complaints made in 2011.
Find out more

July 19, 2017

Strikingly modern duplex rents for $15,000/month in a historic West Village co-op

By Emily Nonko

A renter gets the best of both worlds at this West Village apartment: a modern duplex with lofty, white interiors set in a historic, 1848 Greek Revival building along a cobblestone street. The building in question is 288 West 12th Street, a five-floor, eight-unit co-op. This particular three-bedroom can be rented for a cool $15,000 a month. Over 1,525 square feet, there are details like a wood-burning fireplace, 18-foot ceilings, and customized closets, not to mention access to a 350-square-foot private garden space.
See more of the modern pad

Distinctive Homes

July 19, 2017

The history of Fort George: Manhattan’s long-lost amusement park in Inwood

Did you know Washington Heights and Inwood used to be home to a giant amusement park? In 1895, the Fort George Amusement Park opened on Amsterdam Avenue between 190th and 192nd Streets, overlooking the Harlem River in what is now Highbridge Park. Located in the same spot as George Washington’s fight against the British, "Harlem’s Coney Island" rivaled Brooklyn’s Coney Island with roller coasters, Ferris wheels, a skating rink, fortune tellers, music halls, casinos, and hotels.
Learn more about the Fort George Amusement Park

History

July 19, 2017

New York State gets approved for $550M loan for new Moynihan Station

The first phase of Governor Cuomo’s plan to revamp Penn Station wrapped up last month with two new entrances opening on the corners of West 31st and West 33rd Streets and Eighth Avenue. Plus, the West End Concourse was expanded and now boasts a new color scheme, LED screens and murals. Adding to the project's progress, the state was approved for a federal loan on Tuesday for up to $550 million for the second phase of the plan, which will convert the Farley Post Office across the street into Moynihan Train Hall, expanding Penn Station floor space by 50 percent, as reported by Politico NY.
Find out more

July 19, 2017

Colorful decor pops against massive brick walls at this $6,950/month Gramercy rental

If you love Gramercy and you're into classic lofts and/or pre-war apartments you'd have to be thick as a brick to pass up this $6,950 two-bedroom rental opportunity–because this sizable sunny second-floor walk-up at 116 East 19th Street is of all of the above. Gut-renovated and air-conditioned, the apartment's multitude of brick serves as a reminder that you're in a New York City building and not, say, a North Carolina time share.
More lofty brick this way

Distinctive Homes

July 18, 2017

$2,500/month Soho studio fits a lot of storage and charm into 200 square feet

By Emily Nonko

The Soho cooperative 57 Thompson Street is full of apartments we like: like this cozy one bedroom asking $730,000 last year, or this dreamy two bedroom that was up for rent, or this straightforward one bedroom asking $625,000 last fall. Next up is the studio apartment #5F, now on the rental market for $2,500 a month. Located on a high floor of the six-story brick building, it's a bright, renovated space with pretty pre-war details intact and a good amount of storage for just over 200 square feet.
The bedroom nook is beyond cozy

Distinctive Homes

July 18, 2017

Asking $6,800/month, this compact Nolita penthouse has a sweet rooftop terrace

This effervescent and efficient top-floor apartment at 14 Prince Street in chic downtown boutique district Nolita has just arrived on the rental market. For $6,800 a month the compact, smartly renovated "penthouse" spans 920 square feet, has one (big) bedroom and offers the rare-in-NYC bonus of a private terrace.
See the rest of this bright Nolita pad

Photo via Wiki Commons

July 17, 2017

Hess Triangle is NYC’s smallest piece of private land

If you've ever walked by the busy intersection of 7th Avenue South and Christopher Street, you've likely seen people snapping photos of the iconic corner-facing Village Cigars, but what you probably didn't realize is that they were standing on top of New York City's smallest piece of private land. The Hess Triangle sits on the sidewalk at the southwest corner of this Greenwich Village crossing, a small concrete slab with an embedded mosaic that reads "Property of the Hess Estate Which Has Never Been Dedicated For Public Purposes."
Find out the story behind this cryptic message and one of the city's best historic remnants

History

July 17, 2017

First closings commence at Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th Street

The architect’s signature curves and organic indoor and outdoor architecture made the late Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th Street 6sqft’s Building of the Year. Now, closings have begun in the stunning Chelsea condo, starting with a pair of two bedroom units. Residences 9, which sold for $6 million, and 14, which sold for $6.2 million, are 2,147-square-foot two-bedroom homes with private balconies.
Find out more

July 17, 2017

Emma Stone’s former Chelsea townhouse gets a price chop and new looks inside

Back in January 6sqft reported that the 25-by-85-foot landmarked Greek Revival townhouse at 436 West 20th Street--with 9,000 square feet of interior space and a fully-stacked celebrity pedigree--had been re-listed for $19.75 million. The home, whose residents have included Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Glenn Close, Courtney Love and Olivier Sarkozy, has been on the market since 2010. Returning this summer for $18.75 million, the Chelsea home's five-unit configuration might prove daunting to prospective buyers, though a thorough structural and aesthetic renovation in 2013 plus the promise of almost $600,000 a year in rent certainly sound like positive attributes.
Take a look

On this day in 1645, a freed slave became the first non-Native settler to own land in Greenwich Village

Plan of New York map courtesy of Curriculum Concepts International

July 14, 2017

On this day in 1645, a freed slave became the first non-Native settler to own land in Greenwich Village

In 1626, the Dutch West India Company imported 11 African slaves to New Amsterdam, beginning New York’s 200 year-period of slavery. One man in this group, Paolo d’Angola, would become the city’s first non-Native settler of Greenwich Village. As the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) discovered, and added to their Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, as a recently freed slave, d’Angola was granted land around today’s Washington Square Park for a farm. While this seems like a generous gesture from a slave owner, d’Angola’s land actually served as an intermediary spot between the European colonists and the American Indians, who sometimes raided settlements. This area, in addition to Chinatown, Little Italy, and SoHo, was known as the “Land of the Blacks.”
Find out more

History

July 14, 2017

Rosie O’Donnell drops $8M on a swanky Midtown East penthouse

By Annie Doge

Nearly two years after selling her chic Greenwich Village penthouse, Rosie O'Donnell finally has a new NYC home (she spends the majority of her time at her other house in Nyack). According to city records, Rosie dropped $8 million on a triplex penthouse at Midtown East's 255 East 49th Street. The uber-modern residence is a sprawling 3,563 square feet and has swanky features like a black granite fireplace in the living room, a huge glass walled television in the master bathroom, a sculptural Guggenheim-inspired staircase, an indoor two-person Swedish sauna, and a giant rooftop terrace with views of the Empire and Chrysler Buildings and the East River.
Take a look around

July 14, 2017

After three years, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s childhood home on the UES sells for $25M