Manhattan

For one precious hour, mere mortals will have the chance to walk through Gramercys Park's iron gates sans key. Curbed reports that on Christmas Eve the Gramercy Park Block Association will host its annual holiday caroling hour with the local Parish of Calvary-St. George's, and from 6:00 to 7:00pm all will be welcome.
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Events & Things To Do

December 19, 2016

Price halved for an apartment in the building Barbara Walters once lived

This opulent apartment has been patiently waiting to find a buyer. It first hit the market in early 2014 and the price was quietly dropped to $12.5 million by the end of the year. Now, it's back two years later with a reduced ask—by nearly half!—of $6.295 million. This is a four-bedroom, five-bathroom pad with all the elegant bells and whistles at 555 Park Avenue, the prestigious Upper East Side building that Barbara Walters once called home.
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

December 19, 2016

Louise Bourgeois’ son gifts $4M West Village townhouse to Native American tribe

Jean-Louis Goldwater Bourgeois, son of the celebrated sculptor Louise Bourgeois, is transferring the deed for his $4 million West Village townhouse to a non-profit organization run by the Lenape tribe, who were among the original Manhattanites. The 76-year-old architectural historian and activist told the New York Post, “This building is the trophy from major theft." Bourgeois explained his romance with the city and the fact that he feels guilty that he has profited from actions that have appalled him. "The right thing to do is to return it.”
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History

December 18, 2016

Book lovers will swoon over this $915K prewar Morningside Heights co-op

A New Yorker with a big book collection should like this Morningside Heights apartment, which has a room lined with floor-to-ceiling book shelves. Otherwise, the two-bedroom co-op at 611 West 111th Street has all sorts of prewar charm, like parquet floors, moldings and a bay window. The pad last sold in 2010 for $790,000 and it just hit the market yesterday with an ask of $915,000.
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Distinctive Homes

December 16, 2016

A horrifying blaze swept through Lower Manhattan 181 years ago today

It's hard to envision blocks and blocks of Lower Manhattan being destroyed by a raging fire, but that's exactly what happened there 181 years ago to the day, December 16th, 1835. That year marks one of New York's most traumatic fires in history, known as the Great Fire of 1835. It came at a time the city was developing rapidly, with the arrival of new businesses, railroad terminals, and people. But there were also major concerns that came with the city's boom: there was a lack of a reliable water source for the city, and there were not enough fire departments to keep everyone safe. And so the forces collided into a traumatic fire that would change the course of New York's development significantly.
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History

December 16, 2016

Governor Cuomo announces ‘Subway Therapy’ Post-Its will be preserved

By Diane Pham

Among the more positive things to emerge from the 2016 election was the very visible outpour of love and solidarity by New Yorkers, who not only took to the streets together to stand up for what they believe in, but without inhibition expressed their anger, fears, hopes and words of comfort for one another on colorful Post-Its stretched along the 14th Street-6th/7th Avenue subway corridor. Recognizing the historic nature of this spontaneous art movement, Governor Cuomo announced this morning that the New-York Historical Society will partner with the MTA to preserve some of the thousands of "Subway Therapy" sticky notes that have materialized over the last weeks.
more details here

December 16, 2016

Trump isn’t the first president-elect with a New York City home base, FDR stayed close too

Just when you thought you'd get to enjoy a low-key pre-holiday Friday, the New York Times compares Donald Trump to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. While just 12 blocks away Trump Tower snarls traffic and confounds anything resembling daily life in the surrounding area with a round-the-clock hive of security details, reporters and protesters—and of course the prez-elect himself, his entourage and various cabinet-members-to-be—Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute director Harold Holzer reminds us of another presidency whose earliest days were spent ensconced in a NYC residence. Of the century-old double-width townhouse at at 47-49 East 65th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, now the Institute's home, Holzer says, “It was the Trump Tower of 1932-33.” The 65th Street residence was the longtime home of Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Definitely not an apples-to-apples comparison

History

December 16, 2016

Olin reveals renderings for $30M activity-filled eco-park on Tribeca’s Pier 26

It was announced just over a year ago that starchitect Rafael Viñoly would donate his services to the Hudson River Park Trust to design an estuarium, a science education and research center, at the base of Tribeca's Pier 26. Now, Tribeca Citizen has brought us the first set of conceptual renderings of the $30 million Pier, which don't include Viñoly's building (other than as a placeholder), but show how landscape architects OLIN will transform the 800-foot pier between North Moore and Hubert Streets into a ecological park, complete with huge lounge net areas, sports fields, expansive lawns, a river esplanade, sandy dunes, wetlands to attract birds and wildlife, and elevated tree-lined pathways that are "inspired by being in the woods," according to DNAinfo.
See all the renderings

Architecture And Design

December 16, 2016

Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima tries again to unload Midtown West pad for $4.85M

By Annie Doge

Sixteen-year Victoria’s Secret veteran supermodel Adriana Lima may have no problem sauntering down the runway, but things haven't come as easily for her real estate game. The Brazilian beauty bought a two-bedroom pad in Midtown West for $1.995 million in 2003. Six years later, she married NBA player Marko Jarić and had two children in 2009 and 2012. The next year they tried to offload the Metropolitan Tower apartment for $5.5 million, but after there were no takers, took it off the market. Now that the couple's split up (they finalized their divorce earlier this year), Lima is giving it another go, this time hoping to get $4.85 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Get a look at the whole place here

December 15, 2016

A grand fireplace and double-height ceilings at this $2.4M Chelsea condo

As the weather chills, a nice big fireplace starts looking pretty appealing. That's the main attraction in the double-height living room of this two-bedroom condo at 121 West 20th Street, in Chelsea. The spacious pad, with 1,642 square feet, hit the market this fall for $2.595 million and now is down to $2.395 million. (It last sold in 2004 for $1.15 million.) It's got some quirky details over two floors, including the original columns of the historic brick building still in tact.
See more inside

Distinctive Homes

December 15, 2016

NYPD says it needs 200 cops and $500,000 a day to secure Trump Tower

Just over a week ago, Mayor de Blasio asked the federal government for $35 million to cover Donald Trump's increased security for the 73 days from the November 8th election to the January 20th inauguration. Two days later, congress came back with a low-ball offer of only $7 million, to which the Mayor responded that "NYC taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill to protect Trump Tower." Backing him up, the NYPD conducted its own analysis, which, as the Daily News shares, confirms the city's $500,000 a day security bill and concludes that nearly 200 cops are needed each day to secure the area around Trump Tower.
More ahead

Celebrities

December 15, 2016

Second Avenue Subway won’t open until all stations are finished says MTA

On Monday, the Governor's office put out a statement that Cuomo was "cautiously optimistic" that the Second Avenue Subway would open on time by the end of the month. Yesterday, MTA chairman Tom Prendergast echoed this statement, but was quick to point out that the long-awaited line would only open on December 31st if all stations were up and running (previous reports talked of a partial opening), reports the Daily News. "Track’s done, signals are done, we’ve run trains, we’ve exercised the signal system," he said. "We’re talking about finish and escalators, elevators — things of that nature in the station."
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Transit

December 15, 2016

This $5.4M townhouse is Harlem historic on the outside, Soho sleek on the inside

This historic Harlem townhouse at 22 West 120th Street fits right in with its neighbors on a gorgeous brownstone block just across from Marcus Garvey Park (and just a couple of blocks north of Central Park). Once you enter the four-story home, though, you could easily be in a luxury downtown penthouse. A custom renovation created statement features like a vast and dramatic skylight, radiant heated floors, a unique metal staircase and four ultra-modern wood burning fireplaces.
Have a look around

Distinctive Homes

December 14, 2016

Ivanka Trump puts her stodgy Park Avenue pad up for sale, asks $4.1M

By Annie Doge

It looks like America's next first daughter—and quasi-first lady—is looking to slim down her real estate holdings. As Luxury Listings NYC first reports, Ivanka Trump has just listed her apartment at 502 Park Avenue for $4.1 million. The somewhat bland spread hosts two bedrooms and two baths and is outfitted in a palette of cream and powdery blue hues. Although one might think the sale has something to do with her father's recent presidential victory—as not even two weeks ago, CNN reported that she and husband Jared Kusher were house hunting in Washington D.C.—Ivanka, in fact, also owns one the building's penthouses, which she bought for $16 million nearly six years ago. It's also been no secret that the Trump/Kushner brood has been mulling a move into the Puck Penthouses, one of Jared's beautiful ultra-luxe developments.
have a closer look inside

December 13, 2016

Gamma Real Estate’s $98M bid wins debt-ridden Sutton Place site at foreclosure auction

The debt-beleagured Sutton Place site that included plans for a 900-foot-tall luxury condo from starchitect Norman Foster has finally had its day at the auction, and the winning bidder was N. Richard Kalikow’s Gamma Real Estate, according to The Real Deal. A bankruptcy judge authorized the sale of the property at 3 Sutton Place in September, after Joseph Beninati's Bauhouse Group failed to pay back creditors and partners on the 262,000-square-foot development. Gamma controlled the entities that originally loaned Beninati $130 million, but as of today the developer outbid Brooklyn investor Isaac Hager, paying $86 million for the site and $12 million for additional air rights, far less than the predicted $187 million price tag.
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Uncategorized

December 13, 2016

Rare modernist pieces by Prouvé, Le Corbusier, Gaudí and more up for auction today

If your idea of a perfect stocking stuffer is a classic Serge Mouille three-armed ceiling light, the auction of items from the private collection of architect Lee Mindel, which begins today, is just what your gift list ordered. "Light & Aerie: The Collection of Lee F. Mindel, FAIA" includes dozens of rare modernist pieces from the architect's personal collection. Mindel is moving from his Chelsea loft in a former hat factory to a new aerie in Tribeca's rare and collectible Herzog & de Meuron-designed "Jenga tower" at 56 Leonard Street; Mindel's loft is available, too, if you've got a really big stocking to fill. Auction house Phillips is handling the sale, which includes stunning pieces ranging from art to furniture, lighting and decorative items by the likes of Jean Prouvé, Antoni Gaudí, Georges Braque, Hans J. Wegner, Ettore Sottsass, Jr. and many, many more.
Check out some of the iconic pieces headed for auction

December 13, 2016

Historic districts and landmarking: What they mean and how they could affect you

In New York City, where buying and selling real estate is a high-stakes endeavor, the topic of historic and landmark designation is frequently raised. There are heated discussions on the subject of listing neighborhoods or buildings on the State and National Register of Historic Places or having them designated by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. It's important to know what those organizations do and the distinctions between them. You could even be eligible for significant financial aid for your renovations if you own property in an historic district.
Find out what these designations mean, how you could benefit from them and why they're sometimes controversial.

December 13, 2016

Renderings revealed for 724-foot Lower East Side tower, final piece of controversial site

The historically low-income, low-slung neighborhood of Two Bridges--the area along the East River, near the footings of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown--has become a high-rise hotbed over the past year. Despite the controversy that the four planned projects, all upwards of 700 feet, have caused, they're moving along fairly swiftly, and The Lo-Down now has the big reveal for the final site--Starrett Group's 259 Clinton Street. Perkins Eastman Architects have designed the 724-foot, 62-story glass tower, which will have ground-floor retail and 732 apartments, 25 percent of which will be permanently affordable with a good chunk being set aside for low-income seniors.
More details and renderings ahead

December 12, 2016

Westbeth Artists Housing starts its own post-it therapy project, ‘Write Now’

By Metro New York

A West Village exhibit is taking a page from the fluttering layers of post-it notes scrawled with messages of hope and frustration that have cropped up in underground passageways around the city since the election. The “Write Now” exhibit is adopting the zeitgeist—this apparent need among New Yorkers to both purposefully express their feelings and […]

Events & Things To Do

December 12, 2016

Office landlord SL Green may trade One Vanderbilt for J.P. Morgan’s two Midtown office towers

SL Green, the city's largest office landlord, "pulled off one of New York's biggest office deals of 2016" when they secured $1.5 billion in construction financing for their supertall tower One Vanderbilt, which is expected to ultimately cost a whopping $3.14 billion. The developer is now looking to rake in even more dollars off the deal, reports the Wall Street Journal, as they've proposed to J.P. Morgan Chase (one of the Syndication Agents in the financing) a swap out where the bank would trade its two headquarters buildings at 383 Madison Avenue and 277 Park Avenue for the recently-under-construction, 1,401-foot office tower.
More on the story

Real Estate Trends

December 12, 2016

Willem Dafoe unloads Lower East Side co-op for $860K

By Annie Doge

Though he's usually cast as the villain, off screen, Willem Dafoe leads a much less destructive life, splitting his time between Rome, Los Angeles, and NYC with his Italian-born wife Giada Colagrande. While in the big apple, the actor resides in a West Village penthouse, but in 2005, he and his son Jack purchased a Lower East Side co-op for $606,000. It went on the market for $850,000 in May, and judging by the listing photos (a little bit artsy, a little bit messy), it was either the younger Dafoe (a public-policy researcher) or another renter who was living there. The Observer reports that it's now sold above ask for $860,000.
See the place here

December 12, 2016

Governor Cuomo is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about Second Avenue subway opening deadline

Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s chief of staff, said Friday that Governor Andrew Cuomo was “cautiously optimistic” about a December opening for the long-awaited Second Avenue subway project, according to AM New York. After several weekly visits to the under-construction 72nd Street site, the governor appeared confident that the MTA would be able to meet the project's December 31 deadline. U.S. representative Carolyn Maloney had also expressed confidence in the Second Avenue subway meeting its year-end deadline.
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Transit

December 12, 2016

Historic 1865 Chelsea firehouse was Andy Warhol’s 1949 refuge, now renting for $33K

The Chelsea Firehouse at 323 West 21st Street would be an historic icon based on its origins alone, beginning in the late 19th century as an actual firehouse, built to accommodate a shiny new horse-drawn steam pumper engine (h/t Daytonian in Manhattan). The mid-Victorian era structure not only survived the ensuing decades, but in 1999, Architectural Digest featured the duplex shown here, by then one of three luxury apartments, calling it "indisputably one of a kind." In the years between, the building was home to free-spirited performers and artists, including Andy Warhol and Philip Pearlstein who sought refuge here from seedy lodgings in the East Village. The designer-renovated, uniquely-configured 4,000 square-foot duplex in this storied building is now on the rental market for $33,000.
Find out more about this iconic home

December 10, 2016

Live like ‘Doctor Strange,’ Flatiron penthouse at 21W20 hits the market for $13.5M

By Ondel Hylton

Since being released last month, Marvel's "Doctor Strange" has grossed over $635 million worldwide, centering on the alternate dimension of an egotistical surgeon turned wizard, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. A few key scenes are filmed in Dr. Stephen Strange's spectacular Flatiron loft; the fictional abode would lie just west of Broadway and directly south of the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street. Coincidentally, a palatial and similarly-situated residence has just been released at Gale International's boutique condominium development 21W20. The full-floor unit, known as Penthouse One, boasts 4,841 square feet of interior space and 541 square feet of outdoor terraces and is just one of two remaining homes at the 13-unit project comprised of four penthouses designed by Beyer Blinder Belle.
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Distinctive Homes

December 9, 2016

Duplex penthouse atop a prewar Tribeca condo renting for $25,000/month