Manhattan

Even from a glance at its facade, you could guess that 508 LaGuardia Place is a unique and historic structure. Located within the South Village Historic District, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation called it "perhaps the finest example of industrial architecture of the late 19th Century in the South Village." The available 5,000 square-foot, four bedroom upper triplex would be well-utilized as a live/work space, suitable for "tech or fashion companies to use as a work space that impresses." And you may indeed need startup funding to swing the $30K per month rent. The Romanesque Revival-style building has a history of creative residents that parallels the neighborhood's evolution through the second half of the 20th century. Built in 1891 as the H. H. Upham Company sign factory, the story of 508 LaGuardia Place is the story of Soho and Tribeca through the years when artists and photographers worked and lived in cavernous former factories and warehouses and did the heavy lifting required to carve out amazing spaces for themselves.
Find out how this former industrial building tells the story of the surrounding neighborhoods

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 8/27-9/2

In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers!

August 26, 2015

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 8/27-9/2

By Lori Zimmer

Love art but can't afford to be a collector? This week, head over to Amy Li Projects on Mott Street with five bucks and something to screen print your very own Brian Leo piece on. I'm also sure you've seen a handful of European artists working hard on murals around the city, now check out this foreign collective's gallery show and party at Exit Room. In just a few days, you can get to know the New Museum's artist in residence Chelsea Knight as she shows off the fruits of her labor. And be sure to head to Governors Island on Friday to learn about the secret secrets of New York with urban explorer Moses Gates. For a blast from the past, end August in neon and spandex by celebrating the '80s with a week of films at Central Park and a special Michael Jackson-themed roller disco night in Brooklyn.
All the best events to check out here

Events & Things To Do

August 26, 2015

POLL: Should We Rip Out Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas?

By Dana Schulz

New Yorkers can’t stop talking about Mayor de Blasio’s idea to rip out Times Square’s pedestrian plazas, just six years after they were put in place under the Bloomberg administration. As a way to rid the tourist destination of “jiggly panhandlers,” both the Mayor and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have suggested opening Times Square back up to […]

August 26, 2015

Handel Architects’ Luxurious ‘Amalfi’ Condo Tower Will Now Be Swanky Senior Living Pads

Here's a closer look at Handel Architects' design of a would-have-been condominium tower at 305 East 93rd Street, named The Amalfi. The five-parcel site located at the northeast corner of Second Avenue and East 93rd Street in Yorkville was slated to be developed by Merchants Hospitality until they recently bowed out to a senior living developer, Maplewood. Handel Architects' energetic design of staggering double-height windows, deeply set within a concrete frame was planned to rise a sheer 29-stories above Second Avenue. A lower four-story wing along 93rd Street would have been topped by an outdoor swimming pool. The tower's structural dynamism recalls the firm's recently finished rental tower, 170 Amsterdam on the Upper West Side, that flaunts a diagrid concrete exoskeleton. While the firm will remain the building's designers, it is unclear how much of the shown condominium design will be retained. Considering the project will now be re-tinkered for senior living, we're expecting a little less Amalfi and a bit more Fort Myers.
Find out more here

August 26, 2015

Construction Update: Perch Harlem, Manhattan’s First Passive House Rental Building, Rises

A tipster has alerted us that Manhattan's first market-rate rental building built to passive house standards has reached street level. Dubbed Perch Harlem, the soon-to-be-seven-story structure is located in the uppermost reaches of Harlem's Hamilton Heights section at 542 West 153rd Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. "Perched"on a ridge 150 feet above sea level, the site overlooks the bucolic grounds of Trinity Cemetery, which is the only active burial ground on the island. The project's forward-thinking developers, the Synapse Development Group with its investment partner Taurus Investment Holdings, purchased the 10,000-square-foot former parking lot back in December of 2013 and have since been growing their Perch brand of passive house buildings that focus on low-impact living and community-oriented design. A second Perch building is slated for Williamsburg at 646 Lorimer Street.
Find out more about Perch Harlem

August 25, 2015

My 770sqft: Tour a Media Executive’s Urban Zen Upper West Side Apartment

Our ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Upper West Side. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch! Carlos Alimurung has been calling Manhattan home for nearly all of his life; he's lived in Midtown East, the West Village, and today he can be found in the Upper West Side. But for Carlos, the neighborhood is more than just a place to lay his head. Rather, he feels a very special connection with it: his parents met at a party there in the 1970s and he has fond memories of eating freshly sliced hot pastrami at Zabar's as a kid. As such, in 2007, while hunting for a new home to settle into, Carlos decided to replant his roots along 88th Street in a one-bedroom apartment in a pre-war condo conversion. As a media executive and a passionate traveler, Carlos has been around the globe and back, collecting art, baubles and all sorts of worldly items along the way. But while world travelers are often susceptible to hoarding goods, Carlos has created an ultra-zen space in the city that feels like a museum without all the "do not touch" signs. From the South American and Asian artifacts he's collected during his expat days to mementos from his parents' time living in NYC to gifts from the friends he's met on his journeys, see how this cultured minimalist has outfitted his 770-square-foot Upper West Side pad.
Tour this well-traveled residence

August 25, 2015

Construction Ramps Up on Far West Side Mega-Rental at the Foot of Bjarke’s Ski Slope

Site excavation continues on TF Cornerstone's (TFC) mammoth 42-story rental development at 606 West 57th Street between Eleventh Avenue and the West Side Highway. Midtown's 57th Street has become synonymous with superlative titles, with the tallest, the thinnest, most expensive, and, arguably, some of the most exciting high-rises the city has seen in decades. At the far west end of the two-mile thoroughfare, TFC has joined in on the megalomania with a 1,028-unit, 1.2 million-square-foot rental building that will become the second largest apartment building in the city after Moinian's SKY project a few blocks south.
More details ahead

August 25, 2015

Check Out This Affordable One-Bedroom Co-op Asking $575K on the Upper East Side

By Emily Nonko

In the world of NYC real estate, the term "affordable" is all relative. $575,000 for a one-bedroom apartment isn't cheap by any means, but in New York, it is a good deal when we're talking about a prime neighborhood of Manhattan. Cue this co-op apartment now up for sale at 173 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side. It's a half-block from Lexington Avenue and three blocks from Central Park. While it isn't a huge apartment, it's well-kept and just spacious enough.
See more

Distinctive Homes

August 25, 2015

Surfers and New Residents Clash in the Rockaways; Times Square Pedestrian Plaza Reduces Traffic Injuries

By Dana Schulz

The surfing crowds are multiplying in the Rockaways, but residents of the huge new Arverne by the Sea development are eyeing the same stretch of beach. [NYT] Traffic injuries and casualties are down in Times Square since the 2009 pedestrian plaza conversion. [WSJ] And on that note, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer released a statement in […]

Uncategorized

August 24, 2015

Should Poor Neighborhoods Stay Poor to Avoid Gentrification? Mayor De Blasio Speaks Out

Recently on the Brian Lehrer radio show on WNYC, Mayor De Blasio addressed questions about the effects inclusionary development–i.e. giving developers the green light to build market rate housing if they set aside 25-30 percent of the units for low- and middle-income residents–has on the quality of life in lower-income neighborhoods. A growing concern among housing activists is that reliance on this kind of inclusionary zoning leads to gentrification that pushes out the lower income residents due to the 70-75 percent of market rate units bringing new, wealthy residents and new businesses that will cater to them.
Hear what the mayor has to say

Affordable Housing

New Renderings Revealed for Garden-Topped High Line Jardim Condos

Renderings via New York YIMBY.

August 24, 2015

New Renderings Revealed for Garden-Topped High Line Jardim Condos

A new full set of renderings has surfaced from New York YIMBY revealing designs for the West Chelsea condominium project at 527 West 27th Street known as Jardim. The High Line-adjacent project, designed by Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, is being developed by Centaur Properties and Greyscale Development Group.
See the latest renderings

August 24, 2015

The Significance Behind the Flag Atop Cobble Hill’s Trader Joe’s; Hold the Phone – Cinnabon Now Delivers

Have you ever noticed the flag atop Trader Joe’s in Cobble Hill? Here’s the reason why the chain store flies the flag. [DNAinfo] Feeding your suburban-mall-food craving, Focus Brands (parent company to Carvel, Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s) will now be delivering in the city starting this week. [CNN Money] A timeline of how Empire Stores went […]

Uncategorized

August 24, 2015

A Modern Loft Asks $2.2 Million at the Historic McIntyre Co-Op Building

By Emily Nonko

This modern, uniquely-designed loft comes from the McIntyre Building, an historic co-op built in 1892 by Ewen McIntyre at 874 Broadway in Flatiron. The current apartment design takes all the good things about a loft—the high ceilings and big windows—and amplifies them, creating a bright, airy apartment. If that's right up your alley, you also have the opportunity to combine this one-bedroom, which is asking $2.2 million, with another unit in the building for a total of $5.4 million. The result would be the ultimate four-bedroom, three-bathroom duplex loft apartment. But for now, let's focus on this one-bedroom...
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

August 21, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: 100 GATES’s Natalie Raben on Beautifying the Dreary Metal Gates of the LES

By Susan Cohen

Natalie Raben spends her days thinking about closing time, specifically the gates businesses roll down when they lock up for the night. For Natalie, these metal gates represent blank canvases waiting to tell stories. And over the last several months, she has been focusing on turning them into works of art as she oversees and manages the 100 GATES Project. Natalie spends much of her time connecting interested businesses with artists to support a collaboration that creates a sense of community each evening. With a mixture of well-known artists like Buff Monster and up-and-comers making their debut, these once-bland metallic gates are livening up the area, engaging residents visually as well as inspiring conversations around the works themselves. So far over 40 gates have been completed and more will be finished later this month. We recently spoke with Natalie to learn more about this unique project and how the neighborhood is responding to it.
Read our interview with Natalie here

August 21, 2015

VIDEO: Flashback to When Times Square Was a Car-Filled Hellscape

By Diane Pham

There's currently no hotter topic in NYC than Mayor de Blasio's backwards proposal to rid Times Square of its pedestrian plazas. Because how could returning one of the city's busiest areas back to a battle between man and vehicle (and man and man) be a good idea? Let's remember the Times Square of just a few years ago, shall we? In this video filmed back in 2006, Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton brings Danish architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl to the center of Times Square to get his opinion on the area and his thoughts on what could be improved. The pair's fascinating conversation is punctuated with cars honking and brakes screeching, but Gehl makes his views clear despite all the distraction: “It would be completely idiotic to chase people away by giving them very poor conditions. If we are to talk about the conditions for pedestrians here, it’s really lousy... The balance is all wrong and something ought to be done to celebrate this unique place, so that more people, in a dignified way, can enjoy it."
watch the video here

Uncategorized

Amazing Detailed Map from the 1950s Shows 300+ ‘Wonders of New York’

Historical Map: “Wonders of New York” by Nils Hansell, c. 1953-1955; courtesy of Transit Maps.

August 21, 2015

Amazing Detailed Map from the 1950s Shows 300+ ‘Wonders of New York’

Click to expand >> One of a growing collection of transit maps, this cool detailed New York City map, designed by graphic designer/sailing enthusiast/IBM employee Nils Hansell sometime around 1953-1955, offers a mind boggling tableau of (mostly) Manhattan's points of interest, numbered, with a corresponding key. There's also a color-coded schematic to the subway system, which was at the time divided up by its operators, BMT, IND and IRT; the map also shows a remaining few of the city's elevated railway systems, the last of which was ended in 1955.
Check it out here

History

August 21, 2015

Mayor de Blasio Proposes Ripping Out Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas

By Diane Pham

There are a lot of nuisances to be found in Times Square, but apparently for Mayor de Blasio, none are as bothersome as the topless women and aggressive Elmos traipsing around the area's overly lit streets. As the NYDN reports, de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have formed a special task force aimed at ridding the bustling tourist destination of its "jiggly panhandlers." And the solution at the top of their list is tearing up the pedestrian plazas and letting cars back in.
Find out more on the issue here, as well as alternative plans

August 20, 2015

City Defends Supertalls, Won’t Limit Size of Midtown Towers

The Department of City Planning announced that although it shares residents' concerns about the effects of the new crop of supertall towers rising near Central Park, it does not intend to lower the size limits on buildings in the dense Midtown district. Crain's reports that department director Carl Weisbrod said in a written response to elected officials on August 12 that the slender structures may actually preserve historic buildings nearby and that they enhance the city's iconic skyline.
Read more on the city's response

August 20, 2015

You’ll Get Sunlight, Rooftop Memories–and Plenty of Exercise–in This Fifth Floor West Village Rental

This light-filled roost at 281 West 11th Street, available for 4-12 months, comes furnished "in a mid-century modern style." The one-bedroom walk-up is on the fifth floor, so while you don't have to worry about upstairs neighbors, you'll certainly be able to stay in shape. For an equally-steep $6,500 a month, the pre-war co-op delivers those lovely 10-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls and a wood-burning fireplace to make the whole picture even more charming. On the modern creature comforts side there's a washer dryer combo in the apartment, and a Bang & Olufsen sound system. In addition, you get dibs on a quarter of the roof. And it's in a lovely and convenient part of the West Village that looks good from any angle.
Check it out, here

Distinctive Homes

August 20, 2015

Spin FAILE’s 7-Foot Prayer Wheel in Times Square; Fly Over the Most Majestic Spots in the Hamptons

Find some peace in Times Square at FAILE’s hand-carved, seven-foot tall prayer wheel installation. [Gothamist] Enjoy the Hamptons without all the popped collars in this amazing drone video. [Curbed Hamptons] A Homepolish designer works her magic on her own Columbus Circle home. [Design Milk] Good job, New Yorkers. Our most used emoji is the Statue […]

Uncategorized

August 19, 2015

This Flatiron Rental Offers Classic Loft Living, Modern Luxury, and Curious Built-Ins

Back in the 20th century, before luxury loft condos were a thing, artists, heiresses and the adventurous lived large in city lofts, and while the artists needed the square footage for living and working, others enjoyed the idea of carving out living areas in a cavernous open space with ceilings so high you almost couldn't see them, and windows almost as big. It was a world of (private) freight elevators and DIY kitchens (the look of which today's high end kitchens emulate). This Flatiron loft at 10 East 18th Street offers a hangar-esque 2,700 square feet of living space accessed by private keyed elevator; exposed brick walls are lined with oversized windows and there are plenty of custom-built luxuries that are more professionally-crafted than DIY; though there's no floor plan, it's listed as having two bedrooms and 2.5 baths. There are also more modern comforts than you'd find in an old-school loft, such as a wine cooler, central air and a Bosch washer-dryer–and there's a totally 21st century price tag of $14,000 a month.
Take a look around this huge loft

Distinctive Homes

August 18, 2015

The Final Design of Extell’s Nordstrom Tower Still Undecided

By Diane Pham

Back in May it was reported that the official rendering for Extell's Nordstrom Tower—a.k.a. Central Park Tower, a.k.a. NYC and the country's future tallest tower (by roof height)—had finally been released by the developer, showing a glassy construction rising 1,523 feet from its 217 West 57th Street address. But now comes news from The Post's Steve Cuozzo that the tower's final design is actually "still up in the air."
Find out more here

August 18, 2015

Vote to Bring the East River Skyway to SXSW 2016!

These are the facts: NYC subways still run on 1930s technology, the delays are getting longer, and there’s no stopping the residential development boom happening not only in Manhattan, but also in Brooklyn. If you’ve commuted from Brooklyn to Manhattan (and vice-versa) during rush hour you know that the subway ride is a nightmare. That's why we need the East River Skyway, an aerial gondola system that would run along the Brooklyn waterfront and into Manhattan, bringing commuters over the river in just 3.5 minutes. The project is being led by Dan Levy, the president and CEO of CityRealty* and a Williamsburg resident, who noticed while skiing how quickly gondolas moved and how comfortable they were. He has spent several years investigating the technology and completed preliminary studies to see what it would take to adapt a similar system to meet the needs of New York City. What he found was that implementation would be relatively inexpensive and quickly deployable.
Learn how you can help

August 18, 2015

New 15-Story Passive House Condo May Be Coming to 128 West 23rd Street