Manhattan

The owner of one of the world's most iconic department stores wants to open a casino at its iconic New York City flagship. Hudson's Bay Company, the owner of the Saks Fifth Avenue, announced last week it would pursue a gaming license to convert the top three floors of its store at 611 Fifth Avenue into a casino, as first reported by the New York Times.
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City Living

Photo credit: Al Siedman/VHT for The Corcoran Group

January 11, 2023

Tech and media power couple’s West Village townhouse asks $11M

Who wouldn't want a townhouse in the West Village with a $2.5 million renovation and a glass-enclosed rooftop office and deck? Beth Comstock, the current owner of the house at 62 Jane Street, has been lucky enough to live in the five-story home since she and her husband, tech executive Chris Travers, bought it for $5.75 million in 2012. Comstock was the first woman to be named vice chair of General Electric, a position she held after a long career as a media executive. The couple has listed the property for $10.995 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Distinctive Homes

This $2.5M classic six is the definition of understated Upper East Side elegance

Photo credit: Compass

January 10, 2023

This $2.5M classic six is the definition of understated Upper East Side elegance

Asking $2,500,000, this three-bedroom "classic six" co-op at 333 East 68th Street is the very picture of Upper East Side prewar charm and historic beauty. The apartment has been home to acclaimed landscape artist, photographer, and former model Kate Cordsen for 13 years.
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Distinctive Homes

Civil rights lawyer William Kunstler’s former Village townhouse sells for $6.5M

Photos courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens unless otherwise noted

January 10, 2023

Civil rights lawyer William Kunstler’s former Village townhouse sells for $6.5M

The Greenwich Village townhouse of late civil rights attorney William Kunstler sold last month for $6,500,000, according to CityRealty. Kunstler, who famously defended the Chicago Seven, Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and others, and his wife, attorney Margaret Ratner Kunstler, paid $225,000 for the townhouse in 1981, as the Wall Street Journal reported. Located at 13 Gay Street, the four-story brick Greek Revival townhouse was built in 1844 and retains the same 19th-century charm of its neighbors.
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Restoration of New York City’s Titanic Memorial Lighthouse moves forward

Photo courtesy of Friends of the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse

January 9, 2023

Restoration of New York City’s Titanic Memorial Lighthouse moves forward

Plans to restore New York City's Titanic Memorial Lighthouse are moving forward. Built in 1913 to honor those who died aboard the Titanic, the 60-foot-tall lighthouse featured a working "time ball" that dropped down the pole each day, along with a green light. After a four-year campaign, a request for proposals has been issued to restore the monument to its original working condition.
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History

Stuy Town tenants win lawsuit to keep apartments rent stabilized

Image via WikiCommons

January 9, 2023

Stuy Town tenants win lawsuit to keep apartments rent stabilized

More than 6,000 apartments at Manhattan's largest apartment complex will remain rent-regulated after a judge last week ruled in favor of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village tenants. State Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed determined Stuy Town landlord Blackstone Group's attempt to deregulate the apartments was unlawful, becoming the first major tenant-led effort against developers that tested the integrity of the state's 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act.
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First Wegmans store in Manhattan will have a seafood restaurant and sushi bar

Wegmans’ opening day in Brooklyn Credit: Steiner NYC

January 5, 2023

First Wegmans store in Manhattan will have a seafood restaurant and sushi bar

Manhattan's first-ever Wegmans grocery store is opening this year. Located at Vornado Realty Trust's 770 Broadway in the East Village, the grocery store chain, beloved for its prepared food options and affordable prices, will replace the Kmart on Astor Place, which closed in 2021. In addition to its usual offerings, the store will feature a 94-seat seafood restaurant with an oyster counter and a 10-seat sushi bar, as first reported by Eater New York. The store is expected to open during the second half of 2023.
Details here

City Living

NYC’s highest ice skating rink to open at Hudson Yards’ observation deck Edge

Images courtesy of Edge

January 5, 2023

NYC’s highest ice skating rink to open at Hudson Yards’ observation deck Edge

A sky-high ice skating rink is opening at 30 Hudson Yards this month. Located within the indoor section of the skyscraper's observation deck Edge, "Sky Skate" is a 1,024-square-foot rink made of synthetic ice and surrounded by breathtaking views of the city skyline. At 1,131 feet in the air, the Sky Skate will be the highest ice skating rink in New York City.
Take skating to new heights

See the marine science-themed playground coming to Hudson River Park’s Pier 26

All renderings courtesy of OLIN

January 5, 2023

See the marine science-themed playground coming to Hudson River Park’s Pier 26

Manhattan is getting a new, marine science-inspired play area to teach kids about wildlife. The Hudson River Park Trust last month broke ground on the 4,000-square-foot play area at Pier 26 in Tribeca. Designed by OLIN, the Pier 26 Science Play Area will feature interactive sculptural elements where children can play while learning about marine life and the surrounding Hudson River habitat. The specialized park will also serve as an outdoor programming space for the future Hudson River Estuarium and complements the recently opened ecologically-themed Pier 26. Located at North Moore Street in Hudson River Park, the play area is expected to open to the public this year.
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Architecture And Design

Photo credit: Kristina Crane with Evan Joseph Studios

January 5, 2023

Paris garret and rooftop cabin meet in this unique Nomad penthouse, asking $2.5M

The penthouse at 66 Madison Avenue is one of those unusual apartments that resembles nothing so much as a charming cabin in the sky, surrounded by 700 square feet of outdoor terrace space. This 1,100-square-foot one-bedroom co-op–located in the building's original rooftop machine room–is perched atop a 1918 Beaux Arts building in the popular Nomad neighborhood. 6sqft featured the rooftop aerie when the previous owner, designer and fashion PR exec Leslie Klotz, listed it for $2,450,000 in 2016; it sold for $2,260,000 in early 2017. House Beautiful called the light-filled home, now asking $2,500,000, "a wonderful mashup of Manhattan and Montmartre."
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Distinctive Homes

Photo credit: Al Siedman/VHT for The Corcoran Group

January 4, 2023

For $1.9M, this cozy Chelsea prewar co-op is surrounded by beauty

On a tree-lined Chelsea street near the Theological Seminary with its beautiful gardens and historic, neighborhood-defining architecture, this two-bedroom co-op is a lovely refuge on Manhattan's growing west side. Asking $1,895,000, the cozy third-floor walk-up at 463 West 21st Street offers prewar charm, a wood-burning fireplace, high ceilings, and pretty views.
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Distinctive Homes

Inside New York City’s first legal pot shop

All photos courtesy of GARY GERSHOFF/WIRE IMAGE.

January 4, 2023

Inside New York City’s first legal pot shop

The first legal cannabis dispensary in the state of New York opened in Manhattan last week. Run by the nonprofit Housing Works, the store, located near Astor Place at 750 Broadway, currently offers products from six New York-based companies, including pre-rolled joints, edibles, vape pens, and flower. When sales officially launched last Thursday, the line to get into the dispensary wrapped around the corner, with eager customers waiting for hours to shop.
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Policy

Take the elevator from the pool to the home theater and wine bar in this $17.5M UWS townhouse

Photo credit: Evan Joseph

January 3, 2023

Take the elevator from the pool to the home theater and wine bar in this $17.5M UWS townhouse

Though it comes with its own luxuries, townhouse living often means sacrificing perks like an elevator, pool, and gym. This $17.5 million Central Park West home at 45 West 70th Street has just about everything you could want, all under one gracious, Neo-Romanesque roof. Built in 1891, the house has been thoroughly renovated from stem to stern with every of-the-moment design flourish and 21st-century amenity–including a 33-foot-long, six-foot deep freshwater lap pool/jacuzzi in the cellar.
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Distinctive Homes

City Winery’s Gilded Age-inspired restaurant Cornelius opens in Grand Central

All photos of Cornelius courtesy of City Winery

December 29, 2022

City Winery’s Gilded Age-inspired restaurant Cornelius opens in Grand Central

Cornelius, a new high-end restaurant by City Winery, opened in Grand Central Terminal last week. The 75-seat restaurant offers patrons farm-to-table fare inspired by Gilded Age menus and created by Chef Zach Bondy. The restaurant joins two other concepts from City Winery, including a signature experience with tasting bars and City Jams, which has a first-of-its-kind wine-to-go program and an all-day menu.
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Food & Dining

Everything you need to know about the Times Square ball drop this New Year’s Eve

Image by Anthony Quintano via Flickr

December 29, 2022

Everything you need to know about the Times Square ball drop this New Year’s Eve

On December 31, tens of thousands of revelers will converge on Times Square to welcome in 2023. Spectators will vie for the best spot to gaze up at the 11,875-pound crystal ball as it makes its way down the pole on One Times Square and rings in the new year at midnight. The annual event is back at full capacity this year after two years of scaled-back celebrations due to the pandemic. Ahead, find everything you need to know about the 2022 Times Square New Year's Eve Ball Drop. (And for those avoiding the Times Square crowds this year, find a list of fun NYE events, dance parties, and champagne toasts happening across the city here.)
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Events & Things To Do

All photos courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

December 28, 2022

In an Art Deco landmark on the UWS, this $6.5M co-op has a sunken living room and park views

The Majestic, an Art Deco-style apartment building, is one of many impressive towers that dot Central Park West. A three-bedroom apartment on the 11th floor of the two-tower development just hit the market for $6,500,000. The oversized pre-war home has seven rooms, including a sunken living room that offers a throwback entertainment space with amazing views of the park.
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Distinctive Homes

Waitlist opens for affordable rentals at copper-clad dancing towers in Murray Hill, from $832/month

Photo via Wikimedia

December 27, 2022

Waitlist opens for affordable rentals at copper-clad dancing towers in Murray Hill, from $832/month

A waitlist has opened to fill affordable apartments available now and for future vacancies at an architectural standout in Murray Hill. The Copper, originally known as the American Copper Buildings, is a pair of luxury rental towers at 626 First Avenue with a three-story sky bridge connecting the two buildings. New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for a spot on the wait list for the apartments, which are priced between $832/month to $1,311/month on NYC Housing Connect.
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Affordable Housing

$7.4M Upper East Side duplex has direct Central Park views and dramatic rear conservatory

All photos courtesy of DDReps

December 23, 2022

$7.4M Upper East Side duplex has direct Central Park views and dramatic rear conservatory

Inside a quintessential Fifth Avenue co-op building, a remarkably renovated residence is for sale. Asking $7,400,000, this maisonette duplex at 953 Fifth Avenue has direct views of Central Park in the front and a unique climate-controlled conservatory and private terrace at the rear. The home takes up the first two floors of the building, which was built in the Neo-Renaissance style in 1926 and contains just seven exclusive residences.
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Distinctive Homes

New York’s first legal weed dispensary will open near Astor Place

Photo of 1 Astor Place by Beyond My Ken on Wikimedia

December 22, 2022

New York’s first legal weed dispensary will open near Astor Place

New York's first legal recreational cannabis dispensary is opening in Manhattan next week. Housing Works, a local nonprofit founded in 1990 to address the HIV/AIDS and homelessness crises, will launch sales at 1 Astor Place on December 29, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. The dispensary is the first to open of the 36 licenses approved so far by the New York State Cannabis Control Board.
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Policy

Photo courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

December 22, 2022

This $10.7M brick townhouse reflects the history and luxury of the surrounding West Village neighborhood

Built in 1846, this move-in ready Greek Revival townhouse at 53 Jane Street, asking $10,725,000, is one among many graceful, classic brick homes on a pretty West Village street. Behind the original brick facade and stone stoop with cast iron railings, the home's interiors are a contemporary showcase of newly-installed luxury, from the fully-appointed chef's kitchen to the glazed rear wall overlooking the back patio. A one-bedroom garden-level apartment can be integrated into the triplex above, or used as a separate unit for income, guest quarters, or a home office.
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Distinctive Homes

On this day in 1912, the nation’s first public Christmas tree went up in Madison Square Park

Bain News Service, Publisher. Xmas tree in Madison Sq. Park, N.Y.C. , ca. 1910. [Between and Ca. 1915] Photograph. Library of Congress Digital Collections.

December 21, 2022

On this day in 1912, the nation’s first public Christmas tree went up in Madison Square Park

On December 21, 1912, a 60-foot-tall tree arrived by horse-drawn truck from the Adirondacks to provide Manhattan's Madison Square Park with the glow of 2,300 colored electric bulbs. The twinklers were donated by the Edison Company, and the tree was the first of its kind: Having a Christmas tree in one's living room was a familiar custom, but a tree outside in a public park was something new.
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All images courtesy of Times Square Alliance

December 21, 2022

‘2023’ numerals arrive in Times Square

It's almost the New Year in New York. The signature seven-foot-tall shining numerals that sit underneath the New Year's Eve crystal ball arrived in Times Square this week. The numbers are available for viewing at Times Square Plaza between 46th and 47th Street until noon on December 23 when they take their place on top of One Times Square.
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Events & Things To Do

West Village co-op has a shared landscaped courtyard and roof deck for $2.75M

All photos courtesy of Bradley Stein

December 20, 2022

West Village co-op has a shared landscaped courtyard and roof deck for $2.75M

In the heart of the West Village, tucked away from the street as part of the Hudson Mews cooperative, a two-bedroom home is now available. Located at 256 West 10th Street, the rarely-available apartment comes with perks unique to urban living: a common landscaped courtyard and a lovely planted roof deck. The pre-war co-op is currently on the market for $2,750,000.
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Distinctive Homes

Central Park’s first named gate since 1862 honors the exonerated ‘Central Park Five’

All photos courtesy of the Central Park Conservancy

December 20, 2022

Central Park’s first named gate since 1862 honors the exonerated ‘Central Park Five’

A new gate in Central Park will permanently honor the "Central Park Five," the five Black and Latino teens who in 1989 were convicted of a crime they didn't commit. "The Gate of the Exonerated" commemorates the exoneration of all five men, each of whom unjustly served between six and 12 years in prison before being cleared in 2002. Located on 110th Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Fifth Avenue, the new entrance was unveiled on Monday, exactly 20 years after their convictions were overturned, marking the first named gate in Central Park since 1862.
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Uncategorized

NYC proposes pedestrian-friendly path on Fifth Avenue from Bryant Park to Central Park

Conceptual renderings from one proposal for a reimagined Fifth Avenue. Credit: Fifth Avenue Association

December 19, 2022

NYC proposes pedestrian-friendly path on Fifth Avenue from Bryant Park to Central Park