Upper West Side

A new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History dives into the astounding 60-million-year history of elephants. Now open, the exhibit, known as "The Secret World of Elephants," explores new science about modern and ancient elephant relatives, delves into the species' extraordinary minds and senses, explains their vital importance to the health of their ecosystems, and shares efforts that are currently underway to ensure their survival. The exhibition is located on the fourth floor of the museum in the LeFrak Family Gallery.
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Events & Things To Do

Photo credit: Evan Joseph for The Corcoran Group

October 17, 2023

Annie Leibovitz lists her Central Park West home for $8.6M

Celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz has listed her home in the Brentmore co-op at 88 Central Park West for $8.6 million. As 6sqft previously reported, Leibovitz purchased the "classic-seven" co-op in 2014 for $11.25 million in a building known for celebrity residents like Robert DeNiro, Paul Simon, and Sting. Leibovitz, whose iconic images feature luminaries from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Mick Jagger and Demi Moore, thoroughly renovated the Upper West Side co-op, her Manhattan home base in the ensuing years. As the New York Times reports, she also owns a home in the West Village as well as a family home in Rhinebeck, NY.
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Behind a historic facade, this $14M Upper West Side mansion is all about the 21st-century amenities

Photo credit: DDreps

October 11, 2023

Behind a historic facade, this $14M Upper West Side mansion is all about the 21st-century amenities

In the heart of the Upper West Side among the coveted neighborhood's historic townhomes and steps from Central Park, this newly-renovated mansion at 137 West 77th Street packs just about every modern perk into four stories (plus a rooftop terrace). Asking $13,995,000, the 7,000-square-foot 1890s home is semi-detached, with three exposures and fronted by a restored facade. Within, every convenience and comfort is present in the context of aesthetic perfection, from the private elevator, sauna, and spa to a full menu of home automation tools.
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Distinctive Homes

This $2.8M Upper West Side co-op was designed to be a timeless home

Photo courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

September 26, 2023

This $2.8M Upper West Side co-op was designed to be a timeless home

On a classic Upper West Side block surrounded by historic townhouses and pre-war apartment buildings, this gracious eight-room co-op at 801 West End Avenue has plenty of living space and Riverside Park for a backyard. Asking $2,795,000, this family-sized home is configured for flexibility, with four bedrooms and room for more. Edwardian-era architectural details and renovated interiors add up to timeless style.
Home on the upper west side, this way

Distinctive Homes

Cozy up by the fireplace in this $559K Upper West Side brownstone studio

Photos courtesy of DDREPS and Douglas Elliman

August 25, 2023

Cozy up by the fireplace in this $559K Upper West Side brownstone studio

On a leafy and historic block at 134 West 88th Street in the heart of the Upper West Side, this maisonette-style studio co-op is the compact version of brownstone living. Elegant burnished wood paneling frames the tidy space, anchored by a wood-burning fireplace. Turn-of-the-century details also include ceilings well over 11 feet high. The ask for this compact co-op? $559,000.
more pretty pre-war details, this way

Distinctive Homes

This $2.4M Manhattan Valley condo overlooks Morningside Park from a 1,000-square-foot terrace

Photo credit: Brown Harris Stevens

August 17, 2023

This $2.4M Manhattan Valley condo overlooks Morningside Park from a 1,000-square-foot terrace

Tucked between Central Park and Morningside Park, the Manhattan Valley neighborhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side is convenient to everything great about New York City, yet surrounded by green space. Asking $2,399,000, this two-bedroom condo at 352 Cathedral Parkway offers the best of city living while taking advantage of its parkside location. The star feature of this spacious, modern apartment: A 1,051-square-foot private terrace with unobstructed park views.
park views and outdoor living, this way

Distinctive Homes

$1.5M Upper West Side brownstone co-op has a cozy cottage vibe

Photo credit: Gabriel Sebastian/Five7 Media for The Corcoran Group

August 1, 2023

$1.5M Upper West Side brownstone co-op has a cozy cottage vibe

Located on a tree-lined Upper West Side street less than a block from Central Park, this eye-pleasing co-op at 71 West 83rd Street is one of those non-cookie-cutter Manhattan apartments everyone dreams of–but rarely finds. Asking $1,450,000, the two-bedroom home is blessed with rustic exposed brick walls, arched windows, and large, sunny rooms in a gracious floor plan. There's even a terrace for an outdoor version of the French country villa effect.
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Distinctive Homes

A crew of weed-eating goats returns to Riverside Park this week

Image courtesy of the Riverside Park Conservancy

July 6, 2023

A crew of weed-eating goats returns to Riverside Park this week

A voracious crew of goats will return to the Upper West Side on Friday to help clear out hard-to-reach weeds in Riverside Park. Known as "Goatham," the event marks the fourth consecutive year that the Riverside Park Conservancy has welcomed in a team of goats to clear out invasive species. This year's celebration has been made more grandiose with the first-ever Goatham Festival on Friday, July 7 at 11 a.m., which will host four esteemed goats as guests for a "ribbon chewing" ceremony for the opening of the new Compost Compound on 95th Street.
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Events & Things To Do

Photo courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

June 23, 2023

$9.9M four-bedroom Upper West Side co-op makes a charming case for living large

Occupying over 3,500 square feet on the 6th floor of the Beaux Arts building at 285 Central Park West known as The St. Urban, this rare corner unit has (at least) four bedrooms and space to spare. Designed with a fabulous eye for style and color, this Upper West Side home has retained all of its pre-war charms, but it's anything but stuffy. Impressive Central Park vistas and open exposures add up to a $9,900,000 HQ for a big, busy family, grand-scale entertaining–or both.
Stylish sprawl at the St. Urban, this way

Distinctive Homes

Three modern penthouses added to Upper West Side’s historic Astor building

Rendering courtesy of Binyan Studios

June 22, 2023

Three modern penthouses added to Upper West Side’s historic Astor building

Three new modern penthouses are being added atop The Astor, a landmarked residential building on the Upper West Side built over 100 years ago. The brand-new apartments top one of New York City's most iconic condominiums, which consists of three interconnected towers on Broadway between West 75th and West 76th Streets. All three penthouses come with private outdoor areas, gas fireplaces, and interiors designed by Pembrooke & Ives. Before being listed publicly, one of the penthouses already found a buyer, who purchased a 3,400 square foot four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom, and a three-bedroom unit below it, in a combo deal last listed for $15.495 million.
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Lincoln Center to reimagine Amsterdam Avenue side of campus

Corner of 65th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, facing corner stairway to Lincoln Center plaza level. Photo by Lawrence Sumulong.

June 8, 2023

Lincoln Center to reimagine Amsterdam Avenue side of campus

The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts wants to break down barriers, both literally and figuratively. The cultural institution on Tuesday announced plans for a major renovation of the western edge of its campus to make it more welcoming and accessible, calling on local community members and stakeholders to help reimagine the Amsterdam Avenue-facing side, which currently has no direct access to the campus. The renovation is one way the center has worked to become more equitable and inclusive in recent years, including a new pay-what-you-wish ticketing model, diverse programming, the new David Geffen Hall, and partnerships with blood drives, food banks, and other charitable events.
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Events & Things To Do

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger lists Central Park-facing Beresford co-op for $8.95M

All photos courtesy of Yoo Jean Han for Sotheby’s International Realty

May 17, 2023

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger lists Central Park-facing Beresford co-op for $8.95M

An architecture critic is selling his apartment in one of New York City's most beloved buildings. Paul Goldberger, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his architecture criticism in the New York Times and has authored several books, has put his nine-room co-op at 211 Central Park West on the market for $8,950,000. The spacious apartment at The Beresford benefits from pre-war proportions and character, a recently renovated chef's kitchen, Central Park views, and an iconic address.
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Distinctive Homes

El Dorado childhood home of Beastie Boys’ Mike D finds a buyer after $4.5M price chop

Photos from the 2022 listing courtesy of Rise Media

May 10, 2023

El Dorado childhood home of Beastie Boys’ Mike D finds a buyer after $4.5M price chop

The childhood home of Beastie Boys rapper Mike D has found a buyer, after a year on the market and a $4.5 million price cut. The apartment at the Upper West Side's enviable El Dorado building belonged to the estate of Hester and Harold Diamond, owners of one of the world’s finest art collections and parents of Mike Diamond. The duplex co-op hit the market in May 2022 for $19,500,000 and relisted this past March for $14,995,000 before entering contract on Tuesday, as first reported by the New York Post.
Details here

Real Estate Trends

This $12.5M penthouse spans the entire floor of a 1930s Upper West Side hotel

Photo courtesy of Evan Joseph

May 1, 2023

This $12.5M penthouse spans the entire floor of a 1930s Upper West Side hotel

The building that began life as a "skyscraper church" and home to the storied Manhattan Towers Hotel at 2166 Broadway was converted to 113 co-ops–and one massive penthouse–in 1980. That penthouse–a rooftop villa with the interiors of a modern farmhouse mixed with a loft–is now on the market for $12,500,000. With a wrap-around terrace and a solarium, the sprawling five-bedroom co-op is blessed with unobstructed 360-degree views of Central Park, the Hudson River, the Midtown skyline, and the George Washington Bridge from every window as well as its dazzling outdoor spaces. A multi-level loft-like floor plan comprises the entire top floor, for endless space in addition to peerless views.
Discover this unusual aerie

Distinctive Homes

Get a sneak peek of AMNH’s Studio Gang-designed Gilder Center before it opens

The Staircase in the Kenneth C. Griffin Exploration Atrium. Photo courtesy of Iwan Baan

April 27, 2023

Get a sneak peek of AMNH’s Studio Gang-designed Gilder Center before it opens

The American Museum of Natural History's highly anticipated science center officially opens next week. Designed by Jeanne Gang's Studio Gang, the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation will serve as a space for scientific discovery with cutting-edge collections, research facilities, next-generation classrooms, and interactive exhibitions. Opening on Thursday, May 4, the Gilder Center is also New York City's latest architectural treasure, with its curving structure inspired by caves and canyons now nestled within the museum's existing historic campus.
See inside the new science center

Lincoln Center to host public celebration of Harry Belafonte’s life

Photo via Wikimedia

April 26, 2023

Lincoln Center to host public celebration of Harry Belafonte’s life

New Yorkers will come together this week to remember one of their own. Harlem native Harry Belafonte, who died Tuesday at the age of 96, was not only a legendary performer and EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winner but a political activist who befriended and supported Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement. At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Lincoln Center will host a public celebration of Belafonte's life and his influence.
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Hearst Plaza design by Clint Ramos. Rendering by Evan Alexander

April 17, 2023

Lincoln Center’s summer arts festival to feature free events and garden-like outdoor spaces

A three-month-long arts festival will return to Lincoln Center this summer, with its iconic campus transformed into a botanical-inspired oasis. After a successful debut season last year, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts announced on Monday the second annual "Summer for the City" festival, which will feature hundreds of free events and thousands of artists across 16 acres of outdoor space from June to August. And for the first time in its history, Lincoln Center's outdoor spaces will be reimagined by a single designer: Creative director and designer Clint Ramos.
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Events & Things To Do

Peter Jennings’ classic nine on Central Park West asks $10.45M

All photos courtesy of Coldwell Banker Warburg

April 13, 2023

Peter Jennings’ classic nine on Central Park West asks $10.45M

Currently owned by Kayce Freed Jennings, wife of the late "ABC World News Tonight" anchor Peter Jennings, this Upper West Side co-op is a three-bedroom classic nine–and a true classic. Asking $10,450,000, the sprawling home at 101 Central Park West overlooks the park–just one of its many covetable attributes mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal description of the elegant pre-war home, modernized for 21st century living.
Tour this iconic Upper West Side home

This unique $2.6M UWS penthouse has a bed that descends from the ceiling and a rooftop greenhouse

Photo credit: Brown Harris Stevens

March 27, 2023

This unique $2.6M UWS penthouse has a bed that descends from the ceiling and a rooftop greenhouse

It's hard to find a truly unique living space in New York City, given space constraints, building regulations and other limitations of apartment life. This unusual penthouse co-op at 755 West End Avenue was designed and renovated by an award-winning architect/resident to create a family dream retreat high above the Upper West Side. With northern, southern, eastern, and western exposures, the apartment takes advantage of light and stunning Hudson River views with a 1,400-square-foot wrap-around private roof terrace and an upper-level glass-clad solarium/greenhouse space. Asking $2,595,000, this amazing home has been featured in print and on HGTV.
Explore this unusual aerie

Distinctive Homes

This $7.8M Upper West Side penthouse in the Gilded-Age Dorilton has two kitchens and a huge terrace

tAll photos courtesy of Fox Residential

March 22, 2023

This $7.8M Upper West Side penthouse in the Gilded-Age Dorilton has two kitchens and a huge terrace

On one of the Upper West Side's loveliest historic blocks, the ornate 12-story Beaux-Arts building at 171 West 71st Street known as the Dorilton is an icon of Gilded Age Manhattan living. This distinctive penthouse duplex is as grand as you'd imagine, with four bedrooms, a multi-level planted terrace, and a kitchen on each floor. Asking $7,800,000, we're guessing this capacious co-op is a two-unit combo, with an elevator serving both floors in addition to a grand stair winding its way between them. Both levels of the duplex have dazzling city views.
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Distinctive Homes

All photos courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

March 21, 2023

Take the elevator or the hand-crafted stair to all six floors of this $26M Upper West Side townhouse

Begin living immediately–no renovation necessary–in a home that has been luxuriously reimagined by its current owner as a five-story-plus-cellar townhouse masterpiece with an unparalleled level of comfort, within the peerless borders of Manhattan's Upper West Side. This 7,111-square-foot urban mansion contains six bedrooms, seven baths, and two powder rooms. At its heart is a hand-crafted curving staircase. Asking $26,000,000, 248 West 71st Street stands less than two blocks from Central Park, Riverside Park, and the Hudson River. In addition to an iconic address on a historic block, the townhouse boasts front and back gardens, gas and wood-burning fireplaces, private terraces, and endless custom fixtures and finishes. In addition to the graceful stair, all floors can be accessed by a commercial-grade high-speed walnut-clad elevator.
Take the elevator and explore the townhouse

Distinctive Homes

Upper West Side rejects proposed rest hub for delivery workers

Photo by Jimmy Baikovicius on Flickr

March 9, 2023

Upper West Side rejects proposed rest hub for delivery workers

The Upper West Side voted against a proposed rest stop for delivery workers on 72nd Street and Broadway, as first reported by Gothamist. During a public hearing Tuesday, Manhattan Community Board 7 voted 27-8 against the transformation of an empty newsstand into a charging station for delivery workers.
More here

March 6, 2023

Iconic NYC subway busker Ballerina Mime to perform at Lincoln Center

A New York City busking sensation will emerge above ground to perform at Lincoln Center on Wednesday. The famed living statue the Ballerina Mime will perform alongside original chamber music from cellist Titilayo Ayangade and violist Edwin Kaplan, playing together as duo kayo. The event, called Living Statues, Living Music, will take place at the David Geffen Hall's Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio on March 8 at 8 p.m.
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Events & Things To Do

In an UWS studio building, $4.4M co-op has original stained glass and 17-foot ceilings

Photo credit: Tim Waltman for Sotheby’s International Realty

February 17, 2023

In an UWS studio building, $4.4M co-op has original stained glass and 17-foot ceilings

On a stretch of West 67th Street just off Central Park, there are eight buildings that were constructed over a century ago by artists looking for live-work spaces. Located within what is now known as the West 67th Street Artists' Colony Historic District, the studio buildings have apartments with soaring windows that stream in natural light and double-height living rooms that also function as studio space. A two-bedroom co-op is now available at 27 West 67th Street, one of the first artist studio buildings to be constructed on this block. Asking $4,400,000, the duplex boasts original stained glass windows, a wood-burning fireplace, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and the unique New York City prestige that comes with the address.
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Distinctive Homes

New website explores the forgotten NYC neighborhood of San Juan Hill

San Juan Hill neighborhood, 1939.Lee Sievan (1907-1990). Museum of the City of New York. 92.70.1. Gift and © Howard Sieven, Executor of the Estate of Lee Sievan

February 15, 2023

New website explores the forgotten NYC neighborhood of San Juan Hill

Once home to New York City's largest Black population, Manhattan's San Juan Hill neighborhood no longer exists. The diverse working-class neighborhood was razed during the 1950s to make way for the Lincoln Center campus. This week the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts unveiled a new digital resource dedicated to San Juan Hill as a way to explore the history of the neighborhood and ensure that its legacy, and the people who lived there, are remembered. The "Legacies of San Juan Hill" website includes essays, historic images, articles, maps, and other archival content.
Learn more here

History

Photo credit clockwise: Jessica Minghi/Borough Chocolates, Jacques Torres Chocolates, Jessica Minghi/Borough Chocolates, Chocolate Noise.

January 25, 2023

The best local chocolate shops in NYC

It doesn't have to be Valentine's Day to crave chocolate. But the sugar-coated holiday certainly provides a good excuse to indulge. Far beyond the red-wrapped drugstore box, creating the sweet (or bitter) treat is now recognized as a craft all its own. Chocolate purveyors range from the old-fashioned to the eco-conscious to makers who hand-mix exotic ingredients and flavors. If you're really hooked, you can make an event of it at a chocolate-themed restaurant, factory tour, or private tasting. Whether you're looking for a last-minute gift for someone special or just a sweet snack, the New York City establishments listed here have something for every chocolate lover–and you can order online or visit the source right in your borough.
Find the chocolate of your dreams, this way

$27.5M palatial penthouse has a front-row view of Central Park and beyond

All photos courtesy of Stefano Ukmar

January 24, 2023

$27.5M palatial penthouse has a front-row view of Central Park and beyond