• An Intimate Look at Dinner in NYC: There are so many daily activities we take for granted. FastCo spotlights photographer Miho Aikawa’s project examining the differences between diners in New York and Tokyo.
• A Day in the Life of a NYC Taxi Driver: Citylab profiles data junkie Chris Whong’s visualization of NYC cab driver’s day long routes, so you can find out where NY cabbies go without having to deal with traffic or fares.
• The MoMA Gets a New Chief Curator of Art and Design: MoMA just announced the appointment of Martino Stierli as the museums’ new chief art and design curator and MoMA Press introduces us to him.
• Rafiq Azam Lecture: Archdaily discusses the green architect’s philosophy and tells you where you can see his upcoming NYC lecture.

Images: Cat begging for food (left), Rafiq Azam design (right)

What if you could enjoy all the conveniences of living in the most fabulous city on Earth while still getting to come home to a peaceful hideaway? That’s what this Young Huh-designed, five-story Astor Terrace townhouse offers. Unit #TH-NE11 is a completely renovated 3BR/3.5BA townhouse with floor-to-ceiling windows and a private, tree-lined patio. Each bedroom not only has its own en suite bath, they each have their own private floor.

Sound like something you’re interested in? There’s more here

The times they are a-changin. At least on Orchard Street, which used to be littered with affordable clothing and luggage stores and home to the famous Saturday street vendors peddling their wares. Today, upscale boutiques and trendy restaurants have moved in, along with rising rents, and 119 Orchard Street is the latest convert.

For over 40 years, Fine & Klein Handbags operated out of the storefront, but closed their doors in 2007. Shortly thereafter in 2008, SAS Property Management bought the property for $4.22 million, filed plans for a new 40-room hotel, and tore down the building in November 2010. Three years later, the plans were amended for a 10-story mixed use space, containing 16 hotel rooms and four residential units. Interestingly, the building height was the same in both renditions. Construction has already commenced, and we’ve just spotted a few new renderings on architect Grzywinski + Pons‘ website.

Take a look at the construction photos as well as building renderings

$27 million is nothing to sneeze at, even if you are David Chu, the founder of international clothing company Nautica. Chu purchased the townhouse at 25 East 22nd Street in 2004 for $9.3 million. He then embarked on a gut renovation, replacing the limestone façade, adding fifth and sixth floors and an elevator, and creating a swanky mixed-use building that housed his corporate headquarters and a one-bedroom pied-à-terre. The home went on the market in May 2013 for $29.99 million, and has now sold to buyer Hannah Charitable LLC for $26.8 million.

Have a look at the interior of this elegant townhouse

Jeffrey Gates, of Gates Capital Management, and his partner Richard Michael Moran have just acquired the rest of Laurie Tisch’s penthouse at the Brentmore, according to city records. Three years ago the pair traded up from apartment 6W to 9N, when Laurie Tisch sold off her pad in pieces. Retired investor Michael Stubbs and his wife Veronica, who lived in the neighboring apartment 10/11N purchased Tisch’s remaining unit 10W. Now it appears that Gates and Moran may have added the Stubbs’s newly renovated apartment combo to their estate for $22.5 million.

Take a look inside the newly acquired property here

Many architects like to recycle their plans, reusing signature design elements from project to project. However, British architect Lord Norman Foster, with his firm Foster+Partners, enjoys keeping it fresh with designs that are unmistakably modern, yet profoundly contextual to their location. The firm’s latest New York development is a 44-unit residential tower named 551W21 that rises in the once industrial—now art-gallery—hub of West Chelsea.

The 551W21 team over at Foster+Partners recently sent us some new photos of the building under construction, which has surpassed its 19th-floor mark and will be topped off at the end of this month. And if you’re still not convinced that buyers are willing to pay a premium for starchitectured spaces, we’re told that the building is already over 50% sold.

See more photos and views after the break

• New York City’s tallest skyscrapers [TRD]
• Rentals on North 10th Street in Williamsburg hit the market, starting at $2,385 a month [Brownstoner]
• A residential tower might rise on a controversial Park Place site [Curbed]
• Tour the former Sisters of Mercy Convent in Clinton Hill [Brownstoner]
• The horrifying outdoor spaces of Craigslist apartments [Curbed]
• Medgar Evers College finally moves forward with $15M plan to transform Crown Heights St. into green campus [NYDN]
• West Side development site trades for $43M [Commercial Observer]

Supertall skyscrapers One57 and 50 UN Plaza (left); Scary outdoor spaces (right)

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As many of you architecture buffs know, One WTC now rises a symbolic 1,776 feet, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third tallest in the entire world. Designed by renowned architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it also has a LEED Gold certification and is the most environmentally sustainable project of its size. After a temporary real estate slump, the 104-story, glass and steel building is now 56% leased, with big-time tenants like Conde Naste, Morgan Stanley, Legends Hospitality, and BMB Group. Eight years after construction began, One World Trade is at an exciting juncture with its tenants expected to move in by the end of the year, already beginning to build out their office spaces. The original crew of 10,000 has been reduced to 600, and we’re checking in on what these remaining workers are up to.

Check out some amazing photos of the progress at One WTC

Enjoying a good cup of tea is one of life’s most simple pleasures, but the whole experience gets even more exquisite if we prepare it with something as beautiful as FEM’s Koruku tea set. The design beautifully blends the Japanese tea culture with Scandinavian design traditions, made from a combination of milky white porcelain and renewable cork.

Tea for two?