6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

On a tranquil cul-de-sac in Westchester County's Scarsdale, this pretty 1920s stone Tudor has a surprisingly notorious reputation: It was allegedly the home of infamous '20s gangster Ben "Bugsy" Siegel. It has, for a new century, been restored to its original glamour with the addition of a luxurious kitchen and modern conveniences.
See more of this historic home

Lin-Manuel Miranda and NYC team up to save Theater District’s 100-year-old Drama Book Shop

Via Google Street View

January 8, 2019

Lin-Manuel Miranda and NYC team up to save Theater District’s 100-year-old Drama Book Shop

One of New York City's go-to spots for thespians and Broadway lovers will remain open after all, the New York Times reported Tuesday. Lin-Manuel Miranda and three "Hamilton" associates, along with the city, have purchased the Drama Book Shop, saving it from impending closure. The independent bookseller announced in October it would have to close its doors due to rising rents in the Times Square neighborhood. But with investment from Miranda and his team, and the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), the Drama Book Shop will reopen this fall at a new location within the theater district.
More here

Uncategorized

SNL comic Michael Che plans benefit comedy show to raise funds for NYCHA residents

Photo via Pexels

January 8, 2019

SNL comic Michael Che plans benefit comedy show to raise funds for NYCHA residents

Stand-up comic and SNL’s Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che is organizing a benefit show for New York City public housing residents this week. There are still a few tickets left for "A Night for NYCHA" on January 11, as amNY reported earlier today. Che is the headliner, “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross will be hosting, and Michelle Wolf will feature in a “top secret lineup” of comics. “It's gonna be a fun show and a GREAT cause," Che posted on his Instagram stories earlier this month. "A lot of residents don't have heat this winter. This money could really help. I grew up in a building like that, and it's really tough."
Get all the details

My 600sqft: Writer and food artist Emma Orlow fills her Bed-Stuy pad with JELL-O prints and ’70s kitsch

Our ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to writer, artist, and event producer Emma Orlow’s Bed-Stuy apartment. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

January 8, 2019

My 600sqft: Writer and food artist Emma Orlow fills her Bed-Stuy pad with JELL-O prints and ’70s kitsch

For most of us, our homes represent our personality generally, but for NYC native Emma Orlow, her Bed-Stuy apartment is a decorative translation of everything she loves and does. Part events producer, Emma has curated her space with yellow, bright orange, and lime green furniture and accessories, along with a mix of vintage mementos (her mom's old NYC matchbook collection adorns one wall), stylish accessories (she counts among her favorite things a set of rainbow Massimo Vignelli mugs), and kitschy '70s-era objects (see her retro Candy Land game). Emma also works as a food writer and artist working with food, another passion that can be seen throughout her home, from the JELL-O risographs to her beloved Japanese miniature food erasers. 6sqft recently paid Emma a visit and learned that you can't help but smile when you walk into her space--or when you chat with her, for that matter. Ahead, take her apartment tour and learn what influences her creativity, where her fun decor comes from, and what simply she simply couldn't live without.
Have a look for yourself

Sales launch at Brooklyn Heights library-replacing condo tower, from $1.1M

Renderings via Noe and Associates/ The Boundary

January 8, 2019

Sales launch at Brooklyn Heights library-replacing condo tower, from $1.1M

Nearly four years after the Brooklyn Public Library announced the sale of its Brooklyn Heights branch, sales have started at the 38-story condo building that replaced it. The Hudson Companies, the developer who bought the site in 2015 for $52 million, launched on Tuesday sales for 133 one- to five-bedroom residences at One Clinton, ranging in price from $1.088 million to roughly $5.26 million for a four bedroom. Five-bedroom and penthouse pricing will be released in the coming months.
See inside

Billionaire financier and art collector lists massive Central Park West penthouse for $5.25M

Via Google Street View

January 8, 2019

Billionaire financier and art collector lists massive Central Park West penthouse for $5.25M

Editor's note: At the request of Sotheby's International Realty, listing photos that appeared in an earlier version of this post have been removed. Just steps from Central Park on the Upper West Side, this two-bedroom co-op at 23 West 73rd Street is located in the Park Royal, a pre-war, red-brick building that has been called “one of the most attractive sidestreet apartment houses” in the coveted neighborhood. On the market for $5,250,000, the penthouse unit is owned by financier Donald Marron, who is also one of the most recognized private art collectors in America and previously served as President of the Museum of Modern Art’s Board of Trustees.
See the tour

Distinctive Homes

On this day in 1790, George Washington gave the first State of the Union in NYC

Photo of Federal Hall and the George Washington statue, via John Schiller/Flickr cc

January 8, 2019

On this day in 1790, George Washington gave the first State of the Union in NYC

By Lucie Levine

Right now, Federal Hall at Wall and Broad Streets is closed due to the Government Shutdown. But long before the current crisis, Federal Hall was the site of several Federal firsts. New York was the nation’s first capital, a distinction the city held until 1790, and the original Federal Hall, at the site of today’s monument, was the first Capital Building. Federal Hall hosted the first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch Offices. The building witnessed the drafting of the Bill of Rights and the passage of the Northwest Ordinance. George Washington took his Oath of Office from the balcony of Federal Hall on April 30, 1789, and on January 8, 1790, he delivered the nation’s very first State of the Union Address from the building’s Senate Chamber.
What were the hot-button issues of 1790?

History

Council Speaker Corey Johnson kicks off five-day, five-borough tour of NYC subway stations

Via City Council Speaker Corey Johnson

January 7, 2019

Council Speaker Corey Johnson kicks off five-day, five-borough tour of NYC subway stations

On Monday, Corey Johnson, the speaker of the New York City Council and Acting Public Advocate, kicked off a five-day tour of the city's subway system. Johnson, who will hold both posts until the public advocate special election on Feb.26, plans on traveling to stations in all five boroughs to get feedback from real New Yorkers all over the city. "New York City deserves a world-class transportation system, but unfortunately, due to years of neglect and mismanagement, we don't have one," Johnson wrote on the City Council's website.
Take the survey

Transit

Distinctive Homes

Trump's childhood home in Queens back on the market for $2.3M after gut renovation

For $1.2M, this Park Slope brownstone co-op gets the top-floor perk of a private roof deck

Studio 54 founder Ian Schrager lists Westchester estate for $7.5M

For $14.5M, Gilded Age opulence in a designer's Upper East Side mansion the size of a country estate

For $5M, be the first new owner of this historic Cobble Hill wood-frame home in 40 years

A long-neglected Clinton Hill townhouse gets a total glow-up and a $5.5M ask

For $950K, a condo with a terrace that puts the 'green' in Greenpoint

World's highest duplex lists for $128M at Central Park Tower

$22M Cobble Hill brownstone is five floors of architectural perfection, from the wine cellar to the rooftop deck

A celebrated artist's Upper East Side co-op asks $4.75 million

VIEW ALL

Amtrak engineers eye Cuomo’s L train fix for their own East River tunnel repairs

Via Flickr

January 7, 2019

Amtrak engineers eye Cuomo’s L train fix for their own East River tunnel repairs

Amtrak is taking a close look at Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s possibly-disaster-averting new L train repair strategy as a "common sense solution" for their own damaged tunnels between Manhattan and Queens, the Daily News reports. The agency would, of course, subject the tunnel fix to more scrutiny before making a decision. Amtrak chairman Anthony Coscia said “It is important for us to do a thorough vetting so that we can determine now at this stage whether it’s a methodology that we could use. Because if it is, it will make the process far less painful to our travelers,” much like the new subway solution would allegedly be.
Could this make the Gateway Project obsolete?

Transit

Checking in on the tallest building at Cobble Hill’s River Park development

Editor’s note: A previous version of this post included renderings and details that do not represent the final project and have been removed.

January 7, 2019

Checking in on the tallest building at Cobble Hill’s River Park development

The second phase of Fortis Property Group's five-building project in Cobble Hill will continue into the new year, with the complex's tallest tower expected to enter the market soon. 2 River Park, located at 91 Pacific Street, will top out at 28 stories, 475 feet tall. In addition to being the tallest at River Park, the condo tower will become the tallest in South Brooklyn, which contains Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Red Hook.
Check it out

New Developments

January 7, 2019

From Brooklyn’s biggest bank to its tallest building: Behind the scenes at the Dime Savings Bank

By Lucie Levine

Since it opened in 1859, the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn has been integral to the history of the borough it calls home. True to its name, you could open a savings account with just a dime. The first person to make a deposit was a man named John Halsey who invested $50. Scores of Brooklynites followed suit, and by the end of the bank’s first business day, 90 people opened accounts; by the end of the first month, more than 1,000 people were depositing at Dime. But the bank cemented its prominent status in 1908 when the first subway tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn opened and Dime moved into its grand neo-classical building on Dekalb Avenue and Fleet Street. After the bank closed in 2002, the landmark still stood in all its former glory, operating as a special event space. Three years ago, JDS Development filed plans to build Brooklyn's tallest tower adjacent to Dime, incorporating its Beaux-Arts interior as retail space for the project. And with work now underway, 6sqft recently got a behind-the-scenes tour of Dime Savings Bank with Open House New York.
Explore the history and future of Dime Savings Bank

January 7, 2019

Find out the history of every building in the East Village with GVSHP’s new research tool

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has released a new way to find out about the East Village, one of New York City's most interesting and historically layered neighborhoods. East Village Building Blocks is an online tool you can use to find out the history of each one of the neighborhood's 2,200 buildings.
Check it out

History

Government shutdown could cost MTA $150M per month in federal funds

Via Flickr

January 7, 2019

Government shutdown could cost MTA $150M per month in federal funds

With each passing month of the partial government shutdown--currently in its third week--the Metropolitan Transportation Authority stands to lose $150 million per month in federal funds, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday. Without funds from Washington, which are allocated for track repair work and construction projects, the MTA may have to cut back service or borrow money, if the shutdown continues. "They can last another four weeks, but after that, [the MTA has] got real trouble," Schumer said during a news conference, as the New York Post reported. "They may have to borrow which would increase their costs. They may have to cut back, which would be a very bad thing."
More here

Is SoHY the next hot neighborhood? New ‘South of Hudson Yards’ condo thinks so

Image courtesy of New Development Group.

January 7, 2019

Is SoHY the next hot neighborhood? New ‘South of Hudson Yards’ condo thinks so

Our first reaction at reading New Development Group’s (Ryant Serhant and team) introduction of the newly-minted SoHY condo at 550 West 29th Street as “Manhattan’s newest neighborhood and building" was to think the Nest Seekers-agent-to-the-stars must be SoHY if he thinks anyone will fall for another silly neighborhood acronym (Hello, NoLo!). But in this case, the multi-hyphenate wunderkind might actually be on to something. When you think about it, SoHY–for South of Hudson Yards–is definitely better than: "um, you know that area all the way over by 11th Avenue where all those new buildings are...that aren’t Hudson Yards ones..."
More SoHY jinks, this way

January 7, 2019

East Village rowhouse once home to Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey lists for $5M

By Annie Doge

In the late 1960s, this East Village house at 321 East 6th Street was owned by none other than Andy Warhol, during which time his close friend, film director Paul Morrissey, lived at the address, too. Today, the Anglo-Italianate brick townhouse has been chopped up into five units, but it retains many original details from even before Warhol's time, including two wood-burning fireplaces, crown moldings, 13-foot ceilings, and parquet and hardwood floors. It's just been listed for $4,950,000 with the option to convert the home into a grand single-family residence.
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FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): 525 West 52nd Street, The Essex, 505 Union Avenue and 19 Dutch Street

January 5, 2019

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 525 West 52nd Street, The Essex, 505 Union Avenue and 19 Dutch Street The Essex: Rent at the tallest building in Essex Crossing with 2 months free [LINK] Hunters Landing: New Long Island City rentals with 3 months free [LINK] 525 West 52nd Street: Luxury Hells Kitchen rental has amenities for […]

Real Estate Trends

Four days late, de Blasio launches Fair Fares program with some caveats

Image via Flickr cc

January 4, 2019

Four days late, de Blasio launches Fair Fares program with some caveats

After facing sharp criticism this week from almost all New York media outlets for missing the January 1st start date of Fair Fares, Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson held a press conference this afternoon to officially launch the program. As of now, the joint initiative will provide half-priced MetroCards to approximately 30,000 low-income New Yorkers who are receiving cash assistance benefits from the Department of Social Services. In April, an estimated additional 130,000 New Yorkers receiving SNAP benefits will be able to apply. But as the Daily News' City Hall bureau chief Jill Jorgensen mentioned on Twitter, limiting the program to these two groups means that no undocumented residents are eligible to apply.
More details here

Cuomo says MTA board must sign off on L train plan, one day after it was presented as a done deal

The dreaded 15-month L train shutdown, planned and studied for three years, is canceled. Or is it? Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday presented a proposal for a new L train plan that would no longer require a 15-month closure of the Carnasie Tunnel, the link between Manhattan and Brooklyn and which was damaged by saltwater floods during Hurricane Sandy. During the news conference, Cuomo, along with a panel of experts, engineers, and the acting chair of the MTA, Fernando Ferrer, touted the project as being the shortest and best way to fix the tunnel. But in a conference call with reporters on Friday, the governor called on the MTA board to hold an emergency meeting to vote yay or nay on his new plan, of which most had heard about on the same day it was announced.
More here

January 4, 2019

$130M penthouse at 520 Park Avenue is now two separate units

The quest to outdo One57's record-setting $100.5 million penthouse doesn't seem to be working. The two contenders, 220 Central Park South and 520 Park Avenue--both Robert A.M. Stern-designed buildings--announced their $250 and $130 million penthouses in 2016 and 2014 respectively, but there's been no movement since. The latter building seems to have taken the hint, though, as The Real Deal reports that the 12,398-square-foot triplex has been chopped up into two "smaller" units--a $40 million full-floor unit and an $80-$100 million duplex.
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January 4, 2019

This $799K Bed-Stuy condo ‘shakes’ things up with a clawfoot tub, wood stove, and roof deck

A condo full of Shaker woodwork detail in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood has hit the market for $799,000. The two-bedroom, two bath home at 464 Hancock Street boasts 10-foot-high ceilings, a functioning wood stove, and an envy-inducing windowed clawfoot tub. The sunlight-drenched home also features Shaker woodwork peg racks in most of the rooms and along the hallways, making for a unique storage addition.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

January 4, 2019

Where I Work: Jun Aizaki’s architecture and design firm CRÈME gets creative in Williamsburg

Japan native Jun Aizaki started Brooklyn-based CRÈME / Jun Aizaki Architecture & Design 14 years ago when both the design and architecture firm's Williamsburg location and their portfolio were much different. Today, with more than 15 employees, CRÈME has become a leader in hip restaurant design (think Redfarm, L'Amico, and Mr. Purple), along with more innovative product design such as gourd cups and indigo-dyed furniture. The firm also has a pulse on urban planning projects, such as a proposal to build a timber bridge connecting Greenpoint and Long Island City, as well as a master plan of Denver’s Dairy Block. And it's this combination of cool-factor, outside-the-box thinking, and style that CRÈME embodies in their industrial Williamsburg office space. 6sqft recently visited the firm to take a look around and see their work, as well as to have a chat with Jun.
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January 4, 2019

Upper East Side Gilded Age mansion with Broadway cachet and a big money past tries again at $29.5M

Just over a year ago, The Real Deal reported that Tony Award-winning Broadway producers Janet and Howard Kagan (“Tuck Everlasting,” “Pippin”) had put the 25-foot-wide, 12,729-square-foot mansion at 11 East 82nd Street, purchased for $24.5 million in 2009, on the market, asking $44 million. The impressive Upper East Side limestone-and-brick townhouse was also known for having previously belonged to financier Ron Perelman. The 1895 building in all its six-story, elevator-enhanced, Gilded Age glory has just been relisted for $29.5 million, a hefty haircut from last year's ask.
Embark on the grand tour

Distinctive Homes

First weekend of 2019 starts major headaches for 7 train riders and Washington Heights station

Via Flickr

January 4, 2019

First weekend of 2019 starts major headaches for 7 train riders and Washington Heights station

New year, same subway challenges. This weekend will be the start of significant service disruptions along the 7 line—making travel between Manhattan and Queens more complicated—and of long-term construction at several stations in Washington Heights, beginning on January 5 with the closure of the 1 train's 168 Street station (some good news: A and C trains will still be servicing the station). Riders can expect to encounter skipped stops across many lines and long wait times. Read on for a detailed list of the planned service changes.
Know before you go

Transit

January 3, 2019

Cuomo calls for last-minute halt of L train shutdown in favor of a new tunnel design

Knight in shining armor or kink in the chain? In an unexpected, last-minute announcement on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he is halting the 15-month L train shutdown in April, calling for a new tunnel design instead that would coincide with night and weekend work for 15 to 20 months. The news comes just a few weeks after the governor toured the Hurricane Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel with engineering experts from Cornell and Columbia Universities. Though he said at the time he was "confident it cannot be done any other way and it cannot be done faster than the MTA is doing it," Cuomo today threw a curveball saying he and the MTA have agreed on a new design that has never before been used in the U.S. and will mean that it "will not be necessary to close the L Train tunnel at all."
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January 3, 2019

For under $1M, this Fort Greene condo has two bedrooms and a smart split-level layout

You might think of split-levels as a throwback to your grandparents' house, but when space is limited in a city apartment, the layout serves quite well for smart storage, privacy, and an open feel. All of these attributes apply to this completely charming two-bedroom at 69 South Oxford Street in Fort Greene. The fifth-floor spread has its public and private areas separated by a small staircase and it's listed for either $950,000 or as a $3,500/month rental. To boot, it's just steps from the park and Atlantic Terminal, located in the historic Roanoke Condos.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

Judge blocks NYC law that forces Airbnb to disclose names and addresses of hosts

Via Creative Commons

January 3, 2019

Judge blocks NYC law that forces Airbnb to disclose names and addresses of hosts

Snag the Greenest Seat in Town: Gufram's 1972 Pratone Chair is Shaped Like a Patch of Grass

In a win for Airbnb, a federal judge on Thursday blocked a New York City law aimed at curbing illegal short-term rentals, the New York Times reported. The law, signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio last August and originally expected to take effect in February, would have required Airbnb and similar home-share companies to disclose the names and addresses of its hosts to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement monthly. Soon after, Airbnb filed a lawsuit against the city claiming an "extraordinary act of government overreach." U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer granted the company's request for a temporary injunction against the law, which he wrote was likely unconstitutional.
More here

Policy

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10 best plants for apartment dwellers

New York City's best holiday markets of 2023

VIEW ALL

Rental tower at Essex Crossing’s new foodie mecca launches leasing from $3,750/month

Renderings by We Are Visuals/QuallsBenson via Delancey Street Association.

January 3, 2019

Rental tower at Essex Crossing’s new foodie mecca launches leasing from $3,750/month

Leasing has officially launched at The Essex at 125 Delancey Street, the newest rental residence at the Lower East Side's Essex Crossing. Delancey Street Associates (DSA), the project's developers, announced the official launch of the building's 98 units today along with new renderings of interiors and amenity spaces within the tallest tower at the nine-site development. The 26-story Essex, designed by Handel Architects, also launched its website, which shows even more detail on the available units, which range from studios to three-bedrooms, starting at $3,750.
See more, this way

With no details from de Blasio, Fair Fares pilot program misses Jan. 1 start date

Via Flickr

January 3, 2019

With no details from de Blasio, Fair Fares pilot program misses Jan. 1 start date

A program to provide discounted MetroCards to low-income New Yorkers missed its target start date of Jan. 1, and the city has not provided any concrete details on its rollout, amNY reported Wednesday. The Fair Fares pilot program, which was agreed upon in June by Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, would provide half-price MetroCards for those who fall below the federal poverty line. One day after the original launch date passed, the mayor on Wednesday told reporters that more information on how to apply for the program will be provided "in literally just a few days."
More on the Fair Fares flop

January 3, 2019

For $1.6M, this Morningside Heights co-op is a fine example of a pre-war classic six

Located in the picturesque Upper West Side/Morningside Heights neighborhood it shares with Columbia University's campus, Amele Hall at 536 W 111th Street is a classic elevator co-op built in 1910 by architect partners Mulliken and Moeller. This classic six apartment, listed for $1.595 million, has been modernized but retains its turn-of-the-century charm.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

January 3, 2019

Snag an affordable apartment in the South Bronx, from $590/month

A housing lottery launched this week for 32 affordable apartments in the Morrisania neighborhood of the South Bronx. The new building located on the corner of Third Avenue at 545 East 166th Street sits on the same block as the recently-expanded Estella Diggs Park, which has greenery, pathways, and new play equipment. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 50, 60, or 80 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, ranging from a $590/studio to a $1,643/month two-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

42-story condo will rise at Morningside Heights seminary; NYC traffic deaths hit lowest in a century

Rendering via Robert A.M. Stern Architects (L); Via Pexels (R)

January 2, 2019

42-story condo will rise at Morningside Heights seminary; NYC traffic deaths hit lowest in a century

Rendering via Robert A.M. Stern Architects (L); Via Pexels (R) Did you know the oldest surviving mosque in the country is in Williamsburg? [Bedford + Bowery] This unemployed, 21-year-old Bronx man monitors frustrated Tweets to the MTA all day every day. [NYDN] See the 42-story condo tower planned for the Union Theological Seminary’s campus in Morningside […]

Uncategorized

New renderings released of Long Island City’s Skyline Tower, Queens’ soon-to-be-tallest

Rendering via Binyan Studios

January 2, 2019

New renderings released of Long Island City’s Skyline Tower, Queens’ soon-to-be-tallest

The Skyline Tower, a 67-story condo building under construction in Long Island City, ended the year on a very high note. In addition to being named 6sqft's 2018 Building of the Year, the Hill West Architects-designed, 778-foot-tall tower became the first in Queens to pass $1 billion in total sell out. Plus, the property, which developer United Construction & Development Group first filed plans for in 2016, sits across the street from One Court Square, where Amazon is leasing one million square feet of office space before the company moves to its new HQ2 complex along the waterfront. On Wednesday, new renderings of Skyline Tower were released, showing off the interiors, views, and new subway entrance at the future tallest tower in Queens.
See the renderings

Greenpoint’s new ‘community-forward rental’ launches lottery for 60 affordable units

Image via Otto Greenpoint

January 2, 2019

Greenpoint’s new ‘community-forward rental’ launches lottery for 60 affordable units

Ranging from $1,045/month studios to $2,795/month three-bedrooms, 60 low- and middle-income units at Greenpoint's new rental Otto have come online through the city's affordable housing lottery. The block-long, 197-unit building boasts that it is "community-forward," with amenities like a lounge, old-school game room, gym, and a large rooftop with a pool, hot tub, barbecues, and incredible Manhattan views. For comparison, market-rate apartments are renting from $2,279/month for studios to $4,704/month for three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

New 2019 NYC laws ban foam, restrict cigarettes, address paid family leave, minimum wage and more

Photo via NYC.GOV

January 2, 2019

New 2019 NYC laws ban foam, restrict cigarettes, address paid family leave, minimum wage and more

As a new year dawns, you may find you're harboring illegal contraband that was–as recently as last year–the perfectly legal container for your takeout dinner. As part of Mayor Bill De Blasio's Zero Waste campaign, manufacturers and stores may not sell or offer single-use foam items such as cups, plates, bowls, trays, or clamshell containers as of January 1, 2019. The foam ban joins more notable new legislation on the books as of 2019 including laws affecting minimum wage, cigarette sales, baby changing tables, paid family leave and gender options on birth certificates.
Read on for details

On the front lines of Mayor La Guardia’s 1939 chewing gum war

Gum, and Gum disposal, advertising on the 8th Avenue IND, via The Municipal Archives

January 2, 2019

On the front lines of Mayor La Guardia’s 1939 chewing gum war

By Lucie Levine

In December 1939, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was at war – with chewing gum. The situation was one we would recognize today: the subway was stuck. With subterranean transit stalled and sticking in stations, the Mayor believed the answer was a full-scale assault on chewing gum. La Guardia led the charge against gum, urging New Yorkers to throw away their finished sticks, rather than sticking them to the city’s streets and subway stations. In true La Guardia fashion, he turned his crusade against sticky subways into a city-wide contest, soliciting catchy anti-gum slogans from the public. And in true New York fashion, the public responded with a variety of slogans, from the sweet to the sly, including “Don’t be Dumb, Park Your Gum” and “Shoot the Wad.”
Get the whole story

History

McNally Jackson bookstore staying put on Prince Street

Photo of McNally Jackson via Flickr

January 2, 2019

McNally Jackson bookstore staying put on Prince Street

Beloved independent bookstore McNally Jackson will not be closing its Soho location after all, the Bowery Boogie reported on Wednesday. The good news comes just a few months after the bookseller announced it would have to move out of the neighborhood, its home for the last 14 years, due to a 136 percent rent increase.
More here

Uncategorized

January 2, 2019

One block from Prospect Park, rent an entire three-bedroom house for $5,400/month

For the price of a Manhattan apartment, this entire Windsor Terrace house--complete with three bedrooms, a rear garden, and a location on a private street just one block from Prospect Park--is up for rent. Listed for $5,400 a month, the rowhouse at 19 Temple Court recently underwent a total renovation, but it still has loads of charming details like a front bay window, brick fireplace, and original pine floors.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

December 31, 2018

$12M East Village penthouse has three floors, a gym, and a roof terrace

East Village real estate dreams hardly ever come with as much square footage as this luxurious four-bedroom at 130 East 12th Street. For the current asking price of $12.5 million, you’ll get the building’s two-story penthouse plus a two-bedroom apartment on the floor below with its own private entrance. That totals up to a 6,414 square-foot, three-floor East Village palace for anyone with the right budget.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

2018 Manhattan condo sales show volume drop and price cooldown from last year’s soaring heights

Rendering of 200 East 59th Street via Studio amd for Macklowe Properties

December 31, 2018

2018 Manhattan condo sales show volume drop and price cooldown from last year’s soaring heights

Rendering of 200 East 59th Street via Studio amd for Macklowe Properties CityRealty's new 2018 year-end market report reveals trends in Manhattan real estate including a notable drop in transaction volume and a decline in condo sales prices after 2017's roaring gains. Co-ops showed marginal gains in 2018. The New York Times refers to the report and quotes Jonathan J. Miller of Manhattan's Miller Samuel appraisal firm: “Sales are not low–they are just not unusually high. It’s like we came off the autobahn: It feels very slow relative to the last three to four years, but historically it’s not.” See a few highlights from the report, below.
More from the report

Real Estate Trends

Thousands sign online petition to rename stretch of Fifth Ave in front of Trump Tower after Obama

Via Flickr

December 31, 2018

Thousands sign online petition to rename stretch of Fifth Ave in front of Trump Tower after Obama

Over 3,800 people have signed a petition to rename the block in front of Trump Tower after President Barack Obama. Without specifically mentioning the Midtown building developed by President Donald Trump, the MoveOn.org appeal requests the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio rename the part of Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Street "President Barack H. Obama Avenue."
Get the details

Uncategorized

Images (L to R): The Alyn, Embankment House, 2504 Seventh Avenue and at bottom right 906 Lorimer Street

December 29, 2018

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

By Annie Doge

The Alyn’s High-End Luxury Rentals Debut at 152 East 87th Street in Carnegie Hill [LINK] Embankment House: Premier No Fee Apartments in Jersey City from $2,025/Month [LINK] Rental Leasing Launches at 906 Lorimer Street in Greenpoint; 1 Bedrooms for $3,450/Month [LINK] Spacious No-Fee Three-Bedrooms in Harlem Listed from $2,200/Month [LINK] SEE MORE RENTAL NEWS AND OFFERS […]

Uncategorized

December 28, 2018

Historic Brooklyn Heights 1854 parlor home with a private garden asks $5.1M

Own a corner of historic Brooklyn Heights with this home at 23 Willow Place—part of the landmarked neighborhood known as Willowtown. The picturesque setting and old world charm of the 1854 building combine with a modern extension in the back to give an elegant but relaxed feel. The four-floor, seven-bedroom home with a private garden is on the market for $5.1 million.
See inside the townhouse

Distinctive Homes

December 28, 2018

Celebrate Kwanzaa in NYC with a live-drawing event, music and dancing, and an artisan market

The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is hosting its annual Kwanzaa festival on Saturday, celebrating African-American heritage with programs that focus on community, culture, and creativity. Free with admission, the event takes place on Dec. 29 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the museum's Milstein Hall of Ocean Life.
Get more info

Events & Things To Do

One Domino Square

8 South 4th Street

Williamsburg

Spectacular living on the Williamsburg waterfront

1 beds starting at $1,925,000
2 beds starting at $2,055,000
3 beds starting at $3,030,000

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Plan for homeless men’s shelter on Billionaires’ Row temporarily stopped

Via Wikimedia

December 28, 2018

Plan for homeless men’s shelter on Billionaires’ Row temporarily stopped

The West 58th Street Coalition, a group of residents suing over the city’s controversial plan to open a homeless shelter on Manhattan’s Billionaires' Row, has won a temporary injunction to halt construction at the former Park Savoy Hotel, the New York Post reported Thursday. The residents sued the city in July, claiming the proposed shelter posed a significant fire hazard and also fearing their new neighbors would usher in increased crime and loitering in the area as well as “un-quantifiable economic harm to the value of their property,” as court papers stated.
Find out more

Policy

Image courtesy of the Times Square Alliance

December 28, 2018

Say ‘good riddance’ to everything you hated about 2018 in Times Square today

Let’s face it: a lot of us are more than happy to say goodbye to 2018 and turn over a new leaf. If you’re ready for some cathartic collective destruction, use your lunch break on Friday to join others in Times Square for the 12th annual "Good Riddance Day" and say goodbye to the worst of this year. The event, hosted by the Times Square Alliance, is inspired by a tradition in some parts of Latin America in which New Year’s revelers stuff dolls with objects representing bad memories and burn them in order to make room for the new.
Details on the shred, ahead

Events & Things To Do

Matt Damon officially buys the priciest pad in Brooklyn, a $16.7M penthouse

The building via DDG; Matt Damon via Wiki Commons

December 28, 2018

Matt Damon officially buys the priciest pad in Brooklyn, a $16.7M penthouse

By Annie Doge

Actor Matt Damon has officially purchased the most expensive home in Brooklyn: a $16.7 million penthouse at The Standish, the New York Post reported on Thursday. Last September, 6sqft learned Damon had gone into contract at the Brooklyn Heights building, located at 171 Columbia Heights. At that time, it was listed for just over $16.6 million. With the deal officially inked, the A-lister takes the title of the priciest property in BK from Jennifer Connelly, who bought a $15.5 million townhouse in Brooklyn Heights this year, and photographer Jay Maisel, who owns a $15.5 million home in Cobble Hill.
Details here!

Here’s how to get around NYC this New Year’s

Via Flickr

December 28, 2018

Here’s how to get around NYC this New Year’s

On the last weekend of 2018, the MTA will be running decent subway service. You may have to wait a while for a 4 or 5 train, and several trains are being rerouted via other lines. Read details about your line below to avoid confusion. Minor service disruptions on New Year's Day and expanded service on LIRR and Metro-North should have most travelers starting 2019 with minimal frustration. Also, this Sunday will be the last opportunity to ride on vintage subway trains from the 1930s. You can catch one on Sunday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., they'll be running from 2 Avenue to Rockefeller Center on the F and going uptown on the A, C, D from 59 Street to 125 Street.
Know before you go

Transit

December 27, 2018

Charming, classic Tribeca loft with private roof terrace asks $2.35M