No matter how you say it there’s no denying the bright and airy appeal of this sun-filled home at 520 West 19^th Street courtesy of floor-to-ceiling windows in just about every room and its very own 48-foot long landscaped terrace.

But if you’re looking to soak up your Vitamin D another way, you’re in luck because this Annabelle Selldorf-designed building is perfectly situated between the High Line and the 550 acre Hudson River Park. So whether you’re in the mood to stretch your legs, picnic, sail, kayak, or paddle-board, you’re covered.

See how sunny living here can be!

When you’ve got billions what’s $11.3 million spent on some prime NYC real estate? According to city records filed this morning, Italian billionaire (the 1,067^th in the world, and the 22^nd in Italy) Pier Luigi Loro Piana just purchased a stunning Carnegie Hill co-op at 980 Fifth Avenue through a listing held by Sotheby’s.

The Italian fashion magnate crossed the billionaire’s mark just last July when he and his brother sold an 80% stake in the Loro Piana fashion line to French billionaire Bernard Arnault’s LVMH for $2.6 billion. With plenty of closets in this 3BR/3.5BA, including a 100-square-foot dressing room, the Pianas will have lots of room to store some of the luxurious cashmere and wool suits and sweaters that brought their family such great wealth today. The beautiful home also boasts stunning views of Central Park, and the building itself sparked quite a bit of controversy back in 1966 when it was constructed.

More details this way

Crunching numbers all day as one of the leading financial advisors at USB can’t be an easy task, so it makes perfect sense why Louise F. Gunderson chose to make this tranquil, inviting apartment her new home. The crystal-clear views of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park Reservoir probably don’t hurt either. Ms. Gunderson purchased a unit at 1035 Fifth Avenue for $4.75 million through a listing held by Lisa K. Lippman and Scott Moore at Brown Harris Stevens. The seller, Sylvan Schefler, head of the Investment Banking Department at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., likely had the same idea when he acquired the co-op in 1999.

The large single-pane tilt and turn windows of this 2BR/3BA home let in tons of natural light and perfectly frame the uniquely Upper East Side views. High ceilings and hardwood flooring throughout are two of the lovely prewar details, while updated touches like custom built-in shelving and charming window seats create a modern, urban feel.

More on the apartment right this way

Bec Brittain may be Brooklyn-based, but this lighting designer isn’t falling into her Bushwick neighborhood’s predilection for rough-edges and unfinished wood. With its calculated geometry, elegant mirrored glass, and a constellation of lights held within, Brittian’s beautiful Maxhedron offers the perfect amount of luminance while creating an out of this world refraction that can transform any room.

More images of the incredible lamp this way

• Should Love Locks on Brooklyn Bridge Stay or Go?: Inspired by the famous bride in Paris, New Yorkers have been expressing their undying love with padlocks. Well, city officials aren’t too romantic and they want to toss the locks. Voice your opinion in Wall Street Journal’s poll: Should the locks stay or should they go?
• New Apple Ads Show iPad As The Perfect Creative Tool: The new Apple iPad ads are innovative and inspiring. This Fastco. article admires the ad’s new perspective.
• The Wheelchair That Became a Bike: Gizmodo spotlights a unique bike that was created to promote a charity bike ride for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
• NYC’s Best Porkfests: If you have a pet pig or a vegan friend, cover their ears. Bedford and Bowery has the lineup for the city’s best BBQs.
• Carey Watermark Buys Courtyard Times Square for $95 Million: The investment company has just added to its portfolio and Commercial Observer has the details.
• East Hampton Family Home Asking $26.5 Mil: Wall Street Journal spotlights this home, and the family that has occupied it since the 1960s

Images: Wheelchair Bicycle (left), Love Locks (right)

At the turn of the 20th century, the first Model T Ford was still almost a decade from leaving the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company’s Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan and horse-drawn carriages were the primary mode of transportation. Carriage houses, like the one at 406 West 45th Street, built in 1905 for Oakleigh Thorne, owner of Thorndale Farms in Dutchess County, were necessary to properly store the carriages and associated equipment, such as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, etc.

By 1927, over 15 million Model T-Fords had been produced and the horse and buggy was on its way to being a novelty from a simpler time, and carriage houses were eventually given second lives as garages, offices, workshops, restaurants and, as in the case of the aptly named Thorndale, beautiful residences.

Take a look at the gorgeous conversion

Wall Street banker Brian Kelly and his wife Robin Foley have just purchased a gorgeous Upper East Side duplex at 830 Park Avenue for $8.495 million. Apartment 9/10B is reminiscent of a home in an Edith Wharton novel, which is appropriate because it’s managed to maintain much of its early 20^th century charm even as it boasts some of the most modern finishes.

Check out this beautiful duplex here

As any fan of Spiderman knows, the “corridors” created by Manhattan’s tall buildings are a perfect way to beat traffic through a little web-swinging. But look more closely and Spiderman’s transportation of choice reveals a secret city like none other.

One of the most famous and ubiquitous skylines in the world has seen its share of changes — most recently the rise of the Freedom Tower in place of the twin towers of the original World Trade Center — but has remained one of the most recognizable. Yet hidden among New York’s tallest buildings is another skyline as unique as the city itself created by the negative air space formed between the granite and steel structures reaching for the sky on each side of the street. Read more