6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

The Oscar-winning actress and her husband, Paul Bettany, bought the detail-laden limestone mansion overlooking Prospect Park in 2003 for $3.7 million; the 6,500-square-foot townhouse changed hands two more times since then: the couple sold it for $8.5 million to a Google exec who divested of it in 2015 for $12.4 million (a neighborhood record a the time). It's on the market once again asking $14.5 million. Filled with historic detail and dressed to the nines, the elegant home is exactly what you'd expect to find behind the elegant facade of a Park Slope limestone. Built in 1899 and designed by renowned architect Montrose W. Morris, the 25-foot-wide five-story home at 17 Prospect Park West is a showcase of stained glass windows, mahogany columns and herringbone floors, with five working gas fireplaces, a 600-bottle wine cellar and a verdant gated yard.
Take the tour

Lorraine Hansberry’s Greenwich Village: From ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ to civil rights

Google Street View of 337 Bleecker Street

October 12, 2017

Lorraine Hansberry’s Greenwich Village: From ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ to civil rights

Lorraine Hansberry, the trailblazing playwright, activist, and Nina Simone song inspiration was perhaps most closely associated with Chicago. But in fact she lived, went to school, and spent much of her life in Greenwich Village, even writing her best known play "A Raisin in the Sun" while living on Bleecker Street. And shortly a historic plaque will mark the site of her home on Waverly Place.
Learn the full history here

October 12, 2017

New Affiliates makes plywood look modern and sexy in this Bed-Stuy reno

Plywood doesn't have the reputation of a desirable material when it comes to chic home renovations. But the Manhattan design studio New Affiliates used it in this Bed-Stuy loft reno to surprising results. By using raw plywood and rough materials like exposed steel and mesh screens as finishes, the space retains its industrial edge while pulling off a clean, modern--even sexy--aesthetic by pairing such materials with stark blocks of color. As the firm says, "These adjacenies of contrasting materials work to produce something clean, light, and unprecious while maximizing usable space in the loft." All we have to say is, who knew plywood could be so appealing?
See more photos of the project

October 12, 2017

Two Boots Pizza founders’ amazing $10.5M townhouse is filled with memories of a bygone East Village

New York City is filled with homes–and stories–that are truly one-of-a-kind, and this massive, customized-from-top-to-bottom townhouse at 113 East 2nd Street in the East Village is a perfect example. The five-story townhouse is brimming with creative additions by residents who themselves helped shape one of the city’s most storied neighborhoods. The 7,000-square-foot property finds itself finally on the market for $10.5 million after a decade-long dispute between its owners, Phil Hartman and Doris Kornish, founders of the now-national pizza chain Two Boots, as the New York Post reports. The two divorced in 2008 and have been fighting over the home, where the pair raised three children, ever since. The 25-foot wide two-family townhouse is currently configured as an owner's unit with seven bedrooms and a separate one bedroom apartment on the parlor floor with "very limited and specific commercial uses." Though there are endless details that add originality and livability within, highlights include a serene rear garden and a performance space in the basement and cellar that's complete with a stage and 14-foot ceilings.
Explore this rare bit of East Village history

Brooklyn Point, Extell Development’s first tower in the borough, will rise 720 feet

New rendering of City Point courtesy of Extell Development

October 12, 2017

Brooklyn Point, Extell Development’s first tower in the borough, will rise 720 feet

Extell Development released a teaser website on Thursday ahead of its sales launch for Brooklyn Point, the group’s first tower in Brooklyn, and revealed more details about the luxury high-rise. Rising 68 stories and 720 feet high, the tower at 138 Willoughby Street will be the tallest building in the borough until 9 DeKalb Avenue rises, which will be roughly 1,000 feet tall. As the last phase of City Point, Brooklyn Point will join two other residential buildings, the Brodsky Organization’s 7 DeKalb and City Tower.
More this way

October 12, 2017

‘Orange is the New Black’ star Natasha Lyonne checks out $2M East Village synagogue condo

6sqft reported last year that "True Blood" star Alexander Skarsgård had viewed the penthouse-in-a-synagogue at 415 East 6th Street in the East Village; now, the New York Post reports that "Orange Is the New Black" star and noted native New Yorker Natasha Lyonne was seen checking out the 2nd floor unit in the unique condominium building, whose still-active congregation Adas Yisroel Anshe Meseritz will meet in a new space with a separate entrance on the first floor. The $1.99 million apartment–one of only three in the building–has plenty of perks like a key-locked private elevator entry behind its carefully-restored 1910 limestone facade with original stained-glass windows and architectural details.
Take a look,this way

MTA will replace Grand Central Terminal’s old eateries with more ritzy ones

Grand Central Terminal, photo via NYC & Company

October 12, 2017

MTA will replace Grand Central Terminal’s old eateries with more ritzy ones

At Grand Central Terminal, it’s in with the new, out with the old. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it will replace stores that have served the busy terminal’s commuters for over two decades--Junior’s, Two Boots Pizza, Grand Harvest Wines--with more upscale shops. As the New York Post reported, new stores include Art Bird & Whiskey Bar, run by Oprah Winfrey’s former personal chef, Art Smith, and Tartinery, an open-face sandwich vendor. The restaurant refashioning process is expected to run through 2018.
Find out more

October 12, 2017

Options are many for this five-story $30M Beaux-Arts limestone townhouse on Museum Mile

Currently comprised of four apartments–two triplexes and two single-floor units—the seller of this impressively ornate 1903 townhouse at 7 East 88th Street hopes potential buyers will see it as a $29.95 million opportunity to create a grand Upper East Side single-family mansion. Situated just down the block from the Guggenheim, this stunning historic building comes with proposed single-family floor plans if you need any help visualizing life on five stories (plus an English basement) from the solarium to the basement gym. If five stories seem daunting, an elevator makes things easier.
Take the five-story-plus tour

Distinctive Homes

Distinctive Homes

For $8.85M, a condo with Central Park and Manhattan skyline views from every room

This compact $2M Red Hook home embodies the neighborhood's unique, inventive spirit

$1.8M restored Marcel Breuer house on the Hudson has kept its mid-century modern spirit intact

At former Streit's Matzo Factory, a Lower East Side penthouse with two terraces asks $4.35M

A fashion designer's cozy converted 1920s barn in upstate NY asks $2.9M

For $55K, spend a post-modernist summer in a designer's Long Island home and studio

Asking $20M, a university president's Greenwich Village residence enters a new chapter

This $12.5M Chelsea carriage house has a garage, three outdoor spaces, and a two-bedroom flat

Asking $800K, this notable modern Princeton home once belonged to Joyce Carol Oates

This $6M Tribeca loft has bedrooms surrounded by terrace and sky

VIEW ALL

October 11, 2017

The Hub, Brooklyn’s tallest building, unveils even more awesome amenities

In addition to being Brooklyn’s tallest tower, the Hub might also take the title for having the borough's best amenities. The Dattner Architects-designed 610-foot tall luxury rental at 333 Schermerhorn Street in Boerum Hill will feature a 75-foot indoor/outdoor lap pool, a gym, outdoor fitness level, a dog park and much more (h/t Curbed NY). The more than 40,000 square feet of amenities will provide residents with grilling cabanas, a landscaped terrace, club lounge and party rooms.
See the amenities

Architecture And Design

October 11, 2017

Asking $325/night, this secluded Catskills treehouse may be one of the coolest vacation escapes ever

If you're looking for an escape, it doesn't get much better than this modern treehouse, nestled among the natural surroundings of the Catskills. This is the work of the UK-based designer Antony Gibbons, who believes the angular lines and pronounced geometry of the structure enhance the organic nature of this forested locale, just outside of Woodstock, New York. Despite the modern aesthetic, the facade is made of cedar from the surrounding Catskills Valley and the interior is lined in a reclaimed pine, in so that the modest home "still blends into the surroundings with its timber materials," Gibbons has said. If you're swooning over the space--and wondering what it's like to live among the trees--it's now available as a vacation home through Airbnb, asking $325 per night.
Imagine your upstate vacation

October 11, 2017

Why are the Second Avenue Subway’s newsstands still empty?

TodWhen the city first got a look inside the new Second Avenue Subway stations ahead of the line's New Year's Day 2017 opening, one of the shiniest, most colorful elements was the collection of newsstands. Ten months later, however, the kiosks still sit empty, decked out in the signature marketing of rainbow polka dots. According to the New York Times, the MTA says it's selected an operator for the newsstands, and though they won't reveal who, claim that they'll open soon. But is the fact that Q train riders seem overwhelmingly unaware and unaffected by the lack of newsstands a sign that they're not actually wanted or needed in a time when newspapers and magazines have been replaced by tablets and iPhones and candy and sodas with organic oatmeal and Juice Press?
Get the whole scoop

Transit

New Museum taps Rem Koolhaas’ OMA to design next phase of Bowery expansion

231 Bowery sits next to the New Museum, image via New Museum

October 11, 2017

New Museum taps Rem Koolhaas’ OMA to design next phase of Bowery expansion

The New Museum Board of Trustees announced Wednesday that OMA's Rem Koolhaas and Shoehei Shigematsu will design the museum's new building at 231 Bowery as part of the institution's expansion. The new structure, purchased by the contemporary art museum in 2008, will link the museum's Sanaa-designed building and double their footprint on the Bowery, adding 50,000-square-feet of space. OMA's first public project in New York City, 231 Bowery is expected to break ground in 2019.
Find out more

October 11, 2017

Sting sells 15 Central Park West penthouse for $50M

British rocker Sting and his wife Trudie Styler listed their colorful futuristic duplex at the Robert A.M. Stern-designed 15 Central Park West for $56 million in May; now the New York Post reports that the massive pad at the headline-stealing celebrity magnet building has been sold to a mystery buyer for $50 million. The couple scooped up the 16th- and 17th-floor penthouse for $27 million in 2008 and enlisted the design pros at SheltonMindel to combine the units to create a unique home with not one but two sculptural spiral staircases and a double-sided spiral gas fireplace that was inspired by the Fibonacci spiral. The couple is reportedly buying a triplex in the latest Stern-designed limestone-clad trophy tower at 220 Central Park South, one of NYC’s most expensive apartment buildings.
Get one last look at the Sting-Styler digs

Celebrities

October 11, 2017

James Gandolfini’s former West Village apartment asks $7.5M

The West Village apartment that the late actor James Gandolfini, who became a household name for his portrayal of conflicted mafia boss Tony Soprano, shared with ex-wife Marcy Wudarski Gandolfini is for sale. 6sqft took note back in 2015 when the 3,200-square-foot condo hit the rental market asking $21,000 a month. Now the actor's ex is selling the four-bedroom home at 99 Jane Street for $7.5M, according to the New York Post. The couple bought one apartment in the building in 1999 for $850,000 and picked up the second for $1 million sometime later, creating one townhouse-sized pad before their split in 2002.
Take the tour

October 10, 2017

Amid legal trouble, model Erin Heatherton re-lists West Village condo for $2.7M

By Annie Doge

Exactly a year ago, former Victoria’s Secret model and ex Leonardo DiCaprio gal pal Erin Heatherton put her West Village apartment on the market for $2.85 million after the 1 Morton Square board sued her over excessively loud parties and delinquent condo fees. Unable to unload the two-bedroom spread, she then tried to rent it for $15,00 a month just a couple months later. Now, she's trying again to sell, this time re-decorating the interiors to be more chic than rustic and lowering the price a tad to $2,695,000. Could this have to do with the $10 million lawsuit she was hit with last month by her former stylist Clare Byrne over a clothing line that they never launched?
Check out the stylish digs

In the 19th century, sailors prayed on floating churches in the East River

Chapel of the Holy Comforter (1846-1856), courtesy of NYCago

October 10, 2017

In the 19th century, sailors prayed on floating churches in the East River

While New York City’s waterways have featured both floating pools and floating parks, they also once held floating churches. The Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey (SCI) first built a floating house of worship in 1844, designed for sailors. According to Untapped Cities, the group’s first big project included building the Church of Our Savior, which floated in the East River off of Pike Street in downtown Manhattan.
Find out more

History

October 10, 2017

For $1.65M, a folksy and funky East Village duplex with prime outdoor space

We are loving this East Village duplex, which boasts a front door straight out to a huge, elevated common terrace that acts like a private park for the residents of this boutique condo at 549 East 11th Street. Inside, a unique, whimsical interior has been decorated by owner Olga Vieira, owner of the yarn-turned-travel business the Koko Company. The apartment was last purchased in 1999 for $180,500 and now it's asking $1.65 million. And if you can't afford that, there's still a chance to Airbnb it.
Check out the outdoor space

Distinctive Homes

Bureau V’s 160-square-foot Urban Cabin is an homage to NYC Immigrants

MINI has been working for the past couple years to expand its purview from tiny cars to tiny homes. Their endeavor began with a micro-living concept to address a lack of attractive, affordable housing in urban settings, and they've now expanded on this idea with an even more compact and personal model. First revealed at last month's London Design Week, the MINI Living Urban Cabin "fuses clever use of space with insights from local architects to create an area and structure suited for their city." British architect Sam Jacob was inspired by London's decline in libraries, but here in NYC, Greenwich Village-based firm Bureau V responded to larger global issues and based their design around New York’s history as an immigrant city.
See more this way

Architecture And Design

October 10, 2017

A borough-by-borough guide to NYC’s food halls

Cronuts. Raclette. Poke bowls. Avocado toast. While the list of trendy cuisines making a splash in New York City’s food scene appears endless, food halls are making it easier for New Yorkers to try a bit of everything all under one roof. The city is experiencing a boom in this casual dining style; real estate developers opt to anchor their buildings with food halls, as all-star chefs choose food halls to serve their celebrated dishes. Ahead, follow 6sqft’s guide to the city’s 24 current food halls, from old standby Chelsea Market to Downtown Brooklyn’s new DeKalb Market, as well as those in the pipeline, planned for hot spots like Hudson Yards and more far-flung locales like Staten Island.
More this way

Pier 17 glows red in honor of new tenant ESPN. Photo: Taylor Crothers via Howard Hughes Corporation.

October 10, 2017

ESPN will open first NYC studios in South Street Seaport’s Pier 17

Cable giant ESPN will be opening a big new studio–the sports network's first in NYC–this spring at the South Street Seaport Pier 17 complex in Howard Hughes Corporation’s $731 million East River waterfront redevelopment project. The New York Post reports that the network's studio partner, NEP group, has signed a multi-year lease for a 19,000-square-foot third floor space with Brooklyn and Manhattan skyline views at the new pier.
Find out more

New Developments

Stonewall Inn to get NYC’s first permanent LGBT pride flag

Stonewall Inn, photo via Wikimedia

October 10, 2017

Stonewall Inn to get NYC’s first permanent LGBT pride flag

LGBT activists will unveil a rainbow flag outside the historic gay bar Stonewall Inn on Wednesday, marking the 30th anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The Greenwich Village bar at 53 Christopher Street is often credited with launching the gay rights movement after multiple violent police raids in the summer of 1969. President Barack Obama designated Stonewall as a national monument last year, the first National Park Service unit dedicated to the gay rights movement (h/t DNA info). Stonewall's rainbow flag will be the first permanent LGBT pride flag in New York City.
More this way

October 10, 2017

Creative power couple’s Yorkville duplex asks $16.5M for 13 rooms, 20-foot ceilings and a waterfall pond

One of several high-profile homes for a high powered creative couple and their three children, this sprawling apartment at 170 East End Avenue is both a perfect canvas for a very serious art gallerist and collector and a home that is lacking exactly nothing, including river, bridge and skyline views, 5,000 square feet of interior space, 20 foot ceilings, 13 rooms, a 150-bottle wine cellar, several terraces, a teak gazebo and a pond with its own waterfall. Indeed "truly remarkable," with interiors by renowned architect Peter Marino, the condominium, just listed for $16.5 million, has 2,186 square feet of landscaped private terraces, six bedrooms plus a library, formal dining, an eat-in kitchen, a home office, studies and lounges–all in a full-service Upper East Side building with amenities galore.
Tour this colorful mini-MoMA

Distinctive Homes

Quirky NYC Train Sign adds real-time subway data to home decor

Image courtesy of NYC Train Sign via Instagram

October 9, 2017

Quirky NYC Train Sign adds real-time subway data to home decor

New York City life got easier when we could see live data on when the next subway train would arrive via signs on platforms, in stations and on our mobile phones. Now a Brooklyn-based startup called NYC Train Sign has created a way to display that data in our homes and businesses (h/t Curbed). In an interesting evolution of the wall clock, the company's flagship product is an artfully-designed countdown clock that displays real-time MTA data for trains in both directions for any train stop you choose. You can add a customized text slide, logo and real-time weather updates, too.
Cool. Where can I get one?

MTA may replace subway booth workers with roaming ‘ambassadors’

Subway booth at the Columbus Circle station, via Wiki Commons

October 9, 2017

MTA may replace subway booth workers with roaming ‘ambassadors’

Fresh off their announcement that they've begun the testing phase of a mobile device scanning and payment system to replace the MetroCard, the MTA has revealed that they're also considering doing away with the ye-olde subway booth worker. According to the Daily News, the latest attempt at modernization will replace the workers with "customer service ambassadors" who will roam stations to provide real-time travel info and answer questions.
They're even getting new uniforms

Transit

Hill West design a modest, 19-story condo for Billionaires’ Row

Rendering of 7 West 57th Street found at its construction site, via CityRealty

October 9, 2017

Hill West design a modest, 19-story condo for Billionaires’ Row

As Billionaires' Row on Manhattan's West 57th Street continues to grow with supertall towers, developer Sheldon Solow plans on constructing a more modest addition to the block. New renderings of the boutique condo at 7 West 57th Street, designed by Hill West, reveal a 19-floor building with an unassuming glass facade and a convex face, as CityRealty learned. The tower plays off of Solow's concave tower next door at 9 West 57th Street.
More this way

October 9, 2017

This $988K Tudor in Bayside, Queens looks like something out of a fairy tale

Everything you need to know about affordable housing: applying, getting in, and staying put

A turreted entryway, arched front door, leaded and stained glass windows and wood beamed ceilings--it all makes for a mini-castle in the heart of Bayside, Queens. This Tudor home at 48-12 217th Street was built in the 1930s, and is located in a neighborhood filled with other Tudor beauties with well manicured front yards. This home comes with plenty of suburban perks, like a front and back yard, garage and finished basement. Combined with the 1930s period details, it's a unique property that's now on the market for $988,000 and may just lure you out to eastern Queens.
There's even a Tiffany chandelier

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MTA begins testing of new subway fare system, first step to phasing out MetroCards

Image: Phil Hollenback via Flickr.

October 9, 2017

MTA begins testing of new subway fare system, first step to phasing out MetroCards

With the goal of eventually phasing out the use of MetroCards in the New York City subway system, the MTA has begun the testing phase of a mobile device scanning and payment system. Untapped Cities reports that the first trials of a new mobile fare system are being installed at points where Metro-North commuters transfer to the subway, as an expansion of the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road's eTix app. At specific stations, riders can make the transfer with turnstiles fitted with scanners that allow them to swipe their phones. The new turnstiles have already been installed in the Bowling Green and Wall Street Stations in lower Manhattan for a test run; the expansion is a pilot for the eventual phasing out of MetroCards altogether.
Find out when and where you can try out the new system

October 8, 2017

Interview: Hasten CEO Aleksandr Lanin delves into trends in virtual staging

By Ondel Hylton

Anyone trawling through apartment listings may have noticed the upsurge of virtually staged apartment photos. The technique has proven to be a cost-effective and speedy alternative to traditional methods of staging vacant units. For those of you not fully warmed-up to the computer-aided technique, your reservations are understandable. Photos are the most important element to viewing listings […]

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

Images (L to R): FRONTIER, TOWER 28, LEVEL and 95 WALL

October 7, 2017

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

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): FRONTIER, TOWER 28, LEVEL and 95 WALL The Refinery, Newly Constructed Clinton Hill Rental Leasing from $2,150/Month [link] A New Frontier: Leasing Begins at 210 East 39th Street with Two Months of Free Rent [link] New Rentals Launch with 1 Month Free at Historic Offerman House in Downtown Brooklyn [link] Tallest […]

Real Estate Trends

October 6, 2017

For $3.75M, escape to the Mediterranean waterfront right in Westchester

This home looks better suited for Europe or California, but it's located just north of Manhattan in the Westchester suburb of Mamaroneck. The Spanish Mediterranean manse was built in 1926 and is situated on a half-acre of land right along the water. Stunning views from the waterfront lawn and private dock look out toward Larchmont Harbor, the Long Island Sound, and the distant Manhattan skyline. Inside, it's like an escape to a European or Hollywood retreat--take your pick--with incredible details that include Spanish tile floors imported from Seville.
Time to go inside

Distinctive Homes

The Urban Lens: Documenting NYC’s vanishing ATMs

Outside the Lower East Side club Fat Baby

October 6, 2017

The Urban Lens: Documenting NYC’s vanishing ATMs

6sqft’s ongoing series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Ivan Kosnyrev shares photos from his Instagram series Unreliable ATM. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. We recently shared photographer's before-and-after photos of Tribeca, a project that helped him learn about the history and present evolution of his neighborhood. Having only moved to NYC three years ago from Moscow, Ivan uses his documentary photography as a way to get acclimated with his new home. And when he wants to go outside his home base, he often does so through the lens of his Instagram account Unreliable ATM, which documents the vanishing street ATM. Not only does this disappearance represent changing times and technologies, but it's a visual reminder of how the city is losing its small businesses and culture. Ahead, Ivan shares some of his favorite ATM photos and talks about his inspiration for the project.
All that, this way

Places

Jennifer Lopez lists enormous Nomad penthouse for $27M

Photo of Jennifer Lopez via Wikimedia

October 6, 2017

Jennifer Lopez lists enormous Nomad penthouse for $27M

By Annie Doge

Bronx native and superstar J.Lo is selling her duplex penthouse in the Whitman, a luxurious condominium conversion at 21 East 26th Street, for $26.95 million. Lopez, who currently stars in the television show “Shades of Blue,” first purchased the Nomad pad in 2014 for $20.16 million. As the New York Times reported, the four-bedroom apartment overlooks Madison Square Park, spans 6,540 square feet on the building’s top two floors, and includes an additional 3,000 square feet of outdoor space spread across four sprawling terraces. Though Jenny from the Block will be departing (and taking her Grammy pictured above with her!), the next owner can still hobnob with the building's other A-listers Chelsea Clinton and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.
See inside

Airbus passes testing milestone on CityAirbus flying taxi

City Airbus. Image: Airbus

October 6, 2017

Airbus passes testing milestone on CityAirbus flying taxi

If you're stuck in city traffic, you'll appreciate this news: Airbus helicopters has just announced that it has completed its first full-scale testing on the propulsion system of the company's CityAirbus demonstrator, Designboom reports. The vehicle in question is a a multi-passenger, self-piloted electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle made for urban air mobility–in essence, a flying taxi.
Should we cancel our Uber account?

For $1,015/month, live in a new Clinton Hill rental with private balconies

Renderings courtesy of STUDIOSC Architects

October 6, 2017

For $1,015/month, live in a new Clinton Hill rental with private balconies

Move-ins started just a month ago at the new Brooklyn rental 10 Lexington Avenue, and now the lottery is opening for 17 $1,015/month one-bedrooms apartments in the building in the up-and-coming, post-industrial pocket between Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant. According to the building website, all units have private outdoor space and amenities include a roof deck, courtyard, laundry room, fitness center, and lounge.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

As deadline nears, New York City’s bid for Amazon’s second headquarters heats up

Photo courtesy of Robert Scoble on Flickr

October 6, 2017

As deadline nears, New York City’s bid for Amazon’s second headquarters heats up

With the deadline for proposals due Oct. 19, New York City politicians, business leaders and real estate developers are putting the finishing touches on their pitches intended to lure Amazon into building their second headquarters in the city. After Amazon first announced HQ2, which will bring $5 billion in initial city investment and 50,000 new jobs, over two dozen site proposals in 23 neighborhoods were crafted in New York. According to Crain’s, a group of city and state agencies is working together on a bid, with less than two weeks left before the due date. So far, proposals for neighborhoods like Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Sunset Park's Industry City, Long Island City and areas in the Bronx have been discussed.
Find out more

Policy

October 6, 2017

Everything’s big–including the waterfront views–in this $4M West Village loft

The condominium at 495 West Street in the West Village is known for having an exceedingly low turnover rate: Residents rarely leave. Built in 1999 by architect-developer Cary Tamarkin, the building's lofts were given generous floorplans and big-shouldered details like sixteen-foot-high casement windows. Today, it's still coveted, due in no small part to its wide-sprawling layouts and fabulous Hudson River views. This 1,988-square-foot loft with 776 square feet of private outdoor space, currently asking $3.995 million, is the first unit in the building to be on the market since 2004.
What makes this loft so special?

Distinctive Homes

Construction of Norman Foster’s ritzy One Hundred East 53rd Street tower is complete!

One Hundred East 53rd Street, photo via CityRealty

October 5, 2017

Construction of Norman Foster’s ritzy One Hundred East 53rd Street tower is complete!

The Midtown East tower designed by Norman Foster's Foster + Partners is finally finished. As CityRealty reported, the glassy design of One Hundred East 53rd Street takes into account the bronze hues of its historic neighbor, the Seagram Building, with a counter curtain wall. The luxurious residential building continues to be a magnet for celebrities, including couples like George and Amal Clooney and Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. The amenities are also of star quality: a wellness center, library lounge, swimming pool and a restaurant from the French chef Joël Robuchon who has earned 34 Michelin stars.
See inside

October 5, 2017

Rock royal Ann Dexter-Jones lists glam Village duplex for $5M

Ann Dexter-Jones, British-born socialite, jewelry designer, mom to the Ronson clan, and once-again wife of Foreigner’s Mick Jones (the pair married 32 years ago, divorced in 2007 and recently remarried) just put her chic three-bedroom Village co-op on the market (h/t New York Post). The 2,075-square-foot home at 42 West 9th Street in the coveted "Gold Coast" neighborhood off lower Fifth Avenue, asking $4.995 million, has a townhouse vibe and plenty of character. Four wood-burning fireplaces, 11-foot ceilings, and pre-war details can be found throughout, in a building with more amenities than a townhouse.
Take the tour

Short Films Walk presents architecture and design films in Soho’s showrooms

“Ghost Story.” Director: Sarah Elgart. 2017 / 7:33 min / USA. Image via ADFF.

October 5, 2017

Short Films Walk presents architecture and design films in Soho’s showrooms

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

The annual Architecture & Design Film Festival is always one of the coolest offerings among the Center for Architecture's Archtober events. This year, the one-night Short Films Walk (SFW), happening on October 11th, will connect the film festival with Soho's creative design showrooms. The event features an ADFF-curated selection of short films about architecture and design, to be screened at each showroom as a 15-minute loop. You can catch the short films at these Soho showrooms (including Flos, Moroso, Artemide and Hästens) from 5 p.m. to 9.p.m.
More about the short films and a ADFF ticket giveaway, this way

Uncovering the sites of the South Village’s secret ‘Little Italy’

Caffe Reggio, via Prayitno/Flickr

October 5, 2017

Uncovering the sites of the South Village’s secret ‘Little Italy’

Many think of Little Italy’s Mulberry Street or the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue as the centers of Italian-American life and culture in New York. But some of the most historically significant sites relating to the Italian-American experience in New York can be found in the Greenwich Village blocks known as the South Village--from the first church in America built specifically for an Italian-American congregation to the cafe where cappuccino was first introduced to the country, to the birthplace of Fiorello LaGuardia, NYC's first Italian-American mayor.
All the historic sites right this way

History

MAP: Find the colorful fall foliage of Central Park’s 20,000 trees

Central Park in Autumn, photo via Anthony Quintano on Flickr

October 5, 2017

MAP: Find the colorful fall foliage of Central Park’s 20,000 trees

Central Park's most dazzling and vibrant season has arrived. With over 20,000 trees and 150 species of trees spread across 843-acres, Central Park in autumn remains a cannot-miss spectacle for New Yorkers. Thankfully, the Central Park Conservancy created a fall foliage map making it easy to find the leaves with the brightest shades of gold, yellow, red and orange this season.
Check it out

Events & Things To Do

October 5, 2017

REVEALED: Central Park Tower’s ‘Village Green’ lawn and pool deck

Central Park Tower, New York City's future tallest residential skyscraper, is getting a more down-to-earth design. As CityRealty learned, the supertall at 225 West 57th Street on Billionaires' Row will feature a sprawling landscaped space designed by HMWhite. The firm's terrace design includes both passive and active recreational areas, like a central open lawn and a sequence of complimentary garden rooms. Renderings of the projected 1,550-foot tall tower reveal a lap pool overlooking West 57th Street and a sun deck among pergolas and trellises.
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October 5, 2017

For $3.65M, an Upper West Side brownstone duplex with a place downstairs for your guests

This Central Park West top-floor brownstone duplex co-op with a terrace and a roof deck is, as the listing says, "park block perfection." Even better: Grab the one-bedroom unit just downstairs–perfect for your guests, nanny, or new college grad. This pretty pair at 46 West 75th Street, asking $3.65 million, is also available as separate units, but why split up a good thing?
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

1289 Lexington Avenue

Carnegie Hill

Refined living on the Upper East Side

2 beds starting at $2,495,000
3 beds starting at $4,995,000
4 beds starting at $5,250,000
5 beds starting at $8,995,000

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Robert A.M. Stern’s affordable housing development in Brownsville approved by City Planning

Rendering of Edwin’s Place via Robert AM Stern Architects

October 4, 2017

Robert A.M. Stern’s affordable housing development in Brownsville approved by City Planning

The New York City Planning Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal for 125 affordable units designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects at 3 Livonia Avenue in Brownsville. The proposed Brooklyn development, called Edwin's Place, would feature an eight-story building with 69 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units and 56 studios. Edwin's Place is being developed by nonprofit partners Breaking Ground and the African American Planning Commission, Inc. The proposal, which won approval from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Community Board 16, will move on to the City Council for a final review.
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October 4, 2017

Celebrity photographer Ken Nahoum’s eye-popping three-penthouse combo asks $20M in Soho

This gigantic three-penthouse combo is owned by the celebrity photographer Ken Nahoum, who's captured everyone from Robert De Niro to Michael Douglas to Dr. Dre to Johnny Cash. According to Mansion Global, he began living in the cast iron SoHo building, 95 Greene Street, in the 1980s after it was converted to residential use. In 1999, he bought up a 1,231-square-foot apartment here with his now ex-girlfriend, Victoria’s Secret model Basia Milewicz. Then in 2002, he bought the two adjacent penthouses and the rooftop section. Now it's a massive showpiece penthouse, with 8,200 square feet of interior living space alongside five outdoor terraces totaling 4,000 square feet.
There are glass staircases, too

October 4, 2017

INTERVIEW: LOT-EK’s Giuseppe Lignano talks sustainability and shipping container architecture

After completing architecture school at Universita’ di Napoli, Italy, Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano fell in love with New York City, deciding in 1995 to establish an innovative firm in Manhattan called LOT-EK. Early experiments in the art world grew into a substantial architecture practice, but their philosophy has always been the same: Both Ada and Giuseppe are focused on a concept they call "up-cycling," taking existing objects and elevating them through art, design, and architecture. The firm has done its most innovative work re-using shipping containers and received a wave of attention this year for a Brooklyn residential project that utilized 21 shipping containers in surprising, stunning ways. The firm has just released its second monograph, LOT-EK: Objects and Operations, a photo-heavy showcase of dozens of projects the firm produced around the world over the past 15 years. "LOT-EK is a design practice that believes in being unoriginal, ugly, and cheap," the book states. "Also in being revolutionary, gorgeous, and completely luxurious." With 6sqft, co-founder Giuseppe Lignano talks about the early days of running a firm and waiting tables in 1990s New York, explains the firm's philosophy behind sustainability and re-use, and discusses the inspiration behind their notable Williamsburg project.
This way for the interview

October 4, 2017

Tribeca townhouse with an address once used for John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Nutopia’ is for rent

John Lennon and Yoko Ono never lived at this Tribeca townhouse—it's well known they preferred the Upper West Side—but they certainly have a unique connection to it. Here's the story, per the New York Times: in 1973, Lennon and Ono announced the birth of Nutopia, "a conceptual country" with no boundaries and "no laws other than cosmic." Mr. Lennon, who was being threatened with deportation because of a 1968 marijuana conviction in England, was seeking diplomatic immunity and United Nations recognition as a Nutopian ambassador. The iconic couple gave 1 White Street as the embassy address.
Check out the interior

MTA refurbishes and removes seats from E train to squeeze more riders in cars

Updated interior of E train, photo via MTA on Flickr

October 4, 2017

MTA refurbishes and removes seats from E train to squeeze more riders in cars