6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

This historic 19th century building was once home to a German Lutheran church--and now it's the site of a super-cool live music venue and recording studio in upstate New York. Located in the charming town of Hudson, at 21 North 6th Street, the space now offers a buyer some unique opportunities. At an ask of $1.59 million, the listing says, "with certificate of occupancy allowing for both commercial and residential use, this remarkable property can also be reimagined and adapted for any number of commercial uses like a concert hall or an event space, a live and work space for artists, or a phenomenal private residence." One thing's for sure, the bones of this former house of worship--including everything from a spiral staircase to stained glass--are unbeatable.
Look around

Live above Target in Extell’s new East Village rental, from $1,114/month

Rendering via Extell Development

February 8, 2018

Live above Target in Extell’s new East Village rental, from $1,114/month

An Extell Development rental building in the East Village is now accepting applications for 50 newly constructed, middle-income units. Not only does the chic building at 524 East 14th Street boast amenities like a fitness center, pool and rooftop deck, it will also have a two-level Target, the chain's first location in the neighborhood. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 70 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $1,114/studios to $2,733/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you quality

Affordable Housing

February 8, 2018

The long-awaited Bayonne boom: Transit options, adaptive reuse, and affordability

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Bayonne, located on the southern peninsula of New Jersey’s Gold Coast, is ripe for a construction boom. That being said, it has been awaiting this boom for over 18 years - since the light rail system was installed. As Newport and Jersey City’s markets are on fire, Bayonne hopes that development momentum is headed their way. But with its Hudson River location, city views, access to Manhattan via light rail and the PATH (it is about 30 minutes to take the light rail to the PATH to the World Trade Center), Bayonne has taken its future into its own hands and massively revised its master plan for the first time since 2000. Bayonne considers its proximity to New York City and lower prices its greatest assets. The average home sales are around $400,000 versus $800,000 in Jersey City. The new master plan aims to transform Bayonne into a walkable, bikeable, mixed-use community with densely settled areas (which they call “transit villages”) around the light rail stations. The town’s 22nd Street Light Rail stop connects residents to the rest of the Gold Coast and PATH trains running to Manhattan. Bayonne City Planner Suzanne Mack is quoted as saying, “Our assets are our charm and home life...We’ve moved from being an industrial giant, an oil tank farm basically, into more of a bedroom community with a lot of community resources.”
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

February 8, 2018

$16M turreted Ansonia co-op combo is an Upper West Side opportunity for the ages

For every micro apartment that steals headlines, it seems that New York City responds with a massive mega-mansion or sprawling sky palace to reassure anyone who craves a city apartment the size of a small city. This combination of four apartments in the historic Ansonia condominium residence at 2109 Broadway on the Upper West Side is the latest example (h/t Curbed). Four individual apartments await the possibilities, asking $16.185 million. This is also a rare opportunity to a create a duplex, which would be one of only five in the building.
Get a peek at 5,700 square feet of historic Ansonia interiors

Distinctive Homes

February 8, 2018

Find and apply for current affordable housing lotteries in NYC with this new map

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development on Wednesday released an interactive map of housing lotteries currently accepting applications. Users can click icons displayed on the NYC Housing Connect Map for more information on a lottery, including required income levels, household size and the application deadline. Earlier this week, the department launched a map that displays all of the affordable housing units, buildings and projects which count towards Mayor Bill de Blasio's Housing New York 2.0 plan.
Explore the map

Affordable Housing

February 8, 2018

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner house hunt in Annabelle Selldorf’s Bowlmor Lanes-replacing condo

DNCE singer Joe Jonas and fiancee Sophie Turner, star of "Game of Thrones," were recently spotted having a look at a Greenwich Village home in the newly-minted Annabelle Selldorf-designed condos that notoriously replaced the former Bowlmor Lanes at 21 East 12th Street. The New York Post reports that the pair checked out a unit in the building's C-line, where two-bedroom homes span 2,028 square feet, priced between $5 and $6 million.
Get a closer look

Passing $2B in sales, 432 Park becomes highest selling building in NYC ever

Photo via Douglas Elliman

February 7, 2018

Passing $2B in sales, 432 Park becomes highest selling building in NYC ever

CIM Group and Macklowe Properties announced on Wednesday that the world's tallest residential building just broke another record: the single best-selling building in New York City. According to the developers, they have sold $2 billion in luxury condominiums at 432 Park Avenue, a 1,396-foot tower designed by renowned architect Rafael Viñoly. The building's most significant closings include 48 residences selling for more than $20 million each.
More this way

Real Estate Trends

Distinctive Homes

For $2.3M, this Amzi Hill-designed Bed-Stuy brownstone gives you plenty of options

This $4M Flatbush townhouse stays true to its Victorian roots

For $7.15M, this Sag Harbor 1930s cottage is a timeless waterfront refuge

Three bedrooms and plenty of living space make this $1.7M Park Slope condo a special find

A colorful converted convent in Hamilton Heights asks $2M

Justin and Hailey Bieber buy West Village condo for $12M

This $5.5M two-family townhouse is classic East Village living at its best

One of the oldest wood-frame houses in Brooklyn Heights asks $4.9M

This $675K Flatbush co-op has a clean Scandinavian vibe and a flexible layout

Kurt Weill's former New York country estate with a creative pedigree asks $2.3M

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February 7, 2018

This chic and affordable Harlem co-op, asking $512K, has just one catch

This is quite the appealing one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located on the first floor of the Harlem cooperative 1919 Madison Avenue. And it's asking $512,000, a reasonable price for NYC real estate. There is, however, a catch behind that asking price. This is an HDFC apartment, meaning that to qualify to buy it you may need to make less—rather than more—money. (Such tight income restrictions have kept hundreds of HDFCs empty around the city.) Still, the apartment value has seen a boost in recent years, as it last sold in 2013 for $140,000.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

Live around the corner from Central Park in a renovated Harlem rental, from $675/month

Photo of Randolph Houses via HPD

February 7, 2018

Live around the corner from Central Park in a renovated Harlem rental, from $675/month

Applications are now being accepted for 106 newly constructed, affordable units at Central Harlem's Randolph Houses. Named in honor of civil rights leader, Phillip Randolph, the houses consist of 36 buildings along West 114th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 50 and 60 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $675/month studios to a $1,289/month three-bedrooms. Located at 265 West 114th Street, the building is just a five-minute walk to Central Park.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Inside the construction at the TWA Flight Center Hotel; Help eat the world’s biggest bagel and lox

Image courtesy of MCR and Morse Development; Photo: Max Touhey (L); Via Acme Smoked Fish (R)

February 7, 2018

Inside the construction at the TWA Flight Center Hotel; Help eat the world’s biggest bagel and lox

By 6sqft

Healthcare workers who use mass transit have a median commute of 51.2 minutes—the longest of any workers in NYC’s private sector. [Center for an Urban Future] Mapping the West Village’s 150 shuttered storefronts. [Medium] Residents of a Flatiron condo building are suing the Soul Cycle downstairs over constant “bowling-ball”-like thuds. [NYP] Help consume the world’s biggest bagel & […]

Uncategorized

February 7, 2018

Treat your sweetie (or yourself) to a chocolate tour of Brooklyn this Valentine’s Day

This Valentine's Day, leave the heart-shaped candy box at Duane Reade and enjoy locally-made chocolate instead. Explore Brooklyn released their "Brooklyn Chocolate Trail Map" this month with 12 must-eat delicious destinations in the borough. The list includes chocolatiers, factories and tasting rooms. Follow the chocolate trail and taste-test your way through Greenpoint, DUMBO, Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn. What could be sweeter?
Learn more

Events & Things To Do

How NYC’s 2012 Olympic Village would have transformed the Queens waterfront

Renderings of the winning design by Morphosis

February 7, 2018

How NYC’s 2012 Olympic Village would have transformed the Queens waterfront

By Ondel Hylton

With the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea kicking off in just two days, we can't help but think what an incredible 17 days it would have been if they were here in New York City (logistical concerns aside). The city came closest in 2004 when it was chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as one of the five finalists to host the 2012 Olympics. London, Paris, Moscow and Madrid were the other four. Splashy renderings planted 27 venues across all five boroughs, New Jersey and Long Island, but the winning, and perhaps most eye-catching, proposal was the Olympic Village in Long Island City's Hunter's Point South by Thom Mayne's Morphosis.
Get the full history here

A glamping retreat will open on Governors Island this summer

Photo courtesy of the Trust for Governors Island

February 7, 2018

A glamping retreat will open on Governors Island this summer

Tired of the bitter cold? Already devising warm-weather activities for the summer? Thankfully, the Trust for Governors Island just made planning a lot easier. The Trust announced on Wednesday its plan to open a temporary glamping retreat to the Island from Collective Hotels & Retreats, a group that brings the accommodations of a five-star hotel to the outdoors. As part of a three-year license, the company will transform six acres of the 172-acre island into an "environmentally-friendly overnight lodging retreat with unobstructed views of the Statue of Liberty."
Get the details

February 7, 2018

Asking $1.5M, is this cute three-story townhouse the last great deal in Sunset Park?

While waterfront neighbor Red Hook was recently named Brooklyn's most expensive neighborhood despite the challenges it presents when it comes to public transportation, easy-to-reach Sunset Park remains slightly out of the spotlight despite steady investment and growth. Blocks of historic row houses have long ago left the realm of bargain buys, but there's still an air of the undiscovered. This three story, three-family, four-bedroom-plus-apartment property at 425 45th Street is a prime example of Sunset Park perfection, and at $1.5 million seems downright affordable given what the average two-bedroom apartment commands a mere two subway stops away.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

February 7, 2018

97 affordable apartments up for grabs at FiDi’s latest glassy skyscraper, from $788/month

A 762-foot skyscraper in the Financial District is now accepting applications for 97 affordable apartments. Developed by Carmel Partners and designed by Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel and SLCE Architects, the residential development at 118 Fulton Street (also known as 19 Dutch Street) contains 483 rental units. The glassy tower will have over 8,000 square feet of retail space on the cellar, first and second levels. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $788/month studios to $1,025/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

February 7, 2018

New details and renderings for Essex Crossing’s Market Line, NYC’s largest food hall

By Dana Schulz

It's been over a year since we got our first look at Market Line, the 150,000-square-foot market that will anchor the Essex Crossing mega-development. It will serve as the new home for the Lower East Side's iconic, 76-year-old Essex Street Market and boast two indoor parks, a beer garden, 150 food vendors, and 20 retail spaces--all adding up to the city's largest food hall. Eater now has spotted a fresh set of renderings of Market Line, as well as the first vendor announcement. Among those who will be hawking their grub are Queens' famed taco spot Tortilleria Nixtamal, the Upper East Side's 100-year-old German meat market Schaller & Weber, and the East Village's Ukrainian institution Veselka.
Check out the other vendors and more renderings

Lottery launches for 258 rentals at TF Cornerstone’s West 57th tower, from $613/month

The lottery for TF Cornerstone's massive building at 606 West 57th Street officially launched on Tuesday, offering 258 mixed-income rentals in the brand new 42-story tower. Designed by Arquitectonica, the rental, dubbed 606W57, boasts a unique, boxy design and will hold over 1,000 apartments. It sits near other West Side architectural standouts like the pyramid-shaped, Bjarke Ingels-designed Via57 West, as well as the Helena. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 60 and 120 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a $613/month studio to a $2,902/month three-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Google to buy Chelsea Market building for $2.5B, the second largest single sale in NYC history

Photo of Chelsea Market via Wikimedia

February 6, 2018

Google to buy Chelsea Market building for $2.5B, the second largest single sale in NYC history

Editor's Note: The New York Post reports Google will buy Chelsea Market for $2.5 billion, which would make it the second biggest single sale in the city's history. It closely follows the $2.8 billion purchase of the GM Building in 2007. Google has entered contract with Jamestown LP to buy the Chelsea Market building for over $2 billion. As 2018's first billion dollars plus transaction in New York, the deal is expected to close sometime in the next two months, according to the Real Deal. This will further the tech giant's presence in the Manhattan neighborhood; it is currently the biggest tenant at 75 Ninth Avenue and its headquarters are located across the street at 111 Eighth Avenue.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

February 6, 2018

This stylish Chelsea loft, asking $2.25M, is a standout in luxurious textures and moody hues

From smooth marble to luxe leather in dark tones of charcoal and slate, this floor-through pad at 151 West 28th Street at the intersection of Chelsea, Nomad and the Flatiron Districts combines classic loft detail with modern design. At 1,800 square feet, you're getting a fair amount of space for $2.25 million; there are currently two bedrooms, an interior "bonus" room, and the opportunity to create closet and storage space. But there's so much open space you'll always know you're in a Manhattan loft.
Tour this elegant loft

Distinctive Homes

February 6, 2018

This 68-square-foot Upper West Side ‘apartment’ is $950/month

By Hannah Frishberg

There is perhaps no greater testament to New York City’s appeal than the abundance of itty bitty, overpriced apartments in appealing neighborhoods. And this Upper West Side residence might just take the cake. The lister of the SRO at 148 West 70th Street at least appreciates how ridiculous the setup is. The apartment, located an avenue and a half from Central Park, is a measly 68 square feet – “yup you read that right,” the listing reads. A fifth-floor walkup in a brownstone with a communal bathroom, the apartment is renting for a whopping $950/month.
Step inside, if you can fit

West Side art center The Shed plans a pre-opening exhibit this spring

Rendering by NLÉ Works

February 6, 2018

West Side art center The Shed plans a pre-opening exhibit this spring

About one year before opening in the spring of 2019, The Shed, the art center rising near Hudson Yards, will present a free event on an undeveloped lot at 10th Avenue and 30th Street. The multi-arts exhibit will happen between May 1st to May 13th, just one block away from the center's future home. "We are temporarily transforming an empty lot into a flexible public space for new work, collaboration, and dialogue," Alex Poots, CEO of The Shed said in a press release. That means a cool temporary space, designed by the architect Kunlé Adeyemi of NLÉ Works and artist Tino Sehgal, to host a variety of music, dance and performance.
Read more about the upcoming shows

As New York struggles with basic maintenance, global cities build cheaper, better infrastructure

Construction workers giving a tour of the Second Avenue subway; photo via the MTA on Flickr

February 6, 2018

As New York struggles with basic maintenance, global cities build cheaper, better infrastructure

The exorbitant construction costs of building transit projects, coupled with project delays, could make the New York region lose jobs and businesses to other global cities that are completing transit projects in a more timely, and economical, fashion. A report released on Tuesday from the Regional Plan Association (RPA) says high-costs and delays are ingrained in every part of the public-project delivery, including too-long environmental reviews, inaccurate project budgets and timelines and a lack of communication with labor unions. In their report, the RPA analyzed three projects and their costs and delivery issues: the Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access and the extension of the 7-train.
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Taylor Swift buys yet another Tribeca property, spending $50M on a single block of real estate

Google Street View of 155 Franklin Street; Taylor Swift via Eva Rinaldi/Flickr

February 6, 2018

Taylor Swift buys yet another Tribeca property, spending $50M on a single block of real estate

Taylor Swift nabbed yet another Tribeca property--bringing her spending along Franklin Street to an astounding $47.7 million. The New York Post reports that she has just purchased a 3,540-square-foot unit on the second floor of 155 Franklin Street, the condo building where she already owns a duplex. The pop star paid financier Jeremy Phillips $9.75 million for it in an off-market deal. She bought her existing top-floor penthouse at 155 Franklin, which spans 8,000 square feet, from “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson in 2014 for $19.95 million. Swift then bought the $18 million townhouse next door, at 153 Franklin Street, which comes with its own paparazzi-proof garage.
There's speculation to her latest purchase

Live on Bergen Street in Crown Heights North for $2,415 a month; lottery launches today

Photo courtesy of City View Living

February 6, 2018

Live on Bergen Street in Crown Heights North for $2,415 a month; lottery launches today

A housing lottery has launched for five newly-constructed middle-income units at 876 Bergen Street in the rapidly growing Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The 8-story, 16-unit building is located near Classon Avenue surrounded by popular restaurants, bars and lots of public transportation options. Amenities include an outdoor garden, a rooftop lounge, 24-hour security cameras, a laundry room and bike storage. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for one-bedroom apartments for $2,415/month.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

February 5, 2018

City releases map with all of the affordable housing units created or preserved since 2014

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

In addition to upping the number of affordable housing units created or preserved in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing for greater transparency of his ambitious plan to bring 300,000 affordable units to the city by 2026. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) launched an interactive map on Monday that displays all of the units, buildings, and projects that count towards the mayor's Housing New York 2.0 plan (h/t Curbed NY). The counted units, with data starting with units from January 1, 2014 on and will be updated quarterly, are shown by the number of units and occupancy size.
See it here

Affordable Housing

THE 6SQFT SHOP

The 6 best furniture rental companies in NYC

8 best places in NYC to thrift for home goods

The best websites for buying and selling used furniture in NYC

Everything you need to know about using a guarantor in NYC

15 quintessential NYC gifts for the New Yorker in your life

Raising chickens in NYC: Laws, tips, and everything else you need to know

50 places to shop locally in NYC for that perfect gift

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

10 best plants for apartment dwellers

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February 5, 2018

12 artsy and offbeat things to do in New York City for Valentine’s Day

By Lori Zimmer

Whether you’re loved up or flying solo, Valentine’s Day brings a bevy of creative events and exhibitions to New York, with a soiree for every taste. Architecture buffs can spend an exclusive evening at One Barclay with the Art Deco Society; art lovers can go back in time with jazz master Michael Arenella at the art-filled Norwood Club; and urban explorers can tour the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant's digester eggs.
Details on these events and more this way

Events & Things To Do

February 5, 2018

Sleek and edgy Broken Angel House-replacing condo in Clinton Hill asks $1.5M

This top-floor two-bedroom condominium at 4 Downing Street in Clinton Hill, we're told, is "an iconic turn of the century building recently completely reimagined and overhauled as a boutique condominium." Said overhaul was undertaken in 2015 by Barrett Design and Development on what was previously the indeed-iconic Broken Angel House, once among Brooklyn’s most unique landmarks. Artist Arthur Wood purchased the original tenement building in 1979 for $2,000 and subsequently transformed it into a whimsical, livable sculpture, complete with stained glass windows made from bottles and glass, a cathedral-like glass addition, and brick wings. It was also the backdrop for the documentary "Dave Chappelle’s Block Party." The two-bedroom unit is on the market for $1.55 million; it was purchased as new construction two years ago for $1.42 million.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

February 5, 2018

Largest timber-constructed office building in the nation planned for Newark’s waterfront

Lotus Equity Group announced on Monday plans to bring the largest mass timber office building in the United States to the Newark waterfront. Michael Green Architecture has been tapped to design the 500,000-square-foot office building made with a wooden structure for Riverfront Square, a massive mixed-use development proposed for the Broad Street corridor of the Jersey neighborhood, according to the Wall Street Journal. The building will rise in three separate sections to six, eight and 11 stories tall and have a concrete foundation. Its columns, exterior panels, elevators, stairwells and floor systems will be made of mass timber. Interiors will boast exposed wood with a facade covered in metal panels, brick or wood.
Find out more

Extell’s Brooklyn Point tower will have the highest rooftop pool in the city

Brooklyn Point renderings via Williams New York

February 5, 2018

Extell’s Brooklyn Point tower will have the highest rooftop pool in the city

By Dana Schulz

It's no surprise that the supertall savants at Extell--who are currently constructing the 1,550-foot Central Park Tower as the world's tallest residential building--used their first foray into Brooklyn to smash yet another sky-high record. The Post reports that the developer's City Point tower, dubbed Brooklyn Point, will boast the highest rooftop pool in the entire city. Sitting at the top of the 720-foot luxury condo at 138 Willoughby Street, it will be a 27-foot-long saltwater infinity pool, complete with a full lounge area, a stargazing observatory, and space for outdoor movie screenings.
More details and views ahead

Affordable senior housing lottery launches at Staten Island’s Seaview Site C in Todt Hill

Via Douglaston Development

February 5, 2018

Affordable senior housing lottery launches at Staten Island’s Seaview Site C in Todt Hill

New York City Seniors now have more options in the five boroughs as the lottery launches today for Staten Island's Seaview Site C, comprised of 160 newly-constructed units at 155-175 Friendship Lane in the Todt Hill neighborhood. The Douglaston Development project is exclusively for low-income senior citizens and consists of 82 studios, 78 one-bedroom apartments, and a resident manager’s unit. Amenities include an indoor common area, outdoor patio, laundry room, and on-site parking.
Find out more

Affordable Housing

NYC RENTALS: This week’s roundup of rental news & offers

Images (L to R): 325 Kent Avenue, Instrata Gramercy, 63 Wall Street and Watermark LIC

February 3, 2018

NYC RENTALS: This week’s roundup of rental news & offers

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 325 Kent Avenue, Instrata Gramercy, 63 Wall Street and Watermark LIC Leasing Launches at 490 Lefferts Avenue; New Brooklyn Rentals Start at $2,000/Month Long Island City Hot Block: Live at the Crescent Club and Get 1 Month Free 63 Wall Street Luxury Rentals: 2.5 Months Free on 17 Month Leases + […]

Real Estate Trends

February 2, 2018

Richard Meier’s modernist Smith House in Connecticut lists for $14.5M

There's no shortage of stunning modern homes designed in Connecticut by prominent architects, from Philip Johnson to Marcel Breuer. Add Richard Meier to that list, an architect currently making a big mark here in New York with his first NYC skyscraper design. He was just 31 when he designed the Smith House in Darien, Connecticut, which hit the market last week for $14.5 million. The home--with stark white walls, a geometric design and expanses of glass--was built in 1967 right along the Long Island Sound waterfront.
See the striking interior

John Jay’s new database provides 35,000+ records of slavery in New York

Draft Riots in New York (1863) via NYPL

February 2, 2018

John Jay’s new database provides 35,000+ records of slavery in New York

Typically seen as a beacon of freedom and diversity, New York also served as the capital of slavery in the United States for nearly 200 years. Before the American Revolution, more enslaved Africans lived in New York City than every city except South Carolina, with over 40 percent of the city's households owning slaves. However, the state eventually became an epicenter for abolition efforts, as well as a destination for many slaves escaping enslavement in the south. To further the public's understanding of New York's relationship with slavery, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice has created a searchable database of slaves and their owners (h/t WNYC).
Find out more

History

February 2, 2018

For $2.8M, a sustainable Tribeca loft with wall tiles made of recycled car parts

Even at first glance this architect-designed loft in Tribeca's City Hall Tower at 258 Broadway seems to have all the best elements of downtown loft living: Beneath 14-foot ceilings, walls of windows wrap the space for views of City Hall Park and the neighborhood below, and a mezzanine level offers more sleeping and living room. But this $2.8 million co-op's secret superpower is sustainability, from walls of recycled post-industrial denim insulation and sound isolation to 100 percent VOC-free YOLO paint.
Have a look around this amazing loft

A pavilion made of metal grain bins will debut this summer on Governors Island

Renderings courtesy of Austin+Mergold in collaboration with Maria Park, and consulting engineers Chris Earls (Cornell) and Scott Hughes (Silman)

February 2, 2018

A pavilion made of metal grain bins will debut this summer on Governors Island

"Oculi" is the latest winner of FIGMENT’s City of Dreams competition, an annual design contest challenging architecture and design firms to build a pavilion out of recycled materials to be assembled and displayed on Governor's Island. Last summer, visitors to the island were graced with a pavilion made out of more than 300,000 aluminum cans (the number of cans used in NYC in an hour), melted down and cast into cracked clay. This year, the competition is highlighting metal grain bins. A design by the firm Austin+Mergold, in collaboration with Maria Park (of Cornell University) and consulting engineers Chris Earls and Scott Hughes, will reuse old metal grain bins for a pavilion that establishes a visual connection between urban and rural ways of life.
Read more on the winning proposal

State risks $14M in road and highway funding for keeping flashy ‘I Love NY’ signs

Big blue signs, similar to this one, decorate the sides of New York’s highways; photo via Wikimedia

February 2, 2018

State risks $14M in road and highway funding for keeping flashy ‘I Love NY’ signs

Despite demands from the federal government for over two years to remove the "I Love NY" highway signs, Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to comply. Now, the state of New York could lose up to $14 million in federal funding for not taking down the more than 500 big blue signs found along the state's highways, considered to be distracting to drivers. According to the New York Times, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) first raised concerns in 2011 when the signs were still an abstract idea. The state installed them anyway.
Find out more

February 2, 2018

The Urban Lens: ‘Once in Harlem’ is a portrait of ’90s New York City

By Hannah Frishberg

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Katsu Naito shares his 1990s portraits from Harlem. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. In 1983, when Katsu Naito immigrated to America at the age of 18, he spoke barely any English. Growing up in Maebashi, a small city about 90 miles north of Tokyo, he had never heard of Harlem before moving to New York but was drawn to the energy of the neighborhood, quickly realizing he wanted to document it with his camera. Now, more three decades since he first fell in love with Harlem, Naito’s photos of the 'nabe's residents in the early to mid-‘90ss are being published in a book and unintentional time capsule titled “Once in Harlem,” out now from TBW Books. 6sqft chatted with Naito about his journey and what makes Harlem so special to him, and he shared a collection of his amazing images.
See them all here

Empire State Building looking for tenants to fill 50,000 square feet of retail space

Photo via Wikimedia

February 2, 2018

Empire State Building looking for tenants to fill 50,000 square feet of retail space

The landlords of New York City's most iconic skyscraper are looking to fill 50,000 square feet of retail space by 2020, even as brick-and-mortar businesses in Manhattan have struggled to stay open. According to Bloomberg, owners of the Empire State Building are marketing the tower's ground-floor, concourse and second-floor real estate, as the building undergoes a retail renovation for the first time since opening in 1931. Plus, the tower's observatory entrance will be moved from Fifth Avenue to 34th Street.
More this way

Real Estate Trends

Apply for a mixed-income apartment in a glassy new Hudson Yards tower, from $613/month

Photo: CityRealty

February 2, 2018

Apply for a mixed-income apartment in a glassy new Hudson Yards tower, from $613/month

CityRealty recently reported on the progress of the under-construction rental building at 515 West 36th Street, bringing us snapshots of the 39-story Midtown West tower, which topped out over the summer; next to arrive was its sleek glass facade. The mixed-use building will contain 250 rental units upon completion. A lottery launched today for 63 of those units set aside as low- and middle-income studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 60 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $613/month studios to $2,733/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

6, A, C, and E trains skipping much of lower Manhattan this weekend, and other subway service changes

Photo by Billie Grace Ward / Flickr

February 2, 2018

6, A, C, and E trains skipping much of lower Manhattan this weekend, and other subway service changes

By Hannah Frishberg

The 2 and 3 trains not running between Brooklyn and Manhattan on weekends has become as socially accepted and internalized as the B and Z trains not running on weekends at all. Hopefully, New Yorkers will be able to somehow adjust as easily when the L train shuts down, although it’s not likely. This weekend's service changes hit especially hard in lower Manhattan, where the A, C, E, and 6 trains will all be skipping a number of express stops. Perhaps make weekend plans off a stop which will be serviced, so as to avoid certain misery and commuting woes.
A, C, and E to spring past Spring St

Transit

Live off of bustling Broadway in Bushwick, from $2,726/month

Photo courtesy of CityRealty

February 1, 2018

Live off of bustling Broadway in Bushwick, from $2,726/month

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

A housing lottery launched on Thursday for three middle-income units in the Brooklyn artist enclave of Bushwick. The five-story building at 22 Melrose Street sits just off of Broadway, a busy thoroughfare that offers lots of restaurants, bars and galleries. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for two-bedroom apartments for $2,726/month and just one three-bedroom apartment for $3,143/month.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

How an East Village building went from gangster hangout to Andy Warhol’s Electric Circus

Google Street View of 19-25 St. Mark’s Place today

February 1, 2018

How an East Village building went from gangster hangout to Andy Warhol’s Electric Circus

Fifty years ago this week, the Velvet Underground released their second album, "White Light/White Heat." Their darkest record, it was also arguably the Velvet’s most influential, inspiring a generation of alternative musicians with the noisy, distorted sound with which the band came to be so closely identified. Perhaps the place with which the Velvets have come to be most closely identified is the Electric Circus, the Andy Warhol-run East Village discotheque where they performed as the house band as part of a multi-media experience known as the "Exploding Plastic Inevitable." Many New Yorkers would be surprised to discover that the space the club once occupied at 19-25 St. Mark's Place has since been home to a Chipotle and a Supercuts. But the history of the building that launched the career of the godfathers of punk is full of more twists, turns, and ups and downs than one the Velvet’s extended distorted jams that once reverberated within its walls.
The whole history right here

History

February 1, 2018

$749K co-op in Prospect Heights has prewar charm with customized touches

This apartment comes from one of the grand prewar co-op buildings off Eastern Parkway, located in the Prospect Heights Apartment House District and designed to be Brooklyn's alternative to Park Avenue. Located at 135 Eastern Parkway and known as the Turner Towers, the 1926 building holds nearly 200 lovely prewar pads. This one, now on the market for $749,000, is an oversized one- bedroom with beamed ceilings, plaster details, herringbone parquet, the original hardware, and vintage doors. Those classic elements are joined by some more modern, customized touches in storage. The Prospect Heights apartment's grown significantly in value since 2008, when it last sold for $450,000.
See the full space

Distinctive Homes

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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NYC has the world’s second highest concentration of tall towers

Image: Michael Vadon via Flickr

February 1, 2018

NYC has the world’s second highest concentration of tall towers

In 1962, nine of the world’s tallest buildings were south of 59th Street in Manhattan–and things hadn't changed much by 1981 when five of the tallest towers were concentrated on the same tiny island, which, with Chicago's three, gave the U.S. nine of the world's top 10 tallest skyscrapers. If you added Toronto's entry that made 10. Today, the only U.S. entry the top ten is lower Manhattan's One World Trade Center. This same tiny island though, is still number two in the world when it comes to concentration of tall towers.
Check out the infographic

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Where I Work: Weaving and dying indoor hammocks with Bushwick design collective Pouch

The pouch team, L to R: Textile Designer Taylor McMahon; Fabricator Emma Cook; Design Director Melissa Riling; Founder/CEO/Design Director Robert James Ramirez

February 1, 2018

Where I Work: Weaving and dying indoor hammocks with Bushwick design collective Pouch

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring high-end interior hammock company Pouch's Bushwick studio.Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Picture yourself lounging in a hammock. Perhaps you're a kid on summer break in the backyard or on a trip to the islands relaxing on a beach. Wherever this vision takes you, it's that weightless, carefree feeling that probably comes to mind, which is the sensation that Bushwick-based design collective Pouch is trying to recreate inside the home with their handmade hammocks. According to founder and design director Robert Ramirez, the company believes the feeling of being on vacation should be incorporated into everyday life and that their product provides "a moment of retreat and relaxation amid the craze of city life." Working with a group of artisans in El Salvador who employ a traditional Salvadoran weaving technique and a fellow Bushwick company that naturally dyes all the cotton (using materials like tree bark and avocado pits), Robert has taken his family's roots and brought them to what is arguably the maker capital of the country. 6sqft recently visited Pouch's Brooklyn studio to learn more about the company and see how the hammocks are made, step-by-step.
Learn more about Pouch and tour their studio

Drew Barrymore checks out two ritzy co-ops on the Upper East Side

Photo of Drew Barrymore via Wikimedia

February 1, 2018

Drew Barrymore checks out two ritzy co-ops on the Upper East Side

By Annie Doge

Following a split from her husband in 2016, actress Drew Barrymore is looking for a new abode on the Upper East Side and has been touring apartments on some of the neighborhood's priciest blocks. According to the New York Post, the star scoped out two co-ops priced over $5 million, one at 965 Fifth Avenue and another at 1125 Park Avenue. At the Fifth Avenue digs, she saw a $5.3 million two-bedroom spread with expansive Central Park views. And over on Park, she got a look at a $5.495 million newly renovated pad. Interestingly, both places are a bit, shall we say, mature for what we'd expect from Barrymore.
See them both here

A $2.5B plan will bring an additional 5 million square feet to the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Overview of Brooklyn Navy Yard via Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation

February 1, 2018

A $2.5B plan will bring an additional 5 million square feet to the Brooklyn Navy Yard