6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

A record number of people cruised between Lower Manhattan and Saint George this year aboard the Staten Island Ferry, thanks somewhat to a move to have ferries depart every 30 minutes. More than 23 million people rode the ferries, which are free, between July 2015 and this past June, according to statistics from the mayor’s […]

Transit

December 19, 2016

Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum has closed; $1 happy hour drinks are probably illegal

Unable to raise the $75,000 it needed to stay afloat, Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum has shut its doors. [Gothamist] Jared Kushner and his family have an estimated $1.8 billion fortune. [Forbes] Here’s a list for last-minute shoppers of the latest you can order from major retailers for Christmas delivery. [Quartz] Kiss your $1 martini goodbye; the […]

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December 19, 2016

First look at the Second Avenue Subway’s $4.5M public art installation

If a sparkling new line isn't cause enough to celebrate, once the Second Avenue Subway opens on January 1st, 2017, millions of New Yorkers will also be treated to several stretches of world-class art while navigating the 96th, 86th, 72nd, and 63rd Street stations. As the Times first reports, the MTA has poured $4.5 million into beautifying the stations with contemporary tile artworks by famed names Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz, and Jean Shin.
see more here

Gramercy Park will open to the public for one hour on Christmas Eve

Photo via Bosc d’Anjou/Flickr

December 19, 2016

Gramercy Park will open to the public for one hour on Christmas Eve

For one precious hour, mere mortals will have the chance to walk through Gramercys Park's iron gates sans key. Curbed reports that on Christmas Eve the Gramercy Park Block Association will host its annual holiday caroling hour with the local Parish of Calvary-St. George's, and from 6:00 to 7:00pm all will be welcome.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

December 19, 2016

Price halved for an apartment in the building Barbara Walters once lived

This opulent apartment has been patiently waiting to find a buyer. It first hit the market in early 2014 and the price was quietly dropped to $12.5 million by the end of the year. Now, it's back two years later with a reduced ask—by nearly half!—of $6.295 million. This is a four-bedroom, five-bathroom pad with all the elegant bells and whistles at 555 Park Avenue, the prestigious Upper East Side building that Barbara Walters once called home.
Take a look inside

Distinctive Homes

December 19, 2016

Number of Chinese visitors continues to grow as NYC sets new tourism record

For the past decade, the number of Chinese tourists visiting NYC has been on the rise, and of the city's record-breaking 60.3 million visitors in 2016, more than 950,000 were from China. This is a "sevenfold increase since 2007," reports the Times, which notes how the city's tourism department, NYC & Company, is catering to the growing demographic, as they're spending more freely than visitors from Europe who have seen the value of the euro decrease in comparison to the dollar.
Get the scoop

City Living

December 19, 2016

The problem with privately owned public spaces (‘POPS’) and how we can improve them

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

The Atlantic and the New York Times recently exposed the privately owned public spaces (known as “POPS”) in the Trump Tower as being far from “public.” As both journalists demonstrated, most of the Trump Tower public spaces were either cordoned off or non-existent, most notably, the case of the missing bench. A long bench was […]

December 19, 2016

Louise Bourgeois’ son gifts $4M West Village townhouse to Native American tribe

Jean-Louis Goldwater Bourgeois, son of the celebrated sculptor Louise Bourgeois, is transferring the deed for his $4 million West Village townhouse to a non-profit organization run by the Lenape tribe, who were among the original Manhattanites. The 76-year-old architectural historian and activist told the New York Post, “This building is the trophy from major theft." Bourgeois explained his romance with the city and the fact that he feels guilty that he has profited from actions that have appalled him. "The right thing to do is to return it.”
Find out more

History

Distinctive Homes

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

19th-century townhouse in Hudson, NY has three units, retail space, and a three-bay garage for $2M

For $665K, this little upstate home is the answer to your log cabin fantasies

This $3.25M Gramercy two-bedroom comes with expansion potential–and a key to the park

An international artist couple asks $37.75M for their art-filled UES townhouse–Rolls Royce included

This $5.75M Clinton Hill two-family home is five floors of brownstone perfection

Inside this $12.75M Park Slope brownstone, architect-designed perfection includes a separate studio and two-car garage

This $795K Hudson Valley farmhouse has clean, classic curb appeal–and a guest house in the back

This $2.6M apartment offers classic Upper East Side elegance with condo simplicity

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

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December 19, 2016

Second Avenue Subway officially opens to the public January 1, 2017!

Recent weeks have brought conflicting reports of whether or not the Second Avenue Subway would meets its December 31st deadline, but Governor Cuomo has announced that the public will be able to swipe their cards on the new line as of January 1, 2017! The stations will be officially open for business on New Years Eve, at which time the Governor will host a group of dignitaries to celebrate the nearly 100 years-in-the-making project. As the Daily News reports, this also means that there will be no partial opening as previous accounts speculated, and all stations (96th, 86th, and 72nd Streets, along with the transfer point at 63rd Street), entrances, and elevators will be ready to go. "We believe in the team, and that’s why we’re saying we’re going to open Jan. 1. It’s a leap of faith, but I’m willing to take that leap of faith," said Cuomo.
More details ahead

Transit

December 18, 2016

Book lovers will swoon over this $915K prewar Morningside Heights co-op

A New Yorker with a big book collection should like this Morningside Heights apartment, which has a room lined with floor-to-ceiling book shelves. Otherwise, the two-bedroom co-op at 611 West 111th Street has all sorts of prewar charm, like parquet floors, moldings and a bay window. The pad last sold in 2010 for $790,000 and it just hit the market yesterday with an ask of $915,000.
Go inside

Distinctive Homes

December 17, 2016

Weekly highlights: Top picks from the 6sqft staff

By 6sqft

Ivanka Trump puts her stodgy Park Avenue pad up for sale, asks $4.1M Interactive map reveals the income gap that divides NYC’s richest and poorest Own the incredible Arts and Crafts home where Milton Glaser designed the ‘I ♥ NY’ logo 104 years ago, the nation’s first public Christmas tree went up in Madison Square […]

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December 16, 2016

A horrifying blaze swept through Lower Manhattan 181 years ago today

It's hard to envision blocks and blocks of Lower Manhattan being destroyed by a raging fire, but that's exactly what happened there 181 years ago to the day, December 16th, 1835. That year marks one of New York's most traumatic fires in history, known as the Great Fire of 1835. It came at a time the city was developing rapidly, with the arrival of new businesses, railroad terminals, and people. But there were also major concerns that came with the city's boom: there was a lack of a reliable water source for the city, and there were not enough fire departments to keep everyone safe. And so the forces collided into a traumatic fire that would change the course of New York's development significantly.
Keep reading for more

History

December 16, 2016

New-York Historical Society opens new exhibit featuring rare artwork of boxer Muhammad Ali

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” is how boxing icon Muhammad Ali described his fighting style. If that sounds more poetic than you’d think of boxing or the famed heavyweight champion’s technique, prepare to see them in a new way at the New-York Historical Society’s latest exhibit. “Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman and the […]

Events & Things To Do

December 16, 2016

Governor Cuomo announces ‘Subway Therapy’ Post-Its will be preserved

Among the more positive things to emerge from the 2016 election was the very visible outpour of love and solidarity by New Yorkers, who not only took to the streets together to stand up for what they believe in, but without inhibition expressed their anger, fears, hopes and words of comfort for one another on colorful Post-Its stretched along the 14th Street-6th/7th Avenue subway corridor. Recognizing the historic nature of this spontaneous art movement, Governor Cuomo announced this morning that the New-York Historical Society will partner with the MTA to preserve some of the thousands of "Subway Therapy" sticky notes that have materialized over the last weeks.
more details here

December 16, 2016

Trump isn’t the first president-elect with a New York City home base, FDR stayed close too

Just when you thought you'd get to enjoy a low-key pre-holiday Friday, the New York Times compares Donald Trump to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. While just 12 blocks away Trump Tower snarls traffic and confounds anything resembling daily life in the surrounding area with a round-the-clock hive of security details, reporters and protesters—and of course the prez-elect himself, his entourage and various cabinet-members-to-be—Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute director Harold Holzer reminds us of another presidency whose earliest days were spent ensconced in a NYC residence. Of the century-old double-width townhouse at at 47-49 East 65th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, now the Institute's home, Holzer says, “It was the Trump Tower of 1932-33.” The 65th Street residence was the longtime home of Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Definitely not an apples-to-apples comparison

History

December 16, 2016

Olin reveals renderings for $30M activity-filled eco-park on Tribeca’s Pier 26

It was announced just over a year ago that starchitect Rafael Viñoly would donate his services to the Hudson River Park Trust to design an estuarium, a science education and research center, at the base of Tribeca's Pier 26. Now, Tribeca Citizen has brought us the first set of conceptual renderings of the $30 million Pier, which don't include Viñoly's building (other than as a placeholder), but show how landscape architects OLIN will transform the 800-foot pier between North Moore and Hubert Streets into a ecological park, complete with huge lounge net areas, sports fields, expansive lawns, a river esplanade, sandy dunes, wetlands to attract birds and wildlife, and elevated tree-lined pathways that are "inspired by being in the woods," according to DNAinfo.
See all the renderings

Architecture And Design

December 16, 2016

Durst Organization pays $173.5M for LIC site once slated for tallest tower in Queens

Back in 2015, Property Markets Group and the Hakim Organization announced plans to erect the tallest tower outside of Manhattan in Long Island City at 29-37 41st Avenue. The residential building, then dubbed Queens Plaza Park, would rise 914 feet atop a Queens Plaza site and boast high-end condos and a projected $363.2 million sellout. However, in July 2016, the developers abandoned those plans, putting the site up for sale for an undisclosed amount. Now, as the Times reports, the Durst Organization has scooped up the site for $173.5 million and is considering going forward with the massive construction, but as a rental tower with more than 1 million square feet.
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Tiffany’s partners with NYPD on branded barricades; New zip line will run across the Bronx River

In the wake of the Trump Tower chaos, Tiffany’s partnered with the NYPD to create branded barricades for its Fifth Avenue flagship. [WWD] The Bronx Zoo will build a new zip line that will cross the Bronx River 45 feet in the air. [DNAinfo] Here are the 12 poorest cities in New York. [Only in […]

Uncategorized

December 16, 2016

The Urban Lens: Langdon Clay’s 1970s photographs of automobiles also reveal a New York City in decay

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 Langdon Clay shares photos from his new photo book "Cars — New York City 1974-1976." Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. New York as a grimey, crime-ridden metropolis sounds like something out of a dystopian sci-fi novel, particularly as we sip our soy lattes and brush artisanal donut crumbs from our lips. But as photos from Langdon Clay's book "Cars — New York City 1974-1976" show, 40 years ago, Manhattan was more about crowbars and break-ins than cronuts and Airbnb. In the 18 years Clay lived as a young man in New York City, he spent three of those years exploring the streets of Manhattan in the middle of the night alone. During those wee hours Clay took to some of the city's most dangerous streets with his Leica camera and a few rolls of Kodachrome, snapping photos of the colorful cars he saw parked against the forlorn urbanscape. Ahead Clay shares with 6sqft some of his favorite images from that time.
Explore the series and hear from Langdon

December 16, 2016

Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima tries again to unload Midtown West pad for $4.85M

By Annie Doge

Sixteen-year Victoria’s Secret veteran supermodel Adriana Lima may have no problem sauntering down the runway, but things haven't come as easily for her real estate game. The Brazilian beauty bought a two-bedroom pad in Midtown West for $1.995 million in 2003. Six years later, she married NBA player Marko Jarić and had two children in 2009 and 2012. The next year they tried to offload the Metropolitan Tower apartment for $5.5 million, but after there were no takers, took it off the market. Now that the couple's split up (they finalized their divorce earlier this year), Lima is giving it another go, this time hoping to get $4.85 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Get a look at the whole place here

December 16, 2016

$4M Williamsburg townhouse adds industrial interiors and contemporary drama to 19th century brick

It's a good thing there's so much to see in every direction while strolling the sidewalks of Williamsburg, because this $3.995 million single-family Northside townhouse looks a lot better on the inside than the outside. The three-story-plus-finished-basement home's interiors will definitely appeal to someone looking for a jumbo "loft alternative" accented with authentic materials like brick and wood, but with none of the hassles of the actual 19th century left to contend with.
Tour this 'Brooklyn masterpiece'

Distinctive Homes

December 16, 2016

JFK’s TWA Hotel breaks ground, gets new renderings

The shovels were out at JFK's TWA Flight Terminal yesterday, as MCR Development and JetBlue broke ground on their project to turn Eero Saarinen‘s mid-century modern masterpiece into the high-end, 505-room TWA Hotel. According to a press release, Governor Cuomo attended the festivities, noting that the conversion "will preserve this iconic landmark while cementing JFK’s status as a crown jewel of aviation." The news also came with two renderings that show the two, six-story, crescent shaped hotel buildings that will rise on either side of the existing structure.
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December 15, 2016

Dry your plates between the buildings of Midtown with this skyline dish rack

For many New Yorkers, the after-dinner ritual of loading up the dishwasher is pure fantasy. But while we're stuck scrubbing away in our under-sized sinks, this fun dish rack from the Whitney museum's gift shop is a nice reminder as to why we make the compromises we do. The flexible 3D model of Midtown Manhattan comes from Italian designer Luca Nichetto, who was inspired by the scene in the 2010 movie "Inception" where NYC folds into itself "like rubber."
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December 15, 2016

A grand fireplace and double-height ceilings at this $2.4M Chelsea condo

As the weather chills, a nice big fireplace starts looking pretty appealing. That's the main attraction in the double-height living room of this two-bedroom condo at 121 West 20th Street, in Chelsea. The spacious pad, with 1,642 square feet, hit the market this fall for $2.595 million and now is down to $2.395 million. (It last sold in 2004 for $1.15 million.) It's got some quirky details over two floors, including the original columns of the historic brick building still in tact.
See more inside

Distinctive Homes

December 15, 2016

Jared Kushner’s real estate conflicts; Can this shop/wine bar bring a bookstore back to the Bronx?

Jared Kushner owns at least 45 properties in New York City, and this could pose a conflict. [WNYC] When the Bronx’s Barnes & Noble closes next month, it’ll leave the borough of 1.4 million without a book store. An independent bookstore/wine bar called the Lit Bar hopes to take its place. [CityLab] Check out photos of the […]

Uncategorized

December 15, 2016

Interview: Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector discuss bringing a streetcar to NYC

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

After working for decades advocating for transit equity and environmental justice at various organizations, Ya-Ting Liu came on board as the Executive Director of Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector. It's been almost a year since the non-profit advocacy group first released a proposal for a streetcar to run along the borough's waterfront, and since that time the city has stepped in to back the estimated $2.5 billion project, even appointing a director and creating preliminary maps of the streetcar's possible routes. As one of several transportation undertakings on the table, the BQX certainly has a big year ahead. 6sqft recently sat down with Ya-Ting To get the scoop on what's to come, as well as some insider thoughts on the streetcar's common misconceptions.
Read the full interview this way

THE 6SQFT SHOP

The best websites for buying and selling used furniture in NYC

The 6 best furniture rental companies in NYC

8 best places in NYC to thrift for home goods

Everything you need to know about using a guarantor in NYC

New York City's best holiday markets of 2023

15 quintessential NYC gifts for the New Yorker in your life

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

10 Ways to Decorate an Exposed Brick Wall Without Drilling

10 Great Places to Buy Affordable Art in New York City

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December 15, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week- 12/15-12/21

By Lori Zimmer

In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers! Fit some arty fun in between your holiday parties this week. Start out with a performance by David Louis Zuckerman at On Stellar Rays Gallery or get your opera on in a sampling of new works at Merkin Concert Hall. Grab an artist-designed host gift for your next party at Life:Curated’s holiday party, then enjoy the festivities yourself as MoMA PS1 transforms their VW dome into a huge snow globe. Pick up some affordable art for yourself and your loved ones while supporting the Standing Rock effort on Saturday, and get political at the #Pussypower group show. Check out Hyon Gyon’s fusion of hard and soft at SHIN Gallery, then ring in the holiday weekend with the stylings of the lovely Anna Copacabanna.
More on all the best events this way

Events & Things To Do

December 15, 2016

Are concessions and a high vacancy rate a sign the rental bubble will burst?

In the past year or so, there has been no shortage of talk about inventory glut, flat rental prices and bursting bubbles; Now, Slate blogger Henry Grabar has rustled up some numbers and real-life examples to go with the chatter, and we're guessing they weren't too hard to find. According to Grabar, a vacancy rate at its highest since 2009 (with a staggering amount of inventory in the pipeline), and the percentage of rental price chops at a record 42 percent in October point to an impending renter's market of comparatively epic proportions.
More on the horizon, literally

Real Estate Trends

December 15, 2016

NYPD says it needs 200 cops and $500,000 a day to secure Trump Tower

Just over a week ago, Mayor de Blasio asked the federal government for $35 million to cover Donald Trump's increased security for the 73 days from the November 8th election to the January 20th inauguration. Two days later, congress came back with a low-ball offer of only $7 million, to which the Mayor responded that "NYC taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill to protect Trump Tower." Backing him up, the NYPD conducted its own analysis, which, as the Daily News shares, confirms the city's $500,000 a day security bill and concludes that nearly 200 cops are needed each day to secure the area around Trump Tower.
More ahead

Celebrities

December 15, 2016

Second Avenue Subway won’t open until all stations are finished says MTA

On Monday, the Governor's office put out a statement that Cuomo was "cautiously optimistic" that the Second Avenue Subway would open on time by the end of the month. Yesterday, MTA chairman Tom Prendergast echoed this statement, but was quick to point out that the long-awaited line would only open on December 31st if all stations were up and running (previous reports talked of a partial opening), reports the Daily News. "Track’s done, signals are done, we’ve run trains, we’ve exercised the signal system," he said. "We’re talking about finish and escalators, elevators — things of that nature in the station."
READ MORE

Transit

December 15, 2016

This $5.4M townhouse is Harlem historic on the outside, Soho sleek on the inside

This historic Harlem townhouse at 22 West 120th Street fits right in with its neighbors on a gorgeous brownstone block just across from Marcus Garvey Park (and just a couple of blocks north of Central Park). Once you enter the four-story home, though, you could easily be in a luxury downtown penthouse. A custom renovation created statement features like a vast and dramatic skylight, radiant heated floors, a unique metal staircase and four ultra-modern wood burning fireplaces.
Have a look around

Distinctive Homes

December 14, 2016

ODA’s Rheingold Brewery rental will offer 100 affordable units in Bushwick

The day after securing a $93 construction loan, the Rabsky Group has announced that 100 out of the 500 rentals at their massive Rheingold Brewery development will be below-market rate. As Curbed notes, Bushwick residents have been advocating that the 400,000-square-foot project include affordable housing since it was first announced, spurred not only by the neighborhood's need, but the fact that Rabsky had no legal obligation to include affordable units.
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December 14, 2016

Ivanka Trump puts her stodgy Park Avenue pad up for sale, asks $4.1M

By Annie Doge

It looks like America's next first daughter—and quasi-first lady—is looking to slim down her real estate holdings. As Luxury Listings NYC first reports, Ivanka Trump has just listed her apartment at 502 Park Avenue for $4.1 million. The somewhat bland spread hosts two bedrooms and two baths and is outfitted in a palette of cream and powdery blue hues. Although one might think the sale has something to do with her father's recent presidential victory—as not even two weeks ago, CNN reported that she and husband Jared Kusher were house hunting in Washington D.C.—Ivanka, in fact, also owns one the building's penthouses, which she bought for $16 million nearly six years ago. It's also been no secret that the Trump/Kushner brood has been mulling a move into the Puck Penthouses, one of Jared's beautiful ultra-luxe developments.
have a closer look inside

December 14, 2016

Turn anything into a table or shelf in minutes using Be-elastic’s SNAP

By Rebecca Paul

NYC apartments often have irregular layouts and odd corners, and finding pre-made furniture that will fit nicely can often be a lofty task. As such, the founders of Be-elastic have designed an innovative furniture solution called SNAP to solve this problem. The SNAP assembly system is comprised of a simple snapping mechanism that allows users to design and assemble tables, stools, or shelving using whatever material they can find. The team has already experimented with a variety of items, creating tables from dart boards, vintage doors, and even bicycle wheels. But you can use your own design savvy to decide the color and number of legs your item requires.
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December 14, 2016

Historic map shows the manufacturing industries of 1919 NYC

As part of their new exhibit "Mastering the Metropolis: New York and Zoning, 1916–2016," the Museum of the City of New York has shared this historic map of manufacturing industries across the city. Published in 1922 using census data from 1919, the colorful depiction shows us that women's wear was the industry of the time, with more than 8,000 factories employing 169,965 people and coming in with a yearly product value of $1.7 billion. Manhattan was all but covered with manufacturing, and as CityLab points out, this included everything from rubber tires and umbrellas to coffins and cigar boxes.
Get a closer look

History

December 14, 2016

Scooter-shares posed as NYC’s next CitiBike, L train alternative

Transportation alternatives to the L train when the subway line is suspended for renovation in 2019 are getting sexy. As city agencies scramble to come up with alternatives for the 250,000 people riding the L train through Manhattan and Brooklyn every day, the think tank at the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management put out “A Scooter […]

Transit

December 14, 2016

City gets 10 new landmarks; Inside the fancy Brooklyn fruit shop with $9 apricots

The LPC designated 10 sites city landmarks, clearing up their backlog. These include the Bergdorf Goodman department store, United Palace Theater, and one of the last wood-framed houses on the Upper East Side. [NYT] Bushwick leads the city in smoke detector violations. [DNAinfo] The $1/month rooms in this $8 million West Village loft went to two young […]

Uncategorized

December 14, 2016

POLL: Would you spend $500K for a down payment in Manhattan?

6sqft has previously shared data that it only makes sense to buy a home in New York City after having lived here for 18.2 years, longer than anywhere else in the nation by a long shot. When and if that time comes, Manhattanities are looking to drop an average of $500,000 for a down payment, according to a new report from Property Shark. To put this figure into perspective, the average price nationwide to buy an entire home is $300,000. And in the Manhattan luxury market, the median down payment is a whopping $3.15 million, which might explain why, according to 2014 census data, only 32% of New Yorkers owned their homes.
What would you do?

Real Estate Trends

December 14, 2016

Average Manhattan sales price tops $2M for first time

Despite chatter about the luxury market slowing down, 2016 has seen Manhattan real estate prices continue to climb and set records. The average sales price for an apartment (including both co-ops and condos) was $2.2 million, topping the $1.9 million record set last year, according to CityRealty's newly released Year-End Manhattan Market Report. This is a whopping 91 percent increase from 2006. And things heat up even more in the new development sector, where 1,800 units sold for a projected total of $8.9 billion, a huge jump from last year's $5.4 billion for $1,464 units.
More record-setting data ahead

Real Estate Trends

New renderings from Albo Liberis offer up two visions for Brooklyn’s next skyscraping office tower

Rendering of 625 Fulton Street; image: Albo Liberis /Genesis Studios

December 14, 2016

New renderings from Albo Liberis offer up two visions for Brooklyn’s next skyscraping office tower

As the future Brooklyn skyline takes shape, one of the borough's largest office towers-to-be, a 36-story commercial skyscraper, is slated to rise at 625 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Brooklyn-based Rabsky Group purchased the lot for $158 million and, as The Real Deal reports, plans are in the works to create 700,000 square feet of leasable space, for which the developer is in talks with City Planning to take advantage of a plaza bonus. Albo Liberis (see Williamsburg's William Vale Hotel) has been commissioned as the architect, and while no design has been officially revealed or finalized by Rabsky, the firm's site does offer up some insight into what is being considered for the game-changing tower.
Check out the renderings

December 14, 2016

City spending an average of $400,000 a night on hotel rooms for the homeless

Less than a week after the city announced that they'll be increasing the number of commercial hotel rooms housing homeless families and individuals by more than 500, a report from Comptroller Scott Stringer puts the average cost a night citywide for the current batch at $400,000, according to the Daily News. The report, which is being released today, says that since November 2015, the city booked a total of 425,000 hotel rooms, costing more than $72.9 million. As of last month, there were 5,881 homeless New Yorkers staying in hotels, with the average nightly bill climbing from $163 to $194 over the past year.
Find out more

Policy

December 14, 2016

Moroccan villa meets artsy loft, times two, for rent in Greenpoint

Whether they're luxury penthouses or shoebox-sized studios, New York City apartments don't often deviate much from the standard; so when apartments like the two now on the rental market at 658 Leonard Street in Greenpoint pop up, they tend to get our attention. The townhouse that is home to this pair of unique dwellings is, we're told, owner-occupied, and we're guessing the same owner made the effort to design these unique interiors with international flair, from the mahogany cabinetry and French-style mahogany windows to antique Moroccan tiling and hand-rubbed plaster walls. The higher-floor unit ($3,680/month) is slightly larger and has been divided to create two bedrooms, while the parlor-floor apartment ($3,280/month) has more of an open loft layout. In both, you get a spin-the-compass approach to home design while keeping quality and comfort in mind.
This way to the Kasbah

Distinctive Homes

December 13, 2016

Gamma Real Estate’s $98M bid wins debt-ridden Sutton Place site at foreclosure auction

The debt-beleagured Sutton Place site that included plans for a 900-foot-tall luxury condo from starchitect Norman Foster has finally had its day at the auction, and the winning bidder was N. Richard Kalikow’s Gamma Real Estate, according to The Real Deal. A bankruptcy judge authorized the sale of the property at 3 Sutton Place in September, after Joseph Beninati's Bauhouse Group failed to pay back creditors and partners on the 262,000-square-foot development. Gamma controlled the entities that originally loaned Beninati $130 million, but as of today the developer outbid Brooklyn investor Isaac Hager, paying $86 million for the site and $12 million for additional air rights, far less than the predicted $187 million price tag.
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Uncategorized

Brooklyn Point

138 Willoughby Street

Downtown Brooklyn

America's highest infinity pool + 25-year tax abatement

Studios starting at $985,000
1 beds starting at $1,200,000
2 beds starting at $1,885,000
3 beds starting at $2,700,000

Learn More

December 13, 2016

Lofty two-bedroom Williamsburg pad with massive windows asks $1.395M

This two-bedroom condo comes from 80 Metropolitan Avenue, which you might mistake for a converted warehouse. But this blue brick building with punched, multi-paned windows was actually constructed in 2009 in the loft style that's popular around Williamsburg. From the inside of this apartment, 10-foot ceilings, huge windows and wood floors make it hard to tell the difference between old and new. The condo first hit the market this fall for $1.435 million and now the ask is down to $1.395 million.
This way for a tour

Distinctive Homes

December 13, 2016

NYC will rent out public parking spaces to car-sharing companies

The city will roll out a pilot program in the spring that allows car-sharing companies such as ZipCar and Car2Go to rent out scarce public parking spaces and even metered spaces. A shared goal of many city agencies is to minimize the number of cars in the city—on account of environmental factors, space, and traffic, […]

Transit

December 13, 2016

Jessica Chastain parties at 432 Park; Why this architect spent 10 years trying to float a pool in the East River

Jessica Chastain threw a bash to celebrate her new role in “Miss Sloane” in the $40 million apartment on the 86th floor of 432 Park. [Page Six] Check out this new video about the Lowline, including commentary from the co-founders. [Lowline] Oana Stanescu, one of the four architects behind the plan to build a floating, water-purifying pool in […]

Uncategorized

December 13, 2016

Rare modernist pieces by Prouvé, Le Corbusier, Gaudí and more up for auction today

If your idea of a perfect stocking stuffer is a classic Serge Mouille three-armed ceiling light, the auction of items from the private collection of architect Lee Mindel, which begins today, is just what your gift list ordered. "Light & Aerie: The Collection of Lee F. Mindel, FAIA" includes dozens of rare modernist pieces from the architect's personal collection. Mindel is moving from his Chelsea loft in a former hat factory to a new aerie in Tribeca's rare and collectible Herzog & de Meuron-designed "Jenga tower" at 56 Leonard Street; Mindel's loft is available, too, if you've got a really big stocking to fill. Auction house Phillips is handling the sale, which includes stunning pieces ranging from art to furniture, lighting and decorative items by the likes of Jean Prouvé, Antoni Gaudí, Georges Braque, Hans J. Wegner, Ettore Sottsass, Jr. and many, many more.
Check out some of the iconic pieces headed for auction

December 13, 2016

For $560K, this spacious Sunset Park co-op has a Scandinavian heritage and interior style to match