6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

Neil Patrick Harris and hubby David Burtka first made real estate headlines when they purchased a $4 million Harlem brownstone in 2013, setting a neighborhood record. They then spent over a year renovating the five-story residence at 2036 Fifth Avenue to be the perfect family home for their twins Gideon and Harper (now five years old) and two dogs. Last year, the couple invited Architectural Digest in for a tour, showing off their elegant but fun design choices, impressive art collection, and restored architectural features. They've now opened up their home again, this time for Vogue's 73 Questions (h/t Apartment Therapy), complete with Christmas decorations.
Watch the video here

December 21, 2016

The Urban Lens: Visiting Gramercy’s Pete’s Tavern, where O. Henry penned ‘The Gift of the Magi’

By James and Karla Murray

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, award-winning photographers James and Karla Murray return with a look inside Pete's Tavern, a Gramercy favorite with beautiful holiday decorations and an interesting historical connection to Christmas. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Pete's Tavern lays claim to being NYC's oldest continuously operating bar and restaurant. Established in 1864, it's become famous for the fact that O. Henry is said to have written the classic short Christmas story "The Gift of the Magi" while dining and drinking here. We recently visited Pete's to photograph its lovely holiday decorations and to chat with restaurateur Gary Egan and manager A.C. about the establishment's unique history, connection to O. Henry, and time as a speakeasy during Prohibition.
All the photos and the interview

December 21, 2016

Interactive map reveals the shadows cast by every New York City building

The Times calls the phenomenon a "struggle for light and air." And indeed, while New York City architecture is lauded for both its design and innovation, the decades-long race to build bigger and taller has taken a toll on the cityscape, particularly in the form of shadows. While any recent criticism of the effect has been directed towards the towers rising along Billionaire's Row, as The Upshot's map reveals, New Yorkers on the whole spend a lot of their time cutting through long stretches of shadow. The map documents thousands of buildings across the five boroughs, denoting age, height and the resulting shadows cast at ground level over the course of one day, down to the minute, during all seasons. As seen above, tall-tower haven Central Park South is cloaked in darkness 24/7 during the fall, winter, spring and summer months—but then again, if you peruse the map, you'll see a lot of other blocks are too.
find out more

City Living

December 21, 2016

First look at the artsy common spaces of 5Pointz-replacing rental towers

It's been three years since Long Island City's beloved graffiti mecca 5Pointz was whitewashed overnight and a year and a half since renderings first surfaced of the bland 41- and 47-story rental towers that would replace the site at 22-44 Jackson Avenue. Despite a perceived lack of respect towards the artistic community, G&M Realty’s David Wolkoff eventually said he planned to set aside 20 artists’ studios and displays to make up for those lost at 5Pointz, and it looks like he's making good on his word. HTO Architect, who designed the towers, initially put forth views of a large public park and rotating mural exhibit that would fill the space between the buildings, and now 6sqft has uncovered renderings from Mojo Stumer of the artsy entryway, lobby and pool, which reveal the graffiti-inspired logo for the project.
See it all right here

December 21, 2016

Mystery investor buys Donald Trump’s childhood home in hopes of flipping it

Hoping to cash in on Trump-mania, an anonymous New York investor scooped up the President Elect's childhood home in Jamaica Estates, Queens in the hopes of bringing it to auction next month and turning a profit. Mansion Global got the news from auctioneers Paramount Realty USA, who say the bidding will take place on January 17th. Previous reports have estimated that the six-bedroom, Tudor-style home that Trump's father Fred built could fetch up to ten times its most recent $1.2 million ask, or a whopping $10 million.
Get the full scoop

Celebrities

December 21, 2016

Parlor floor pad offers brownstone beauty without the beastly mortgage at $4,300/month

Even when it's tucked into a postcard-pretty brick townhouse, it's unusual for a rental apartment to look like a longtime home. This two-bedroom parlor-floor unit at 155 Luquer Street in Carroll Gardens is about as welcoming as we've seen in a while. The home is 25 feet wide–standard townhouse width is 20 feet–which helps, and big rooms and blond wood add to the pretty picture.
Check out the rest of the space

Distinctive Homes

December 20, 2016

Chloe Sevigny lists chic Park Slope co-op for $2.75M

After selling her East Village garden apartment for $1.76 million in 2013 (the area had become too much like a frat house for her liking), indie darling Chloë Sevigny moved to Park Slope, which she chose, as Brownstoner notes, to avoid "hip" Brooklyn in favor of the "dorkiest, hokiest neighborhood." She paid $2,053,000 for a pre-war co-op at 9 Prospect Park West, modernizing the home with an updated kitchen, cerused oak floors, and a sophisticated mix of classic furniture and interesting artwork. But perhaps the Slope has become too trendy for her as well, as she's listed the home for $2.75 million.
Take a tour

December 20, 2016

Chic Gramercy loft stretching over two floors hits the market for $1.75M

This apartment checks the boxes to qualify as a dreamy loft apartment: two sprawling floors with high ceilings, exposed brick, and floor-to-ceiling windows that lead to some private outdoor space. The pad is located at 215 East 24th Street, also known as the Penny Lane cooperative, in Gramercy Park. For a total of three bedrooms and three bathrooms, it'll cost you $1.75 million. It last sold in 2013 for $1.36 million.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

Distinctive Homes

Once a parking garage, this $85M Village penthouse is now in line to break neighborhood sales records

This $2.7M Chelsea duplex condo feels like a modern house with a private back garden

This $1.5M Woodstock compound was a recording studio for rock icons from Ozzy Osbourne to R.E.M.

This $4.5M Lenox Hill duplex combines pre-war elegance with architectural drama

Park Slope 'pink house,' now in a more muted hue, asks $5M

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

For $9M, a Noho penthouse that captures the spirit of the neighborhood's past, and then some

This $7M Gilded-Age mansion on the Upper West Side has a private garage and a theatrical history

Location, location, location–and a pretty renovation–make up for square footage in this $620K East Village co-op

Steve Madden's former Trump Palace pad lists for $11.5M

VIEW ALL

December 20, 2016

Feed your parking meter remotely by phone using the DOT’s new app

By Metro New York

Leaving a burger half-eaten and making a mad dash to the parking meter may soon be a hassle of the past. The new ParkNYC app allows users to pay for parking with their smartphones, eliminating the need to feed parking meters with cash or credit/debit cards. This month ParkNYC zone numbers will be rolled out […]

Transit

December 20, 2016

Subway passageway reopens as a vestige of the original WTC; One57 apartment sells at $13M discount

A passageway connecting the Chambers Street subway station to the Oculus Transportation Hub has opened for the first time since the 9/11 attacks, and it’s the last remnant of the original World Trade Center. [NYT] A gingerbread village at the Museum of Food and Drink depicts tiny bakeries from different countries, each serving their traditional bread. […]

Uncategorized

December 20, 2016

City adds 13,000+ new subway maps ahead of Second Avenue Subway opening

With just 11 days left until the public opening of the Second Avenue Subway, Governor Cuomo has made another show of good faith, announcing that more than 13,000 subway maps featuring the new line have been added throughout the transit system. This includes the installation of 12,600 new in-car maps and 1,000 large station maps in addition to even more maps at Metro-North and LIRR hubs and one million pocket maps that are currently being printed.
READ MORE

Transit

December 20, 2016

LaGuardia ranked nation’s worst airport in new study

J.D. Power has just released their 2016 North American Airport Satisfaction Study ranking the nation's airports by customer satisfaction, and New York's LaGuardia Airport has been bestowed the title of the country's worst. According to the study—and just about anyone who's visited LGA in the last few months—construction woes related to Governor Cuomo's $8 billion plan to transform the hub into a world-class airport by 2020 has led to serious headaches for travelers, and a 6-point drop in overall satisfaction from 2015. Last year, LGA ranked as the second worst airport in the U.S., just after Newark International.
See all the rankings here

Transit

December 20, 2016

Late fashion designer L’Wren Scott’s Chelsea ‘Sky Garage’ apartment sells for $6.5 million

The Chelsea apartment that had been the home of late fashion designer L’Wren Scott has sold for $6.5 million according to public records. The 3,328-square-foot duplex at the Annabelle Selldorf-designed 200 Eleventh Avenue was listed earlier this year for $8.25 million after Scott’s tragic suicide shocked the fashion world in 2014 (h/t New York Post). Scott, who was Mick Jagger's longtime girlfriend, had purchased the home in 2010 for 5.6 million. The apartment was one of the building's famed Sky Garage units with a car elevator leading to a private 337 square-foot garage adjacent to the apartment.
Celebrity neighbors and a Sky Garage

December 20, 2016

Second Avenue Subway will run with limited service for its first week

If you thought yesterday's news that the Second Avenue Subway would meet its deadline and open on January 1st was too good to be true, you were partially correct. Though service will in fact begin as of the new year, a press release from the Governor's office tells us that for its inaugural week, the line will only run from 6am to 10pm, a blow to late-night commuters and those visiting the city for the holidays.
Find out more

Transit

December 20, 2016

Another gorgeous Albemarle Road house hits the market for $2.25M, koi pond included

In June of last year the Albemarle Road buzz reached public ears when Michelle Williams purchased a $2.5 million Colonial Revival mansion on the Prospect Park South Historic District mansion row; in August, 6sqft reported that the extraordinary and storied 23-room mansion across the street at number 1305, listed at a neighborhood record-setting $2.98 million, had entered contract just two hours after it officially hit the market. Now, about five blocks to the west, a lovely and historic seven-bedroom home at 916 Albemarle Road is asking $2.249 million.
Tour the classic home

Distinctive Homes

December 20, 2016

6sqft Designer Gift Guide: 85 ideas curated by NYC creatives

Your holiday shopping companion has arrived! For the second year in a row, 6sqft has asked a handful of New York City designers, architects and artists to share five things they plan of gifting this season (and maybe one they hope to receive). Ahead find 85 truly unique and unexpected items curated by the city's most talented creatives. We promise that there is something for every budget and taste—and plenty of ideas to choose from if you happen to find yourself scrambling for a present at the last minute.
See all their gift picks here

December 19, 2016

Louis C.K. drops $2.45M on another Greenwich Village apartment

Comedian Louis C.K. (real name Louis Székely) already owns four units in a West Village brownstone, but these were joint purchases with his ex-wife, painter Alix Baily. Though they openly maintain a good relationship, he's now ventured out on his own, as the Observer reports that he dropped $2.45 million on a two-bedroom co-op at 101 West 12th Street, a larger apartment building a few blocks away.
Check it out

Map highlights the correlation between evictions and rent stabilization loss in NYC

View the map from ProPublica in its interactive form here >> Last year close to 22,000 tenants across the city were evicted from their homes, an issue that the folks at ProPublica trace to a 1994 City Council vote on "vacancy decontrol," which allowed landlords to evade rent regulation and charge market rate for vacated apartments that cost $2,000 or more a month (it's now $2,500). Not only did this incentive rent hikes, but it's led to a major blow to the city's rent stabilized inventory. To show the correlation between evictions and rent regulation, ProPublica has created this interactive map of the more than 450,000 eviction cases filed between January 2013 and June 2015. It shows the number of evictions in a given building (it's shocking how many have had more than 50 in less than three years) and whether or not that building is rent stabilized.
Find out more on the issue

Affordable Housing

December 19, 2016

Staten Island Ferry ridership hits record high

By Metro New York

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 […]

Uncategorized

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

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

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

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

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

10 best plants for apartment dwellers

New York City's best holiday markets of 2023

VIEW ALL

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 […]

Uncategorized

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

By Metro New York

“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.
READ MORE

December 16, 2016

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

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.
READ MORE

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."
READ MORE

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

The Greenwich by Rafael Vinoly

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

125 Greenwich Street

Financial District

The new altitude of downtown living

studios starting at $1,110,000
1 beds starting at $1,495,000
2 beds starting at $2,785,000
3 beds starting at $3,600,000

Learn More

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