6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

This duplex apartment at the Sophia Lofts at 234 North Ninth Street, a former bakery converted to 11 loft residences in 2007, has a private entrance on Williamsburg's bustling crossroads of Roebling Street. You can come and go as you like from your own slice of prime 'burg, a 1,480 square-foot duplex that will put you right in the middle of where all the action is, for $5,500 a month. The interiors are loft all the way, though there are plenty of custom comforts and chic additions that give the classic converted space a distinct modern personality.
See what's inside

Distinctive Homes

January 25, 2016

QUIZ: Answer 9 Questions to Find Out Which NYC Neighborhoods Best Match Your Lifestyle

Some of us are all too familiar with matching services where you provide info about yourself and you get back a list of, er, interesting possibilities. But sorting data to find your ideal neighborhood match could be especially helpful when home-hunting in New York City, given the mind-boggling set of choices–it makes sense to get potential picks from things that actually exist (like parks and grocery stores), rather than being hopefully embellished. From the neighborhood data entrepreneurs at PlaceILive comes match.placeilive.com, a newly-launched lifestyle-based home finder that matches you with your ideal New York City neighborhoods based on your answers to nine quick questions.
Find out which neighborhood's right for you

City Living

January 25, 2016

Download Ikea’s Adult Coloring Book for Free!

Adult coloring books are all the rage these days and we couldn't be happier. While there are many different types available for purchase (check out this coloring book-notebook combo or this architectural-inspired rendition), Ikea has just released their own version, which is free to download (h/t Curbed). From decorative houseplants to POÄNG chairs and KALLAX shelving units, each of the five pages includes a collection of Ikea products arranged in fun geometric patterns.
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January 25, 2016

Tour the Guggenheim and Its New Exhibit Through Google Street View

The wonders of Google Maps have gotten us into some pretty amazing places, such as the uber-private Gramercy Park and a tourist-less version of the holiday window displays. Now, the Street View team has granted exclusive access to the Guggenheim (h/t ArchDaily). Not only does the technology let users tour the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed spiraling rotunda, but it allows one to browse through the artworks currently on display.
Find out more

January 25, 2016

Greenpoint’s ‘Boutique Winter Igloo’; First Look at the MTA’s Open Gangway Subways

The time New York banned women from smoking. [Mental Floss] In an effort to increase capacity, the MTA has proposed open gangway subway cars. Here’s a first look at the conceptual rendering. [Second Avenue Sagas] Check out these floating bonsai trees. [HypeBeast] Did you see the $200/night Greenpoint igloo that went up on Airbnb this […]

Uncategorized

January 25, 2016

NYC’s 190 Miles of Scaffolding a Result of ’80s Law and Billion Dollar Industry

It definitely seems that every day, more of New York City is covered by the ubiquitous wood and steel building shed scaffolding, making daily life an urban obstacle course of weaving and tunnel trekking. It's not just your imagination: Currently there are almost 9,000 sheds camped out over city streets, reports Crains, based on numbers from the Department of Buildings, up from around 3,500 in 2003. That adds up to 190 miles–one million linear feet—worth of sheds, enough to encircle Manhattan six times. The city’s maze of construction sheds are the result of a 1980s law and a billion dollar industry that keeps growing. "New York is insatiable right now when it comes to sheds," says George Mihalko, a shed-equipment supplier. "I've never seen anything like it in 30 years." This demand is driven in part by the new wave of construction spurred by the city's building boom. But there is apparently another, more important reason.
Why don't the sheds ever go away?

January 25, 2016

First Look at JDS Development’s Boutique Condos Coming to Williamsburg

By Heather Cooper Vivares

Near the Williamsburg waterfront and steps away from Bushwick Inlet Park (home to the famed Smorgasburg), Largo Investments and minority partner JDS Development have hatched plans to build a boutique condominium building at 71-73 North 7th Street. The four-story, 15,000-square-foot development will expand upon the structural bones of an existing single-story building, ultimately creating four capacious apartments.
More details on the project

January 25, 2016

Affordable Housing Lottery Starts Today for Nine New Units in Prime Harlem, From $802/Month

The affordable housing lottery for 2049 5th Avenue in central Harlem opens today, and the nine brand new units range from $802/month studios to $2,175/month two-bedrooms, according to the NYC HPD. The address, located just north of 126th Street, was mired in controversy a few years back when tenants sued owners West Harlem Group Assistance for injuries sustained in what they called a crumbling, unkempt building. At the time, the local nonprofit owned about 45 buildings, but 2049 5th Avenue was cited as the worst, with claims of leaky ceilings, no heat, collapsing walls, and broken pipes. In December, 2014, the building finally underwent a gut renovation, which includes these affordable apartments.
Find out if you qualify for the new units

Affordable Housing

Distinctive Homes

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

Look out on the city from high above the Lower East Side in this $3.8M penthouse

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

Tiffany-blue walls and de Gournay designs surround a $1M UES co-op with Deco-era glamour

This $7M limestone townhouse brings restored Park Slope perfection to historic beauty

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

This $9.75M East Village duplex has Cape Cod-style charm topped by a rooftop cottage

This $19M sky palace high above Park Avenue has a manor house-worthy terrace garden

Love is a large, lovely $2.9M Lispenard Street loft

Landmarked Boerum Hill townhouse owned by 90s designer Daryl K asks $6M

VIEW ALL

January 25, 2016

Chelsea Loft Designed by Award-Winning SYSTEMarchitects Wants $2M

This two-bedroom live/work loft comes from 249 West 29th Street, a prewar Chelsea co-op built in 1929. The building may be older, but this particular loft, now on the market for $2.15 million, is quite modern. It was designed by SYSTEMarchitects, a prominent firm that's won awards everywhere from the American Institute of Architects to the Museum of Modern Art. They also designed this other Chelsea loft, distinguished by a wood boat hull that was built out in the mezzanine. There's nothing quite as striking in this loft, although it does have a very interesting design element in the master bedroom.
See what it is

Distinctive Homes

January 24, 2016

A New York Minute With Veselka Restaurant Owner Tom Birchard

In 6sqft's fun new series A New York Minute we ask influential New Yorkers spitfire (and sometimes very random) questions about their life in the big city. Want to nominate yourself or someone you know? Get in touch! In 1965, Tom Birchard was busy studying business administration at Rutgers University when he met Marta, daughter of Wolodymyr Darmochwal, at a fraternity party. Her father owned the Ukrainian restaurant Veselka at Second Avenue and Ninth Street in what was then a largely Easter European community. Tom and Marta married the following year, and ever since then Tom started working at the restaurant part time, helping it grow into the iconic establishment it is today, famous for its 24-hour pierogis and borscht. Though he and Marta eventually separated (Tom is now married to Dr. Sally Haddock who owns St. Marks Veterinary Hospital), Tom took ownership of the business in 1975, and has since been at the helm, living in the East Village, which he describes as "young, funky, artsy." Not only does he keep the Ukrainian spirit alive, but he's active in the community, serving on the board of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and actively sponsoring local performance artists.
READ MORE

Where I Work

January 24, 2016

Friedland Properties Finally Settles on Design of 2230 Broadway

By Heather Cooper Vivares

Foundation work continues apace on Friedland Properties' and Rose Associates' upcoming 72-unit apartment tower at the southeast corner of Broadway and West 80th Street. Tentatively addressed as 2230 Broadway, the building will rise 18 stories and 227 feet to its rooftop stair bulkhead. This stretch of Broadway on the Upper West Side enforces a 210-foot height cap (to its highest occupiable floor) to keep new developments in scale with their surrounding historic context. According to building permits, Stephen B. Jacobs Group are the architects. Evidently, the project has gone through several iterations of design, but it seems the team has settled on this recently posted conservative red brick building with a light stone base and cornice lines. The new rendering is also in line with DOB filings and an elevation posted at the construction site.
More on the building

January 23, 2016

$2M Historic Bed-Stuy Brownstone Comes With an Ethereal Interior

There really is something dreamy about the interior of this Bed-Stuy home at 231 Decatur Street. From the outside, it looks like a well-kept, historic townhouse -- prominent Brooklyn architects Axel Hedman and Eli Bishop designed this barrel-front, Renaissance Revival-style brownstone in 1897. The interior is chock full of historic detailing, too, like intricate mantels and woodwork, decorative fireplaces and stained-glass windows. The design, very bright and white, compliments those old details well, and gives the spaces an ethereal feel. If we could pick any Brooklyn brownstone to show up in our dreams, this would be the one.
See the interior

Distinctive Homes

January 23, 2016

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

Judy Garland’s Former Dakota Apartment, Now a Designer Pad, Asks $16.7M Lower Income Residents of Extell’s ‘Poor Door’ Building Find Glaring Disparities The Best Address for Less: Live in the Dakota for $1.85M Loophole Allows Developers to Build ‘Skyscrapers on Stilts’ to Give Residents Ocean Views Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week […]

Uncategorized

January 22, 2016

Spotlight: Author Gay Talese Reflects on More Than Sixty Years in the NYC Journalism World

By Susan Cohen

"I was very curious as a grade school kid and that curiosity never abated," explains renowned writer Gay Talese. This curiosity has been both a driving force and a constant throughout Gay’s more than 60-year writing career; a career in which his observations and discoveries have been widely read and published. Gay’s first forays into writing were for his hometown of Ocean City, New Jersey’s local paper in high school. After graduating from the University of Alabama, where he had written for the school’s paper, he was hired as a copyboy at the New York Times in 1953. For Gay, this job laid the groundwork for a career in which he was a reporter for the Times, wrote for magazines such as Esquire (where his most famous pieces on Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio were published) and The New Yorker, and published books on a wide variety of topics including the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. 6sqft recently spoke with Gay about his career and the changing landscape of journalism.
Read the interview here

January 22, 2016

Watch the Seasons Change in Three Directions From This Unusual Prospect Heights Co-op

When we're looking for a new home we're often hoping for something different and, well, special, especially after seeing space after generic space. This Prospect Heights pad at 296 Sterling Place is definitely unique. It's spacious at 1,400 square feet, with 13-foot beamed ceilings and windows everywhere with open views on all three sides–because the building has three sides. You get the elegant original details of a classic pre-war co-op (original parquet wood floors, for example), plus the exposed brick and beams you'd love in a loft. And with two bedrooms plus an office/third bedroom, there's room for everyone. Overall, charming modern updates and the above cool-old-building-of-the-day infrastructure–plus the fact that the perfect Prospect Heights location tops pretty much everyone's list–are the stuff bidding wars are made of. The ask–$1.799 million–could get you an entire townhouse worth of quirky charm a few years back, but not in Brooklyn of 2016.
Take a look around this unique space

Distinctive Homes

January 22, 2016

Check Out This Timelapse of Manhattan’s Growth From 1815 to 2013

Your browser does not support the video tag. Today it seems like another supertall building goes up every single day, but it took a couple hundred years for New York City to become the concrete jungle that it is today. This fun timelapse of Manhattan’s growth from 1815 to 2013 (courtesy of reddit user Africare) puts […]

Uncategorized

January 22, 2016

Vedat Ulgen Transforms Vintage Denim Into One-of-a-Kind Furniture Pieces

If you love thrifting for vintage clothing and second-hand furniture, have we got the thing for you! From local industrial designer Vedat Ulgen of Thislexik, this stool and vase are both made from used clothing purchased from stores in and around Brooklyn. The shape and structure are made possible by way of resin that is left to harden for three days.
More this way

NJ Loses Out Big Time to NY for Sandy Money; How Winter Storm Jonas Is a Marketing Ploy

Evidence of an African burial ground was discovered on 126th Street. [NYT] Of the $181 million in federal post-Sandy disaster planning money to be split between New Jersey and New York, the Garden State got a mere $15 million. [Mass Transit Mag] Attend a Community Board 1 meeting next week and get into One World […]

Uncategorized

January 22, 2016

Modern, Massive Loft in Prewar Flatiron Building Asks $7.895 Million

Space, volume and abundant light—those are the three virtues of this Flatiron loft apartment at 260 Park Avenue, according to its listing. When it comes down to it, we'd have to agree; it's hard to argue with 3,287 square feet of open loft space that includes a "great room" that spans more than 46 feet, 12 enormous windows covering multiple exposures, and a master bedroom that comes with a double walk-in closet that's probably the size of some studio apartments. This condo sits within an eight-story prewar building that long served as the headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers. Well-known economist Richard Thaler purchased it in 2012 for $5.94 million and he's now trying to unload it for $7.895 million.
Take the tour

January 22, 2016

New Renderings for Chinese Lantern-Inspired Skyscraper at 470 Eleventh Avenue

By Ondel Hylton

Reaping the seeds of the Bloomberg administration's sweeping 2005 rezoning of the far west side, a consortium of developers led by Siras Development hopes to begin construction this year on a dramatic 720-foot skyscraper at 470 Eleventh Avenue. Anchoring the southeast corner of Eleventh Avenue and 38th Street, the 47-story tower will soar from a quarter-acre site across from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center that the developers purchased in 2014 for $110 million. The mixed-use project dubbed Hudson Rise will boast a total of 380,000 square feet split between a commercial podium, 328 hotel rooms/hotel condos, and topped by 40 condominiums that that will be marketed to Chinese buyers. Archilier Architects are the tower's designers, and though the firm has designed numerous large-scale developments in China, this will be their first in New York. Said to be inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns, the tower will be one of the most spatially complex skyscrapers in the city, distinguished by a vertical stack of alternating, cantilevering, and interlocking volumes that are clad in an array of facade treatments.
More details and renderings ahead

My 1,400sqft: Painter Stephen Hall Brings Us Into His Greenwich Village Loft and Studio

Our ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to artist Stephen Hall’s home and studio in Greenwich Village. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

January 22, 2016

My 1,400sqft: Painter Stephen Hall Brings Us Into His Greenwich Village Loft and Studio

By Diane Pham

Since being transformed into homes for artists in the 1970s, Westbeth Artists' Housing has hosted some of New York City's most brilliant creatives. And long-time resident and painter Stephen Hall most certainly falls into that set, helping to fill the residence's walls with thought-provoking ideas for the last 17 years. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Stephen came to New York back in 1978 and began exhibiting his work in the East Village in the early '80s. Today, his colorful pop-surrealist masterpieces can be found in collections all across the globe, with his paintings now commanding between $5,000-$20,000 a piece. He's also dreamt up art for major motion pictures, music videos and magazines. Curious to see the madness and magic behind his Stephen's off-kilter works—which he describes as "paintings [that] confront us with complex conundrums for which each of many possible solutions may very well tell us as much about ourselves as about the subject at hand"—6sqft recently paid a visit to his duplex loft, a family home that mixes mid-century modern design with pops of color and familiar but fantastical forms.
Keep reading to meet the artist, and to get a peek inside his live/work space

January 22, 2016

SOM Architects Reveal New Renderings of Hudson Yards-Adjacent Manhattan West Towers

Click here to enlarge overview map >>

Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has released new drawings of the Brookfield Properties-developed Manhattan West project located between 32nd and 33rd Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues, Dezeen reported today. The glass-clad Manhattan West towers–punctuated by green public space–will be rising next to the Hudson Yards development. The five-million-square-foot project will include two office towers, a rental tower with 844 apartments at 435 West 31st Street, retail space and a new landscaped public plaza designed by James Corner Field Operations, the firm responsible for the design of the High Line.
Take a look at the latest images

January 21, 2016

Facebook Co-Founder Gets $8.5M for Massive and Masculine Soho Loft

By Annie Doge

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and husband Sean Eldridge, financier and former Democratic congressional candidate, make quite the power couple. So it comes as no surprise that the dapper duo got $8.5 million, just below the $8.75 million asking price, for their bespoke Soho loft at 30 Crosby Street. They bought the home for $4.5 million in 2010, and then undertook a serious renovation that resulted in a masculine but elegant interior. It hit the market back in August, and now the Observer reports that the massive 4,100-square-foot pad has been picked up by Helliot Property Holdings Inc.
Take a look around

Amtrak Estimates Penn Station and Hudson River Tunnel Projects Will Cost $24B

January 21, 2016

Amtrak Estimates Penn Station and Hudson River Tunnel Projects Will Cost $24B

When Governor Cuomo announced his $3 billion revamp of Penn Station earlier this month, skeptics were quick to point out that all the glassy new structures and reconfiguration of waiting rooms won't do anything to help the fact that the Hudson River rail tunnels are crumbling. Clearly on the same page, Amtrak announced yesterday a detailed overview of the entire infrastructure project, and it comes in at a whopping $23.9 billion. According to the Times, "the largest share of about $7.7 billion [will go towards] building the new Hudson tunnel and repairing the existing tunnel. The project includes a host of other elements, including expanding Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan at an estimated cost of $5.9 billion, and replacing rail bridges in New Jersey."
Find out more

January 21, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 1/21-1/27

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! It may not be Armory week, but you can still get your art fair fill at the sixth annual Outsider Art Fair, which showcases non-traditional and untrained artists (think Henry Darger and modern counterparts). Taxidermy artist Joseph Grazi invites you to hear his musical side, and Mickalene Thomas shares her photographer inspirations at Aperture. Adrian Villar Rojas talks about his otherworldly sculptures with the Public Art Fund, and stencil legend Nick Walker takes up residence at the Quin. You can push your art experience to learn more about love with Lainie Love Dalby, or experience the aesthetics of Jessica Calderwood. Finish up the week with the Victorian sensibilities of Allison Sommers at Last Rites.
All the best events to check out here

Events & Things To Do

January 21, 2016

Broker Ipsum: The Real Estate Babble Generator

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

You may have heard of Lorem ipsum, the placeholder text commonly used in design and publishing, but have you heard of Broker ipsum? The new tool, a brokerbabble generator, comes from NeighborhoodX and pokes fun at the sometimes rambling jargon used in real estate listings. Simply tell Broker ipsum how many paragraphs you need and you'll get a mashup of common listing terms and Latin words such as "Stunning views commodo ligula eget dolor" or "Classic 6 quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque one-of-a-kind, pretium quis, sem."
READ MORE

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

10 Ways to Decorate an Exposed Brick Wall Without Drilling

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

10 Great Places to Buy Affordable Art in New York City

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January 21, 2016

Colorful, Classic and Costly—This Full-Floor Flatiron Rental Loft Asks $9,800/Month

To be honest, we're finding this 2,500 square-foot full-floor rental loft in a pre-war Flatiron District building at 4 West 22nd Street super exciting... It's got a somehow just-right combination of gorgeous loft bones, creative-cool decor, lots and lots of space, and two actual bedrooms (that are decent-sized) plus possibly room to create a temporary third, actual closets, and a kitchen that looks like it can't wait to cook, party, or both at once; the neighborhood is a fortunate confluence of everything newly-trendy in Manhattan. The rent, it seems, has been assigned accordingly at $9,800—the owners are banking on plenty of people getting just as excited.
Take a look inside

January 21, 2016

‘Dump Trump’ Graffiti Appears at Trump Place; Meet Lil BUB in Astoria for $100

The national “Dump Trump” campaign has found its way to the presidential candidate’s very own Trump Place development. Of the 300,342 vehicles towed or booted citywide from 2013 through last August, none were rounded up in Staten Island. [NYP] Internet cat celebrity Lil BUB is making an appearance at the Museum of the Moving Image […]

Uncategorized

January 21, 2016

VilLA NM Is a Futuristic Living Experiment With Ramps Inside and Reflective Windows Outside

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

VilLA NM is not meant for everyday living, but for weekends and stolen moments away from the hectic New York City life. None of the clutter of regular life can be found within its futuristic shell, created by Dutch architecture firm UNStudio. All white and smooth on the inside, dark like the soil on the outside, this Upstate home is the rural retreat dream of any idealistic, glamorous urbanite.
Learn more about the home

Architecture And Design

January 21, 2016

Victoria’s Secret Angel Lais Ribeiro Struts Into $2.5M Chelsea Condo

Victoria's Secret Angel and top model Lais Ribeiro recently closed on a 1,279-square-foot, two-bedroom unit in the Karl Fischer-designed Slate condo at 165 West 18th Street listed at $2.49M (h/t NYP). The 25-year-old Brazilian model has walked for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs among others, and has a seven-year-old son, Alexandre. The unit–for which Ribeiro reportedly paid close to the $2.49 million ask–has a private balcony, walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, and Brazilian hardwood floors.
Check out the new model HQ

January 21, 2016

Drab Tribeca Office Building to Get Pocket Parks and Rooftop Lounges for Employees

By Ondel Hylton

Basking in the star-power of Herzog & de Meuron's 56 Leonard, the mid-century Tribeca office block at 250 Church Street is prepping for a major overhaul by its owner Philips International. Now that the city's Human Resources Administration/ Department of Social Services (HRA/DSS) has hightailed it out of the building to consolidate its offices inside 4 World Trade Center, the Philip Pilevsky-led team will transform the full block-front property into a sleek, amenity-filled workhouse in the hopes of luring young techies and media companies.
See more of the project

January 20, 2016

Top 10 Transportation Proposals That Would Transform New York City

Commuting in and around NYC can at times be a daunting task, and with the all of the pending subway closures, things are about to get a bit more complicated. However, all hope is not lost, and a trouble-free ride to work right be in the near future. From a city-wide ferry system to cell-phone friendly subway cars, both Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have several new initiatives in play to improve the city's infrastructure. In addition to these ambitious government-backed measures, there are also a slew of motivated residents looking to make some changes, including a 32-Mile Greenway in Brooklyn and Queens and a High Line-esque bridge spanning the Hudson River, just to name a few. To keep your spirits high when subway lines are down, we've put together this list of top 10 transportation proposals for NYC.
See all 10 here

Transit

January 20, 2016

The Best Address for Less: Live in the Dakota for $1.85M

While it’s not exactly what we’d call affordable housing, you don’t have to be as rich as Yoko Ono or as famous as Lauren Bacall (whose apartment recently sold for $21 million) to live in the iconic Dakota overlooking Central Park. This pint-sized top-floor aerie on the Upper West Side offers a seriously rare chance to rub elbows with venerable co-op’s celebrity residents–and the memories of notable residents past–for a relatively earthbound $1.85 million. Though there’s still the nearly $3,000 monthly co-op fee to contend with, it’s not often that a space here that isn’t a storage unit finds its way to the market for less than four or five million at the very least; there are currently three eight-figure units listed, including Roberta Flack's pad and Judy Garland's former home. And the one-bedroom apartment itself is just the bright and elegant pre-war gem you’d imagine it to be.
Have a look around this rare little gem

Are Shuttle Buses a Viable Alternative to the L Train During a Shutdown?

Image via Allen1628famm/YouTube

January 20, 2016

Are Shuttle Buses a Viable Alternative to the L Train During a Shutdown?

The MTA’s announcement of possible plans to close the L train for months or even years at a time to repair the Hurricane Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel has businesses scrambling and commuters (the train has 300,000 riders on the average weekday) fearful. Data mapping company CartoDB offers a bit of “location intelligence” to better understand the consequences of a shutdown for people living in Brooklyn and, more importantly, what some realistic alternatives to the L train might be. For example, shuttle buses: "If the shuttle bus takes 20 minutes, we are able to calculate the best choices for riders along the L needing to get to Manhattan. Should they go all the way to Lorimer and take the shuttle bus or should they transfer earlier at Myrtle-Wyckoff to the M train or at Broadway Junction to the A?"
Will shuttle buses save the day?

January 20, 2016

Units Come Online for 180 East 88th Street, Tallest Building Between 72nd Street and Albany

By Ondel Hylton

In spite of a bristling array of glass spires erupting into our man-made mountain range and a global high-rise boom remodeling world cities into alien, cutting-edge anonymity, Manhattan stubbornly manages to appear tellurian. But Joseph McMillan's integrated real estate investment and design company DDG has emerged as one firm genuinely committed to nurturing and progressing our architectural zoo of a city. Their past projects–345 Meatpacking, 41 Bond Street, XOCO 325, and 12 Warren– transcend common architectural styles, clad in a unique palette of materials and composed of an uncanny mashup of parts informed by context, nature, and technology. DDG's latest exotic specimen comes to the architecturally conservative Upper East Side 'hood of Yorkville, at 180 East 88th Street (1558-1556 Third Avenue). The 32-story, 521-foot development will not only be the team's first uptown building, but also their first high-rise. DDG purchased the three-lot parcel from Muss Development for $70 million in 2013, and groundwork earnestly began last spring.
Lots more details and renderings this way

January 20, 2016

Tsumiki Are Legos Reimagined Using Japanese Design Principles

We can't deny that we're big fans of LEGO bricks here at 6sqft. They incite within us welcomed nostalgia for a simpler time when our love for design and architecture was just budding. However, now that our taste has evolved we can see how the brightly colored squares may not be complementary to a more adult interior aesthetic. The folks at the Tokyo architecture firm Kengo Kumo and Associates agree and have reimagined the classic LEGO with a minimalist Japanese twist. Their new blocks, also known as Tsumiki, are shaped like an inverted V and made from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship.
More on the blocks

January 20, 2016

Lovable Park Slope Apartment Perched on the Top Floor Asks $3,900 a Month

Yes, a top floor apartment can often mean an annoying walk up the stairs to get there. And for this prewar building in Park Slope, at 523 8th Street, that's likely the case. This apartment is located on the top floor of the four-story, 11-unit building. But we'll venture to say this walk-up is worth it, considering how charming the space is. It's a two-bedroom rental with details like tin ceilings, carved entryways, and lovely views of the treetops below. It's also just a half block away from Prospect Park.
Check it out

January 20, 2016

Penn Station Overhaul Already Behind Schedule; The Met Is Getting a 180,000-Square-Foot Addition

Cuomo’s $3 billion Penn Station overhaul is already behind schedule, as RFPs have yet to be issued to developers. [Politico] Check out these adorable Little Free Libraries in Rockaway. [The Rockawayist] Watch this 19th-century Bed-Stuy mansion get demolished day by day. [Brownstoner] Don’t miss tonight’s panel discussion on the future of the NYC skyline, featuring architectural leaders Richard […]

Uncategorized

Staten Island’s Abandoned Farm Colony to Undergo $91M Development for Senior Housing

Rendering via Nancy Owens Studio

January 20, 2016

Staten Island’s Abandoned Farm Colony to Undergo $91M Development for Senior Housing

Over a year ago, 6sqft shared the news that Staten Island's abandoned farm colony was set to undergo a massive rehabilitation that included a large senior housing building and a massive public park. And just yesterday, the City Council approved the New York City Economic Development Corporation's plan to sell 45 of the site's 96 acres to Staten Island developer Raymond Masucci for $1, according to the Times. Mr. Masucci will pour $91 million into the project, dubbed Landmark Colony, rehabilitating five crumbling Dutch Revival-style structures, tearing down five more but saving their stones for reuse, preserving a 112-year-old dormitory "as a stabilized ruin," constructing 344 condominiums for the 55 and older crowd, and designing 17 acres of public outdoor space.
More on the project and the history of the site

January 20, 2016

POLL: Do Lower Income Residents of Extell’s ‘Poor Door’ Building Have a Right to Complain?

Lower income residents of Extell’s notorious “poor door” building at 50 Riverside Boulevard are not happy with what they’re considering glaring disparities between those like themselves who live in the affordable units and those in the luxury section of the building. Aside from having to use a separate entrance, the lower income tenants don’t have […]

January 19, 2016

It Only Makes Sense to Buy a Home in NYC After 18 Years, Longer Than Anywhere in the U.S.

Renting in New York can get exhausting–the dreaded lease renewal letters, the constant moves, the thought of shelling out tens of thousands of dollars each year to pay someone else's mortgage. But is it really worth it to buy a home in NYC? According to data from personal finance site SmartAsset, it's only a good decision after you've lived in New York for 18.2 years, longer than anywhere else in the nation by far (h/t Business Insider). The study looked at 29 major cities across the U.S. and calculated their breakeven point–"the point at which the total costs of renting become greater than the total costs of buying." As a baseline, they used a household earning $100,000 annually with a 4.5 percent mortgage rate, a 20 percent down payment, and $2,000 in closings costs.
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Real Estate Trends

Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week of March!

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

January 19, 2016

Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week of March!

The Port Authority has announced today in a press release that the World Trade Center Transportation Hub—anchored by architect Santiago Calatrava's Oculus–will open the first week of March. The hub will link the World Trade Center PATH station and "enable travelers to have a seamless connection with 11 New York City subway lines and the East River ferries in addition to access to PATH trains."
What about the mall?

January 19, 2016

Redtop Architects’ East Village Townhouse Is a Modern Interpretation of the Split-Level Home

This gorgeous four-story townhouse in the East Village was designed by Redtop Architects for a young, growing family. The firm's visionary design combines elements of mid-century modern appeal with contemporary style for a unique look and feel that radically transformed this townhouse from drab to fab. The foundation for the home's interior spaces is designed around an open central channel connected by a wide steel staircase that provides ample natural light and space–a modern interpretation of the split-level home.
See it all, right this way

January 19, 2016

The New York Music Map Matches 450 Artists With a Special Spot in the City

From Bob Dylan to Run DMC to MGMT, the number of musicians who have called New York home is astounding. In an effort to visualize the city's musical pulse, the London-based creative communications firm Kingdom Collective teamed up with music writer Frank Broughton and illustrator Adam Hayes to create the New York Music Map (h/t CityLab), which plots 450 artists as points on a map of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and a piece of New Jersey (sorry, Staten Island). The map is available as an interactive online platform, as well as a decorative print for sale.
More on the map

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1289 Lexington Avenue

Carnegie Hill

Refined living on the Upper East Side

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

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January 19, 2016

Sebastian Errazuriz’s Latest Creation Is a Cabinet That Functions As a Kaleidoscope

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

"The Space Between the Void (Kaleidoscope Cabinet)" is yet another attempt by New Yorker Sebastian Errazuriz to deconstruct the paradigm that a cabinet should simply be a box with two doors. 6sqft previously featured his Wave Cabinet and his Magistral Chest, but the psychedelic design of his latest creation deserves a special mention of its own. The Kaleidoscope Cabinet consists of a reflective storage unit that visually multiplies whatever is placed inside it, and it even has a peephole that functions just like its namesake children's toy.
Learn more about this mind-bending cabinet

January 19, 2016

The Life Cycle of the Greek Coffee Cup; Average American Homes Are Inhabited by 100s of Bugs

A new study shows that the average American home contains 100 arthropod species (aka insects and spiders). [The Guardian] Get a look at the abandoned 1937 Staten Island Ferry, MV Mary Murray. [Urban Ghosts] Here are the best and worst supermarkets in the nation. [Rare] Thirty years ago you had about 17 minutes to escape a […]

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January 19, 2016

Live/Work Loft Serviced by the Original Freight Elevator Asks $1.575 Million in Clinton Hill

We'll just come out and say it: this Clinton Hill loft is really cool. The 2,074-square-foot space, lined with big windows that face both north and south, takes up the entire third floor of the live-work cooperative at 93 Lexington Avenue. You'll still find the original industrial details of the former warehouse building throughout the apartment, including an incredible copper-doored elevator. Another freight elevator, also an original detail of the building, opens directly into the apartment. It last sold in 2012 for $880,000 (slightly over the ask of $855,000) and now it's on the market for much more, $1.575 million.
Tour the space

Distinctive Homes

January 19, 2016

The West Village In Springtime, Yours for $5,995 a Month in This Cozy Sublet

New York City is at its best in springtime, and we can't think of too many places that illustrate this better than the West Village. This furnished two bedroom co-op at 29 Perry Street is available for sublease from March through June, which is just about perfect, season-wise—as the listing gushes, "walking these blocks feels like being on a movie set." It's just a matter of whether the $5,995 monthly rent works, wallet-wise.
See what's here and what's missing

Distinctive Homes

January 18, 2016

Judy Garland’s Former Dakota Apartment, Now a Designer Pad, Asks $16.7M