6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

The big news last week was the Port Authority's decision not to hold an opening ceremony for Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub (followed by their sudden flip flop), citing the fact that it was six years delayed and that final construction costs came in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected. Though the Hub has become notorious for these reasons, it's hardly the only public project to face delays and skyrocketing costs. In fact, it's not even close to being the worst of the lot that are draining tax payer dollars. DNAinfo took a look at the Department of Design and Construction’s Design Excellence program, a city initiative where high-profile architects design public facilities. Take for example the NYPD station house on Staten Island known as "The Stapler." Its original cost was projected as $3 million, but when it opened in 2013 this rose to a whopping $73 million. DDC, ironically, blames the emphasis on design for the problems, as well as a faulty budgeting process (cost estimates are calculated before actual designs are selected).
More details ahead

March 1, 2016

Kid’s Caravan Bed Provides the Excitement of an RV From the Comfort of Home

This funky kid's bed was designed to mimic a caravan, and we secretly wish they also made it in adult sizes! Not only is it cozy and playful, but it's also super functional and equipped to handle even the most rugged camper. The bed is packed full of hidden storage space including the helm as the perfect home for toys stuffed animals or blankets. Plus the base of the bed double as a full-sized pull-out drawer.
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March 1, 2016

Brooklyn’s Getting an Olsen Twins Museum; Why Do Airplane Bathrooms Still Have Ashtrays?

After the success of their Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan museum, two Brooklynites have launched a $9,500 Kickstarter to fund a new museum — The Olsen Twins Hiding From the Paparazzi. [Brokelyn] New Yorkers are the most wrinkled people in the country. [NYDN] Here’s the lineup for the inaugural Panorama music festival on Randall’s Island (you know, […]

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March 1, 2016

First Look at Pair of Apartment Houses Coming to 220-222 Withers Street in East Williamsburg

By Emrys Fitzgerald

Here's our first glimpse of a pair of four-story residential buildings at 220-222 Withers Street in East Williamsburg. Renderings recently published by the site's owner, BK Developers, depict two identical, eight-unit buildings faced with a routine exterior of red brick, multi-pane windows, and dark metal trim. Three floors are flush to the streetwall, while the fourth is setback. Within each 5,000-square-foot building, the first and second floors will each house a single unit while the upper two levels will contain a duo of duplexes.
More ahead

Lightstone’s Paris-on-the-Gowanus Rental Building at 365 Bond Street Opens

363-365 Bond Street, via Lightstone Group

March 1, 2016

Lightstone’s Paris-on-the-Gowanus Rental Building at 365 Bond Street Opens

By Ondel Hylton and Julian Friedman

One of the Lightstone Group's two new rental buildings in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood is set to open Tuesday. The new residence at 365 Bond Street, along with its neighbor at 363 Bond (a year from completion) represent a $350 million effort by the developer to build 700 luxury rental apartments on the left bank of the Gowanus Canal. Designed to look like an historic brick-walled warehouse, market-rate apartments at 365 Bond start at over $2,000 a month for a studio and over $3,000 for a one-bedroom unit, according to the Wall Street Journal. Lightstone President Mitchell Hochberg says the project was inspired by the Canal Saint-Martin neighborhood in Paris, known for a residential project near a similarly polluted waterway which helped create a "newly hip atmosphere."
Find out more

March 1, 2016

Williamsburg Hotel/Residential Tower at 500 Metropolitan Avenue Rises Above Ground

Not to be completely outdone by Bjarke Ingels' Via 57 West, Williamsburg is getting its own highway-fronting pyramidal pile. Alongside the bucolic banks of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the concrete frame of 500 Metropolitan Avenue has finally climbed above street level, now reaching its third floor. The uniquely massed 200,000-square-foot, mixed-use project ascends near the Metropolitan Avenue-Lorimer Street station of the G and L lines, and from a V-shaped lot that borders five streets: Metropolitan Avenue, Union, Keap, Ainslie and Rodney Streets. Its stepped, ziggurat-like form will soar 14 stories and 172 feet above the low-slung area, making it among the tallest structures in the 'hood.
Find out more

March 1, 2016

The Color Scheme in This $8.5K Village Rental Is Good Enough to Eat

Ok, those funky retro-Euro Smeg fridges in candy colors are cute pretty much always. But in tangerine? And the matching tangerine-striped vintage light fixture? Amazing. And that candy-orange paired with pale Tiffany-box blue? Yes, please. This two-bedroom, two-bath floor-through at busy-but-convenient 132 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village is no bargain at $8.5K a month, but that's no surprise given the prime downtown location where supermodels, students, tourists and fashionistas jostle day and night. It is, however, surprisingly chic (at least in pictures), with a minimalist vibe and design perfection in the details.
Check it out, this way

Distinctive Homes

February 29, 2016

RAAD-Designed Bushwick Building May Have the World’s Largest Urban Farm

By Ondel Hylton and Dana Schulz

Design firm RAAD is no stranger to boundary-pushing projects (their founder James Ramsey is a co-creator of the Lowline underground park), and their latest endeavor may grant them bragging rights as the designers behind the city's, perhaps even the world's, largest urban farm. Brownstoner spotted conceptual renderings (read: the developer has not filed permits nor have they confirmed they'll move ahead with RAAD's vision) for 930 Flushing Avenue in Bushwick, part of the Rheingold Brewery mega-development. The mixed-use project, officially known as 1 Bushwick, would offer commercial, retail, residential, hotel, cultural, and agricultural spaces. The aforementioned rooftop farm would be nearly 165,000 square feet; Brooklyn Grange, which is currently the world's largest rooftop soil farm, occupies 108,000 square feet across two sites. A description of 1 Bushwick says: "Guests relaxing in the rooftop pool will be regaled by a rare experience: views of the skyscrapers of Manhattan — and cornfields."
More renderings and details

Distinctive Homes

Live in perpetual sunlight in this $5M contemporary Crown Heights townhouse

Park Avenue penthouse with enormous terrace owned by Maurice Tempelsman lists for $5.5M

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

David Bowie's former Central Park South home asks $4.95M

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

$5M Yorkville home offers a flexible frame for townhouse living

For $10.5M, a sunny yellow Mediterranean villa on the Upper East Side

Drew Barrymore's amazing 12-acre Westchester estate asks $5M

Sting's former Central Park West pad is back on the market for $45M

For $3.35M, this 40-acre upstate retreat embodies the spirit of modernist architecture

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February 29, 2016

10 Clever, Creative and Unexpected Storage Ideas for Apartment Dwellers

By Alyssa Alimurung

6sqft’s series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week we offer up spots in your apartment that may be underutilized as storage. Unless you're living in a mega-mansion with amazing closet space, chances are your belongings are scattered across your apartment and overstuffed into drawers and cabinets. With spring right around the corner, you may want to rethink how you've been tackling clutter at home. Below we've rounded up 10 clever, creative and unexpected storage ideas that you can put into action in your apartment right now.
Spring cleaning organization this way

Apply for 30 Affordable Units in Three Williamsburg Buildings, Starting at $532/Month

A rendering of 356 Bedford Avenue from the construction fence from July, 2014. Via Brownstoner

February 29, 2016

Apply for 30 Affordable Units in Three Williamsburg Buildings, Starting at $532/Month

Here's the third affordable housing lottery to open in Williamsburg over the past few weeks. First, 33 units opened at 149 Kent Avenue, followed by 13 more spread across five small buildings. Now, 30 additional apartments are up for grabs at 37 Ten Eyck Street, 37 Maujer Street, and 356 Bedford Avenue, according to the NYC HPD. The Bedford address, the largest of the buildings, is located in the heart of South Williamsburg, just north of the Williamsburg Bridge between South 3rd and South 4th Streets, near a cluster of trendy bars and restaurants; the Maujer and Ten Eyck buildings are in East Williamsburg between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street. According to the posting, the units range from $532/month one-bedrooms to $1,182/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Beyond Bars: Designers Reimagine Rikers Island As a Destination

Curtis + Ginsberg Architects’ “city blocks”

February 29, 2016

Beyond Bars: Designers Reimagine Rikers Island As a Destination

The 413-acre plot of city-owned land, most of it landfill, that makes up Rikers Island is known more for its impenetrable prison than its waterfront property and breathtaking city views. Recently City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for the closing of the jail complex, reports Crains, calling it an "ineffective, inefficient,” symbol of outdated policies and approach to criminal justice. An independent commission headed by Jonathan Lippman, the state's former top judge, is creating a blueprint for accomplishing the prison’s closing. There is significant opposition to the idea, though others, from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the New York Times editorial board are behind it.
Find out what could replace the jail

February 29, 2016

$2M Greenwich Village Co-op Comes With Eclectic Surprises and Garden Views

The Greenwich Village cooperative 39 East 10th Street was designed in 1870 by James Renwick, the architect also responsible for nearby Grace Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The five-story brick building only has 10 units, and this three-bedroom asking $1.995 million is one of them. Inside, a narrow floorplan connects 1,600 square foot of space. There are three bedrooms, a living room, an eat-in kitchen, and office space with some fun surprises thrown in: working wood-burning fireplaces, Art Deco lighting, tons of well-designed shelving and views out onto the building's quaint common garden.
Check out the floorplan

Distinctive Homes

February 29, 2016

Riverside Center’s One West End Avenue Tops Off, Cantilevering Pool and All

By Ondel Hylton

Propelled skyward by the still-sizzling Upper West Side residential market and its dearth of buildable sites, the final phase of the Riverside South master plan is coming together alas. After decades on the drawing board, this southern-most, eight-acre segment collectively known as Riverside Center/Waterline Center has already spawned a pair of residential buildings designed by SLCE Architects and another by Pelli Clarke Pelli with Goldstein, Hill & West Architects (GHWA). Three other parcels to the west are now undergoing site preparation. Those lots will give rise to a trio condo and rental buildings whose developer, Boston-based General Investment and Development Companies (GID), has enlisted a trio of high caliber designers working with GHWA, the executive architect of record. Work has moved forward swiftly on the the plan's first two towers. The shorter of the pair, known as One West End , has just topped off its 491-foot concrete skeleton and is being developed through a partnership between the Elad Group and Silverstein Properties. The robust 41-story spire is the second tallest building on West End Avenue, only behind its more anonymous 521-foot-tall rental neighbor 21 West End.
Details, renderings, and construction photos this way

February 29, 2016

Chilean Design Firm Makes Beautiful Room Dividers From Sustainable Pine Fibers

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

Whether you live on an open-plan loft or tiny studio, you've probably, at least once, considered a reconfiguration of the space. Meet Ensamble, modular flexible room dividers, and the latest project by Chilean studio The Andes House. Lightweight, flexible and low-cost, the panels are easy to assemble into a small office or separate micro-space and were crafted from a sustainable composite material made from pine fibers.
Learn more about Ensamble

February 29, 2016

Architect Wants to Build a Vertical Central Park; 42 NYC Streets Just Got Renamed

Italian architect Carlo Ratti wants to build a mile-high observation tower that’s (sort of) a vertical version of Central Park. [Dezeen] Without leap years, today would be July 15, 2017. [LA Times] The city co-named 42 thoroughfares and public places, honoring “individuals, cultural icons and entities that made lasting contributions to New York City.” See […]

Uncategorized

February 29, 2016

With Terraces, Fireplaces and a Hidden Bar, This $2.5M Murray Hill Duplex Is Classic Manhattan

On a picture-perfect residential block lined with historic townhouses and understatedly elegant pre- and postwar apartment buildings–yet around the corner from bustling Midtown East, this duplex at 34 East 38th Street may be the Manhattan equivalent of that perfect Craftsman bungalow in a hip suburban neighborhood. It doesn't shout or come with shiny marketing literature, but for the die-hard Manhattan worshipper, it’s just right. The two-bedroom co-op in a five-story Murray Hill townhouse would certainly make a perfect pied-a-terre: Mint renovations mean effortless comfort and style; it's convenient to just about everything the city offers, in a neighborhood where old-fashioned elegance in architecture blends with every modern 21st century amenity catering to busy residents of all ages.
Tour the duplex

Distinctive Homes

February 28, 2016

CWB Architects Build a Musically Inspired Pavilion in the Hamptons for a Pianist Client

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

A former musical director/pianist from Brooklyn Heights and her historian husband contacted Dumbo-based CWB Architects to build an adjacent pavilion at their home in Quogue on Southampton. The result is the wood-clad Piano Pavilion, which echoes the owners' love for organic architecture, but makes a deliberate nod to its namesake instrument with the contour of its roof. The pavilion was made to function as a piano room and small office, but it also works as a guest room, which is important as the couple's children and six granddaughters visit almost every weekend.
Learn more about the Piano Pavilion

Architecture And Design

Actors Kerry Bishé and Chris Lowell Buy $2M Skylit Soho Loft

Actors Kerry Bishé (from the AMC drama “Halt and Catch Fire” and the film “Argo”) and "Veronica Mars" veteran Chris Lowell just picked up a gorgeous $2.25 million triplex loft with outdoor space at 196 Sixth Avenue near Hudson Square in Soho. Luxury Listings reports that the 1,292-square-foot loft has 20-foot ceilings, arched windows, exposed brick walls and massive skylights. Lowell listed his Greenwich Village loft back in December, and interestingly, his former bachelor pad also had big arched windows and exposed brick, though the new digs are definitely a bit of an upgrade and more of a love nest.
Take a look

A 1960s Plan to Cover Midtown Manhattan With a Giant Geodesic Dome

Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao Dome Over Manhattan, 1960. Image courtesy of the Estate of R. Buckminster Fuller.

February 26, 2016

A 1960s Plan to Cover Midtown Manhattan With a Giant Geodesic Dome

During the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to future-thinking genius engineer/utopian Buckminster Fuller, plans were proposed to cover midtown Manhattan with a giant geodesic dome. Fuller, who invented the concept and was deeply invested in studying the domes and their properties, described a three kilometer (1.864 mile) geodesic dome spanning midtown Manhattan that would regulate weather and reduce air pollution. The proposed structure would have stretched from the East River to the Hudson River and from 21st Street to 64th Street. The dome would reduce cooling costs in summer and heating costs in the winter, so buildings wouldn't need separate heating or cooling–the dome above would be kept at a regulated temperature level.
Find out more

History

February 26, 2016

Renderings Revealed for Downtown Supertall 45 Broad Street

Back in January, 6sqft uncovered preliminary renderings of downtown supertall 45 Broad Street, a project of Madison Equities and Italy-based Pizzarotti Group that's reportedly being designed by the architects at CetraRuddy. The design showed a presumably glass tower, "crowned by a distinctive pitched roof and an angling cantilever located some 400 feet above street level along its northern facade." After groundwork began at the site earlier this month, The Real Deal has now obtained more concrete views of the tower, which will stretch 1,100 feet high, have 86 floors, and contain 245 condo residences catering to entry- and mid-level buyers. The new renderings mimic the original massing, but show much more detail, like the golden, Gothic-inspired ribs traveling up the facade, the pointed crown, and the narrow mid portion.
More details ahead

February 26, 2016

Spotlight: François Vaxelaire Blasts Tunes from a Shipping Container in a Williamsburg Parking Lot

An independent online radio featuring live DJ sets, located in a shipping container on an empty piece of land on the Williamsburg/Greenpoint border -- if your inclination is to roll your eyes at just how Brooklyn this is, you might want to reconsider. The Lot Radio was founded by 34-year-old Brussels native François Vaxelaire, who has been living in the neighborhood for the past three years. After passing by the vacant triangle day after day, and growing more and more infatuated with its strange beauty, he decided it would be the perfect home for an online radio similar to those in Europe. And after getting through the city's red tape, Lot Radio is officially up and running, save for its adjacent coffee shop and outdoor seating area that are both awaiting permits from the Department of Health. What's most interesting about Vaxelaire is that he is committed to steering clear of the Brooklyn cliches. His goal is to grow an internationally focused, New York-based radio, but in terms of the physical location, he wants local residents exiting the nearby church to feel just as welcome hanging out as would an experimental music aficionado. 6sqft recently visited him at the shipping container to learn more about this very unique idea.
The full story from François

February 26, 2016

This Playful Family Loft Is Outfitted with a Rock Wall, Slide, and Zip Line!

Located on 29th Street in Nomad, this gorgeous 4,000-square-foot loft was given a design overhaul from Studio DB, customized for a family – complete with four little ones – who recently moved to NYC from Silicon Valley. In addition to a shared open living space, the home was made kid-friendly with fun features like a slide, zip line, and a shared loft space accessed through a unique passageway boasting a rock wall and monkey bars.
See the adult and child spaces

February 26, 2016

How to Find the Next ‘It’ Neighborhood; Brooklyn’s Rainbow Bagels Appear in London

Rather than following the smell of turpentine, look at things like access to transit, attractive architecture, and eminent rezoning to spot the next hot neighborhood. [NYT] A team of theoretical physicists and mathematicians ranked NYC as having the most complicated subway map in the world. [CityLab] But another study said New York is the fifth best city […]

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February 26, 2016

Wood Detailing Galore, and an Outdoor Bathtub, at This Prewar Penthouse in Greenwich Village

This prewar duplex penthouse comes from the Greenwich Village co-op at 49 West 9th Street, quite a beautiful brick and limestone building equidistance from Washington Square Park and Union Square. The $2.75 million apartment is around 1,000 square feet over two floors, with one bedroom and two bathrooms. It's also brimming with wood detailing and decked out with lots of private outdoor space -- home to both an outdoor shower and yes, a bathtub. If you're a fan of elegant, classic New York co-ops (that happen not to be in the Upper West or Upper East Sides) this one will make your day.
See more interior details

Distinctive Homes

Port Authority Will Hold Opening Ceremony for WTC Transportation Hub After All

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

February 26, 2016

Port Authority Will Hold Opening Ceremony for WTC Transportation Hub After All

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

On Tuesday, news broke that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would not be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony when the World Trade Center Transportation Hub opens next week. They called Santiago Calatrava's project "a symbol of excess." Perhaps feeling the backlash from their decision, the agency sent out a press release yesterday saying that though there will still be no event to mark the opening on March 3rd at 3pm, they will hold a ceremony once the Hub is fully up and running this spring, according to the Wall Street Journal. They credit their change of heart to a desire to thank the thousands of workers who built the station. Additionally, Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said, "It will stand, along with the memorial, museum and the buildings themselves, as a tribute the resiliency of the region."
More this way

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

50 places to shop locally in NYC for that perfect gift

10 best plants for apartment dwellers

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February 26, 2016

This $18M Prewar Co-op Is the Kind of Apartment That Invented Central Park Views

In addition to celebrity residents like Robert DeNiro, Paul Simon and, more recently, Annie Liebovitz, the 1928 co-op building at 88 Central Park West has bragging rights to the kind of views that were being enjoyed by the fortunate before trophy towers like 432 Park Avenue were even a glimmer in any developer’s eye. The classic Central Park West residence known as the Brentmore has only 12 floors, but it possesses a Gilded-Age cachet that’s lost very little of its appeal even in the 21st century. Residents add upper-floors and next-doors rather than move, and floor plans are generous and always include foyers and maids’ rooms (almost all units were built with seven rooms). And the location, of course, needs no introduction.
See more of this gracious West Side home

Distinctive Homes

February 25, 2016

Pricing Revealed for Market-Rate Rentals at Bjarke Ingels’ Via Tetrahedron

Bjarke Ingels' ever-captivating tetrahedron, officially known as Via 57 West and located at 625 West 57th Street, is set to hit the rental market on March 1st, and ahead of the launch, the Durst Organization has released pricing information, reports Curbed. In total, the flashy building will have 709 apartments, 142 of which are affordable and start at just $565/month. The market-rate units, however, will be considerably pricier, with an average asking price of $2,770/month for studios, $3,880 for one-bedrooms, $6,500 for two-bedrooms, $11,000 for three-bedrooms, and a whopping $16,500 for four-bedrooms. Eight listings have already gone live, and they're offering two months free on a 14-month lease or three months free on a 27-month lease.
More details ahead

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 2/25-3/2

Image: Ole Marius Joergensen

February 25, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 2/25-3/2

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! This week we're gearing up for action-packed days full of art events and openings, starting off with a double header photographic exhibit at Emmanuel Fremin Gallery in Chelsea, and the opening reception for Literally Balling, a show featuring stained glass basketball backboards from artist Victor Solomon. With the approaching weekend you can take a trip to Zimbabwe with the opening of ZIG ZAG ZIM, and then follow that up with your perfect excuse to get out of the city: Saturday evening's opening reception of WORD at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art. Also this week, the New School will be hosting a public talk with Isa Genzken, arguably one of the most influential artists of the past four decades. Come Tuesday we're back in the galleries for the opening of Light: Fixtures and Sculptures, and Beauty Undefined, a group show exploring the idea of female beauty across various cultures.
more on all the best events this way

Events & Things To Do

February 25, 2016

This Cobble Hill Garden Apartment Comes Smelling of Freshly-Baked Cookies

The listing for this two-bedroom-plus-office co-op at 275 Degraw Street suggests the garden apartment will "satisfy even the most discerning 'must have' list," and it certainly does seem to be that kind of place. Located on a charming Cobble Hill block in a 1900s brick row house, this spacious, renovated and well-appointed home ticks a lot of boxes for its $1.075 million ask: Two good-sized bedrooms and a bonus room, renovated kitchen, private back yard, central air-conditioning, washer/dryer, low monthlies. But how many New Yorkers can brag that they come home daily to the scent of freshly-baked cookies?
Take a tour and find out what smells so good

Distinctive Homes

February 25, 2016

Lottery Open for 77 Affordable Units for Seniors at Dattner Architects’ Van Cortlandt Green

It's been widely noted that New York has an ever-growing population of low-income elders, and a new affordable housing project in Riverdale seeks to address the issue. Designed by Dattner Architects (who are also behind the Bronx's huge West Farm Redevelopment Plan), the brand-new building at 6469 Broadway is known as Van Cortlandt Green and overlooks the park. It will offer 77 studios for $832/month for those age 62 and older. They're available to one person earning between $26,430 and $36,300 annually and two persons earning between $26,430 and $41,460, according to the NYC HDC.
Find out how to apply

Affordable Housing

February 25, 2016

Cottage-Like Duplex is up for Sale at the Muffin House in Chelsea

337 West 20th Street is not your average cooperative -- this Chelsea building was formerly the bakery of Samuel Bath Thomas, the Englishman who introduced New Yorkers to the English Muffin in the early 1900s. Today it's nicknamed the Muffin House and still has ovens (no longer working) built into the basement. You can now live in a cute little duplex at the co-op, which went residential sometime in the 1950s, for $875,000. While there's nothing inside the apartment to suggest this was a former muffin factory, there are still some old details intact.
Take a look

February 25, 2016

Catissa Cat Tree Doubles As Stylish Wall Art

New Yorkers definitely love their cats, and now feline owners can give their beloved fur balls their very own urban oasis in the form of the Catissa cat tree. The stylish and modern cat furniture features four stories of lush cushioned sheepskin and can easily be mounted on the wall. The unit was designed to allow your cat to roam, play, climb and sleep at their leisure.
More on Catissa

February 25, 2016

MTA Bans Hoverboards Over Fire Potential; Bracelet Pumps Caffeine Directly Into Your Bloodstream

Have an IDNYC and earn less than $54,000 a year? Then you can get your taxes done for free. [DNAinfo] New MTA posters ban hoverboards in subways and rail stations over their “potential to catch fire.” [Mashable] Check out these rare photos that show the slow and sad destruction of the old Pennsylvania Station. [Gothamist] The Joule […]

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City Planning Commission Approves Controversial East New York Rezoning Plan in 12-1 Vote

Map of proposed rezoning via Department of City Planning

February 25, 2016

City Planning Commission Approves Controversial East New York Rezoning Plan in 12-1 Vote

The New York City Planning Commission voted 12-1 in approval of Mayor de Blasio's controversial rezoning plan for East New York, Gothamist reports. It's the first of 15 low-income neighborhoods scheduled for rezoning as part of the Mayor's affordable housing plan, which promises to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning this spring. As part of what is known as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), rezoning plans for East New York's Cypress Hills neighborhood and adjacent Ocean Hill in Bed-Stuy would have 7,000 new apartments built by 2030, 3,447 of which will be designated affordable, in addition to one million square feet of commercial space. Of those affordable units, 80 percent would be reserved for families (defined as a household of three, with any number of earners) making no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), or $46,000; 27 percent would go to families making 40 percent of the AMI or $31,000.
Find out more

February 25, 2016

First Look at Crown Heights Residential Building Rising at 1740 Pacific Street

By Julian Friedman

Here's our first look at a five-story, 55-foot-tall residential building under construction in Crown Heights. The approximately 10,400-square-foot site at 1740 Pacific Street was purchased for $1.3 million in May of 2015 by Pacific Project Realty LLC and is now giving way to a 24-unit, 6,088-square-foot building. It's being designed by Input Creative Studio, and Diego Aguilera Architects P.C. is the architect of record. The exterior, clad in red-brick with metal balconies and railings, is organized into four parts, each of which will house six units.
Get a look inside

Image: Xymox/Flickr

February 24, 2016

City Filth, Decoded: The Gunk on Subway Platforms Actually Has a Name

Do you ever wonder what that black schmutz that collects on the subway platform is? Has all the discarded chewing gum in the world begun to mobilize? What if I put my bag on it? Slate's What's That Thing column appropriately examines the phenomenon: After repeated unreturned phone calls to the MTA, the intrepid journalists got "Gridlock Sam" Schwartz and his transit gurus on the case. Finally the fine folks from the MTA rallied and gave name to the mysterious muck. According to NYC Transit assistant chief of the Division of Stations Branko Kleva, the stuff is mastic, a tar-like substance used to seal and waterproof the subway tunnels. When it heats up, (in the summer, for example, ironically from the heat generated by subway car air conditioning) it starts to "flow and drip down from the roof of the tunnel onto the platforms below."
More on the mysterious gunk...

February 24, 2016

VIDEO: Fly Over the Forgotten Vessels of Staten Island’s Arthur Kill Ship Graveyard

In the Arthur Kill waterway, wedged between Staten Island and New Jersey, the Arthur Kill Ship Graveyard is the final home of over two dozen harbor vessels that had their best years in the city's golden age of shipping. There were once as many as 400 of the ghostly crafts left to the wiles of entropy in the waterway, but according to Atlas Obscura, only 25 or so remain, picked over for their useful parts. Seven minutes of eerie and fascinating drone video footage offers a close-up view of the "urban marine cemetery" and the rusted metal hulls of once-useful tugboats and other harbor ships as they slowly sink into the silent, murky waters.
More about this eerie assembly and the full video

History

February 24, 2016

How Far From NYC You Could Travel in One Day Between 1800 and 1934

Back in 1800, a New York stagecoach couldn't get outside the northeast, and a trip to Charleston, South Carolina took ten whole days of sailing—these are just two examples of just how arduous traveling in the 19th and early 20th centuries was. To visualize this difficulty, as well as to show the major advances made over a relatively short time, Quartz created this simple map that shows how far from NYC one could travel in a day between 1800 and 1934.
More on the map

February 24, 2016

$4.8M Brooklyn Heights Duplex Has Amazing Historic Details and the Great Outdoors

Built by the Pierreponts in 1858, the immaculately preserved 25-foot-wide Italianate townhouse at 104 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights holds four co-op apartments developed by architect and historian Norval White. On the market for $4.825 million, the grandly proportioned parlor and garden floor make up a nearly 3,000-square-foot duplex with 700 square feet of private outdoor space–one of the loveliest gems in New York City's first landmarked district.
Explore both floors

February 24, 2016

This Puppet-Shaped Device Keeps Your Fingers Safe When Hanging Art

DIY and design enthusiasts know very well that you can transform any room with the right supplies, and more often than not you'll only need a good hammer and some nails. But hammering nails into a wall can be tricky, which is where Nail It comes in. This adorable puppet-shaped device holds the nail in place, freeing your hand from the danger zone.
More on the product this way

February 24, 2016

For $5.5M, Combine Two Top-Floor Apartments Into One Soho Mega Loft

Here's a proposal only for true loft lovers: two fifth-floor apartments are on the market at 81 Grand Street, a former warehouse in Soho, and they come in a package in which you can combine them for a massive, single loft. If combined, it'll leave you with 45 feet of frontage facing Grand Street, a total of 14 windows and four skylights, 3,300 interior square feet and 600 exterior square feet. And you'd be working with great bones; while most downtown lofts have some cool historic details left from when the building was a warehouse, this one boasts detailed brickwork, as well as remnants of the building's old wheels and shoots system, typically used for transporting things. We're jealous of the architect who will get the job of creating a full-floor penthouse here.
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Distinctive Homes

February 24, 2016

One Mechanical Failure Can Delay 625 Subways; How Immigration Law Fueled Chinese Restaurants

How one mechanical failure at Union Square redirected 625 different trains in one day, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers. [NY Mag] After reviewing the backlog of 95 sites yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission decided that 30 sites are worthy of protections. [Curbed] The “lo mein loophole:” how U.S. Immigration law fueled a chinese restaurant boom. [NPR] Beijing […]

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February 24, 2016

Poll: Do You Agree With the Decision to Forego a Ribbon Cutting for WTC Transportation Hub?

The Greenwich by Rafael Vinoly

Yesterday the Port Authority announced that they won’t be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony (or any type of celebratory event, for that matter) to mark the opening of Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub next month. They called the Hub “a symbol of excess” and cited the exorbitant $4 billion price tag as the […]

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

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February 24, 2016

What You Can Do If You’re Injured On Rental Property

By Tom J. Moverman

Our ongoing series Apartment Living 101 is aimed at helping New Yorkers navigate the challenges of creating a happy home in the big city. This week Tom J. Moverman, partner at the Lipsig Law Firm, a practice specializing in personal injury, joins 6sqft to offer up tips on how to avoid injuries on a rental property, and what to do if they do occur. In New York City, Manhattan remains the dominating force when it comes to new apartment construction. However, in recent years, boroughs such as Brooklyn have closed that gap considerably. According to BuildingCongress.com, Manhattan accounted for 37 percent of all of the apartment construction in New York City, and in Brooklyn, construction accounted for 36 percent of the rental property construction activity in the city. By the middle of 2015, there had been $10.5 billion in residential construction throughout the entire city of New York (to give an idea as to how much the volume has increased, there was just $11.9 billion in residential construction in all of 2014). With an increase in construction comes an increase in tenant injuries. When volume increases, the demand to get new buildings up and generating revenue quickly also increases, and this means that corners will often be cut to make sure that rents from tenants can be collected in time to start showing a profit. Unfortunately, people can get injured when corners are cut, and tenants need to know how to protect themselves and fight back.
find out more here

February 23, 2016

Groundwork Begins on Bjarke Ingels’ Curvaceous East Harlem Development

By Ondel Hylton

With approved permits in place, Blumenfield Development Group is ready to move forward on their Bjarke Ingels Group-designed mixed-use project at 146 East 125th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Initial ground testing has taken place, and a construction fence has been erected along the lot's northern 126th Street frontage. According to permits filed in December 2014, the upcoming 230,000-square-foot building will contain 40,000 square feet of commercial space and 233 apartments, 20 percent of which will be designated as affordable.
More details ahead

There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

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

February 23, 2016

There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

When the subject of Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub comes up, what's most likely to come to mind is not the flying-bird-looking architecture, but the fact that it was so incredibly delayed (it’s six years off schedule) and over-budget (final construction costs ring in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected, making it the world’s most expensive train station). The latter is not sitting well with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who oversee the hub, as they've announced that they will not host an event to mark the opening during the first week of March, calling it "a symbol of excess," according to Politico. Similarly, Governors Christie and Cuomo, who control the agency, have declined to commemorate the opening.
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February 23, 2016

Designer Fawn Galli’s Carroll Gardens Townhouse Is Inspired by Fantasy and Nature

The home of designer Fawn Galli is an eclectic and vibrant combination of colors, patterns and style, reflecting her not-so- typical childhood (she spent her early years living in a California home without electricity or plumbing) and and rich design background (she spent time abroad in Paris and Madrid). Located in Carroll Gardens, the Brooklyn brownstone is inspired by fantasy, nature and the world at large, bringing together unexpected combinations of style and influence.
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Distinctive Homes

February 23, 2016

Minimalist Subway Map Posters Are More About Beautiful Design Than Finding Your Way