June 19, 2015

New Report Identifies 700 Miles of Unused Space Under Bridges and Elevated Platforms

The High Line may have revolutionized the adaptive reuse of the space atop elevated platforms, but what about that dead, dark space underneath? A new report from the Design Trust for Public Space in partnership with the Department of Transportation finds that the city has 700 miles of unused space under bridges, highways, and elevated subway tracks, much of which can be "transformed into valuable community assets such as small public parks, retail space and places for manufacturers to set up shop," according to Crain's.
READ MORE
June 19, 2015

Windows Galore at This Gramercy Loft, on the Market for $3.5 Million

There's nothing but light coming into this three-bedroom loft co-op at Ruggles House, a Gramercy Park building located at 112 East 19th Street. Ruggles House was built in 1913 as an industrial loft building with high ceilings and huge windows. When it was converted into a residential building, only two apartments were put on each of the 12 floors. The result at this particular unit is a sprawling floor plan with those old industrial interior details. It is currently on the market for $3.5 million.
See the interior
June 19, 2015

Live in Singer Roberta Flack’s Dakota Apartment for $9.5M

The glory days of the Dakota definitely seem to be coming to an end...legendary singer Roberta Flack has listed her apartment in the famed Upper West Side building for $9.5 million, according to the Daily News. The residence was a celebrity playground at its height–Flack counted as her neighbors John Lennon, Yoko Ono (her next-door neighbor), Leonard Bernstein, and Lauren Bacall, whose apartment also recently hit the market for $26 million. Flack, the Grammy winner who produced such songs as "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly with His Song," has lived in the Dakota for almost 40 years. So as the listing states, this is "a rare chance to acquire a historic residence, in a legendary building, from an Iconic Star."
More ahead
June 18, 2015

Bjarke Ingels Picks Up $4M Dumbo Penthouse with Views of 2 World Trade Center

When we have something to celebrate we usually do it with a glass of wine and some cake, but starchitect Bjarke Ingels is toasting his recently revealed design for 2 World Trade Center with a $3.89 million Dumbo penthouse. The Daily News reports that Ingels will be moving into the three-bedroom duplex at 205 Water Street, which offers a whopping 2,344 square feet of outdoor space, spread across four terraces, that provides the perfect view of the architect's impending Financial District tower. The sellers of the industrial-chic pad are interior designer and lifestyle guru Athena Calderone and her music producer husband, DJ Victor Calderone, who bought the home for $2.3 million in 2012 and originally listed it for $4.3 million back in January.
Take a look around the impressive home
June 18, 2015

Lucky Family Lives in a Cabin with a Meadow…on the Roof of Their West Village Building

Most New Yorkers looking for a bit of suburban living move to areas of Brooklyn like Ditmas Park that offer free-standing houses with yards, or they abandon ship altogether and pack it in for Jersey or Westchester. But this lucky family fulfilled their country dreams–complete with a cottage and attached porch, green meadow, and stone garden walkway–without leaving the island of Manhattan. Located at 719 Greenwich Street, in the heart of the West Village, this bucolic dwelling isn't visible from the street. Instead, you'll need to take a helicopter ride to scope it out, which is exactly how photographer George Steinmetz discovered this one-of-a-kind rooftop paradise.
Get the scoop on this unusual home
June 18, 2015

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 6/18-6/24

The summer sun means the vibrant River to River Festival is back again, bringing 60 free events to landmarks, venues and performance spaces around Lower Manhattan (see the top two images for a sampling). You're in store for eclectic art experiences this week. Finish off your new Mark John Smith obsession at his large scale exhibition, "TOTALSMIT," or explore the changing Lower East Side through the work of Clayton Patterson. Go outside the box for your art fix and enter a seedy Japanese nightclub in the basement of Castor Gallery tonight, a faux-gift shop at Redbull Studios, or an actual abandoned bank in the Bronx. Finish it off with two great museums—a dance performance by the Merce Cunningham Company at the new Whitney, or a film program at the Guggenheim!
All the best events here
June 18, 2015

Bright and Charming One-Bedroom in Alphabet City Is Surprisingly Affordable at $485k

Are you sitting down? Good, because today is your lucky day. There's a one-bedroom apartment available between Avenues B and C in the East Village, just blocks from the L train, asking only $485,000. This south-facing apartment features high ceilings, well-maintained wood finishes and full city views. Plus the quiet unit is walking distance from all the action.
Take a look around
June 18, 2015

This Poster Displays All 468 Subway Station Signs

For all intents and purposes, we do not want any visual of the subway hanging in our apartments. The grimy stations don't really complement our decor, and we'd prefer not to be reminded of the daily bloodbath that is trying to squeeze onto the 6 train. But this poster is the exception to our no-MTA-in-the-house rule. Printed using 11 Pantone® spot colors, this snappy piece of wall art displays all 468 subway station signs throughout the city, arranged in alphabetical order. It was designed by Hamish Smyth, one member of the duo who reprinted Massimo Vignelli's iconic Standards Manual last year. Once again inspired by Vignelli's graphic visual approach, Smyth created the new poster because he feels "this is an iconic design that should be remembered and celebrated, and we think a beautifully printed poster is a great way to get it into many people's hands."
Find out how to get your own copy and watch a video from the design team
June 18, 2015

Photographer Natan Dvir Captures Real Life Against NYC’s Larger-Than-Life Luxury Ads

When we think of bigger-than-life ads most of are quick to point out Times Square as the mecca of all things wrong with our consumer culture. But the tourist trap is just one piece Manhattan's puzzle, which, if you really take a second to look around, is dripping with advertisements hawking everything from coconut water to acne treatments to Louis Vuitton handbags. While most would say that they don't even notice the ads—a lot like how the Empire State Building eventually is just there after you've been living in the city for so long—Israeli photographer Natan Dvir argues that the reality is that these oversized billboards profoundly shape our urban landscape and the way we experience it. His series “Coming Soon” captures the phenomenon.
More from Dvir's series here
June 18, 2015

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis Make a Sale on Their Meatpacking Apartment

A mere five months after putting their Meatpacking District pad on the market, Olivia Wilde and husband Jason Sudeikis have made a sale. The unit at 66 Ninth Avenue was originally listed for $3.995 million in January, selling at a slight discount at $3.8 million according to the Post. The condo is a pretty simple construction with two bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, big windows, hardwood floors and new appliances—a great "starter home" the pair probably called it. Wilde and Sudeikis, who have a baby boy, high-tailed it to Clinton Hill earlier this year in search of more greenery, more space and far fewer folks stumbling drunk across their streets in stiletto heels and Italian loafers.
Have a look inside what they unloaded
June 18, 2015

Little Italy Townhouse Designed by the Novogratz Duo Is Looking for a New Bachelor

When millionaire private investor and socialite Bradley Zipper bought this Little Italy townhouse in 2004, he wanted a massive bachelor pad where he could host celebrity soirees and lavish business events for up to 400 people. After dropping $3,385,000 on the property, he hired Cortney and Robert Novogratz, the famous husband-and-wife design team, to deck it out. The result is certainly A-list worthy, with its 900-bottle wine cellar that's a replica of one in a Meatpacking District club, a 14-foot mahogany and pewter bar shipped over from Paris, and a vintage 1940s pool table surrounded by graphite walls. But despite this intense personalization, Zipper started trying to unload the house two years ago, first for $15 million, then $13 million, next as a $35,000/month rental, and now it's back for $15.5 million.
See what else this party pad has to offer
June 17, 2015

$3.6M Flatiron Loft Is Flooded With Light, Unique Details

A Flatiron loft at 141-145 West 17th Street in the Old Warren House apartment building has hit the market asking $3.625 million. Formerly a printing factory, the building now holds 12 upscale co-ops that still have features remaining from the building's factory days. This particular unit is a bright floor-through apartment with plenty of space and light. And as the Daily News reports, the current owner is Ernest Alexander Sabine, "the fashion design guru credited with reinventing the man bag."
Check it out
June 17, 2015

Help Count How Many Street Trees Are in NYC

Just a couple of months ago, we shared a fun map that lets users explore New York City's 592,130 street trees by species and trunk thickness. Brooklyn web developer Jill Hubley used data from the 2005-2006 Street Tree Census to create the map, but a lot of trees have come and gone in the past nine years. This time around, the Parks Department is crowdsourcing to count the city's street trees as part of its Trees Count! 2015 project. As Brooklyn Magazine reports, "Participants will be armed like park rangers, walking around different neighborhoods with tree identification guides and tape measures, recording data that will eventually trickle into an interactive map that encompasses all five boroughs."
Find out how you can get in on the action
June 17, 2015

Why Neighborhoods Change Names; How to Spot a City’s Next Up-and-Coming Area

East of Village, Hudson Heights, Greenwich Village North… What’s the reasoning behind changing and creating new neighborhood names? [Medium] Can new zoning keep chain stores at bay in the East Village? [Gothamist] How to spot neighborhoods that are next to hit it big. [Washington Post] What to look for in a contractor. [Brick Underground] Chelsea, formerly “Greenwich […]

June 17, 2015

VIDEO: What to Expect if You Were a Tourist Visiting NYC in the 1940s

Welcome to the "city of romance and excitement" in a time "where all roads lead to Gotham." This fascinating film produced by the city's PR arm back in the '40s is a total time warp that will transport you to the better days when everyone enjoyed travel by train, dapper suits were daily uniforms, and the New York skyline was downright demure with just the Empire State Building and Chrysler piercing the sky. Though all the landmarks featured are ones you'd expect to see (Grand Central, the Top of the Rock, The Statue of Liberty) and don't appear all that much different than they do now (kids were bathing in Washington Square Park's fountain back then too), a number of the shots and commentary provided by the film's narrator really highlight how much our city has changed (imagine a harbor full of Titanic-like ocean liners and no 432 Park). Watch the 22-minute video ahead.
Watch the video here
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June 17, 2015

Let’s Introduce Text Walking Lanes for Smartphone Addicts

You've seen them. You've tried to get around them. You're probably one of them. In a world where there are more mobile phones than people, it's become commonplace to find folks paying more attention to what's on their phones than what's in front of them on the street. These so-called "text-walkers" are often a nuisance to other pedestrians as well as a danger to themselves (and their precious phones). A smart solution to this problem has appeared on the sidewalks of Antwerp, Belgium in the form of  "text walking lanes." These lanes, marked by simple white lines painted onto the sidewalk, designate a separate walking space for people who use their phones while walking.
More on text-walking lanes
June 17, 2015

‘Contemporary Panache’ Goes on Display at This Riverside Drive Renovation by Raad Studio

The design firm raad studio is no stranger to bold interiors that push the envelope—the firm designed an inhabitable blob for this Gowanus townhouse, and a stunning wooden ceiling dome for an apartment in the former police headquarters at 240 Centre Street. For this project at 440 Riverside Drive, they took an approach that "boldly marries prewar details and contemporary design," according to raad studio founder James Ramsey. The result, he said, is infused "with contemporary panache."
See more of the interior
June 17, 2015

What Lena Dunham Would Do in the Lowline; Can Zoning Stop Chain Stores?

https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/assets/003/998/006/1e2746d1af55164eb07a0c4058a93465_h264_high.mp4   As part of their Kickstarter campaign, the Lowline has released a fun video starring none other than Lena Dunham. Watch her eat sandwiches and play with kids in the future subterranean park. [The Lowline] This man rebuilt Harlem during the 1920s in virtual reality. [The Atlantic] You can win an overnight stay on […]

June 17, 2015

POLL: Is Eliot Spitzer’s Williamsburg Development ‘Offensive?’

Yesterday, former New York governor Eliot Spitzer revealed the first official rendering for Spitzer Enterprises’ mega development on the South Williamsburg waterfront. The $700 million trio of 24-story rental towers was designed by ODA Architects, who referred to the project as a “molded iceberg.” Today, Lincoln Restler, a senior policy advisor to Mayor de Blasio, took to Facebook to […]

June 17, 2015

Opulent Trump Park Avenue Penthouse Hangs onto $35M Price Tag

It looks like Trump Park Avenue's Penthouse 31/32 is still looking for a buyer, a year and a half after a chopping $10 million off of its $45 million asking price. This 6,278-square-foot duplex has such a storied past on the market, you practically need an ESPN commentator to narrate it Kentucky Derby style. It made its first showing in 2007, asking $45 million. It raised the price to $51 million in 2008, after renovations. It returned in 2009, after another hiatus, asking a much lower $31 million. Then it disappeared for a few years before reappearing in 2013 with its original price tag of $45 million. Three months later it slashed $10 million off the price, landing at $35 million. Will this lavish home ever find the perfect owner with the perfect wallet?
More pics inside
June 16, 2015

Own Andy Warhol’s Former Montauk Compound and Equestrian Farm for $85 Million

How many Campbell's tomato soup cans would it take to cover Andy Warhol's former 30-acre estate? We're not sure, but we know it'd cost $85 million to find out. Though the artist's infamous Manhattan Factory was host to countless over-the-top and avant-garde activities, his Long Island home at 16 Cliff Drive and 8 Old Montauk Highway channeled a far more subdued vibe that was anything but city. Surrounded by miles of riding trails and hundreds of acres of oceanfront reserve, we can see exactly why Warhol was so inspired to let his silvery wig catch the Montauk wind.
Take a tour of this spectacular estate
June 16, 2015

Spend Summer in a Classy Clinton Hill Brownstone for $10K (Chickens Not Included)

Broker Nadine Adamson has put her own four-bedroom triplex, located in a Clinton Hill brownstone at 42 Downing Street, on the rental market for the remainder of the summer, asking $10,000 a month. The prewar home has a country vibe with original details and a private garden. However, Adamson is quick to point out that the chickens roaming the yard do not come with the home. Apparently they were just renting for the month of June.
More pics inside
June 16, 2015

Renderings Revealed for Eliot Spitzer’s ODA-Designed Williamsburg Mega-Development

Leaving his political career in the past, former New York governor Eliot Spitzer is taking on the development world. After his father's death in November, the controversial politician took over the family's real estate business, Spitzer Enterprises. And he's now revealed the first rendering for his Williamsburg mega-development in the New York Times (not Twitter), showcasing a trio of 24-story rental towers designed by ODA Architects. Located at 420-430 Kent Avenue in South Williamsburg, the project is in keeping with ODA's signature boxy, glassy aesthetic. It will cost $700 million, have 856 units, and boast two rooftop pools and a park with an esplanade.
More details here
June 16, 2015

New Rendering of Renzo Piano’s Soho Condos Shows a Curvy Glass Construction

Last month it was revealed that Renzo Piano would be following up his new Whitney Museum with a 290-foot residential tower at 555 Broome Steet (previously pinned as 100 Varick Street) in Hudson Square right on the border of Soho. While at the time details on the project were scarce with just one rendering making the rounds, NY Yimby has a new image of the starchitect-designed building which reveal a far softer and curvier glass form than previously depicted.
more details here
June 16, 2015

Rustic Loft Conversion Asks $850K Along Brooklyn’s Columbia Street Waterfront

It feels rare to find a cool listing that's under $1 million in New York City these days. But here's a one-bedroom condo at 25 Carroll Street, in the Columbia Street Waterfront District of Brooklyn, that's asking $850,000. You'll find the quaint, quiet neighborhood just west of Carroll Gardens and just north of Red Hook. It's not the easiest place to get to, as there's no direct subway access, but the seclusion is part of its charm. There are also amazing views of lower Manhattan from here, which you can enjoy from this condo that is now on the market.
More details on the property
June 16, 2015

New Hues and Fab Collabs Update a Pair of Classic Mid-Century Lamps

Though the worlds of furniture and interior design, like architecture, are often focused on innovation—the future, the new, the next—the best designs rise to the top year after year. This was more evident than ever as we beheld the countless cool and innovative design offerings at last month's ICFF, many of which we’re sure we’ll be seeing everywhere soon. Among the most memorable were a pair of classics that are far from new but no less brilliant.
See more of these cool and colorful classics
June 16, 2015

Extell’s Nordstrom Tower Will Be the Country’s Tallest by Roof Height

The Nordstrom Tower may not become the overall tallest building to ever rise NYC, besting One World Trade Center as previously reported and then rebuffed, but new filings unearthed by NY Yimby show that the supertall will still carry a very worthy, head-craning title. Documents show that the 95-story building will become not only the tallest building by roof height in NYC, but also in the country at 1,522.83 feet.
get the scoop here
June 16, 2015

Flatiron Building-Looking Condo Tower to Rise at Brooklyn Heights Library Site

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Flatiron Building should be highly honored by this fresh batch of renderings from Marvel Architects for the site at 280 Cadman Plaza West in Brooklyn Heights. The Daily News reports that "the 36-story tower, which will have 139 condo units, community space, retail and a new 21,500-square-foot library on the ground floor, looks like it will be Brooklyn's very own alternative to the Flatiron building, with its dramatic wedge-shaped structure." Back in September, the Brooklyn Heights Library agreed to sell their site to Hudson Companies for $52 million with the stipulation that the developer build 114 affordable housing units at two different locations nearby, as well as a new state-of-the-art library at the existing site. The project began the city's land use review process (ULURP) yesterday.
More on the development and additional renderings
June 15, 2015

Beastie Boy Mike D’s Brilliant Brooklyn Townhouse Can Be Yours for $5.7M

Back in 2013, news that Michael Diamond—a.k.a. Beastie Boy Mike D—and his wife, Tamra Davis, had acquired a townhouse on a beautiful tree-lined Cobble Hill block and given it a creative and modern—yet totally livable—redesign led to a spate of articles showcasing the cool and quirky pad, including a New York Times house tour aptly titled "Licensed to Grill." All the attention likely led to Diamond's recent side project helping his architect friends design a new-construction townhouse in nearby Boerum Hill that recently sold for just under $5 million. Now the original Cobble Hill Beastie house at 148 Baltic Street is on the market for $5.65 million, funky custom toile wallpaper and all.
Tour the delightfully decorated townhouse, this way...
June 15, 2015

New Rendering Reveals What Rafael Viñoly’s 125 Greenwich FiDi Tower Will Look Like

It's been a while since we've heard anything on Rafael Viñoly's tower slated to rise in the Financial District, but it looks like the starchitect's next supertall is inching closer to a full reveal. Ground was broken at the building's 125 Greenwich Street site about four months ago, and now this newly uncovered rendering via NY Yimby gives us a much better idea of its height, its look, and how it fits in with the downtown skyline. Previous renderings had shown a stark, tall and slim rectangle—very much a glass version of Viñoly's 432 Park—while this new and sweeping depiction highlights a structure that will taper slightly as it rises, and feature a stacked crown of what appear to be residences and sky-high terraces.
Find out more here
June 15, 2015

This Man Dove off the Flatiron Building into a Collapsible Plastic Pool for 20 Years

Picture this: You walk by the Flatiron Building, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the entire city, and see a man positioning himself to jump off. Today, you'd call 911 without hesitation, but 50 years ago it was annual spectacle. Ephemeral New York uncovered the story of Henri LaMothe, the "diving daredevil" who performed a stunt around the country where he did his "flying squirrel" dive from 40 feet above ground into a collapsible plastic pool with only four feet of water. On his birthday on April 2, 1954, he climbed to the 40-foot mark on the Flatiron Building and did his signature jump. For the next 20 years, he performed the feat annually on his birthday, decreasing the water level each year. On his 70th birthday in 1974, he dove into a pool filled with merely one foot of water, and many say when he stood up, his back was still dry thanks to his famous belly flop.
Find out more about this daredevil
June 15, 2015

Chloe Sevigny’s Former East Village Pad Is Back on the Market with a New Look

The former home of indie film star and "Big Love" actress Chloë Sevigny is back on the market. Sevigny sold the garden-level abode located at 119 East 10th Street back in 2013 for $1.76 million to tech power couple Halle Tecco and Jeffrey Hammerbacher. The couple then turned around and gave the 1,250-square-foot pad a nine-month overhaul that was featured in Apartment Therapy. Now, it's back on the market, sporting a modern new look, a slightly modified floor plan, and a $2.2 million price tag.
More pics inside
June 15, 2015

Cornell’s Roosevelt Island Tech Incubator Unveiled; Midtown East’s Rezoning Advances

Extell has launched sales at 70 Charlton Street. [6sqft inbox] Forest City Ratner unveils “The Bridge at Cornell Tech,” a new incubator located at the heart of Cornell Tech’s campus on Roosevelt Island designed by WEISS/MANFREDI. [6sqft inbox] The world’s tallest ‘Passive House’ building also broke ground at the campus. [NYT] The rezoning of Midtown East continues to move […]

June 15, 2015

Transfixing Spirulina Furniture Produces Free Heat, Light and Food

Jacob Douenias and Ethan Frier have been busy brewing up the next trend in green interior decor: spirulina-producing furniture. The cyanobacteria, commonly used for adding protein and nutrients to smoothies and other food, has made its way into the landscape of objects for the home, and here can be seen as the central feature in a spectacular series designed specifically for cultivating the living greens for practical purposes.
Learn more about this brilliant spirulina design
June 15, 2015

Send In Your Questions and Get Them Turned Into Stories

Ever wondered how designers work around NYC’s tiny apartments? We’ll get in touch with the space-saving gurus at noroof Architects. Or maybe you want to know about the origins of the city’s street art? We know an artist who was part of the first generation of subway graffiti artists. Or it could be as simple as wanting […]

June 15, 2015

Westchester Colonial from the Early Days of ‘Mad Men’ Lists for $1.1M

Take a trip down memory lane to the good old days when Betty and Don Draper were still married and living the upstate life. Their home, which was supposed to be in Ossining, is actually located at 90 Forest Avenue in the Forest Heights neighborhood of New Rochelle, and it's on the market for $1.1 million, affording you the chance to make some (hopefully happier) memories in the original "Mad Men" residence. The 3,544-square-foot, six-bedroom, center-hall Colonial was built in 1914 and offers original details like pocket doors, crown moldings, hardwood floors, nine-foot ceilings, and four fireplaces. It also has "black shutters and a fire engine-red front door, just waiting for a briefcase-toting Don Draper to park his Plymouth and come inside to greet his wife and kids, after a steamy rendezvous with his mistress," writes lohud. Well, maybe we'll scratch that last part.
See more of the house here
June 15, 2015

5Pointz Artists Sue Developer for Whitewashing Iconic Graffiti Facade

Photo via Garrett Ziegler/Flickr It's been 19 months since the 5Pointz graffiti mecca was secretly whitewashed overnight by the developers who have since razed the site to make way for the two residential towers that will replace it. Then, to pour salt in the wound, this past November G&M Realty announced that they planned to use the iconic 5Pointz name for their new project, infuriating the artists whose work adorned the building and leading them to launch a petition to stop the title. Now, the plot has thickened. Nine graffiti artists filed a lawsuit on Friday "seeking unspecified damages from the owner who whitewashed away their artwork," reports the Daily News. The plaintiffs claim they're owed financial compensation as they were not given the opportunity to retrieve their work, much of which could have ended up in museums or the artists' personal collections. The lost collection amounts to more than 350 graffiti pieces.
More details here
June 14, 2015

The Millbrook House Is a Striking Combo of a Glass Pavilion and Wood Cabins

Thomas Phifer's Millbrook House stands within a 200-acre site overlooking a clearing with the majestic Hudson River just behind. Situated in the village that gives it its name, its sculptural design is formed by a cluster of buildings that includes a modern glazed pavilion and four boxy wooden cabins. Each of the contrasting structures have their own function and style and are interconnected by a large stepped garden and hidden paths underground.
Learn more about this geometrical cluster of buildings
June 13, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

Winston Marshall, Banjoist for Mumford & Sons, Buys $3.2M Nolita Pad Are Yuccies the New Hipsters? REVEALED: Bjarke Ingels Design for 2 World Trade Center Own a Charming Wood Frame Church in the Catskills for $99,000 J.P. Morgan’s 120-Year-Old ‘Great Camp Uncas’ in the Adirondacks Can Be Yours for $3.25M 98 Percent of Manhattan Rentals […]

June 12, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Al Diaz on NYC Street Art and Working with Jean-Michel Basquiat

Artist Al Diaz is often asked to speak at panel discussions about Jean-Michel Basquiat or to lend his expertise for new exhibits about the world-famous artist. But Diaz was just as much a part of the downtown street art movement as his buddy Basquiat; in fact, the two got involved with the art form together. They met in high school and created the tag SAMO©, which appeared throughout lower Manhattan between 1977 and 1979 and put them on the map. They were first-generation NYC subway graffiti artists, and Diaz later became a text-oriented street artist. Today, you'll see his hand in the subway again with his WET PAINT series, which uses individually-cut-out letters to create "clever, surreal and sometimes poignant anagrams." We recently chatted with Al Diaz to get the inside scoop on street art history in New York City, what it was like to work with Basquiat, and how he and his art work are much more than a shadow of his famous friend.
Read the full interview here
June 12, 2015

Opponents of the Pier 55 Floating Park Slap Barry Diller with a Lawsuit

As with any major project ready to make waves in NYC, we were just counting the days until Barry Diller's plan for a futuristic floating park would run into legal trouble. Today, the Times reports that opponents of the $130 million project have joined together to sue Diller and The Hudson River Park Trust (who approved the plans to build) in order to stop construction. The civic group, known as City Club of New York, are saying that the parties have failed to throughly evaluate the environmental impact of the park, and they want Pier 55 to undergo a new environmental review while also obtaining approval from the State Legislature.
More on the lawsuit here
June 12, 2015

Finally, an Historic Brooklyn Brownstone for Under a Million Dollars

What if we told you you could have an entire 2,664-square-foot brownstone in Brooklyn for under one million dollars? This four-level home at 374 Decatur Street in Bed-Stuy has everything you need to make your dreams come true. Naturally, you're going to have to put in a little sweat equity (or you can always pay someone), but the final result will be exactly what you want it to be and well worth the $855,000 investment. Sound interesting? We thought so.
More pics inside
June 12, 2015

Thomas Phifer’s Ethereal Woodland Retreat Hides Behind a Rippled Silver Curtain

Standing on an idyllic clearing within a nine-acre woodland parcel in the Hudson Valley, the Salt Point House boasts an ethereal beauty that is still strikingly contemporary. Designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners for a New York City couple, this stunningly simple weekend retreat consists of a glass and wood box sandwiched between two rippled silver curtains. Made from perforated stainless steel, the shades not only keep the interiors private but also filter the excess brilliance mediating the home with its luscious surroundings.
Learn more about this ethereal home in the woods

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