June 5, 2015

Historic Riverside Mansion Designed by Notable Architect Asks $14 Million

Within the Riverside Drive-West 80th-81st Street Historic District on the Upper West Side, there's a row of eight stunning townhouses built in the Elizabethan Renaissance Revival style. The row was designed by the prominent architect Clarence True, who contributed greatly to the development surrounding Riverside Park. Elegant properties like this one at 320 West 80th Street attracted the New York City elite around the turn of the century, and not much has changed today. Now the mansion is on the market for $14 million.
See the beautiful interior
June 5, 2015

Charming Apartment in One of Harlem’s Oldest Co-ops Asks $1.1M

If you want to live in one of the oldest private co-ops in Harlem, here's your chance. The 25-foot-wide, 102-foot-long unit at 152 West 131st Street has an interesting floor plan with the living room and dining room on complete opposite sides of a long narrow hallway. But it has charming original details, nice finishes, and it's in an adorable brownstone, so the $1.1 million pad is definitely worth a look.
More pics inside
June 4, 2015

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 6/4-6/10

Kim Gordon, the unstoppable, inspirational Jane-of-all-trades leads the week with the opening of her latest fine art exhibition—as if playing in two bands and penning a best-selling memoir were not enough already. Novice art collectors can have their day at Cotton Candy for their very popular annual Tiny Trifecta, where all works by renowned artists are just $100. And being thrifty is in the air with the Museum Mile Festival which is offering free admission to nine museums along 5th Avenue. But if art isn't your thing, there's still lots more to do: get cultured with a French flick in Washington Square Park, or schooled at Lost Lectures as it returns to a secret, former ship-building warehouse somewhere in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
All the best events here
June 4, 2015

Ben Affleck Spotted Checking Out a $25M Time Warner Center Condo

Amidst rumors that Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner are heading to splitsville, the Post now reports that Affleck is on the hunt for a NYC pad. The actor was spotted scoping out a duplex condo at the Time Warner Center at 25 Columbus Circle, currently priced at $24.995 million. The home was originally listed at $50 million last year, the Post writes, then popping back on the market early in January at almost half the price at $28 million. With 3,582 square feet at his disposal, this sprawling unit most definitely offers more than enough room for the actor and family to stretch out in, plus or minus Garner.
Let's have a look inside
June 4, 2015

Mipsterz Are on the Rise in NYC, and They’re Cooler Than Your Average Hipster

We all have one of those friends: you ask them if they consider themselves a hipster (which by all accounts they are) and you're met with a very sardonic "I hate hipsters..." While it's pretty much an unspoken rule that those who knowingly fall within hipsterdom should never acknowledge such, there is a unique group of young folks in the city wholly embracing the label as part of their identity. In fact, they've come up with their own play on the word: Mipsterz, or Muslim hipsters.
more here
June 4, 2015

All the Details Are Intact at This $1.5M Historic Bed-Stuy Brownstone

If you're in the market for a classic Brooklyn brownstone with all its details intact, check out this home for sale at 454 Jefferson Avenue in Bed-Stuy. The Second Empire-style house, which is four stories and holds two units, is boasting well-kept interior details alongside some more modern renovations. Simply put, it's a solid brownstone property without any special frills–just the exposed brick, wood floors and large windows. It's asking $1.55 million.
See the interior
June 4, 2015

Ai Weiwei and HHF’s Artfarm Displays Contemporary Chinese Art Inside an Agricultural Building

HHF Architects and Ai Weiwei have come up with a super cool, ready-made and affordable solution for an art gallery in a rural environment. They blended art and a farm, resulting in Artfarm. Using a pre-engineered agricultural structure commonly used in the area, they created a versatile and expansive display for the public exhibition of Chinese art from private collections worldwide.
Learn more about this rural art gallery in upstate NY
June 4, 2015

Cobble Hill Townhouse Sets Record for Most Expensive Home Sale in Brooklyn at $15.5M

You know the real estate market is getting shaken up when Brooklynites are abandoning their beloved borough for the cheaper island of Manhattan. And today's record breaker just goes to show how hot Brooklyn is right now. The Daily News reports that the super-modernized Cobble Hill carriage house at 177 Pacific Street sold for $15.5 million, setting the record for most expensive home sale ever in the borough. The four-story, six-bedroom house takes the top spot from Truman Capote's former home at 70 Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights, which sold in 2012 for $12.5 million.
More details about this Brooklyn record breaker
June 4, 2015

Soho’s Only Freestanding Home Already Back on the Market, Now a $22.5K Rental

If you thought you missed out on the chance to live in Soho's only freestanding home, you're in luck. Just two weeks after we broke the news that 514 Broome Street had sold for $6.887 million, it's back on the market with a new paint job and a rental price tag of $22,500 a month. Interestingly enough, "Million Dollar Listing" start Ryan Serhant is the broker once again.
More pics inside
June 3, 2015

Starchitecture Firm Snøhetta Will Design Vornado’s Penn Station Area Overhaul

Back in April, we learned that Vornado Realty Trust was hoping to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into revitalizing the Penn Station area with new retail space, public plazas, and other infrastructure. Now, Crain's reports that the developer has tapped Oslo-based starchitecture firm Snøhetta to handle the overhaul's master plan, the same architects responsible for the 9/11 Memorial Museum Pavilion and the public plaza in Times Square. Snøhetta will be responsible for creating a "framework" for both Vornado's Penn Plaza buildings and the surrounding street-level spaces. And in a similar vein to the recently approved One Vanderbilt scheme at Grand Central, the master plan will include closing off part of West 33rd to vehicular traffic in the hopes of creating a permanent pedestrian plaza near Madison Square Garden.
More details and specifics on the street closures ahead
June 3, 2015

How Does the One WTC Observatory Stack Up Against the World’s Highest Tourist Spots?

It was a big day in New York City last Friday, when the One World Trade Center Observatory officially opened to the public, welcoming New Yorkers and tourists alike to the top of the tallest building in North America. While the view from 1,250 feet up in the air seems like the apex of the world, the folks over at the Skyscraper Museum put together this fun infographic, which compares the highest publicly-accessible tourist spaces around the world, including observation decks, bars, restaurants, and other sky-high thrills. Turns out, the One World Trade Observatory ranks 9th for observation decks and 11th for all publicly-accessible spaces.
More details ahead
June 3, 2015

Bjarke Ingels Confirmed to Replace Norman Foster in the Design of 2 World Trade Center

Back in April, word broke that starchitect Bjarke Ingels was in talks to re-design 2 World Trade Center, as News Corp. and 21st Century Fox mulled over a downtown move. Now the Post's Steve Cuozzo reports that the rumors are rapidly closing in on reality as both media companies have signed a non-binding but detailed letter of intent with developer Larry Silverstein to anchor the new 80-plus-story tower that pins Ingels as the architect. The news conglomerate would occupy 1.3 million square feet of the available 2.8 million square feet—a portion significant enough to jumpstart construction of the tower that has been stalled since 2008.
FInd out more here
June 3, 2015

This Verdant and Bright NoMad Loft Rental Is Channeling the Tropics

If you're looking for a loft with character, you'll want to check out this unit at 107 West 25th Street in Chelsea. It has all the original elements you look for, like refinished hardwoods, and whitewashed exposed brick, while throwing in some rare extras like original tin ceilings, exposed pipes painted red, and a 16-foot skylight. And it's available for rent for the first time ever for $6,500 a month.
More pics inside
June 3, 2015

Artist David Salle Lists Home for $13M; What the World’s Richest One Percent Earn

Plans have been filed for Renzo Piano’s new residential project rising in Soho. [TRD] Here’s how much money the richest one percent make in 20 countries around the world. [Washington Post] Artist David Salle’s massive Fort Greene home has hit the market for $13M. [Curbed] How to give a crappy roommate the boot. [BrickUnderground] Images: The top floor […]

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June 3, 2015

Bed-Stuy Townhouse with Flair and Flexibility Asks $2 Million

This four-family brownstone at 278 Clifton Place in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, just hit the market for $1.995 million. It's a well-preserved historic brownstone that offers plenty of potential for conversion. It's currently set up as an owners duplex with two rental units above, but as the listing says, "You have the flexibility to make it a grand single family home, smart double duplex, triplex over garden rental or four floor-through income generating units." The house already has an extension that includes a terrace for the third-floor rental unit. The extra space and the flexible configuration gives the new buyer plenty of opportunity to use their imagination.
Check out the interior
June 3, 2015

POLL: Can Snøhetta Transform Manhattan’s Most-Hated Area?

Earlier today, we learned that Vornado Realty Trust tapped Oslo-based starchitecture firm Snøhetta to create a master plan for the redesign of the Penn Station area. Even the developer referred to Manhattan’s most-hated and most-congested location as “the collision of humanity.” But Snøhetta worked their magic creating the Times Square pedestrian plaza, so we want to know if […]

June 3, 2015

Isabella Rossellini Buys a Lincoln Square One-Bedroom for $1.3M

While the Lincoln Square location of Isabella Rossellini's new condo matches up with her larger-than-life theatrical personality, we're hard pressed to see what exactly about this simple one-bedroom at the Element drew her in. According to city records filed yesterday afternoon, the famed actress has scooped up the apartment with private terrace for $1.275 million, which, based on our best guess, will serve as a pied-a-terre of sorts for Rossellini, who spends most of her days on her farm in Bellport, Long Island.
inside isabella's new condo here
June 3, 2015

Extell May Build Brooklyn’s Tallest Tower at City Point

Extell, the development company best known for gobbling up billionaires' row sites and building supertall towers like One57, is venturing into Brooklyn, a place they've long avoided. The New York Times reports that Extell has bought the last development site at City Point, a huge, mixed-use complex in Downtown Brooklyn that will include residential and retail space, and, of course, a massive food hall. Extell will pay $120 million for the city-owned property, on which they will likely build a 500-unit rental building. What's more noteworthy than Extell's move into the borough, though, is the fact that the tower could reach 60 stories, according to Extell president Gary Barnett, which would make it the tallest building in Brooklyn.
READ MORE
June 2, 2015

INTERVIEW: noroof Architects on Tackling Tiny Apartment Design in NYC

The tiny house movement seems to be taking over the nation, but living in modest quarters has pretty much always been the norm for the average New Yorker. One architecture studio that's focused their energies on the challenges of designing the super small—versus the super tall—is Fort Greene-based noroof Architects. Led by the duo of Margarita McGrath and Scott Oliver, the studio has been developing ingenious ideas that address the space challenges that come with living in a dense city—and they often involve transforming furniture. Jump ahead to learn more about how the pair approach downsized living and designing for families, where they find inspiration, and then get some ideas on how you can make your cramped apartment feel far more capacious.
Meet Margarita and Scott
June 2, 2015

Interior Renderings Revealed for Central Park South’s Brand New 1,210-Foot Supertall

Last week, the first exterior images of Central Park South's new supertall 1 Park Lane surfaced. Now NY YIMBY has obtained additional renderings of the 1,210-foot condo tower being designed by Handel Architects, showing off what the interiors could look like, and, most notably, the kinds of views afforded by the multi-million-dollar perches above.
See more here
June 2, 2015

$2.5M Ditmas Park Beauty Has Awesome Green Space and an Artist Studio

The Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park is known for its freestanding houses and expansive front yards. It's a lot more like suburbia than New York City, but that's why so many people love the area. This home at 235 Stratford Road has some amazing green spaces to show off–a lush front yard that's literally overflowing with plants, a wraparound porch, a sunroom, a patio, a grassy backyard and a garage that's been converted to an artist studio. We officially declare this home the best place to enjoy this summer in New York. Now, you just need $2.55 million to buy it.
Go inside
June 2, 2015

Elizabeth Roberts Brings Light Back into This 163-Year-Old Fort Greene Townhouse

When Allison Freedman Weisberg and Peter Barker-Huelster bought this Fort Greene townhouse, it was the opposite of the home they envisioned. The couple wanted a house that was bright and uncluttered. Instead, the 163 year-old house was dark and decaying with its roof and back wall about to cave in. The family enlisted Elizabeth Roberts Design/Ensemble Architecture to put air and light back into the house, resulting in this indoor/outdoor blend thanks to a two-story addition, which features a wall of windows on the second floor and an operable glass door on the ground floor.
Look around the house here
June 2, 2015

Wake Up to the Smell of a Hot Croissant or Cut Grass with This Olfactory Alarm Clock

Caffeine fiends were pretty excited when we featured the Bariseur, a hybrid coffee brewer-alarm clock that wakes you up with a fresh cup of Joe. But what if you're not a coffee drinker or if some mornings you'd prefer to rise with the aroma of the seaside rather than espresso? Don't worry, we've got you covered. SensorWake is a scent-based alarm clock that wakes you up with the aroma of chocolate instead of the sound of a blaring horn. It uses interchangeable scent cartridges that include the aforementioned seaside and chocolate, coffee, of course, hot croissants, peaches, rose, peppermint, and, curiously, dollars, among others. Each cartridge is good for about 60 wake-up calls, and the company claims it will have your eyes open in two minutes. If you're still snoozing in three minutes, a traditional sound-based alarm will go off.
Watch the product video and learn more here
June 2, 2015

Jewelry Designer Asks $1.3M for Rego Park Condo Decked out in Gold and Crystal

Experts recently said that NYC apartments are a better investment than gold. But how does the formula work out when the apartment is dripping in gold? A Queens-based jewelry designer spent $150,000 to outfit her Rego Park condo with glittering and gilded touches like door handles made of Swarovski crystals, walls and ceilings painted with crystal dust, 24k white gold leaf mosaics on the kitchen backsplash and columns and gold-plated bathroom fixtures. And she appropriately named her home the Jewelry Box. DNAinfo reports that the apartment, located at the Millennium 99 luxury condo at 63-36 99th Street, has hit the market for $1,288,886, which might be the highest asking price to date in the neighborhood.
Check out the opulent pad here
June 1, 2015

REVEALED: Rafael Viñoly’s Slender 52-Story Condo Tower Design for Nomad

Is there any architect more in demand than Rafael Viñoly these days? NY YIMBY has uncovered the first renderings of the starchitect's latest residential project, a tower slated to pierce the sky from a Nomad site at 281 Fifth Avenue. Though notably smaller than 432 Park Avenue at just 705 feet, the skyscraper does share the 432's stark and very geometrical shape. It will also be one of the tallest in the neighborhood once constructed.
Find out more here
June 1, 2015

$18 Million Townhouse in Greenwich Village Will Speak to Your Inner Historian and Artist

This Greenwich Village townhouse located at 52 West 9th Street is unique indeed. (And we're not just talking about that $18 million price tag). The home was constructed in 1848 for the physician Austin Sherman. And while it retains many of its period details, it was renovated to accommodate the influx of artists that moved to the Village in the early 20th century. The distinctive studio on the top floor of the townhouse was added around 1920. According to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, "the studio is not only unusually high (seemingly a nearly double-height space), but is recessed enough to supply a balcony with a balustrade for the lucky resident." So the building has a touch of both the historic and the artistic side of Greenwich Village, with a price that fits the market of 2015.
See the interior here
June 1, 2015

The High and Low: Waterfront Living on Beekman Place

While neighborhoods may seem to become hot-or-not at the drop of a hat, waterfront property retains its mystique through the ages. Open river and bridge views are a rare and covetable amenity that can’t be brought in with high-end consultants or approximated by joining a gym on the next block. These two homes on Beekman Place, an East Side enclave of pre-war apartment buildings and stately townhouses that has long been considered the essence of understated Manhattan elegance, form part of an enviable row of buildings along the East River possessed of waterfront living on one side and Manhattan excitement on the other. The tree-shaded block-long street near the United Nations and Peter Detmold Park, minutes from bustling Midtown, is often overlooked, yet no less magical should you find yourself on it–the New York Times recently called it, "about as far off the beaten path as one can get in Manhattan." On the market now are a $13 million duplex, complete with a raised deck that elevates the view to peerless, and a 12th-floor gem on the same short street asking a more palatable $1.5 million, also with panoramic river views and a smaller, but no less lovable deck from which to watch the ships pass in the night–or day.
Get an eyeful of these waterfront vistas this way
June 1, 2015

Meet the Current Owner of the Spinning Upstate Dome Home; 10 Most Expensive NYC Apartments for Rent

Meet the woman who currently owns this amazing revolving dome home on the market for under $1M. [NYT] Here are the ten priciest apartments up for rent in NYC right now. [Curbed] De Blasio will crack down on unregulated “three-quarter houses” that are cramming addicts, recently released prisoners, and the mentally ill into apartments collecting state money. […]

June 1, 2015

VIDEO: Driving Around NYC in the 1920s Was a Dangerous Task

I didn't. It's a gift. Next time you're holding on for dear life in the back of a taxi, watch a few seconds of this video and you'll likely feel a bit better about your fate. In this 1928 parody of what bad drivers New Yorkers are (some things never change), actor Harold Lloyd, famous for his silent comedy films, assumes the role of a city cab driver who takes passengers on a bumpy ride, dodging street-level trains and weaving in and out of traffic. We then see that the alternative modes of transportation, horse and carriage or bus, are just as dangerous.
Watch the full video here
June 1, 2015

1100 Architect’s Long Island House Features Grassy Sand Dunes on Its Roof

1100 Architect is an architectural firm based in New York City responsible for building luxurious yet curious homes all over the globe. Their stunning Long Island House is located on the eastern shore of the outpost and is one of the finest examples of their work. In addition to big and bright interiors that let the outdoors in, its spectacular exteriors host a deck for sunbathing, an infinity pool for cooling off seaside, and a sloped green roof that mimics the surrounding dunes.
Learn more about this seaside retreat in disguise
June 1, 2015

UWS Co-op of the Late Andy Rooney Lists for $2.4M

We had some celebrity action at 522 West End Avenue just a couple weeks ago when we discovered that "Girls" star Zosia Mamet bought a rather unimpressive apartment in the building. And we've now learned from the Journal that the former home of the late Andy Rooney, legendary "60 Minutes" anchor, has hit the market for $2.385 million. The two-bedroom, ninth-floor co-op is quite lovely, but what's really going to attract potential buyers is the collection of Mr. Rooney's wood art pieces–like the dining room table and headboards–on display throughout the home. He was an avid woodworker in his free time, and the staging and brokerage teams decided to utilize his creations. They've also included photos of Rooney and his typewriter. Unfortunately, none of these mementos come with the apartment.
Take a look around
June 1, 2015

This $6,500/Month Soho Loft Is an Artist’s Perfect Canvas

Artists looking for the perfect Soho loft with a live/work arrangement will be happy to see this blank canvas of a space in the appropriately named Museum Building at 11 Mercer Street. Despite having only two oversized windows on the eastern side of the loft, this open space is flooded with light, and it has plenty of wall space to hang your artwork. The open, airy condo is available for rent in July, asking $6,500 a month.
More pics inside
May 31, 2015

A Trashcan Inspired the Design of Rafael Viñoly’s 432 Park Avenue

Most ideas usually end up in the trash but few ideas are inspired by the basket that holds them. A recent discovery by The Real Deal has revealed that the city's residential tower-of the-moment, 432 Park Avenue, was actually inspired by a Josef Hoffmann-designed wastebasket released in 1905. The revelation came via a talk held last December at the Cornell Center for Real Estate and Finance where Harry Macklowe, the co-developer of the supertall, told the crowd that the repository was an "important touchstone" for the 1,396-foot-high design.
More on the muse here
May 30, 2015

May’s 10 Most-Read Stories and This Week’s Features

May’s 10 Most-Read Stories New York Times Columnist Frank Bruni Nabs a Broadway Corridor Pad for $1.65M New Renzo Piano-Designed Residential Tower to Rise in Soho Go Inside 190 Bowery This Saturday for an Art Opening Bradley Cooper Scopes Out an $8.5M Three-Bedroom in Tribeca’s Hubert Live in Eleanor Roosevelt’s Historic Townhouse for $18M Paul […]

May 29, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Peter Kaye Keeps the Turntables Spinning at Bleecker Street Records

In the age of streaming music, it may be surprising to learn that not only are record stores still in existence, but millennials are buying more than their fair share of albums. Perhaps it's because records are tangible and there is a movement for feeling and touching items, or maybe it's a natural progression of hipsterdom, but 20-something New Yorkers are buying the same records their parents listened to as well as current chart toppers—yes, even Taylor Swift releases vinyl. One of the happy observers of this resurgence is Peter Kaye, a manager at Bleecker Street Records in the West Village. For the last 18 years, Bleecker Street Records has been a go-to destination for those looking for records, CDs, and "extracurriculars" as Peter calls the posters, patches, pins, and playbills the store carries. While its address no longer matches its name, the musical mission at Bleecker Street Records remains the same. Peter has a very important hand in how the store runs. As both a manager and the LP guy, he's responsible for finding the records and serving as an in-store historian. He's able to put each record into context and explain why it matters, which helps lesser-known albums have their moment in the spotlight. We recently spoke with Peter to find out what it's like to manage a record store in a digital era.
read the interview with him here
May 29, 2015

The One World Trade Center Observatory Officially Opens Today!

We couldn't have dreamt up a more picturesque day for the opening of One World Trade Center's sky-high observatory. Today visitors will get a new bird's eye view of New York City with panoramic views stretching 50 miles past the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty from a three-story perch 1,250 feet up in the air.
More details on the experience that awaits you here
May 29, 2015

Sources Say Saudi Billionaire Is Buyer of $95M Penthouse at 432 Park

The Real Deal reports that Saudi billionaire and retail magnate Fawaz Al Hokair is the buyer of the $95 million penthouse at 432 Park, the city's current tallest residential building. The unit went into contract in 2013 for roughly $11,500 per square foot, but sources are just now coming out with his identity. Al Hokair is the founder and chairman of Fawaz Alhokair Group, the most valuable retail and real estate company in Saudi Arabia. Forbes estimates the company is worth $22 billion, and that Al Hokair's net worth is $1.37 billion. When the deal closes it will be the second most expensive condo sale ever in the city, stealing the title from Bill Ackman's $91.5 million buy at One57 and following only behind the $100 million penthouse sale, also at One57.
More details, interior renderings, and a floorplan ahead
May 29, 2015

Fantasy Floorplans Bring to Life Your Favorite TV Show Homes from ‘Friends’ to ‘Mad Men’

Do you get distracted watching your favorite television shows because you're too busy trying to figure out Don Draper's address or how the heck Monica and Rachel afford that massive Greenwich Village apartment? If so, we've got the perfect piece of wall art for you. Fantasy Floorplans (h/t Bezar) are hand-drawn blueprints of the apartments and homes in your favorite TV shows. From "Friends" to "Mad Men" to "Sex and the City" to "The Jeffersons," tons of popular NYC-based television shows are included. And for our friends outside the big apple, the floorplans cover locations throughout the country from shows that aired as far back as the 1950s.
Find out more ahead
May 29, 2015

Wife Builds Her Own ‘She Shed’ in the Catskills Mountains

Men have their man caves, but when it comes to where a woman can find a place for respite, most are quick to point to the kitchen. Well that's all changing TODAY reports, as there seems to be an emergence of a new trend: she sheds. These tiny homes are offering wives, mothers and girlfriends an on-site escape away from the stresses of daily life. And at the forefront of this movement? Meet Sandra Foster, a lovely lady who built herself an equally lovely she shed in the heart of the Catskills mountains.
FInd out more here
May 29, 2015

Living Cube: An All-in-One Storage Solution with a Bed and Hidden Room

Attention apartment dwellers! If you're looking for a practical and elegant way to store all of your belongings, and to stealthily add additional sleeping quarters to your home, look no further than the Living Cube. Envisioned by German designer Till Konneker, this multifunctional design comes complete with a top platform for chilling out or fitting an extra bed, as well as a hidden storage room inside.
Learn more about this hyper-functional design

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