6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

Easily 2014's most controversial building, Extell's 40 Riverside Boulevard—a.k.a. the "Poor Door" building, and recently rechristened 50 Riverside Boulevard in light of the scandal—is back in the news, this time for reasons far less unsavory. Starting today, qualified New Yorkers can apply for one of the building's 55 subsidized rentals.
Find out how much units are going for

February 18, 2015

Why the Plan to Toll Bridges Will Succeed; Is NYC Becoming a ‘Gated Community?’

Here’s why the new plan to toll NYC bridges—and other traffic pricing—will succeed. [Crain’s] With housing costs rising with no end in sight, NYC is in danger of becoming a “gated community.” [TRD] The rise of the “designer neighborhood” and a look at the developers turning the last of NYC’s undeveloped land into custom, mega-sized real estate […]

Real Estate Trends

In 2080 NYC Will Be Hotter, Rainier, and 39 Inches Underwater

Homes damaged from Hurricane Sandy flooding © 6sqft

February 18, 2015

In 2080 NYC Will Be Hotter, Rainier, and 39 Inches Underwater

Or at least that's what a report released today by the New York City Panel on Climate Change says. Looking at the next century, the startling analysis finds that average temperatures could rise 4.1 to 5.7 degrees by the 2050s and as much as 8.8 degrees by the 2080s; yearly heat waves will triple in occurance; there will be many more days over 90 and 100 degrees; annual precipitation will increase by 5 to 13 percent by the '80s; the Northeast will see more intense hurricanes with extreme winds; and sea levels are expected to rise 18 to 39 inches by the '80s and 22 to 50 inches by 2100, meaning the amount of land within FEMA's proposed flood insurance rate maps will double, covering 99 square miles of the city. But don't start planning your exodus just yet. The Mayor's Office is well aware that their findings "underscore the urgency of not only mitigating our contributions to climate change, but adapting our city to its risks."
More on the report and see the full map

February 18, 2015

Developer Matthew Blesso Settles into a Spectacular Park Slope Townhouse for $4.05M

Developer Matthew Blesso is doing a total architectural 180. Blesso, who used to call this uber-sleek Noho penthouse home, has just closed on a far more cozy historic construction in the heart of Park Slope according to city records filed today. No official listing could be found for the three-story pre-war home, but previous reports show that it was last being rented out by its former owner William Lawrence for about $11,000 a month. The neighborhood and the townhouse are certainly quite a change for Blesso, whose last home was about as modern and metropolitan as they get.
Have a gander inside this architectural gem ahead

February 18, 2015

POLL: Do You Support an $8 Bridge Toll to Raise Funds for the MTA?

Yesterday we looked at a new proposal from MoveNY to toll four East River bridges (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, and Queensboro) and 60th Street in Manhattan in order to “raise funds for the MTA’s five-year capital plan (which is about $15.2 billion short of its target), and to make the cost of the city’s transit more equitable.” Drivers with […]

Transit

February 18, 2015

How to Celebrate the Lunar New Year in Chinatown and Queens; Observing Staten Island’s Bald Eagles

Here’s how to celebrate the Year of the Ram around Chinatown. [Bowery Boogie] And here’s how to celebrate in Queens. [DNAinfo] A Mad Men exhibit is coming to the Museum of the Moving Image. [Gothamist] The much-anticipated Upper East Side Whole Foods opens today. Expect lots of free samples. [DNAinfo] Bald eagles have been wintering […]

Uncategorized

February 18, 2015

Historic Home Labeled the ‘Height of the Heights’ Can Be Yours for $7.9M

Calling all historic preservationists, townhouse connoisseurs, and brownstone lovers. If you’re looking to nerd out on original detail and old polite-society New York, we may have found just the home for you. The broker of this bauble cleverly describes it as the “height of the Heights” because of its location in a quiet cul-de-sac at the highest elevation in Brooklyn Heights. The five-story home has only had a few owners, so it’s well-preserved, and it boasts a restored brownstone façade on a 125-foot lot.
READ MORE

Distinctive Homes

Distinctive Homes

A colorful converted convent in Hamilton Heights asks $2M

For $5.65M, a ballet legend's former UWS studio is now a three-bedroom home

This $800K Chelsea two-bedroom co-op is easy on fees and rules

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

This $4M Brooklyn Heights duplex adds condo convenience to old-world elegance

An elevator makes this $4.2M Greenpoint townhouse a timeless forever home

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

For $595K, this Turtle Bay pre-war co-op elegantly maximizes every square inch of space

'Hunger Games' director Gary Ross lists his Cobble Hill townhouse for $10.6M

Dine in a gold-domed cupola in this $13.5M Chelsea penthouse

VIEW ALL

February 18, 2015

Sony Building Penthouse Will Ask a Record-Breaking $150M

There's a new priciest listing record in town, and it goes to the $150 million triplex penthouse at the Chetrit Group's Sony Building condo conversion, according to The Real Deal. The 21,504-square-foot unit will occupy floors 33 through 35 of the 37-story tower at 550 Madison Avenue and have a private elevator, eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and ten powder rooms. If it gets what it's asking for, it will break the record for the current highest condo sale, the $100 million penthouse that sold at One57 last month.
Check out the impressive Sony Tower floorplans here

February 17, 2015

Orlando Bloom Looks to Flip His Tribeca Loft for $5.5M

Maybe Orlando Bloom didn't like having New York's very own welcome ambassador Taylor Swift as a neighbor... because after only eight short months*, he's put his Tribeca loft back on the market. Back in June, Bloom purchased the three-bedroom apartment at the Sugarloaf Warehouse building for $4.88 million, and he's now looking to rake in just under $1 million in profit, re-listing the home for $5.5 million. It was reported over the summer that the actor was drawn to the loft's “cast-iron columns, exposed brick walls, open chef’s kitchen and wood-beamed ceilings,” but clearly that wasn't enough to keep his attention.
See what else Orlando Bloom is giving up

February 17, 2015

New Map Reveals the Loudest and Quietest Places in the USA, As Suspected NYC Is Noisy

Looking for peace and quiet? Well you aren’t going to find it in NYC–or for the most part, the eastern half of the United States. A fascinating new map created by the National Park Service (NPS) shows us where we can find solace in silence (head for the dark blue) and where to expect sleepless nights […]

City Living

Live in Your Very Own Lighthouse and Tugboat for $425,000

Image via NY Post

February 17, 2015

Live in Your Very Own Lighthouse and Tugboat for $425,000

By Stephanie Hoina

Factories, stables, churches—even former department stores—have all found new life as residential properties within the five boroughs, and we’ve had the pleasure of bringing many of those to you as part of our Cool Listings. But every now and again a uniquely special property outside the borders of New York City catches our eye and we feel compelled to let you in on the secret.
More on the lighthouse here

February 17, 2015

Chinatown Loft by Buro Koray Duman Architects Mixes Tenement Details with Bright, Modern Geometry

If you take a look at the exterior of this Chinatown tenement building located across the street from Sarah Roosevelt Park, you might imagine that the apartments inside are typical cramped railroad-style units with the token exposed brick wall as a selling point. But this unit, renovated by Buro Koray Duman Architects, looks like it could be in a swanky Miami hotel or sunny LA condo. When Turkish-born architect Koray Duman bought the residence in 2011, the 750-square-foot corner apartment was a dark, three-bedroom renovation from the 1980s. He and his firm transformed it into a bright, open one-bedroom loft with bold, sculptural architecture and décor.
Tour the home here

Two Non-Glass Homes on Philip Johnson’s Iconic Glass House Campus Will Open to the Public

Calluna Farms © Craig White via Flickr

February 17, 2015

Two Non-Glass Homes on Philip Johnson’s Iconic Glass House Campus Will Open to the Public

If you've never visited Philip Johnson's world-famous Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, you probably imagine it as a single, transparent structure sitting on a vast swath of land. But, in fact, it's one of 14 buildings on the 49-acre campus, which together made up what Johnson and his partner David Whitney considered "the perfect deconstructed home." So, the couple didn't live in the Glass House quite like most of us thought, but rather used it as the focal point of a glamorous weekend retreat. When the Glass House compound reopens for tours this spring, two of these lesser-known structures will be open to the public–the 1905 shingled farmhouse Calluna Farms, which was used as an art gallery and sometimes as a sleeping spot, and an 18th-century timber house called Grainger that served as a movie room for Johnson and Whitney.
More on the Glass House compound

February 17, 2015

All-You-Can-Fly to the Hamptons; Rockaway Boardwalk Receives $480M in FEMA Funds

Planning on “summering” in the Hamptons, but want to forgo the dreaded Jitney? There’s a new $2,000/month service that will let you fly between NYC and the Hamptons as much as you want. [Curbed Hamptons] See how the city is spending $480 million on Rockaway Boardwalk through infographics. [DNAinfo] Hudson University, the stand-in fake NYC college […]

Uncategorized

Image via Wikimedia Commons

February 17, 2015

Group Proposes $8 Toll on Popular East River Bridges to Raise Funds for the MTA

Image via Wikimedia Commons Car-happy city folk are sure to grumble over this latest proposal from MoveNY to toll four East River bridges (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Queensboro) and 60th Street in Manhattan. The group's plan, backed by former traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz, is looking to raise funds for the MTA's five-year capital plan (which is about $15.2 billion short of its target), and to make the cost of the city's transit more equitable. The new program would apply a $5.54 toll each way for bridge-crossers traveling with an E-ZPass, while drivers without an E-Zpass will have to shell out $8 to cross each time. The same tolls would also be applied to all avenue crossings at 60th Street.
Find out more here

Transit

Proposed Condo Tower Could Stall Entire South Street Seaport Redevelopment Plan

Less than a week after it was revealed that the Howard Hughes Corporation paid $31 million for more than 300,000 square feet of air rights at the South Street Seaport, it looks like the entire $1.5 billion redevelopment project could be stalled. The overall plan would breathe new life into the downtown historic district by rehabilitating crumbling piers, preserving and finding new use for landmark buildings and constructing a 42-story waterfront condo tower at the foot of Beekman Street. And it's this last point that has local officials, civic groups, preservationists and some community residents worried or downright angry. The 494-foot-tall, SHoP Architects-designed tower has already been scaled back from its original 650 feet, but concerned parties still feel that the building would "obscure views of the Brooklyn Bridge and clash with the low-scaled, early-19th-century brick buildings that make up the 11-block seaport district, once the center of the city’s maritime industry," according to the New York Times.
More on the debate

February 17, 2015

$2.7M Countrified Brooklyn Heights Pad Offers the Best of Both Worlds

If you like your city with a side of country, you’ll love this Brooklyn Heights duplex penthouse on Remsen Street, asking $2.675 million. This place is the definition of the best of both worlds: a city pad with a bucolic vibe, original details with modern technology, plus it’s spacious and has a private planted deck while still being close to transportation and neighborhood hot spots. Yes, this penthouse definitely earns the title of most well-rounded.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

February 16, 2015

Historic Ship-Inspired Townhouse in Prospect Lefferts Gardens Hits the Market for $1.5M

It's not rare to find an amazing historic townhouse in Brooklyn, but this is a first for us–an Arts and Crafts-style home inspired by the original owner's career as a shipbuilder. Built in 1914, 26 Winthrop Street is a 20.5-foot-wide, three-story red brick house that sits on an extra-deep lot of 132.5 feet in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. What makes the residence one-of-a-kind is the living room, modeled after a ship's stateroom and complete with a vaulted ceiling and floor-to-ceiling mahogany wainscoting.
See the rest of the house here

February 16, 2015

VIDEO: Katz’s Deli Owner Shares Stories of the Shady LES of 20 Years Ago

By now many of you have probably seen this amazing video showing a changing Lower East Side circa 1995. While plenty of colorful characters and weirdness abound, let's not forget that the area at the time was also one of the city's most unsafe. As part of the new video series called "True Yorkers," Katz's Deli owner Alan Dell reflects on the Lower East Side that once was—well before it transformed into the bar crawl we know today. Sharing his own memories of the neighborhood as a kid, and more poignantly his opinion of what it has become, Dell's recount really makes you think about just how severely pacified and homogenous today's version of New York is. "A lot of people from the neighborhood moved away...I just can't get used to it," Dell says in the episode. "I have customers talking about their million dollar penthouse on Rivington Street—it blows my mind. The Bowery was unsavory, there used to be bums, I don't even know if kids know what a bum is...You know, they call it progress, I'm not really sure about that. It's a mixed bag...15-20 years ago we were closing early. Unless you were coming to buy crack late at night over here, it was not safe...it's just changed. It's just different."
watch the video here

Uncategorized

February 16, 2015

Darling Tin-Ceilinged One-Bedroom in the Heart of Gowanus Asks $2,550/Month

There’s a new rental available in up-and-coming Gowanus, and it’s asking $2,550 per month. This one-bedroom has a shared garden and laundry facilities along with a dizzying black-and-white checkered bathroom that will either make you fall in love or just get really disoriented. But even if that's not your thing, charming original details like tin ceilings and wide-plank hardwood floors more than make up for it.
Check out the rest of the rental

Distinctive Homes

February 15, 2015

Check Out Studio Benjamin Dillenburger’s Wild ‘Phenomena’ Submission for MoMA’s 2015 YAP

Last week, MoMA PS1 announced the winning design for this year’s Young Architects Program (YAP), which will be featured this summer in the Long Island City museum’s outdoor courtyard. The top spot went to Andrés Jaque of the Office for Political Innovation for COSMO, a moveable environmental artifact made out of customized irrigation components. And while this interactive water purification sculpture is highly deserving, the runners-up shouldn't be ignored. Among the short list of finalists was Phenomena by Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer of Studio Benjamin Dillenburger, which "addressed the idea of phenomenology in design, creating an experiential space that stimulates all the senses and hosts multiple programs." It combines a performance space, a highly articulated projection screen, and an ornate fountain, challenging how people experience live events by making the viewer part of the production.
READ MORE

February 14, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

Adrian Grenier Buys Five-Story Clinton Hill Townhouse for $2.1 Million Mapping Where in NYC Millennials Live PlaceInvaders Invites You to Have Dinner in NYC’s Most Extraordinary Private Homes What Would NYC Look Like If Sea Levels Rose 100 Feet? Joan Rivers’ Legendary Upper East Side Penthouse Is on the Market for $28M Would You Live […]

Uncategorized

February 13, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Curator Sarah Forbes on the Museum of Sex (It’s Not Exactly What You Think It Is)

By Susan Cohen

If you've walked along lower Fifth Avenue, then the Museum of Sex most certainly has caught your eye; maybe you've even visited it and seen a few of the exhibits curated by Sarah Forbes. Sarah is the museum's sole curator, which means it's her job to conceive and oversee exhibitions on a myriad of topics related to sex. Her goal is the same as the museum's goal: to expand visitors' horizons and to dispel myths and misconceptions that are out there. Beyond educating the public through its oftentimes provocative exhibits, the Museum of Sex is dedicated to sharing information and artwork through its permanent collection of over 15,000 artifacts as well as its research library and media archive. With Valentine's Day approaching, we couldn't think of a better time to chat with Sarah to find out more about New York's relationship with sex, how the museum helps the city understand it differently, and why it's the perfect spot to celebrate the holiday.
Read on for our interview with Sarah

February 13, 2015

Would You Live on the 13th Floor of a Building? A Look at Our Irrational Fear of Numbers

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

In honor of Friday the 13th, The Atlantic took a look at the number 13—and namely how obsessively superstitious some individuals can be when it comes to certain digits and our inclination to apply a deeper meaning to them. 18, for instance, is chai in Hebrew, which means life; while number 2 represents balance and cooperation in Chinese; and of course we're all familiar with the divine and oh-so-lucky number 7. But then there's 13, a number generally looked upon as especially sinister, particularly in Western culture. In fact, 13 is so suspect that there's even a scientific name for the fear of the number: triskaidekaphobia (a fear of Friday the 13th the date is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, by the way). But here's the funnest bit in the piece that really grabbed our attention: Taking a closer look at New York's residential buildings with the help of CityRealty, they found that of the 629 buildings with 13 or more floors, only 55 had labeled the 13th floor as the 13th floor—that's only 9 percent of the total. Common placeholders they found were 14, 12B, 14A, M (the 13th letter in the alphabet) or simply "Penthouse" if the top unit sat on the 13th floor.
More from the 13th Floor here

THE 6SQFT SHOP

The 6 best furniture rental companies in NYC

8 best places in NYC to thrift for home goods

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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

VIEW ALL

February 13, 2015

Park Slope Brownstone with Seven Fireplaces Checks All the Boxes for $3.2M

By Stephanie Hoina

From its meticulously maintained façade to the oh-so-gorgeous interior details to the amazing private garden, this well-loved four-story residence at 113 6th Avenue is what Park Slope brownstone living is all about. Twelve-foot-high tray ceilings welcome you into the well-apportioned living room, where extra-tall windows drench the sizable space with sunlight and a stunning marble fireplace makes a grand impression as one of the home's seven warm hearths.
See how many fireplaces you can find

Distinctive Homes

February 13, 2015

Harlem’s Affordable Live/Work Space for Artists Complete; Why Long Island is Dying

Leasing has begun at the newly renovated luxury homes at Shorecrest Towers at Trump Village. The homes, located in Coney Island, start at $1,500 for studios, $1,650 for one-bedrooms and $2,332 for two-bedrooms. [6sqft inbox] Three reasons Long Island isn’t seeing any growth when compared to other suburbs. [CityLab] HHL Architects has complete work on Artspace […]

Real Estate Trends

Love Set in Stone: Bring Your Date on a Valentine’s Day Trolley Ride in Green-Wood Cemetery

Expect conditions to be a little more, um, icy. Photo courtesy of Green-Wood Cemetery

February 13, 2015

Love Set in Stone: Bring Your Date on a Valentine’s Day Trolley Ride in Green-Wood Cemetery

By Michelle Cohen

What could be more romantic than a cozy mid-winter afternoon trolley ride through one of NYC’s most interesting national historic landmarks, Green-Wood Cemetery? Celebrate this most romantic of holidays with a bit of a gothic twist: Expert guide Ruth Edebohls will lead a tour highlighting historic power couples, romantic monuments and tales of love everlasting, both triumphant and grim. You can also view Civil War love letters […]

February 13, 2015

Valentines for the Architect in Your Life; How the City Melts Snow with “Hot Tubs”

Have a special architect in your life? Send them one of these valentines. [ArchDaily] Looking into how the city removes snow using “hot tubs.” [Gothamist] Does new restaurant Cooklyn have the most Brooklyn branding ever? [Fast Co. Design] A replica of Manhattan in China, complete with knock-offs of Rockefeller Center and the Hudson River, is a […]

Uncategorized

February 13, 2015

Tiny Brooklyn Apartment Is Covered with 25,000 Ping Pong Balls

From afar, the walls of this tiny Brooklyn apartment look they're covered in geometric wallpaper, but get up close and you're in for quite the surprise. Daniel Arsham, partner and co-founder of Snarkitecture, a cross-disciplinary firm that blends art and architecture, used 25,000 ping pong balls that had lost their bounce to create this incredible wall mosaic as part of an accelerated design experiment.
More on this incredible design

February 13, 2015

OBRA Architects’ Centrifugal Villa Is a Wooden Home with a Hollow Heart

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

OBRA Architects' Centrifugal Villa is not your average wooden family home. Located on a five-acre site in Southampton, it overlooks a pristine agricultural reserve framing the green landscape through its many all-around windows. Its name comes from its original circular layout, which in the architects' own words, is "arranged around a hollow center, as if the heart of the house had somehow fallen outside its body."
Learn more about this centrifugal wooden home

February 13, 2015

Joseph D’Urso-Designed Penthouse in Gramercy Park Asks $3.4M

There’s a gorgeous new penthouse available at 215 East 22nd Street, right in the heart of coveted Gramercy Park. Interior designer Joseph D’Urso went for a minimalist industrial take on this duplex, which is part of the Gramercy Habitat condominium. And with rich wood to add warmth, this lofty $3.35 million condo is a surefire winner.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

February 12, 2015

The Meatpacking District: From the Original Farmers’ Market to High-End Fashion Scene

By Penelope Bareau

Why is it called the Meatpacking District when there are only six meat packers there, down from about 250? Inertia, most likely. The area has seen so many different uses over time, and they're so often mercantile ones that Gansevoort Market would probably be a better name for it. Located on the shore of the Hudson River, it's a relatively small district in Manhattan stretching from Gansevoort Street at the foot of the High Line north to and including West 14th Street and from the river three blocks east to Hudson Street. Until its recent life as a go-to high fashion mecca, it was for almost 150 years a working market: dirty, gritty, and blood-stained.
Read the full history here

History

New Report Shows It’s More Expensive to Rent in Queens than in Brooklyn

Ridgewood via Cameron Baylock

February 12, 2015

New Report Shows It’s More Expensive to Rent in Queens than in Brooklyn

A new report released today by Douglas Elliman shows that Queens has surpassed Brooklyn in most expensive rents. The median montly rent in Western Queens rose to $2,905 in January, a 30.7 percent jump from the same time last year. That's $4 more than North and Northwest Brooklyn's median rent, which only rose 2.5 percent to $2,901. We shouldn't be so surprised, though. With constant news of skyrocketing prices in Brooklyn, a lot of attention has been turned to Queens, especially up-and-coming neighborhoods like Ridgewood, as well as already-established hip spots such as Long Island City and Astoria.
READ MORE

Real Estate Trends

February 12, 2015

Following a Two-Year Renovation, Park Slope’s ‘Lighthouse’ Asks $7.5M

A gut-renovated four-story townhouse on Garfield Place has just hit the market, asking $7.5 million. The owners of the “Lighthouse,” as it’s been christened, paid $2.6 million for it back in 2012. Then they hauled in the big guns—CWB Architects, Tamara Eaton Design, and Pilaster Contracting—to give it an intense two-year makeover. The result is a gorgeous five-bedroom home with Dinesen Douglas fir floors, a solarium, 880 square feet of exterior space, and a new two-story glass extension and rear wall.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

February 12, 2015

$30M Mega-Mansion Coming to Soho; New Developments Heating up the Jamaica Real Estate Market

A massive, 13,000-square-foot mega-mansion is coming to Soho. Madison Equities will combine two existing townhouse development sites to create a completely customizable $30 million home. [NYDN] Several mega projects coming to Jamaica may prove to be the real estate tipping point for the Queens ‘hood. [TRD] Hudson Yards developers get $180 million in tax breaks. […]

Real Estate Trends

February 12, 2015

re-fashioNYC Makes It Easy to Clean Out Your Closet by Coming to You

By Michelle Cohen

NYC Fashion Week kicks off today–what better time to de-clutter, de-hoard, and make some room in your closet. Every year New Yorkers jettison approximately 200,000 tons of clothing, shoes, handbags and other textiles and clothing items. re-fashioNYC is a partnership between the NYC Department of Sanitation and Housing Works that is making it easier than ever to donate those items instead. The convenient in-building service will supply collection bins to your apartment building (with over 10 units), workplace, gym, school or other public building, then collect the contents whenever the bins are full. re-fashioNYC is completely nonprofit and charitable–all proceeds from donations support the charitable mission of Housing Works to end homelessness and AIDS. Nothing donated is sent to landfills.
Find out more

City Living

February 12, 2015

Spectacular Park Slope Mansion Comes with Private Parking and a Twice-Reduced Price

By Stephanie Hoina

A short walk from Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza is a row of four neo-classical townhouses that have been presiding over Plaza Street West in Park Slope since the late 1800s. Anyone strolling past will be instantly charmed by the intricately carved cornices, striking wrought iron doors, and relief-cast designs gracing the limestone façades. As beautiful as they are on the outside, one can only imagine what treasures can be found inside. And the residence at #5 does not disappoint.
Check out this home's spectacular interior

Distinctive Homes

February 12, 2015

New Yorkers Love a Good Ferry Ride; The High Line Looked a Lot Different in 2003

The city will receive $480 million in FEMA funds to repair the Rockaway boardwalk damaged during Hurricane Sandy. [NYDN] Ferry ridership along the East and Hudson rivers is up seven percent, and on the Staten Island ferry ridership is up by one million. [NYP] Now that Fashion Week won’t be welcomed back to Lincoln Center, here are five alternative […]

Uncategorized

The MTA Has More Debt Than Cuba, Iceland and at Least 28 Other Nations

Image via nycsubway.org

February 12, 2015

The MTA Has More Debt Than Cuba, Iceland and at Least 28 Other Nations

By Annie Doge

The MTA's $15 billion 2015-2019 Capital Plan funding gap may sound like a staggering amount, but the current debt that the agency carries ($34.1 billion to be exact) is apparently bigger than that of Cuba, Syria and Jamaica's total debt. In fact, according to a new Straphangers campaign, more than 30 nations have less debt than the MTA.
READ MORE

February 12, 2015

Carmelo and LaLa Anthony Score an $11 Million Pad Overlooking the High Line

By Annie Doge

New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and wife LaLa have been on the hunt for a Chelsea home since last fall, and after touring countless multi-million dollar homes (like this one and this one) it looks like the pair have settled on a High Line-adjacent condo at Cary Tamarkin’s new 10-story, 15-unit complex at 508 West 24th Street. The Post reports that the hoopster is putting down $11 million for a massive full-floor home.
Check it out here

February 12, 2015

Pier 55 Floating Park Moves Forward with a Lease Deal

Last we heard about Pier55–the 2.4-acre futuristic floating park and performance space proposed by billionaire media mogul Barry Diller that would jut 186 feet into the Hudson at 13th Street–Community Board 2 had mixed feelings about the project. They liked Thomas Heatherwick's design, but cited concern over the lack of transparency from Diller and the Hudson River Park Trust. Despite these feelings, though, we've learned today from the Times that the Trust approved a lease agreement with Pier 55 Inc., a nonprofit group controlled by Diller, to help develop the $130 million public space. Diller has already pledged $113 million toward the project through the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation (his wife is fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg). So, what's next?
What's to come for Pier 55

Architecture And Design

Bergen Brooklyn

323 Bergen Street

Boerum Hill

World-class design rooted in Brooklyn charm

studios starting at $825,000
1 beds starting at $1,200,000
2 beds starting at $1,925,000
3 beds starting at $3,050,000
4 beds starting at $6,000,000

Learn More

HBO’s Robert Durst Crime Documentary Series Premieres, Is Creepy but Fascinating

Photo: HBO

February 12, 2015

HBO’s Robert Durst Crime Documentary Series Premieres, Is Creepy but Fascinating

By Michelle Cohen

“The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” the six-part HBO documentary series about the black-sheep older brother of commercial developer Douglas Durst of the multibillion dollar Durst Organization (developers of One World Trade Center), premiered on February 8th. Andrew Jirecki, the director of the series, has a long-held fascination with the program's subject, first directing a feature film, “All Good Things,” in 2010, starring Ryan Gosling in the Durst role. Robert Durst sat for over 20 hours of interviews with the filmmaker–the basis of the controversial series, the draw of which is that it “stars” Robert Durst (now 71) as himself.
more on the series here

The New Broadway Plan Could Bring 3,000 Housing Units to West Harlem, 50 Percent Will Be Affordable

Broadway and 146th Street, a typical stretch in West Harlem

February 11, 2015

The New Broadway Plan Could Bring 3,000 Housing Units to West Harlem, 50 Percent Will Be Affordable

You may remember the Harlem Promenade project, which proposed transferring air rights over the Amtrak rail lines in West Harlem to create affordable housing and using the sale of the air rights to pay for $170 million in community improvements in Hamilton Heights, including a High Line-esque park. We've now learned that the project has taken on a new life as the New Broadway Plan, which may be smaller in scope than the original plan, but would be the largest creation of affordable housing in Manhattan since 1959 if fully realized. It would also make a huge dent in Mayor De Blasio's goal of creating or preserving 200,000 affordable units over ten years. The Plan proposes a rezoning of portions of Broadway from 125th to 155th Streets in order to build 3,000 new units of housing, 50 percent of which will be permanently affordable, and to equalize the amount of new affordable to market rate housing stock, which is currently at a disproportionate ratio of 20 percent to 80 percent, respectively.
Get the scoop here

February 11, 2015

A New Bjarke Ingels or Rem Koolhaas-Designed Development Could Be Coming to the High Line

The High Line is continuing its trajectory as the destination for the city's most exciting new architecture, and it looks like another starchitect could soon join the already impressive roster of designers making their mark on the area. The New York Post reports that HFZ Capital Group is currently in the works to bring a "monumental" new structure to a lot located next to the elevated park at 76 11th Avenue—a site that spans from 17th to 18th and across 10th to 11th Avenues. Although the parcel is still in contract (expected to close in April), HFZ has reportedly already tapped Bjarke Ingels (BIG) and Rem Koolhaas for initial drawings, which were revealed by the company's head, Ziel Feldman, yesterday at the Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association luncheon. The renderings are said to show "triangular structures that won't block views".
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Architecture And Design

February 11, 2015

Experience the City’s Skyscrapers in Cartoons with The New Yorker’s Bob Mankoff

Condé Nast's move into One World Trade Center means more than just the offices of Vogue settling in downtown, but also some other 3,000-odd editors, writers and advertising folks that make up the publishing giant's empire. Amongst these magazines is, of course, The New Yorker. In this week's installment of the magazine's "Cartoon Lounge," cartoon editor and cartoonist Bob Mankoff takes a moment to commemorate the magazine's move into the supertall icon by musing over the skyscrapers that have appeared in The New Yorker since the city's 1920s building boom. From his office on the 38th floor of One World Trade, watch as he shares his favorite cartoons and his own experience of seeing the New York City skyline as a kid in Queens. This video is sure to make you smile!
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February 11, 2015

11 Beach Penthouse Asks $22.5M; How a Broker Knows a Couple Will Break Up