Search Results for: 84 New York Ave

April 22, 2015

Crimes Against Architecture: Treasured NYC Landmarks Purposely Destroyed or Damaged

At Monday's MCNY symposium “Redefining Preservation for the 21st Century,” starchitect Robert A.M. Stern lamented about 2 Columbus Circle and its renovation that rendered it completely unrecognizable. What Stern saw as a modernist architectural wonder, notable for its esthetics, cultural importance (it was built to challenge MoMA and the prevailing architectural style at the time), and history (the building originally served as a museum for the art collection of Huntington Hartford), others saw as a hulking grey slab. Despite the efforts of Stern and others to have the building landmarked, it was ultimately altered completely. This story is not unique; there are plenty of worthy historic buildings in New York City that have been heavily changed, let to fall into disrepair, or altogether demolished. And in many of these cases, the general public realized their significance only after they were destroyed. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the NYC landmarks law, we've rounded up some of the most cringe-worthy crimes committed against architecture.
Check out our list right here

April 21, 2015

Charming ‘Back House’ Apartment Is a Tiny Treasure in the West Village

By Aisha Carter

The cool thing about tiny living spaces is how it makes you so aware of all the wasted space you have in your own home. This micro apartment at 340A West 11th Street makes the most of every inch of its usable space, and if storage is key, then this pad has the combination. We think you’ll quickly see that inside this red brick “back house” less really is more.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

April 16, 2015

See the Last Days of Streit’s Matzo Factory Through Somber Black-and-White Photos

By Dana Schulz

Whether you celebrate Passover or not, you've undoubtedly seen the pink boxes of Streit's Matzo in the grocery store each spring. For 90 years, Streit's has been churning out this iconic product at the rate of almost 900 pounds of matzo an hour on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side. But at the beginning of the year, New Yorkers received the sad news that the last family-owned matzo factory in the U.S. was purchased by a developer and the company would be moving its operations to New Jersey (a move also echoed this week by Junior's Cheesecake). But before they head across the Hudson, photographer Joseph O. Holmes has captured the final days of this fifth-generation working-class landmark, which Fast Co. Design aptly describes as "New York's Jewish Willy Wonka Factory." His black-and-white photos are somber, telling of his personal feelings about the loss of Streit's and the gentrification of the Lower East Side.
See all the photos here

History

April 14, 2015

Enormous ‘Authentic and Locally Curated’ Food Hall Coming to Downtown Brooklyn

By Diane Pham

Amongst the city's more delectable real estate news comes word that the developer of City Point has plans to bring a 26,000-square-foot foodie haven to their massive Downtown Brooklyn project. Dubbed the Dekalb Market Hall, the space will host somewhere between 35 and 55 "authentic and locally curated" vendors at the basement level of the 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development along Dekalb Avenue. Though leasing is still in the works, more than a handful of food purveyors have already signed on to stir what's sure to be a culinary revolution for an area more commonly associated with chains like Starbucks and Applebee's. So yes, put your best sweatpants on, friends, there will be artisanal doughnuts and barbecue.
More on who's moving in

Real Estate Trends

April 13, 2015

VIDEO: RuPaul Takes Us Around the 1980s Meatpacking District and the Jane Hotel

By Dana Schulz

We know all about the Meatpacking District's beginnings as the Gansevoort Market and the epicenter of meat marketers, as well as its current status as a burgeoning office tower district, but in the 1980s, this neighborhood was one to which most people didn't pay much mind. It was fairly run down, with its industrial tenants having moved out, and became notorious for prostitution, sex clubs, and drug dealing. But there was much more to the area, including an accepting LGBT community and a downtown music and entertainment scene. In this video we found from 1986, a young RuPaul takes us into his penthouse suite at the Jane Hotel, then known as the Jane West Hotel and far seedier than it is today, as well as walks around the gritty streets of the Meatpacking District and into his friend's 9th Avenue rowhouse, which will undoubtedly look familiar to anyone who's walked these cobblestone streets.
Watch the video here

History

Fire Escapes Going Extinct as Building Codes Shift

Via 2nd-avenue-and-5th-street via photopin (license)

April 13, 2015

Fire Escapes Going Extinct as Building Codes Shift

By Dana Schulz

The outdoor fire escape has long been a fixture in the New York City streetscape, but more and more buildings are losing their iron appendages now that fireproof interior stairwells are seen as the emergency exit of choice, reports the Post. Moreover, the fire, buildings and city planning departments are amending fire safety rules in response to the influx of supertall towers to allow for "more occupant-evacuation elevators that can be used to move people down a tower in the event of an emergency." While the new regulations are progressive and safer, losing the fire escape architecture is like losing a piece of New York City history.
Find out more here

Policy

My 500sqft: Artist Hector Castaneda Invites Us into His Spanish Harlem One-Bedroom ‘Museum’

Our new series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to Spanish Harlem. Want your home to be featured here? Get in touch!

April 8, 2015

My 500sqft: Artist Hector Castaneda Invites Us into His Spanish Harlem One-Bedroom ‘Museum’

By Diane Pham

Located in an unassuming low-rise walk-up in Spanish Harlem is a tiny apartment with no views, a small living room, and thousands of pieces of one-of-a-kind art from around the world. Its owner, Hector Castaneda, is a world traveller who's visited more than 50 countries over the last 15 years. While most folks are happy simply snapping a few photos and heading home after a week or two, Hector is all about immersion and spends months at a time in some of the world's most exotic and extreme locales. As Hector travels the world he picks up art, tapestry, sculptures, furniture, and musical instruments from every country, which today magically fill every nook and cranny of his 500-square-foot apartment. "He is the only person I know who can turn a dingy walk-up building apartment into a work of art—it's really a private New York Museum and Hector is the curator," his friend Lisa Monroig told us. Once we heard that, we knew we had to pay him a visit.
Tour this miniature museum in the heart of Spanish Harlem here

April 8, 2015

Developer Vornado Plans to Spend Hundreds of Millions on Revitalizing Penn Station Area

By Dana Schulz

Most New Yorkers only venture to the area around Penn Station when it's absolutely necessary–traveling to New Jersey or Long Island, going to a business meeting at Penn Plaza, or seeing a Rangers game. Otherwise, we avoid it like the plague. But Vornado Realty Trust, one of the country's largest office landlords–they own roughly nine million square feet around Penn Station worth $5.5 billion–is hoping to do a complete 180 on the area by "investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new retail space, public plazas and other infrastructure, according to real-estate executives briefed on the plans," according to the Wall Street Journal.
More details ahead

Real Estate Trends

April 7, 2015

Tracing the Colorful History of Madison Square Park from the 1800s

By Lauren Price

Recent reports show that NoMad has taken over the top spot for priciest neighborhood in the city in which to rent, with a one-bedroom unit going for an average of $4,270/month. For most real estate aficionados this isn't shocking, as the neighborhood has been growing into one of the city's hottest spots for the past several years, but few know of the area's fascinating past. Named for our fourth president, James Madison, the 6.2-acre Madison Square Park was first used as a potter’s field, then an army arsenal, then a military parade ground and finally as the New York House of Refuge children’s shelter, until it was destroyed by a fire in 1839. After the fire, the land between 23rd and 26th Streets from Fifth to Madison Avenues was established as a public park enclosed by a cast-iron fence in 1847. The redesign included pedestrian walkways, lush shrubbery, open lawns, fountains, benches and monuments and is actually similar to the park that exists today.
Find out how our beloved madison square park came to be

History

April 7, 2015

Where Bill Nye the Science Guy Lives; Edward Snowden Hologram Pops Up in Fort Greene Park

By Dana Schulz

New website consolidates information about donations and resources following the Second Avenue explosion. [East Village Relief] Calling all ’90s kids–check out the most special items in Bill Nye the Science Guy’s Chelsea apartment. [NYT] A Buffalo restaurant offers a 10 percent discount to patrons who stay off their smartphones. [NYDN] 35 years ago this week, the MTA went […]

Uncategorized

April 2, 2015

Soho Loft Featured in ‘Ghost’ Hits the Market for $10.5 Million

By Annie Doge

The incredible home that played host to Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze's sexy crime thriller "Ghost" has just hit the market. The Post reports that the loft located at 102 Prince Street is asking a respectable $10.5 million for its 4,341 square feet, which comes with a private key-lock elevator, double entry doors, cast iron columns, incredible downtown views and much more.
have a look inside

The High and Low: Two ‘Mad’ Pads Offer Modernist Details, Timeless Appeal

Butterfield House at 37 West 12th Street (l); 225 East 74th Street (r).

April 1, 2015

The High and Low: Two ‘Mad’ Pads Offer Modernist Details, Timeless Appeal

By Michelle Cohen

In honor of the final season of "Mad Men," we've found a pair of current listings with the modern appeal of the Draper apartment at (fictional) 783 Park Avenue. Accents that might come straight from the pages of a mid-century magazine—like a sunken living room, wood paneling and a Nelson hanging light–or 21st century perks like open kitchens, floor-to-ceiling windows, balconies and city views add up to just as much modern cool as they did in the "Mad Men" era. $2.8 million gets you a serious mid-century pedigree, an enclosed balcony and a prime Greenwich Village location, but for $925,000, a top-floor Upper East Side pre-war pad with a recent renovation, city views and a compellingly modernist vibe looks like a serious deal.
Check out these two 'Mad Men'-worthy pads here

Distinctive Homes

March 31, 2015

Live in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Former Plaza Apartment for $39.5M

By Diane Pham

Did you know that Frank Lloyd Wright was once a resident of The Plaza? Neither did we! The Post reports that the 4,000-square-foot pad the prolific architect briefly called home has just hit the market for $39.5 million. Wright lived in the corner apartment of the storied building from 1954 to 1959 while he was working on the Guggenheim Museum. The location right by Central Park—and a 30-minute walk from the site of his iconic creation—must certainly have bode well for the architect's creative juices.
Inside Wright's former digs here

Extension of NoMad Historic District Has Preservationists at Odds with Building Owners

Broadway between 26th and 27th Streets, part of the current Madison Square North Historic District, via Wiki Commons

March 31, 2015

Extension of NoMad Historic District Has Preservationists at Odds with Building Owners

By Dana Schulz

Over the past few years, NoMad (north of Madison Square Park) has been the subject of countless articles looking at its rise to becoming a go-to place for culture, food, business, and residential opportunities. In fact, as we reported last June, since 2009 the neighborhood has seen price-per-square-foot averages rise by 40 percent. But not everyone looks at this neighborhood as the next frontier. Local residents and preservationists see the area as a relic of the late 19th century, when it was home to the city’s most opulent hotels and mansions and brownstones occupied by New York’s elite, as well as of the Roaring Twenties, when the community boomed as a commercial hub. For these cultural reasons and for NoMad's wealth of industrial and gilded architecture, a proposal will be heard tonight in front of the landmarks committee of Community Board No. 5 to extend the Madison Square North Historic District. NoMad property owners and developers don't agree with the proposal, citing that the area's building stock has been significantly altered over the years. As the Wall Street Journal reports, "The face-off is significant because it is centered in an area that has seen hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment, with new hotels and apartment buildings breaking ground, and new stores and restaurants opening almost weekly. In the eyes of real-estate executives, it would freeze growth in a rare section of Midtown Manhattan still ripe for development."
More details

March 30, 2015

10-Foot-Wide ‘Skinny House’ in Mamaroneck Is an Historic Work with a Heart-Warming Story

By Diane Pham

This red-shingled home may not look like much, but it's steeped in history dating back to the early 20th century—and of course, there's the fact that it's no wider than most NYC bedrooms. Affectionately–and aptly–called the Skinny House, this tiny structure is the slimmest house in Mamaroneck and measures only 10 feet wide, 39 feet long, and rests on a 12.5 foot wide parcel of land. It's also three (yes, three) stories tall. But in addition to a demure size, it also comes with a heart-warming story of neighborly love and generosity that have allowed it to endure for the better part of a century.
More history and photos here

March 26, 2015

The Knickerbocker: Times Square’s First Luxury Hotel Is Reborn as a Modern Landmark

By Dana Schulz

When John Jacob Astor IV built the Knickerbocker Hotel in 1906, he launched a generation of luxury Times Square hotels. The Beaux Arts masterpiece attracted the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, John D. Rockefeller, and Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. It was the birthplace of the martini and the site where the sale of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees took place. But after just 15 years, the hotel's success declined just as fast as it emerged and it was repurposed as an office space, later becoming the Newsweek Building. Today, though, the landmark is reclaiming its title of ultimate luxury hotel under its original moniker. After a two-year, $240 million modern renovation, the Knickerbocker offers 330 guest rooms, a rooftop bar and lounge with the ultimate view of the Times Square ball drop, and a foodie destination restaurant from chef Charlie Palmer.
Uncover the history and future of the Knickerbocker

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

Image by Jorbasa Fotografie / Flickr

March 24, 2015

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

By Michelle Cohen

In New York City there are currently about one million rent stabilized apartments–about 47 percent of the city’s rental units. So why is it so hard to snag one? What are the benefits of having one (other than affordable rent, of course)? According to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board nearly 250,000 rental units have lost the protections of rent regulation since 1994. Why are we "losing" so many of them?
Find out the facts and how they could affect you

March 24, 2015

Live in a Sprawling Queens Mansion; Things to Consider Before Subletting

By Diane Pham

Some very important things to take into account before subletting your apartment. [BU] A sprawling Jamaica Estates mansion in Queens has hit the market for $3.49M. [Brownstoner Queens] A 100-acre manufacturing area in northern Inwood is being eyed for rezoning for housing and tech. [Curbed] New $200 million, 14-mile bus route unveiled for Queens. [NYDN] Robert Durst linked to yet […]

Real Estate Trends

March 24, 2015

Smart Street Furniture Responds to the Needs of the Blind, Elderly and More

By Diane Pham

Bullet trains, self-driving cars, autonomous people-moving pods, windowless jets with panoramic views of what's outside—transportation is without question rapidly evolving, but at the more basic level, infrastructure remains relatively unchanged in most major cities. The design of street lamps, crosswalks and other street furniture is generally a one-size-fits-all game that follows the needs of the average user, but the reality is that it takes far longer for an elderly woman to make her way across a busy intersection than it does a teen. Enter UK designers Ross Atkin and Jonathan Scott of RAA who have developed a system of “responsive street furniture” that adapts to the needs of the people using them. This means if you need more light, the street lamps will adjust. More time to cross? Done. Need to rest? A seat will unlock. And when a blind person walks past a streetlight, the post will read out the name of the store in front to help them orient themselves. So how does it work?
More about the high tech street furniture here

March 23, 2015

Two Best Friends Sell Their Massive Midtown Artists’ Loft for $4.83M

By Annie Doge

Remember this amazing loft we featured on 6sqft back in September? Well it looks like it's found a new owner to fill its cavernous spaces. According to city records, the two-loft combo at 361 West 36th Street sold today for $4.83 million. While when we last wrote about this cool apartment we were going gaga over its beautiful 4,800 square feet of sun-soaked spaces, it turns out the story of the two women–both artists–who once dwelled within its walls is far better anything else found inside.
Find out more here

Real Estate Trends

March 23, 2015

$4M Loft in Renowned Hellmuth Building Has Graced the Pages of Architectural Digest

By Stephanie Hoina

It seems fitting that a turn-of-the-century factory building built by and named after a manufacturer of printer’s ink would one day house an apartment featured in one of the premier design publications in the world. Why, it’s entirely possible that one of Charles Hellmuth’s inks may have even been used to print the very first issues of Architectural Digest, which first debuted in 1920. In any event, we know for sure the two subsequently became intertwined when this striking 2,400-square-foot-home located in the renowned Hellmuth Building graced the pages of the popular magazine.
See more of this Architectural Digest star

Distinctive Homes

March 19, 2015

NYC Rents Are So High Even Starbucks Can’t Afford Them

By Diane Pham

You know rent is too damn high when mega chains like Starbucks start looking for cheaper spaces. The Commercial Observer reports that the city's rising rents are actually driving the coffee giant to less popular side streets as many of the leases inked for stores opened up some 15–20 years ago are coming up for renewal. Starbucks is currently paying just a fraction of what the market is demanding on a chunk of their more than 200 Manhattan locales, and they could soon see an end to several of their most popular shops.
FInd out more

Real Estate Trends

March 17, 2015

Interview: McSorley’s Historian Bill Wander Fills Us In on the Secrets of NYC’s Oldest Bar

By Dana Schulz

Undoubtedly, there are hundreds of New Yorkers and out-of-towners planning to stop by McSorley's Old Ale House today for a St. Patrick's Day round of beers. But beyond the brews and bros, there's a deep history rooted in this East Village institution, and we've found the man who knows it all. The official historian of McSorley's, Bill Wander can give you the full timeline that dates McSorley's to 1854, making it the oldest bar in the city. He can also fill you in on all the tchotchkes adorning the walls of this Irish tavern, none of which have been removed since 1910. But more important than the textbook facts related to McSorley's, Bill has an undeniable passion for this watering hole, for both its important cultural history and the unique social atmosphere that keeps the bar a neighborhood mainstay after all these years. We recently chatted with Bill to find out some of the lesser-known details about McSorley's and what the title of "official historian" entails.
Read our full interview with Bill Wander here

March 17, 2015

Will the Luck of the Irish Help This $18M, 17-Room UES Maisonette Finally Find a Buyer?

By Stephanie Hoina

From four leaf clovers to corned beef and cabbage, today’s the day to celebrate all things Irish, and with a bit of luck maybe the seventeen rooms of this grand residence located at 120 East End Avenue at the corner of 85th Street in Yorkville will finally find a buyer. Initially listed in 2012, this magnificent six-bedroom, sun-flooded, full-service cooperative offers an elegant, sophisticated living experience rarely available in Manhattan.
More photos of this exquisite home

Distinctive Homes

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