Search Results for: Brooklyn Heights

Photo by Eden, Janine and Jim via Flickr cc

August 11, 2020

150 NYC restaurants with outdoor dining

With outdoor dining in New York City extended through October, there are countless spots to dine al fresco, with restaurants able to set up seating on sidewalks, adjacent parking spots, rooftops, and gardens. To help you decide where to eat first, we've begun compiling a list of some of the best restaurants offering outdoor dining, neighborhood by neighborhood. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so we hope that you, our readers, will share more restaurants with us that we can add to this list.
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Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools/SITU/WXY

August 5, 2020

This sidewalk ‘front porch’ was designed to help students return to school in COVID times

By Dana Schulz

The list of anxieties surrounding a return to school for students and their parents is seemingly endless, but the architects at SITU and WXY have designed an outdoor lobby that they hope can help alleviate some of this stress. Built upon the work of design-forward scaffolding firm Urban Umbrella, the "Front Porch" concept has been installed at the Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School to "allow students and faculty to be protected from the elements while queuing to enter, while hand sanitizing and having their temperatures taken," according to a press release.
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Architecture And Design

This $4M modern Seaport loft is actually in an 18th-century building

Listing photos courtesy of Douglas Elliman

August 5, 2020

This $4M modern Seaport loft is actually in an 18th-century building

By Dana Schulz

One of the fun things about New York City's architecture is how hidden its history can be. Take for example 130 Beekman Street in the South Street Seaport Historic District. The five-story building was actually built in 1798, but it's undergone several renovations over the years, and its condo units are completely modern. Just listed for $3,995,000 is the building's crown jewel, a three-bedroom, top-floor loft with two beautiful outdoor spaces.
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Distinctive Homes

Since March, thousands of small businesses in NYC have closed for good

Photo by Peter Burka on Flickr

August 4, 2020

Since March, thousands of small businesses in NYC have closed for good

By Devin Gannon

New York City small businesses are barely hanging on. More than 2,800 have closed permanently since March 1, the New York Times reported. And when the pandemic eventually subsides, as many as one-third of the city's 230,000 small businesses may not reopen, according to a report from the Partnership for New York City. Despite the city reaching the final and fourth phase of reopening, the distribution of millions of dollars in aid, and creative measures to help shops survive, thousands of businesses remain at risk.
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Policy

NYC’s latest set of outdoor dining open streets includes 13 blocks on the Upper West Side

Open streets outdoor dining along West 47th Street, photo by CityRealty

August 3, 2020

NYC’s latest set of outdoor dining open streets includes 13 blocks on the Upper West Side

By Dana Schulz

Open streets outdoor dining along West 47th Street, photo by CityRealty On Friday, Mayor de Blasio announced that an additional 15 locations would be closing to traffic and opening their streets for outdoor dining through a combination of the city's Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs. This brings the total to 62 participating streets. Some of the latest include 13 blocks along Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side, another stretch in Chinatown, Koreatown, a few in Noho/Soho, and five blocks along Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights. Since restaurants were first able to open for outdoor dining when phase two began on June 22, more than 9,500 have signed on to participate.
The full list of open streets

NYC will now have 67 miles of open streets, the most in the U.S.

Photo looking south on open West End Avenue, taken by 6sqft on 5.16.20

June 24, 2020

NYC will now have 67 miles of open streets, the most in the U.S.

By Dana Schulz

New York City will add 23 new miles of open streets, bringing the total to roughly 67 miles of streets closed to cars citywide, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday. When the mayor first announced the program, he committed to opening 100 miles of streets throughout the pandemic. "This is going to be great for people looking for a break this summer with all the things going on, a place for kids to exercise and run around," the mayor said during a press conference. "It's growing, and we're going to keep adding to it."
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For $30K/month, you can live in this converted East Village synagogue

Image Credit: Warburg Realty/Martin Davis

June 16, 2020

For $30K/month, you can live in this converted East Village synagogue

By Dana Schulz

From the outside, this East Village building still looks like a traditional tenement synagogue, but inside it's an incredible four-story home. Located at 317 East 8th Street, the former 8th Street Shul was built around 1900 and converted to a private residence in 2005. It's now available to rent for $30,000 a month. The new tenant will get to enjoy 22-foot cathedral ceilings in the living room, custom windows with a 19th-century backlit Star of David, a cantilevered balcony, and three outdoor terraces, including a landscaped roof deck with a hot tub.
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Distinctive Homes

Majority of NYC workers in hard-hit retail, restaurant industry live in low-income neighborhoods: report

Photo by Emilie Farris on Unsplash

May 20, 2020

Majority of NYC workers in hard-hit retail, restaurant industry live in low-income neighborhoods: report

By Devin Gannon

Nearly every industry in New York City taken a hit financially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. But the businesses forced to close their doors, or switch to delivery only, because of the state's"pause" order, including restaurants, retail, hotels, and personal care services, have been especially affected by the current crisis. According to a new report from the think tank Center for an Urban Future, the workers from these hard-hit sectors, where layoffs have been most common, also live in the city's low-income neighborhoods. And while more than half of the jobs in these industries are located in Manhattan, 81 percent of the workers live in the outer boroughs.
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Policy

Photo courtesy of NYC DOT/Flickr

May 13, 2020

NYC opens 12 more miles of open streets

By Dana Schulz

This brings the total to nearly 21 miles since Mayor de Blasio first announced that he'd be opening up 40 miles of streets to pedestrians by the end of the month, with an ultimate goal of 100 miles throughout the current COVID crisis. In his press conference this morning, the mayor announced the third round of open streets totaling 11.7 miles would be opening tomorrow, along with 9.2 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of May. Some of the new open streets include those in Hudson Yards, the first on the Upper West Side and in Long Island City, and those adjacent to seven more parks in Brooklyn.
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40+ ways New Yorkers are helping healthcare workers

Photo by Luis Melendez on Unsplash

May 11, 2020

40+ ways New Yorkers are helping healthcare workers

By 6sqft

While most New Yorkers are working from home or finding ways to entertain themselves while indoors, our health care community is on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, with many pulling double shifts and working seven days a week. To show gratitude for this heroic community, many local companies are stepping up to the plate, offering free meals, lodging, transportation, and even footwear. Ahead, 6sqft has begun compiling a list of the resources available to NYC's front-line responders. This list was last updated at 4:30 pm on Monday, May 11, 2020.
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LPC approves design for condo conversion at 120-year-old Hotel Wales

Rendering of the proposed cornice at Hotel Wales by Form4Design Studio and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, LLC; via LPC

April 22, 2020

LPC approves design for condo conversion at 120-year-old Hotel Wales

By Devin Gannon

The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved plans to retrofit Carnegie Hill's historic Hotel Wales, which is set to be converted into luxury condominiums. The proposal from Form4 Design Studio and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners retains the hotel's Beaux-Arts facade, terra cotta elements, and scroll-bracketed balconies, as CityRealty reported. But the biggest alteration planned for the Carnegie Hill Historic District building is the new cornice and rooftop addition, the design of which the LPC on Tuesday said needs to be modified.
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Listing photos courtesy of Douglas Elliman

April 16, 2020

This $8M Upper East Side townhouse feels like an Italian Chateau

By Dana Schulz

Let's talk about these ceilings--soaring 21 feet with dramatic archways, they are undoubtedly the highlight of this $7,995,000 Upper East Side Townhouse. Add in architectural details like wrought iron railings, etched glass windows, ornate moldings, and carved marble fireplaces, and it feels like you've stepped into an Italian Chateau. In reality, the four-bedroom house is located at 234 East 61st Street, part of the exclusive, two-block Treadwell Farm Historic District.
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Distinctive Homes

Cat Greenleaf lists her famous ‘Talk Stoop’ townhouse in Cobble Hill for $3M

Listing photos courtesy of Douglas Elliman

April 8, 2020

Cat Greenleaf lists her famous ‘Talk Stoop’ townhouse in Cobble Hill for $3M

By Dana Schulz

"If These Steps Could Talk," starts the listing. From 2009 to 2017, this utterly charming Cobble Hill townhouse flashed on television screens for Cat Greenleaf's talk show Talk Stoop, where she interviewed celebrities from her own Brooklyn stoop. The brick rowhouse at 12 Wyckoff Street has just hit the market for $2,995,000, and the interior is even better than we imagined, with contemporary furnishings and art mixing with farmhouse-chic architecture. Cat designed much of the quirky decor herself, from a life-size chessboard in the backyard to a Harry Potter closet under the staircase to a dreamy Moroccan-style den in the basement.
You don't want to miss this

March 24, 2020

In the Bronx, a lottery opens for 30 affordable one-bedroom apartments for seniors

By Devin Gannon

Applications are now being accepted for 30 brand new one-bedroom units set aside for New York seniors. The St. Vincent de Paul Senior Apartments, located at 909 Beck Street in the Bronx neighborhood of Longwood, sit next to a nursing home operated by the Archcare, the developer behind the housing complex. To apply, New Yorkers must be--or have at least one household member who is-- 62 years of age or older, qualify for Section 8 benefits, and earn $42, 700 or less annually.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

$18.3M sustainable playground breaks ground at the Battery

The “bluffs” zone includes five granite slides and boulder scrambles; renderings courtesy of BKSK Architects & Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners

March 13, 2020

$18.3M sustainable playground breaks ground at the Battery

By Devin Gannon

As the threat of climate change grows, parks in New York City are working to become more resilient. Officials on Thursday broke ground on an $18.3 million waterfront playground at the Battery in the Financial District. The Battery Playscape, as it's being called, is expected to be one of the city's largest sustainable parks. It will triple the size of the current playground and will feature a rainwater runoff system and a wide variety of durable plants.
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March 10, 2020

City seeks ideas for two 100 percent affordable senior complexes on NYCHA land

By Devin Gannon

The city is looking to construct two affordable senior complexes with between 150 and 200 housing units each. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development on Friday released a request for proposals for two underused city-owned sites, one in the Bronx's Morrisania neighborhood and the other in Crown Heights in Brooklyn. The developments fall under Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration's "Seniors First" housing program, which aims to serve 30,000 senior households by 2026 through the creation and preservation of affordable housing.
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New engineering study reconsiders tearing the BQE down and building a tunnel

Via Wikimedia cc

February 24, 2020

New engineering study reconsiders tearing the BQE down and building a tunnel

By Alexandra Alexa

The City Council is reconsidering an alternative solution for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that would tear down the crumbling highway and replace it with a three-mile-long tunnel, the New York Times reports. The council tapped engineering firm Arup to provide insight on the rehabilitation/replacement project last September and their findings are being released in a new report on Monday. According to the Times, the report says a tunnel option similar to what cities like Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle have done could cost as much as $11 billion.
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Photo of The Strand Rare Book Room (top left) by Aaron and Whitney Photography; all others cited below

February 3, 2020

The 10 best places in NYC to propose

By Rebecca Fishbein

Some people think Valentine’s Day is a good day for a proposal, but those people are wrong. Valentine’s Day is a holiday that belongs to Hallmark, but the day you propose is one that belongs to you, without any intrusion on the part of a greeting card company. Still, if you’re going to pop the question, you’re best off doing it before February 14, so the pressure’s off and no one’s sitting at dinner stressing out over whether or not they’re going to accidentally swallow a ring in their champagne. Luckily, this city’s full of romantic spots ripe for love and impending marriage. Here are a few of our favorites, from a bookstore and a movie theater to parks and restaurants.
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The Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) from the south end of the Brooklyn Promenade. Photo by Joe Mabel via Wikimedia

January 31, 2020

BQE panel releases anticipated report, says the highway will be unsafe for drivers in five years

By Alexandra Alexa

The Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) from the south end of the Brooklyn Promenade. Photo by Joe Mabel via Wikimedia The 16-person panel that convened last April to assess reconstruction options for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway’s 1.5-mile triple cantilever stretch has released its report. Their recommendations call for repair work to begin immediately and outline “aggressive traffic reduction strategies” like eliminating one lane in each direction (six lanes would become four) and imposing weight limits on vehicles. The panel also rejected the controversial proposal to build a temporary highway at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade during the reconstruction and said the Promenade should remain open.
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Dunkin’ and MetroPCS thrive in NYC despite overall drop in number of chain stores

Photo by Photo by Susan Sermoneta on Flickr

December 20, 2019

Dunkin’ and MetroPCS thrive in NYC despite overall drop in number of chain stores

By Devin Gannon

The number of chain stores in New York City dropped for the second consecutive year, down 3.7 percent in 2019, according to a new report. Despite this decline in retailers, two stores continue to grow across the five boroughs: Dunkin' and Metro by T-Mobile. The Center for an Urban Future's annual "State of the Chains" report found that the coffee chain is the city's largest national retailer with 636 total stores, adding 12 locations since 2018, followed by the cell phone store, formerly called MetroPCS, which operates 468 stores citywide.
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Real Estate Trends

Find landmarks of the anti-slavery movement in NYC

Screenshot of the map courtesy of the Landmarks Preservation Commission

December 13, 2019

Find landmarks of the anti-slavery movement in NYC

By Devin Gannon

For roughly 200 years, between 1626 and 1827, New York City was home to more enslaved Africans than almost every other city in the country. But after abolishing slavery nearly 40 years before the nation, the city became a major player of the national abolitionist movement, housing anti-slavery activists and organizations, as well as many stops on the Underground Railroad. Now 400 years after the first enslaved Africans arrived in the United States, the Landmarks Preservation Commission released this week an interactive story map highlighting designated city landmarks tied to the abolitionist movement.
Explore the map

From top left: Photo of Robert Frost via Wikimedia, Photo of Emily Post via Library of Congress, Photo of Henry Miller via Wikimedia; From bottom left: Photo of James Baldwin by Allan Warren via Wikimedia, Photo of Patricia Highsmith via Wikimedia, and Photo of Margaret Mead via Smithsonian Institution Archives Wikimedia

December 6, 2019

31 literary icons of Greenwich Village

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. One of the city’s oldest and largest landmark districts, it’s a treasure trove of history, culture, and architecture. Village Preservation is spending 2019 marking this anniversary with events, lectures, and new interactive online resources. This is part of a series of posts about the Greenwich Village Historic District marking its golden anniversary. Greenwich Village, specifically the historic district at its core, has been described as many things, but “literary” may be among the most common. That’s not only because the neighborhood has an air of sophistication and drama, but because it has attracted some of the nation’s greatest writers over the last 200 plus years. Ahead, learn about just some of the cornucopia of great wordsmiths who have called the Greenwich Village Historic District home, from Thomas Paine to Lorraine Hansberry.
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History

The top NYC holiday markets and pop-up shops of 2019

Photo courtesy of Grand Bazaar

November 18, 2019

The top NYC holiday markets and pop-up shops of 2019

By Michelle Cohen

New York is a city of shoppers, and though the retail landscape may be undergoing a sea change, there’s still a lot to be said for perusing yards of beautiful baubles and quirky crafts you won't find online in the company of other shoppers and plenty of good cheer. There’s no shortage of holiday markets this season, with one in practically every corner of town; and each one is unique in its own way. The big Manhattan markets–at Union Square, Bryant Park, Grand Central Station, and Columbus Circle–get points for sheer volume, but some of the best finds can be had at smaller, more intimate neighborhood affairs. And they all sparkle with winter wonderland delights from ice skating and music to drinks, food, workshops, tarot readings, nail art, and family fun to keep shoppers' spirits bright.
Find out where to get the goods

Events & Things To Do

$900K Clinton Hill condo has a designer’s touch and discerning storage

Photo courtesy of the Henderson Team at Citi Habitats

November 4, 2019

$900K Clinton Hill condo has a designer’s touch and discerning storage

By Dana Schulz

Any true New Yorker has gained an appreciation for good storage space over the years, but when it's stylish, it's an added bonus. Such is the case at this $899,000 loft at 95 Lexington Avenue in Clinton Hill. Technically a loft space, the 981-square-foot home has been configured with a separate bedroom alcove for privacy, and an additional half-bath is an extra perk. All of this smart planning and lovely decor is not surprising considering the current homeowners are designers.
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Distinctive Homes

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