Search Results for: how to get from brooklyn to manhattan

Before it was a national monument, Castle Clinton opened as America’s first beer garden

Image courtesy of NYPL

January 9, 2018

Before it was a national monument, Castle Clinton opened as America’s first beer garden

By
New Yorkers today know Castle Clinton, in Battery Park, as a national monument and departure point to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But the circular sandstone fort dates all the way back to 1811--and has served as everything from an immigration station, exhibition hall, theater, and public aquarium since. One forgotten fact of the historic structure is that it's considered the site of America's first beer garden, which opened as Castle Garden on July 3rd, 1824. The illustration above shows the beer garden--which also had a grand theater--featured in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in the 1800s. The open-air space, which eventually got a roof, was considered one of the premier attractions in Manhattan.
Read a little more history
The 12 best specialty bookshops in NYC

Albertine book store, via Wiki Commons

January 9, 2018

The 12 best specialty bookshops in NYC

By
Independent bookstores are still going strong in NYC, with standouts like BookCulture, WORD Bookstore, McNally Jackson, and, of course, The Strand Bookstore, continuing to provide literary New Yorkers with the written word despite the specter of Amazon. But while the aforementioned shops are great places to find new and used literature, if you’re looking for a more curated collection, look no further than some of the city’s finest specialty bookstores, where mystery fiends, activists, artists, Francophiles, and others can find works tailored to their interests, as well as rub shoulders with like-minded readers. Here are some of our favorites.
NYC's 12 best specialty bookshops
Service changes to hit subways nearly as hard as a bomb cyclone this weekend

Photo by Vladimir Badikov via Flickr

January 5, 2018

Service changes to hit subways nearly as hard as a bomb cyclone this weekend

By
The bomb cyclone may have officially passed, but the MTA is still struggling to get back on track following the relative havoc the storm wreaked on the frail subway signal system. Friday's overcrowded and delayed morning commute is unfortunately set to be followed by a weekend's worth of service changes, but hey, at least the LaGuardia Link is free again.
Bombs away
Six chances to live near Green-Wood Cemetery, from $1,035 a month

Green-Wood Cemetery via Wiki Commons

January 5, 2018

Six chances to live near Green-Wood Cemetery, from $1,035 a month

By
A rental building with some stellar amenities at 198 19th Street in a rapidly-developing section of Greenwood Heights is now accepting applications for six newly-constructed affordable units. The five-story residence is just a few blocks from Green-Wood Cemetery, the popular Park Slope and Gowanus neighborhoods, and the D and R trains. An impressive amenities package includes a common roof deck, gym and recreation space, basement storage, furnished common area, and washers and dryers in each unit. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the $1,035/month one-bedroom apartments and $1,175/month two-bedroom units.
Find out if you qualify
The highlife: Architecture, spectacle and Art Deco New York

Photo of the 1931 Beaux Arts Ball courtesy of the Van Alen Institute

January 5, 2018

The highlife: Architecture, spectacle and Art Deco New York

By
The architects who built the Jazz Age really knew how to get down. In January 1931, they turned the city’s annual Beaux Arts Ball into the ultimate Gatsby-approved bash. Instead of the stuffy historicism of years past, the party’s theme was “Fête Moderne -- a Fantasie in Flame and Silver." Advance advertising for the Ball in the New York Times promised an event “modernistic, futuristic, cubistic, altruistic, mystic, architistic and feministic," featuring the city’s most renowned architects dressed as their buildings, celebrating both themselves and the modern fantasy metropolis they had forged in flame and silver. Art Deco New York: the skyscraper city, glittering and strong, reaching ever higher – through technological advancement and American ingenuity – toward excitement, prosperity, enlightenment, and power.
READ MORE
Snag an affordable one-bedroom in Bed-Stuy for $985/month

Image courtesy of StudiosC

January 4, 2018

Snag an affordable one-bedroom in Bed-Stuy for $985/month

By
A Stuyvesant Heights building located in the heart of Brooklyn, nestled in the middle of Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and Williamsburg, is now accepting applications for nine affordable units. The five-story rental at 869 Park Avenue sits between two busy thoroughfares, Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Broadway. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the $985/month one-bedroom apartments. 
Find out if you qualify
Fire Patrol House #2: From Benjamin Franklin’s fire prevention ideas to Anderson Cooper’s stylish home

Fire Patrol #2 in 2009, via Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Image Archive

January 4, 2018

Fire Patrol House #2: From Benjamin Franklin’s fire prevention ideas to Anderson Cooper’s stylish home

By
The former firehouse located at 84 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village is often noted for being the renovated and restored home of TV personality and journalist Anderson Cooper. But it’s just as noteworthy for an unusual history connected to Benjamin Franklin and insurance underwriters, and for not being the kind of firehouse you think it is at all.
The whole history and current use
6SQFT’S TOP STORIES OF 2017!
December 28, 2017

6SQFT’S TOP STORIES OF 2017!

By
As we wrap up 2017, 6sqft is taking a look back at the top stories of the past 12 months in topics like apartment tours, celebrity real estate, new developments, transportation proposals, and history. From a look inside a 150-square-foot tiny apartment to new renderings of the Moynihan Station train hall to a look back at the gritty Meatpacking District of the '80s and '90s, these are the stories that readers couldn't get enough of.
See the full list here
Winters during 19th century New York were so cold, the East River froze over

Crossing the East River on the ice bridge (1871) via NYPL

December 26, 2017

Winters during 19th century New York were so cold, the East River froze over

By
While New York City is getting hit by a blast of arctic temperatures this week, New Yorkers of the mid- and late-1800s experienced even colder conditions. During the 19th century, the East River froze over at least seven times, shutting down the Brooklyn Bridge and preventing any ferries from crossing over. But, like today’s New Yorkers, the frozen river never stopped commuters from reaching their destinations. Instead of staying home, people would walk across the frozen East River, skating and slipping along their way.
More this way
The Urban Lens: How Temple Court went from an abandoned shell to a romantically restored landmark
December 22, 2017

The Urban Lens: How Temple Court went from an abandoned shell to a romantically restored landmark

By
In 1883, one of NYC's first skyscrapers opened at the corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets. Known as Temple Court, the nine-story red brick and terra cotta structure was designed in the Queen Anne style by architect James M. Farnworth to attract accountants and lawyers who needed to be close to the city's courthouses. Its most impressive feature was its central atrium that rises the full height and is topped by a large pyramid-shaped skylight and two rooftop turrets. In the 1940s, this romantic atrium was walled in from top to bottom, and by 2001, the last commercial tenant moved out, ultimately sending the building into disrepair, a crumbling shell open to the elements. Plans to restore Temple Court into The Beekman hotel and add an adjacent 51-story condominium tower first surfaced in 2008, but before work got underway in 2012, we were granted the rare opportunity to explore the architectural gem in its eerily beautiful derelict state. And now that guests are filling up the 287 hotel rooms, the main floor is buzzing with restaurants from restaurateurs Tom Colicchio and Keith McNally, and the atrium's skylight and Victorian cast iron railings and ornamentation have been restored, we went back in to document how this one-of-a-kind landmark has been restored.
See the before-and-after photos and learn about our experience
What lies below: NYC’s forgotten and hidden graveyards

Zoom of the 1852 Dripps map of Manhattan, showing the proximity of downtown cemeteries, via David Rumsey Map Collection

December 21, 2017

What lies below: NYC’s forgotten and hidden graveyards

By
Most New Yorkers spend some time underground every day as part of their daily commute, but some spend eternity beneath our streets, and in a few cases occupy some pretty surprising real estate. Manhattan cemeteries are tougher to get into than Minetta Tavern without a reservation on a Saturday night because as far back as 1823, New York forbade new burials south of Canal Street. In 1851 that prohibition was extended to new burials south of 86th Street, and the creation of new cemeteries anywhere on the island was banned. But thousands of people were buried in Manhattan before those restrictions went into effect. And while some gravesites remain carefully maintained and hallowed ground, such as the those at St. Mark’s in the Bowery Church on Stuyvesant Street, Trinity Church on Wall Street, and St Paul’s Church at Fulton and Broadway, others have been forgotten and overlaid with some pretty surprising new uses, including playgrounds, swimming pools, luxury condos, and even a hotel named for the current occupant of the White House.
READ MORE
Artist uses the classic Vignelli design to reimagine the NYC subway map in concentric circles

Map via Max Roberts

December 21, 2017

Artist uses the classic Vignelli design to reimagine the NYC subway map in concentric circles

By
Map via Max Roberts The classic NYC subway map is instantly recognizable--but what if you were to turn the design on its head? That was the thinking behind mapmaker and subway enthusiast Max Roberts, who wanted to visualize the city’s cohesiveness in a map that focused on aesthetics, rather than the angles and geographic accuracy New Yorkers are more familiar with. According to Untapped Cities, this isn't the first time Roberts has experimented with a concentric design. A few years back, he released a map that re-imagined the tradition map in concentric circles. This latest version uses Massimo Vignelli's design, a distinctive map released in the 1970s in which each subway route is represented.
Check it out
Interactive map shows how NYC’s waterways have evolved over the years
December 20, 2017

Interactive map shows how NYC’s waterways have evolved over the years

By
This map will delight any NYC geography buffs out there: The Changing Shoreline of New York City uses historical maps from the New York Public Library’s digital collection to explore how Manhattan has managed its waterways to expand its small city footprint. Created by Laura Blaszczak during her internship with NYPL, it's an interactive map that highlights waterfront locales around the city. Zoom in, and you can peruse historical maps and photographs that show how our rivers, creeks, brooks, and bays have been managed or built over. There's even an opacity control, so you can directly compare the historical map with the modern map and see how much Manhattan's landscape has changed.
Check it out
Celebrate New Year’s Eve with free rides and ice skating on Coney Island

Deno’s Wonder Wheel courtesy of kzoop’s Flickr

December 20, 2017

Celebrate New Year’s Eve with free rides and ice skating on Coney Island

By
Editor's Note: Due to the extreme cold conditions, Deno's Wonder Wheel and Stop the Zombies ride will NOT open on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. The B&B Carousell will be open. Overpriced clubs, surging Ubers, and Manhattan crowds not your thing? Check out the fourth annual New Year's Eve party at Coney Island's historic boardwalk instead. Four rides, including the iconic Wonder Wheel, will be free of charge beginning at 6 pm until 9:30 pm on December 31.  Nathan's Famous, Coney Island Brewery, and Tom's Restaurant will also stay open for the festivities.  As amNY learned, there will be live entertainment and the countdown to 2018 will feature a digital "burst" of lights from the Parachute jump at midnight.
Details on the event here
Service changes coming to all but six subway lines this weekend

Photo by John Fraissinet / Flickr

December 15, 2017

Service changes coming to all but six subway lines this weekend

By
Per the MTA’s Weekend Subway Service Advisory, there are a ton of changes in store for straphangers this weekend, which, when compounded with the weather forecast, makes for all the more reason to stay home. There are a number of trains that have scheduled delays or will be making local stops – ahead are the direst of the weekend service changes.
READ MORE
NYC’s first elevated train and the world’s first streetcar began in Greenwich Village

The Ninth Avenue El near 14th Street c. 1914. Via Bain Collection, Library of Congress.

December 14, 2017

NYC’s first elevated train and the world’s first streetcar began in Greenwich Village

By
Greenwich Village is known as the birthplace of many things – the modern gay rights movement, Off-Broadway theater, the New York School of artists and poets, the “new urbanism” pioneered by Jane Jacobs, among many other trailblazing firsts. Less closely associated with the Village, however, are radical and transformative innovations in transportation technology. But while little known, the Village was in fact home to the first elevated rail line, and the first streetcar.
The whole history right this way
A public waterfront park is finally taking shape at Greenpoint’s first skyscraper

Rendering of The Greenpoint via +TOM

December 14, 2017

A public waterfront park is finally taking shape at Greenpoint’s first skyscraper

By
The Greenpoint, a 40-story waterfront rental and condo tower and the neighborhood's tallest building, topped out in February, launched sales in July and now, is a few months away from getting a public 275-foot long promenade at its waterfront site. After nearly a decade of delays, the Brooklyn walkway, the first of its kind to be privately built in Greenpoint, will open in the spring. According to the Wall Street Journal, the park will total 29,500 square feet, including a 4,000-square-foot playground with lots of trees and colorful oval panels above.
Find out more
MTA releases plan to address impending 15-month shutdown of L train

Photo of the L-train via Wiki Commons

December 13, 2017

MTA releases plan to address impending 15-month shutdown of L train

By
The MTA unveiled on Wednesday its much-anticipated plan for the 15-month shutdown of the L train, set to begin in April of 2019. Hurricane Sandy heavily damaged the 100-year-old Carnarsie Tunnel in 2012, filling it with 7 million gallons of saltwater and forcing a total reconstruction of the tunnel. The 225,000 daily L train riders that travel from Brooklyn through the tunnel to Manhattan will be given alternative travel options, as amNY reported. The MTA's plan calls for a new bus route that would run between Brooklyn and Manhattan, a busway on 14th Street in Manhattan with a two-way bike lane on 13th Street and increase subway service on nearby lines.
Find out more
MTA to close East River tunnel to speed repairs

Image ©6sqft

December 13, 2017

MTA to close East River tunnel to speed repairs

By
As part of an effort to speed up its emergency repair plan, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced plans to close the E and M line tunnels under East River between Manhattan and Queens for five days at the end of this month, the New York Times reports. The shutdown will start early on December 26 and end early on Dec. 31, taking advantage of a rare lull: Almost a million fewer people use the subway during that time than other weeks of the year— five million compared with 5.9 million according to MTA data.
Find out the timing is right for a shutdown
LPC approves Achim Menges’ futuristic rooftop pavilion and stage for Pier 17
December 12, 2017

LPC approves Achim Menges’ futuristic rooftop pavilion and stage for Pier 17

By
Between the controversial–and eventually nixed–condo tower and the news of ESPN's new studio plans, it's hard to keep up with what's taking shape at Pier 17 in the Seaport district. The latest arrival comes from above: Developers Howard Hughes Corporation announced plans earlier this year for a "crown jewel" for the new pier, a rooftop stage and installation with a see-through canopy that will maintain sightlines of Lower Manhattan. The high-tech topper was designed by German architect Achim Menges, known for ethereal, high-concept structures made with 3-D printers or woven from carbon fibers. Set for a summer 2018 opening, the new performance space will occupy 60,000 square feet according to Downtown Express. The project on Tuesday was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, who said it will "set a standard for all future temporary seasonal structures."
Renderings of the high-tech sky canopy this way
Announcing 6sqft’s 2017 Building of the Year!
December 12, 2017

Announcing 6sqft’s 2017 Building of the Year!

By
The votes have been tallied, and so it's time to name the 2017 Building of the Year! The winning title belongs to no other than One Manhattan Square, the Lower East Side meets Chinatown skyscraper that will be home to NYC’s largest outdoor private garden when it opens next year. The 800-foot-tall tower beat out 11 other significant NYC buildings in a competitive two-week competition held by 6sqft. Out of 3,782 votes cast, the Extell-developed, Adamson Associates-designed structure took first place with 959 votes or 25.35% of the total.
More on this year's winner!
Last day to vote for 6sqft’s 2017 Building of the Year!
December 11, 2017

Last day to vote for 6sqft’s 2017 Building of the Year!

By
This year was all about new development redefining the New York City skyline. Construction moved along at a rapid pace, whether it be the topping out of Richard Meier's tower at 685 First Avenue or foundational work kicking off at Brooklyn's first supertall 9 Dekalb. In the next several years we'll see these buildings open and show off apartments at sky-high prices, but for now, we get to enjoy the construction process on some of the most notable new architecture to come to New York. We’ve narrowed down a list of 12 news-making residential structures for the year. Which do you think deserves 6sqft’s title of 2017 Building of the Year? To have your say, polls for our third annual competition will be open up until midnight on Monday, December 11th and we will announce the winner on Tuesday, December 12th.
VOTE HERE! And learn more about the choices.
For $11M, a former Chelsea parking garage transformed into a concrete-clad apartment
November 29, 2017

For $11M, a former Chelsea parking garage transformed into a concrete-clad apartment

By
This is a quirky New York apartment if we've ever seen one. It occupies a former Chelsea parking garage at 239 West 18th Street that was later used as a warehouse to store vinyl records. At some point down the line it was converted to a four-unit condo. And this particular unit encompasses much of the building: a third floor loft, a commercial space on the ground floor, storage in the basement and garage, exclusive use of building's roof, 7,500 square feet of air rights, and indoor parking. (All that space covers 6,143 square feet total.) The architect-designed interior retains the grittiness of the parking garage, awash in concrete finishes from the floor to the bathtub. The whole shebang is asking $11 million.
Check it out
The 10 best holiday events and activities for NYC history buffs
November 29, 2017

The 10 best holiday events and activities for NYC history buffs

By
The holidays turn New York City into a bright, illuminated wonderland that even the biggest Scrooge among us can enjoy. While there are plenty of events to choose from, like alternative holiday markets and glittering art installations, many of these activities can be jampacked with tourists. For those looking to learn more about their own holiday traditions, or understand others, there are lots of low-key, educational events perfect for history buffs looking for a quieter holiday experience. Ahead, check out 6sqft’s guide to the best holiday events in New York City that come with a historical twist, from Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa.
This way for our top-10 picks
Pitch a story icon

Pitch a Story

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Interested in seeing the property in person?

It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544

Interested in seeing the property in person?

It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo

Distinctive Post Form

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544
Contact us image

Get in Touch

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Send us a tip image
Delivering New York stories focused on design, lifestyle & real estate.

Send us a Tip

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Interesting in learning more about purchasing a new home?

Let us know what you are looking for and we’ll help you find the home of your dreams. It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo
or Call (212) 755-5544

Thinking about selling your home?

We’ll provide current market comps and connect you with a trusted expert.

CityRealty Logo

Sell a Home (Footer)

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Subscribe for NYC's Lastest Design, Lifestyle,
and Real Estate Trends!

No Worries. We Don’t Spam.

By providing your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Your Passport to NYC:
Subscribe for Local Insights and Stories!

No Worries. We Don’t Spam.

By providing your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe at any time.