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Mitchell J. Silver, the commissioner of the New York City Parks Department, tells us he’s 58 years old. But with his vibrant enthusiasm and energy for parks, fitness, and life in general, it’s hard to believe. Only as he details a list of his achievements and accolades over the years does his age show. Silver, who oversees the management and operations of nearly 30,000 acres of city parks, calls himself the “commissioner of fun,” a title he strives to live up to every day. This summer, Silver launched “Cool Pools,” an initiative to renovate public pools, celebrated making Central Park car-free, and increased accessibility to parks for all New Yorkers. If you want to feel good, follow his Instagram and see him sliding, swinging, running, jumping, swimming, kayaking and more. Silver is training for his first marathon this November (with his best friend from college) after completing four half marathons. 6sqft jogged beside the commissioner and got his running commentary on the biggest challenges facing NYC parks, what he attributes his success to, what we can expect for the future and where he buys his running gear.
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June 18, 2018

The 1936 ‘Summer of Pools’: When Robert Moses and the WPA cooled off NYC

By Lucie Levine

On June 24, 1936, thousands of Lower East Siders turned out for a spectacle the likes of which New York had never seen. They jammed Hamilton Fish Park, filled Pitt Street, and perched on surrounding fire-escapes and rooftops to get a glimpse. With great fanfare (and the swim stylings of the Jones Beach Water Troupe) Mayor La Guardia and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses officially opened Hamilton Fish Pool. The dedication kicked off New York’s “Summer of Pools.” One by one, for each week of the summer, 11 gleaming outdoor pools, financed and built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), opened in underserved neighborhoods across the city, providing recreation and relief to millions of heat-addled, Depression-strapped New Yorkers.
Learn more about the summer of 1936

History

June 7, 2018

Lincoln Square’s grand finale: From slum clearance to a new master plan

Lincoln Square, a part of the Upper West Side, is a literal square of approximately 50 blocks that runs east-west from Central Park West to the West Side Drive and north-south from 59th to 72nd Streets. The neighborhood, which is bisected by Broadway and contains the Lincoln Center “superblock,” has an enormous amount of culture, loads of prestigious schools, tons of old-school luxury residences lining the park, and a massive, five-acre, four-building new development called Waterline Square, finalizing a decades-long master plan for the neighborhood. Ahead, we take a look at the neighborhood's history, from its Dutch roots to Robert Moses' slum clearance, modern residential development, and all the amenities that make this area more fun than one may think.
Your guide to Lincoln Square

Events & Things To Do

April 19, 2018

This $7M Nomad loft has a rock-climbing wall, spiral slide, and zip line

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Tap into your inner child and imagine what features would make an ideal living space. Slide, rock wall, and zip line would most likely be the top three. Well, now your inner child and your actual child can have it all in this insanely fun and functional five-bedroom unit at 260 5th Avenue in Nomad, asking $6,995,00. Profiled previously by 6sqft, the home was envisioned by the architects at Studio DB, who created an elegant, functional and fun home that would make any family giddy from morning until night.
Get a look at all the fun

Distinctive Homes

How New Yorker Howard Bennet fought to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday

Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. via Wiki Commons

April 4, 2018

How New Yorker Howard Bennet fought to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday

Fifty years ago, on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. This ended the life of one of the 20th century’s most revered and influential figures. It also began a 15-year campaign to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday — the first-ever honoring an African American. That successful quest began with and was spearheaded by a native son of Greenwich Village, Howard Bennett. Bennett was one of the last residents of a Greenwich Village community known as “Little Africa,” a predominantly African-American section of the neighborhood which was, for much of New York’s history through the 19th century, the largest and most important African-American community in the city. That neighborhood centered around present-day Minetta, Thompson, Cornelia, and Gay Streets.
Learn more here

History

The second phase of Hunters Point South Park will be ready for visitors by summer

Photo by David Lloyd/SWA

March 6, 2018

The second phase of Hunters Point South Park will be ready for visitors by summer

Long Island City is getting five more glorious acres of waterfront park space, with the city expected to complete Hunters Point South Park in the coming months. The second phase of the park, which stretches below 54th Avenue and wraps around Newtown Creek, is nearing completion after three years under construction, according to LIC Post. The city's Economic Development Corporation says the opening date will come by late spring or early summer, so New Yorkers will have a whole new outdoor amenity to enjoy when the weather warms up.
The park has tons of cool features

Newport’s master plan ambitions: Diversity and development at LeFrak’s Jersey City community

Rendering of Newport’s new Park and Shore development

January 29, 2018

Newport’s master plan ambitions: Diversity and development at LeFrak’s Jersey City community

The mention of Newport conjures up images of yacht-filled harbors, gorgeous mansions, and beautiful beaches. But there is another Newport much closer to downtown Manhattan than Rhode Island and, amazingly, it also has yacht-filled harbors, beautiful residences, a beach, and unparalleled waterfront views. A 600-acre, master-planned community that began almost 35 years ago by the LeFrak family, Newport, Jersey City is now hitting its stride. With sleek architecture, 15,000 residents, 20,000 professionals, a growing mix of retail and commercial options, and a location minutes from midtown and downtown Manhattan, Newport offers some appealing alternatives to those priced out of New York City or others looking for a slightly quieter option. The area boasts its diversity, but with a single family in charge of development and a skyline that looks more like Manhattan than Jersey City, is Newport just Manhattan-lite or does it truly have diversity with offerings for everyone?
Get the whole scoop

Real Estate Trends

Rafael Vinoly’s Three Waterline Square tops out, first of starchitect trio

Three Waterline Square. Photos: Noe Associates with The Boundary (left), CityRealty (right)

October 13, 2017

Rafael Vinoly’s Three Waterline Square tops out, first of starchitect trio

By Michelle Cohen

Rafael Viñoly's tapering, pinstriped Three Waterline Square has topped out construction, CityRealty reports, and Richard Meier's neighboring One Waterline Square is rapidly approaching its final 36-story height. Construction crews pitched an American flag atop the nearly-400-foot-tall Viñoly-designed building signifying that vertical construction is complete. 6sqft has previously reported on the trio of glassy residential towers known as Waterline Square, highlighting the starchitect designs and amazing amenities of the under-construction West Side additions.
More photos and renderings this way

October 4, 2017

INTERVIEW: LOT-EK’s Giuseppe Lignano talks sustainability and shipping container architecture

After completing architecture school at Universita’ di Napoli, Italy, Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano fell in love with New York City, deciding in 1995 to establish an innovative firm in Manhattan called LOT-EK. Early experiments in the art world grew into a substantial architecture practice, but their philosophy has always been the same: Both Ada and Giuseppe are focused on a concept they call "up-cycling," taking existing objects and elevating them through art, design, and architecture. The firm has done its most innovative work re-using shipping containers and received a wave of attention this year for a Brooklyn residential project that utilized 21 shipping containers in surprising, stunning ways. The firm has just released its second monograph, LOT-EK: Objects and Operations, a photo-heavy showcase of dozens of projects the firm produced around the world over the past 15 years. "LOT-EK is a design practice that believes in being unoriginal, ugly, and cheap," the book states. "Also in being revolutionary, gorgeous, and completely luxurious." With 6sqft, co-founder Giuseppe Lignano talks about the early days of running a firm and waiting tables in 1990s New York, explains the firm's philosophy behind sustainability and re-use, and discusses the inspiration behind their notable Williamsburg project.
This way for the interview

Stuyvesant Town goes green: How the 70-year-old complex is reinventing itself in a modern age

Photos courtesy of Stuyvesant Town

August 16, 2017

Stuyvesant Town goes green: How the 70-year-old complex is reinventing itself in a modern age

"Think of us as a 1947 Cadillac retrofitted with a Tesla engine," says Marynia Kruk, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village's Community Affairs Manager. Though the 80-acre residential complex's 110 red brick, cruciform-shaped buildings were constructed 70 years ago this month, their imposing facades are hiding an intense network of systems that, since 2011, have allowed the development to reduce its on-site carbon emissions by 6.8 percent, equal to over 17 million pounds of coal saved. To put this in perspective, that's roughly the same savings as 3,000 drivers deciding to bike or take the train for an entire year or planting a forest of 400,000 trees. This massive sustainability push, along with new ownership (Blackstone Group and Canadian investment firm Ivanhoe Cambridge bought the complex for $5.3 billion in October 2015), updated amenities, and an affordable housing commitment, is driving Manhattan's largest apartment complex into the future, and 6sqft recently got the inside scoop from CEO and General Manager Rick Hayduk and Tom Feeney, Vice President of Maintenance Operations, who is spearheading the green initiative.
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10 things you never knew about Prospect Park

Image by Elizabeth Jeegin Colley for the Prospect Park Alliance

June 20, 2017

10 things you never knew about Prospect Park

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux debuted Prospect Park to the Brooklyn masses in 1867. Though Olmsted and Vaux had already designed Central Park, they considered this their masterpiece, and much of the pair's innovative landscape design is still on display across all 585 acres. But it was the result of a lengthy, complicated construction process (Olmsted and Vaux weren't even the original designers!) as well as investment and dedication from the city and local preservationists throughout the years. After challenges like demolition, neglect, and crime, the Parks Department has spent the past few decades not only maintaining the park but restoring as much of Olmsted and Vaux's vision as possible. It's safe to say that these days, Prospect Park is just as impressive as when it first opened to the public. And of course, throughout its history the park has had no shortage of stories, secrets and little-known facts. 6sqft divulges the 10 things you might not have known.
All the juicy secrets ahead

Pan Am Boeing 707-100 via Wikipedia

May 15, 2017

Before JFK, there was Idlewild Airport

By Penelope Bareau

Changes are afoot at JFK International Airport; construction has already begun on the transformation of Eero Saarinen's masterful TWA terminal, out of commission since TWA folded in 2001, into a 505-room first class hotel, and just a few months ago, Governor Cuomo announced a massive $10 billion overhaul of the whole airport, which will involve interconnecting the terminals, redesigning roads, and improving parking, amenities and security. When finished, the airport will bear little resemblance to what it once was, which has a much more interesting history than one might think. Ahead, 6sqft delves into how JFK changed from a playground for the rich to a major international airport, with some interesting debacles in between.
The whole history ahead

History

January 19, 2017

New renderings and photos show Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 5 uplands are almost complete

You won't need to see more than a few renderings and photos of new park space slated for Brooklyn Bridge Park to feel ready for summertime. First posted by Curbed from the park's landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, renderings show the final design for one of the last undeveloped sections of the park between Montague and Joralemon streets. Known as the Pier 5 uplands, the hilly green space will be comprised of a stepped lawn, shaded grove, waterfront seating and new entrance off Joralemon Street. A sound-dampening berm will reduce noise from the nearby roadways. And it's all on track to wrap construction right before summer.
More images and details this way

December 21, 2016

First look at the artsy common spaces of 5Pointz-replacing rental towers

It's been three years since Long Island City's beloved graffiti mecca 5Pointz was whitewashed overnight and a year and a half since renderings first surfaced of the bland 41- and 47-story rental towers that would replace the site at 22-44 Jackson Avenue. Despite a perceived lack of respect towards the artistic community, G&M Realty’s David Wolkoff eventually said he planned to set aside 20 artists’ studios and displays to make up for those lost at 5Pointz, and it looks like he's making good on his word. HTO Architect, who designed the towers, initially put forth views of a large public park and rotating mural exhibit that would fill the space between the buildings, and now 6sqft has uncovered renderings from Mojo Stumer of the artsy entryway, lobby and pool, which reveal the graffiti-inspired logo for the project.
See it all right here

June 3, 2016

New Affordable Housing in the Hamptons Will Be for Those Earning Less Than $106,200

By Diane Pham

A new plan to bring affordable housing to one of the Hampton's priciest stretches has residents up in arms, reports The Post. The town of Amagansett is planning to erect a below-market rate complex that would add 12 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom homes to the area, with rents ranging from just $1,100 up to $2,300 a month. The development would mingle with the estates and New York City escapes of the rich and famous, including that of Naomi Watts, Jerry Seinfeld, Gwenyth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson—just to hame a few. Incredibly, a family of four could be earning as much as $106,200 annually (120 percent of the AMI) to qualify.
find out more here

Affordable Housing

Spotlight: Mommy Poppins’ Anna Fader Shares Tips for Raising Kids in NYC

Image courtesy of New York Family

April 29, 2016

Spotlight: Mommy Poppins’ Anna Fader Shares Tips for Raising Kids in NYC

With school out for break this week, parents all over New York City have been looking for activities to occupy their youngsters. Many turn to Mommy Poppins, a local guide for the best preschools, classes, camps, events, trips, and generally fun stuff to do with kids in the city on every budget. The go-to site for parents was founded in 2007 by native New Yorker Anna Fader who wanted to share her vision for a "more artsy, educational, non-commercialized and community-oriented way to raise kids in New York City." It's since expanded to include Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester, Connecticut, Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, as well as an app that helps parents find things like playgrounds and restaurants on the go. 6sqft recently caught up with Anna to learn about her personal experiences raising a family downtown and get some insider tips on the best things to do with kids in New York.
Read the interview here

March 9, 2016

Affordable Housing Lottery at Colgate Close Starts in Soundview, Priced $696/Month

By Ondel Hylton

In the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, the Arker Companies has commenced the affordable housing lottery process for their latest ground-up building, Colgate Close. Located at 1092 Colgate Street, where the semi-industrial area along the Bronx River evolves into a low-scale residential community, the five-story complex will contain 32 studio and one-bedrooms targeted for low-income households earning between $25,200 and $30,250 for a single person and $27,052 and $41,460 for two people. Depending on income, studios will be priced at $696 or $847 per month and one-bedrooms at $749 and $910 per month.
More details this way

Affordable Housing Lottery Launched for Related’s Yorkville Rental Tower at 205 East 92nd Street

Photographs from mid-October of 205 East 92nd Street by the photoblogger Field Condition.

December 1, 2015

Affordable Housing Lottery Launched for Related’s Yorkville Rental Tower at 205 East 92nd Street

By Ondel Hylton

Related Companies' playground-pouncing rental tower at 205 East 92nd Street has launched its housing lottery that provides below-market rents for 47 of the building's 231 units. The 36-story tower is in its home stretch of construction, prepping for occupancy in early 2016. Vested in the city's and state's Inclusionary Housing /421-a programs, 20 percent of the units will be reserved for low-income tenants. Fifty percent of the subsidized units will be reserved for residents of Manhattan Community Board 8 (covering the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island) and an additional 5 percent for municipal employees. Selected applicants will be provided apartments at a tremendous discount when compared to the neighborhood's market-rate rents. According to CityRealty, the median rental price for a one-bedroom in Yorkville stands at $3,210; and $5,398 for two-bedroom apartments. Affordable one-bedrooms at 205 East 92nd will start at $607 and two-bedrooms at $736.
More details and pricing

September 28, 2015

City Will Use Eminent Domain to Seize Coney Island Land for New Amusements

Eminent domain, defined as "the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use," is typically enacted to build projects such as bridges, highways, or schools. But the De Blasio administration plans to use it to erect an amusement park. According to the Post, the city is "frustrated by stubborn Coney Island landowners" and "plans to seize property under the city’s rarely used power of eminent domain in order to spur long-stalled economic development in the People’s Playground." The land in question is three vacant beachfront sites and two smaller adjacent sites on West 12th and West 23rd Streets that total 75,000 square feet, largely comprised of the 60,000-square-foot site where the original Thunderbolt once stood (immortalized in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall"). Under the plan, the Parks Department will oversee new amusements and amenities, details of which haven't been shared.
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Policy

August 11, 2015

New Census Fact Finder Sheds Surprising Light on Neighborhood Demographics

Think you live in a hipster 'hood? Constantly complaining about the stroller parades down your block? While you may think you have your neighbors pinpointed, a quick look at the hard facts may surprise you. Last week, the Department of City Planning revealed its updated Census Fact Finder, an interactive application that uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey to provide highly detailed neighborhood profiles. Take for example the Lower East Side, often thought of as a playground for well-off post-grads. As The Lo-Down noted, 47 percent of the neighborhood's population is unemployed, only 34 percent have a college degree, and 35 percent pay less than $500/month in rent.
More findings right here

City Living

May 12, 2015

If Robert Moses Visited NYC Today, Here’s Where We’d Take Him