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The best ways to celebrate Black History Month 2021 in NYC

“Alphas Hold the Line.” Photo by Michael Young.

February 4, 2021

The best ways to celebrate Black History Month 2021 in NYC

During the month of February, the nation observes Black History Month as a way to celebrate and honor African American history and culture. While this year's commemoration will be different because of the pandemic, many New York City organizations and institutions are hosting virtual events, lectures, and exhibitions. Learn about the achievements and influence of Black Americans with an online walking tour featuring Black artists of Greenwich Village, a concert honoring composers of the Harlem Renaissance, a class on Black archaeology in New York City, and much more.
Get the full list

PHOTOS: See an abandoned High Line before its days as a public park

All photos © Jonathan Flaum. Photo above: High Line Color 1. June 2005.

September 5, 2019

PHOTOS: See an abandoned High Line before its days as a public park

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Photographer Jonathan Flaum started going up on the abandoned High line in the '80s, when it was full of overgrown wildlife, to see some of his friends' graffiti work and find a quiet escape from the city. In the late '90s, he heard about plans to demolish the former elevated train tracks and decided to start photographing the structure. Soon thereafter, Joshua David and Robert Hammond started Friends of the High Line, then a small, grassroots organization advocating for its preservation and adaptive reuse into a park. When they built their website, they incorporated Jonathan's photos to provide a behind-the-scenes look for those who weren't as adventurous to venture up there. The park's first phase officially opened in 2009 and to celebrate its 10-year anniversary, Jonathan has shared with us his collection of photos. Ahead, hear from him on his experiences with the High Line and see how far this NYC icon has come.
See all the photos

Places

July 9, 2019

Where I Work: Harlem’s Focus Lighting illuminates the field of architectural lighting design

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Harlem office of architectural lighting design firm Focus Lighting. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! After spending many years designing theatrical lighting, Paul Gregory decided to transition into the world of architectural lighting. He started his career working on nightclubs and in 1987, founded his own firm in his neighborhood of Harlem. Eight years later, Paul and his team at Focus Lighting garnered international recognization for their work on the Entel Tower in Santiago Chile, the world's first automated color-changing building. Since then, the firm has grown to have 35 employees and nabs commissions such as the Times Square ball, Tavern on the Green, and the Waldorf Astoria (and that's just here in NYC). But through all their success, Focus has kept their offices in Harlem, now at 116th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, where their close-knit employees work collaboratively. The converted loft space has a unique light lab, similar to a black box theater, as well as a gallery space where the team can test out new means of digital architecture and video projects. 6sqft recently visited Focus Lighting to learn more about their fascinating work, tour the space, and chat with Focus partner and principal designer Brett Andersen and principal designer Christine Hope.
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The Urban Lens: Capturing the final days of the Lower East Side’s shuttered Streit’s Matzo Factory

Ramon, Streit’s Mazo; © Joseph O. Holmes

June 13, 2019

The Urban Lens: Capturing the final days of the Lower East Side’s shuttered Streit’s Matzo Factory

By Devin Gannon

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Joseph O. Holmes shares his photo series of Streit's Matzo Factory, the now-shuttered LES institution. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. In 2015, after nearly 90 years in operation, Streit's Matzo Factory on the Lower East Side closed its doors. But before the property's new owners demolished the site to make way for luxury condos, the Streit family let photographer Joseph O. Holmes tour the space. Through photos of the four-building factory, its old-school machinery, and its workers, Joseph captured the final days of this neighborhood icon. "If I hadn't shot it, most of it would be forgotten," Joseph told 6sqft. Although Streit's closed more than four years ago and condo building 150 Rivington has since risen in its place, Joseph's poignant photos were given new life this month. The developer purchased some of the photos to hang permanently in the lobby of 150 Rivington as an ode to the building's industrial roots. Ahead, hear from Joseph about what it was like to photograph the maze-like factory and why he finds old machines so beautiful.
See inside and meet Joseph

Places

My 1,200sqft: Finger painting pioneer Iris Scott shows off her bright Bed-Stuy studio

Our series “

May 28, 2019

My 1,200sqft: Finger painting pioneer Iris Scott shows off her bright Bed-Stuy studio

By Devin Gannon

My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to artist Iris Scott's Bed-Stuy loft. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch! Nearly ten years ago, while living in Taiwan, artist Iris Scott didn’t feel like washing her blue-stained paint brushes. Instead, she used her finger to finish the piece and, to her surprise, discovered that this childhood arts and crafts project works really well on her own oil paintings. She searched online to see if any artists out there were already dedicated to finger painting and found no one. “I was like, it’s my purpose!” she told 6sqft during a recent tour of her Bed-Stuy studio. Iris, who grew up on a farm outside of Seattle, started posting photos and videos of her vibrant animal and nature-centric artwork on Facebook and instantly received feedback from what she calls a "virtual crit group." She began selling her paintings online and because her Taiwan apartment was just $100 per month, was able to immediately work full time as a finger painter. Iris, credited with starting the Instinctualist movement, calls her career trajectory a “magical path.” “I’ve always wanted what I have and I’ve always felt what I have is more than I expected I could have.” Now, a decade later, Iris has her first big solo exhibition in New York City, a Ritual in Pairing, at Filo Sofi Art’s pop up space at the High Line Nine, which closes June 6. Ahead, see inside Iris's sun-drenched corner loft in Brooklyn and learn about her 20-piece solo show, her fierce love of animals, and why she finds it flattering when children like her paintings.
Meet Iris and tour her studio

My 775sqft: Pinup-glam and retro-kitsch collide in this East Village apartment

Our series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to Jeanie Engelbach’s East Village

May 15, 2019

My 775sqft: Pinup-glam and retro-kitsch collide in this East Village apartment

By Dana Schulz

apartment. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch! One might assume that a professional organizer's home would be streamlined and sparse, but before our current obsession with ridding our homes of everything that doesn't "spark joy," home organization had many different forms. Case in point--Jeanie Engelbach's East Village apartment. Jeanie started her career creating professional scrapbooks and soon landed a role as the visual manager at ABC Carpet & Home. Her knack for mixing styles, integrating color and pattern, and not taking design too seriously started attracting the attention of clients, and before long she was helping them not only organize their homes but create spaces representative of their personalities as apartmentjeanie. And this is on display nowhere more than her one-bedroom rental at the new 14th Street development EVGB. Jeanie moved into her pad about a year ago, after living for nearly 25 years at an apartment building down the street. She loved developer Extell's attention to detail and the building's amenities. But she also loved the layout of the space, which allowed her to put up the funky wallpaper she'd been eyeing for years, set up displays for her collections (at last count, she had 650 Piz dispensers), and still keep the place feeling bright and orderly. We recently paid Jeanie and her bulldog Tater Tot a visit to check out these retro, kitschy collections in person (she also collects bobbleheads, vintage lunchboxes, and Carnival Chalkware), see how she infused a touch of pinup-glam, and learn about her organizational skills.
Take the tour!

May 9, 2019

Have your apartment photographed by 6sqft!

By 6sqft

Did you spend months decorating your apartment? Is your home historic or quirky? If you live in a unique or just plain beautiful space, 6sqft wants to see it! We'll send a reporter out to your residence for a photo shoot and short interview and then feature your abode in all its glory for our Mysqft series!
How to submit your home!

Home Tours

My 1,100sqft: Pizza pundit Scott Wiener’s Midwood home holds the world’s largest pizza box collection

Our series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to Scott Wiener’s Midwood

May 7, 2019

My 1,100sqft: Pizza pundit Scott Wiener’s Midwood home holds the world’s largest pizza box collection

By Dana Schulz

apartment. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch! How does one person amass 1,471 pizza boxes you may ask? After spending a few minutes with Scott Wiener, this will seem like a silly question. Scott founded Scott's Pizza Tours 11 years ago, and since his first tour, he has become NYC's resident pizza expert. In addition to his company's signature bus tours, it now hosts daily walking tours, and Scott is often cited in both gastronomy and historical publications. But the real reason people from all over the world are keen to send Scott one of their pizza boxes is his genuine personality. Whether he's talking about the different types of flour used to make dough or discussing how he used 19th-century tax maps to unearth the various coal-fired ovens that once existed in the city, you can't help give Scott your full attention; his passion is contagious. And he's just a really nice guy. When a couple recently got engaged on his tour, Scott told us that he had been texting for months with the groom to make sure everything was perfect. 6sqft recently paid Scott a visit at his Midwood apartment and got to learn even more about him, from how he developed his pizza passion to what an average day looks like. Of course, we also got a behind-the-scenes look at that record-setting pizza box collection.
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My 800sqft: Art curator Blair Russell brings Miami to Midtown with graffiti art and fluorescent finds

Our series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to Blair Russell’s Midtown

April 23, 2019

My 800sqft: Art curator Blair Russell brings Miami to Midtown with graffiti art and fluorescent finds

By Devin Gannon

apartment. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch! Florida native Blair Russell spends half of every month in Miami. And for the other two weeks, Miami comes with him to his New York City apartment. The curator-creative has decked out his Midtown abode, located in a 1910 building formerly home to an upscale children's apparel store, with fluorescent colors, graffiti art, and international finds, all while mixing in a mid-century modern flair. Blair first bought his home on 35th and 5th one month after September 11, at a time when living next to the Empire State Building wasn’t exactly a selling point. “It used to be called the dirty 30’s when I moved here in 2002,” Blair told us. A self-described third-generation artist, Blair made a career in Florida by helping developers outfit South Beach properties with art. Later, with housing experience under his belt, he began converting abandoned buildings into affordable housing for local artists. Now with real estate further in his rearview mirror, Blair is focusing on traveling and curating art for clients. “Everything I’ve done, I do it for one to 10 percent of the population. If more than 10 percent like it, it’s probably not going to happen with me," he said. Ahead, see Blair's eclectic apartment, from his orange-painted orgy centerpiece done by a Warhol protégé to a door he took from the last peep show on 42nd Street.
Take a tour

April 1, 2019

Where I Work: Architecture and interiors firm CetraRuddy shows off their self-designed offices

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Battery Park office of architecture-interior design firm CetraRuddy. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Husband-and-wife team Nancy Ruddy and John Cetra started architecture/design firm CetraRuddy in 1987, and after working from an office in Soho for 25 years, the firm moved to One Battery Park Plaza a year-and-a-half ago. Now with 100 employees, they had outgrown the space and wanted to use the move as an opportunity to revamp and improve the things that didn't work. They were first attracted to the space's light and views, but the firm was also able to occupy the entire floor, meaning they could design the entire office space, as well as the corridors. After recently interviewing Nancy about CetraRuddy's many successes, 6sqft paid a visit to their new offices, where we received a tour from Eugene Flotteron, Director of Architecture. Eugene has been with the firm for 17 years and has been a partner for five, so he's had the opportunity to see them grow and transform over the years.
Take the tour

January 31, 2019

For artists by artists: Inside the landmarked studios of the 144-year-old Art Students League of New York

By Devin Gannon

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re going inside the landmarked building of the Art Students League of New York in Midtown. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! In 1875, a group of young students broke away from the National Academy of Design and founded the Art Students League of New York to pursue a new and more modern method of art education. What started as a small group of rebellious artists in a 20-foot by 30-foot space, turned into an internationally-recognized, landmarked institution, which continues to set the standard for art training today. In its 144th year, the Art Students League’s mission has remained unchanged since its founding: to spread the language of art to anyone interested in learning. The nonprofit has been located in the American Fine Arts Society Building at 215 West 57th Street since 1892. A designated New York City landmark, the French Renaissance-style building was designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh, the architect behind the Plaza Hotel and the Dakota. Ken Park, the director of marketing and communication for the League, recently gave 6sqft a behind-the-scenes tour of the historic building and shared some insight into this storied establishment.
See inside

John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, and the 1970s: Jeff Rothstein takes us back to a bygone NYC

All photos © Jeff Rothstein

October 26, 2018

John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, and the 1970s: Jeff Rothstein takes us back to a bygone NYC

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Jeff Rothstein shares a collection of 1970s street photos. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Brooklyn native Jeff Rothstein bought his first 35 mm camera in 1969, hoping to get some good shots at the Yankees and Mets game he frequently attended. But what he found was a love for NYC that turned him into an avid street photographer for the rest of his life. Jeff recently compiled a selection of these black-and-white images in his book "Today’s Special: New York City Images 1969-2006," and he shared a subset of 1970s photos with 6sqft. From John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Muhammad Ali to protests shows at the Filmore East, and candid shots of everyday New Yorkers, Jeff's work captures a bygone NYC with a delicate intimacy.
Hear from Jeff and travel back to 1970s NYC with him

October 23, 2018

Where I Work: Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop is dishing out retro pizzeria vibes in Greenpoint

By James and Karla Murray

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re going inside Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop in Greenpoint. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Long-time pizza enthusiast Paulie Giannone opened his first wood-fired pizza restaurant, Paulie Gee’s, in 2010 on Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn. Since then, he's opened locations in Miami, Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, and Baltimore. Most recently, though, he came back to his roots with Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop, just a few blocks away from his original spot in Greenpoint. While Paulie’s restaurants center around gourmet pizzas, including many vegan options, the Slice Shop specializes in classic New York City-style and Sicilian slices. In keeping with this classic pizza joint feel, the Slice Shop’s retro décor is inspired by the pizzerias Paulie Gee frequented while growing up in Kensington, Brooklyn. We had a chance to speak with Paulie at the newly opened Slice Shop and sample some of the delicious pizzas, including his classic cheese slice and his sauceless Mootz. He filled us in on how he got his start in the pizza business, where he found the '60s and '70s decor, and his reaction to the long lines New Yorkers are waiting on to get a slice of Paulie Gee's.
Get a slice of Paulie Gee's!

October 10, 2018

Where I Work: Mendel Goldberg Fabrics has been outfitting the Lower East Side for 130 years

By James and Karla Murray

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re going inside 130-year-old Lower East Side shop Mendel Goldberg Fabrics. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, a fourth-generation family-owned textile boutique, has been in business since 1890 and is located on a quiet side street on the Lower East Side. People who walk down Hester Street often take the time to notice the exquisite designer imported fabrics that hang in the window display as well as the huge range of brocades, silk, gabardine, lace, wool, novelty fabrics and boucle´ in a wide variety of colors and textures, which line the shops walls from floor to ceiling. Despite a devastating fire in the building in 2012 that destroyed the entire basement fabric stock and required substantial rebuilding, the business is thriving. On a recent visit to the fabric store, we had a chance to speak with Alice Goldberg, the great-granddaughter of Mendel Goldberg, about how the business went from a pushcart to a unique destination, the joys of running one of the oldest surviving shops in the neighborhood, and the secrets of some of their most high-end fabrics.
Get a fabric lesson from Alice

Where I Work

September 14, 2018

See the Meatpacking District’s 20-year metamorphosis from desolate to under-construction

By Hannah Frishberg

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Brian Rose shares his past and present Meatpacking streetscapes. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. A native of Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg, photographer Brian Rose moved to New York City in 1977 and captured some of the most fleeting, bankrupted moments of the Meatpacking District in one January of 1985. In 2013, he returned to the neighborhood – impossibly changed – and once again photographed it. He then presented both sets of photos in his 2014 book "Metamorphosis: Meatpacking District 1985 + 2013." Read on for an interview with Rose on old-school NYC, 9/11, and the city's unknowable future.
See the before-and-afters

Places

Where I Work: The team behind Black Seed Bagels shows off their new Nomad shop

Head baker Dianna Daoheung and Black Seeds’ new Nomad location

August 17, 2018

Where I Work: The team behind Black Seed Bagels shows off their new Nomad shop

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re going inside Black Seed Bagels' new Nomad location. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! "We founded Black Seed with the goal of bringing extremely well-made bagels, bagel sandwiches, and coffee to everyone," said co-owner Noah Bernamoff. After he and Matt Kliegman met through a mutual friend while running separate restaurants (Matt, The Smile and the Jane Hotel ballroom and Noah, Mile End Delicatessen), they decided to open their first location of Black Seed Bagels in Nolita in 2014. The Montreal-meets-New York-style bagels became an instant foodie hit, and the partners now have locations in the East Village, Battery Park City, and, as of this week, Nomad. 6sqft paid Noah a visit at their latest location in the trendy Ace Hotel and chatted with him about Black Seed's journey. We also met with head baker Dianna Daoheung, who developed the shop's unique hand-rolled, wood-fired bagels (which garnered her a James Beard nomination) and expanded the menu to include sandwich collaborations with fellow NYC restaurants and chefs.
See the space and meet Noah and Dianna

August 15, 2018

Where I Work: Go inside SHoP Architects’ aviation-inspired offices in the Woolworth Building

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Financial District offices of SHoP Architects. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! The largest collection of WWII-era spotter planes in the world, a massive copper section of the Barclays Center facade, a materials library with hundreds of samples of everything from fabric to flooring--these are just some of the surprises you'll come across in SHoP Architects' offices in the iconic Woolworth Building. The firm's projects include buildings at mega-developments like the Domino Sugar Factory and Essex Crossing, the twisting American Copper Buildings, and the world's future tallest residential skyscraper 111 West 57th Street, and their office certainly embodies this creativity and range of work. After taking a tour of the space, 6sqft chatted with Associate Principal Angelica T. Baccon about this very special office design, what a typical day is like at the firm, and, of course, the backstory behind those planes. We also met with Materials Librarian Kate Smith to learn a bit more about this rare resource that helps inform the ideas at SHoP.
Take the tour!

July 24, 2018

Our 1,600sqft: Inside the Tribeca live-work showroom of Vipp, a Danish ‘tool building’ company

By Devin Gannon

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the showroom-apartment of Tribeca's Vipp, a third-generation Danish company. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Nearly 80 years ago in Denmark, Holger Nielsen designed a trash can with a pedal for his wife Marie's hair salon. Despite having no intention of selling it, demand grew for Nielsen’s sleek, and hygienic, trash bin and it became a fixture in Danish clinics, and later home use, over the next several decades. Nielsen called the bin “Vipp,” Danish for tilt, which describes the lid's movement. In 2009, the design was accepted into the permanent design collection at MoMA. Today, Vipp is a third generation family-owned company run by Nielsen’s daughter, Jette Egelund, and her two children Kasper and Sofie. In addition to its classic bin, Vipp now offers a wide range of lifestyle products, from entire kitchens and bathrooms to tableware and lighting. Based in Copenhagen, Vipp came to the United States four years ago and opened a showroom in Tribeca. Sofie Christensen Egelund, along with her husband and business partner Frank Christensen, turned the showroom into their actual apartment, outfitted with Vipp products. The designer-couple gave 6sqft a tour of their live-work space and Sofie talked to us about the company's design DNA, the move from Denmark to Manhattan and what it's like to work together as a married couple.
Take a tour of the apartment-showroom

July 23, 2018

Have your business or firm featured on 6sqft!

By 6sqft

Does your design firm operate out of a super quirky loft? Do you run a decades-old family shop or restaurant? Is your office space Instagram-ready? If your business or company has a New York story to tell, 6sqft wants to feature it! We'll send a reporter out to your place of work for a photo shoot and short interview and then feature it in all its glory for our Where I Work series!
How to submit your home!

Where I Work

July 13, 2018

The Urban Lens: Artist Paul Morris twists the NYC skyline into a colorful kaleidoscope

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Paul Morris shares his digitally altered streetscapes. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. New York City is full of urban photographers, capturing streetscapes and buildings as they morph and grow and alter our neighborhoods. But very few can find a way to do this that is totally new, which is why the work of local artist Paul Morris is so refreshing. By juxtaposing his original photography with his graphic design skills, his large-scale patterns "capture and restructure elements discovered in urban landscapes to create innovative perspectives on objects found in everyday life." His latest series focuses on the city's biggest, and arguably most anticipated, new development--Hudson Yards. He's also created "False Mirror" images of everywhere from the Rockaways to the Financial District. Ahead, Paul shares with 6sqft an exclusive collection of his photos and chats with us about his unique process and inspiration.
See and learn about Paul's work

Places

July 2, 2018

Where I Work: Go inside NYC’s first sake brewery at Brooklyn Kura

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and businesses of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring Industry City's Brooklyn Kura, New York's first sake brewery. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! "It was my first ‘oh, my God’ sake which was made in the U.S.A." said Japanese-born sake sommelier Chizuko Niikawa-Helton when he tasted the product of Brooklyn Kura, NYC's first sake brewery and one of only 15 in the nation. And this is exactly what co-founders Brian Polen and Brandon Doughan strive for. They're committed to respecting the thousands-year-old Japanese sake brewing traditions, but they also hope to inspire a new interest in this ancient beverage by using unique American ingredients and engaging New Yorkers in the process at their Sunset Park brewery and tap room. After meeting at a mutual friend's wedding in Japan and developing a passion for sake, Brian and Brandon teamed up and got to work on their 2,500-square-foot space in Industry City, which combines the functionality of traditional Japanese breweries with a contemporary Brooklyn design aesthetic. 6sqft recently paid them a visit and had a drink in the tap room (yes, we agree with Niikawa-Helton that the sakes are "so soft, so gentle"), got a look at the sake making process, and chatted with Brian and Brandon about their journey, life at Industry City, and how they're turning New Yorkers into sake lovers.
Read our interview with Brian and Brandon and see inside Brooklyn Kura

June 25, 2018

Roast, record, repeat: How Toby’s Estate brews the perfect cup of coffee at its Brooklyn cafe and roastery

By Devin Gannon

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Williamsburg cafe and roastery of Toby's Estate Coffee. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! When you walk into Toby’s Estate Coffee, the smell of freshly brewed coffee hits you immediately. And thanks to the towering roasting machine in the back of the Williamsburg coffee shop (which roasts about 50 lbs of coffee at a time), the sweet-bitter aroma really lingers. While the location on North 6th Street between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue was the first Toby’s in New York City, the coffee connoisseurs have since sprouted to other boroughs, with three cafes in Manhattan and most recently one in Long Island City. Toby’s, which originated in Australia, has served up specialty small-batch coffee in NYC since 2012, bringing in some eclectic flavors to their roster of roasts. Currently, the shop is offering a Citron Espresso Tonic, with tonic water, ice, handmade citron simple syrup and candied oranges. (We tried it. It was delicious.) On an unseasonably warm day this spring, Toby's gave 6sqft a tour of its Brooklyn shop, which boasts enough square footage to fit its roastery and cafe, as well as plenty of seating. Ahead, see inside the sunlight-filled flagship space and hear from Toby's staff on their "roast, record, taste, adjust, and repeat" process that brews the perfect cup of coffee.
See the cafe and learn more about the roasting process

June 20, 2018

Where I Work: Tour FXCollaborative’s Flatiron architecture office with partner Dan Kaplan

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Flatiron office of architecture firm FXCollaborative. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! To mark their 40th anniversary, architecture firm FXCollaborative recently debuted their new name (formerly FXFOWLE), along with a slew of big-name projects such as the Statue of Liberty Museum, a nearly 1,000-unit affordable housing development in the Bronx, and Downtown Brooklyn's One Willoughby Square, which will be the borough's tallest office building as well as the firm's new home. Ahead of their big move when the tower is completed in a few years, 6sqft paid a visit to FXCollaborative's current Flatiron office space to see how these prolific architects make their magic happen, thanks to a behind-the-scenes tour and talk with senior partner Dan Kaplan. From sustainable architecture and office design to equality in architecture and the importance of collaboration, learn how FXCollaborative remains one of NYC's top firms after four decades.
Take the tour and hear Dan’s thoughts

June 14, 2018

Photographer Ray Simone restores negatives of NYC’s past, pixel by pixel

By Hannah Frishberg

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Ray Simone shares vintage photographs of New York City he has lovingly restored to stunning quality. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Born-and-raised Manhattanite Ray Simone has a native knowledge of New York, as well as an intimate understanding of its past lives. When he’s not taking current photos of the city, he's in his Williamsburg studio, restoring its past, negative by negative to shocking quality. While some negatives take under an hour to restore, the more badly damaged ones can require more than 40 hours of painstaking work, going pixel by pixel. “You can only work at something a certain amount of hours at a time,” Simone reflects, “You get tunnel vision after a while; carpal tunnel.” Ahead, 6sqft talks to Simone about his photo restoration business and his thoughts on NYC's history and future, and we get a special look at some of his greatest restoration works.
Travel back in time

June 12, 2018

Where I Work: Inside C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries in the Village, the oldest pharmacy in the country

By James and Karla Murray

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the oldest pharmacy in the United States, C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries in Greenwich Village, and talking with owner Ian Ginsberg. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries was established in 1838. It is the oldest apothecary in America. It was originally called the Village Apothecary Shop and was opened by the Vermont physician, Galen Hunter. It was renamed C.O. Bigelow Apothecary when it was purchased by an employee, Clarence Otis Bigelow in 1880. The apothecary is in fact so old that it once sold leeches and opium as remedies. According to legend, the chemists at Bigelow even created a salve for Thomas Edison to treat his burned fingers when he was first developing the light bulb. In 1922, the apothecary was sold to the pharmacist, Mr. Bluestone, employed by Bigelow, thereby continuing the unique legacy of passing ownership from employer to employee. Bluestone sold the pharmacy to yet another pharmacist employee, William B. Ginsberg in 1939. And since 1939, three generations of Ginsberg’s have owned and operated the shop, passing down from father to son to most recently grandson, Ian Ginsberg, who 6sqft spoke with at this historic pharmacy in Greenwich Village at 414 Sixth Avenue.
See inside

Where I Work

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of NYC Life!