All articles by Dana Schulz

Dana is a writer and preservationist with a passion for all things New York.  After graduating from New York University with a BA in Urban Design & Architecture Studies, she worked at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, where she planned the organization's public programs and wrote for their blog Off the Grid. In her free time, she leads walking tours about the social and cultural history of city neighborhoods. Follow her on Twitter @danaschulzNYC.
December 21, 2015

More Details Revealed for Bjarke Ingels’ High Line Towers

The latest project to come from starchitect-of-the-moment Bjarke Ingels is a set of towers that will rise along the High line at 76 11th Avenue. The renderings made waves a month ago when the angular, asymmetrical structures were revealed, and at this time it was also announced that the project would encompass a hotel, retail space, and around 300 luxury condos. But new plans filed by developer HFZ Capital Group, first uncovered by The Real Deal, show that the towers' four-story base will not include a hotel, but rather retail and office space, likely because "[commercial office space] vacancy rates in the [Meatpacking District] are notoriously low–around 2 percent–while prices are high."
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December 21, 2015

Did Mast Brothers Fool Us Into Buying Crappy Chocolate?; ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ Monetized

How the Mast Brothers fooled the world into paying $10 a bar for crappy hipster chocolate. [Quartz] A 30,000-square-foot bowling and karaoke amusement complex is coming to Bushwick. [Gothamist] Hess Triangle, the city’s smallest piece of real estate, gets the cartoon treatment. [New Yorker] The ridiculous amount it would take to buy all the items in […]

December 21, 2015

The Food Hall Obsession Makes Its Way to Staten Island

Following a slew of recent headlines–Anthony's Bourdain's food and retail market headed for the SuperPier, the mega-market coming to Essex Crossing that will be one of the largest in the world, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's seafood-themed food hall planned for the South Street Seaport–6sqft recently posed the question: Is the city's food hall obsession about to burst? Though the votes were divided, the trend has shown no signs of slowing down, especially considering that it's now making its way over to the often-forgotten borough of Staten Island, with perhaps the most gimmicky name we've heard yet. Curbed reports that the team behind Gansevoort Market has partnered with Empire Outlets developers BFC Partners to open a locally curated food market by late 2017. Dubbed MRKTPL, the hall will span 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space that will "tie together the history of the New York Harbor with modern communal spaces to eat and gather," as per the press release.
More details this way
December 20, 2015

Architensions’ Writing Pavilion Is a Tiny Backyard Retreat for Two Brooklyn Creatives

Most Brooklyn creatives head to the local cafe when they need to escape to get work done, but this lucky couple can retreat right to their backyard garden (h/t Inhabitat). They enlisted local firm Architensions to design a space where they can find "a condition of isolation or immersive solitude" for writing and drawing. The result is the Writing Pavilion, a 50-square-foot wooden structure that is light-filled and serene, but purposefully simple and void of distractions.
Find out more about this outdoor escape
December 19, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

Get a Look at the NYC Skyline in 2030! NYC Municipal ID Card Holders Will Get Even More Free Stuff in 2016 Designer’s Boldly Renovated West Village Pad Asks $1.15M Living in a Micro Apartment Could Be Harmful to Your Health A 1924 Proposal Would Have Drained the Entire East River to Reduce Congestion Did […]

December 18, 2015

Why Is the Face of This Clock in Central Park Rotating Backwards?

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary 19th century street clock, but when you notice its movement, things get a little weird. Located at Central Park's Doris C. Freedman Plaza, the clock's face rotates backwards, while the second hand appears to remain upright and stationary at all times (h/t Laughing Squid). What'll really throw you for a loop is that the clock is displaying the correct time, but because of how accustomed we are to the regular rotation, it's almost impossible to read. Titled "Against the Run," the clock was created by Alicja Kwade for the Public Art Fund. The Polish-born, Berlin-based artist wanted to challenge "the systems we invent to make sense of our lives," thereby forcing us to "see 'reality' from a new perspective."
More about the trippy clock
December 18, 2015

Get a Look at the NYC Skyline in 2030!

Though it's that time of year when we look back at the 12 months past, it's also a great time to look ahead. Which is exactly what creative design firm Visualhouse did with their incredible rendering of the NYC skyline 15 years from now. The image takes us from BIG's Via tetrahedron to the supertall towers of Billionaires' Row to the glistening cluster that will be Hudson Yards.
more here
December 18, 2015

Foodies Remember the Four Seasons; What Will Replace the Hipster?

As the closing of the Four Seasons approaches, five regulars remember the iconic landmarked restaurant. [Grub Street] What will replace the hipster? Will it be yuccies, cutesters, or maybe health goths? [Vice] Traveling through Grand Central on the 25th? Hidden bar the Campbell Apartment will be open on Christmas for the first time. [Gothamist] Architect […]

December 18, 2015

Mass Transit Commuters in NY Will Save Hundreds Thanks to New Federal Bill

Work for a business with 20 or more employees? Soon you can kiss that $116/month Metrocard allotment goodbye. This week's federal spending and tax-cut agreement will likely put into effect a permanent law that almost doubles the pre-tax earnings that New York mass-transit commuters can spend on fares, thereby saving them hundreds of dollars a year. As Crain's reports, "The provision nearly doubles the maximum amount of pre-tax income they can use to pay transit fares. Currently $130 a month, the limit will be raised to match the amount that people who drive to work can spend in untaxed earnings on parking fees—$255 per month in 2016." Plus, if Congress passes the bill as expected, the amount will continue to rise with the cost of living.
Find out more right here
December 17, 2015

Median Manhattan Apartment Price Climbs Past $1M for First Time

"For the second year in a row, Manhattan real estate prices soared, setting new records. For the first time, the median price for an apartment—including both co-ops and condos—was above $1 million." This is according to CityRealty's newly released Year-End Manhattan Market Report, which puts the median price at $1.1 million, 13 percent higher than last year and 60 percent higher than 2005. Additionally, the average apartment sales price ($1.9 million), the average condo price ($2.6 million), and the average co-op price ($1.4 million) all broke 2014's records by $100,000.
See the report's infographic this way
December 17, 2015

A 1924 Proposal Would Have Drained the Entire East River to Reduce Congestion

Remember 6sqft's post about a madcap engineer who wanted to pave over the East River in 1911 in order to create a "Mega-Manhattan?" Well, 13 years later, John A. Harris, deputy police commissioner in charge of traffic, came up with his own proposal for incorporating the river into the streetscape of the city: draining it entirely. Published in Popular Science, the never-realized scheme addressed New York's growing traffic congestion problem, said to have been costing the city $1.5 million a day. It would have transformed the waterway into "a five-mile system of automobile and motor-truck highways, subway lines, parking spaces, and city centers." Two concrete dams were to be erected, one near the Williamsburg Bridge and one near Hell Gate, and the riverbed would be "bridged with levels supported by steel uprights," thereby connecting the four boroughs.
More on the idea and the full drawing
December 16, 2015

Where I Work: Artist Nancy Pantirer shows us around her imaginative Tribeca loft

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 take a tour of painter and sculptor Nancy Pantirer’s imaginative Tribeca studio. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! When artist Nancy B. Pantirer opened up her studio for this year's Inside Tribeca Loft Tour, guests were swooning over everything from the high ceilings to the eclectic furniture, and of course, her incredible paintings, many of which are done in a large-scale format. But what really left an impression was Nancy's welcoming nature, evident as she chatted with almost everyone who passed through her space, telling them a bit about herself, her work, and the neighborhood. Eager to share this with our readers, 6sqft was lucky enough to get a private tour of Nancy's space, where she filled us in on her process, design choices, and how she feels Tribeca has changed since she arrived in 1995.
Take our tour right this way
December 16, 2015

SHoP Architects’ Controversial Seaport Tower Won’t Move Ahead

The long-plagued condo tower designed by SHoP Architects for the Fulton Fish Market site at the South Street Seaport has been nixed, according to statements made by the Howard Hughes Corporation at a community board meeting last night. DNAinfo, who first reported on the fate of the 494-foot tower, says that the developer will instead construct a "not tall" commercial building at what's now known as the New Market Building site.
More details
December 16, 2015

POLL: Should Broadway Become a Giant Park?

Earlier this week, 6sqft brought you a proposal by Perkins Eastman Architects to turn a 40-block-long stretch of Broadway into a linear park. Stretching from Columbus Circle to Union Square, the Green Line concept would connect these hubs with Times Square, Herald Square, and Madison Square. As we noted, “Unlike other linear parks like the […]

December 15, 2015

State May Reboot Plan for Penn Station Expansion at the Farley Post Office

In 2005, the state selected the Related Cos. and Vornado Realty to oversee a $900 million redevelopment of the Penn Station-adjacent James A. Farley Post Office. The project, which came to be known as Moynihan Station, would have turned the full-block structure into an annex for Penn Station. The developers twice tried and failed to move Madison Square Garden into the space; they were also unsuccessful attracting a community college or CBS to the location. And after a promise to close this year on the deal was left empty, Governor Cuomo seems to have had enough. The New York Times reports that he and state officials met with Related and Vornado last week to voice frustrations about the long-stalled project and express the possibility that they'll be replaced.
Details on the possible shakeup
December 15, 2015

Ditch the Laundromat With This Eco-Friendly, Foot-Powered Washing Machine

Admit it–you've been that person who's gone out and bought new underwear to avoid lugging 40 pounds of dirty clothes down to the laundromat. But now you can avoid this wasteful temptation thanks to a compact, eco-friendly washing machine called Drumi. Plus, it's foot-powered, so you can burn some calories while watching Netflix. First spotted by TreeHugger, the machine was created Yirego, a Toronto-based sustainable household design company. It's electricity-free and low-water and can wash a five-pound load in just five minutes. Of course, this isn't much (it equates to one pair of jeans or eight pairs of boxers), but it'll certainly save you from having to wear a bathing suit as undergarments.
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December 14, 2015

What if Broadway Was Turned Into a Giant Linear Park?

New York has undertaken several projects over the years in an effort to beautify its stark, gridded streets. There was the Park Avenue Malls, turning major intersections like those at Madison Square and Times Square into seating and entertainment areas, bike lanes, and Summer Streets. But this new proposal from Perkins Eastman Architects certainly puts the rest to shame, as they'd like to turn a more-than-40-block stretch of Broadway into one big linear park. First spotted by Dezeen, the Green Line concept envisions a park that stretches along Broadway from Columbus Circle to Union Square, connecting these two hubs with Madison Square, Herald Square, and Times Square. The park would be open only to pedestrians and bicyclists, save for emergency vehicles needing to bypass traffic. Unlike other linear parks like the High Line and Lowline, the Green Line would be at street level, creating what the architects feel is "much needed active and passive recreational space in the heart of the city."
More details and renderings ahead
December 14, 2015

Staten Island Ferris Wheel Projected to Bring in More Revenue Than the Empire State Building

Despite controversy, several delays, and a $30 million crowdfunding attempt, the New York Wheel is projecting major first-year revenue. According to The Real Deal, developers of the 630-foot Staten Island ferris wheel expect to bring in a staggering $127.85 million in 2017, a figure that will make it more lucrative than the Empire State Building's observation deck, which raked in $111.5 million last year. Of the total revenue, $96 million is projected to come from admission fees (which come in at $35 a person, as compared to the Empire State Building's $32); $10 million from sponsorships; and $8.7 million from gift shop sales. And if you're impressed by these numbers, annual revenue will likely grow to $166.52 million by 2021!
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December 14, 2015

VIDEO: 10 Days and 120 Subway Stations in Two Minutes

Most New Yorkers would be overjoyed if they only had to witness their subway station for a hot second. But since we can't teleport, this video from Snowday is the next best way to live out our fantasies (h/t Fast Co. Design). Titled "Stations: A Quick Scan Through NYC," this two-minute video was shot over ten days at 120 subway stations throughout the five boroughs, compiling footage as if the viewer were changing television channels. The quick scan, which features a somewhat odd blend of scripted scenes and documentary footage, is meant to evoke the "unique texture of New York...in a new and compelling way."
Watch the full video this way
December 14, 2015

The ‘New Yawk’ Accent and Politics; Take a Nap With This Fake Hand

IDNYC cardholders will get additional perks this year, like annual memberships for the Guggenheim, MoMA, and the Metropolitan Opera. [amNY] Getting to know NYC’s Christmas tree vendors. [Thrillist] How the “New Yawk” accent is playing into the presidential race. [Daily Intelligencer] This fake hand will let you take sneaky naps at work. [Design You Trust] The ghosts of […]

December 12, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

Could This Otherworldly 102-Story Tower Covered in Ornaments Be Coming to 57th Street? Chart Compares Suburb and City Commute Times–and How Much Extra We Pay for Convenience Mapping the Depressing Annual Salaries of Millennials Across the U.S. VIDEO: Watch Ironworkers Set Panels on Bjarke Ingels’ Via Tetrahedron This Pint-Sized Penthouse Has Two Terraces and a […]

December 11, 2015

Manure Heaps, Fat Melting, and Offensive Privies: Mapping NYC’s 19th Century Nuisances

A New York City nuisance map today would consist of things like text-walking zombies, pizza rats, and Soul Cycle locations. But back in the 19th century, people had bigger problems, such as manure heaps, hog pens, and 400 families wading through "a disgusting deposit of filthy refuse" just to get home. Atlas Obscura uncovered these amazing maps that were created in 1865 by the Citizen’s Association of New York as part of a 300-page report on the city's sanitation and public health conditions in the wake of the smallpox and typhoid epidemics. "Rapid population growth, overcrowded apartment buildings, dirty streets and poor sanitation standards had meant that New York in 1860 had the mortality rate of medieval London," according to the blog.
See the maps and learn more