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.

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

February 21, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

Orlando Bloom Looks to Flip His Tribeca Loft for $5.5M Douglas Manor Colonial for $2.7M Is Like Something Right out of ‘The Great Gatsby’ Proposed ‘Triboro Rx’ Subway Line Would Better Connect the Outer Boroughs Chinatown Loft by Buro Koray Duman Architects Mixes Tenement Details with Bright, Modern Geometry Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson Buys […]

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One Vanderbilt May Offer Sky-High Observation Deck

February 20, 2015

One Vanderbilt May Offer Sky-High Observation Deck

When we talk about One Vanderbilt we typically focus on the base of the building–how it relates to its neighbor Grand Central and how it interacts with the planned public plaza in Vanderbilt Corridor. But at a presentation last night about the project, hosted by Open House New York and put on by Jamie van Klemperer, […]

February 20, 2015

NYC’s Oldest and Tallest Tree Grows in Alley Pond Park, Queens

In case you haven't noticed, we typically talk about buildings here at 6sqft, but today we're taking a look at a different kind of structure important to the urban fabric of New York City–a tree. But not just any tree; this is the oldest and tallest tree in the entire city, and it can be found in Alley Pond Park in Queens, between Douglaston and Bayside. Known as the Queens Giant, the record holder is a 134-foot (when last measured in 2005) tulip poplar tree that is believed to be 450 years old, according to Untapped Cities. Despite its impressive status, however, even the most seasoned New Yorkers don't know about this gem, which is likely what has led to its longevity.
Find out more here

History

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How Times Square Operates; When 11th Avenue Was Death Avenue

February 20, 2015

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How Times Square Operates; When 11th Avenue Was Death Avenue

Lower East Side artists jazz up containers and cement cubes from the East Houston construction. [Bowery Boogie] An interview with Times Square‘s Director of Production and Operations, who’s responsible for all on-the-ground activity in the Square. [Urban Omnibus] A Bushwick designer held a fashion show on the L train. [BK Paper] Stand on the historic stage of […]

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New Waldorf Astoria Owners Will Add Luxury Condos to the Iconic Hotel

image via KerSaber

February 20, 2015

New Waldorf Astoria Owners Will Add Luxury Condos to the Iconic Hotel

Back in October, it was revealed that Hilton Worldwide Holdings, who owned the landmark Waldorf Astoria since 1972, had agreed to sell the 1,232-room hotel to the Anbang Insurance Group Co., a financial and insurance company based in Beijing, for $1.95 billion. The deal closed just last week, and now the new owners are planning to convert part of the Art Deco building into luxury condominiums. According to The Real Deal, Anbang’s chairman Wu Xiaohui recently said: "We plan to renovate the two towers into luxury residential apartments with world-class amenities and finishes to reflect its culture and social status."
More details

Dogs You Might Meet in Brooklyn; Secrets of the Chrysler Building

February 19, 2015

Dogs You Might Meet in Brooklyn; Secrets of the Chrysler Building

The Mayor’s State of the City speech doesn’t talk about what’s going on outside your front door; so here’s a look at specific city blocks according to the people who live on them. [NYT] Sorry Westminster, all the cool dogs are in Brooklyn. [NYO] It’s so cold that rare, snowy owls from the Arctic have […]

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Proposed ‘Triboro Rx’ Subway Line Would Better Connect the Outer Boroughs

Map of the Triboro RX via RPA

February 19, 2015

Proposed ‘Triboro Rx’ Subway Line Would Better Connect the Outer Boroughs

The problem with moving to many affordable neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx is the lack of transportation options, but a new report from the Regional Plan Association calls for a Triboro RX subway line, which would weave together existing subway stops in far-reaching spots, as well as provide additional locations. And forget toll hikes to fund the line; it would run mostly above ground on existing freight train tracks, making implementation easy and cost effective.
More on the transportation proposal and see the full Triboro RX map

INTERVIEW: Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente of Stereotank on Fusing Architecture and Music

Marcelo and Sara at the unveiling of HeartBeat, image via Times Square NYC Flickr

February 18, 2015

INTERVIEW: Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente of Stereotank on Fusing Architecture and Music

Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente want you to do more than just admire their architectural designs from afar–they want you to hear them. The Venezuelan-born designers are the brains behind the creative firm Stereotank, where they create public art installations that fuse the disciplines of architecture, music, environmental sciences and much more. From Taku-Tanku, a traveling, floating house made out of water tanks, to HeartBeat, an urban drum installation currently on view in Times Square, all of Stereotank's innovative work takes a fresh and playful approach to socially conscious designs that engage their audiences. We recently chatted with Marcelo and Sara about how they developed their unique design philosophy and what their creations mean to them and New Yorkers.
Read the interview here

In 2080 NYC Will Be Hotter, Rainier, and 39 Inches Underwater

Homes damaged from Hurricane Sandy flooding © 6sqft

February 18, 2015

In 2080 NYC Will Be Hotter, Rainier, and 39 Inches Underwater

Or at least that's what a report released today by the New York City Panel on Climate Change says. Looking at the next century, the startling analysis finds that average temperatures could rise 4.1 to 5.7 degrees by the 2050s and as much as 8.8 degrees by the 2080s; yearly heat waves will triple in occurance; there will be many more days over 90 and 100 degrees; annual precipitation will increase by 5 to 13 percent by the '80s; the Northeast will see more intense hurricanes with extreme winds; and sea levels are expected to rise 18 to 39 inches by the '80s and 22 to 50 inches by 2100, meaning the amount of land within FEMA's proposed flood insurance rate maps will double, covering 99 square miles of the city. But don't start planning your exodus just yet. The Mayor's Office is well aware that their findings "underscore the urgency of not only mitigating our contributions to climate change, but adapting our city to its risks."
More on the report and see the full map

February 18, 2015

POLL: Do You Support an $8 Bridge Toll to Raise Funds for the MTA?

Yesterday we looked at a new proposal from MoveNY to toll four East River bridges (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, and Queensboro) and 60th Street in Manhattan in order to “raise funds for the MTA’s five-year capital plan (which is about $15.2 billion short of its target), and to make the cost of the city’s transit more equitable.” Drivers with […]

Transit

Popular Articles

How to Celebrate the Lunar New Year in Chinatown and Queens; Observing Staten Island’s Bald Eagles

February 18, 2015

How to Celebrate the Lunar New Year in Chinatown and Queens; Observing Staten Island’s Bald Eagles

Here’s how to celebrate the Year of the Ram around Chinatown. [Bowery Boogie] And here’s how to celebrate in Queens. [DNAinfo] A Mad Men exhibit is coming to the Museum of the Moving Image. [Gothamist] The much-anticipated Upper East Side Whole Foods opens today. Expect lots of free samples. [DNAinfo] Bald eagles have been wintering […]

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Sony Building Penthouse Will Ask a Record-Breaking $150M

February 18, 2015

Sony Building Penthouse Will Ask a Record-Breaking $150M

There's a new priciest listing record in town, and it goes to the $150 million triplex penthouse at the Chetrit Group's Sony Building condo conversion, according to The Real Deal. The 21,504-square-foot unit will occupy floors 33 through 35 of the 37-story tower at 550 Madison Avenue and have a private elevator, eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and ten powder rooms. If it gets what it's asking for, it will break the record for the current highest condo sale, the $100 million penthouse that sold at One57 last month.
Check out the impressive Sony Tower floorplans here

Orlando Bloom Looks to Flip His Tribeca Loft for $5.5M

February 17, 2015

Orlando Bloom Looks to Flip His Tribeca Loft for $5.5M

Maybe Orlando Bloom didn't like having New York's very own welcome ambassador Taylor Swift as a neighbor... because after only eight short months*, he's put his Tribeca loft back on the market. Back in June, Bloom purchased the three-bedroom apartment at the Sugarloaf Warehouse building for $4.88 million, and he's now looking to rake in just under $1 million in profit, re-listing the home for $5.5 million. It was reported over the summer that the actor was drawn to the loft's “cast-iron columns, exposed brick walls, open chef’s kitchen and wood-beamed ceilings,” but clearly that wasn't enough to keep his attention.
See what else Orlando Bloom is giving up

Chinatown Loft by Buro Koray Duman Architects Mixes Tenement Details with Bright, Modern Geometry

February 17, 2015

Chinatown Loft by Buro Koray Duman Architects Mixes Tenement Details with Bright, Modern Geometry

If you take a look at the exterior of this Chinatown tenement building located across the street from Sarah Roosevelt Park, you might imagine that the apartments inside are typical cramped railroad-style units with the token exposed brick wall as a selling point. But this unit, renovated by Buro Koray Duman Architects, looks like it could be in a swanky Miami hotel or sunny LA condo. When Turkish-born architect Koray Duman bought the residence in 2011, the 750-square-foot corner apartment was a dark, three-bedroom renovation from the 1980s. He and his firm transformed it into a bright, open one-bedroom loft with bold, sculptural architecture and décor.
Tour the home here

Two Non-Glass Homes on Philip Johnson’s Iconic Glass House Campus Will Open to the Public

Calluna Farms © Craig White via Flickr

February 17, 2015

Two Non-Glass Homes on Philip Johnson’s Iconic Glass House Campus Will Open to the Public

If you've never visited Philip Johnson's world-famous Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, you probably imagine it as a single, transparent structure sitting on a vast swath of land. But, in fact, it's one of 14 buildings on the 49-acre campus, which together made up what Johnson and his partner David Whitney considered "the perfect deconstructed home." So, the couple didn't live in the Glass House quite like most of us thought, but rather used it as the focal point of a glamorous weekend retreat. When the Glass House compound reopens for tours this spring, two of these lesser-known structures will be open to the public–the 1905 shingled farmhouse Calluna Farms, which was used as an art gallery and sometimes as a sleeping spot, and an 18th-century timber house called Grainger that served as a movie room for Johnson and Whitney.
More on the Glass House compound

All-You-Can-Fly to the Hamptons; Rockaway Boardwalk Receives $480M in FEMA Funds

February 17, 2015

All-You-Can-Fly to the Hamptons; Rockaway Boardwalk Receives $480M in FEMA Funds

Planning on “summering” in the Hamptons, but want to forgo the dreaded Jitney? There’s a new $2,000/month service that will let you fly between NYC and the Hamptons as much as you want. [Curbed Hamptons] See how the city is spending $480 million on Rockaway Boardwalk through infographics. [DNAinfo] Hudson University, the stand-in fake NYC college […]

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Proposed Condo Tower Could Stall Entire South Street Seaport Redevelopment Plan

Rendering of the proposed tower

February 17, 2015

Proposed Condo Tower Could Stall Entire South Street Seaport Redevelopment Plan

Less than a week after it was revealed that the Howard Hughes Corporation paid $31 million for more than 300,000 square feet of air rights at the South Street Seaport, it looks like the entire $1.5 billion redevelopment project could be stalled. The overall plan would breathe new life into the downtown historic district by rehabilitating crumbling piers, preserving and finding new use for landmark buildings and constructing a 42-story waterfront condo tower at the foot of Beekman Street. And it's this last point that has local officials, civic groups, preservationists and some community residents worried or downright angry. The 494-foot-tall, SHoP Architects-designed tower has already been scaled back from its original 650 feet, but concerned parties still feel that the building would "obscure views of the Brooklyn Bridge and clash with the low-scaled, early-19th-century brick buildings that make up the 11-block seaport district, once the center of the city’s maritime industry," according to the New York Times.
More on the debate

Historic Ship-Inspired Townhouse in Prospect Lefferts Gardens Hits the Market for $1.5M

February 16, 2015

Historic Ship-Inspired Townhouse in Prospect Lefferts Gardens Hits the Market for $1.5M

It's not rare to find an amazing historic townhouse in Brooklyn, but this is a first for us–an Arts and Crafts-style home inspired by the original owner's career as a shipbuilder. Built in 1914, 26 Winthrop Street is a 20.5-foot-wide, three-story red brick house that sits on an extra-deep lot of 132.5 feet in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. What makes the residence one-of-a-kind is the living room, modeled after a ship's stateroom and complete with a vaulted ceiling and floor-to-ceiling mahogany wainscoting.
See the rest of the house here

Check Out Studio Benjamin Dillenburger’s Wild ‘Phenomena’ Submission for MoMA’s 2015 YAP

February 15, 2015

Check Out Studio Benjamin Dillenburger’s Wild ‘Phenomena’ Submission for MoMA’s 2015 YAP

Last week, MoMA PS1 announced the winning design for this year’s Young Architects Program (YAP), which will be featured this summer in the Long Island City museum’s outdoor courtyard. The top spot went to Andrés Jaque of the Office for Political Innovation for COSMO, a moveable environmental artifact made out of customized irrigation components. And while this interactive water purification sculpture is highly deserving, the runners-up shouldn't be ignored. Among the short list of finalists was Phenomena by Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer of Studio Benjamin Dillenburger, which "addressed the idea of phenomenology in design, creating an experiential space that stimulates all the senses and hosts multiple programs." It combines a performance space, a highly articulated projection screen, and an ornate fountain, challenging how people experience live events by making the viewer part of the production.
READ MORE

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

February 14, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

Adrian Grenier Buys Five-Story Clinton Hill Townhouse for $2.1 Million Mapping Where in NYC Millennials Live PlaceInvaders Invites You to Have Dinner in NYC’s Most Extraordinary Private Homes What Would NYC Look Like If Sea Levels Rose 100 Feet? Joan Rivers’ Legendary Upper East Side Penthouse Is on the Market for $28M Would You Live […]

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Valentines for the Architect in Your Life; How the City Melts Snow with “Hot Tubs”

February 13, 2015

Valentines for the Architect in Your Life; How the City Melts Snow with “Hot Tubs”

Have a special architect in your life? Send them one of these valentines. [ArchDaily] Looking into how the city removes snow using “hot tubs.” [Gothamist] Does new restaurant Cooklyn have the most Brooklyn branding ever? [Fast Co. Design] A replica of Manhattan in China, complete with knock-offs of Rockefeller Center and the Hudson River, is a […]

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Tiny Brooklyn Apartment Is Covered with 25,000 Ping Pong Balls

February 13, 2015

Tiny Brooklyn Apartment Is Covered with 25,000 Ping Pong Balls

From afar, the walls of this tiny Brooklyn apartment look they're covered in geometric wallpaper, but get up close and you're in for quite the surprise. Daniel Arsham, partner and co-founder of Snarkitecture, a cross-disciplinary firm that blends art and architecture, used 25,000 ping pong balls that had lost their bounce to create this incredible wall mosaic as part of an accelerated design experiment.
More on this incredible design

New Report Shows It’s More Expensive to Rent in Queens than in Brooklyn

Ridgewood via Cameron Baylock

February 12, 2015

New Report Shows It’s More Expensive to Rent in Queens than in Brooklyn

A new report released today by Douglas Elliman shows that Queens has surpassed Brooklyn in most expensive rents. The median montly rent in Western Queens rose to $2,905 in January, a 30.7 percent jump from the same time last year. That's $4 more than North and Northwest Brooklyn's median rent, which only rose 2.5 percent to $2,901. We shouldn't be so surprised, though. With constant news of skyrocketing prices in Brooklyn, a lot of attention has been turned to Queens, especially up-and-coming neighborhoods like Ridgewood, as well as already-established hip spots such as Long Island City and Astoria.
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Real Estate Trends

$30M Mega-Mansion Coming to Soho; New Developments Heating up the Jamaica Real Estate Market

February 12, 2015

$30M Mega-Mansion Coming to Soho; New Developments Heating up the Jamaica Real Estate Market

A massive, 13,000-square-foot mega-mansion is coming to Soho. Madison Equities will combine two existing townhouse development sites to create a completely customizable $30 million home. [NYDN] Several mega projects coming to Jamaica may prove to be the real estate tipping point for the Queens ‘hood. [TRD] Hudson Yards developers get $180 million in tax breaks. […]

Real Estate Trends

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