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.

February 4, 2015

POLL: Would You Pay More for Better Subway Service?

By Dana Schulz

The MTA’s fare hike will take effect in March, raising the price of a single subway ride from $2.50 to $2.75, and it’s made most New York train riders pretty unhappy. But what if service was better? If those flashing “delay” projections were few and far between; massive platform pileups were a thing of the […]

Transit

February 3, 2015

Then and Now: From Luchow’s German Restaurant to NYU Dorm

By Dana Schulz

For those of us who came to the city within the past decade, it's hard to imagine East 14th Street without its stretch of bulky NYU dorms, big-box supermarkets, and mini-chain restaurants. But of course this wasn't always what the area looked like. In the late 19th century, the area centered around Irving Place, was full of entertainment venues like the Academy of Music, the city's opera house, Steinway Hall, Tammany Hall, and the City Theatre movie house. And at the heart of it all was a restaurant that catered to both the theater crowd and the German population of the East Village–Luchow's. Luchow's was established in 1882 at 110 East 14th Street at Irving Place when German immigrant August Lüchow purchased the café/beer garden where he worked as a bartender and waiter. It remained in operation for a full century, becoming an unofficial neighborhood and city landmark, until it was replaced by NYU's University Hall dormitory.
Read the full history here

7,279 NYC Homes Are Valued at More Than $5 Million

The Upper East Side, where the most $5 million + homes are located, via CityRealty

February 3, 2015

7,279 NYC Homes Are Valued at More Than $5 Million

By Dana Schulz

If you think that statistic is jaw-dropping, consider this, too–those 7,279 homes valued at more than $5 million amount to a total fair market value of $65.2 billion, according to data from the city’s Independent Budget Office. The Wall Street Journal requested the data to take a closer look at the proposal to impose higher property taxes on pied-à-terre owners, and the findings show that "the city’s most expensive homes would generate less money from a higher tax surcharge than what its advocates have suggested."
More details here

February 3, 2015

Queens to Get Its First Apple Store; Details Revealed for St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral School Condo Conversion

By Dana Schulz

The first Apple store in Queens will open later this year in the Queens Center Mall. [9to5Mac] The conversion of the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral School in Nolita will include seven luxury condos with a total sellout of $70.7 million, a church-related community facility, and two townhouses. [TRD] Williamsberry is a new condo, not a fruit snack, set to rise […]

Real Estate Trends

February 3, 2015

Mapping How the NYC Subway Could Operate in a 40-Inch Snowstorm

By Dana Schulz

Though winter storm Juno isn't going down in history as the biggest snowstorm to ever hit NYC, it was the first time the city completely shut down the subway system due to a snowstorm. Governor Cuomo and the MTA said the shutdown was necessary because a portion of almost every train line runs outdoors. Not happy with that reasoning? Then you'll really enjoy this map from WNYC called the Snowpiercer; it proposes how the subway system could operate during a 40-inch snowstorm.
See the full map here

Transit

February 3, 2015

Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Headquarters May Be in Brooklyn; Behind the Scenes of the Loew’s Kings Theatre Restoration

By Dana Schulz

When and if Hillary Clinton announces her presidential bid, her campaign headquarters may be in Brooklyn, which seems to be the new hot spot for the democratic party. [Brooklyn Magazine] For the best U.S. architecture per square mile, head to… Dallas? [CityLab] Tour Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka’s Harlem townhouse. [Architectural Digest] A new project […]

Uncategorized

Developers Rush to Break Ground and Add Affordable Housing Before Tax Incentives End

Image via Pexels

February 2, 2015

Developers Rush to Break Ground and Add Affordable Housing Before Tax Incentives End

By Dana Schulz

It would be nice to think that developers added affordable housing to their projects out of the goodness of their hearts, but it probably has more to do with the construction bonuses and tax incentives afforded for up to 25 years to developers when they reserve at least 20 percent of a building's units for poor and moderate-income tenants. But this real estate tax break, known as the 421a abatement, is set to expire on June 15, lighting a fire under developers to break ground on new projects. The concern, though, is that some development sites receive 421a benefits as of right (meaning solely for putting up a new building), while others are required to include affordable housing. The difference is based on geographic location. For example, Manhattan between 14th and 96th Streets and the waterfronts of Brooklyn and Queens must include affordable housing. According to Crain's, some housing advocates "want projects to get abatements only if they create affordable units—which are priced for renters who earn 60 percent or less of the area's median income."
What does this mean for the future of affordable housing?

February 2, 2015

Brooklyn Paramount Theatre Will Reopen as a Gilded Public Performance Venue

By Dana Schulz

Back in the summer we uncovered the history of the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, which has been home to Long Island University's gymnasium since 1963. But now, the day before the Loew's Kings Theatre, a fellow historic movie house in Brooklyn, is set to reopen to the public, we've learned that the Paramount will follow suite. Brooklyn Daily reports that the Flushing Avenue theatre in Downtown Brooklyn will once again show live performances to the public, thanks to a deal between LIU and an affiliate of the Barclays Center, which will bring 1,500 seats back to the venue (down from the original 4,000) and showcase musical and comedy performances and boxing matches, all with an emphasis on emerging artists. The remainder of the space will still serve as a practice gym for LIU athletics.
More details ahead

February 2, 2015

NYC Breaks Tourism Record in 2014, Sees Increase in Chinese Visitors

By Dana Schulz

After our commute this morning we couldn't help dreaming of getting out of this city for a couple of weeks (or months, who's counting), but 56.4 million people had the exact opposite idea in 2014. That's how many tourists visited the big apple this past year, smashing the previous record of 54.3 million visitors in 2013. One country that helped with the increase was China, not surprising considering the growing trend of wealthy Chinese investing in the NYC real estate market. According to the Times, "City officials estimate that more than 740,000 visitors came from China in 2014, almost five times as many as in 2009."
More on the record-breaking tourism trend

City Living

February 2, 2015

Great Piggery War Was an Early Gentrification Battle; Meet the Man with the Most Pizza Boxes in the World

By Dana Schulz

Gentrification battles can be traced back to the 1850s when Midtown West’s many piggeries were set to be replaced with apartments. [NYP] Vote for building of the year in 14 categories featuring thousands of projects from all corners of the globe. [ArchDaily] Tour a cozy Carroll Gardens apartment that was six years in the making. [Apartment […]

Uncategorized

‘Workplace of the Future’ Winner Attaches Health-Conscious Sky Gardens to Existing Buildings

By Dana Schulz

Wouldn't it be great if you could stock up on kale during the workday without having to wait on the lunchtime line at Whole Foods? If Organic Grid+, the winner of Metropolis magazine's "Workplace of the Future" design competition, comes to fruition you'll be able to grow your own greens at the office while taking in the various other health benefits that the proposed sky gardens afford. Conceived by London-based interior designers Sean Cassidy and Joe Wilson, Organic Grid+ proposes a flexible office layout, health-conscious technology, and glass sky gardens that latch onto existing buildings–all with the goal of improving the physical and mental well-being of employees as well as changing "the negative associations of working in open-plan offices."
More details here

January 30, 2015

MTA’s ‘Courtesy Counts’ Etiquette Campaign Is Brought to Life in a New Video Parody

By Dana Schulz

Regardless of which side of the man-spread debate you're on, you've definitely heard plenty about the MTA's new Courtesy Counts etiquette campaign. To get their point across, the MTA has deployed a new set of posters featuring the ubiquitous faceless green and red stick figures doing uncourteous things on the subway, including pole dancing, grooming, and, of course, manspreading. Two New Yorkers, Christian “CJ” Koegel and his partner Chris Zelig, have now created a one-minute, tongue-in-cheek video where they don full-body red and green spandex suits to bring Courtesy Counts to life as part of the #ridewithclass hashtag campaign.
Watch the amusing video

January 29, 2015

Modern Smart Home in Cobble Hill Sells for $6M

By Dana Schulz

The blogosphere was not impressed last year when they saw the contemporary brownstone conversion at 325 Degraw Street in Cobble Hill, calling the grey structure a "sad transformation." And while the nondescript façade may pale in comparison to its neighboring historic homes, what lies beyond is an impressive 5,800-square-foot smart home, complete with over 800 square feet of outdoor space, a landscaped roof deck, and a basement media room. Known as the Light House, the modern mansion designed by architect James Anzalone has now found an owner, a couple who paid a hefty $6 million, according to city records released today.
Check out the rest of the smart home

January 29, 2015

Wishbone: The World’s Smallest Smart Thermometer Checks Body, Object, and Environment Temperature

By Dana Schulz

There's only so much our iPhones can do when it comes to thermometer functions. They can tell us the temperature in a specific geographic location, but not in the exact spot where we're standing, and they can't read our personal body heat or that of a pot of water. Enter Wishbone, the world's smallest smart thermometer that can accurately check body, object, or environment temperature in two seconds (compared with 30 seconds for a traditional thermometer) just by hooking up to your smart phone. And it requires no contact at all.
More info ahead

Policy
Shop

January 28, 2015

A 12-Acre Mixed-Use Project Is Set to Wake Up Sleepy Red Hook

By Dana Schulz

If you've been to Red Hook lately chances are you were visiting the Fairway for lunch or taking the ferry to Ikea for a new $10 end table and some Swedish meatballs. But we soon may have many more reasons to visit the sleepy, industrial, square-mile Brooklyn neighborhood. The Red Hook Innovation District is a plan for a 12-acre, 1.2 million-square-foot, mixed-use project that would include offices, retail space, performance venues and a promenade. Last month, Los Angeles-based development firm Estate Four purchased the final property on the site. They now plan to roll out the $400 million project in phases over five years.
More details ahead

January 28, 2015

The Storefront for Art and Architecture Gets Shrink Wrapped by SO-IL

By Dana Schulz

We get frustrated every time we try to use Saran Wrap on the leftover half of a lemon, so we can't imagine shrink-wrapping the entire ground floor of a building. But that's exactly what design firm SO-IL did at the Storefront for Art and Architecture. The installation is part of Storefront's latest exhibit BLUEPRINT, which showcases 50 blueprints from various disciplines dating from 1961 to 2013. The show was also curated by SO-IL. By wrapping the exterior of the space, the gallery is "totally open, yet perpetually closed and fixed... wrapped in time and in space."
More on the exhibit and installation

January 28, 2015

BergDesign Architecture Transforms a Williamsburg Mechanics Garage into a Multi-Use Space with a Hidden Bar

By Dana Schulz

A multi-disciplinary event/performance space, retail store, and hidden bar all in one–we must be in Williamsburg. Located at 94 Wythe Avenue, in a slower-to-gentrify, industrial section of the neighborhood, this outpost of Kinfolk Studios was transformed by BergDesign Architecture from a mechanics garage into a space that feels like "it was designed for an off-the-grid Pacific Northwest hippy mathematician" by adding wood-clad geodesic dome shell structures to divide the space into separate functions.
Find out more about this impressive design

Architecture And Design

January 28, 2015

It’s Time for the Slush Lagoons; Dating Advice from NYC Bartenders

By Dana Schulz

Did you buy ten loaves of bread and four gallons of milk at Trader Joes in anticipation of snopocalypse? You can donate your blizzard leftovers. [Blizzard Leftovers, via NYT] City snow is pretty for about one hour. Then it’s time for the slush lagoons. [Gothamist] NYC bartenders have heard it all. Now they spill on […]

Uncategorized

January 28, 2015

POLL: Should Frank Gehry Design the New South Street Seaport?

By Dana Schulz

Before 9/11, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum planned a new outpost on the East River in Lower Manhattan, sculpted by none other than starchitect Frank Gehry. But after the tragedy, the project was scratched. Now, the planned South Street Seaport project would replace the area’s main pier with a lower, glass structure that looks like a surburban mall […]

As Younger Renters Move to the UES, Trendy Commercial Tenants Follow

Say goodbye to afternoon tea and hello to happy hour, via roboppy via photopin cc

January 27, 2015

As Younger Renters Move to the UES, Trendy Commercial Tenants Follow

By Dana Schulz

You don't have to tell us twice that the Upper East Side is trading its reputation as a stodgy, ladies-who-lunch spot for a younger, more hip vibe. Not only do we think it's a hidden hot spot for artists, but we recently profiled the unofficial "new" Upper East Side, the high 80s and 90s, clustered between Park and 1st Avenues. And let's not forget how the Second Avenue subway is already shaking things up. But with a new generation of Upper East Siders gobbling up the surprisingly affordable real estate offerings, it's no surprise that trendy commercial spots are also getting in on the action. Small, local shops and restaurants create little communities that you might expect to find in brownstone Brooklyn, and larger, big-name businesses like Warby Parker and Whole Foods promise to make it a neighborhood to rival Union Square or Chelsea.
More on the real estate trend ahead

January 27, 2015

Enchanting Upstate Stone House Is a Year-Round Weekend Getaway

By Dana Schulz

Just a stone's throw away from NYC in Brewster, NY, this charming Tudor-style home sits atop a rock bluff on four private acres of lush grass, Japanese maple trees, enchanting woods and seasonal streams. Built in 1940 by architect Manus Imber, and featuring three bedrooms and 1,273 square feet of space, this is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The Stone House is chock full of original details like the stone fireplace and hearth, wide pine floors, Dutch doors, built-ins, and decorative wood trims.
The magic continues here

January 27, 2015

Ienami Bonkei Planters Are Tiny Houses with Green Roofs

By Dana Schulz

We're big fans of green roofs here at 6sqft, so we were pretty excited when we found these planters that let us have our own miniature green roof right on our desks. A design of Metaphys, the Ienami Bonkei planters are simplistic models of homes with actual planted green roofs or gardens. The Japanese art of Bonkei refers to 3D, miniature landscapes created using dry materials like rock, cement, or sand. They often feature tiny figurines of people, buildings, and other outdoor elements.
More details on the Bonkei planters

January 27, 2015

13 Secrets of the Brooklyn Museum; Turn Your Cat’s Litter Box into a Sled

By Dana Schulz

Those star-shaped snowflakes you thought you saw last night were real. [HuffPo] Did you know the statues in front of the Brooklyn Museum came from the Manhattan Bridge? Find out 12 more secrets of the iconic institution. [amNY] Mapping classic Village businesses that closed in the past year. [DNAinfo] No sled? No problem. Here’s the best household […]

Uncategorized

Street Fight Round Two: What’s with All the Broadways in the Outer Boroughs?

Broadway in Brooklyn via wallyg via photopin cc

January 26, 2015

Street Fight Round Two: What’s with All the Broadways in the Outer Boroughs?

By Dana Schulz

Last week we took a look at why there are three Broadways in Manhattan–the thoroughfare proper, East Broadway and West Broadway– and learned that Broadway actually extends through the Bronx and into Westchester. There's even a one-block street in Harlem called Old Broadway. As if that weren't enough confusion, though, there are four other Broadways in the outer boroughs–one in Brooklyn, one in Staten Island, and two in Queens.
Learn about these outer-borough Broadways

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