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 19, 2016

Number of Chinese visitors continues to grow as NYC sets new tourism record

By Dana Schulz

For the past decade, the number of Chinese tourists visiting NYC has been on the rise, and of the city's record-breaking 60.3 million visitors in 2016, more than 950,000 were from China. This is a "sevenfold increase since 2007," reports the Times, which notes how the city's tourism department, NYC & Company, is catering to the growing demographic, as they're spending more freely than visitors from Europe who have seen the value of the euro decrease in comparison to the dollar.
Get the scoop

City Living

December 19, 2016

Second Avenue Subway officially opens to the public January 1, 2017!

By Dana Schulz

Recent weeks have brought conflicting reports of whether or not the Second Avenue Subway would meets its December 31st deadline, but Governor Cuomo has announced that the public will be able to swipe their cards on the new line as of January 1, 2017! The stations will be officially open for business on New Years Eve, at which time the Governor will host a group of dignitaries to celebrate the nearly 100 years-in-the-making project. As the Daily News reports, this also means that there will be no partial opening as previous accounts speculated, and all stations (96th, 86th, and 72nd Streets, along with the transfer point at 63rd Street), entrances, and elevators will be ready to go. "We believe in the team, and that’s why we’re saying we’re going to open Jan. 1. It’s a leap of faith, but I’m willing to take that leap of faith," said Cuomo.
More details ahead

Transit

December 16, 2016

Olin reveals renderings for $30M activity-filled eco-park on Tribeca’s Pier 26

By Dana Schulz

It was announced just over a year ago that starchitect Rafael Viñoly would donate his services to the Hudson River Park Trust to design an estuarium, a science education and research center, at the base of Tribeca's Pier 26. Now, Tribeca Citizen has brought us the first set of conceptual renderings of the $30 million Pier, which don't include Viñoly's building (other than as a placeholder), but show how landscape architects OLIN will transform the 800-foot pier between North Moore and Hubert Streets into a ecological park, complete with huge lounge net areas, sports fields, expansive lawns, a river esplanade, sandy dunes, wetlands to attract birds and wildlife, and elevated tree-lined pathways that are "inspired by being in the woods," according to DNAinfo.
See all the renderings

Architecture And Design

December 16, 2016

Tiffany’s partners with NYPD on branded barricades; New zip line will run across the Bronx River

By Dana Schulz

In the wake of the Trump Tower chaos, Tiffany’s partnered with the NYPD to create branded barricades for its Fifth Avenue flagship. [WWD] The Bronx Zoo will build a new zip line that will cross the Bronx River 45 feet in the air. [DNAinfo] Here are the 12 poorest cities in New York. [Only in […]

Uncategorized

December 16, 2016

JFK’s TWA Hotel breaks ground, gets new renderings

By Dana Schulz

The shovels were out at JFK's TWA Flight Terminal yesterday, as MCR Development and JetBlue broke ground on their project to turn Eero Saarinen‘s mid-century modern masterpiece into the high-end, 505-room TWA Hotel. According to a press release, Governor Cuomo attended the festivities, noting that the conversion "will preserve this iconic landmark while cementing JFK’s status as a crown jewel of aviation." The news also came with two renderings that show the two, six-story, crescent shaped hotel buildings that will rise on either side of the existing structure.
READ MORE

December 15, 2016

Dry your plates between the buildings of Midtown with this skyline dish rack

By Dana Schulz

For many New Yorkers, the after-dinner ritual of loading up the dishwasher is pure fantasy. But while we're stuck scrubbing away in our under-sized sinks, this fun dish rack from the Whitney museum's gift shop is a nice reminder as to why we make the compromises we do. The flexible 3D model of Midtown Manhattan comes from Italian designer Luca Nichetto, who was inspired by the scene in the 2010 movie "Inception" where NYC folds into itself "like rubber."
READ MORE

December 15, 2016

Jared Kushner’s real estate conflicts; Can this shop/wine bar bring a bookstore back to the Bronx?

By Dana Schulz

Jared Kushner owns at least 45 properties in New York City, and this could pose a conflict. [WNYC] When the Bronx’s Barnes & Noble closes next month, it’ll leave the borough of 1.4 million without a book store. An independent bookstore/wine bar called the Lit Bar hopes to take its place. [CityLab] Check out photos of the […]

Uncategorized

December 15, 2016

Interview: Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector discuss bringing a streetcar to NYC

By Dana Schulz

After working for decades advocating for transit equity and environmental justice at various organizations, Ya-Ting Liu came on board as the Executive Director of Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector. It's been almost a year since the non-profit advocacy group first released a proposal for a streetcar to run along the borough's waterfront, and since that time the city has stepped in to back the estimated $2.5 billion project, even appointing a director and creating preliminary maps of the streetcar's possible routes. As one of several transportation undertakings on the table, the BQX certainly has a big year ahead. 6sqft recently sat down with Ya-Ting To get the scoop on what's to come, as well as some insider thoughts on the streetcar's common misconceptions.
Read the full interview this way

December 15, 2016

NYPD says it needs 200 cops and $500,000 a day to secure Trump Tower

By Dana Schulz

Just over a week ago, Mayor de Blasio asked the federal government for $35 million to cover Donald Trump's increased security for the 73 days from the November 8th election to the January 20th inauguration. Two days later, congress came back with a low-ball offer of only $7 million, to which the Mayor responded that "NYC taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill to protect Trump Tower." Backing him up, the NYPD conducted its own analysis, which, as the Daily News shares, confirms the city's $500,000 a day security bill and concludes that nearly 200 cops are needed each day to secure the area around Trump Tower.
More ahead

Celebrities

December 15, 2016

Second Avenue Subway won’t open until all stations are finished says MTA

By Dana Schulz

On Monday, the Governor's office put out a statement that Cuomo was "cautiously optimistic" that the Second Avenue Subway would open on time by the end of the month. Yesterday, MTA chairman Tom Prendergast echoed this statement, but was quick to point out that the long-awaited line would only open on December 31st if all stations were up and running (previous reports talked of a partial opening), reports the Daily News. "Track’s done, signals are done, we’ve run trains, we’ve exercised the signal system," he said. "We’re talking about finish and escalators, elevators — things of that nature in the station."
READ MORE

Transit

ODA’s Rheingold Brewery rental will offer 100 affordable units in Bushwick

By Dana Schulz

The day after securing a $93 construction loan, the Rabsky Group has announced that 100 out of the 500 rentals at their massive Rheingold Brewery development will be below-market rate. As Curbed notes, Bushwick residents have been advocating that the 400,000-square-foot project include affordable housing since it was first announced, spurred not only by the neighborhood's need, but the fact that Rabsky had no legal obligation to include affordable units.
READ MORE

December 14, 2016

Historic map shows the manufacturing industries of 1919 NYC

By Dana Schulz

As part of their new exhibit "Mastering the Metropolis: New York and Zoning, 1916–2016," the Museum of the City of New York has shared this historic map of manufacturing industries across the city. Published in 1922 using census data from 1919, the colorful depiction shows us that women's wear was the industry of the time, with more than 8,000 factories employing 169,965 people and coming in with a yearly product value of $1.7 billion. Manhattan was all but covered with manufacturing, and as CityLab points out, this included everything from rubber tires and umbrellas to coffins and cigar boxes.
Get a closer look

History

December 14, 2016

City gets 10 new landmarks; Inside the fancy Brooklyn fruit shop with $9 apricots

By Dana Schulz

The LPC designated 10 sites city landmarks, clearing up their backlog. These include the Bergdorf Goodman department store, United Palace Theater, and one of the last wood-framed houses on the Upper East Side. [NYT] Bushwick leads the city in smoke detector violations. [DNAinfo] The $1/month rooms in this $8 million West Village loft went to two young […]

Uncategorized

December 14, 2016

POLL: Would you spend $500K for a down payment in Manhattan?

By Dana Schulz

6sqft has previously shared data that it only makes sense to buy a home in New York City after having lived here for 18.2 years, longer than anywhere else in the nation by a long shot. When and if that time comes, Manhattanities are looking to drop an average of $500,000 for a down payment, according to a new report from Property Shark. To put this figure into perspective, the average price nationwide to buy an entire home is $300,000. And in the Manhattan luxury market, the median down payment is a whopping $3.15 million, which might explain why, according to 2014 census data, only 32% of New Yorkers owned their homes.
What would you do?

Real Estate Trends

December 14, 2016

Average Manhattan sales price tops $2M for first time

By Dana Schulz

Despite chatter about the luxury market slowing down, 2016 has seen Manhattan real estate prices continue to climb and set records. The average sales price for an apartment (including both co-ops and condos) was $2.2 million, topping the $1.9 million record set last year, according to CityRealty's newly released Year-End Manhattan Market Report. This is a whopping 91 percent increase from 2006. And things heat up even more in the new development sector, where 1,800 units sold for a projected total of $8.9 billion, a huge jump from last year's $5.4 billion for $1,464 units.
More record-setting data ahead

Real Estate Trends

December 14, 2016

City spending an average of $400,000 a night on hotel rooms for the homeless

By Dana Schulz

Less than a week after the city announced that they'll be increasing the number of commercial hotel rooms housing homeless families and individuals by more than 500, a report from Comptroller Scott Stringer puts the average cost a night citywide for the current batch at $400,000, according to the Daily News. The report, which is being released today, says that since November 2015, the city booked a total of 425,000 hotel rooms, costing more than $72.9 million. As of last month, there were 5,881 homeless New Yorkers staying in hotels, with the average nightly bill climbing from $163 to $194 over the past year.
Find out more

Policy

December 13, 2016

Gamma Real Estate’s $98M bid wins debt-ridden Sutton Place site at foreclosure auction

By Dana Schulz

The debt-beleagured Sutton Place site that included plans for a 900-foot-tall luxury condo from starchitect Norman Foster has finally had its day at the auction, and the winning bidder was N. Richard Kalikow’s Gamma Real Estate, according to The Real Deal. A bankruptcy judge authorized the sale of the property at 3 Sutton Place in September, after Joseph Beninati's Bauhouse Group failed to pay back creditors and partners on the 262,000-square-foot development. Gamma controlled the entities that originally loaned Beninati $130 million, but as of today the developer outbid Brooklyn investor Isaac Hager, paying $86 million for the site and $12 million for additional air rights, far less than the predicted $187 million price tag.
READ MORE

Uncategorized

December 13, 2016

Jessica Chastain parties at 432 Park; Why this architect spent 10 years trying to float a pool in the East River

By Dana Schulz

Jessica Chastain threw a bash to celebrate her new role in “Miss Sloane” in the $40 million apartment on the 86th floor of 432 Park. [Page Six] Check out this new video about the Lowline, including commentary from the co-founders. [Lowline] Oana Stanescu, one of the four architects behind the plan to build a floating, water-purifying pool in […]

Uncategorized

December 13, 2016

Track affordable housing across NYC with this new map and data tool

By Dana Schulz

Instead of weeding through the city's constantly changing portal of affordable housing opportunities, New Yorkers can now track these addresses in one central location. Brownstoner shares CoreData.nyc, a new interactive data portal from the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy that shows subsidized housing throughout the five boroughs and allows users to narrow down the map by factors such as median income, demographics, sales volume and pricing, zoning, and crime.
Find out more this way

Affordable Housing

December 13, 2016

Renderings revealed for 724-foot Lower East Side tower, final piece of controversial site

By Dana Schulz

The historically low-income, low-slung neighborhood of Two Bridges--the area along the East River, near the footings of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown--has become a high-rise hotbed over the past year. Despite the controversy that the four planned projects, all upwards of 700 feet, have caused, they're moving along fairly swiftly, and The Lo-Down now has the big reveal for the final site--Starrett Group's 259 Clinton Street. Perkins Eastman Architects have designed the 724-foot, 62-story glass tower, which will have ground-floor retail and 732 apartments, 25 percent of which will be permanently affordable with a good chunk being set aside for low-income seniors.
More details and renderings ahead

December 13, 2016

Own the incredible Arts and Crafts home where Milton Glaser designed the ‘I ♥ NY’ logo

By Dana Schulz

Graphic design legend Milton Glaser's most famous works are arguably the I ♥ NY logo and the psychedelic Bob Dylan poster, both of which were created at his upstate home in Woodstock. He and wife Shirley have owned this incredible, early 20th century stone-and-glass home for more than 50 years, adding a contemporary aesthetic to its historic Arts and Crafts style and maintaining the 76+ acres of gardens and forest. It's now hit the market for $1.8 million since, according to Gothamist, the couple has reached a point "where downsizing has become the obvious choice."
READ MORE

December 12, 2016

The complicated history of seesaws in NYC; Last year’s Rockefeller Center tree built two upstate homes

By Dana Schulz

An Upper West Side park is believed to have the only remaining city-maintained wooden seesaw. Where did the rest go? [NYT] Can “Mensch on a Bench” become the new “Elf on a Shelf?” [Bloomberg] Last year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree became the beams and flooring for two Habitat for Humanity homes in Newburgh, New York. [NYP] Sculptor Anish Kapoor […]

Uncategorized

December 12, 2016

Office landlord SL Green may trade One Vanderbilt for J.P. Morgan’s two Midtown office towers

By Dana Schulz

SL Green, the city's largest office landlord, "pulled off one of New York's biggest office deals of 2016" when they secured $1.5 billion in construction financing for their supertall tower One Vanderbilt, which is expected to ultimately cost a whopping $3.14 billion. The developer is now looking to rake in even more dollars off the deal, reports the Wall Street Journal, as they've proposed to J.P. Morgan Chase (one of the Syndication Agents in the financing) a swap out where the bank would trade its two headquarters buildings at 383 Madison Avenue and 277 Park Avenue for the recently-under-construction, 1,401-foot office tower.
More on the story

Real Estate Trends

December 10, 2016

12 alternative holiday events, exhibits, and outings in NYC

By Dana Schulz

From the swarms of tourists, long lines at stores, and increased prices on everything from theater tickets to cocktails, the holidays in New York can be more of a headache than anything. But fear not--there are plenty more ways to get festive other than battling the crowds at Rockefeller Center or paying an arm and a leg to see the Rockettes. 6sqft has rounded up a dozen alternative events, including a sexy rendition of the Nutcracker, an exhibit of Santa's history in NYC, a latke festival, and a special Kwanzaa dance performance.
All the events this way

Events & Things To Do

December 9, 2016

KBA Architects reveal ziggurat-like tower for Kellogg’s Diner-adjacent site in Williamsburg

By Dana Schulz

Back in March, 6sqft reported that a new hotel/rental tower at 500 Metropolitan Avenue had risen above ground, but there was still a bit ambiguity surroundings its final design. Now, just as the Williamsburg building has topped out, CityRealty uncovered the final renderings from KBA Architects. The firm created a 14-story, ziggurat-like structure that will slope down from the adjacent site of longtime local haunt Kellogg's Diner and offer a slew of trendy amenities.
More views and details

All articles by Dana Schulz

Pitch a Story

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Distinctive Post Form

Get in Touch

Send us a Tip

Interesting in learning more about purchasing a new home?

Thinking about selling your home?

Sell a Home (Footer)

Before You Move On from this Page.

Your Daily Doseof NYC Life!

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Your Daily Dose
of NYC Life!