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.
October 13, 2016

Where to see fall foliage in and around NYC; Why are hideous built-in air conditioners everywhere?

A timeline of how Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood in NYC 100 years ago. [DNAinfo] Target and Dwell have collaborated on an affordable, 120-piece modern furniture and home accessories line. [Fast Co. Design] The landlord’s guide to gentrifying the city: how Steve Croman spent decades exploiting rent-control laws to bring in wealthier tenants. [Bloomberg] You’ve seen them–PTACs, those […]

October 13, 2016

Live in Brooklyn’s tallest tower for $833/month, lottery launching for 150 units at 333 Schermerhorn

At 610 feet, Douglas Steiner's 333 Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn currently holds the title of tallest building in Brooklyn. Though it'll be surpassed by forthcoming supertalls like JDS' 9 DeKalb Avenue, the first 1,000+ foot tower in the borough, and the 700-foot 205 Montague Street, the 53-story slab apartment tower known as The Hub will certainly remain a much-sought-after address, especially considering its wealth of amenities and proximity to the BAM Cultural District. Of its 740 apartments, 150 are reserved for New Yorkers earning less than 60 percent of the area media income, and as of tomorrow the lottery is open for these units, which range from $833/month studios to $1,082/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
October 13, 2016

Saddam Hussein had a secret torture chamber across from Mayor Bloomberg’s UES mansion

Opulent Upper East Side mansions are not exactly what come to mind when one thinks of brutal dictatorships and torture chambers, but a piece in the Post reveals that Saddam Hussein kept a hidden detention room in the basement of the Mission of Iraq at 14 East 79th Street--just a block from Central Park and right across the street from former Mayor Bloomberg's home. Two Iraqi officials, who spoke anonymously, told the paper that when Hussein rose to power in 1979, he had the prison room installed so that his military intelligence officers (the Mukhabarat) could torture local Iraqis, "using them as leverage to get their relatives back in the homeland to surrender and cooperate with the tyrannical government."
It gets worse...
October 13, 2016

Waitlist opens for affordable, four-bedroom co-ops in Lincoln Center, from $102K

The Lincoln-Amsterdam House is a 25-story co-op building that stretches from West 64th to 65th Streets along the eastern side of West End Avenue, just one block away from Lincoln Center. It's a Mitchell-Lama development, which, as 6sqft previously explained, is a program "created in 1955 to provide affordable rental and cooperative housing to moderate- and middle-income families." As of today, the 100-name waitlist is open for four-bedroom units in the building to households with a minimum of six persons earning between $33,440 and $149,531 annually. The co-ops will sell from $102,814 to $109,545.
Find out more
October 12, 2016

Meet the ‘Mayor of Gramercy Park’; the world’s best bar is in FiDi

This woman makes $140,000 a year controlling who goes in and out of Gramercy Park. [NY1] Though mainstays like Tribeca and Soho remained at the top, a list of the city’s top 50 most expensive neighborhoods show that up-and-coming ‘hoods like DUMBO and Forest Hills Gardens are outpacing Manhattan. [Metro] Perkins Eastman Architects’ Michael Lew talks about […]

October 12, 2016

New Renderings of Rogers Partners’ residence above historic Lower East Side bank building

At the end of last year, preservationists called on the city to landmark the Lower East Side's 1912 former bank building at the prominent corner of East Houston and Ludlow Streets. The request came after the owners revealed plans to construct a residential structure above the historic building. But despite much community opposition, they tapped Tribeca-based architects Rogers Partners to create a cantilevering, cube-like design (not unlike those we've seen of late from ODA) inspired by the work of artist Jasper Johns, who once lived and worked at the address. CityRealty now has new renderings of the 44,000-square-foot project at 225 East Houston Street, which will have 38 apartments and amenities including a roof deck, fitness center, residential lounge and terrace, bike storage, and laundry room.
Find out more
October 12, 2016

My 2,400sqft: Tour two art world professionals’ curated Greenwich Village loft

When you step into this Greenwich Village loft, there's a welcoming feeling of calm amid the unexpected combinations of Western and Asian art, historic and contemporary furniture, and traditional and eclectic objects. This can be attributed to the keen curation skills of the owners, who are affiliated with Chambers Fine Art, a New York- and Beijing-based gallery that specializes in contemporary Chinese art. For 10 years they've called this spacious apartment home, and 6sqft recently took a tour of the space and got the inside scoop on some of their most prized art pieces.
Take the tour here
October 12, 2016

Landmarks lauds Natural History Museum expansion plan, see new renderings

After revising its expansion plan last month to preserve more public parkland, the American Museum of Natural History had its day in front of the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday, and as DNAinfo reports, the agency lauded the plan for a new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation, with chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan referring to it as a "stunning piece of architecture" and an "absolutely wonderful addition." In making their determination, the Commission was presented with a slew of new renderings, which show the $325 million, Jeanne Gang-designed project from various angles, as well as new views of the surrounding parkland.
More renderings and next steps
October 11, 2016

New research says Sandy-like storms could occur in NYC every 20 years by the year 2100

With the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaching, many New Yorkers are still reeling from its devastation; in fact, the city recently allocated another $500 million in taxpayer money for repairs due to storm damage. And though this seems grim, a new study from a group of researchers at Princeton and Rutgers universities and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is even more troubling. Based on a storm-related computer simulation of flooding, "Hurricane Sandy’s Flood Frequency Increasing From Year 1800 to 2100" predicts that in a worse-case scenario, by the year 2100, such powerful storms will occur every 20 years, an increase of 17 times the current state, reports Phys.org.
Find out more details
October 11, 2016

Gloria Steinem’s vanished New York; City wants to add 600 new food vendors

Gloria Steinem shares delightful nuggets of lesser-known New York City history. [NYT] The 62-year-old fireboat that the city recently auctioned off for just $510 is becoming a floating restaurant/bar. [Eater] Behind the glasses with Gregory’s Coffee founder Gregory Zamfotis. [Sprudge] The City Council is considering legislation that would double the number of food vendor permits, ushering in 600 more […]

October 11, 2016

Fall getaway: Travel to the historic Inns of Aurora for an anti-Manhattan antidote

Now that fall is in full swing, why not take a weekend getaway upstate to the Finger Lakes wine country, where the fall foliage is in all its glory and the crisp air is perfect for cozying up next to a fire. The charming town of Aurora, located on a hill on the east side of Cayuga Lake is just a five-hour drive from the city, and here you'll find the Inns of Aurora, a collection of four very different historic properties with rooms to rent and a lot of history to share.
Join us on an historic tour of the Inns of Aurora
October 10, 2016

In 1892, NYC celebrated an entire Columbus Week

Annually, the Columbus Day parade draws nearly a million viewers to Fifth Avenue, but that's nothing compared to the festivities of 1892 when New Yorkers celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Italian explorer’s Caribbean landing for seven full days. Columbus Week was a completely decked out party with a Hudson River naval parade, Brooklyn Bridge fireworks, a music festival, and the first Columbus Day Parade, which consisted of 12,000 public school children, 5,500 Catholic school children, military drill squads, and 29 marching bands.
More history
October 9, 2016

Cheery Lower East Side co-op with custom storage asks $575K

Custom white lacquered cabinetry framed by dark mahogany trim, a sunny orange accent wall, and a sophisticated yet playful mix of patterns make this Lower East Side co-op cheery and cool. Located on a calm block of the otherwise bustling 'hood--just a block from the 2nd Avenue F station and well within the mix of trendy and old-school businesses--the convertible two-bedroom is asking a very reasonable $575,000.
See it all ahead
October 8, 2016

Weekly highlights: Top picks from the 6sqft staff

Affordable housing applicants with low credit scores and legal history now protected from discriminaton Live in a massive $8M West Village loft for just $1 a month Madonna says in court papers that UWS co-op rules shouldn’t apply to her because she’s famous New York Wheel’s four 500-ton legs arrive in New York harbor today […]

October 7, 2016

SHoP Architects designing world’s largest 3D-printed object; register to vote at city’s wi-fi kiosks

SHoP Architects are designing a pair of sculptural pavilions for Design Miami that will break the Guinness record for largest 3D-printed object. [Fast Co. Design] Chocolatiers Mast Brothers have new city-inspired collections based on their flagship locations in Brooklyn, London, and LA. [Design Milk] Could NYC benefit from Poland’s solar-charged, glow-in-the-dark bike lanes? [Inhabitat] Through October […]

October 7, 2016

New interactive website gives grades to the city’s failing bus routes

The NYC Bus Turnaround Coalition--a recently formed partnership of transit advocacy groups who believe the city's bus system is broken--released a report over the summer that called on the city to make improvements to the system, which is one of the slowest in the nation. Their latest tactic to get the message across comes in the form of an interactive website that gives grades to all 307 bus routes based on speed, ridership, and bunching (when several buses arrive all at once), as Streetsblog explains. There's also animated visualizations that illustrate the annoyances bus riders deal with compared to a hypothetical look at life riding a system not plagued by delays, outdated routes, and unreliable service.
READ MORE
October 7, 2016

41 affordable units up for grabs in Williamsburg, starting at $788/month

The city's latest affordable housing lottery is for 41 apartments in a newly constructed Williamsburg building just two blocks east of McCarren Park. A project of Dunn Development, the Meekerman is the second development in the state completed under the LIHC Mixed-Income Pilot Program, and it provides housing for those earning less than 40, 50, 60, and 80 percent of the area median income. Rents in the energy efficient building--it employs high-performance systems and appliances, as well as solar panels--range from $788/month for studios to $1,403/month for two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
October 7, 2016

ODA reveals renderings of Long Island City condo with inner courtyards

ODA Architects have been on a roll across the city over the past couple years, marking their territory with their cantilevering cube-itecture. The other design element they're becoming known for is the use of inner courtyards, seen most prominently at their massive Rheingold Brewery project and Bushwick hotel. They're now incorporating both signature features at a new condo project in Long Island City at 22-12 Jackson Avenue, directly adjacent to their rental at 22-22 Jackson and across from the giant 5Pointz redevelopment site and MoMA PS1. CityRealty brings us the first look at renderings of the 175-unit, H-shaped building, which is the latest in a string of developments in Court Square.
READ MORE
October 6, 2016

FXFOWLE reveals design for $70M Statue of Liberty Museum, complete with green roof

Four months after it was announced that FXFOWLE would be designing a new, free-standing museum for the Statue of Liberty, principal architect Nicholas Garrison has revealed renderings of his vision for the site at today's groundbreaking ceremony on Liberty Island. The $70 million project--which will be largely funded by fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg--features an angular-shaped, 26,000-square-foot building constructed of glass, granite and concrete that was inspired by its waterfront location. It'll sit across the circular plaza from the Statue and will "seemingly rise out of the ground," according to Crain's, thanks to its green roof that acts as an extension of the surrounding park.
More renderings and details this way
October 6, 2016

Flushing community center was inspired by holding hands; Staten Island restaurant employs grandmas instead of chefs

The new community center for Asian Americans for Equality in Flushing follows the concept of holding hands in interweaving fingers to express the group’s mission of helping others. [ArchDaily] Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria staffs its kitchen with a fleet of “nonnas” from around the world, cooking the cuisines of their native countries. [Gothamist] The Bronx’s Arthur Avenue is […]

October 6, 2016

New renderings and hotel details for Bjarke Ingels’ High Line towers, now dubbed ‘The Eleventh’

In a press release announcing that HFZ Capital Group is bringing a 137-key luxury Six Senses hotel and spa to Bjarke Ingels' pair of travertine-and-bronze towers along the High Line, 6sqft has learned that the $1.9 billion project at 76 Eleventh Avenue will officially be known as The Eleventh. The hotel announcement --which is interesting because in December 2015, the original plans for a hotel were replaced with office space--also came with several new renderings of the 28- and 38-story buildings, which are distinguished by their twisting silhouettes, glowing crowns, and two amenity-filled podium bridges that connect them.
More new views and details ahead
October 5, 2016

Live in a massive $8M West Village loft for just $1 a month

Yes, you read that correctly--you can move into a luxury 3,400-square-foot West Village loft that cost $8 million and pay only $1 month. Metro brings us the deal of the century, which was posted by Rupert Hunt, Founder and CEO of SpareRoom.com, a platform that helps people find roommates and spare rooms. Hunt recently moved to NYC and is looking for two roommates to share the loft, which is located on Bleecker Street just off 7th Avenue South. Unbelievably, each of the available bedrooms has its own walk-in closet, private bathroom, and office area, as well as access to the massive, open-plan lounge/dining room/kitchen and the 1,500-square-foot roof terrace with 360-degree views and a 17-seat barbecue area. Why, you ask, is Hunt charging just a $1 in a neighborhood where rooms rent for around $1,800 (and probably much more for a giant, tricked-out apartment like this)? For starters, he doesn't need the money, and he's also really excited about living with roommates.
More on this insane deal and a look around the apartment
October 5, 2016

POLL: Which Penn Station scheme do you prefer, Governor Cuomo’s or Vishaan Chakrabarti’s?

When Governor Cuomo revealed his plans for a new Penn Station-Moynihan Train Hall complex early last week, things seemed to be moving full steam towards a 2020 completion date thanks to flashy renderings and the selection of a high-profile developer-builder team. But architect Vishaan Chakrabarti was not convinced, and he and his firm the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism decided to create their own vision, one that repurposes Madison Square Garden, a facet of the plan he feels Cuomo failed to address.
Tell us which scheme you prefer