All articles by Devin Gannon

New Brooklyn Museum exhibit will explore the legacy of Studio 54 for the first time

Dustin Pittman. Stroke of Midnight at Studio, 1978–79. Photograph, 15x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist. © Dustin Pittman

September 16, 2019

New Brooklyn Museum exhibit will explore the legacy of Studio 54 for the first time

By Devin Gannon

An exhibition opening at the Brooklyn Museum next year will explore for the first time the enduring impact of Studio 54. Opening in March, Studio 54: Night Magic examines the influence that the disco-era nightclub continues to have on design, cinema, and fashion today. Iconic photography and roughly 650 objects, including drawings, paintings, music, and decor, will be on display.
Get the details

Events & Things To Do

Photo courtesy of CityRealty

September 16, 2019

Application fee for New York rentals officially capped at $20

By Devin Gannon

New York officially capped the cost of applying for an apartment at $20, clearing up confusion over a key part of rent reform legislation passed earlier this summer. The Department of State announced on Friday that licensed real estate brokers and salespeople cannot charge more than $20 for a rental application, as Gothamist first reported. The DOS released a set of guidelines to help real estate professionals understand the new rent laws.
More here

Policy

Long Island City’s Skyline Tower is now the tallest outer-borough building

Rendering by Binyan Studios

September 13, 2019

Long Island City’s Skyline Tower is now the tallest outer-borough building

By Devin Gannon

A tower on the rise in Queens just became the tallest building in New York City outside of Manhattan. Hitting the 63rd floor, Skyline Tower has officially surpassed in height its neighbor and previous record-holder, the 673-foot-tall Citigroup Building. Located at 23-15 44th Drive, the new Long Island City tower offers studio to four-bedroom homes, priced between $500,000 and $4 million. Upon its completion, Skyline Tower will reach 762 feet and contain roughly 800 condos.
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NYC’s subway is finally starting to improve, MTA says

Photo by Dan Phiffer on Flickr

September 13, 2019

NYC’s subway is finally starting to improve, MTA says

By Devin Gannon

After an abysmal couple of summers, New York City's subway system finally saw significant improvement in service this year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Thursday. According to data from the agency set to release in full next week, the on-time performance rate reached 84 percent on weekdays last month, up from just over 68 percent last August. That is the highest on-time performance, which measures the percentage of trains that reach their terminal location within five minutes of their planned arrival, recorded in roughly six years.
More this way

Transit

New exhibit from photographers James and Karla Murray celebrates mom-and-pop storefronts of NYC

Photo © James and Karla Murray

September 9, 2019

New exhibit from photographers James and Karla Murray celebrates mom-and-pop storefronts of NYC

By Devin Gannon

A free photography exhibition highlighting mom-and-pop shops of New York City opens in the East Village next week. Photographers and award-winning authors James and Karla Murray hosted two workshops earlier this year on using photography and oral history to "raise public awareness, build community, and encourage advocacy." The free exhibition, "Capturing the Faces & Voices of Mom-And-Pop Storefronts," shows off the photos and interviews from the workshop's participants, as well as large-scale photos of now-shuttered East Village shops, taken by James and Karla.
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Events & Things To Do

Contest calls on New Yorkers to eat a slice of pizza in every borough in one day, using only public transit

Photo by City Foodsters on Flickr

September 6, 2019

Contest calls on New Yorkers to eat a slice of pizza in every borough in one day, using only public transit

By Devin Gannon

In what may be the most New York competition ever, the annual 5 Boro Pizza Challenge returns this month, asking participants to combine their love of slices and public transportation. The contest involves five pizzerias in five boroughs. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the list of shops will be revealed, sending racers off to plot their journeys. Another NYC twist? The use of cars to travel between destinations is not allowed.
More delicious details this way

City seeks nonprofit to run NYC’s first cultural institution dedicated to immigrants

Inwood Hill Park, courtesy of Dana on Flickr

September 6, 2019

City seeks nonprofit to run NYC’s first cultural institution dedicated to immigrants

By Devin Gannon

The city is seeking proposals from nonprofits interested in running a new immigrant research center and performing arts center in Inwood. The city's Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) released a request for expressions of interest on Wednesday for a nonprofit organization to "design, construct, and operate" the Northern Manhattan Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center (IRPAC). The neighborhood boasts a diverse community, with 49 percent foreign-born as well as the city's highest concentration of residents of Dominican descent.
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De Blasio considers helmet requirement for Citi Bike riders

Photo by Shinya Suzuki on Flickr

September 5, 2019

De Blasio considers helmet requirement for Citi Bike riders

By Devin Gannon

Twenty cyclists have been killed in New York City so far this year, double the number of deaths from 2018. In response, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled in July a plan to spend roughly $58 million over the next five years to make streets safer for cyclists by adding protected bike lanes and redesigning intersections. This week the mayor said his office is looking into some new ideas: requiring Citi Bike riders to wear helmets and making bikers obtain licenses (h/t Gothamist).
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Expect more cuts to L train service this fall

Photo by Stephen Rees on Flickr

September 5, 2019

Expect more cuts to L train service this fall

By Devin Gannon

While the L train slowdown has gone largely unnoticed so far by commuters, the MTA is throwing an unexpected wrench in next weekend's travel plans. The L train will not run between Manhattan and Brooklyn from Friday, Sept. 13 to early Monday, Sept. 16 to make space for new accessibility projects, the agency announced on Wednesday. The shutdown allows the MTA to install an escalator at the Union Square station and make the L and F, M platform at 14th Street-6th Avenue more accessible.
Find out more

Transit

Penn Station’s popular Tracks bar has shuttered

Photo © 6sqft

September 4, 2019

Penn Station’s popular Tracks bar has shuttered

By Devin Gannon

Penn Station's longtime oyster bar has officially closed its doors. After nearly two decades, Tracks Raw Bar & Grill will relocate from its spot underneath the Midtown West transit hub to a new location nearby at 220 West 31st Street, as first reported by Untapped Cities. As 6sqft learned in June, the bar, along with nine other businesses, was forced to vacate to make way for a new Penn Station entrance, part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $600 million overhaul of the station.
More details here

Take a jazz-filled tour of historic Fort Greene homes

By Devin Gannon

While it's always easy to admire the stunning brownstones of Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood from the outside, here's your chance to appreciate them up close. The 34th Fort Greene House Tour takes place on Sunday, Sept. 22, opening up unique homes from the 19th-century to architecture enthusiasts. Hosted by the Fort Greene Association, the theme of this year's tour is "Houses, History & All That Jazz," with some homes on tour featuring live music, in honor of the neighborhood's musical legacy.
How to get tickets

Fashion brands reportedly boycott The Shed over Stephen Ross ties

Photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Shed

September 4, 2019

Fashion brands reportedly boycott The Shed over Stephen Ross ties

By Devin Gannon

After news broke last month about the Hamptons fundraiser Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross hosted for President Donald Trump, there were calls to boycott organizations owned by his company. While Equinox, SoulCycle, and David Chang's Momofuku Restaurant Group separated themselves from Ross to clear the air, some fashion brands have more recently blacklisted Ross-linked entities, including the arts center The Shed at Hudson Yards, which was developed by Related. The New York Post reported this week that Michael Kors, Vera Wang, and the Academy of Art have canceled shows at the venue following the fundraiser fallout in August.
Is The Shed so last year?

Uncategorized

Rikers Island, photo by Tim Rodenberg on Wikimedia

September 3, 2019

City Planning Commission approves plan to build four borough-based jails as Rikers replacement

By Devin Gannon

The City Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a plan to replace the Rikers Island complex with four new jails across the city. The plan, unveiled by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017, would close Rikers by 2026 by moving inmates to new, smaller facilities in Lower Manhattan, the South Bronx, Downtown Brooklyn, and Kew Gardens. Despite disapproval from four community boards, three borough presidents, and criminal justice advocates, nine CPC members voted in favor of the plan, with three opposed and one abstained. The proposal will move to the City Council on Thursday for a public hearing.
More here

New rent laws leave ambiguity over application fee cap

Via Creative Commons

September 3, 2019

New rent laws leave ambiguity over application fee cap

By Devin Gannon

Some real estate brokers in New York City continue to charge prospective renters more than $20 for application fees despite a new state law that prohibits landlords from doing so. The new measure, passed in June by state lawmakers as part of a major rent reform package, says a "landlord, sub-lessor or grantor" cannot charge applicants more than $20 for background and credit checks. But, as the New York Times reported on Monday, the language of the law does not specifically include brokers.
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Policy

Lottery launches for 169 affordable units near Fordham University, from $475/month

Photo by Kristine Paulus on Flickr

August 29, 2019

Lottery launches for 169 affordable units near Fordham University, from $475/month

By Devin Gannon

Applications are currently being accepted for 169 newly constructed affordable apartments in the Bronx neighborhood of Fordham Manor. Located at 2519 Creston Avenue just half mile from Fordham University's campus, the building sits on a corner overlooking St. James Park. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 50, 60, 80, 90, and 110 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, ranging from a $475/month studio to a $2,158/month three-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Midtown’s iconic Paris Theatre has closed

Photo by Ajay Suresh on Flickr

August 29, 2019

Midtown’s iconic Paris Theatre has closed

By Devin Gannon

New York City's last single-screen movie theater shuttered this week. The Paris Theatre, which has been located on 58th Street since 1948, has officially closed its doors, according to the blog Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. The 568-seat theatre showed indie and foreign flicks, particularly French films.
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City Living

Harlem church’s rezoning proposal includes new tower and music school, but still no developer

Rendering by FXCollaborative

August 28, 2019

Harlem church’s rezoning proposal includes new tower and music school, but still no developer

By Devin Gannon

A Harlem church looking to rezone part of Central Park North revealed plans this week to incorporate a music school and cultural center to its proposal for a 33-story residential tower. During a City Planning Commission hearing on Wednesday, La Hermosa Christian Church and FXCollaborative presented their design for the apartment building and the three-story community facility space. Congregants and church officials say the building at 5 West 110th Street is deteriorating, with many of its spaces unusable and inaccessible. "The project that we're proposing means the survival of our church," La Hermosa Pastor Dan Feliciano told the commissioners.
Get the details

Updated design revealed for long-awaited Willoughby Square Park in Downtown Brooklyn

Rendering by Hargreaves Jones, courtesy of NYCEDC

August 28, 2019

Updated design revealed for long-awaited Willoughby Square Park in Downtown Brooklyn

By Devin Gannon

The city unveiled on Monday an updated design for its Willoughby Square Park project, which has been 15 years in the making. The city's Economic Development Corporation and Hargreaves Jones Landscape Architecture presented revised plans to Brooklyn's Community Board, which include lawn space, promenade, and seating near City Point's Dekalb Market, as Bklyner reported.
See the design

Architecture And Design

The history of Brooklyn’s Caribbean Carnival, the most colorful event in New York City

Via Run With Scissors on Flickr

August 28, 2019

The history of Brooklyn’s Caribbean Carnival, the most colorful event in New York City

By Devin Gannon

Every Labor Day, millions of people gather in Brooklyn to celebrate Caribbean culture at the West Indian-American Day Carnival. Since the early 20th century, the Carnival, which first got its start in the United States in Harlem, has brought together New Yorkers through beautiful costumes, music, dance, and food of the West Indies. Starting in the 1960s, the festival has taken over Crown Heights' Eastern Parkway, uniting many islands (Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Haiti, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and Grenda, Guyana, Suriname and Belize, and others) in one extravagant party. As one of New York City's largest, and certainly most colorful, events, the Carnival should not be missed. Ahead, learn about the history of the parade, the traditions that thrive to this day and the details of this year's festival.
More this way

Homemade, illuminated lanterns will float above Morningside Heights

Photo from 2018’s Morningside Lights festival by Michael Seto via Flickr

August 27, 2019

Homemade, illuminated lanterns will float above Morningside Heights

By Devin Gannon

The sky above Morningside Heights will soon come alive with illuminated, handmade lanterns. The Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts next month will host its annual "Morningside Lights" festival, which allows community members to make their own lanterns and float them in a procession through Morningside Park to Columbia's campus. Free workshops will be hosted each day at the Miller Theatre leading up to the event from Sept. 14-20, with the magical march happening on Saturday, Sept. 21.
It's lit

Events & Things To Do

Trump inexplicably offers help with Second Avenue Subway extension, with no plan in place

Photo via jseliger2 on Flickr

August 26, 2019

Trump inexplicably offers help with Second Avenue Subway extension, with no plan in place

By Devin Gannon

President Donald Trump offered to help complete the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway in a tweet on Saturday, surprising New York officials who said no agreement had been reached. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is still seeking federal funding for phase two, which extends the Q line from its terminus at 96th Street north to 125th Street in East Harlem and is estimated to cost $6 billion.
More here

Transit

Try food from all 30 MLB ballparks in NYC next month

Photo by Kevin Harber on Flickr

August 23, 2019

Try food from all 30 MLB ballparks in NYC next month

By Devin Gannon

Forget the peanuts and Cracker Jacks. A food festival coming to New York City next month will serve out-of-the-box ballpark food from all 30 Major League Baseball teams, from toasted grasshoppers to bulgogi beef egg rolls. In its second year, the MLB FoodFest, presented by Budweiser, will take place on Sept. 21 and 22 in Midtown. Tickets cost $35 for unlimited vendor tastings or $50 for food and three beers.
Calling all baseball lovers

Steven Holl-designed Hunters Point Library to finally open next month

Photo by Vitali Ogorodnikov for 6sqft

August 23, 2019

Steven Holl-designed Hunters Point Library to finally open next month

By Devin Gannon

The long-awaited Hunters Point Library will open in Long Island City next month, more than eight years after its futuristic design was revealed, library officials announced Thursday. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the concrete building with carved windows sits on the East River and boasts sweeping Manhattan views. After many construction and financial delays, the library will officially open on September 24.
More here

Architecture And Design

City updates housing lottery policy to ease process for immigrants and low-income New Yorkers

Via Creative Commons

August 21, 2019

City updates housing lottery policy to ease process for immigrants and low-income New Yorkers

By Devin Gannon

New Yorkers applying for affordable housing no longer need to provide credit scores or social security numbers, making it easier for low-income and undocumented immigrant households to qualify, the city announced Wednesday. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development expanded the guidelines of its affordable housing lottery policy to allow applicants to show 12 months of positive rental history instead of a credit check run by a landlord. This erases the need for adult household members to provide a social security number or an individual tax identification number.
Get the details

Photo courtesy of sarahtarno on Flickr

August 21, 2019

JetBlue installs its logo on Long Island City’s landmarked Pepsi-Cola sign

By Devin Gannon

The iconic red Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City got a new look on Tuesday. In partnership with the soda company, JetBlue began installing this week an illuminated logo, a blue arrow, and a picture of an airplane on the sign that overlooks the East River, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The signage, which will only be up until Oct. 1, advertises the airline's switch from serving Coca-Cola to PepsiCo products earlier this summer.
More here

Uncategorized

All articles by Devin Gannon

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