All articles by Diane Pham

Diane is the founder and Editorial Director of 6sqft. After graduating from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Real Estate Finance & Development and a minor in Architecture, she enjoyed stints at SCI-Arc, the A+D Museum Los Angeles, Perkins Eastman Architects and Resolution 4: Architecture. She also previously served as Senior Editor of Inhabitat.com and spent several years as an analyst at CB Richard Ellis Investments in Milan, Italy.
October 7, 2015

Cities Would Take Up 37 Percent More Space if It Were Not for Public Transit

The major benefits of public transportation are clear: riding the subway or bus is way cheaper than maintaing a car, and more often than not, it's a much faster means of getting from point A to point B. But as Streetsblog points out in this recent study by the Transportation Research Board, transit is a major of driver of density within a city, and it's something that incentivizes developers and city planners to put things closer together. While this may not be an earth-shattering revelation to you, if you quantify the effect, you just might be surprised. According to the report, U.S. cities on average would take up 37 percent more space to house current populations if it were not for public transit.
Find out more here
October 5, 2015

Watch New York City Get Blown Up With the ‘Every Demolition in Manhattan’ Map

You’ve surely realized by now that New York is in the midst of a building boom, but if all the cranes and scaffolding rising from the ground aren't enough convince you that you're living in a pretty historic moment, look no further than this incredible map to put all that construction in perspective. Called Every Demolition in Manhattan, this animated survey tracks every demolition that's taken place in the city from 2003 through 2014.
find out more here
October 5, 2015

October 18th Is Your LAST CHANCE to See the TWA Flight Terminal In All Its Glory

If you’re an architectural purist who’s somehow managed to miss exploring Eero Saarinen’s masterpiece at JFK in person all these year, you won't want to miss out on what will foreseeably be your last chance to experience the structure as it was meant to be. For one day only, the iconic building will open to the public for FREE for just four hours as part of the annual Open House New York Weekend festival. As written in an OHNY Weekend press release, Sunday, October 18th, "is likely to be the last time the TWA Flight Center will be open to the public in its current form." As 6sqft previously reported, the terminal will soon be redeveloped into a 505-room hotel by MCR Development and JetBlue.
FInd out more details here
September 30, 2015

120 Years Ago Today, The NY Times Wrote of a Sea Serpent Spotted off the Coast

There's a lot of strange stuff floating around the Hudson River, but this just might be the best thing ever spotted in its murky waters. On September 30, 1895, the headline "THINKS HE SAW A SEA SERPENT" made its way into the pages of the New York Times. The article (h/t Gothamist), spoke of a Newark, New Jersey man named Philip N. Jackson who confirmed to reporters that he had indeed seen the same sea monster spotted just a week earlier by a Manhattan resident by the name of Willard P. Shaw. Jackson told the Times that with "his naked eye," he saw the serpent zipping through the water, at times whipping its 100-foot-long body into the air.
Find out more here
September 30, 2015

Are Skyscrapers Killing Great Cities?; Mapping What Parts of NYC Have Unused Development Rights

How a crummy suburb turns into a beloved urban neighborhood. [The Atlantic] An argument on why skyscrapers are killing great cities and why old buildings are better. [Treehugger] Here are the NYC areas harboring unused or excess development rights. [Curbed] The Staten Island Ferry is getting increased service. [NYDN] More renters are turning to self-storage in the outer boroughs as a […]

September 29, 2015

#Rorschmap Turns Any Address Into a Psychedelic ‘Rorschach Blot’

Yes, it's only Tuesday...The fact that we've barely made a dent in the week is probably about to send you (like us) spiraling into a mental breakdown. But don't fret, here's a fun way to check in on your emotional well-being while also killing some time from the convenience of your desk—and all powered by Google at that! Called the #Rorschmap, this fun app allows you punch in any address, and in return for your efforts, it'll offer up a mesmerizing kaleidoscopic design of your requested locale.
Take a mental break with the #Rorschmap here
September 29, 2015

Owner of Grand Central Sues City and One Vanderbilt Developer for $1.1 Billion

Grand Central owner Andrew Penson is back in the news again, this time suing the city and One Vanderbilt developer SL Green for a princely sum of $1.1 billion. As the NY Times reports, Penson is claiming that the 65-story behemoth slated to rise next door to the historic structure has led to the devaluation of his air rights atop the terminal. Penson claims that the de Blasio administration, the City Council and SL Green "deprived him of his property rights when the city gave SL Green permission to build a 1,501-foot tall office tower, without having to buy any air rights from him." By allowing for a tower twice the size of what was zoned for the block "for free" (but really, in exchange for a $220M investment into the subway infrastructure beneath Grand Central), his air rights have been rendered "worthless."
More on the lawsuit here
September 28, 2015

Explore Manhattan When It Was Just Forests and Creeks With the 1609 Welikia Map

It's hard to imagine New York as anything but a dense landscape of glassy towers, apartment buildings and millions of bodies moving throughout the streets. But once upon a time, the city wasn't much more than forests, creeks and wildlife. The Welikia Project, formerly known as the Mannahatta Project, has gotten a powerful update that now lets you explore the city's historic ecology using a satellite map that imagines how Manhattan might have looked back in 1609—and all the years between then and now.
Access the NYC of 1609 here
September 28, 2015

The Most Expensive Home in Every State; Billionaire Peter Morton Nabs Two Village Condos for $25.5M

Whole Foods is cutting 1,500 jobs, reportedly as a way to reduce prices for its customers. [Gothamist] From North Dakota to New York, here are the most expensive homes in each state. [BI] The Brooklyn Bar Barge is finally open. [B+B] Three historic Manhattan churches were denied landmark status. [Crain’s] Billionaire Peter Morton, the co-founder of the […]

September 25, 2015

Find Out What Businesses Were on Your Block Way Back in 1855 With This Interactive Map

If you think your neighborhood has changed since you moved in, step back and have a look at this incredible map to get some real perspective. One of the many maps maintained within the NYPL's Map Warper project, this particular cartogram dubbed the 1855 New York Business Map shows the location of more than 3,000 mid-19th century New York businesses—as well as some other fun stuff like stables, churches and schools. Want to know what life was like in your neighborhood way back in 1855? Jump ahead for more.
Access the map here
September 23, 2015

Can the Pope Help Stop Extell’s South Street Tower?; Christina Aguilera Tours a $105M Condo

Inside the NY apartment linked to an investigation of Malaysia’s prime minister. [Quartz] Predictions for the fall real estate market. [DNA Info] Locals want the Pope’s help in stopping Extell’s controversial 800-foot tower neighboring the Manhattan Bridge. [Bowery Boogie] Christina Aguilera reportedly toured the $105M penthouse at 100 Barclay Street. The unit sits atop the Ralph […]

September 23, 2015

New York City Now Has Over 1,000 Miles of Bike Lanes!

1,010.2 miles to be exact. Yesterday morning, NYC reached the milestone figure with the painting of its latest lane in the Lower East Side along Clinton Street. In addition to this, the Department of Transportation announced that yet another 12 miles of protected lanes would be completed by the year's end between West 14th Street and West 33rd Street. The number is above the city's five-mile annual target, and the highest amount ever installed in any year. The news, a blessing to cyclists citywide, certainly supports the fact that New York is set on strengthening the cycling culture of the city—which has already been named by Bicycling Magazine as 2015's best American city for bikes.
More here
September 22, 2015

SHoP’s Billionaires’ Row Supertall Gets a Spectacular Real-Life Mockup

Rendering versus reality? SHoP can certainly boast that the real thing will look as good, if not better, than the drawings they've put out. Yesterday afternoon, JDS Development Instagrammed (h/t Curbed) an amazing shot of a scale model facade of their ultra-skinny tower going up at 111 West 57th Street. The mockup features the same materials and finishes that will be applied to the actual construction, and by any stretch of the imagination, if you multiply this beauty's terracotta, glass, and bronze filigree to its 1,428-foot potential, it will certainly be one of the city's most striking buildings. Who says architects don't care about detail anymore?
More this way
September 22, 2015

Lawsuit Against Brooklyn Pierhouse Dismissed; The Queens Nabe Where Donald Trump Grew Up

The lawsuit against the Brooklyn Pierhouse over a 30-foot bulkhead blocking views has been dismissed. [Brownstoner] Rent the Williamsburg space that housed the now-shuttered Trash Bar for $20K a month. [Brokelyn] The Times delves deep into the Queens neighborhood where Donald Trump grew up—the wealthy enclave of Jamaica Estates. [NYT] The Second Avenue subway could be […]

September 21, 2015

Infographic: The Most Popular Housing Typology in Major Cities Across the U.S.

The American dream may be to own a sprawling single-family home with a picket fence, but clearly very few New Yorkers are interested in that fantasy. Instead, as this fascinating infographic breaking down the most-popular housing typologies across the 40 largest U.S. cities points out, less than 10 percent of NYC inhabitants live in a detached single unit. The majority, in fact, reside in buildings with 20 or more apartments.
See how 40 of America's largest cities stack up against one another
September 21, 2015

Building More Housing for the Homeless Would Save Us Money in the Long Run

Today, proponents of building more supportive housing will meet with the de Blasio administration to convince them that New York is in dire need of 35,000 new housing units statewide—and both the state and city should fund it. Currently, there are over 80,000 individuals without homes, including a number here in the city who are employed but still have salaries too small to afford NYC's skyrocketing rents. While there has been plenty of talk about how the issue needs remedying, action has yet to be taken. In an op-ed written this morning for Crain's, Enterprise Community Partners' Judi Kende sounds off on why, though we may think that building all these homes is way too expensive, ignoring the problem will cost us more financially in the long run.
More on what she said here
September 18, 2015

It’s Official! JetBlue Will Turn the Iconic TWA Flight Terminal at JFK Into a Hotel

No longer will the fate of Eero Saarinen’s architectural masterpiece sit in limbo, Crain's reports that the iconic structure will indeed be made into a hotel, developed through a partnership between MCR Development and JetBlue. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chose the pair amongst a "field of several competitors" bidding for the job, and the decision will be formally announced at the agency's board meeting next week. As we previously reported, the new destination will be known as the TWA Flight Center Hotel.
more details this way
September 18, 2015

Nets Rookie Shares a NJ Apartment With Two Roommates Because He Can’t Afford NY Rents

You aren't going to sucker Nets rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson into shelling out thousands and thousands a month just for a NYC zip code. As the Journal writes, the 20-year-old has called the city's rents "ridiculous," and even though he's earning $1.33 million for his first year with the NBA team, he'd rather have roommates than blow all that cash on an apartment.
more on what the Nets Rookie said here