Brooklyn

Conversations about the Gowanus Canal are usually accompanied with a quip about STDs or mutant dolphins, but all joking aside, there's no denying its murky waters also carry quite a bit of mystery and allure. The infrastructure, the architecture, and of course what's floating within, is nothing short of intriguing, because really, what's actually down there? Researchers at the Brooklyn Atlantis Project are just as curious as we are and they've constructed an unmanned water vehicle to go where no sane man dare go.
Find out more here

Uncategorized

April 8, 2015

$1.3M Brooklyn Heights Pad Boasts Beamed Ceilings with Plenty of Skylights

Few things sound better than living above an 1843 Brooklyn Heights brownstone with the Promenade literally steps away, and that’s what this 1,300-square-foot apartment at 28 Remsen Street has to offer. And more than that, the $1.275 million co-op offers multiple skylights that are more like sunroofs because they actually open to let in the breeze.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

April 7, 2015

Brooklyn’s Most Expensive Condo Relists for $32M, Is So Large Owners Can’t Find Each Other

Imagine this: You and your spouse have both been home for three hours, but neither one of you knows the other is there because your home is that big. It's a "problem" most New Yorkers can't fathom, but for one Brooklyn couple it's encouraged them to relist their 11,000-square-foot triplex for $32 million, making it the borough's most expensive condo listing ever. Stuart and Claire Leaf originally listed their home in May, but then took it off the market in February after getting cold feet about moving. As the Wall Street Journal reports, "The apartment is a combination of no less than nine units spanning the 10th, 11th and 12th floors of the waterfront condo One Brooklyn Bridge Park." It includes six bedrooms, two deeded parking spaces, a 3,500-bottle wine room, a gym with a rock-climbing wall, a screening room, and a 75-foot-long terrace.
Take a look around the mega-home here

Distinctive Homes

April 6, 2015

Historic Prospect Heights Townhouse with Glass Addition Wants $4M

Want to live in an awesome Prospect Heights townhouse and earn money at the same time? This gorgeous home built in 1910 is currently set up as an owner's triplex with a one-bedroom income suite on the garden level. It must've undergone a pretty intense renovation considering the owners paid $900,000 for it back in 2007, and now it's back on the market asking $4,075,000. And it has some pretty impressive features, like floor-to-ceiling windows and a floating staircase in the back of the house, which was positioned to join the original building with the four-story glass curtain wall addition. You'll find exposed brick throughout the home, whether original, whitewashed, or boasting a deep blue hue. There are also keystones with a man's face carved in them at the entrance.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

April 3, 2015

Mad for Modern: NYC Homes That Are Cooler Than Don Draper’s Park Avenue Pad

We admit it: We’re a bit obsessed with mid-20th century modern design–its architecturally and socially advanced concepts so often result in a perfect mix of aesthetic appeal and livability. Sometimes met with suspicion and derision in its earlier days, modernist architecture has endured the test of time and is having an enormous resurgence in popularity and appreciation. How else could you explain fans' obsession with the award-winning and pitch-perfect mid-mod sets on Matthew Weiner’s “Mad Men.” It’s often said that the best ideas in home design are the ones that make the home a great place to live; the origins of modernist design had that idea at their heart. We've rounded up a few of the city’s mid-century architectural treasures and a handful of homes that embody modernist style.
More on the 'Mad Men'sets and NYC's Mid-Century Modern gems this way

April 2, 2015

Bask in Manhattan Views from the Roof Deck of This $2.4M DUMBO Loft

There's a $2.4 million pad at 50 Bridge Street in DUMBO just waiting to show off its spectacular architecture and indescribable views. This 2,200 square-foot triplex loft has it all, including a private roof deck with views of the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and the East River, all in one hot neighborhood.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

What the NYC skyline could look like in 2018, via CityRealty

March 31, 2015

City Council Task Force Will Look at Park Shadows Cast by Supertall Towers

It comes up every time a rendering is released for the latest supertall tower –how will the massive structure impede the views of its neighbors and what kind of obstructive shadows will it cast below? With a dozen supertalls (1,000 feet or higher) in the construction or planning stages in Manhattan, the threats are imminent and unavoidable, but Councilman Mark Levine hopes to get ahead of the issue moving forward. Levine, who chairs the parks committee, will introduce legislation today to create a task force that will examine, as he put it, "the looming threat of shadows falling on our parks from the rising number of skyscrapers," according to Capital New York.
More information here

Fly-Through Video of ODA’s 10 Jay Street Shows Crystalline Facade from Every Angle

Rendering via ODA

March 30, 2015

Fly-Through Video of ODA’s 10 Jay Street Shows Crystalline Facade from Every Angle

We've been seeing a lot of innovative work from ODA Architecture lately–from their Bushwick rental project that looks uncannily similar to a project by Bjarke Ingels in Denmark to their provocative ziggurat-like proposal for Gowanus. And last week, their design for the northern façade of 10 Jay Street in Dumbo won approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The site was formerly a sugar refinery, which inspired ODA's crystal-like design, and the warehouse will be turned into condos with ground-floor retail. We've now uncovered a fly-through video of the building, which shows the façade from every angle. The video description says: "When there is no wall to preserve and no façade to restore, contemporary architecture can tell a story about a sequence of historical events. The architect is a visual biographer writing a tale of one building from 1897 to 2015 arguably doing more for preservation than imitating reality."
Watch the video here

March 29, 2015

Design Vidal’s Peter Hassler Breathes New Life into an Historic Bed-Stuy Brownstone

By Annie Doge

When owner Peter Hassler wanted to update his Bed-Stuy brownstone, the budding designer took matters into his own hands. After living there for nearly a decade, he teamed up with Design Vidal, a Los Angeles-based firm that specializes in restoring historic buildings. The partnership helped give Hassler's Stuyvesant Avenue home–built in 1892–a much-needed renovation, while also breathing new life into its original accents.
See how they balanced the old with the new

March 27, 2015

REVEALED: ODA Architects Design Cantilevering Ziggurats for Gowanus Site

By Ondel Hylton

Another eye- and volume-popping mega-project by ODA Architects may be coming to Brooklyn, and this week's chosen neighborhood is Gowanus. A recently posted video by ODA delves into the thought process of Eran Chen's burgeoning firm and provides some shots of their recent work, including the provocative rendering shown here. We recognized the location only by the "Stop & Frisk Hands Off the Kids" text scrawled across the defunct Brooklyn Rapid Transit Powerhouse building (the "Bat Cave") and pinpointed the project for the full-block parcel at 175-225 Third Street purchased by Kushner Companies and LIVWRK last year. Update via LIVWRK/Kushner’s reps: "The developers are not working with ODA on this project and these designs do not represent our vision for this site or the Gowanus. We are committed to putting forth an outstanding plan that respects the context of the neighborhood and responds to the voices of local stakeholders.” As it turns out, ODA is one of many firms that pitched, and the design was ultimately turned down because it was out of touch with the direction of the neighborhood. Though it won't come to fruition, it does give some scale of what's to come—which will indeed be transformative for the area.
More information here

March 27, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Gil Shapiro of Urban Archaeology Re-Imagines Beautiful Old Things

Native New Yorker Gil Shapiro founded Urban Archaeology in the early 1970s, when the salvaging movement was just catching on. With a collector’s–and creator's–eye and an entrepreneurial spirit, he began re-imagining architectural remnants as treasured additions to the home environment. This month the company has been preparing for an auction taking place on March 27th and 28th, handled by Guernsey’s auction house, when nearly 1,000 of their long-treasured pieces of history will be sold to prepare for a move to a new location. First opened in Soho in 1978, the store's early customers–including Andy Warhol and other denizens of what was undisputedly the epicenter of the art world–adored the unique and time-treasured aspects of Shapiro's restored architectural salvage pieces, yet they would always find ways they wished they could customize their favorite items. Finding that he excelled at bringing a fresh perspective to pieces of historical and architectural importance, he started reproducing individual pieces as well as creating new lines of bath fixtures and lighting, many of which originated in places like the Plaza Hotel, New York’s Yale Club and the St. Regis Hotel.
Read our interview with Gil here

March 27, 2015

This Fort Greene Townhouse Looks All Grown Up, but Quirky Details Just for Kids Abound

We know New Yorkers love to spoil their kids, but this incredible renovation of a Fort Greene townhouse by Leone Design Studio takes things to a whole new level. As stunning and sophisticated a space as you'd expect when walking into a historic Brooklyn townhouse, this home also boasts tons of details dedicated to its pint-sized residents.
Have a peek inside here

Distinctive Homes

March 27, 2015

$2.2M Brooklyn Heights Loft with Gothic-Style Stained Glass Windows Is Simply Heavenly

By Stephanie Hoina

No matter what your spiritual beliefs, we think it’s safe to argue that throughout history churches have represented some of the most beautiful architecture in the world, and the historic Presbyterian Church at 99 Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights is no exception. Within its rich, mid-nineteenth-century stone exterior you will find this thoughtfully converted two-bedroom duplex loft, blessed with double-height ceilings, original wide-plank hardwood floors, exposed beams, and a series of stunning stained glass windows that will make living here feel like your own little piece of heaven.
Check out the gorgeous windows

Distinctive Homes

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

Image by Jorbasa Fotografie / Flickr

March 24, 2015

Rent Stabilization Demystified: Know the Rules, Your Rights, and if You’re Getting Cheated

In New York City there are currently about one million rent stabilized apartments–about 47 percent of the city’s rental units. So why is it so hard to snag one? What are the benefits of having one (other than affordable rent, of course)? According to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board nearly 250,000 rental units have lost the protections of rent regulation since 1994. Why are we "losing" so many of them?
Find out the facts and how they could affect you

REVEALED: ODA’s New Bushwick Rental Project Looks a Lot Like BIG’s 8 Tallet in Copenhagen

ODA’s 10 Montieth Street (L); BIG’s 8 Tallet (R)

March 20, 2015

REVEALED: ODA’s New Bushwick Rental Project Looks a Lot Like BIG’s 8 Tallet in Copenhagen

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Bjarke Ingels should give himself a big pat on the back. A newly revealed residential design by architectural firm ODA for the Rheingold Brewery site in Bushwick looks a lot like Bjark Ingels Group's (BIG) 8 Tallet in Copenhagen. The Denmark building takes the shape of a figure 8 with a sloping ramp that runs from the base of the building to its roof, creating a large interior courtyard. Similarly, the 400-unit rental building planned for Bushwick at 10 Montieth Street has a subtle bow-tie shape with a sloping, zig-zagging green roof and amenity-laden courtyard. And just as 8 Tallet is the largest private development ever undertaken in Denmark, ODA's 400,000-square-foot building would be the largest residential building ever built in the area if completed.
More details on the proposed project

The High and Low: Two Cozy Brooklyn Heights Duplexes Battle It Out

115 Willow Street, $2.35 million (L); 108 Pierrepont Street, $575,000 (R)

March 19, 2015

The High and Low: Two Cozy Brooklyn Heights Duplexes Battle It Out

This freshly-listed, charming bi-level bolt-hole in prime Brooklyn Heights at 108 Pierrepont Street may be petite, but it's tucked into the same elegant neighborhood as the house-like duplex at 115 Willow Street, also new to the market, that's going for $2.35 million. Also in a beautiful, well-kept historic prewar building, with the same access to the Promenade, park and neighborhood highlights, the former rings in at a far-lower $575,000.
Compare and contrast these Brooklyn Heights duplexes with very different prices

Distinctive Homes

It’s a Hip-Hop Revolution! Photos of a Pop Culture Movement Born in New York

Busta Rhymes (Leaders of the New School). 1990. Photographer: Janette Beckman

March 18, 2015

It’s a Hip-Hop Revolution! Photos of a Pop Culture Movement Born in New York

New York has long been a haven for creatives, with some of art and music's most iconic producing their most profound works within the borders of our city. But few movements have proved as significant and lasting an influence on global fashion, politics and culture than hip-hop. In a new photo exhibit coming to the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) next month, three of the most dynamic and renowned photographers of the hip-hop scene, Janette Beckman, Joe Conzo, and Martha Cooper, share their experiences at the height of the movement in the 1980s when it took not only the nation by storm, but the world. The trio of shutterbugs share photos that zoom into hip-hop's pioneering days in the South Bronx, as DJs, MCs, and b-boys and b-girls were inventing new forms of self-expression through sounds and movement. Prominent hip-hop figures such as Afrika Bambaataa, LL Cool J, Run DMC, Salt N Pepa and Flava Flav are just a few of the faces documented, and in the series you'll get a look at the kind of life and vibrancy that permeated the Bronx and Harlem during the 1980s. MCNY recently sent 6sqft a slew of the more than 100 photographs that will be on show starting April 1st. Jump ahead to get a taste of what's sure to be one of your most memorable and nostalgic museum visits.
See all the incredible photos here

March 18, 2015

Move Over Brooklyn, Hoboken Is the Hipster Capital of America

Is Hoboken really America's most hipster city? According to a study conducted by "data-driven" blog FindtheBest, Hoboken out-hipsters us all with its souped up offer of 13 cafes and one yoga studio per 10,000 residents—the vast majority of whom are aged between 20 and 34 years old. FindTheBest looked at the top 19 municipalities with 50,000 or more inhabitants, evaluating both the locale and people against certain attributes they deemed characteristically hipster. Hilariously, the site defines a hipster as one who associates with a "subculture all about nonconformity and effortless nonchalance" and embodies an appearance that conjures up one “reading Proust over an overpriced cup of coffee.”
More on the study here

March 18, 2015

You’ll Instantly Warm Up to This $6.2M Brooklyn Heights Brownstone

It doesn’t take much to convince someone to head out to Brooklyn Heights, but this townhouse at 28 Garden Place (h/t Curbed) decided to pull out all the stops anyway. This $6.2 million, 3,360-square-foot brownstone features high ceilings, east and west exposures, original details and enough wood-burning fireplaces to make you forget all about this brutal winter we’ve endured.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

Slab of Plexiglass Dislodges at One57 and Falls on Two Cars Below

Image © Wade Zimmerman courtesy of Agence Christian de Portzamparc (ACDP)

March 17, 2015

Slab of Plexiglass Dislodges at One57 and Falls on Two Cars Below

Watch where you walk when treading near supertall towers. The WSJ reports that a stop work order has been issued at One57 after a kitchen table-sized piece of Plexiglass fell from the 22nd floor of the tower on Sunday, smashing into two parked cars down below. Thankfully no one was injured in the incident, but the accident is just one in a slew of construction mishaps that have plagued the building. In late February, glass from the tower landed on a neighboring building’s terrace, and last May, a windowpane fell from the 22nd floor, hitting a truck below. The building was also creating precarious conditions back in 2012 during Super Storm Sandy, when all of New York City looked on in horror as the support cable of an 80-ton crane at the top of the building broke, causing it dangle above their heads.
Is one57 cursed? Find out more here

March 17, 2015

Supermodel Freja Beha Erichsen Snags a Stunning $3M Carroll Gardens Townhouse

By Annie Doge

Supermodel and one-time Karl Lagerfield muse Freja Beha Erichsen has just scooped up a gorgeous Carroll Gardens townhouse for $3 million, according to city records. The edgy model's purchase comes as a bit of a surprise—as we would have guessed her to be more of a Williamsburg loft buyer than one looking in crunchy Carroll Gardens—but with one look at the gorgeous brick home, it's easy to see what pulled the Danish beauty in.
have a look inside

March 17, 2015

Park Slope Carriage House with Quintessential Barn Doors and Exposed Brick Asks $9K/Month

Want to experience superb loft living just blocks from Prospect Park? Then you’re going to love this two-story carriage house at 426 6th Avenue. The townhouse features exposed brick walls—both original and whitewashed— hardwood floors, and lovely arched windows.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

Photo: Shin, Yuka and Ron Swanson

March 10, 2015

My 780sqft: Inhabitat Editor Yuka Yoneda Invites Us into Her Quirky Greenpoint Love Nest

Our new series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to Greenpoint. What do you get when you join a green-design-blogger-slash-DIY-enthusiast and a finance guy in Greenpoint? How about a mash up of modern-meets-quirky with an eco-conscious bent? 6sqft recently dropped by the home of Inhabitat.com's NYC editor Yuka Yoneda to get a glimpse of the little love nest she's created with her fiancé Shin, and to see how seemingly divergent styles can indeed come together to create the perfect home. And because she and Shin recently got engaged (yay!) she's offering up some sweet stories—sure to serve both as advice to other couples looking to share a home, and hope for NYC singles who've given up on love—that range from their missed connection to a chuckle-worthy first date to an early relationship mishap that later yielded her a cozy little escape to call her own. There will also be plenty of fun little design details for you to fawn over. Onward we go!
Inside Yuka's home here

Home Tours

March 10, 2015

Renderings, Details Revealed for Massive $1B Industry City Redevelopment in Sunset Park

For the past year or so we've heard plenty of chirpings about Industry City, the former Bush Terminal on the Sunset Park waterfront that Jamestown Properties plans to transform into "a dynamic 21st century innovation and manufacturing community that balances existing manufacturing tenants with those centered on creative and innovation economy fields." But now, Jamestown, along with fellow owners Belvedere Capital, and Angelo Gordon, have announced that the overhaul of the 32-acre complex's 16 buildings will cost $1 billion and include a hotel, along with a huge amount of retail and tech start-up space. They also want an additional $115 million in infrastructure improvements like a massive new parking lot, as well as some rezoning concessions.
Find out more about the future of Industry City

Real Estate Trends

March 10, 2015

$2.25M Cobble Hill Brownstone Duplex with Cathedral Ceilings is Gorgeous at Any Angle

By Stephanie Hoina

The wonderfully tall cathedral ceiling running throughout this gorgeously renovated three-bedroom co-op in a mid-19th century brownstone at 222 Clinton Street in Cobble Hill will simply take your breath away, with every room in the home taking advantage of its lovely angles and big, beautiful skylights.
See every angle of this gorgeous home

Distinctive Homes

The High and Low: Two Picture-Perfect Bow-Front Townhouses Go Head-to-Head

66 Morton Street, $17M (left); 280 Park Place, $3.5M (right)

March 9, 2015

The High and Low: Two Picture-Perfect Bow-Front Townhouses Go Head-to-Head