Brooklyn

Artist Amy Helfand has been creating her own line of rugs for over a decade. The gorgeous pieces are hand-woven in Nepal as part of the GoodWeave program, but the design process takes place in Amy's charming Red Hook rowhouse, where she and her family also reside. As she explains, "At heart, I remain a collector: of images, forms and colors, as well as rocks, sticks, and other ephemera from the natural world," and it's this combination of geometry and organic inspiration that's seen throughout her home and studio. From a dining table centerpiece made of rocks to the chicken coop in the backyard, everything reflects Amy's unique vision. 6sqft recently toured the home and found out about Amy's favorite decor, artistic process, thoughts on the neighborhood, and how they rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy.
Take the tour this way

November 30, 2016

Renderings revealed for adaptive reuse Maker Park along the Williamsburg waterfront

Plans for Bushwick Inlet Park, a 28-acre open space along an unused industrial stretch of the Williamsburg waterfront, first came about in 2005, when the Bloomberg administration rezoned the area to allow for new residential development in exchange for the open space. Fast forward to last week, and the city finally acquired the last piece of land for the project, the controversial Citistorage site. Now that the park is on its way to becoming a reality, a trio of grassroots creatives hopes to bring their alternative vision for the former Bayside Oil Depot site to the forefront. Maker Park is the proposal to adaptively reuse this seven-acre parcel's architectural infrastructure--namely the ten 50-foot decommissioned fuel containers--and create a "park as creative as the neighborhood around it." The Architect's Newspaper recently revealed the first set of renderings, which showcase performance venues, art galleries, hanging gardens, reflecting pools, and an adventure playground.
More views and design details

November 30, 2016

The 15 best NYC holiday markets and indie pop-up shops

December's first days bring a dazzling parade of holiday gift markets all vying for the opportunity to find new homes for a bounty of goodies and crafty gifts. We're all familiar with the big NYC markets at Bryant Park and Union Square, but some of the best finds—and the most fun—can be found at smaller, cooler pop-ups and neighborhood markets. Some are only around for a weekend, others for the whole month or longer. In addition to locally-made jewelry and crafts, vintage finds, artfully curated fashions, home items and other things we didn't know we needed, these hip retail outposts sparkle with drinks, food, workshops, tarot readings, nail art, music, and family fun to keep shoppers' spirits bright.
Find out where to get the goods

November 28, 2016

Funky freestanding home in Gravesend hits the market for $1.5M

Although Gravesend is a neighborhood way out in South Brooklyn, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good place to find a deal. In fact, the area is known for its multi-million dollar real estate because of its large Sephardic Jewish population--homes near synagogues and Jewish Community Centers have asking prices that soar into the millions. This house at 8738 23rd Avenue is asking nearly $1.5 million. It's a freestanding four-bedroom property with a funky, cottage-like exterior and a few interior quirks.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

November 28, 2016

$1.7B BQE rehab will be Department of Transportation’s most expensive project ever

When it was built in the 1940s, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway became immediately notorious for the fact that Robert Moses planned it to rip through otherwise quiet, low-scale neighborhoods. Today, it's poor reputation has more to do with potholes, bumps, congestion, and pollution. But that will soon change, as the city is embarking on a five-year rehab of the heavily trafficked, 1.5-mile stretch of the highway that runs between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street in Brooklyn and includes "21 concrete-and-steel bridges over local roads," according to the Times. And at $1.7 billion, it will be the Department of Transportation's most expensive project ever undertaken.
More details ahead

Transit

November 28, 2016

Live in SHoP’s Domino Sugar Refinery tower for $596/month, lottery open for 104 units

Earlier this fall, the first building at Two Trees’ three million-square-foot Domino Sugar Refinery mega-development topped out. The 16-story, $200 million tower at 325 Kent Avenue was designed by SHoP Architects, the same firm responsible for the entire Williamsburg project's master plan, and features a two-winged scheme with a central courtyard. It'll hold a whopping 522 rental units, 104 of which will be reserved for individuals earning 40 percent of the area media income. As of today, these affordable apartments are up for grabs through the city's housing lottery, where availability ranges from $596/month studios to $979/month two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Proposed towers could bring 500 apartments to Crown Heights, including 140 affordable units

Google Earth rendering created by CityRealty; Image depicts the massing of the proposed buildings, not the design

November 23, 2016

Proposed towers could bring 500 apartments to Crown Heights, including 140 affordable units

Crown Heights is a neighborhood undergoing rapid change, but the western area south of Eastern Parkway has remained relatively quiet and unaltered by new development. However, it appears that could soon change. As The Real Deal reports, Cornell Realty Management is hoping to rezone two parcels at 40 Crown Street and 931 Carroll Street, just one block from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, to make way for a pair of towers that would house more than 500 residential units.
more here

New Developments

November 18, 2016

The Urban Lens: Bushwick’s ‘Bizarre’ world of burlesque, acrobats, and fire spinners

6sqft’s ongoing series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Meryl Meisler captures the artists and performers of Bushwick's bar and event space Bizarre. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. When he moved to NYC, French filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire squatted in a boarded up Bushwick building until he eventually owned it. Along with friend Gregory Baubeau, he decided to turn the building into a bar, performance space, and gallery inspired by the wild stories of Greenwich Village's underground, avant-garde Café Bizarre. Their own BIZARRE opened in 2013, and shortly thereafter they exhibited photographer Meryl Meisler's iconic shots of the neighborhood in the glam/gritty '70s and '80s. Now, Meisler has come together with Sauvaire and Baubeau for a new exhibition that showcases the "assorted madness and the unexpected" of present day BIZARRE. They've shared their energetic photos with 6sqft, capturing all those who make the venue special--the acrobats, artists, burlesque, circus, drag kings and queens, fire spinners, magicians, musicians, poets, patrons and more--and Meisler has given us the inside scoop on this unique scene.
See the collection here

Places

November 18, 2016

Renderings revealed for 40-story Coney Island tower, the tallest residential building in South Brooklyn

Robert S. Trump (Donald's much lesser known younger brother) sold Coney Island's Trump Village Shopping Center in the early 2000s to developer Rubin Schron of Cammeby’s International Group, who, in 2014, publicized plans to replace the center with a 40-story mixed-use tower. Despite opposition from the community, the project is moving ahead, as Yimby has revealed renderings from S9 Architecture of the 430-foot-tall building at 532 Neptune Avenue that's been dubbed Neptune/Sixth. When complete, it will be the tallest residential tower in South Brooklyn, offering 544 apartments, a retail and community facility base, and a public courtyard.
More renderings and details

November 18, 2016

Charming railroad co-op hits the market for $675K in Carroll Gardens

Carroll Gardens is well-known for its blocks of charming townhouses that boast a New York rarity--a front yard. Located at 66 4th Place, one of those "front yard blocks," this apartment is part of an eight-unit co-op and has just hit the market for $675,000. The railroad pad will certainly charm potential buyers with details like wide-plank floors, exposed brick, the original pocket shutters and a working wood-burning fireplace.
Take the grand tour

Distinctive Homes

November 16, 2016

Park Slope mansion with insane prewar details, and a 1950s diner, asks $29K/month

Talk about rental goals: this grand Park Slope mansion, just outside of Prospect Park, is chock full of historic details and could be yours for $29,000 a month. Located at 21 Prospect Park West, it is a Renaissance Revival home designed by the Brooklyn architect Montrose Morris. It's been restored to its single-family grandeur, with over 7,000 square feet (and eight bedrooms!) practically dripping with features like stained glass, carved woodwork and marble fireplaces. Oh yeah, and there's a diner inside that looks straight out of Happy Days.
Take the impressive tour

Distinctive Homes

November 15, 2016

See new photos inside the world’s tallest modular tower; leasing kicks off at 461 Dean

It's been a long an tumultuous journey for 461 Dean, also know as the B2 tower, and better known as the world's tallest prefab tower. The fire-engine-red stacked building has seen numerous delays in the last four years thanks to lawsuits, leaks, and alignment issues. Its developer Forest City Ratner even opted to exit the modular business last month—although that's not to say that the technology developed is any less valuable (more on that ahead). But now that celebratory champagne bottle can finally be popped, as this afternoon the developer held a grand opening ceremony to kick off the official start of leasing.
more details here

November 15, 2016

Where I Work: Go inside Lite Brite Neon’s colorfully gritty Gowanus workshop and showroom

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we take a tour of the Gowanus studio of Lite Brite Neon. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Among the manufacturing and arts tenants in the Old American Can Factory, a converted six-building industrial complex at the Gowanus Canal, is Lite Brite Neon, which has been described as "the darling of artists and designers." And after touring their funky workspace/showroom, the description definitely fits. They were founded in 1999 in Brooklyn and have been creating neon art, signage, lighting, and displays ever since, in addition to preserving and restoring historic neon. 6sqft recently got an insider's look at their colorfully gritty home and spoke to lead designer Wayne Heller about how the company functions and what makes neon unique.
Take the tour here

November 14, 2016

Apartment building designed by notable Brooklyn architect Montrose Morris asks $6.25M

The prolific and talented Brooklyn architect Montrose Morris was known for designing some of the first multi-unit apartment buildings in the borough. This is one of them, at 109 South 9th Street. Built in 1890, the Williamsburg building is decorated with stone, brick and terra cotta alongside oversized, bracketed cornices. Inside is a massive, four-story space with nine bedrooms and eight bathrooms. To make the whole building look good, it's going to require a big renovation from any buyer.
Take a look at this reno project

Distinctive Homes

November 14, 2016

Queens, Brooklyn see ‘drastic’ rise in foreclosures

October brought a significant spike in home mortgage foreclosure rates, according to The New York Post, with more than 1,100 homes heading into foreclosure. That number represents a 32 percent increase from the previous month and a 37 percent increase from one year ago, with 400 new cases in Queens (nearly twice as many as a year ago). 365 cases were recorded in Brooklyn, a 20 percent increase, with the state overall seeing a 15 percent increase since September and 10 percent year over year, according research by Attom Data Solutions.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

November 13, 2016

This $3M Clinton Hill townhouse gives you another chance to weigh in on the tub-in-the-bedroom trend

While a bathtub and hand shower in the bedroom may conjure images of East Village walkups with the shower tucked next to the kitchen fridge, or worse, the free-standing bathtub has been appearing in the best of boudoirs for some time now. This $2.995 million two-family brownstone at 107 Greene Avenue in historic Clinton Hill puts the tub at a jaunty angle right smack in the middle of the master bedroom. The rest of the home is the obligatory mix of painstakingly restored original details (wide plank hardwood floors, tin ceilings, marble mantles, original lighting fixtures and medallions, hardwood doors with elegant glass doorknobs) and modern updates (washer/dryer, Viking kitchen, laundry room), and 3,600 square feet of space, plus rental income, may be worth getting lathered up over.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

November 11, 2016

432 Park Avenue will become a beacon of light beginning Monday

Just in case you had trouble spotting the Western Hemisphere's tallest residential tower, beginning Monday, 432 Park Avenue will debut a brand new lighting feature that will turn the 1,396-foot supertall into a glowing beacon. As LLNYC reports, 32 LEDs will fill the tower's five open-air "drum floors" where the building's mechanicals are situated. 432 Park's starchitect, Rafael Viñoly, worked with HDLC Architectural Lighting Design to develop the scheme.
more details here

Architecture And Design

November 10, 2016

East River Skyway endorsed by local politicians as L train alternative

It looks like the East River Skyway is getting a big boost from local elected officials. Three politicians have jumped on the idea, including U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, City Councilman Stephen Levin, and State Assemblyman Joseph Lentol. The trio together drafted a letter to Mayor de Blasio, encouraging him to back the transit initiative as a solution to impending L train closure. "This is the coolest thing we could do for the neighborhood," Lentol, told DNA Info. "I don’t want to denigrate the BQX but this is even a greater plan to have a gondola going from Brooklyn to Manhattan forever."
find out more here

Transit

November 10, 2016

NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan keeps townhouse, sells duplex condo in Williamsburg

Popular NY1 news anchor Pat Kiernan made news himself when he and his wife Dawn and their two children moved from an Upper West Side co-op to a four-story townhouse at 135 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. The Kiernans bought the house for $2.03 million–a neighborhood record for a single-family home–and proceeded to undertake major renovations. Turns out that in 2013 the Kiernans also purchased a two-bedroom, two-bath duplex at 171 North 7th Street for $860,000. The condo must have become one property too many; it was recently sold for $1.095 million (h/t Observer).
Have a look, this way

Celebrities

November 8, 2016

Even more pricey condos are coming to Billionaires’ Row

Back in September, there were murmurs that the Feil Organization had plans to convert a 57th Street office building into residences. As it turns out, Billionaires' Row will indeed soon find itself with another 34 high-end condos in tow. As Yimby first reports, plans were filed last week to convert a 14-story, 1907 commercial tower at 140 West 57th Street into a mixed-use property that would keep an existing grocery story at its base, but transform the building's upper 12 floors into 70,885 square feet of upscale living space.
more details here

November 8, 2016

MTA to increase L train service as M train undergoes repairs in 2017

An unlikely hero has emerged to save straphangers from the brunt of yet another MTA closure: the L train. In a statement released this morning by the transit agency, beginning June 2017, another 50 roundtrips will be added to the L line while repairs are undertaken on the M line at the Myrtle Avenue stop in Bushwick.
find out more here

Transit

November 8, 2016

Prospect Park home hosts a graveyard of presidential rejects

By Metro New York

On Election Day, the winners go on to live their political dreams while the losers are largely forgotten—until now. A new art installation from Nina Katchadourian called Monument to the Unelected has taken over the lawn of Prospect Park’s Lefferts Historic House with 58 campaign signs for all the losing presidential candidates from every election […]

Uncategorized

November 6, 2016

Renovated two-family house in Bushwick charms inside and out for $995K

Priced at just under a mil, with a very sweet two-bedroom rental, a lower owner's duplex with a finished basement, and 2,700 square feet of total space, this unassuming house at 36 Pilling Street in eastern Bushwick has a lot going for it. The turn-key home has been renovated with restraint, with added comforts like a laundry room and a large private, planted yard.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

November 3, 2016

$1.5M Carroll Gardens loft mixes factory details and fun interior design

This two-bedroom loft comes from the Mill, an 1800s jute factory turned 55-unit condo at 376 President Street in Carroll Gardens. The apartments are all unique--here's a look at a quirky one bedroom that hit the market this spring for $770,000--and this one, asking $1.499 million, stands out because of its views of the Brooklyn skyline, fun interior design, and old factory details like wood posts and beams, matte black iron joints, window shutters, and exposed brick.
Here's a look inside

Distinctive Homes

My 4000sqft: Tour the 113-year-old Ditmas Park home of an architectural preservationist

Our ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the landmarked Ditmas Park home of architectural preservationist Norma Barbacci. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

November 3, 2016

My 4000sqft: Tour the 113-year-old Ditmas Park home of an architectural preservationist

Michelle Williams' move to Ditmas Park may have put the neighborhood on the real estate map, but for those in the know, the area's history is far more profound than any of its celebrity residents. More than a century ago, Ditmas Park was not much more than farmland, but with the arrival of the subway also came interest from developers. One notable developer who descended upon the area was Dean Alvord. In 1899, Alvord initiated a new housing project that he envisioned as a “park in the city” for the rich. What followed was the construction of a range of large and stately suburban-style houses, built in an assortment of styles, from Tudors to Victorians. The development was a great success, and even drew in Manhattan's upper crust (among them Guggenheims and the Gillettes). However, as New York declined in the 70s and 80s, so did Ditmas Park. But fast-forward a few decades you'll come to seen an area that is experiencing a revival. Though it admittedly remains quite sleepy when compared to other burgeoning Brooklyn neighborhoods, Ditmas Park's suburban vibes make it the ideal destination for city-loving families—particularly when its architecturally grand proportions are taken into account. In this My sqft feature, we check out one urban family's lovely home, a landmarked wood construction owned by preservation architect Norma Barbacci and her husband, architectural conservator Glenn Boornazian. The pair purchased the house in 2004 and raised two children within its historic walls. Ahead Norma takes us through the space—which maintains most of its 1903 character—and introduces us to the Ditmas Park of 2016.
Go inside the home here

November 3, 2016

Apple will open second Brooklyn store at 300 Ashland Place