City Living

Closet photo via Flickr cc; Photo of Karin and Marie courtesy of Karin Socci

January 23, 2019

Ready to ‘tidy up’ your apartment? Meet NYC’s master KonMari consultant

Between her best-selling book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing," and new Netflix show, "Tidying Up," over the past five years, Marie Kondo—a diminutive Japanese organizing guru—has changed how people around the world think about decluttering their homes. But Kondo isn’t just another interior designer offering tips on storage. She believes that one’s home has a direct impact on their lives and even their personal relationships. This is why she approaches tidying from the heart and not simply the mind. As she says on her website, “Keep only those things that speak to the heart, and discard items that no longer spark joy.” With so many of us living in homes that are almost as tiny as those in Tokyo where Kondo is based and developed her method, it's no surprise that New Yorkers have been eagerly embracing Kondo’s advice. It is also likely no coincidence that one of the only certified Master KonMari consultants in North America, Karin Socci, happens to serve the New York City area. 6sqft recently reached out to Socci, founder of The Serene Home, to learn more about the KonMari method and how she helps New Yorkers put it into practice.
Hear from Karin here

In 2018, NYC drew a record 65 million tourists—and that number will keep rising

Via CC

January 16, 2019

In 2018, NYC drew a record 65 million tourists—and that number will keep rising

By Alexandra Alexa

NYC & Company, the city's tourism and marketing agency, announced on Wednesday that the number of visitors to the city rose to a record high of 65.2 million in 2018, as the New York Times first reported. This is a notable jump up from 2017's 61.4 million and the ninth straight annual increase. Most visitors still come from within the United States, but the number of tourists from China saw an uptick from 1.04 million in 2017 to 1.1 million. The agency was expecting an overall drop in tourism numbers, and particularly from China, due to President Donald Trump's trade battle with the country and "America First" rhetoric, but the industry continues to thrive in the president's hometown.
More here

Pay tribute to your family’s heritage at Ellis Island’s American Immigrant Wall of Honor

Via Flickr

January 16, 2019

Pay tribute to your family’s heritage at Ellis Island’s American Immigrant Wall of Honor

By Devin Gannon

There's a steel wall in the Hudson River that celebrates immigrants, the only place in the United States where heritage can be honored at a national monument. The American Immigrant Wall of Honor first opened on Ellis Island in 1990 to recognize the country's many immigrants and to raise money for the site's National Museum of Immigration and the Statue of Liberty. Currently, there are 770 panels engraved with the names of nearly 775,000 immigrants. But spots on the wall are filling up, as the New York Times reported on Wednesday. Just five panels remain empty, enough space for roughly 3,300 names.
No, not that wall

City Living

January 16, 2019

Amazon fuels HQ2 buzz with shiny new job postings

By Michelle Cohen

A pair of job postings listed by online retail giant Amazon kicked the excitement level up a notch in anticipation of the company's new "HQ2" headed for Long Island City, Queens. According to Bloomberg, the ads, seeking a software development manager and software engineer, referred to the company's impending New York expansion by saying the new HQ would be the site of a 50-person team starting in 2019 as part of its Intelligent Cloud Control group. Following a flurry of press inquiries, Amazon quickly added that though they would begin hiring for HQ2 later in 2019, the listings were for positions in an already-existing office.
More Amazon excitement this way

City Living

Stuff you should know: What’s really in your water tower and what to expect when it’s replaced

Photo via Flickr cc

January 14, 2019

Stuff you should know: What’s really in your water tower and what to expect when it’s replaced

By Cait Etherington

One of the most distinctive architectural features of New York City buildings is their water towers. Many New Yorkers assume these towers are a relic of another era—a time when people did store water in wooden barrels. In fact, nearly all of the city’s wooden water towers are still in use, and many are newer than one might expect. If a building is actually following city guidelines, their water tower should be no more than three decades old. Unfortunately, compliance is an ongoing problem when it comes to water tower inspections and maintenance. In fact, many of the city’s charming water towers aren’t so charming when you take a look inside the barrel.
Everything you need to know

Court order stalls progress on De Blasio’s new horse carriage rules

A carriage near Central Park South, amongst traffic, via Flickr cc

January 9, 2019

Court order stalls progress on De Blasio’s new horse carriage rules

By Michelle Cohen

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur F. Engoron ordered Tuesday that Mayor De Blasio can't “take any action or inaction that would interfere” with the horse carriages operating in Central Park until a subsequent court order is issued, according to the New York Daily News. The court order is the result of a complaint filed in October by horse carriage hack Giovanni Paliotta, whose attorney says the process was being done in the wrong order: New rules regarding the carriages should come from the City Council rather than the mayor, and legislation should be passed.
Find out more

City Living

New 2019 NYC laws ban foam, restrict cigarettes, address paid family leave, minimum wage and more

Photo via NYC.GOV

January 2, 2019

New 2019 NYC laws ban foam, restrict cigarettes, address paid family leave, minimum wage and more

By Michelle Cohen

As a new year dawns, you may find you're harboring illegal contraband that was–as recently as last year–the perfectly legal container for your takeout dinner. As part of Mayor Bill De Blasio's Zero Waste campaign, manufacturers and stores may not sell or offer single-use foam items such as cups, plates, bowls, trays, or clamshell containers as of January 1, 2019. The foam ban joins more notable new legislation on the books as of 2019 including laws affecting minimum wage, cigarette sales, baby changing tables, paid family leave and gender options on birth certificates.
Read on for details

Be the first to reach Manhattan in this L train shutdown board game

Image courtesy of Hunter Fine

December 21, 2018

Be the first to reach Manhattan in this L train shutdown board game

By Dana Schulz

In reality, the L train shutdown will be no fun for anyone, but in this satirical board game, the doomsday situation gets a playful twist. Bushwick Daily first spotted the Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the game, which is called "Escape From Hell." After selecting a hipster character, players roll the dice and follow the path as they try to get from East New York to Manhattan by bus, ferry, bike, or alternate train service.
READ MORE

December 19, 2018

This subway-style map plots NYC parks

By Dana Schulz

Need a gift for the New Yorker who has it all? How about this fun map from the Parks Department that plots NYC parks in the style of a traditional subway map? Not only can you peruse the map online, but just for the holiday season, limited-edition, full-size posters of "Next Stop: NYC Parks" are available for purchase.
READ MORE

City Living

December 17, 2018

This map will help you navigate the system when the L train shuts down

By Michelle Cohen

As the dreaded L train shutdown of April 2019 looms ever nearer, the fine folks at Citymapper have created an addition to their interactive mapping app to show you what your commute will look like when the L is not an option. Use the SuperRouter to plan a trip between Brooklyn and Manhattan and see which of your alternative routes works best.
More detai s, this way

The New York Public Library reveals list of the most-checked-out books of 2018

By Michelle Cohen

The New York Public Library has announced its annual top checkouts list for the year; The most sought-after title in the three public library systems–including books and e-books from the New York Public Library (covering the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island), Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Library–was Jennifer Egan's "Manhattan Beach." Egan won a Pulitzer Prize for "A Visit From the Goon Squad" in 2011; her newest novel is, as the New York Times puts it in a review, "principally a novel of New York" that "pays tribute to the city’s iconography."
More of the top checkouts, this way

City Living

MTA confirms that ‘disabled train’ announcement was really for a bathroom break

Photo via Flickr cc

December 12, 2018

MTA confirms that ‘disabled train’ announcement was really for a bathroom break

By Dana Schulz

In the summer of 2017, the MTA implemented a new policy to get rid of stock recordings ("we are delayed because of train traffic ahead of us” or “we are being held momentarily by the train’s dispatcher") and "give more detailed announcements" when trains are delayed. And it looks like they have now taken their honesty campaign to Twitter, correcting a rider that his train was not delayed by another disabled train but rather because "one train crew member had to make an emergency pitstop to the restroom."
It happens to the best of us

December 5, 2018

The official SantaCon 2018 map is here. Consider yourself warned.

By Michelle Cohen

Like most things requiring crowd control, SantaCon began life with the best of intentions; long ago (in the early '90s) in San Francisco, a group of merry pranksters called the Cacophony Society thought it might be a hoot to poke fun at both the proliferation of people in Santa suits and the proliferation of “cons," while participating in a (alcohol-free, by the way) performance-art-inspired flash mob. As such things do in modern cities, the once-subversive event snowballed, and to paraphrase the Eagles, call someplace paradise–and wake to find four frat dudes barfing outside your window. The drunken ho-ho-hordes are now too legit to quit, and you might as well know where they’ll be on Saturday, December 8, 2018, which is the official date of this year’s SantaCon. Whether your intent is to join in the fun, or to avoid being totally broadsided by a thousand drunk adults in Santa suits, use this map from the event's organizers.
Map, venue list, rules and caveats, this way

A monument honoring Shirley Chisholm will be built near Prospect Park

Chisholm announcing her candidacy in 1972; photo via the Library of Congress

November 30, 2018

A monument honoring Shirley Chisholm will be built near Prospect Park

By Devin Gannon

Chipping away at the lack of women represented among New York City statues, the city announced on Friday it is commissioning a permanent statue of Shirley Chisholm to be built in Brooklyn. Chisholm, who lived in Bed-Stuy, became in 1968 the first black woman to serve in the House of Representatives. The statue, expected to be completed in 2020, will be placed outside of the Parkside entrance to Prospect Park.
More on the new statue here

Ikea reveals ‘preliminary’ plans to open Manhattan store

An Ikea store on Tottenham Court Road in central London, via Ikea

November 27, 2018

Ikea reveals ‘preliminary’ plans to open Manhattan store

By Dana Schulz

Amazon, Target, and Trader Joe's have all cemented their Manhattan presence in recent years, and it looks like Ikea does not want to be left out of the action. In a Wall Street Journal story today that discusses the Swedish furniture company's larger restructuring plans (which includes slashing 7,500 jobs in an attempt to focus on delivery and digital efforts), it was revealed that Ikea will open 30 new stores in city centers over the next two years. There is currently a store in central London, and the next foray into major urban hubs will be its largest yet, a 5,000-square-foot space in Paris. After that, they'll open a city-center store in NYC, which we assume will be somewhere between FiDi and the 80s.
More details

City Living

November 26, 2018

The best offbeat holiday events, exhibits, and outings in NYC this year

By Michelle Cohen

The winter holiday season is as much about tradition as it is about twinkling lights and shopping, from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and the Rockettes to The Nutcracker and as many versions of Handel's Messiah as there are ways to count 'em–plus a full menu of classics on TV and at the movies. If you're craving a break from the old chestnuts, these less-traditional alternatives to the holiday hit parade might be just the kind of merry you're looking to make.
No SantaCon, we promise

November 21, 2018

Local brewery honors Grand Central’s constellation ceiling with new beer

By Dana Schulz

Of all Grand Central's amazing architectural feats and quirky secrets, nothing is more iconic than its famously backward celestial ceiling. So when Sunset Park-based Five Boroughs Brewing Co. started thinking about their next brew, they decided to pay homage to this work of art. "We may be biased, but to us, New York City is the Center of the Universe," Five Boroughs told 6sqft. "This beer pays homage to the beautiful ceiling at Grand Central Terminal and this amazing city we are lucky to call home."
Find out more

City Living

November 19, 2018

New Williamsburg rooftop hotel bar looks like a water tower you can party inside

By Michelle Cohen

Any new Williamsburg rooftop hotel bar has some tough acts to follow given the reputation and views at veteran hotspots like The Ides at the Wythe hotel and the doesn't-even-need-a-name rooftop bar at the McCarren Hotel and Pool. The Williamsburg Hotel at 96 Wythe Avenue, however, has decided they're not taking any chances and created an attention-grabbing rooftop party spot that resembles a classic New York City water tank, wrapped in glass. Dubbed The Water Tower bar, of course, the chic new nightclub and lounge officially opened on November 16.
Check it out

City Living

Are NYC women paying a ‘pink tax’ to avoid sexual harassment on public transit?

Photo: Jeffrey Zeldman via Flickr.

November 13, 2018

Are NYC women paying a ‘pink tax’ to avoid sexual harassment on public transit?

By Michelle Cohen

According to a new report, New York City women are spending an extra $26 to $50 a month on transportation because of safety concerns. An online survey conducted by the Rudin Center for Transportation at NYU asked New Yorkers about harassment on public transportation, if safety concerns impact their transit choices and about their travel habits in general (h/t AMNY). According to the results, 75 percent of females who responded had experienced harassment or theft while using public transportation compared to 47 percent of male respondents; over half of female respondents were concerned about being harassed on public transit; 29 percent of the women (versus 8 percent of men) said they don’t take public transportation late at night because of “a perceived safety threat.”
Find out more

In honor of the World War I armistice centennial, the city’s memorials get refurbished

The Washington Heights-Inwood War Memorial via Wiki Commons

November 12, 2018

In honor of the World War I armistice centennial, the city’s memorials get refurbished

By Dana Schulz

Did you know NYC has one of the largest collections of memorials erected in the aftermath of World War I? 103 to be exact. And to mark the centennial of the WWI armistice, the Parks Department has announced that they've completed refurbishments of several of these sites, including Father Duffy in Times Square, the Pleasant Plains Memorial on Staten Island, the Abingdon Square Doughboy in Greenwich Village, and the Carroll Park monument in Brooklyn.
READ MORE

City Living

Pajamas, turkeys, and MetroCards: 7 ways to donate this holiday season

Image via New York Cares

November 12, 2018

Pajamas, turkeys, and MetroCards: 7 ways to donate this holiday season

By Michelle Cohen

While giving thanks and exchanging gifts this holiday season, share the wealth and give a little extra to fellow New Yorkers in need. From coats and turkeys to MetroCards and toys, the list below is a good place to start. Yes, financial donations are always welcome–but there are plenty of much-needed, much-appreciated items you can give that don't require spending an extra penny.
Sometimes it really is better to give

New book compiles all ‘Notable New Yorkers’ honored on the city’s cultural medallions

Gershwin medallion on Riverside Drive, photos courtesy of Melissa Stutts for the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center

November 9, 2018

New book compiles all ‘Notable New Yorkers’ honored on the city’s cultural medallions

By Lucie Levine

What do Jimmy Cagney, the actor Alfred M. Butts, the man who invented Scrabble, and feminist champion Bella Abzug all have in common? They, along with over 100 other hometown greats, are all Notable New Yorkers. Since 1995, the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center has been installing cultural medallions throughout the five boroughs to celebrate New Yorkers whose contributions to our collective cultural life have enriched the city, the nation, and the world. Now, in addition to their interactive map HLPC has launched a new book, Notable New Yorkers: The HLPC Cultural Medallion Program, that collects all those plaques in one place.
READ MORE

City Living

November 8, 2018

Meet Candice and Malessa, real estate’s ‘new generation’ of brokers working to empower women

By Dana Schulz

"Integrity, vigorous work ethic, and a strategic business approach," form the platform that Candice Milano and Malessa Rambarran bring as brokers to the NYC real estate world. But there's no "broker babble" here. The duo--who recently joined Halstead as the Milano-Rambarran Team--consider themselves the "next generation of real estate," forming important relationships with their new development clients and growing their luxury resale business. But what sets them apart the most is their mission to bring this knowledge of how to use real estate as a wealth building tool to the public, specifically women. They've even created their own platform, Women in Residential Real Estate (WIRRE) to foster this community and connect people through their series of curated events. Ahead, 6sqft chats with Candice and Malessa about how their approach, how they got into real estate, and why it's so important to support fellow females.
Read the interview

SummerStage in Central Park will get a revamp and new stage for the 2019 season

Rendering of the new, improved Central Park SummerStage; image courtesy of City Parks Foundation.

November 7, 2018

SummerStage in Central Park will get a revamp and new stage for the 2019 season

By Michelle Cohen

CityParks SummerStage is New York City’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival, with 100 performances happening annually in neighborhood parks around the city as well as in Central Park from May-October–the majority of which are free of charge. In 2019, City Parks Foundation's flagship SummerStage venue in Central Park will be getting a new stage, new sound system, more lighting, upgraded backstage areas, raised seating and an overall improved concert-going experience.
See more of what's to come next summer

City Living

Citi Bike, Uber, Lyft offering New Yorkers free and discounted rides to vote

Photo via Citi Bike

November 5, 2018

Citi Bike, Uber, Lyft offering New Yorkers free and discounted rides to vote

By Dana Schulz

Just over 61 percent of Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election, and according to a Harvard poll, 14 percent of those who didn't turn out cited a lack of transportation as the reason. In response, public transportation agencies, car services, and bike/scooter shares in cities throughout the nation will offer free and discounted rides tomorrow for the midtern elections to those traveling to vote. Here in NYC, Citi Bike is offering free rides (as well as in Jersey City), Uber is giving $10 off in addition to adding a poll locater button in its app, and Lyft is giving half off rides, as well as code for free rides to underserved communities.
Get all the details

City Living

Pitch a Story

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Interested in seeing the property in person?

Distinctive Post Form

Get in Touch

Send us a Tip

Interesting in learning more about purchasing a new home?

Thinking about selling your home?

Sell a Home (Footer)

Before You Move On from this Page.

Your Daily Doseof NYC Life!

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Your Daily Dose
of NYC Life!