City Living

Following up on our recent post taking a look at how much you need to earn to be considered "rich" where you live, here's a brand new study by Quoctrung Bui of NPR's Planet Money which investigates what's considered "middle class" in the United States. Although most Americans would humbly identify themselves as median earners, whether they're raking in $30K or $300K, there are actually benchmarks for this segment of the population. But as you may have guessed, they vary greatly depending on where you live.
Find out where you stack up here

City Living

Manhattan BP Gale Brewer Unveils Plan to Save Small Businesses in NYC

Papaya King, a dying small business breed, via Papaya King via photopin (license)

March 24, 2015

Manhattan BP Gale Brewer Unveils Plan to Save Small Businesses in NYC

Yesterday, standing inside the Upper West Side's Halal Guys restaurant, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer unveiled her "Small Business Big Impact: Opportunity for Manhattan Storefronts" report (PDF), which outlines ideas to help small businesses survive and thrive in a city where even Starbucks can't afford the rents. A major part of the plan is a mandatory negotiation period between landlords and commercial tenants, where the landlord would have to notify the store owner 180 days in advance of the end of the lease whether a renewal will be offered. The borough president and Councilman Robert Cornegy, chair of the small business committee, are drafting a proposed bill that would enforce the plan. "Small storefront businesses and vendors create jobs and add value, vibrancy, and diversity to our neighborhoods—New York would not be New York without them," asserted Brewer.
More details on Brewer's plan

March 23, 2015

INTERVIEW: Melinda Hunt Memorializes the Unclaimed New Yorkers Buried on Hart Island

Since 1980, inmates at Rikers Island have buried 62,000 unclaimed and unidentified New Yorkers in mass graves on Hart Island, a small, mile-long piece of land to the east of the Bronx that is the largest tax-funded cemetery in the world, holding over one million bodies. Before its current use, the island served many uses, including a prison, psychiatric institution, tuberculosis sanatorium, and a boys' reformatory. The Department of Corrections gained control of the land in 1968, and it has been closed to the public ever since. That's all changing, though, thanks to artist Melinda Hunt, who created the Hart Island Project, an interactive online memorial that provides access to information about the burials on Hart Island and tools for storytelling so that no one is omitted from history. The site's Traveling Cloud Museum lets users look up information on their loved ones and share their personal memories. Last year, Melinda led the introduction of legislation that would give control of the cemetery to the Department of Parks and Recreation so that New Yorkers can freely visit the island and its graves. And coming up this Labor Day weekend, Emmylou Harris will sing at the gated entrance to the dock, calling attention to the Hart Island Project's efforts. We chatted with Melinda about her passion for Hart Island, how the Project has evolved, and what we can expect in the near future.
Read our interview with Melinda Hunt here

March 20, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: The Couch Doctor Is In–How Sal Giangrande Deals with Furniture That Won’t Fit

Every New Yorker has been there: After searching for and securing the perfect apartment, moving day comes and you just can't get your favorite piece of furniture into the elevator or up the stairs. With movers on the clock, and stress setting in, you begin to consider ditching your couch altogether. But instead, you take a deep breath, grab your phone, and let Sal Giangrande come to the rescue. Like knights in shining armor on moving day, Sal and his team over at New York Couch Doctor are experts at disassembling and reassembling everything from couches to pool tables to box springs. They liken their precision to that of surgeons, cutting into and stitching back together dressers and entertainment centers seam unseen (for the most part). And, like surgeons, they're on call 24 hours a day. We recently chatted with Sal to learn more about his days being New York's go-to furniture doctor.
We chat with sal

New Report Shares What You Need to Earn to be Considered ‘Rich’ in Your City

Image: roboppy via photopin cc

March 19, 2015

New Report Shares What You Need to Earn to be Considered ‘Rich’ in Your City

There's often a lot of argument about what constitutes middle class, but it looks like wealthy folks might have a better measuring stick. Quartz recently took a look at a new report from Brookings which ran the numbers on the 50 largest cities in the U.S. to find out what the nation's top 5 percent earn and where they earn the most. As you may suspect, there's a huge gap in wealth between cities depending on where you look, but what may be of interest to you is the number that pops up when looking at NYC. What they found was that the top earners here are pulling in $243,529 on average.
Find out more

City Living

Battery Park City, Harlem, and the Lower East Side Top the List of Child-Friendly Manhattan ‘Hoods

Image © Matthew Richmond

March 19, 2015

Battery Park City, Harlem, and the Lower East Side Top the List of Child-Friendly Manhattan ‘Hoods

It's no secret that families are ditching Manhattan for Brooklyn or the Suburbs, where they can get more space for their money and maybe even a backyard, but a new report shows the shifting dynamics of those families who decide to stay in the big city. According to amNY, the analysis conducted by AddressReport.com shows that only 6 percent of households in Hell's Kitchen and the Financial District have a child under 18 living in them, and in neighborhoods like Midtown, Soho, the West Village, and Gramercy, most of which are often thought of as more family-friendly, only 7 percent of households have at least one youngster. To be expected, Battery Park City is ranked as the most child-friendly neighborhood, where 36 percent of households have a child. Another shoo-in is Tribeca at 26 percent. Surprisingly, East Harlem at 32 percent, Harlem at 29 percent, and the Lower East Side at 20 percent round out the top five, none considered traditionally family-oriented.
See the full map 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

NYC Has the Longest Work Week and Worst Commutes in the Nation

Photo via 2010-03-12 via photopin (license)

March 18, 2015

NYC Has the Longest Work Week and Worst Commutes in the Nation

At least we're getting some validation for our title of "disgruntled New Yorker." According to a new report called "The Hardest Working Cities" issued by Comptroller Scott Stringer, New Yorkers have an average work week of 49.1 hours, including six hours and 18 minutes for commuting.* And with subway service getting even worse–delays increased 46 percent in 2014–the future of our sanity isn't looking good.
More findings from the study ahead

March 18, 2015

POLL: Is the Stress Worth It to Live in the Greatest City on Earth?

Most of us New York transplants had grand dreams of moving to the big city at one point in our lives. Whether we thought we’d be sipping cosmos in our Manolos or becoming the next great Broadway star, we were in for a rude awakening when we got the keys to our 400-square-foot, walk-up apartments that we […]

City Living

March 17, 2015

Interview: McSorley’s Historian Bill Wander Fills Us In on the Secrets of NYC’s Oldest Bar

Undoubtedly, there are hundreds of New Yorkers and out-of-towners planning to stop by McSorley's Old Ale House today for a St. Patrick's Day round of beers. But beyond the brews and bros, there's a deep history rooted in this East Village institution, and we've found the man who knows it all. The official historian of McSorley's, Bill Wander can give you the full timeline that dates McSorley's to 1854, making it the oldest bar in the city. He can also fill you in on all the tchotchkes adorning the walls of this Irish tavern, none of which have been removed since 1910. But more important than the textbook facts related to McSorley's, Bill has an undeniable passion for this watering hole, for both its important cultural history and the unique social atmosphere that keeps the bar a neighborhood mainstay after all these years. We recently chatted with Bill to find out some of the lesser-known details about McSorley's and what the title of "official historian" entails.
Read our full interview with Bill Wander here

New Micro Apartment Communities Are Flexible but Not Cheap

Is this the dorm-itization of NYC? via 20071110_0213 via photopin (license)

March 13, 2015

New Micro Apartment Communities Are Flexible but Not Cheap

With shared office spaces like WeWork taking the city by storm, it's no surprise that the residential real estate community is looking to get in on the commune-style action, especially considering the city's push for micro housing. The Daily News reports on "communal living hubs with micro-apartments for young professionals," calling it the "dorm-itization of New York City." Instead of traditional one-year leases, these new setups are offering month-to-month contracts where tenants came rent a room at the snap of a finger and move out just as easily. They can also freely apartment hop between buildings of the same owner. In theory, it sounds great for first-time New Yorkers, fresh-out-of-college twenty-somethings, and just about anyone with an uncertainly factor to their lives. But the News notes that a standard, five-bedroom micro apartment community has a lease of about $10,000/month, meaning that the modern nomads renting out rooms are still paying roughly $2,000/month, pretty steep for a single bedroom in a unit shared with a stranger.
Find out more about the new real estate trend

March 13, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: David Brooks, Illuminating the City One Bulb at a Time

A block from Bloomingdales, on 60th right off of Third, is a store that every New Yorker should know about. The store sells 36,000 kinds of one thing, and its name gives it away: Just Bulbs. Just Bulbs has been taking care of New York’s light bulb needs in one variation or another since 1945. It's currently owned and run by David Brooks, who began working at the family business back in 1982. Since he hit the register at Just Bulbs over thirty years ago, he has learned as much about bulbs as people. And when it comes to people, they are often buying the wrong bulbs. Wanting an insider's look into the world of bulbs, I recently visited Just Bulbs to speak with David. In between questions, he was ringing up customers and answering questions over the phone. For David, today was just another day helping New York keep the lights on.
Read our interview with David here

March 11, 2015

POLL: Can #SaveNYC Win the Small Business Battle?

On Monday, we took a look at #SaveNYC, a new campaign helmed by Jeremiah Moss of Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York that’s fighting to save the city from the superrich. Moss’ end goal is to get the Small Business Jobs Survival Act passed, “which would give businesses an opportunity to negotiate lease renewals and reasonable rent increases, […]

#SaveNYC: Campaign Urges New Yorkers to Band Together to Save City from Superrich

Image via nyc.go

March 9, 2015

#SaveNYC: Campaign Urges New Yorkers to Band Together to Save City from Superrich

"Small businesses in New York City have no rights. You’ve been here 50 years and provide an important service? Tough luck—your space now belongs to Dunkin’ Donuts. You own a beloved, fourth-generation, century-old business? Get out—your landlord’s putting in a combination Chuck E. Cheese and Juicy Couture." – Jeremiah Moss in today's Daily News. With out of control rents, insane land prices, and properties trading hands for tens of millions–if not hundreds of millions–New York has become a playground (and a bank) for the ultra-rich. While most of us complain about the rising the cost of living with little action beyond a grumble, others are far more affected, namely the "mom and pop" shops forced out to make way for high-rent-paying tenants such as Duane Reade, Chase and Starbucks. But all is not lost. The issue of small business survival seems to be gaining some traction, particularly with a new campaign called #SaveNYC launched by Jeremiah Moss of Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York.
READ MORE

March 9, 2015

VIDEO: ‘A Couple of Blocks’ Is Really Five Miles, ‘SNL’ Rants About What’s Wrong with City Living

We've all been there–an out-of-town visitor asks us how far of a walk it is to dinner and we tell them, "Oh, just a few blocks," but by the time they arrive they're famished, their feet are blistered, and they want to scream at us for our skewed sense of distance. This is just one aspect of living in NYC that comedian Leslie Jones addressed in a hilarious rant on this week's "SNL." Others include the difference in length between avenues and blocks ("I've been on Fifth Avenue for ten hours!"), the east side versus the west side ("The last East/West thing I understood was Biggie and Tupac."), and the grime of the subway ("Did rat feces dust just fly into my mouth?").
Watch the hysterical video here

City Living

What if NYC Offered Subway Riders Free E-Books?

M Subway Library scan. Image via Fast Co. Exist

March 9, 2015

What if NYC Offered Subway Riders Free E-Books?

Here's a cool idea we'd love to see implemented in Manhattan: A free e-library for folks who ride the subway. Earlier this year, Beijing subway operator Beijing MTR rolled out a new digital library that would allow its underground commuters to download a book, at no cost, by simply scanning a QR code inside a train car. As you may have guessed, the initiative is looking to get citizens to spend more time reading over mindlessly watching videos or playing games.
More on the new program

New Yorker Spotlight: Carter Emmart Brings Us Aboard His ‘Starship’ at the Museum of Natural History

The Rose Center for Earth and Space via “From the Past” via photopin (license); Carter Emmart ©AMNH/R. Mickens

March 6, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Carter Emmart Brings Us Aboard His ‘Starship’ at the Museum of Natural History

Here in New York, we think of space is terms of square feet and how little of it we have. But for Carter Emmart, space has an entirely different meaning. In his case, it refers to a space that is harder to quantify and infinitely large. Carter is the Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History, where he focuses on creating a means to visualize the universe based on what we currently know about it. He is responsible for giving us access to stars, planets, and galaxies through the museum's space shows in the beautiful Hayden Planetarium–like the currently running Dark Universe, overseeing the development of an interactive 3D atlas known as the Digital Universe, and running educational programs including the Digital Flight School. We recently spoke with Carter to learn more about his role digitizing the universe and why the American Museum of Natural History can be thought of as a virtual space ship.
Get beamed up with Carter here

Race Drives Gentrification and Neighborhood Boundaries, Study Finds

Photo by brandon king cc

March 6, 2015

Race Drives Gentrification and Neighborhood Boundaries, Study Finds

Focusing in on just race can be taboo when looking at gentrification, but a new study finds that an area's racial composition is actually the biggest predictor of how a changing neighborhood is perceived. CityLab recently dissected the study conducted by sociologist Jackelyn Hwang to find that the way that blacks and whites perceive and talk about change in their neighborhood is often wildly different. This gap in perception has wide-reaching effects for changing neighborhoods because not only does it polarize the individual groups, but it can also have a tremendous effect on where neighborhood boundaries are drawn and investment is distributed.
Find out more here

March 6, 2015

Your Suspicions Are Correct, Subway Service Is Really Getting Worse

The platform pileups, the sick passengers, everyone's favorite recording, "we're delayed because of train traffic ahead of us"–subway service in New York City is getting worse, and it's not just in your imagination. In 2014, delays increased by a whopping 45.6 percent, and on the worst lines, the 4, 5 and 6, that number grows to 57 percent. The main culprits are right-of-way delays (caused by malfunctions of switches, signals, and rails) and overcrowding, the latter of which caused more than double the amount of delays in 2014, up from 6,942 to 14,843.
More details ahead

March 5, 2015

$19.05 Is the Perfect Amount to Load on a MetroCard so You Won’t Have Leftover Change

If you don't get an unlimited weekly or monthly MetroCard, you probably put random amounts on your card each time, or you might select one of the MTA's payment prompts–a $9.00 MetroCard with a $.45 bonus, a $19.00 card with a $.95 bonus, or a $39.00 card with a $1.95 bonus. If you fall into one of these two camps, you're likely always left with a useless amount of change on the card that will never add up to the $2.50 it costs for a single train ride. All of that leftover change going unused on thousands of MetroCards each day is being collected by the MTA, in what seems like a purposeful tactic. But now, thanks to statistician Ben Wellington, we have the solution to one of NYC life's biggest dilemmas–$19.05 is the is the perfect amount to load on your MetroCard so that you'll get eight subway rides without a penny left over.
Find out how Wellington arrived at this number

March 4, 2015

New Website Will Help New Yorkers Find Out if Their Apartment Is Rent Stabilized

Let's face it, we all feel that we're paying too much for our tiny NYC apartments, and while for most of us that's just the name of the game, for others who are living in a rent-stabilized unit but being charged market-rate rent, it's actually true. Want to know if you fall into that boat? A new website called amirentstabilized.com will help you find out. The site allows renters to search their building to see if it's on the city's list of addresses with rent stabilized units. Unfortunately, it can't tell you if your specific apartment is one of them, but it's a great first step and provides resources for confirming your unit's status, as well as filing a complaint if you're being overcharged.
Find out more here

A Tale of Two Cities: Disco-Era Bushwick Burns While Manhattan Boogies (PHOTOS)

The Village People Stepping Out, The Grand Ballroom, NY, NY, June 1978 (l); Three Amigos, Bushwick (r). By Meryl Meisler.

March 3, 2015

A Tale of Two Cities: Disco-Era Bushwick Burns While Manhattan Boogies (PHOTOS)

By Michelle Cohen

It’s 2015 and Bushwick is on fire. But instead of being lost to the flames of neglect and destruction, buildings are being sold and rented like hotcakes. Photographer Meryl Meisler’s first monograph, “Disco Era Bushwick: A Tale of Two Cities,” published by Bizarre Bushwick gives us an insider’s view of the streets and scenes of New York City during the glam/gritty 1970s and ‘80s when Manhattan’s iconic dance clubs like Studio 54 and Paradise Garage were in their heyday–and there was no brunch to be had in Bushwick.
See more of a bad and bygone Bushwick this way

March 3, 2015

VIDEO: Inside the Adrenaline-Filled Lives of NYC Urban Explorers

Whether it's climbing the 90 flights of stairs to the top of 432 Park or roaming abandoned subway tunnels, the boundary-pushing feats of urban explorers have given us some of the most amazing views of city life that we'll probably never experience first-hand on our own. After spending several weeks tagging along with some self-professed urban explorers, filmmaker Jeff Seal has released a short video that documents the literal highs and lows that these adrenaline junkies go to for an Instagram-worthy shot.
Watch the video here

City Living

New Yorker Spotlight: Paleontologist Mark Norell Spends His Days with Dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History

Photo © AMNH

February 27, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Paleontologist Mark Norell Spends His Days with Dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History