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September 8, 2015

What It’s Like to Ride the Subway for 14 Hours; City’s First Food and Drink Museum to Open in Williamsburg

Mapping the 900 million Wi-Fi signals in the world’s biggest cities. [Business Insider] The Museum of Food and Drink is opening its first permanent space, called Mofad Lab, in Williamsburg this October. [NY Times] Here’s what it’s like to the ride the longest known subway route — 54.6 miles, 54 transfers, 13 hours and 48 minutes. [WNYC] Time Warner […]

September 5, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks From the 6sqft Staff

Liza Minnelli Makes an $8.4M Sale on Her Upper East Side Apartment Miraculously Unscathed by Time, This Historic Wooden UES Townhouse Seeks Tenants The UWS Apartment Babe Ruth Once Called Home Is Selling for $1.595M Interactive Map Shows Where and When to Find Fall Foliage at Its Peak Taylor Swift May Be the Reason Sir […]

September 4, 2015

Infographic: Here’s How Much Every State Contributes to the U.S. Economy

Would you guess that Texas has a bigger or smaller economy than New York? Which state would you say is the smallest contributor to our nation's $17.3 trillion GDP? This fascinating chart created by HowMuch.net breaks down the relative economic value of each state (in 2014 dollars) into one digestible diagram that's sure to start a conversation—if not offer a whole new respect for states like Florida and New Jersey.
Get a more detailed look here
August 31, 2015

The Most Tourist-Hating Cities; How New York is Your Bagel Order

New art piece atop Clinton Hill’s Broken Angel Condo pays tribute to the building’s history. [Brownstoner] City Comptroller Scott Stringer wants to make Stonewall Inn a national monument for its role in the modern LGBTQ movement. [NYP] A tweet-based comparison shows that residents of Arlington, Texas hate tourists more than New Yorkers. [CityLab] The gentrifier’s guide […]

August 29, 2015

August’s 10 Most-Read Stories and This Week’s Features

August’s 10 Most-Read Stories NeighborhoodX’s 3D Map Reveals the Blocks Where Real Estate Prices Are Soaring Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo Nabs $18.5M Trump Tower Loft Supermodel and Daughter of Zipcar Founder, Cameron Russell Scoops Up a $1.5M Bed-Stuy Townhouse See NYC’s Subway Lines Superimposed Over an Aerial Photo of the City Construction Kicks Off at […]

August 25, 2015

Surfers and New Residents Clash in the Rockaways; Times Square Pedestrian Plaza Reduces Traffic Injuries

The surfing crowds are multiplying in the Rockaways, but residents of the huge new Arverne by the Sea development are eyeing the same stretch of beach. [NYT] Traffic injuries and casualties are down in Times Square since the 2009 pedestrian plaza conversion. [WSJ] And on that note, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer released a statement in […]

August 24, 2015

The Significance Behind the Flag Atop Cobble Hill’s Trader Joe’s; Hold the Phone – Cinnabon Now Delivers

Have you ever noticed the flag atop Trader Joe’s in Cobble Hill? Here’s the reason why the chain store flies the flag. [DNAinfo] Feeding your suburban-mall-food craving, Focus Brands (parent company to Carvel, Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s) will now be delivering in the city starting this week. [CNN Money] A timeline of how Empire Stores went […]

August 22, 2015

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

VIDEO: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Rats Coming up Your Toilet NeighborhoodX’s 3D Map Reveals the Blocks Where Real Estate Prices Are Soaring 22,000 New Apartments Coming to Northern Brooklyn by 2019 Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo Nabs $18.5M Trump Tower Loft Model and Daughter of Zipcar Founder, Cameron Russell Scoops Up a $1.5M […]

August 21, 2015

VIDEO: Flashback to When Times Square Was a Car-Filled Hellscape

There's currently no hotter topic in NYC than Mayor de Blasio's backwards proposal to rid Times Square of its pedestrian plazas. Because how could returning one of the city's busiest areas back to a battle between man and vehicle (and man and man) be a good idea? Let's remember the Times Square of just a few years ago, shall we? In this video filmed back in 2006, Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton brings Danish architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl to the center of Times Square to get his opinion on the area and his thoughts on what could be improved. The pair's fascinating conversation is punctuated with cars honking and brakes screeching, but Gehl makes his views clear despite all the distraction: “It would be completely idiotic to chase people away by giving them very poor conditions. If we are to talk about the conditions for pedestrians here, it’s really lousy... The balance is all wrong and something ought to be done to celebrate this unique place, so that more people, in a dignified way, can enjoy it."
watch the video here
August 20, 2015

Spin FAILE’s 7-Foot Prayer Wheel in Times Square; Fly Over the Most Majestic Spots in the Hamptons

Find some peace in Times Square at FAILE’s hand-carved, seven-foot tall prayer wheel installation. [Gothamist] Enjoy the Hamptons without all the popped collars in this amazing drone video. [Curbed Hamptons] A Homepolish designer works her magic on her own Columbus Circle home. [Design Milk] Good job, New Yorkers. Our most used emoji is the Statue […]

August 19, 2015

The NYPL Is Mapping Books About NYC Neighborhoods—Add Your Favorites!

The New York Public Library is currently putting together a map of New York City neighborhoods represented in the pages of our favorite books. Novels set in the five boroughs are added to the map as readers suggest them, along with nearby landmarks and attractions so you can get your literary bearings. Currently most of the listed titles in are in Manhattan ("American Psycho" in the Financial District, "Catcher in the Rye" in Central Park, to name just a few); Team Brooklyn is looking sparse (Hello? Paul Auster?), and The Bronx, Queens and Staten Island need you!
Suggest your favorite neighborhood novels...
August 19, 2015

There’s a Spanish-Style Adobe Home in Brooklyn Heights; Heroic Food Farms to Provide Employment for Military Vets

Be transported to a Spanish villa just by looking at this unique adobe-style house in Brooklyn Heights. [Gothamist] Mister Softee may serve up summer deliciousness, but don’t mess with him when it comes to his jingle. He’s suing a rival ice cream truck for allegedly stealing the signature tune. [NYDN] Ennead Architects and RAFT Landscape Architecture plan to build a Heroic […]

August 19, 2015

POLL: Is Living Close to Work Worth Paying Extra Rent?

Last week, the Village Voice posted a video featuring recent Madison, Wisconsin transplant Grayson Altenberg, a chef at the Lincoln Center restaurant paying $1,100/month for a 100-square-foot apartment. Though the rent seems pretty ridiculous for a space that has you hanging your shoes right above your pillow, Altenberg says that the main reason he’s shelling over a […]

August 18, 2015

See the New York City Sets of Hollywood Studios Through Google Maps

Not all NYC-based television shows make the city streets their personal set a la "Law & Order" and "Girls." Perhaps the most notable example is "Friends," where, although some exterior building shots and panoramic views are of New York, the scenes involving the actual actors are often less than realistic (don't even get us started on their apartments). Other shows that took place in the city but filmed on a sound stage in LA include "Will & Grace," "How I Met Your Mother," and "Mad Men," among many other shows and movies. A couple of Redditors recently posted links to aerial Google Maps views of famous studios' New York City sets, and it's pretty interesting to compare the actual city to the Hollywood version.
See more fun aerial views here
August 17, 2015

Mapping Every County in America by Its Natural Beauty Ranking

New York has come a long way in recent years in terms of improving its "natural beauty." We added the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park. We increased ferry service and are sprucing up the East River esplanade. But apparently this is not enough to make our fine city a "desirable" place to live. A new mapping series from the Washington Post takes data from the USDA's Natural Amenities Scale–a measure of the physical characteristics of a county area that enhance the location as a place to live–and color codes from low to average to high just how naturally beautiful and pleasant a given county is. The scale takes into account "six measures of climate, topography, and water area that reflect environmental qualities most people prefer," which includes "warm winter, winter sun, temperate summer, low summer humidity, topographic variation, and water area." And judging by today's stickiness and last winter's polar vortex, maybe it's our extreme seasons that are putting our counties in the "low" category.
Find out more here