Chinatown

February 8, 2016

The On Leong Tong Building: Chinese Architecture Brought to Life in NYC

If you're planning to head down to Chinatown for the celebration of the Lunar New Year, you'll likely amble past the corner of Mott and Canal Streets, where there is a remarkable building like no other in New York. It's called On Leong Tong, or, in English, the Merchants' Association building. Built in 1950, it combines modernism (though you wouldn't know it to look at it) with familiar Chinese architectural features—the pagoda roof, balconies, colorful columns and so on. Once you've seen it, you won't forget it.
Read the full history of this building

February 4, 2016

Extell’s 831-Foot-Tall One Manhattan Square Begins Its Climb Above Chinatown

By Ondel Hylton

Still in disbelief that a 68-story building (though it's being marketed as 80 stories) could rise at the edge of Chinatown? Well behold One Manhattan Square's construction site, buzzing with activity and flagged by a stalwart kangaroo crane foreshadowing the 850-foot-tall tower to come. Unlike the Chinese investment market, Extell's skyscraper is heading in one direction -- up. And after more than a year of site preparation and foundation work, the first pieces of re-bar have emerged from their mucky surrounds and are peaking above the lot's blue construction fences.
Get a look

October 15, 2015

First Full Look at Extell’s 80-Story One Manhattan Square, 800 Condos Aimed at Asian Buyers

By Ondel Hylton

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that the restless developer Gary Barnett will soon begin marketing the 800 condominiums of his upcoming One Manhattan Square development to Asian buyers first. Apparently not satisfied with erecting two of the tallest and priciest residential buildings in the city, One57 and the Central Park Tower, the Extell Development Company founder and CEO is busy laying the groundwork for one of the largest condominium towers in the city at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Going by the address 252 South Street, the bipartite tower is being designed by Adamson Associates Architects (AAI) and will soar 80 stories tall, roughly to the same height as the Comcast Building (former GE/RCA Building) in Midtown. At nearly 850 feet, the tower will be the tallest skyscraper on the island between Midtown and downtown, and by far the tallest building directly along the waterfront. Its staggering 800 units will fall just short of the city's largest individual condo-tower, the 816-unit Corinthian in Murray Hill.
More details on the development

Get to Know Chinatown Through These Iconic Cultural, Gastronomic and Architectural Spots

Image by Madhu Nair via Flickr

July 1, 2015

Get to Know Chinatown Through These Iconic Cultural, Gastronomic and Architectural Spots

By Shiloh Frederick

Back in March, we took a look at how Chinatown is predicted to undergo rapid changes within the next decade, transforming it into another haven for hipsters and real estate developers. As of right now, these changes are hard to see–luxury condos like Hester Gardens stand alone among the array of colorful shops and signs covered in Chinese characters. In fact, a past poll shows that readers are equally divided on Chinatown's future. As with all gentrifying neighborhoods, one of residents' biggest fears is that the neighborhood will lose the cultural characteristics that make it unique. With this in mind, we're taking stock of the iconic places that make Chinatown what it is. We've highlighted some of the neighborhood's best restaurants and shops (think Economy Candy and Joe's Shanghai), along with a few standout structures (the largest Buddhist temple in New York City, to name just one) that make this neighborhood unlike any other in the city.
See which places made the list here

Food & Dining

April 1, 2015

POLL: Is Chinatown the Next Hip ‘Hood?

By Dana Schulz

Yesterday, we took a look at a Wall Street Journal article that reported on a new crop of shops, galleries, and condos popping up in Chinatown, attracting both a hipster crowd and real estate developers. While developments like Essex Crossing are definitely setting parts of the neighborhood on the gentrification track, other areas are still full of open-air […]

Real Estate Trends

Chinatown, Once Unchanged, Now Attracting Hipsters–and Real Estate Developers

Image via CityRealty

March 31, 2015

Chinatown, Once Unchanged, Now Attracting Hipsters–and Real Estate Developers

By Diane Pham

"Canal Street is a gantlet of billboards and signs; Courvoisier, Pearl Paint, Bally's Grand Hotel, Salem Cigarettes, Lincoln Savings Bank, Mc Donald's, and signs in Chinese impend on traffic, which is the covered with signs and graffiti itself." A New Yorker article published in 1990 paints a picture of Chinatown that isn’t all that different from the one we know today. Despite its prime location, few developers have eyed Chinatown as a destination for luxury living. As a largely self-sustaining community—many stores don’t even bother with English—it has preserved its cultural fabric even as the city has gone through transformation after transformation just streets away. But all of this is changing. A new crop of shops, galleries and condos is starting to find its way into the neighborhood's depths, the Wall Street Journal reports, and brokers are predicting rapid change for Chinatown over the next decade.
more on changes in chinatown

February 17, 2015

Chinatown Loft by Buro Koray Duman Architects Mixes Tenement Details with Bright, Modern Geometry

By Dana Schulz

If you take a look at the exterior of this Chinatown tenement building located across the street from Sarah Roosevelt Park, you might imagine that the apartments inside are typical cramped railroad-style units with the token exposed brick wall as a selling point. But this unit, renovated by Buro Koray Duman Architects, looks like it could be in a swanky Miami hotel or sunny LA condo. When Turkish-born architect Koray Duman bought the residence in 2011, the 750-square-foot corner apartment was a dark, three-bedroom renovation from the 1980s. He and his firm transformed it into a bright, open one-bedroom loft with bold, sculptural architecture and décor.
Tour the home here

January 12, 2015

Construction Update: One Manhattan Square, Extell’s Mega-Rental Complex in Two Bridges

By Ondel Hylton

Groundwork continues on Extell Development's 847-foot-tall mega-rental complex at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Rumored to be called One Manhattan Square, the project at 250 South Street will bring a staggering 790 luxury rentals and 205 affordable units to a remote section of the Two Bridges/Chinatown neighborhood. The project rises on the former site of a cherished one-story Pathmark supermarket and its sprawling parking lot. While details of the design remain scarce, public documents reveal a two-towered development of 68 and 23 stories to rise atop a three-story podium that will contain 30,000 square feet of retail. Blogger Bowery Boogie uncovered the residential amenity package, which will include two swimming pools, a health club, basketball court, squash court, bowling alley, golf simulator, and 137 on-site parking spaces.
More details on One Manhattan Square

November 5, 2014

$3.58M Forsyth Revitalization Project Will Bring an Elevated Park Off the Manhattan Bridge

By Diane Pham

If you've ever walked or biked across the Manhattan Bridge, or simply tried to make your way past the off-ramp on foot, you know that it can be a heart-thumping jaunt that often requires expert maneuvering to avoid collision. A new design proposed for a triangular section of land beside the Manhattan Bridge along Forsyth Street could bring some much-needed calm to the frenetic energy of this area. Tomorrow, the Department of Design and Construction will present their plan to transform this elevated space into a public green space that's being likened to the High Line Park.
Find out more here

Architecture And Design

October 31, 2014

Visit This Quirky Museum Hidden in a Chinatown Elevator Shaft

By Dana Schulz

Looking for something off-the-beaten-path to do this Halloweekend? Mmuseumm might be right up your alley. And speaking of alleys, it's located on Cortland Alley in Chinatown within a single, abandoned elevator shaft. The 60-square-foot Mmuseumm is a modern natural history museum that exhibits contemporary artifacts, illustrating "the complexities of the modern world." Its eclectic collection of everyday items includes toothpaste tubes from around the world and papers left behind in copy machines. It even manages to fit a gift shop and café in its tiny footprint.
More info on the museum here

Events & Things To Do

September 17, 2014

Gamer Zach Gage Nabs Penthouse with Futuristic Rooftop Watchtower for $3.9M

By Annie Doge

Forbes' 30 under 30 in video games, Zach Gage, is cashing in on his success. The gamer and conceptual artist just picked up this sweet Chinatown penthouse at 18 Orchard Street for $3.9 million, according to city records filed today. The 28-year old, who has developed games such as SpellTower, Ridiculous Fishing, and Lose/Lose, and been exhibited at venues like the Venice Biennale, the MoMA, and in Apple stores worldwide, seems to not have strayed far from his edgy sensibilities. His new three-bedroom duplex features a rooftop catwalk, some killer lights, and a futuristic watchtower with "a transcendent view of the sunset and cityscape".
Tour the home here

222 LES Tower + Lofts

222 East Broadway

Lower East Side

Art Deco romance meets 21st-century convenience

Studios starting at $799,000
1 bed starting at $1,100,000
2 beds starting at $1,955,000
3 beds starting at $2,875,000

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