Lower East Side

Extell’s 831-Foot-Tall One Manhattan Square Begins Its Climb Above Chinatown
February 4, 2016

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

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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
First Look at the Bowery’s ‘Faux-Hostel’ Ace Hotel
February 3, 2016

First Look at the Bowery’s ‘Faux-Hostel’ Ace Hotel

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Construction and engineering mega-firm HAKS brings the first full look at the Lower East Side's Ace Hotel, slated to open next year at 225 Bowery. The ten-story building was formerly the 101-year home of the Salvation Army Chinatown Shelter, which provided rooms, meals, and services to the city's homeless population until it shuttered in 2014. The 62,000-square-foot building was purchased for $30 million through a joint venture between the Omnia Group and North Wind Development Group. Building alteration permits were filed by Nataliya Donskoy of ND Architecture and approved that same year, and the historic structure is undergoing a complete gut-renovation and will be topped by a four-story rooftop addition.
More info ahead
Lower East Side Rental at Historic Federal Rowhouse Packs in Lots of Personality
January 7, 2016

Lower East Side Rental at Historic Federal Rowhouse Packs in Lots of Personality

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The modest Federal townhouse at 511 Grand Street on the Lower East Side has managed to hang in there since 1829. And today it is boasting a really cool rental apartment on its second and third floors, while the ground floor is home to a cafe. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit belongs to artists Steve Mumford and Inka Essenhigh, who rent it out as a short-term, fully furnished rental. This time around it's available from April 1st though September 30th, asking $5,000 a month.
See more
Lofty Lower East Side Condo Boasts 14 Windows and Four Exposures
December 7, 2015

Lofty Lower East Side Condo Boasts 14 Windows and Four Exposures

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This lofty condo apartment at 241 Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side is all about the light. With 14 big windows through the apartment and four different exposures, there's plenty of it coming in. That's paired with three bedrooms, high ceilings, and a flexible layout. Not a bad combination when it comes to a living space. The apartment, located on the top floor of a ten-unit, 1904 pre-war building, is now on the market asking $1.477 million.
Take a look
15 Hip Holiday Markets and Indie Pop-Up Shops in NYC
December 3, 2015

15 Hip Holiday Markets and Indie Pop-Up Shops in NYC

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December's first days bring dozens of holiday gift markets whose aim is to find new homes for a wealth of shiny goodies and crafty gifts. We're all familiar with the big NYC markets, but some of the best scores–and the most fun–can be found at smaller, cooler pop-ups and local markets throughout the city. 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 offer up DJs, drinks, food, tarot readings, nail art, music, and family fun to keep shoppers' spirits bright.
Find out where to get the goods, this way
Revealed: See the Insanely Luxurious Amenities Inside Extell’s Controversial 80-Story LES Tower
December 2, 2015

Revealed: See the Insanely Luxurious Amenities Inside Extell’s Controversial 80-Story LES Tower

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Extell hasn't been making many friends with its new tower currently on the rise at 250 South Street, right next to the Manhattan Bridge. But even with hordes of locals cursing the mega-sized 80-story tower, Extell seems unfazed by the hate. Not only have they been unwavering about the development's 850-foot out-of-context height (the Manhattan Bridge is only 330 feet tall, mind you), the developer also has little interest in selling any units to anyone stateside, instead marketing their condos first to Asian buyers. Now, The Lo-Down has gotten their hands on the brochure that's being sent to Asia's wealthiest, an 88-pager revealing fancy apartment interiors and all of the "over-the-top" amenities that will fill the building, including things like a 70-seat movie theater, a tree house, a tea pavilion, a putting green, a sunken tranquility garden, a bowling alley, 75-foot indoor pool, a dog spa, a cellar bar...As written in the packet: "One Manhattan Square will redefine downtown luxury living."
Images inside the the tower here
City Will Start Accepting Proposals for Underground Lowline Space

Lowline Lab via 6sqft

November 20, 2015

City Will Start Accepting Proposals for Underground Lowline Space

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In 2009, James Ramsey and Dan Barasch started planning a solar-powered subterranean park on the Lower East Side, the underground equivalent of the High Line. They set their sites on the 60,000-square-foot abandoned Essex Street Trolley Terminal below Delancey Street and named their project The Lowline. Now, six years later, they've launched the Lowline Lab, "a high-tech, miniaturized precursor to the city’s first underground park," as 6sqft put it in a recent interview with Ramsey and Barasch. Located in a vacant warehouse on Essex Street, the Lab most certainly served its purpose, as The Lo-Down is reporting that the city and MTA have finally agreed to accept proposals for the space. The Economic Development Corporation (EDC) will release on Monday a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI), followed by a briefing next month with Community Board 3.
Find out more ahead
10012 and 10013 Are NYC’s Most Prized Zip Codes
November 13, 2015

10012 and 10013 Are NYC’s Most Prized Zip Codes

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212 Fifth Avenue may be the considered the ultimate New York address, but zip codes 10012 and 10013 are the city's most coveted. Forbes has just released their annual list of the 500 Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the nation, and amongst the top zips were the two that make up parts of the West Village, Soho, Tribeca and the Lower East Side. However, 10012 and 10013 were the only New York City digits to break the top 10. California actually counted the most spots on the list this year, including #1. Is NYC passé?
check out the top 20 zip codes here
This Little East Village Co-op Is Big on Style and Custom Details
November 3, 2015

This Little East Village Co-op Is Big on Style and Custom Details

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This charming Bowery bolthole at 32 East 2nd Street may not be huge, but it has everything you need for a great downtown life (unless you need a queen-sized bed in your actual bedroom). The one-bedroom co-op has benefitted from a tasteful, chic and well-considered custom renovation, resulting in finishes that are both creative and convenient, and the building is in a perfect location to enjoy both the friendly East Village vibe and the hip, downtown Manhattan location near just about everything you'd want to see, do, or buy.
Take a peek inside
Construction Update: Herzog & de Meuron’s 215 Chrystie Street Shimmies and Shakes Upward
November 3, 2015

Construction Update: Herzog & de Meuron’s 215 Chrystie Street Shimmies and Shakes Upward

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The structure of Ian Schrager/Witkoff Group's 26-story hotel/condominium combo 215 Chrystie Street is now more than half way up, giving us a clearer view of the "tough-luxe" exterior composed of raw concrete and large clear glass panes. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning firm Herzog & de Meuron, with Handel Architects as architects of record, the tower's lower levels feature a highly-textured facade of inwardly-tilting columns framing expansive clear panes of glass. The tilt creates slightly more interior space, and from ground level, increases the amount of reflection in the glass, thus providing more privacy for guests. According to the firm's webpage on the project, "The structure of the building is pushed to the exterior and follows the grid of the large floor-to-ceiling window bays. This introduces a depth to the façade on the exterior and liberates the interior from freestanding columns."
See more construction shots and renderings
INTERVIEW: Lowline Creator James Ramsey Discusses the Challenges of Building an Underground Park

James Ramsey (right) with co-founder Dan Barasch (left)

October 26, 2015

INTERVIEW: Lowline Creator James Ramsey Discusses the Challenges of Building an Underground Park

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The hottest destination in the Lower East Side is not a bar, but rather a cutting edge installation hidden inside a vacant warehouse at 140 Essex Street. Just over a week ago, partners James Ramsey and Dan Barasch launched the Lowline Lab, a high-tech, miniaturized precursor to the city’s first underground park. James is the co-founder (alongside Dan) of the park, which will occupy a 40,000-square-foot abandoned trolley terminal below Delancey Street; and creator of the technology that will fill it—a remote skylight system that redirects light underground thorough a maze of optic tubes and diffuses it over a canopy to produce a subterranean environment where plants can grow and flourish (phew!). 6sqft recently took a private tour of the Lowline Lab alongside James, and he gave us some insight into the science, as well how he and Dan are approaching the challenges that come with bringing a park below ground to life. We of course asked all those questions you've been wondering about, like: Who's paying for this whole thing? And what about the rats?
Read our interview with James here
SHoP’s Essex Crossing Mega-Market Will Be One of Largest in the Nation
October 20, 2015

SHoP’s Essex Crossing Mega-Market Will Be One of Largest in the Nation

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The $1.1 billion Essex Crossing project will be a 1.65 million-square-foot, mixed-use mega-development anchored by 1,000 residential units and a mix of cultural, community, and retail facilities. Of course, a project of this magnitude is not without controversy, and perhaps the biggest debate was over the loss of the 75-year-old Essex Street Market. But new details have emerged on how the market will actually be expanded and transformed into one of the five biggest markets in the country, according to Curbed. Known as the Market Line, the bi-level space designed by SHoP Architects will cover 150,000 square feet and connect three sites along Broome Street. It will be a foodie/retail promenade with a floating garden, beer hall, galleries, tech incubators, and, according to renderings, an outpost of Smorgasburg.
More details ahead
First Full Look at Extell’s 80-Story One Manhattan Square, 800 Condos Aimed at Asian Buyers
October 15, 2015

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

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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
This $30/Week Grimy Lower East Side Bar Bathroom Is a Hot Ticket
October 13, 2015

This $30/Week Grimy Lower East Side Bar Bathroom Is a Hot Ticket

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There's not a lot we haven't seen in terms of less-than-ideal but overpriced real estate, from an $1,800 Manhattan rental with a shower in the kitchen to a $1.2 million trailer in the Hamptons. And just last week, a story surfaced about a cupboard-like rental underneath a London stairwell going for $750 a month. To poke fun at the absurd lengths people go to in order to live in the city's best neighborhoods, Alana Reali, a bartender at Lower East Side dive bar Local 138, posted an ad on Craigslist advertising the bar's 15-square-foot graffiti-covered bathroom as a $30/week rental, reports the Post. Calling it a "hip artist loft," the listing says "room includes a window, a door, your very own bathroom and walls dressed with authentic NYC street art. Hot water included. I provide a space heater for the winter months." Shortly after posting, Reali was inundated with requests, like this one from a gullible NYU student: "This place is perfect for me and I am interested, only I did not really understand how the situation works. Can you please elaborate a bit?"
Read the full
You Can Rent Lady Gaga’s Former LES Apartment for $2,000
September 11, 2015

You Can Rent Lady Gaga’s Former LES Apartment for $2,000

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Lady Gaga's old Lower East Side apartment is on the market once again. This time around, the rent-stabilized pad at 176 Stanton Street is going for a very reasonable $2,000 a month. In addition to its obvious star cachet, the unit offers a sizable bedroom with two windows, a kitchenette with new appliances, french doors, a bathroom with a full tub (ooh la la), and the place has even got a skylight. Okay, so it's not quite as glam as the pop star, but we've definitely seen worse for this price.
See more inside here
In the 19th Century Men Who Didn’t Pay Alimony Went to the Ludlow Street Jail

Ludlow Street Jail (L) and men playing billiards inside (R), via NYPL

September 4, 2015

In the 19th Century Men Who Didn’t Pay Alimony Went to the Ludlow Street Jail

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Public shaming of cheaters was around long before the Ashley Madison scandal. In fact, in the 19th century, men who divorced their wives and didn't pay alimony were sent straight to jail. Atlas Obscura uncovered the fascinating history of the Ludlow Street Jail, New York City's federal prison on Ludlow and Broome Streets. Built in 1862, the jail mostly held debtors, but it also was where men who cheated on their alimony payments ended up, thus turning the "prison" into a glorified clubhouse for divorced men known as the New York Alimony Club. In addition to cigar smoking and unsavory jokes, the Ludlow Street Jail became known for back-door deals, rampant corruption, and the baffling semi-imprisonment of Boss Tweed.
Get the full story
New Yorker Spotlight: 100 GATES’s Natalie Raben on Beautifying the Dreary Metal Gates of the LES
August 21, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: 100 GATES’s Natalie Raben on Beautifying the Dreary Metal Gates of the LES

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Natalie Raben spends her days thinking about closing time, specifically the gates businesses roll down when they lock up for the night. For Natalie, these metal gates represent blank canvases waiting to tell stories. And over the last several months, she has been focusing on turning them into works of art as she oversees and manages the 100 GATES Project. Natalie spends much of her time connecting interested businesses with artists to support a collaboration that creates a sense of community each evening. With a mixture of well-known artists like Buff Monster and up-and-comers making their debut, these once-bland metallic gates are livening up the area, engaging residents visually as well as inspiring conversations around the works themselves. So far over 40 gates have been completed and more will be finished later this month. We recently spoke with Natalie to learn more about this unique project and how the neighborhood is responding to it.
Read our interview with Natalie here
REVEALED: What the Development Replacing the Essex Street Market Could Look Like
July 31, 2015

REVEALED: What the Development Replacing the Essex Street Market Could Look Like

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Here's our first look at what the site of the storied Essex Street Market could hold. Known simply as "Site 9" in the Essex Crossing mega-development, the 12-story mixed-use development would contain market-rate condominiums and two levels of commercial space at its base. The design of the market-replacing building was penned by GF55 Partners who hope the brick, metal, and glass structure will "co-exist with the area’s visual clutter and loudness of the Williamsburg Bridge traffic." In the sole image provided, a distinguished  two-story base recalls the structural features of the nearby Williamsburg Bridge. According to their description, the commercial base is for a restaurant with various bars and dining areas.
More details ahead
Construction Update: Extell’s Controversial 800-Foot Tower Ready to Rise at 250 South Street
July 10, 2015

Construction Update: Extell’s Controversial 800-Foot Tower Ready to Rise at 250 South Street

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After being slapped with a partial stop-work order about three weeks ago for causing a local street to sink, Extell's Lower East Side mega-development at 250 South Street appears to be back on track. A recent visit to the site shows that piles for the building are again being driven into the bedrock. However, it appears excavation will continue to be an arduous journey since most of the parcel sits on landfill and is only a few feet above street level. Since its reveal last year, the tower has been met with intense public outrage due to its unprecedented height for the mid-rise neighborhood. The building was first reported to be 68 stories, then 71 stories, then 56 stories, and now the latest filing with the Department of Buildings has a revised height pinned again at 68 stories, or 800 feet at its highest floor. To put that in perspective, the neighboring Manhattan Bridge is only 330 feet tall, and just 170 feet at its roadway—meaning the building will be nearly five times the height of the bridge's road deck.
FInd out more here
New Yorker Spotlight: Inhabitat’s Jill Fehrenbacher on Raising Two Kids on the Lower East Side
July 6, 2015

New Yorker Spotlight: Inhabitat’s Jill Fehrenbacher on Raising Two Kids on the Lower East Side

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When you think about family-friendly neighborhoods, the last one to come to mind is probably the Lower East Side. But Inhabitat.com's Jill Fehrenbacher is here to tell you that this downtown stretch is more than just a breeding ground for bros and getting bombed. A LES resident for more than a decade, Jill moved into the area looking for cheap rents as a student but has stuck around to see it transform into both a cultural destination and a diverse community-driven neighborhood fueled by much more than just a bar scene. Ahead, Jill shares her thoughts on what makes this neighborhood such a special one for raising kids (she's got two boys of her own) and her NYC success story of hitting it big as the founder of one of the world's most visited design websites.
Our interview with Jill here
Preservation Groups Push for a Lower East Side Historic District
June 22, 2015

Preservation Groups Push for a Lower East Side Historic District

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Of the city's many rapidly changing neighborhoods, the Lower East Side has for the most part maintained its historic architectural integrity. However, with looming projects like Essex Crossing and a slew of new condos set to rise along the area's most storied drags, the character of the neighborhood is starting to come under threat. As such, the Lo-Down reports that locals are now banding together in full force to curb development, with two neighborhood preservation groups asking the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to designate a Lower East Side Historic District.
READ MORE
Artist Maya Lin Buys a Massive Bond Street Loft for $4.5M
May 18, 2015

Artist Maya Lin Buys a Massive Bond Street Loft for $4.5M

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Artist and architect Maya Lin, best known for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., has just purchased a sprawling loft unit at 35 Bond Street in Noho, according to city records. Lin paid $4.5 million for the 3,260-square-foot space, which remains extremely raw, making for the perfect blank canvas workspace or renovation project for the multi-disciplinary creative who has also been known to dabble in interior design.
More photos of the interior here
The LES Site of 90-Year-Old Streit’s Matzo Factory Sells for $30.5 Million

Image by Leo London/Flickr

May 12, 2015

The LES Site of 90-Year-Old Streit’s Matzo Factory Sells for $30.5 Million

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When word hit that the Lower East Side's Streit's Matzo Factory would be shuttering, it was sad news not only for longtime residents in the neighborhood, but a horror for New Yorkers worried about the city's transformation into a sea of characterless new constructions. The Real Deal now reports that the site of the historic institution has officially changed hands, closing yesterday for $30.5 million. According to city records, Midtown developer Cogswell Realty is the new owner of the four-building property which totals 50,000 square feet.
So, what's next for this site?
LES Sunshine Cinema Gets Shopped Around as $35M Development Site

Image via Cinema Treasures

May 8, 2015

LES Sunshine Cinema Gets Shopped Around as $35M Development Site

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The Sunshine Cinema at 139-143 East Houston Street has been a neighborhood staple since it was built in 1898, but that soon may change, according to The Real Deal. First serving as an anchor for the Lower East Side's Yiddish theater community, and now as a favorite spot for "art-house movie buffs and devotees of late-night cult flicks," the theater is now being shopped around to developers for upwards of $35 million. This comes on the heels of a 2012 request by Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner of L.A.-based Landmark Theatres, the cinema's operator, for a liquor license to turn the location into a dinner-and-drinks theater like Williamsburg's Nitehawk Cinema. Community Board 3, however, denied the application, despite Landmark's claims that they couldn't maintain the Sunshine due to rising rents.
More details ahead
190 Bowery’s New Tenant Plans to Keep Iconic Graffiti on the Facade
April 20, 2015

190 Bowery’s New Tenant Plans to Keep Iconic Graffiti on the Facade

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Those who have been mourning the loss of 190 Bowery to the clutches of the rich can breathe a slight sigh of relief. Just a month after having some of its graffiti removed, the WSJ reports that the former Germania Bank—and former home of photographer Jay Maisel—has just inked its first lease. The tenant, "a company made up of agencies representing creative professionals in the industry of luxury and fashion image-making" has signed on for nearly 30,000 square feet and says that it will maintain all of the building's historic touches, from "its marble wash basins to the graffiti covering the lower part of the facade."
Find out more
See the Last Days of Streit’s Matzo Factory Through Somber Black-and-White Photos

© Joseph O. Holmes 

April 16, 2015

See the Last Days of Streit’s Matzo Factory Through Somber Black-and-White Photos

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Whether you celebrate Passover or not, you've undoubtedly seen the pink boxes of Streit's Matzo in the grocery store each spring. For 90 years, Streit's has been churning out this iconic product at the rate of almost 900 pounds of matzo an hour on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side. But at the beginning of the year, New Yorkers received the sad news that the last family-owned matzo factory in the U.S. was purchased by a developer and the company would be moving its operations to New Jersey (a move also echoed this week by Junior's Cheesecake). But before they head across the Hudson, photographer Joseph O. Holmes has captured the final days of this fifth-generation working-class landmark, which Fast Co. Design aptly describes as "New York's Jewish Willy Wonka Factory." His black-and-white photos are somber, telling of his personal feelings about the loss of Streit's and the gentrification of the Lower East Side.
See all the photos here
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