Midtown

New Renderings Revealed for 217 West 57th Street, the Will-Be Tallest Residential Building in the World

Rendering via NY Yimby

April 20, 2015

New Renderings Revealed for 217 West 57th Street, the Will-Be Tallest Residential Building in the World

It's been relatively quiet on the Nordstrom Tower front since we saw some skyline renderings in September. But now YIMBY has uncovered the official renderings for Extell's 217 West 57th Street, the 92-story, 1,775-foot supertall that will take the title of tallest residential building in the world when completed, surpassing Mumbai’s World One Tower by 29 feet. The images continue to show how the tower will dominate the skyline, but they also give us a detailed look at the façade and a peek into one of the penthouses.
See all the renderings here

REVEALED: SL Green to Build Another Times Square Spectacular at 719 Seventh Avenue

Image courtesy of Akueous Design

April 10, 2015

REVEALED: SL Green to Build Another Times Square Spectacular at 719 Seventh Avenue

By Ondel Hylton

Here's our first look at what commercial heavyweights SL Green have in mind for a small Times Square corner at 719 Seventh Avenue and West 48th Street. Building permits filed earlier this month call for a four-story, 9,000 square-foot retail building designed by TPG Architecture. Demolition permits were filed back in December and the doomed three-story structure is already shrouded in construction netting and scaffolding. The site also shares its Seventh Avenue block-front with Witkoff's upcoming 40-story Marriott Edition Hotel that will flash one of the largest LED displays in the city.
Find out more on the project here

April 10, 2015

VIDEO: Illegal ’60s Rooftop Concert in Midtown Shows the People and Architecture of Another NYC

By Diane Pham

It was the winter of 1968 when Jefferson Airplane took to the rooftop of the Schuyler Hotel in Manhattan. The band had just released their fourth album and had also just made the cover of LIFE magazine. High on life—and likely some other stuff—they blasted from their PA atop the nine-story hotel Midtown hotel: "Hello New York! New York, wake up you fuckers! Free music! Nice songs! Free love!" The band got a solid crowd going and at least one song in, but it didn't take very long for the NYPD to show up—the concert was causing traffic jams on the surrounding streets as New Yorkers crowded around the hotel to get a better look. Although the concert was quickly broken up, it was also captured on video by none other than Jean Luc Godard and D.A. Pennebaker. (Fun side fact: Many claim that the Beatles ripped off the band's performance with their show atop a London building about two months later.)
Watch the video here

History

April 9, 2015

Bill Ackman Closes on One57 Penthouse for $91.5M, Second Most Expensive Condo Sale Ever

By Dana Schulz

After reportedly sitting in contract for almost two years, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s planned $90 million flip at One57 has finally closed, according to city records released this afternoon, and for slightly more than expected at $91,541,053. This makes it the second most expensive condo sale ever, coming in only behind the $100 million penthouse also at One57, […]

Real Estate Trends

April 9, 2015

VIDEO: Meet the ‘Pimps and Hos’ of Seedy ’70s Times Square

By Diane Pham

Although Times Square has transformed into a commercial beast filled to the brim with advertising, its very sordid and seedy past is certainly not lost on us. One man who found himself in the midst of the area when it was considered the worst block in town was Sheldon Nadelman. From 1972 to 1980, Nadelman worked at Terminal Bar—the city's “roughest bar" by many accounts—directly across from the Port Authority. Between pouring drinks, Nadelman found himself snapping photos of the folks who passed through. Over his decade-long stint, he accumulated a collection of more than 1,500 photos. His subjects were diverse ranging from actors to cooks to business people to tourists to, of course, the pimps and prostitutes that roamed the surrounding streets.
Watch the video here

History

April 6, 2015

Interior Renderings for SHoP’s 111 West 57th Street Tower Revealed

By Diane Pham

Hot on the heels of last week's release of a new teaser site and rendering showing just how tall, slender and skyline-changing SHoP Architect's new tower at 111 West 57th Street will be, comes brand new renderings of the exterior and, for the first time, a look at the interiors. The images, uncovered by YIMBY, show the bronze and terra cotta supertall's elegant column-free spaces, as well as the incredible unobstructed views afforded by its 1,428 feet.
Inside the supertall here

EVENT: Here’s Your Chance to Get Inside 432 Park Avenue

Image © dbox

April 6, 2015

EVENT: Here’s Your Chance to Get Inside 432 Park Avenue

By Diane Pham

We've all seen more than our fair share of 432 Park Avenue's facade around town, but finally here comes an opportunity to get inside the building. The Storefront for Art and Architecture has just announced that the Viñoly supertall will be the site of their 2015 spring benefit, TRANS. The gala, being held Tuesday, April 21st, 2015, will be the first public event hosted at the unopened building, and by the looks of the program, it also promises to be as starchitect-studded and "transcendent" as these things get.
Find out how to attend here

Is the Meatpacking District the Next Midtown?

Rendering of 860 Washington Street, via James Carpenter Design Associates

April 1, 2015

Is the Meatpacking District the Next Midtown?

By Dana Schulz

We tend to think of the Meatpacking District as more of an after-hours or weekend destination for cocktails and shopping, but a piece in the Times today looks at the "influx of office space and more" moving into the neighborhood. In addition to the much-anticipated opening on May 1st of Renzo Piano's new Whitney Museum along the High Line, a James Carpenter-designed 10-story glass commercial tower and Samsung's six-story flagship building are taking shape across from the Standard Hotel. And let's not forget about Pier 55, the $130 million futuristic floating park that is expected to break ground in 2016 off West 14th Street. With all of these new cultural attractions that will undoubtedly attract tourists, coupled with big-name companies joining the likes of Google in the area, is the Meatpacking District the new Midtown?
More ahead

Real Estate Trends

March 31, 2015

Live in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Former Plaza Apartment for $39.5M

By Diane Pham

Did you know that Frank Lloyd Wright was once a resident of The Plaza? Neither did we! The Post reports that the 4,000-square-foot pad the prolific architect briefly called home has just hit the market for $39.5 million. Wright lived in the corner apartment of the storied building from 1954 to 1959 while he was working on the Guggenheim Museum. The location right by Central Park—and a 30-minute walk from the site of his iconic creation—must certainly have bode well for the architect's creative juices.
Inside Wright's former digs here

March 26, 2015

The Knickerbocker: Times Square’s First Luxury Hotel Is Reborn as a Modern Landmark

By Dana Schulz

When John Jacob Astor IV built the Knickerbocker Hotel in 1906, he launched a generation of luxury Times Square hotels. The Beaux Arts masterpiece attracted the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, John D. Rockefeller, and Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. It was the birthplace of the martini and the site where the sale of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees took place. But after just 15 years, the hotel's success declined just as fast as it emerged and it was repurposed as an office space, later becoming the Newsweek Building. Today, though, the landmark is reclaiming its title of ultimate luxury hotel under its original moniker. After a two-year, $240 million modern renovation, the Knickerbocker offers 330 guest rooms, a rooftop bar and lounge with the ultimate view of the Times Square ball drop, and a foodie destination restaurant from chef Charlie Palmer.
Uncover the history and future of the Knickerbocker

March 23, 2015

Two Best Friends Sell Their Massive Midtown Artists’ Loft for $4.83M

By Annie Doge

Remember this amazing loft we featured on 6sqft back in September? Well it looks like it's found a new owner to fill its cavernous spaces. According to city records, the two-loft combo at 361 West 36th Street sold today for $4.83 million. While when we last wrote about this cool apartment we were going gaga over its beautiful 4,800 square feet of sun-soaked spaces, it turns out the story of the two women–both artists–who once dwelled within its walls is far better anything else found inside.
Find out more here

Real Estate Trends

Slab of Plexiglass Dislodges at One57 and Falls on Two Cars Below

Image © Wade Zimmerman courtesy of Agence Christian de Portzamparc (ACDP)

March 17, 2015

Slab of Plexiglass Dislodges at One57 and Falls on Two Cars Below

By Diane Pham

Watch where you walk when treading near supertall towers. The WSJ reports that a stop work order has been issued at One57 after a kitchen table-sized piece of Plexiglass fell from the 22nd floor of the tower on Sunday, smashing into two parked cars down below. Thankfully no one was injured in the incident, but the accident is just one in a slew of construction mishaps that have plagued the building. In late February, glass from the tower landed on a neighboring building’s terrace, and last May, a windowpane fell from the 22nd floor, hitting a truck below. The building was also creating precarious conditions back in 2012 during Super Storm Sandy, when all of New York City looked on in horror as the support cable of an 80-ton crane at the top of the building broke, causing it dangle above their heads.
Is one57 cursed? Find out more here

March 12, 2015

65-Story Residential Tower with Sky-High Gardens Coming to 37th Street

By Annie Doge

There's a new 65-story pencil-thin tower coming to 37th Street slated to rise 700 feet into the sky. Perkins+Will publicly announced the building in a press release today, which came alongside news they had won the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Award for the unbuilt tower at the annual MIPIM real estate gathering in Cannes, France. The press release described the new skyscraper as a structure "emerging from its shimmering, angled curtain wall...organized with five clusters of shared amenity and park spaces for residents to enjoy, at specific intervals along the tower's rise."
find out more here

New Developments

Image: One Vanderbilt via SL Green/KPF

March 4, 2015

A Massive Modern Tower Could Sprout Next Door to Controversial One Vanderbilt

By Diane Pham

Foes of One Vanderbilt could soon find themselves with choice words for a new supertall enemy on the rise in the Midtown corridor. The Post reports that developer Howard Milstein is now looking to design and develop a brand new tower at 335 Madison Avenue. Millstein’s move takes advantage of the new Vanderbilt corridor zoning that would […]

New Developments

Interior Renderings Revealed for Jean Nouvel’s MoMA Tower

Interior rendering via Hayes Davidson

February 23, 2015

Interior Renderings Revealed for Jean Nouvel’s MoMA Tower

By Dana Schulz

The last time we got any insider knowledge about Jean Nouvel's MoMA Tower, known officially as 53W53, was back in September when the penthouse floor plans of the 82-story, 1,050-foot building were revealed. Now it's gotten even better with actual interior renderings surfacing courtesy of the New York Times. The rendering is accompanied by a full-scale unit model of a $10 million, two-bedroom, 32nd-floor apartment planned for the tower. Set in a Sunset Park warehouse, the mock up shows how the building's well-known zig-zag façade pattern (the "diagrid") will translate inside, which leads to tilting windows and slanted columns. These unusual architectural features will inform the interior designs of Thierry W. Despont, who has been tapped to craft the 140 condo interiors.
More details ahead

February 20, 2015

Troubled Plaza Penthouse Returns with the Same $59M Asking Price

By Aisha Carter

This troubled triplex penthouse at The Plaza just can’t seem to catch a break. It’s been a steady fall from grace ever since 2008, when an unhappy buyer who bought the $53.5 million place sight unseen sued for his $10.7 million deposit plus damages, claiming the home was misrepresented. Well, London-based developer Christian Candy purchased the pad for a comparatively dirt cheap $25.4 million in 2012 and tried to sell it for $59 million a couple of times in 2013. Now the plagued penthouse is back at the same $59 million asking. There’s something to be said for consistency. Let’s just hope the stars align this time and this “townhouse in the sky” finds an owner.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

February 5, 2015

Grand Central Owner Enlists Harvard Professor to Stop 1 Vanderbilt and ‘Unconstitutional’ Seizing of His Rights

By Diane Pham

Discord around the construction of One Vanderbilt continues to grow, and the latest contender to enter the ring is Harvard Law professor, "liberal constitutional scholar" and President Barack Obama's former educator, Laurence H. Tribe. Grand Central owner Andrew Penson has tapped the big-time lawyer to battle the city in his fight against the 1,514-foot supertall, according to The New York Times. Yesterday, with Tribe in tow, Penson went head-to-head—yet again—with the tower's developer SL Green at the City Planning Commission hearing. The meeting got as heated as one would expect, and "unconstitutional" and "ridiculous" were just a couple of the words thrown around.
Find out more here

Real Estate Trends

January 30, 2015

Gale Brewer Shows Support for One Vanderbilt, Negotiates Even More Public Improvements

By Diane Pham

Gale Brewer is no shrinking violet when it comes to city planning, and having her on your side is never a bad thing. The borough president of Manhattan has just come out as a full-fledged supporter of not only Midtown East's rezoning, but more notably, One Vanderbilt, the controversial 1,514-foot supertall slated to pop up right next door to Grand Central. Curbed reports that Brewer coupled her approval with an announcement that her office negotiated a slew of additional community benefits from developer SL Green—the developer that has already put up $210 million for the improvement of Grand Central’s subway station.
More on what's included in the plan

New Developments

January 21, 2015

One57 Records Another Blockbuster Sale, 85th-Floor Pad Sells for $55.6 Million

By Diane Pham

There’s no slowing One57. Yet another blockbuster sale hit city records this morning, bringing the brash blue supertall its third most expensive sale to date—and the city its ninth most expensive condo sale in history. The ultra-luxe pad is the 6,240-square-foot 85th-floor unit, which boasts four bedrooms, four baths, and the lofty, breathtaking views that have have made One57 one […]

January 16, 2015

$100 Million Condo Sale at One57 is NYC’s Most Expensive Ever

By Diane Pham

Expect another blockbuster year for the super-luxury tower that launched a slew of other wannabe developments across the city. A palatial unit occupying the 89th and 90th floor of One57 has just sold for a record-breaking $100,471,452.77—the most expensive condo purchase ever recorded Manhattan. The buyer of the massive 10,923-square-foot penthouse apartment remains a mystery—city records simply show an […]

Real Estate Trends

January 15, 2015

Take a Drone Tour of the Hearst Building with Starchitect Norman Foster

By Diane Pham

In 2006, the doors of the Hearst Tower were swung open for business. The design of starchitect Norman Foster, the building was one of the most cutting-edge of its time, lauded for its diagrid form, its green construction, and the then-radical approach of marrying the old with the new. Apart from becoming one of New York's most iconic structures, the building also holds a special cultural significance in city's history: It was the first skyscraper to break ground after September 11th. Now, a decade later, Foster has returned to the Hearst Tower to mark its anniversary and reflect on his creation.
Watch the film here

Architecture And Design

January 12, 2015

Four Architects Reimagine Times Square as a Place You Actually Want to Visit

By Diane Pham

While beloved by tourists, Times Square is easily the most hated destination for those who actually live in New York City. And it's no wonder: Shoulder to shoulder traffic, blinding lights, costumed (and un-costumed) characters, honking cars, and not a tree in sight—Times Square is pretty much your worst nightmare come to life. But could this congested consumerist hellscape one day become a place "Real New Yorkers" want to visit? Last year, the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility and vision42 held a competition asking designers and architects to rethink 42nd Street—from the East River to the Hudson River—as a "pedestrian-friendly, auto-free, sustainable boulevard." 200 submissions were received, and the institute has just announced the four finalists.
See the four finalists here

Architecture And Design

January 12, 2015

New Public Art Piece Will Have All of Times Square Yawning at Once

By Dana Schulz

And not out of boredom. Sebastian Errazuriz has created a new public art piece for Times Square that is the antithesis of the high-energy, fast-paced neighborhood. It's a close-up, black-and-white, three-minute video of the artist looking around and yawning that plays on 50 digital billboards throughout Times Square, which triggers a domino effect of sleepy, open mouthed gaping, since we all know yawns are contagious. Errazuriz's idea was to instill "a pause in the city that never goes to sleep," which informs the title of the work. The yawn-athon takes place every night through January 17th at 11:47pm from 42nd to 47th Streets between Broadway and 7th Avenue.
More (yawn) details ahead

Events & Things To Do

December 24, 2014

Skating Through Time: A Look Back at NYC’s Ice Rinks

By Dana Schulz

One of the most festive holiday activities doesn't end at New Year's, but rather lasts through the winter. Ice skating in NYC is a hot activity, with lines easily wrapping around the block at the Bryant Park Winter Village and Rockefeller Center's ice rink. But this isn't a new trend. Ice skating has long been a popular social pastime for New Yorkers, whether on a frozen pond in Central Park or at the Biltmore Ice Garden at the Biltmore Hotel. Plenty of historic photographs exist, documenting the transformation of the New York ice skater; so we've put together a timeline of this winter activity.
All the photos ahead

December 11, 2014

Biographer Couple Lists Artsy Central Park Duplex at Gainsborough Studios for $6M

By Aisha Carter

Biographers Edmund and Sylvia Jukes Morris have just listed their duplex apartment at the exclusive Gainsborough Studios for $6 million. The stunning space promises to be a treat for all seasons with gigantic windows offering indescribable views of Central Park that will take your breath away. Yes, a place like this is so inspiring it would turn anyone into an artist.
Take a look inside, here

December 8, 2014

Nobutaka Ashihara-Designed Hotel Coming to the Garment District

By Ondel Hylton

A 22-story limited-service hotel is gearing up to rise in Midtown at 4-6 West 37th Street. According to new building permits filed this past weekend, a 120-key 60,000 square-foot development will go up at the 4,200 square-foot lot situated between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Two charming six-story buildings, erected in 1920, will be be demolished for the 210-foot tall project designed by notable hotel designer Nobutaka Ashihara Architects. The firm recently opened the city's tallest hotel, the Marriott Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Central Park at 1717 Broadway.
FInd out more here

November 26, 2014

New Yorker Spotlight: Behind the Magic of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Creative Director Wesley Whatley

By Susan Cohen

For one day each year, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade transforms the streets of New York City into the ultimate stage for marching bands, dancers, floats, and of course, giant balloons. As we can all imagine, putting on a parade of this magnitude is no small task. And that's where Wesley Whatley, the Parade's creative director, comes in. Wesley is responsible for overseeing, developing and bringing the creative side of the event to life. His role requires vision, organization and a deep understanding of the parade's history and its importance to both the city and America. Along with his team, he ensures it's a magical event for spectators and television viewers. In anticipation of tomorrow's parade, we spoke with Wesley about selecting marching bands and performers, the logistics of organizing such a large event, and, on a personal note, what parades mean to him.
read the interview with Wesley here

Midtown

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 Passport to NYC:Subscribe for Local Insights and Stories!

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Your Passport to NYC:
Subscribe for Local Insights and Stories!