Manhattan

The privately-owned public space (POPS) on the ground floor of Philip Johnson and John Burgee’s Postmodern skyscraper at 550 Madison Avenue declined over time due to multiple alterations and was often described as being “tall, skinny, and dark.” As part of Snøhetta’s transformation of the landmark, the garden is receiving a lot of attention. In December, developer Olayan Group revealed plans to increase the public space by 50 percent while creating “a welcoming sensory retreat in the heart of East Midtown.” After being approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission last year, the open space has now received its final approval from the Department of City Planning.
More details

Architecture And Design

Photo credit: Ben Fitchett courtesy of Compass.

January 7, 2020

$7,200/month Village loft with a rooftop ‘cabin’ was once home to John Barrymore

According to the listing for this utterly charming Greenwich Village penthouse loft at 132 West 4th Street, silent film actor John Barrymore lived here a century ago and christened it "The Alchemist's Corner." While the silver screen connection adds stardust to its image, a spot atop an 1839 townhouse, a massive dramatic skylight, and a rooftop garden with a heated porch and den make this $7,200 a month rental opportunity magical all on its own.
Alchemy and views, this way

Cuomo revives plan to overhaul Penn Station and create new Empire Station Complex

Rendering of new entrance on 8th Avenue to Penn Station via Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office

January 6, 2020

Cuomo revives plan to overhaul Penn Station and create new Empire Station Complex

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is returning to one of his favorite infrastructure proposals: the overhaul of Penn Station. During an event on Monday hosted by the Association for a Better New York, the governor announced plans to build the Empire Station Complex, a station that would link a modernized Penn Station, the soon-to-be-open Moynihan Train Hall, and a new terminal one block south of the existing site. The plan, first introduced by the governor in 2016, would add eight new tracks and increase train capacity by 40 percent at the station, which currently serves more than 650,000 passengers each day.
See the updated plan

For $1.9M, this spacious Midtown East condo has two bedrooms and a huge roof terrace

Listing images by Bernadett Pava; courtesy of Compass

January 6, 2020

For $1.9M, this spacious Midtown East condo has two bedrooms and a huge roof terrace

This Midtown East condo ticks all the (right) boxes: it's located in a Rosario Candela-designed building at 135 East 54th Street, comes with an expansive roof terrace bigger than most people's apartments, and is only a short walk away from the Museum of Modern Art and Central Park. The approximately 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom is now on the market seeking $1.895 million.
Look inside

Distinctive Homes

Famed political cartoonist Ranan Lurie lists his Time Warner Center art studio-condo for $5M

Image credit: Donna Dotan courtesy of Compass.

January 6, 2020

Famed political cartoonist Ranan Lurie lists his Time Warner Center art studio-condo for $5M

The Time Warner Center condo at 25 Columbus Circle that Ranan Lurie, who holds the Guinness World Record for most syndicated political cartoonist, used as his art studio and office, is now on the market for $4,995,000. Lurie's "Uniting Painting" at the United Nations HQ is the largest contemporary painting ever exhibited there. The founder and Editor-in-Chief of Cartoonews has been the resident political cartoonist for, among many others, Life magazine, The U.S. News & World Report, Time International, Foreign Affairs magazine and The London Times. He has been syndicated globally to more than 1,100 publications with a daily readership of 300 million. His drawings often include a small trademark smiling sun drawn on the subject's tie or other articles of clothing.
More of this storied condo, this way

Via Wiki Commons

January 3, 2020

New Trader Joe’s on 14th Street and Avenue A opens Monday morning

It's been over two-and-a-half years since Trader Joe's announced its plans to open a new store in a 23,000-square-foot space at 432 East 14th Street across from Stuyvesant Town, just three avenues east of their original 14th Street store. The beloved grocery store is the retail anchor tenant in the newly-constructed residential building called EVE that replaced the former Stuyvesant Post Office at that address. With leasing at the building a year in and an affordable housing lottery open, Trader Joe's now confirms on its website that the store will open on Monday, January 6th at 8am (h/t EV Grieve).
14th Street, street of groceries

City Living

Roosevelt Island’s Nellie Bly memorial revealed

Design by Amanda Matthews; courtesy of RIOC

January 3, 2020

Roosevelt Island’s Nellie Bly memorial revealed

The design of a new memorial honoring investigative journalist Nellie Bly has been officially unveiled. Tapped by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, artist Amanda Matthews of Prometheus Art presented during a town hall last month "The Girl Puzzle" memorial, which will feature sculptures of Bly and four faces of women and girls who she interviewed. The memorial, whose design was first spotted by THE CITY, will be installed in late 2020 at the tip of Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island.
See it here

Iconic West Village wooden house drops its price to $8.75M

Photos by Allyson Lubow and Corcoran’s Dean DeCarlo, courtesy of The Corcoran Group

January 3, 2020

Iconic West Village wooden house drops its price to $8.75M

By Dana Schulz

If you follow the NYC streetscape Instagram circuit, the historic 1822 home at 17 Grove Street in the West Village will certainly look familiar. Its adorable facade, corner location, and the fact that it's one of the oldest standing wood-frame houses in the Village, all make this property photo-ready. But looks alone don't seem to be doing the trick, as the Post tells us that the home has lowered its asking price to $8.75 million from the $12 million it listed for in April.
See more here

See inside The Deco, an eclectic new food hall in Midtown West

Photo by Max Lau

January 3, 2020

See inside The Deco, an eclectic new food hall in Midtown West

A new food hall opened this month in Manhattan's Garment District, adding some bold flavors to the mostly lackluster options in the neighborhood. Located at 231 West 39th Street, The Deco Food + Drink features eight family-owned vendors, a cocktail bar, and event space. An ode to 1920s New York, the Carpenter & Mason-designed space features an Art Deco aesthetic, with geometric tiles, bright blues, and brass accents framing each section.
See inside

Food & Dining

Construction of World Trade Center’s St. Nicholas Shrine will resume

The site in December 2018, Photo by Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons

January 3, 2020

Construction of World Trade Center’s St. Nicholas Shrine will resume

It's been more than two years since reconstruction work on the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the World Trade Center stopped due to lack of funding, but the project is finally set to resume. On Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to form a new non-profit organization with an independent 13-member board—the Friends of St. Nicholas—who will oversee the remaining construction. The expected opening is slated for 2022.
More info

New Developments

Times Square’s Palace Theatre overhaul includes outdoor stage and ‘ball drop’ suites

Rendering courtesy of TSX Broadway

January 2, 2020

Times Square’s Palace Theatre overhaul includes outdoor stage and ‘ball drop’ suites

A mixed-use development project hopes to bring even more bright lights and theatrics to Times Square. A team of developers, led by L&L Holding Company, will provide the ultimate New Year's Eve experience at its new luxury hotel, part of the plan to transform the historic Palace Theatre into TSX Broadway. New renderings of the $2.5 billion project, which involves raising the theater more than 30 feet and building a 669-room hotel above it, show off suites with perfect views of the Times Square ball drop, the neighborhood's first outdoor stage, and immersive retail experiences.
Learn more

Sweeping views and a sculptural staircase stand out in this $8M Sutton Place duplex

Listing images by Evan Joseph; courtesy of Compass

January 2, 2020

Sweeping views and a sculptural staircase stand out in this $8M Sutton Place duplex

This Sutton Place duplex co-op is a corner unit on the 37th of 47 floors so it boasts sweeping views of the Midtown skyline and East River in every room. The five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom residence spans over 6,300 square feet in the Emery Roth-designed tower at 425 East 58th Street, also known as The Sovereign. It's now on the market for $7,995,000, with a minimum 50 percent down payment required.
Get the full tour

Distinctive Homes

The Hell’s Kitchen Antiques Fair & Flea Market closed in 2018; Photo by S.J.I on Flickr

December 30, 2019

Famed flea market in Chelsea has closed

After nearly five decades in operation, a famed flea market in Chelsea officially closed on Sunday, the New York Times reported. Alan Boss, the owner of the Annex Antiques Fair and Flea Market, which first opened in 1976 on a corner lot on West 25th Street, said the landlords did not renew the market's lease. While Boss said he hoped to find a new location, there isn't much remaining in the expanding neighborhood. "The current location was the last available lot of any size," Boss told the Times.
More here

Real Estate Trends

December 30, 2019

21 experts on NYC’s most important projects of the past decade

By 6sqft

As the decade draws to a close, we're reflecting on the growth and evolution of New York City during the 2010s. In the past 10 years, the city has seen the rebirth of neighborhoods, the creation of a totally new one, the return of a major sports team to Brooklyn, and the biggest subway expansion in decades. We've asked notable New Yorkers to share which project of the past decade they believe has made the most significant impact on the city, from the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site to the revival of the Coney Island boardwalk.
The full list ahead

Architecture And Design

New Year’s Eve in numbers: Fun facts about the Times Square ball drop

Photo by Kohei Kanno on Flickr

December 30, 2019

New Year’s Eve in numbers: Fun facts about the Times Square ball drop

By Diane Pham

Every year as the clock nears midnight on December 31, anticipation runs high as the world holds its breath waiting for the sparkling New Year's Eve Ball to descend from its flagpole atop One Times Square. We all know that the countdown starts at 10, but there are a handful of other fun facts to muse over when it comes to the city's most lauded tradition. From the wattage of the ball to the weight of trash produced to how long it takes to get it all cleaned up, see what we've rounded up, in numbers, ahead!
More on New Year's Eve in Times Square here

Events & Things To Do

168th Street and Astoria Boulevard subway stations finally reopen

MTA New York City Transit President Andy Byford at the 168 St Station on Monday, December 23, 2019, along with Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Assemblymember Al Taylor. Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit

December 23, 2019

168th Street and Astoria Boulevard subway stations finally reopen

By Dana Schulz

After a year, the 168th Street 1 train station has finally reopened, marking the first complete elevator replacement at this stop in more than 100 years. In addition, last week, the MTA announced that the Astoria Boulevard N, W station has reopened after nine months and the completion of the first phase of its station modernization.
More info

Transit

Image courtesy of Halstead.

December 23, 2019

This Yorkville studio gets top-floor light for a bargain basement $325K

Asking $325,000, this cozy co-op's Yorkville location at 321 East 89th Street between Central Park and Carl Schurz park means you've got a choice between the two green spaces–and the new Q line stops three blocks away. The tucked-away top-floor studio is served by an elevator, so getting home doesn't have to be a workout.
See more

Distinctive Homes

Judge overturns city’s plan to rezone Inwood

Photo by kathryn on Flickr

December 20, 2019

Judge overturns city’s plan to rezone Inwood

A state Supreme Court judge on Thursday overturned land-use changes approved by the City Council in 2018 to rezone the neighborhood of Inwood. A group of local residents and preservationists filed a lawsuit against the rezoning last December, claiming the plan did nothing to protect the community from displacement, as well as other effects of gentrification. In the decision, Judge Verna Saunders said the city "failed to take a hard look at the relevant areas of concern identified by the public" and did not comply with a state environmental quality review.
Learn more here

Policy

Artist Kent Monkman’s new murals at The Met reexamine Manhattan’s colonial past

Photos by Anna-Marie Kellen

December 19, 2019

Artist Kent Monkman’s new murals at The Met reexamine Manhattan’s colonial past

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Two new paintings by Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman are now on view in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Great Hall. As part of a new series in which the museum invites contemporary artists to make work in response to the Met collection, Monkman reappropriated motifs from Western artists such as Emanuel Leutze and Eugéne Delacroix to tell a different narrative that foregrounds themes of arrival, migration, displacement, and the Indigenous experience.
READ MORE

Events & Things To Do

December 19, 2019

14 historic sites of the abolitionist movement in Greenwich Village

As this year marks 400 years since the first African slaves were brought to America, much attention has been paid to what that means and how to remember this solemn anniversary. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission issued a story map highlighting landmarks of the abolitionist movement in New York City. Absent from the map were a number of incredibly important sites in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and Noho, which were a hotbed of abolitionist activity through the 19th century, as well as the home of the city’s largest African American community. Ahead, learn about 14 significant sites of the anti-slavery movement.
Learn more

History

For $24 million, a penthouse in Rafael Viñoly’s latest Nomad tower features an impressive loggia

Images by Colin Miller

December 19, 2019

For $24 million, a penthouse in Rafael Viñoly’s latest Nomad tower features an impressive loggia

As we’ve watched Rafael Viñoly’s Nomad tower at 277 Fifth Avenue rise, its pared-down yet distinctive facade has drawn our attention to the building’s double-height, open-air loggias that appear to be carved out of the building’s uppermost corners. Now that the building is complete, new images of a recently listed penthouse offer a glimpse of what those spaces are like from the other side. Seeking $24 million, the residence is one of four penthouses atop the 720-foot tower, spanning roughly 4,520 square feet.
Get the full tour

Photo credit: VHT courtesy of Compass

December 19, 2019

St. Mark’s studio with a working fireplace is a cozy little slice of East Village life for $475K

Though St. Mark's Place in the East Village may not be the colorful alt-culture adventure it once was, it's still central to a neighborhood that never stops moving. This compact co-op studio at 87 St. Mark's Place is in the center of it all, yet it's buttoned up, fitted out, and ready for the next adventurer to enjoy. Attributes like a working fireplace and a built-in Murphy bed make the space feel like home.
More cute studio, this way

Distinctive Homes

Chase, Joe Coffee, and By CHLOE. are now open in former Union Square Coffee Shop location

Photo by 6sqft

December 18, 2019

Chase, Joe Coffee, and By CHLOE. are now open in former Union Square Coffee Shop location

The prominent Union Square storefront on 16th Street and Union Square West that was home to sceney restaurant Coffee Shop for 28 years has changed quite a bit since the former diner closed its doors last October. Reports that yet another Chase branch and an outpost of vegan chain By CHLOE. would open in its place were confirmed a few months ago, and now the transformation is complete. A new location for Joe Coffee is also open in the building, and, interestingly, is part of a partnership with Chase, according to the Wall Street Journal. With an entrance on 16th Street, By CHLOE.'s colorful storefront stands where the former diner's back dining room used to be, while the Union Square side has lost its iconic neon sign for ubiquitous Chase branding.
Find out more right here

Food & Dining

Photo credit: Travis Mark courtesy of Compass

December 18, 2019

$3.2M FiDi loft stands out behind a historic Palladian window