Manhattan

As it approaches its 29th anniversary, Union Square-area favorite City Bakery may soon close its doors for good. The bakery and cafe opened in 1990 at 22 West 17th Street (it moved to its current 3 West 18th Street location in 2001) and has become well known over the years for its pretzel croissants, chocolate chip cookies, and decadent hot chocolate that comes with the option to add a massive, homemade marshmallow for $2, as well as the hot chocolate festival it hosted every February. However, as the Post first spotted, a two-part Instagram post last week explains that the bakery is in some serious financial trouble. "We have too much debt, debt which is like quicksand," they wrote.
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Food & Dining

October 17, 2019

This $1.5M condo is a study in modern architecture tucked into a historic Village townhouse

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

This one-bedroom condo at 131 West 11th Street, asking $1.495 million, is situated within a classic row house on a postcard-perfect Village street. Within are the 20-foot ceilings of a loft, with 1,200 square feet of living space and an open layout to match. The apartment's interiors are the work of award-winning architect Timmy Aziz of DOMA, and have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Architectural Digest among other notable design magazines. Another unique feature: The home boasts an 18-foot-tall brick wall that was constructed by renowned Italian sculptor Albino Manca, who once lived and worked in the space.
Have a look around

Photo by Beyond My Ken / Wiki Commons

October 17, 2019

Publishing giants, radical literature, and women’s suffrage: More secrets of Union Square South

The area south of Union Square, on the border between Greenwich Village and the East Village, is changing. The approval of the new 14th Street Tech Hub south of Union Square combined with an explosion of tech-related development in the area has resulted in the demolition of mid-19th-century hotels and Beaux-Arts style tenements, with new office towers like 809 Broadway taking their place. Aside from being rich in 19th- and early-20th-century architecture, this area is overflowing with history connected to many of the great American artists, writers, musicians, publishers, activists, innovators and artisans of the last century and a half. As part of Village Preservation's work to document and bring to light some of that often forgotten history, we wrote this piece last year exploring the connections to Mark Twain and Walt Whitman, Alexander Graham Bell and Leroi Jones (among many others). Now, we've uncovered even more history-making people and events connected to this area and its buildings, from Hammacher Schlemmer (NYC's first hardware store) to a slew of influential publishing houses (including that which published the first U.S. edition of "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland") to the Women’s Suffrage League headquarters.
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History

Brookfield unveils $400M redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue

Left: Photo by David Shankbone on Wikimedia; Right: Rendering by Hayes Davidson for Brookfield Properties

October 17, 2019

Brookfield unveils $400M redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue

Hoping to start a new chapter for the problem-plagued tower, Brookfield Asset Management has unveiled its plan to overhaul 666 Fifth Avenue. The 41-story Midtown office building will undergo a $400 million overhaul designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, including a new glass exterior, floor-to-ceiling windows, revamped rooftop spaces, and updated mechanical systems, as the Wall Street Journal first reported. And separating itself further from its past, the building's address will now be 660 Fifth Avenue.
New details this way

Architecture And Design

Facebook and Apple are battling for office space at Midtown West’s former Farley Post Office

Rendering courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill courtesy of Gov. Cuomo’s office

October 16, 2019

Facebook and Apple are battling for office space at Midtown West’s former Farley Post Office

Two major tech companies are vying for office space at the former James A. Farley Post Office in Manhattan. The New York Post reported on Tuesday that Facebook and Apple both want to lease space at the former post office which is being converted by Vornado Realty Trust into a mixed-use site with 740,000 square feet of office space and a new train hall underneath. In September, it was reported that Facebook was in advanced talks for office space, but according to the Post, Apple has "suddenly decided it, too, wants all four floors of Farley's office space."
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New Developments

October 15, 2019

Permits filed for 30-story ‘affordable luxury’ condo tower on the Lower East Side

A developer this month filed an application with the city to build a 30-story condo building next to a landmarked nursing home on the Lower East Side. The plan comes a year after developer Round Square failed to obtain air rights from the Seward Park Cooperative to build two towers at 232 East Broadway, adjacent to the Bialystoker Nursing Home. After ditching the original two-building project, Round Square is now moving forward with a proposed one tower that will contain 54 condos, as Patch reported.
Details here

New Developments

The Arches of Harlem aims to turn the Riverside Drive Viaduct into a public light-art installation

Renderings by Focus Lighting

October 15, 2019

The Arches of Harlem aims to turn the Riverside Drive Viaduct into a public light-art installation

Harlem-based architectural lighting firm Focus Lighting has worked on some pretty impressive projects here in NYC, from the Times Square ball to the Waldorf Astoria. But they're also getting involved in their local community, thinking about how they can transform the Riverside Drive Viaduct--a 50-foot-tall elevated steel roadway that runs from 125th to 135th Streets. As the firm notes, during the day, the structure's grand arches serve as a picturesque background to the neighborhood and the Hudson River, but at night, they "go completely unlit and unutilized." Their proposal, called The Arches of Harlem, seeks to incorporate a new programmable lighting composition every three months, each one "inspired by select works of historic artists and emerging local talent."
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Essex Crossing’s second condo tower tops out on the Lower East Side

Photo credit: QuallsBenson

October 15, 2019

Essex Crossing’s second condo tower tops out on the Lower East Side

The Essex Crossing mega-development hit another milestone this week, with its seventh building topping out at the Lower East Side site. The mixed-use tower at 202 Broome Street includes 83 luxury condominiums, 175,000 square feet of office space, and 34,500 square feet of retail space. Designed by CetraRuddy, the building joins 242 Broome as the nine-site development's second condo building.
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This $1.4M Chelsea loft is filled with storage and opportunity

Rendering: Spotless Agency, courtesy of Compass

October 14, 2019

This $1.4M Chelsea loft is filled with storage and opportunity

This light-filled Chelsea loft co-op at 100 West 15th Street offers original details remaining from its early factory days, like soaring 12-foot ceilings, massive windows, exposed brick, exposed wood beams, and an original metal column. The apartment, asking $1.39 million, is the result of combining two studios, with plenty of open loft space for creating a home, plus a level of lofted storage above.
Lofty ideas, this way

Distinctive Homes

PHOTOS: Take a fall foray through the Union Square Greenmarket

All photos by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft.

October 14, 2019

PHOTOS: Take a fall foray through the Union Square Greenmarket

When the Union Square Greenmarket opened in 1976 as GrowNYC's second-ever market, there were only seven farmers set up. At the time, the area was quite empty and crime-ridden, but the market, along with the opening of Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe and a major renovation by the city in the '80s, is credited with turning Union Square into the vibrant hub that we now know. Today, there can be as many as 140 vendors, selling everything from produce to fish to meat to cheese to lavender, as well as 60,000 shoppers (and local chefs!) on a given day. And though every season is beautiful and fruitful at the market, fall is perhaps the most colorful, which is why photographers James and Karla Murray thought it would be the perfect time to capture the essence of the market and get to know some of the vendors personally.
Take a tour and watch a special video

Insider Tours

Resembling an English estate, Sir John Richardson’s full-floor Flatiron co-op seeks $7.2M

Listing images by DDReps; courtesy of Compass

October 14, 2019

Resembling an English estate, Sir John Richardson’s full-floor Flatiron co-op seeks $7.2M

The estate of renowned Picasso biographer and art historian Sir John Richardson—who passed away in March—recently listed his Flatiron co-op for $7.2 million. The seventh-floor loft at 73 Fifth Avenue spans across 5,400 square feet but despite some original details—dark oak floors, wood beams, exposed pipes, and oversized windows—it looks more like “a vast English country house” than a traditional loft, as New York Magazine noted. Currently configured as a two-bedroom with plenty of library space, the home is filled with a “mash-up of exotic and classical furniture,” alongside countless artworks from friends like Lucian Freud and Andy Warhol, and other curiosities.
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WeWork’s private NYC elementary school, WeGrow, will close after current school year

Photo by Laurian Ghinitoiu courtesy of WeWork

October 14, 2019

WeWork’s private NYC elementary school, WeGrow, will close after current school year

Following a failed IPO and an impending takeover by Japanese parent company SoftBank amid an exodus of investors, office space sublease and coworking brand leader WeWork informed parents that the 2019-2020 school year would be the last for the newly-launched Manhattan elementary school, HuffPost reports. Rebekah Neumann, the co-founder of the company and wife of its recently-ousted CEO, Adam Neumann (and first cousin of Gwyneth Paltrow), had helmed the educational program for children ages three to nine, titled WeGrow, with a focus on education through play and interaction. The small New York City private school opened in 2018 with a tuition bill of between $22,000 and $42,000 a year. On the curriculum were yoga, dance and martial arts and weekly trips to an upstate farm to learn how to plant and harvest crops–in addition to fundamental courses, all with a heavy emphasis on creative expression and immersion in nature.
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179-year-old Chelsea townhouse featured on ‘Seinfeld’ seeks $8.65M

Listing images by Yoo Jean Han; courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty

October 11, 2019

179-year-old Chelsea townhouse featured on ‘Seinfeld’ seeks $8.65M

Seinfeld fans may recognize the exterior of this townhouse at 408 West 20th Street as the home of character Elaine Benes, though current owners Harry Azorin and Lori Monson, who bought the home for $950,000 in 1995, don’t get many questions about it anymore. “Maybe twice a month, someone would walk by, and they’d say, ‘Is this Elaine’s house?’...I’d say, about 10 years ago, it stopped,” Monson told the Wall Street Journal. Originally built in 1839, the residence is now on the market for $8.65 million. Even though Seinfeld was largely set on the Upper West Side, the house is actually located “on the most desirable street in Chelsea,” as the listing boasts, “perfectly positioned” on historic Cushman Row and overlooking the General Theological Seminary.
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Distinctive Homes

PHOTOS: See the views from the Empire State Building’s new 102nd-floor observatory

View looking north, with Central Park and the towers that dot Billionaires’ Row clearly visible; Photo courtesy of Empire State Realty Trust

October 11, 2019

PHOTOS: See the views from the Empire State Building’s new 102nd-floor observatory

After four years and $165 million, the revamp of New York City's first supertall is nearly complete, bringing a more contemporary and visitor-friendly experience to one of the world's most historic buildings. The Empire State Building's 102nd-floor observatory, which boasts 360-degree panoramic views at 1,250 feet above street level, officially opens to the public on Saturday, Oct. 12. Building owner Empire State Realty Trust redesigned the observatory to be less obstructive for guests, allowing more picture-perfect views and less time waiting.
All the way up

Images courtesy of Douglas Elliman.

October 11, 2019

Is this gorgeous two-bedroom Upper West Side co-op in the Dorilton a steal at $1.9M?

The gated side street entrance at the 12-story pre-war Dorilton at 171 West 71st Street on the Upper West Side is considered to be among the grandest in New York. The building, an official city landmark since the 1970s, has undergone a careful restoration that has brought its intricate façade and rich interior spaces back to their original Edwardian splendor; intricate wood molding, wainscoting and marble mantles can still be found in many apartments. This classic style gets an upgrade with modern good looks and comfort in this gracious two (with potential for more) bedroom unit. Starting with the fireplace and stained glass bay windows in the entrance foyer, the apartment radiates elegance and charm. Add a large landscaped terrace, and its $1.925 million ask seems like quite a bargain.
Check out this gorgeous Upper West Side home

Distinctive Homes

Completed report announced following East Side Coastal Resiliency Project consultant review

Preliminary design of Corlears shared use path; via DDC.

October 11, 2019

Completed report announced following East Side Coastal Resiliency Project consultant review

Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Council Member Carlina Rivera announced Thursday the completed report by independent consulting firm Deltares on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR). As 6sqft previously reported, the project was first developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and is intended to protect 2.2 miles of Manhattan’s East Side, between East 25th Street and Montgomery Street, from flooding and improve access to waterfront space. According to the city, the ESCR project would protect over 110,000 New Yorkers in the area.
Find out more and read the report

Ken Griffin drops another $4M on Central Park South condos after record $240M penthouse purchase

Via Vornado Realty Trust and Robert A.M. Stern Architects

October 10, 2019

Ken Griffin drops another $4M on Central Park South condos after record $240M penthouse purchase

Billionaire Ken Griffin really likes 220 Central Park South. The hedge fund mogul picked up two more apartments at the Robert A.M. Stern-designed skyscraper last month, less than a year after he bought a record-breaking $240 million penthouse there. The New York Post first spotted the sales, which includes apartments 20H for $1.89 million and 20J for $2.06 million, bringing his total investments at the property to roughly $244 million.
And another one

Real Estate Trends

City will bring affordable co-living projects to East Harlem and East New York

Rendering courtesy of Common and L+M Development Partners

October 10, 2019

City will bring affordable co-living projects to East Harlem and East New York

A year ago, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced plans for an affordable co-living pilot program. Known as ShareNYC, the initiative "lets developers seek public financing in exchange for creating affordable, shared-housing developments," as 6sqft previously reported. The city has now selected three proposals that will create or preserve accommodations for roughly 300 residents. Two of the projects, including one by co-living giant Common, will be located in East Harlem, while the third will be in East New York.
Learn about all the projects

Pricing revealed for starchitect-designed Waterline Square rentals, with studios from $3,938/month

Rendering courtesy of Noe & Associates with The Boundary

October 10, 2019

Pricing revealed for starchitect-designed Waterline Square rentals, with studios from $3,938/month

Update 10/10/19: More details about Waterline Square rentals were released on Tuesday, following the official lease launch last month. At the three-tower Upper West Side development, studios start at $3,938/month, one-bedrooms at $5,425/month, two-bedrooms at $8,625/month, three-bedrooms at $9,933/month, and four-bedrooms at $15,000/month. These prices include concessions for three months of free rent on a 12-month lease. Currently, the priciest unit available to rent is a $19,208/month four-bedroom at One Waterline Square, which measures just over 2,200 square feet. After topping out nearly two years ago, the trio of glassy high-rise towers known as Waterline Square on Monday kicked off leasing for its rental units. GID Development tapped three major architects, Richard Meier, Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), and Rafael Viñoly, to design the Upper West Side buildings, which include roughly 260 condos, 800 rental units, and 100,000 square feet of amenities. Rentals, ranging from studios to four-bedroom apartments, start at $4,130 per month, without concessions. Hill West Architects serve as the project's architect of record.
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Real Estate Trends

October 10, 2019

Jenny Holzer explores gun violence in a new public artwork at Rockefeller Center

Artist Jenny Holzer—known for her practice of displaying text in the public sphere—is partnering with Creative Time for the third time on a new public art project at Rockefeller Center. VIGIL is a series of light projections addressing gun violence in America through first-hand accounts, poems, and responses by Americans who have had to reckon with the everyday reality of gun violence. The words will be beamed across the iconic Midtown destination each night from October 10 to 12 beginning at 8 p.m.
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Events & Things To Do

Asking $650K, this renovated classic Village co-op boasts fine materials and attention to detail

Image courtesy of Douglas Elliman.

October 10, 2019

Asking $650K, this renovated classic Village co-op boasts fine materials and attention to detail

Bleecker Court at 77 Bleecker Street in the Village/Noho is mid-20th-century modernist in appearance, but it's a neighborhood classic. This "loft" apartment has benefitted from a recent gut renovation and, asking $650,000, is 21st-century-ready. The home's designer/owner created a magazine-worthy interior within the open, airy space, making the best of high ceilings and a wall of windows overlooking Mercer Street.
Look both ways

Distinctive Homes

The hopping history of German breweries in Yorkville

Jacob Ruppert’s Knickerbocker Beer, 1912, via Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

October 10, 2019

The hopping history of German breweries in Yorkville

By Lucie Levine

If you spent the first weekend of October hoisting lager and Oomph-ing it up for Oktoberfest, then you joined a long and proud tradition of German beer production and consumption in New York City. In fact, New York’s German-owned breweries were once the largest beer-making operations in the country, and the brewers themselves grew into regional and national power-players, transforming Major League Baseball, holding elected office, and, perhaps most importantly, sponsoring goat beauty pageants in Central Park. While brewing flourished in both Manhattan and Brooklyn throughout the 19th century, the city’s largest breweries were clustered in Yorkville. In fact, much of the neighborhood’s storied German cultural history can be traced to the rise of brewing in the area, and the German-language shops, cultural institutions and social halls that sprang up to cater to the brewery workers.
Get more Hopping History Here!

History

Images courtesy of Douglas Elliman

October 9, 2019

$1.75M Tribeca loft was once the Engine 29 firehouse

Images courtesy of Douglas Elliman This 1,500-square-foot classic loft co-op, asking $1.75 million, is in a neighborhood filled with lofts. What makes this Tribeca home at 160 Chambers Street a bit different is its former life as the Engine 29 firehouse. Loft lovers will be happy to note that though it has been recently renovated, 12-foot tin ceilings, exposed brick walls, hardwood floors and oversized windows remain. Currently a walk-up, the coop plans to install an elevator.
Get an inside view of this historic space

Distinctive Homes

Construction kicks off at Google’s new Hudson Square campus

Rendering of 550 Washington Street via COOKFOX

October 9, 2019

Construction kicks off at Google’s new Hudson Square campus

Construction has officially kicked off at Google's massive new campus in Hudson Square. The tech company plans to open office space across three properties 315 Hudson Street, 345 Hudson Street, and 550 Washington Street, which formerly served as a freight terminal. The project involves a gut renovation of the terminal building and an addition of eight new floors. As CityRealty reported Tuesday, the northern sections of the St. John's Terminal building are now demolished.
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New Developments

Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. could be your landlord in Nolita for $6,750/month

Listing images by Joel Pitra, DDReps; courtesy of Compass

October 9, 2019

Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. could be your landlord in Nolita for $6,750/month

Musician Albert Hammond Jr. has put his Nolita loft up for rent, seeking a cool $6,750 a month. The Strokes guitarist bought the pad in 2012 for $1.25 million from Victoria’s Secret model Maryna Linchuk, according to the New York Post. The 1,033-square-foot studio loft at 354 Broome Street—also known as the Ice House Condominium—features exposed brick walls, original columns, freshly refinished oak floors, and beamed ceilings. It’s not the first time Hammond is taking on the role of landlord. The unit has been rented out a couple of times during his ownership, fetching as much as $7,500 a month in 2015.
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October 8, 2019

Thomas Heatherwick’s pair of bubbled condos on the High Line gets rebranded as ‘Lantern House’