Manhattan

COLORS restaurant in downtown Manhattan was originally founded by employees of the Windows on the World restaurant on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center, and employed many restaurant workers who lost their jobs on the day of the terrorist attacks. COLORS closed in 2017, closing the door on an establishment that had helped survivors to thrive. Now, am New York reports, on the 18th anniversary of the attacks, that the restaurant is re-opening in October.
More good news, this way

Food & Dining

Sales launch at disputed 200 Amsterdam Avenue, with one-bedrooms starting at $2.625M

Renderings courtesy of Binyan Studios

September 11, 2019

Sales launch at disputed 200 Amsterdam Avenue, with one-bedrooms starting at $2.625M

Less than a month after construction at 200 Amsterdam Avenue topped out—and despite a pending Article 78 challenge filed by opponents of the contested Upper West Side tower in July—sales have officially launched and the developers debuted a new website with all the listings and a new batch of renderings. Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects with interiors by CetraRuddy, the tower will rise 668 feet and consist of 112 condos over its 52 stories. Current pricing starts at 2.625 million for a one-bedroom and goes up to $7.975 for a five-bedroom. As 6sqft previously reported, there will be two duplex penthouses available for about $40 million each.
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September 10, 2019

My 400sqft: How a lifestyle blogger and her husband make small-space living work for them

By Dana Schulz

A lot of couples in NYC count down the days until they can pack up their studio for more spacious digs, but for Raechel and Ryan Lambert, they have no plans to upsize. The couple has been living in studio apartments for the past seven years--first in San Francisco, now in Hell's Kitchen--and they're doing it to maximize in other areas of their lives, such as travel and saving. Rae, a product marketer for tech companies, also runs the blog Small Space, Big Taste, where she embraces her minimalist mindset and shares with readers her tips on finance, cooking, traveling, and interiors. From packing for an eight-day trip in one backpack to sharing everything one needs to know about Murphy beds, Rae's articles are best exemplified in her and Ryan's 400-square-foot apartment. When Rae invited us into her home, we were welcomed into an airy, comfortable apartment that was so well organized it had space for cooking, dining, lounging, sleeping, and even playing the piano. Thanks to a less-is-more philosophy and a great collection of multi-purpose and moveable furniture, this couple's savvy design may have you rethinking that one-bedroom listing.
Take a tour of Rae's apartment and get some first-hand tips

New exhibit from photographers James and Karla Murray celebrates mom-and-pop storefronts of NYC

Photo © James and Karla Murray

September 9, 2019

New exhibit from photographers James and Karla Murray celebrates mom-and-pop storefronts of NYC

A free photography exhibition highlighting mom-and-pop shops of New York City opens in the East Village next week. Photographers and award-winning authors James and Karla Murray hosted two workshops earlier this year on using photography and oral history to "raise public awareness, build community, and encourage advocacy." The free exhibition, "Capturing the Faces & Voices of Mom-And-Pop Storefronts," shows off the photos and interviews from the workshop's participants, as well as large-scale photos of now-shuttered East Village shops, taken by James and Karla.
More here

Events & Things To Do

Joe Namath lists Upper West Side duplex with deck and garden for $1.2M

Photo credit: DDreps courtesy of Compass.

September 9, 2019

Joe Namath lists Upper West Side duplex with deck and garden for $1.2M

Legendary New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath is selling his Upper West Side co-op. I Love the Upper West Side tells us that the football icon bought the 1,300-square-foot two-bedroom home at 345 West 70th Street for his daughter Jessica and her former husband in 2016. It's now on the market for $1.195 million. In addition to star athlete cachet, the highlights of this classic duplex home are an oversized custom wooden deck and a lower level garden.
Take the tour

Blackstone shifts course and commits to renting all vacant, affordable units at Stuy Town

Photo by Kelly on Wiki Commons

September 9, 2019

Blackstone shifts course and commits to renting all vacant, affordable units at Stuy Town

Blackstone Group has apparently shifted course and is now renovating and leasing all vacant units at Stuyvesant Town. This comes after the landlord faced criticism following revelations that the company has been keeping 20 to 50 percent of rent-regulated apartments at Stuy Town empty in reaction to the city's new rent laws. It didn't take long for authorities, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, to express concern over the findings. On Friday, a spokesperson for Blackstone told Gothamist, “We are renovating and leasing all vacant units, and we will continue to fulfill our commitment to voluntarily preserve 5,000 affordable apartments.”
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September 9, 2019

Bette Midler lists her 14-room Upper East Side triplex penthouse for $50M

The 14-room penthouse occupying the top three floors of one of Fifth Avenue's finest prewar co-op buildings is simply divine. This should come as no surprise–the 7,000-square-foot triplex with 3,000 square feet of landscaped terrace and Central Park and skyline views at 1125 Fifth Avenue belongs to Bette Midler. As the New York Times reports, the over-the-top entertainer and her husband, performance artist Martin von Haselberg, are selling the Upper East Side family home they purchased in 1996, asking a diva-worthy $50 million.
A penthouse fit for a diva, this way

City seeks nonprofit to run NYC’s first cultural institution dedicated to immigrants

Inwood Hill Park, courtesy of Dana on Flickr

September 6, 2019

City seeks nonprofit to run NYC’s first cultural institution dedicated to immigrants

The city is seeking proposals from nonprofits interested in running a new immigrant research center and performing arts center in Inwood. The city's Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) released a request for expressions of interest on Wednesday for a nonprofit organization to "design, construct, and operate" the Northern Manhattan Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center (IRPAC). The neighborhood boasts a diverse community, with 49 percent foreign-born as well as the city's highest concentration of residents of Dominican descent.
More here

Via Wikimedia

September 6, 2019

WTC Oculus skylight won’t open this year during 9/11 commemoration due to leak

The skylight atop the $3.9 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus won't open this year on September 11, according to the Port Authority. It was announced this week that the skylight–comprised of 224 panes of glass on 40 motorized panels designed by Spanish starchitect Santiago Calatrava–has a leaking problem and will remain closed for this year's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The skylight was intended to open and close, releasing a beam of light into the Oculus space at precisely 10:28 A.M. each year to mark the moment the north tower of the World Trade Center fell.
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‘Girls’ star Zosia Mamet lists classic Upper West Side co-op for 1.3M

Listing photos by Travis Mark for Sotheby’s International Realty

September 5, 2019

‘Girls’ star Zosia Mamet lists classic Upper West Side co-op for 1.3M

By Annie Doge

Best known for her role as Shosanna on "Girls," actress Zosia Mamet has put her Upper West Side co-op on the market, reports the New York Post. Nearly five years ago, she and then-boyfriend-now-husband Evan Jonigkeit sold their Bushwick house and soon moved into a what we thought was a rather "unimpressive" apartment at 522 West End Avenue. The couple dropped $1,225,000 million on the unit, which they've certainly jazzed up over the years, and they've now listed it for a barely profitable $1,295,000. The ground-floor two-bedroom has classic pre-war bones and is the only residence with private access to the building's rear garden.
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PHOTOS: See an abandoned High Line before its days as a public park

All photos © Jonathan Flaum. Photo above: High Line Color 1. June 2005.

September 5, 2019

PHOTOS: See an abandoned High Line before its days as a public park

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Photographer Jonathan Flaum started going up on the abandoned High line in the '80s, when it was full of overgrown wildlife, to see some of his friends' graffiti work and find a quiet escape from the city. In the late '90s, he heard about plans to demolish the former elevated train tracks and decided to start photographing the structure. Soon thereafter, Joshua David and Robert Hammond started Friends of the High Line, then a small, grassroots organization advocating for its preservation and adaptive reuse into a park. When they built their website, they incorporated Jonathan's photos to provide a behind-the-scenes look for those who weren't as adventurous to venture up there. The park's first phase officially opened in 2009 and to celebrate its 10-year anniversary, Jonathan has shared with us his collection of photos. Ahead, hear from him on his experiences with the High Line and see how far this NYC icon has come.
See all the photos

Places

High-floor views come with a low ask of $395K in this refreshing Upper East Side studio

Photo credit: Allyson Lubow, courtesy of The Corcoran Group

September 5, 2019

High-floor views come with a low ask of $395K in this refreshing Upper East Side studio

A full-service pre-war building at a classic Upper East Side address a few blocks from Central Park usually comes with a bigger price tag, but this $395,000 studio at 205 East 78th Street offers those perks, plus move-in ready convenience. Open western views from this compact 17th-floor home join hardwood floors, high beamed ceilings, and clever storage solutions to make the most of the minimal space.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

Penn Station’s popular Tracks bar has shuttered

Photo © 6sqft

September 4, 2019

Penn Station’s popular Tracks bar has shuttered

Penn Station's longtime oyster bar has officially closed its doors. After nearly two decades, Tracks Raw Bar & Grill will relocate from its spot underneath the Midtown West transit hub to a new location nearby at 220 West 31st Street, as first reported by Untapped Cities. As 6sqft learned in June, the bar, along with nine other businesses, was forced to vacate to make way for a new Penn Station entrance, part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $600 million overhaul of the station.
More details here

Listing images by May Pearl; courtesy of CORE

September 4, 2019

Buy Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent’s stylish Greenwich Village pad, decor included

When interior design couple Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent bought their former Greenwich Village penthouse in 2013, they also picked up this charming one-bedroom at nearby 2 East 12th Street. After carefully styling the space with “a mix of vintage finds and pieces from their current collections,” the duo has just listed the cozy pad for $800,000. For an added price, prospective buyers can choose to purchase the apartment fully furnished—including major bragging rights for living in a quintessential Village home, styled head-to-toe by the celebrity designers.
Take a look inside

Photo courtesy of the Dorrance Brooks Property Owners and Residents Association

September 4, 2019

Dorrance Brooks Square: A Harlem enclave with World War and civil rights ties

By Historic Districts Council

This post is part of a series by the Historic Districts Council, exploring the groups selected for their Six to Celebrate program, New York’s only targeted citywide list of preservation priorities. By many accounts, Dorrance Brooks Square is considered the first public square named for a black soldier. The little Harlem park, just east of the larger St. Nicholas Park, was dedicated in 1925 to honor African-American infantryman Dorrance Brooks for his bravery during WWI. Prior to that, the area was very much associated with the Harlem Renaissance, home to jazz musician Lionel Hampton and sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois, among others. Later, it became a key location for social and political gatherings and speeches during the Civil Rights era. Today, the quaint neighborhood is home to an incredibly intact collection of late 19th-century rowhouses, built at the time for upper-middle-class professionals, as well as four culturally and architecturally significant churches. For all these reasons, the Dorrance Brooks Property Owners and Residents Association is advocating for an official landmark designation of the Dorrance Brooks Square Historic District, which would run up Edgecombe Avenue between West 136th and 140th Streets. To give 6sqft more information on this history of this neighborhood, the Association has mapped out the six most significant sites.
Learn all the history right here

History

Fashion brands reportedly boycott The Shed over Stephen Ross ties

Photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Shed

September 4, 2019

Fashion brands reportedly boycott The Shed over Stephen Ross ties

After news broke last month about the Hamptons fundraiser Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross hosted for President Donald Trump, there were calls to boycott organizations owned by his company. While Equinox, SoulCycle, and David Chang's Momofuku Restaurant Group separated themselves from Ross to clear the air, some fashion brands have more recently blacklisted Ross-linked entities, including the arts center The Shed at Hudson Yards, which was developed by Related. The New York Post reported this week that Michael Kors, Vera Wang, and the Academy of Art have canceled shows at the venue following the fundraiser fallout in August.
Is The Shed so last year?

Uncategorized

A first look inside Álvaro Siza’s restrained yet powerful Hell’s Kitchen tower, his first U.S. building

Renderings courtesy of The Boundary

September 3, 2019

A first look inside Álvaro Siza’s restrained yet powerful Hell’s Kitchen tower, his first U.S. building

With the construction of Álvaro Siza’s Hell’s Kitchen tower well underway and sales expected to launch later this month, the project website and a new batch of renderings have been released, revealing new project details and a first peek at the interiors designed by Gabellini Sheppard Associates. The rising 37-story tower at 611 West 56th Street will be the Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s first high-rise in the United States and largest project to date. Unlike most other starchitect projects in NYC, it stands out for its restraint and simplicity, hallmarks of Siza’s approach to design.
More info

Art-filled Harlem home of a celebrity doorman and collector seeks $1.275M

Listing images by Rise Media; courtesy of Compass

August 30, 2019

Art-filled Harlem home of a celebrity doorman and collector seeks $1.275M

By day, Ron Dominguez worked as a doorman at some of the Upper East Side's finest addresses—including 1040 Fifth Avenue, the building Jackie Kennedy Onassis called home. At his home in Harlem, he focused on his passion: collecting pop-surrealist art. “I don’t know any other doorman that happens to be a psychotic art collector,” he told the Wall Street Journal in 2014. "I was hustling a full-time job in one [building] and part-time in two others to support my art habit." After a long career, Dominguez is moving to Cuba—the country his family fled in 1971—and his two-bedroom apartment is now on the market for $1.275 million, art not included.
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Distinctive Homes

For $595/night, you can go glamping in a 300-square-foot cabin on Governors Island

Photos courtesy of Collective Retreats – The Outlook Shelter, Collective Governors Island

August 29, 2019

For $595/night, you can go glamping in a 300-square-foot cabin on Governors Island

A well-rounded urban camping experience is a new summer option on Governors Island. Campers can choose an activity-packed agenda complete with private boats, dining, kids’ activities and wellness programs, and a chance to sleep under the stars surrounded by New York skyline views and 1,500 thread count sheets, private en-suite bathrooms and decks, electricity, and WiFi within. For modern design lovers, the island's cozy Summit and Journey tents from Collective Retreats will be joined by new Outlook shelters. These modular hotel rooms resemble tiny modern cabins with 225 square feet–plus 75 square feet of deck space–of indoor architecture that "seamlessly compliments outdoor grandeur with fully sheltered structures." And for this unique experience, prices will start at $595/night.
Find out more

Midtown’s iconic Paris Theatre has closed

Photo by Ajay Suresh on Flickr

August 29, 2019

Midtown’s iconic Paris Theatre has closed

New York City's last single-screen movie theater shuttered this week. The Paris Theatre, which has been located on 58th Street since 1948, has officially closed its doors, according to the blog Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. The 568-seat theatre showed indie and foreign flicks, particularly French films.
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City Living

Harlem church’s rezoning proposal includes new tower and music school, but still no developer

Rendering by FXCollaborative

August 28, 2019

Harlem church’s rezoning proposal includes new tower and music school, but still no developer

A Harlem church looking to rezone part of Central Park North revealed plans this week to incorporate a music school and cultural center to its proposal for a 33-story residential tower. During a City Planning Commission hearing on Wednesday, La Hermosa Christian Church and FXCollaborative presented their design for the apartment building and the three-story community facility space. Congregants and church officials say the building at 5 West 110th Street is deteriorating, with many of its spaces unusable and inaccessible. "The project that we're proposing means the survival of our church," La Hermosa Pastor Dan Feliciano told the commissioners.
Get the details

Blackstone leaves dozens of rent-stabilized Stuy Town apartments empty

Image via Flickr

August 28, 2019

Blackstone leaves dozens of rent-stabilized Stuy Town apartments empty

Sources told The Real Deal that Blackstone Group is keeping 20 to 50 rent-stabilized apartments at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village vacant, following state rent law changes that will impede the landlord's ability to raise rents through renovations. 6sqft reported last month that Blackstone—who purchased the massive 11,000+ unit apartment complex in partnership with Ivanhoe Cambridge for $5.5 billion in 2015—had stopped all non-urgent renovations and other planned work at Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village as a result of the new rent laws.
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10 bronze sculptures of powerful women are on view outside a Midtown office building

photos © 6sqft

August 28, 2019

10 bronze sculptures of powerful women are on view outside a Midtown office building

By Dana Schulz

It's been nearly two years since artists Gillie and Marc first revealed their "Statues for Equality" project. Noting that less than three percent of all NYC statues are of women, the husband-and-wife public art specialists created a series of 10 bronze sculptures of inspirational women who were voted on by the public--Oprah Winfrey, P!nk, Nicole Kidman, Jane Goodall, Cate Blanchett, Tererai Trent, Janet Mock, Tracy Dyson, Cheryl Strayed, and Gabby Douglas. Monday, on Women's Equality Day, the statues were unveiled in front of RXR's Realty's 1285 Avenue of the Americas (h/t Untapped Cities).
Check out all the statues

Events & Things To Do

Homemade, illuminated lanterns will float above Morningside Heights

Photo from 2018’s Morningside Lights festival by Michael Seto via Flickr

August 27, 2019

Homemade, illuminated lanterns will float above Morningside Heights

The sky above Morningside Heights will soon come alive with illuminated, handmade lanterns. The Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts next month will host its annual "Morningside Lights" festival, which allows community members to make their own lanterns and float them in a procession through Morningside Park to Columbia's campus. Free workshops will be hosted each day at the Miller Theatre leading up to the event from Sept. 14-20, with the magical march happening on Saturday, Sept. 21.
It's lit

Events & Things To Do

Chelsea Market’s underground, grocery-focused Chelsea Local will expand with new vendors

Photos courtesy of Chelsea Market

August 27, 2019

Chelsea Market’s underground, grocery-focused Chelsea Local will expand with new vendors

New York City's OG food hall, Chelsea Market, is set to expand in September. The market's lower level, known as The Chelsea Local, will nearly double in size—from 13,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet—and add a range of new vendors, including Black Seed Bagels, Las Delicias Patisserie, and Pearl River Mart Foods, a new grocery from Asian emporium Pearl River Mart. The addition will bring the market's total size up to 135,000 square feet, easily making it the largest food hall in the city.
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Food & Dining

This perfectly petite Chelsea one-bedroom has a huge backyard for $3.8K/month

Listing images by Rise Media; courtesy of Compass

August 27, 2019

This perfectly petite Chelsea one-bedroom has a huge backyard for $3.8K/month