Manhattan

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos is closing on three apartments at 212 Fifth Avenue, next to Madison Square Park. Bezos is scooping up a penthouse and two units that are right under it for approximately $80 million, though the precise numbers haven’t been made public yet. Combined, the apartments add up to over 17,000 square feet. The deal is reportedly the largest to ever close in New York south of 42nd Street, and the second largest deal of the year, second to Ken Griffin’s now-infamous $240 million penthouse at 220 Central Park South.
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Dating app Bumble will open a permanent cafe and wine bar in Soho this fall

Via Pexels

June 4, 2019

Dating app Bumble will open a permanent cafe and wine bar in Soho this fall

A dating app wants to make planning first dates in New York City easier by narrowing down the choices of cafes and bars to just one. Bumble, the app that prompts women to make the first move online, is opening a permanent cafe and wine bar in Soho for people to meet, as Bloomberg first reported. Bumble Brew, opening this fall, will operate as a coffee shop during the day, with wine and small plates offered later.
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Food & Dining

June 4, 2019

For $6,500/month this furnished Lower East Side two-bedroom is move-in ready for your cat too

Right across the street from Sara D. Roosevelt Park and steps away from East Houston and Bowery, this fully-furnished two-bedroom at 210 Forsyth Street offers an eclectic mix of contemporary, vintage, and rustic decor for the asking price of $6,500 a month. Available for a 12-month lease beginning on July 1st, the chic Lower East Side space doesn’t shy away from divisive design choices—there’s a bathtub in the bedroom—and even includes furnishings for cats.
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Distinctive Homes

A-Rod will soon be a New York City landlord

East Village photo via Flickr cc; A-Rod photo via Wiki Commons

June 3, 2019

A-Rod will soon be a New York City landlord

Best known for his impressive 22-year baseball career (and more recently, his relationship with J-Lo), Yankee legend Alex Rodriguez is making moves to solidify his status as a major real estate player. The New York Post reported that Rodriguez just picked up a 21-unit rental building in the East Village, his first big purchase in New York City though he's been quite active in Miami. Rodriguez partnered with fellow Shark Tank investor and real estate veteran Barabara Corcoran on the deal, and the duo isn't playing around. They plan to quickly develop a portfolio of multifamily buildings throughout the city, with a focus on "undervalued neighborhoods, undermanaged buildings [and] misused land,” per a statement.
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Celebrities

Last year’s Pride Parade, via Wiki Commons

June 3, 2019

50 ways to celebrate Stonewall 50 and Pride Month in NYC

Fifty years have passed since the Stonewall Uprising changed New York City forever and gave the world a symbol of the struggle for LGBTQ rights and recognition. There are a seemingly endless number of ways to celebrate this milestone, learn about the history of the gay rights movement and enjoy a rainbow of diversity. Heritage of Pride, the nonprofit organization behind New York City’s official LGBTQIA+ WorldPride events, offers an interactive map to help navigate the many events planned this month. Below, you'll find 50 ways to celebrate Pride Month.
Pride, parades and parties, this way

Events & Things To Do

New 9/11 memorial honoring rescue and recovery workers opens at World Trade Center

Photo by Monika Graff for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

June 3, 2019

New 9/11 memorial honoring rescue and recovery workers opens at World Trade Center

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum's new monument honoring first responders opened Thursday, on the 17th anniversary of the official end of the recovery effort at Ground Zero. The 9/11 Memorial Glade monument recognizes first responders who are currently sick or who have died from illnesses caused by toxins following the September 11 attacks. Located at the World Trade Center site, the memorial consists of six stone monoliths that point skyward to "symbolize strength and determination through adversity."
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Parker Posey picks up a cozy Chelsea co-op for $1.5M

Listing photo courtesy of Douglas Elliman; Photo of Parker Posey via Wiki Commons

May 31, 2019

Parker Posey picks up a cozy Chelsea co-op for $1.5M

By Annie Doge

Parker Posey certainly has good taste in real estate. She first landed on our apartment-porn radar for her chic East Village apartment, which she bought back in 2008. (The home is now owned by actor Alexander Skarsgärd.) She then dropped $1.35 million on a slightly more classic co-op in Greenwich Village. After personally modeling in the listing photos, she unloaded this apartment in 2016. We're not sure where she's been for the past three years, but as of this week, she is a proud new Chelsea resident. According to the Post, Posey dropped $1.5 million on this super-cute and character-filled duplex at 365 West 19th Street. Not only does it have charming details like a wood-burning brick fireplace and huge half-moon window, but there's a private roof deck.
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Moishe’s Bakery may get a new life in the East Village

Photo by James and Karla Murray of the store in 2015 after the original signage was replaced following the East Village gas explosion nearby.

May 31, 2019

Moishe’s Bakery may get a new life in the East Village

By Dana Schulz

"Formerly Moishe's" is the strangely straightforward name that may soon christen the beloved East Village Kosher bakery. A local tipster and friend of long-time owner Moishe Perlmutter told EV Grieve that Moishe recently let him know that a new group of bakers would be taking over the location. He said they'll still serve baked goods and coffee and he may stay involved in some limited capacity. After 42 years in business, the bakery closed its doors in March after Moishe decided to retire.
Get the scoop

Food & Dining

‘She Built NYC’ Greenwich Village monument will honor two transgender activists

Wittenberg Triangle, the proposed location for the monument honoring Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Image via Google Earth.

May 31, 2019

‘She Built NYC’ Greenwich Village monument will honor two transgender activists

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Days before the start of Pride Month, the city announced on Thursday that the next She Built NYC monument will honor two transgender activists, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, key leaders in the Stonewall Uprising that sparked the gay and LGBTQ rights movement in America. The monument is currently planned for Ruth Wittenberg Triangle in the heart of the Village and near other important LGBTQ neighborhood landmarks including the Stonewall Inn. The city is seeking artists interested in creating the public monuments honoring Johnson and Rivera in an open call.
Statues will honor women who changed NYC

Events & Things To Do

Last year’s Pride Parade outside the Stonewall Inn, via Wiki Commons

May 30, 2019

17 LGBT landmarks of Greenwich Village

In about a month New York will be in the throes of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, three nights of disturbances from June 28th to June 30th 1969, which are recognized globally as the start of the modern LGBT rights movement. But Stonewall is only one of the scores of important LGBT landmarks in Greenwich Village – the homes of people, events, businesses and institutions dating from more than a century ago to just a few years ago. Thanks to landmark designation, most of these sites still stand. Here are just some of the dazzling array of those, all still extant, which can be found in the neighborhood which is arguably the nexus of the LGBT universe.
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History

Delayed pedestrian bridge in Battery Park City will finally open this fall

Rendering by WXY architecture + urban design

May 30, 2019

Delayed pedestrian bridge in Battery Park City will finally open this fall

A new pedestrian bridge in Lower Manhattan will open this fall, more than ten years after it was proposed, the city announced Wednesday. The 230-foot West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge replaces the Rector Street Bridge, a temporary structure built after two bridges in the area were destroyed during the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Designed by engineer Thornton Tomassetti and WXY architecture + urban design, the $45 million bridge crosses West Street and connects Battery Park City with the Financial District.
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Architecture And Design

May 30, 2019

See inside Central Park’s revamped SummerStage venue

By Dana Schulz

This summer marks the 33rd SummerStage to take place in Central Park, but this year, NYC's largest, free outdoor performing arts festival has a completely revamped and reconceptualized venue to the tune of $5.5 million. The event, hosted by the City Parks Foundation, is comprised of 100 performances in 17 neighborhood parks throughout the city, but the flagship venue in Central Park is certainly the headliner. After 20 years, the 5,500-person space has a new stage with 20 percent more capacity and updated technology, along with a new circulation pattern meant to enhance the guest experience, new member and VIP viewing platforms, new concession areas, and more.
Go behind the scenes before the venue opens this weekend

Architecture And Design

Photo by Laurian Ghinitoiu.

May 30, 2019

See new views of OMA’s first NYC building, with ‘prismatic’ details

The new L-shaped residential building at 121 East 22nd Street represents Rem Koolhaas's architecture firm OMA's first ground-up Manhattan project; developers Toll Brothers City Living have released new photos of the eye-catching structure on the border between the Gramercy and Madison Square Park neighborhoods, highlighting its unique design. The new condominium residence is comprised of two blocks that straddle an existing tower, the 11-story School of the Future, constructed in 1915. The building's north tower has two interlocking planes that meet to form a distinct, three-dimensional corner. The 13-story south tower features an "undulating grid of punched windows" overlooking 22nd Street.
More views this way

May 30, 2019

Cozy Upper West Side two-bedroom with lots of built-ins seeks $749K

This cozy Upper West Side two-bedroom stands out with multiple custom built-ins and proximity to both Riverside and Central Parks. It also benefits from two more unusual perks: The co-op at 242 West 104th Street runs a small lending library from the basement, and residents can also be part of the West 104th Street Association, which provides private block security and hosts an annual block party in addition to numerous other community events. It's now listed for $749,000 after last selling in 2014 for $637,000.
Peek inside

Distinctive Homes

From George Washington to war bonds: The revolutionary history of Fraunces Tavern

Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York outside 54 Pearl Street on opening day. Taken from Broad Street facing east. 1907. From the archives at Fraunces Tavern Museum. Courtesy of the Fraunces Tavern Museum

May 29, 2019

From George Washington to war bonds: The revolutionary history of Fraunces Tavern

By Lucie Levine

Fraunces Tavern is breaking out the champagne this year to celebrate its 300th birthday. Called "the oldest standing structure in Manhattan," the building you see today at the corner of Broad and Pearl Streets owes much to 20th-century reconstruction and restoration, but the site has a storied and stately past. In fact, any toasts delivered to mark the Tavern's tri-centennial will have to stack up against George Washington's farewell toast to his officers, delivered in the Tavern's Long Room, on December 4, 1783. Named for Samuel Fraunces, the patriot, spy, steward, and gourmand, who turned the old De Lancey Mansion at 54 Pearl Street into 18th century New York’s hottest watering hole, Fraunces Tavern connects New York’s proud immigrant history with its Dutch past, Revolutionary glory, maritime heritage, and continuous culinary prowess. Dive into the building’s unparalleled past and discover secrets and statesmen, murder and merriment – all served up alongside oysters as big as your face.
Learn the whole history

History

May 29, 2019

For $8.9M, a glamorous Murray Hill townhouse once owned by Liza Minnelli

Once the home of several prominent figures—including Liza Minnelli—this elegant Second Empire-style townhouse at 115 East 38th Street in Murray Hill is seeking its new owner for $8.85 million. Steeped in history and landmarked in the Murray Hill Historic District, the gorgeous 1865 brownstone facade (which was painted in the mid-twentieth century) has remained remarkably intact, while the interior has received a modern renovation. Spanning across six floors and roughly 6,615 square-feet, the residence boasts five bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms, an elevator, six working fireplaces, a garden, a roof terrace, and views of the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings.
More photos here

A new food pop-up at Chelsea Market will provide temporary rent-free space for culinary entrepreneurs

Image via Flickr cc

May 28, 2019

A new food pop-up at Chelsea Market will provide temporary rent-free space for culinary entrepreneurs

The East Harlem-based culinary nonprofit Hot Bread Kitchen has opened a new pop-up space in Chelsea Market that will host a rotating cast of alums from its incubator program, which provides training and low-cost kitchen rental facilities to culinary entrepreneurs. Up first is Gorsha, a fast-casual Ethiopian restaurant from Hiyaw Gebreyohannes, which will take residence in the space through October 31st. As the WSJ first reported, this reflects a new trend among food halls who are offering rent-free spaces to food startups in exchange for fresh flavors and ideas.
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Food & Dining

Tightrope-walking Wallenda siblings will travel 25 stories above Times Square

Nik Wallenda on the tightrope at Canada’s Wonderland in 2009; via Flickr

May 28, 2019

Tightrope-walking Wallenda siblings will travel 25 stories above Times Square

A brother and sister tightrope walking duo will attempt to travel 25 stories above Times Square next month. Nik and Lijana Wallenda will balance 1,300 feet on a tightrope between One Times Square and Two Times Square on June 23, ABC announced Thursday. The television network will broadcast the "never-before-attempted" daredevil stunt live during a two-hour special.
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Events & Things To Do

May 28, 2019

A renovated Federal-era West Village home with a solarium seeks $5.1M

Part of the Greenwich Village Historic District, the Federal-style rowhouse at 41 Barrow Street was originally built in 1828 as a "two and one-half storied wood building with [a] brick front in Flemish bond, steeply pitched roof and dormer window," according to the 1969 LPC designation. For all the historic charm it oozes from the outside, the interior has undergone a thorough renovation that kept many of the original details—wide-plank wood floors, two of the three original fireplace mantels, exposed wood beams—while gaining some modern upgrades. Of these, a solarium built on the parlor floor is the highlight, bringing plenty of light into the home and better flow to a somewhat tricky layout. The historic West Village property is now on the market for a cool $5,100,000.
Take the tour!

Amazon is shopping for office space in Manhattan’s new west side towers

Manhattan West. Rendering via VisualHouse.

May 28, 2019

Amazon is shopping for office space in Manhattan’s new west side towers

Retail disruptor Amazon has reportedly been looking at over 100,000 square feet of office space in the new One Manhattan West tower and supertall-to-be Two Manhattan West. According to the New York Post, the company is looking for “at least 100,000 square feet or much more” in the glassy skyscrapers that are part of a rapidly rising West Side development hot spot. When the Post asked Mayor de Blasio about the news, he told the paper that if Amazon moves forward with the plans, "they’re going to have to do it on their own."
Unlike Queens, Manhattan will hardly notice

New Developments

Listing images by Rise Media, courtesy of Compass

May 24, 2019

This $1.1M duplex is on the main floor of an old Soho police precinct

Listing images by Rise Media, courtesy of Compass One of a lovely row of classic buildings at the crossroads of the Village and Soho, 196 Sixth Avenue, built in 1893, is a former police precinct with gorgeous tall arched windows overlooking newly-renovated Father Fagan Park. This loft-style one-bedroom duplex co-op, asking $1.1 million, comprises part of the building's main floor–which explains the soaring 14-foot ceilings–and the ground floor below.
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Distinctive Homes

Plans to renovate and expand Port Authority Bus Terminal may soon move forward

Image via Wikimedia

May 24, 2019

Plans to renovate and expand Port Authority Bus Terminal may soon move forward

As 6sqft previously reported, in 2017 plans to address the overcrowded Port Authority Bus Terminal–the world's busiest–became focused on renovating the existing midtown Manhattan building rather than relocating it a block to the west. Despite constant squabbles, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bus terminal, agreed on a timeline, and a study was undertaken to determine costs and a schedule. Options included building a terminal for intercity buses underneath the Jacob K. Javits center, which itself has undergone major renovations. Now, as Politico reports, the two-state organization is moving forward with plans to replace the overtaxed terminal, with a focus on three options as outlined in an unreleased “scoping document.”
Options, this way

May 24, 2019

Diane Keaton’s former San Remo apartment returns for a discounted $14.5M

By Annie Doge

Diane Keaton's very first NYC apartment was this full-floor co-op in one of the San Remo's iconic towers. She bought the Upper West Side pad in the late '70s after gaining fame in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall." At the time, Mary Tyler Moore was living in the other tower, and rumor has it that Warren Beatty found this quite convenient since he was dating both actresses at the same time. In more recent years, the apartment was home to the late Gordon McLeod, the former head of digital publications at Dow Jones. He sold the home to investment banker Larry Slaughter and his wife Constance in 2012 for $13.5 million. They first listed the residence in March 2018 for $17.5 million, but have now re-listed it for a discounted $14.5 million.
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Google’s Chelsea takeover continues as it picks up another property in the neighborhood

The building at 450 West 15th Street is connected to Chelsea Market via a bridge; photo via Wikimedia

May 23, 2019

Google’s Chelsea takeover continues as it picks up another property in the neighborhood

Google on Wednesday picked up a 325,000-square-foot building in Chelsea, adding to its ever-growing footprint in the Manhattan neighborhood. According to the Financial Times, the company bought the building at 450 West 15th Street from Jamestown Properties for $600 million. In addition to its headquarters at 111 Eighth Avenue, Google owns the apartment buildings across the street and the Chelsea Market building, which it bought last year for $2.5 billion. And the company will serve as the primary tenant at Pier 57, a mixed-use development on the Hudson River.
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Real Estate Trends

Listing photos by VHT, courtesy of The Corcoran Group

May 23, 2019

$5.3M Upper West Side townhouse has a wealth of possibilities in its 18 rooms