6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

Released last fall, the Regional Plan Association's (RPA) Fourth Plan includes 61 recommendations focused on improving and expanding the area's deteriorating infrastructure, transportation, and affordability, much of which revolves around climate change and its transformation of the region. According to the report, more than one million people and 650,000 jobs are at risk of flooding due to rising sea levels. In the plan, the RPA ambitiously recommends that the New Jersey Meadowlands, 21,000 acres of low-lying wetlands, becomes a national park as a way to mitigate impacts of climate change (h/t Curbed). Designating the region's largest wetland as a national park would restore the natural habits, protect nearby communities, and create a recreational space, becoming, the report says, a "Climate Change National Park." The Meadowlands National Park would adapt and grow with climate change by drawing and redrawing the boundaries of the park as coastlines change.
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Six things you didn’t know about the Lower West Side

59-81-Washington-Street ca. 1935, via NYPL

February 14, 2018

Six things you didn’t know about the Lower West Side

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. The Lower West Side may not be a neighborhood name used by brokers, but for those involved with preservation efforts in the area, it's a neighborhood very much unique from the surrounding Financial District. Encompassing the area west of Broadway from Liberty Street to Battery Place, it was originally home to Irish and German immigrants, followed by Little Syria, the nation’s first and largest Arabic settlement, from roughly the 1880s to 1940s. But the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and World Trade Center "nearly wiped the neighborhood off the map." There are still several buildings remaining that serve as a connection to the past, however, and Friends of the Lower West Side is working diligently to make sure this history is not lost, expanding its oral history program, offering walking tours of the area, and appealing to the Landmarks Commission to designate a small historic district.
Find out six little-known facts about this amazing district

History

February 14, 2018

$9.5M tricked-out Soho bachelor pad is a townhouse with condo benefits

The name is as flashy as its leather-wrapped walls and furnishings and smoked-glass kitchen: Townhouse One at Soho Mews spans 3,855 square feet on two floors and offers five bedrooms and a discreet private entrance on Soho's bustling Wooster Street. Asking $9.5 million, this palatial "townhouse" gets access to the amenities of the stylish Soho Mews condominium at 311 West Broadway including a concierge, a gym and parking.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

Collection of antique Valentines explores expressions of love over three centuries

Fold-open Valentine card, German (1900); courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

February 14, 2018

Collection of antique Valentines explores expressions of love over three centuries

While a simple and perhaps less swanky gesture than diamonds and roses, a Valentine's Day card remains one of the most popular ways to say "I love you" every February 14. This year Americans will exchange about 190 million greeting cards during the holiday, spending nearly $1 billion on them. A collection of antique paper Valentines from The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens proves this is not a 21st-century phenomenon. The museum, located in San Marino, CA, acquired a collection of about 12,300 romantic greeting cards, sentimental notes and drawings made in Europe and North America from 1684 to 1970 (h/t NY Times). A historian from New Jersey, Nancy Rosin, put together the impressive collection of cards over four decades and her family recently donated them to the museum.
More this way

Events & Things To Do

February 14, 2018

Designer Sebastian Errazuriz opens up his South Bronx studio full of functional art and furniture

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the South Bronx design studio of Sebastian Errazuriz. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Sebastian Errazuriz is a Chilean-born artist, designer, and activist but over the years, he's grown his multidisciplinary studio to incorporate everything from virtual reality to activism. But nothing he does is cookie-cutter. His cabinets undulate and mimic kaleidoscopes; his public art makes social commentary on issues from Wall Street and capitalism to Chile's politicide; and he's created sculptures that mix a boat with a coffin and a crystal chandelier with taxidermy birds. Sebastian likens his ability to work in these mediums separately but together to how he can speak both English and Spanish but also Spanglish. "It's the freedom to incorporate words that do not exist in one particular language but that enrich communication with someone else that I really enjoy within the boundaries of art and design," he explains. Now, Sebastian is at the forefront of yet another new frontier. Though he has a 5,000-square-foot space at the uber-hip Industry City, he opened his second location last summer in Mott Haven, one of the city's newest artist enclaves due to its affordable warehouse spaces and non-residential nature that sets it apart from the more gentrifying parts of the area. 6sqft recently paid Sebastian a visit here to learn how his firm is growing, the process behind his "functional art," and why he moved to the South Bronx.
Tour the studio and meet Sebastian

February 14, 2018

Fall in love with this elegant two-bedroom co-op, asking $1.85M in the Village

In New York we don't just fall madly in love with people--we fall just as hard for real estate. So here's a charming two-bedroom apartment to love from the Greenwich Village cooperative 171 West 12th Street. The listing boasts plenty of pre-war elegance in the form of original casement windows with double-paned glass, a wood-burning fireplace surrounded by exposed brick, and built-in bookshelves. And exposures to the south, west, and north--plus access to a balcony--bring in plenty of light. It's just been listed for $1.85 million.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

The city will produce 500 affordable apartments across 87 hard-to-fill vacant lots

Image: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

February 14, 2018

The city will produce 500 affordable apartments across 87 hard-to-fill vacant lots

An announcement Tuesday by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) gave lower-income New Yorkers lots to look forward to–literally. HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer announced that nine development teams would be creating 490 affordable apartments and homeownership opportunities on 87 vacant lots through the department's New Infill Homeownership Opportunities Program (NIHOP) and Neighborhood Construction Program (NCP). The programs were designed specifically to unlock the potential of vacant lots long considered too small or irregular for traditional housing with innovative smaller homes, and develop more affordable housing on lots long used for parking at existing housing complexes. This latest round of development is the third and final in a series: The program has already seen the construction of over 600 affordable homes on 81 lots.
'No site has gone overlooked'

Distinctive Homes

A grown-up townhouse with a Bushwick address–and a koi pond–asks $2M

For $995K, this two-bedroom Park Slope condo is a breath of fresh air

6sqft’s top ‘distinctive homes’ of 2024

For $1.45M, this barrel-fronted Bay Ridge home offers three floors for living and lots of outdoor space

Behold the breathtaking views from this $18M home on the Montauk coastline

$4.5M Central Park West duplex in Hotel des Artistes gets color just right

For $25M, a Flatiron penthouse in a golden cupola, with Manhattan at your feet

Keke Palmer lists her Williamsburg penthouse for $3M

$2.35M Gramercy co-op wraps classic pre-war style with vintage opulence–plus a key to the park

This $6M Arts & Crafts estate is like having your own private summer camp in the Hamptons

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February 13, 2018

This white and bright studio asks $549K in Soho

This Soho studio was renovated five years ago, bringing a stark modern aesthetic to a unit already boasting high ceilings, hardwood floors, exposed brick, and a decorative fireplace. Though the studio isn't huge, white walls and cabinetry, plus a line of windows that face Sullivan Street, keep things nice and bright. The pad, located at 145 Sullivan Street, sold in 2012 for $346,000 before being listed at an ask of $549,000.
Check out the reno

Distinctive Homes

February 13, 2018

The Urban Lens: ‘Impossible Landscapes’ bend the reality of life in NYC

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Juan Jose Egusquiza shares his "Impossible Landscapes" series. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Juan Jose Egusquiza describes himself as a "visual storyteller, image maker, and reality bender." In his latest photo manipulation series titled "Impossible Landscapes," he bends the reality of New York, a city that lent itself perfectly to the project since it's constantly changing and being reimaged. From plopping Downtown's skyscraper in the middle of the desert to adding a rushing river through Chinatown to inverting the entire skyline, Juan has created a view of NYC that inspires endless curiosity and stories. Ahead, see all of the images and learn a bit more from Juan about his process and inspiration.
Everything, this way

Events & Things To Do

February 13, 2018

986-foot Flatbush Avenue tower in Downtown Brooklyn gets revised renderings

Ahead of its public review, Alloy Development this week released new details and renderings of its proposed mixed-use development at 80 Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn. Developers amended the complex's design, first released in April, following backlash from the community and more than 100 meetings with local stakeholders. While the taller tower will keep its original design with 74 stories, the 38-story building's profile will be slimmed and feature a masonry facade to complement the neighboring Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower.
More here

Real Estate Trends

See NYC’s hot spots in real-time on Snapchat’s new crowd-sourced web map

Photo via Pexels

February 13, 2018

See NYC’s hot spots in real-time on Snapchat’s new crowd-sourced web map

Snapchat on Monday announced that its "Snap Map," a feature which allows users to view posts from around the world, will be available on the web, giving those without the social media app a chance to check out events happening near them. In addition to now existing outside of the Snapchat app, the browser version of the map lets snappers embed content from the map onto web pages, much like how Twitter or Instagram permits (h/t WIRED). Hot spots on the map, areas with lots of posts, glow green or blue; heavy traffic locations light up red and orange. Today in New York users are filling up "Our Story" with posts from New York Fashion Week, the September 11th Memorial, and the Empire State Building.
More here

Policy

February 13, 2018

‘Silence of the Lambs’ director Jonathan Demme’s longtime Central Park West co-op sells for $2.4M

By Annie Doge

Acclaimed filmmaker Jonathan Demme, who won an Academy Award for directing "The Silence of the Lambs," passed away in April. For at least 30 years prior, he resided at the grand Emery Roth-designed Central Park West co-op the Alden. According to city records, his longtime Upper West Side home has now sold for $2.4 million, after just 13 days on the market.
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New York City’s subway system has a water problem- a 13 million gallon one

Workers pumping seawater out of the L-train tunnel after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, photo courtesy of the MTA on Flickr

February 13, 2018

New York City’s subway system has a water problem- a 13 million gallon one

The subway's crippling, century-old infrastructure is not the only reason behind the system's constant delays and disruptions. The other problem involves about 13 million gallons of water, or more depending on the rainfall, that gets pumped out from underground on a nearly daily basis. A perpetual hazard, water can drip onto electrified equipment, cause a short and create chaos, as the New York Times reported. After ineffectively using only sandbags and plywood to fight flooding in the past, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has turned to more high-tech solutions, like flood-proof doors and inflatable gaskets, which will be a part of its $800 million emergency action plan to fix the subway.
Find out more

Transit

February 13, 2018

Historic Kips Bay townhouse with room to grow asks $4.3M

This mid-19th century townhouse in Manhattan's often overlooked neighborhood of Kips Bay might be a dime a dozen in a Brooklyn neighborhood like Cobble Hill. But in Midtown it's asking $4.3 million and it looks as cute as a button somehow. This four-story-plus-cellar Greek Revival-style (officially) three-family home sits on a pretty tree-lined residential street. At 18-inches wide its well-maintained and fetching façade is highlighted by custom contrasting shutters.
Tour the townhouse

February 13, 2018

World’s Fair fountains in Flushing Meadows will get a $5M revamp

More than 50 years after the 1964-65 World's Fair was held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the fountains leading up to the iconic Unisphere will be returned to their former glory. amNY first got word that the currently dilapidated Fountain of the Fairs would undergo a $5 million renovation next year. Renderings from Quennell Rothschild & Partners show a Fog Garden, a walkway filled with misting fountains, as well as a children's water park and another plaza for outdoor performances, all of which will be lined with new landscaping and seating.
More details and renderings

Architecture And Design

How to celebrate the Chinese New Year in NYC; The fight to save the Frederick Law Olmsted house

Photo via Patrick Kwan/Flickr (L); Olmsted House as of October 2017, via The New York Landmarks Conservancy

February 12, 2018

How to celebrate the Chinese New Year in NYC; The fight to save the Frederick Law Olmsted house

By 6sqft

Of course, an all-avocado restaurant has made its way to Manhattan. Avocado Appetit is now open in Chinatown. [Eater] Friday kicks off the Year of the Dog. Here are 10 alternative events to celebrate the Chinese New Year in NYC. [Untapped Cities] NYC has 400 outreach workers whose job is to build trust with people living on the streets […]

Uncategorized

Interactive map identifies the New York City neighborhoods most underserved by transit

Nearly 29 percent of New York City households are underserved by transit, according to data from the Center for Neighborhood Technology and TransitCenter. In a joint project, called AllTransit, the team put together a collection of transit data that includes 15,000 routes and 800 agencies in the United States. A tool called Gap Finder identifies gaps in U.S. cities where underserved communities would benefit from improved service.
Explore it here

Transit

February 12, 2018

Enjoy zen vibes from this lofty condo asking $775K in Hamilton Heights

This two-bedroom pad comes from the prewar condo at 706 Riverside Drive, in Hamilton Heights. Though the building is classic the apartment's been renovated to look more like a zen loft downtown. A "double loft wonderland" was added to the second bedroom, alongside reclaimed wood shelving and unique decor. After last selling in 2007 for $349,830, it is now asking $775,000.
Look around

Distinctive Homes

February 12, 2018

Work for Google? Get a $1M discount on this $13M 7-story Chelsea townhouse

In the heart of bustling and ever-expanding Chelsea, a seven-story, 6,500 square-foot new-construction townhouse stands seductively for sale at 338 West 15th Street. Listed for $13.395 million, the home represents a new kind of opportunity in more ways than one. In addition to being meticulously finished with the most luxurious materials available and possessed of endless space both indoors and outdoors, a $1 million discount is offered to a buyer who is an employee of Google. And that (not-so-) little extra perk for a potential Google buyer is intended as a celebration of the company's exciting expansion within the Chelsea neighborhood. And with more Google ownership in the neighborhood in the form of the just-purchased Chelsea Market (a $2.5 billion deal), there could be a daily bonus of a seven-minute walk to work.
Get a look around

Distinctive Homes

Trump’s long-awaited infrastructure plan won’t fund Gateway project

Photo via The Gateway Program Development Corporation

February 12, 2018

Trump’s long-awaited infrastructure plan won’t fund Gateway project

President Donald Trump on Monday released his $200 billion infrastructure plan and it does not look good for New York and New Jersey. Because the plan shifts the financial burden from the federal government onto states and localities, relying on incentives to spur private investment, major projects will struggle to find funding. This includes the Gateway Tunnel project, a proposal to construct a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and repair the existing one. As the only intercity passenger rail crossing into NYC from NJ, the tunnel is a critical link for nearly 200,000 daily passengers. While the Obama administration considered Gateway a priority and committed half of the project's cost in 2015, the Trump administration has scoffed at the idea.
More this way

February 12, 2018

How NYC companies use workplace design and perks to affect emotional health and productivity

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Modern companies understand that in order to attract and retain the best talent, they have to compete on more than salaries, vacation, and healthcare. Companies like Google, WeWork, Pixar, and Facebook are well known for providing workspaces that inspire creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Clive Wilkinson, the architect of Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters, is quoted as saying, “75 to 80 percent of America is cubicle land. Cubicles are the worst - like chicken farming. They are humiliating, disenfranchising and isolating. So many American corporations still have them." Modern office designs are the opposite of closed off, fluorescent-lit cubicles- they are open with natural light and little, if any, suggestion of hierarchies. In addition to designing workspaces that inspire creativity, these modern companies also providing perks like free food, drink, and recreation to entice employees. So what are some of the best practices in designing offices for people’s emotional health and productivity? And what other perks do companies have to offer to attract the top talent?
Here's what companies are offering up

Live on a rare dead-end block in a new Bushwick rental for $856/month

Rendering via Karl Fischer

February 12, 2018

Live on a rare dead-end block in a new Bushwick rental for $856/month

Here's your chance to have the best of both worlds--live right off Myrtle Avenue and the J, M, Z stop in Bushwick but still have a nice, quiet place to come home to. The lottery is now open for eight affordable units in the brand new Karl Fischer-designed rental at 16 Charles Place, a rare dead-end street that, for years, has been adorned with the 'hood's signature graffiti. New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the apartments that range from $856/month studios to $1,114/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

February 12, 2018

Pier 40 concept envisions an offshore apartment complex that allows for sea-level rise

Local multidisciplinary creative firm DFA has come up with a concept for the rehabilitation of Manhattan's rapidly disintegrating Pier 40 that would provide housing and other services, but would also adapt to the predicted rising sea levels of future New York City. Dezeen reports on the firm's fascinating idea for a future-proof housing, commercial and recreation complex that rises from the Hudson River in the West Village and would be able to remain above water in the event of rising sea levels, while addressing the city's dire need for affordable housing and the ability to resist flooding as a result of climate change.
Find out more about the future-proof floating pier

Architecture And Design

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): 606W57, The Delmar, Aurora and 88 Leonard Street

February 10, 2018

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 606W57, The Delmar, Aurora and 88 Leonard Street Little Italy Rental Debuts; Rumored to have Housed Debbie Harry & Robert De Niro Lenox Terrace Offers Renovated Harlem Apartments from $1,650/Mo. Pre-War Grandeur at The Wyoming; Amazing Midtown Rental Near Central Park Bronx Rentals Debut at Port133 at 751 East 133rd Street […]

Real Estate Trends

February 9, 2018

This colorful Gramercy co-op is a $925K cure for the winter blahs

Everything you need to know about affordable housing: applying, getting in, and staying put

Located just off Irving Place where some of the best downtown Manhattan neighborhoods meet sought-after Gramercy, this stylish little one-bedroom co-op at 134 East 16th Street charms with its old-world good looks. Color and pattern add pizzazz and a roaring fire warms our hearts.
Take a closer look

Distinctive Homes

THE 6SQFT SHOP

The best websites for buying and selling used furniture in NYC

The 6 best furniture rental companies in NYC

8 best places in NYC to thrift for home goods

Everything you need to know about using a guarantor in NYC

15 quintessential NYC gifts for the New Yorker in your life

New York City's best holiday markets of 2023

Raising chickens in NYC: Laws, tips, and everything else you need to know

10 best plants for apartment dwellers

Snag the Greenest Seat in Town: Gufram's 1972 Pratone Chair is Shaped Like a Patch of Grass

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New renderings revealed for SCDA’s flashy 11-story condo on the High Line

Rendering via Neoscape

February 9, 2018

New renderings revealed for SCDA’s flashy 11-story condo on the High Line

A swath of new renderings of SCDA Architects' condo tower was released this week, more than three years after the project was first announced in 2014. As Curbed NY learned, the new renderings of the building, located, at 515 West 29th Street, show a glass fin facade and the interiors of the 15 planned apartments, including five penthouses. Forum Absolute Capital Partners is developing the tower, dubbed Five One Five, which will contain two- and three-bedroom units ranging from $4.3 million to $8.5 million. CORE is handling sales and marketing.
See it here

February 9, 2018

Saudi prince’s Trump Place triplex with three bullet-proof panic rooms sells at a $40M discount

Six years ago, Saudi Prince Nawaf bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud listed his lavish Heritage at Trump Place triplex for a staggering $75 million. Three years ago, it got a price chop to $48.5 million, and The Real Deal now reports that it's closed for an even further discounted $36 million. Since the 10,500-square-foot home listed long before the reign of Trump, we're guessing it's not the building's namesake that caused it trouble on the market. Perhaps having three bullet-proof panic rooms isn't on everyone's real estate wishlist?
Find out more and look around

On this day in 1935, a 125-pound alligator was wrangled in an East Harlem sewer

Clipping from the 1935 New York Times article (L); Tom Otterness sculpture at the 14th Street/8th Avenue subway station depicting the event, via MTA Arts (R)

February 9, 2018

On this day in 1935, a 125-pound alligator was wrangled in an East Harlem sewer

Have you ever heard of "Alligators in the Sewers Day"? According to the New York Times, on February 9, 1935, a group of teenagers allegedly caught and killed an eight-foot, 125-pound alligator in a manhole on East 123rd Street while shoveling snow. A headline in the paper the next day read, "Alligator Found in Uptown Sewer," fueling an urban legend of an entire underground alligator population. Michael Miscione, the Manhattan borough historian, is so intrigued by the tale, that he annually observes this unofficial holiday "to honor discarded pets or escaped beasts that have grown large below our streets."
So, how did the gator get here?

History

See new photos of SHoP Architects’ Domino rental tower at 325 Kent

Photo: Adrian Gaut

February 9, 2018

See new photos of SHoP Architects’ Domino rental tower at 325 Kent

Now that the doughnut-shaped 16-story waterfront rental building at 325 Kent Avenue is nearly complete, you can take a look at some seductive new snaps of interiors and amenity spaces to see if it lives up to the hype. The first structure at the 11-acre Domino Sugar Factory site to open, the 522-unit riverfront tower brings something new to ogle to the famously rezoned Williamsburg neighborhood’s veritable city of glassy condo towers that surround the landmarked Refinery building.
More photos, yoga and food this way

Google to expand footprint at Chelsea’s Pier 57

Rendering via RXR Realty

February 9, 2018

Google to expand footprint at Chelsea’s Pier 57

Earlier this week, Google entered into a contract with Jamestown LP to buy the Chelsea Market building for nearly $2.5 billion, the second largest single sale in New York City's history. And on Friday, Google reached a tentative deal to expand its footprint at Pier 57, adding another 70,000 square feet of space to its prior 250,000-square-foot agreement. According to Crain's, the lease will include an additional 50,000 square feet of educational activities and a new ferry landing.
More this way

Real Estate Trends

Urban Romance: Photographer Matt Weber captures decades of love on the subway

Subway Kiss #1 by Matt Weber

February 9, 2018

Urban Romance: Photographer Matt Weber captures decades of love on the subway

By Hannah Frishberg

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Matt Weber shares his "Urban Romance" series. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. A born-and-bred Upper West Sider, photographer Matt Weber has been watching New York all his life, taking pictures of everything he can. Over the years, he accumulated many photos of love, or at least, public displays of affection. Though people are constantly kissing all over the world, there's something especially gutsy, memorable, and nonchalantly confident in a subway kiss. For many, a quick peck or a full-on makeout session is among the least desirable things when you're being crushed like a sardine, underground, in a moving metal tube. Yet, New Yorkers do it constantly – a documented fact. Just in time for the most romantic day of the year, we had a chance to talk with Matt Weber about his photography, his "Urban Romance" series, and how New York has changed since he started capturing it.
See all the photos

Places

The L is virtually the only train without planned track work this weekend

Photo by Phil Roeder / Flickr

February 9, 2018

The L is virtually the only train without planned track work this weekend

By Hannah Frishberg

Planned work will be impacting just about everyone this weekend, with the L line and shuttles the only lines to not have service changes. The 2 and the 5 lines are masquerading as one another for considerable hunks of track, and the A, C, E, are an absolute mess. To boot, MetroCard vending machines will only be accepting cash from 12:01am to 6am Saturday morning, so make sure to not be out of swipes if you go out Friday night.
Get ready, it's a lot

Transit

February 8, 2018

East Harlem housing lottery offers less-than-affordable prices

Despite the city's recent rezoning efforts to make East Harlem more affordable, it seems as though the latest batch of lotteries are anything but. Last month, a middle-income lottery came online for 111 East 115th Street, where some of the "affordable" apartments were actually more expensive than the market-rate units. As of today, New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for five one-bedroom apartments at the new rental 1992 Third Avenue, just off 110th Street. The units are reserved for one- and two-person households earning between $77,246 and $99,320 annually and are renting for $2,253/month--not much less than the neighborhood's $2,392/month average for one-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

A Queens festival will reimagine the World’s Fair with 100+ food vendors representing over 100 cultures

Photo courtesy of Bill Cotter/worldsfairphotos

February 8, 2018

A Queens festival will reimagine the World’s Fair with 100+ food vendors representing over 100 cultures

Experience "diversity through cuisine" at CitiField this spring at an event paying homage to the iconic 1964 New York World's Fair. Dubbed the World's Fare, the event will feature over 100 food vendors from more than 100 cultures, as well as live music and art (h/t QNS). Highlights include an international beer garden that will offer tastings of 80 craft beers from 45 breweries and exhibits of LEGO Art and 4-D drawings.
Get the details

February 8, 2018

Put your NYC history knowledge to the test at Urban Archive’s trivia night

By 6sqft

You may know Urban Archive as the fun app that brings together the digital collections of New York City’s museums, archives, and libraries, but did you know they also host equally fun history-themed events? After three successful scavenger hunts, they're now holding their first trivia night later this month. Hosted by Andrew Gustafson of Turnstile Tours, the event will take place at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho, where staff mixologists will provide libations to accompany the competition.
Find out how to sign up

Events & Things To Do

February 8, 2018

For $1.6M, a historic upstate church-turned-music venue can be your personal house of worship

This historic 19th century building was once home to a German Lutheran church--and now it's the site of a super-cool live music venue and recording studio in upstate New York. Located in the charming town of Hudson, at 21 North 6th Street, the space now offers a buyer some unique opportunities. At an ask of $1.59 million, the listing says, "with certificate of occupancy allowing for both commercial and residential use, this remarkable property can also be reimagined and adapted for any number of commercial uses like a concert hall or an event space, a live and work space for artists, or a phenomenal private residence." One thing's for sure, the bones of this former house of worship--including everything from a spiral staircase to stained glass--are unbeatable.
Look around

Live above Target in Extell’s new East Village rental, from $1,114/month

Rendering via Extell Development

February 8, 2018

Live above Target in Extell’s new East Village rental, from $1,114/month

An Extell Development rental building in the East Village is now accepting applications for 50 newly constructed, middle-income units. Not only does the chic building at 524 East 14th Street boast amenities like a fitness center, pool and rooftop deck, it will also have a two-level Target, the chain's first location in the neighborhood. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 70 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $1,114/studios to $2,733/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you quality

Affordable Housing

February 8, 2018

The long-awaited Bayonne boom: Transit options, adaptive reuse, and affordability

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

Bayonne, located on the southern peninsula of New Jersey’s Gold Coast, is ripe for a construction boom. That being said, it has been awaiting this boom for over 18 years - since the light rail system was installed. As Newport and Jersey City’s markets are on fire, Bayonne hopes that development momentum is headed their way. But with its Hudson River location, city views, access to Manhattan via light rail and the PATH (it is about 30 minutes to take the light rail to the PATH to the World Trade Center), Bayonne has taken its future into its own hands and massively revised its master plan for the first time since 2000. Bayonne considers its proximity to New York City and lower prices its greatest assets. The average home sales are around $400,000 versus $800,000 in Jersey City. The new master plan aims to transform Bayonne into a walkable, bikeable, mixed-use community with densely settled areas (which they call “transit villages”) around the light rail stations. The town’s 22nd Street Light Rail stop connects residents to the rest of the Gold Coast and PATH trains running to Manhattan. Bayonne City Planner Suzanne Mack is quoted as saying, “Our assets are our charm and home life...We’ve moved from being an industrial giant, an oil tank farm basically, into more of a bedroom community with a lot of community resources.”
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

February 8, 2018

$16M turreted Ansonia co-op combo is an Upper West Side opportunity for the ages

For every micro apartment that steals headlines, it seems that New York City responds with a massive mega-mansion or sprawling sky palace to reassure anyone who craves a city apartment the size of a small city. This combination of four apartments in the historic Ansonia condominium residence at 2109 Broadway on the Upper West Side is the latest example (h/t Curbed). Four individual apartments await the possibilities, asking $16.185 million. This is also a rare opportunity to a create a duplex, which would be one of only five in the building.
Get a peek at 5,700 square feet of historic Ansonia interiors

Distinctive Homes

February 8, 2018

Find and apply for current affordable housing lotteries in NYC with this new map

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development on Wednesday released an interactive map of housing lotteries currently accepting applications. Users can click icons displayed on the NYC Housing Connect Map for more information on a lottery, including required income levels, household size and the application deadline. Earlier this week, the department launched a map that displays all of the affordable housing units, buildings and projects which count towards Mayor Bill de Blasio's Housing New York 2.0 plan.
Explore the map

Affordable Housing

February 8, 2018

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner house hunt in Annabelle Selldorf’s Bowlmor Lanes-replacing condo

DNCE singer Joe Jonas and fiancee Sophie Turner, star of "Game of Thrones," were recently spotted having a look at a Greenwich Village home in the newly-minted Annabelle Selldorf-designed condos that notoriously replaced the former Bowlmor Lanes at 21 East 12th Street. The New York Post reports that the pair checked out a unit in the building's C-line, where two-bedroom homes span 2,028 square feet, priced between $5 and $6 million.
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Passing $2B in sales, 432 Park becomes highest selling building in NYC ever

Photo via Douglas Elliman

February 7, 2018

Passing $2B in sales, 432 Park becomes highest selling building in NYC ever

CIM Group and Macklowe Properties announced on Wednesday that the world's tallest residential building just broke another record: the single best-selling building in New York City. According to the developers, they have sold $2 billion in luxury condominiums at 432 Park Avenue, a 1,396-foot tower designed by renowned architect Rafael Viñoly. The building's most significant closings include 48 residences selling for more than $20 million each.
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Real Estate Trends

February 7, 2018

This chic and affordable Harlem co-op, asking $512K, has just one catch

This is quite the appealing one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located on the first floor of the Harlem cooperative 1919 Madison Avenue. And it's asking $512,000, a reasonable price for NYC real estate. There is, however, a catch behind that asking price. This is an HDFC apartment, meaning that to qualify to buy it you may need to make less—rather than more—money. (Such tight income restrictions have kept hundreds of HDFCs empty around the city.) Still, the apartment value has seen a boost in recent years, as it last sold in 2013 for $140,000.
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Distinctive Homes

Spring + Thompson

83 Thompson Street

Soho

Loft-like residences in Soho designed by Selldorf Architects

2 beds starting at $4,975,000
4 beds starting at $14,850,000

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Live around the corner from Central Park in a renovated Harlem rental, from $675/month

Photo of Randolph Houses via HPD

February 7, 2018

Live around the corner from Central Park in a renovated Harlem rental, from $675/month

Applications are now being accepted for 106 newly constructed, affordable units at Central Harlem's Randolph Houses. Named in honor of civil rights leader, Phillip Randolph, the houses consist of 36 buildings along West 114th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 50 and 60 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $675/month studios to a $1,289/month three-bedrooms. Located at 265 West 114th Street, the building is just a five-minute walk to Central Park.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Inside the construction at the TWA Flight Center Hotel; Help eat the world’s biggest bagel and lox

Image courtesy of MCR and Morse Development; Photo: Max Touhey (L); Via Acme Smoked Fish (R)

February 7, 2018

Inside the construction at the TWA Flight Center Hotel; Help eat the world’s biggest bagel and lox

By 6sqft

Healthcare workers who use mass transit have a median commute of 51.2 minutes—the longest of any workers in NYC’s private sector. [Center for an Urban Future] Mapping the West Village’s 150 shuttered storefronts. [Medium] Residents of a Flatiron condo building are suing the Soul Cycle downstairs over constant “bowling-ball”-like thuds. [NYP] Help consume the world’s biggest bagel & […]

Uncategorized

February 7, 2018

Treat your sweetie (or yourself) to a chocolate tour of Brooklyn this Valentine’s Day

This Valentine's Day, leave the heart-shaped candy box at Duane Reade and enjoy locally-made chocolate instead. Explore Brooklyn released their "Brooklyn Chocolate Trail Map" this month with 12 must-eat delicious destinations in the borough. The list includes chocolatiers, factories and tasting rooms. Follow the chocolate trail and taste-test your way through Greenpoint, DUMBO, Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn. What could be sweeter?
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Events & Things To Do

How NYC’s 2012 Olympic Village would have transformed the Queens waterfront

Renderings of the winning design by Morphosis

February 7, 2018

How NYC’s 2012 Olympic Village would have transformed the Queens waterfront

By Ondel Hylton

With the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea kicking off in just two days, we can't help but think what an incredible 17 days it would have been if they were here in New York City (logistical concerns aside). The city came closest in 2004 when it was chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as one of the five finalists to host the 2012 Olympics. London, Paris, Moscow and Madrid were the other four. Splashy renderings planted 27 venues across all five boroughs, New Jersey and Long Island, but the winning, and perhaps most eye-catching, proposal was the Olympic Village in Long Island City's Hunter's Point South by Thom Mayne's Morphosis.
Get the full history here

A glamping retreat will open on Governors Island this summer

Photo courtesy of the Trust for Governors Island

February 7, 2018

A glamping retreat will open on Governors Island this summer