6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

After growing up in Houston and studying in Austin, Alyssa Neilson was ready to make the jump to NYC. But unlike most transplants, she wasn't fulfilling a dream to become a lifelong New Yorker. Instead, she wanted to kickstart her career as an advertising strategist and experience, at least for a few years, the "arts, creativity, diversity and culture" that can only be found in New York. Once she landed a job, Alyssa settled in Bushwick and set up a home that reflects her creative spirit--think pop art prints and a killer sneaker collection--but also serves as a calming place to come home to after a long day thanks to a thoughtful pastel color palette and streamlined mid-century-modern furnishings. Despite this lovely oasis that Alyssa created for herself in Brooklyn, she decided that she got her NYC fix and is now ready for warmer weather, outdoor activities, and more square footage. But before she heads out to LA, Alyssa invited 6sqft to take a tour of her home and learn a bit more about her path.
See Alyssa's apartment here

January 10, 2018

Upper East Side mansion with Warhols and a gold-plated couch is back on the market for $24M

A five-story townhouse at 132 East 62nd Street in the Upper East Side that has resurfaced on the market for $24 million comes complete with artworks by Andy Warhol, Anish Kapoor, and Roy Lichtenstein, books signed by William Faulkner and Joan Didion–and an oil painting by Frank Sinatra (h/t Curbed). The decked-out manse was renovated from stem to stern by jewelry designer (and singer Duncan Sheik's mom!) Suzanne Sheik, who bought it from a Chanel exec and sold it in 2010 to "an accomplished designer" who spent another three years renovating. The home appeared on the market for $27 million in 2014, and as a rental for $65,000 a month.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

Thomas Heatherwick designs two bubbled condo towers for Related’s High Line-straddling site

Proposed rendering of 515 West 18th Street via Related Companies

January 10, 2018

Thomas Heatherwick designs two bubbled condo towers for Related’s High Line-straddling site

Thomas Heatherwick plans to bring more eccentricity to Manhattan's west side with two condo towers covered in a bubbled facade and bisected by the High Line, as CityRealty reported on Wednesday. The straddling pair at 515 West 18th Street, currently known as the Hudson Residences in conjunction with another Robert A.M. Stern-designed tower planned for West 22nd Street, will contain 181 condos split between a 10-floor east tower and a 22-floor west tower. The development spans 425,000 square feet and will include 17,000 square feet of retail and gallery space, as well as 175 parking spots.
See the towers

Affordable senior housing lottery now open in new Corona, Queens passive house building

Rendering via HANAC

January 10, 2018

Affordable senior housing lottery now open in new Corona, Queens passive house building

Rendering via HANAC 46 newly-constructed affordable units at the HANAC Corona Senior Residence at 54-17 101st Street in Corona, Queens are now available via the city's affordable housing lottery. According to QNS, it will be the first affordable senior housing structure in the United States to meet the Passive House Institute design standards and the first affordable housing complex in Corona in three decades. Individuals or households that have at least one household member who is 62 years of age or older and who earn between $0 and $38,200 annually are eligible to apply. Five percent of units will be set aside for mobility-disabled applicants and two percent for vision- or hearing-disabled applicants.
Find out more

Affordable Housing

January 10, 2018

LPC sends glassy addition to Willem de Kooning’s former Union Square loft back to the drawing board

Back in November, the developer/owner of a pair of newly-landmarked buildings at 827-831 Broadway--noted for their cast-iron architecture and a rich cultural history that includes serving as home to artist Willem de Kooning--submitted a proposal for a four-story prismatic glass addition and landscaped roof terrace that architects DXA Studio say was influenced by de Kooning's work. Yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission received the proposal with mixed reviews, feeling skeptical about whether or not cultural events should influence a building's architecture. After hearing testimony from a slew of local residents and preservationists who feel the glass topper is too large, the LPC decided to take no action on the plan, instead sending the team back to the drawing board to better detail the restoration aspects and reconsider the addition as perhaps shorter and further setback.
More details and renderings ahead

January 10, 2018

This cute studio co-op with some bonus storage asks $499K in the East Village

Studio living in this East Village apartment comes with some perks. It's been fully renovated and boasts bonus storage, like a walk-in closet and reserved space in the building's basement. This cooperative at 634 East 14th Street also offers a bike garage and private garden for residents. The cute pad, finished with exposed brick, crown moldings and maple hardwood floors, is now listed for $499,000 after being taken off the market last year with an ask of $525,000.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

Distinctive Homes

For $5.1M, this pretty Gramercy condo comes with a key to the private park

SHOP THE LISTING: Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy's $9.75M West Village townhouse is an all-season urban refuge

From rental income to solar panels, this $3.5M Bed-Stuy brownstone checks all the boxes

This $25M Greenwich Village townhouse has been an artist's refuge for well over a century

For $6.5M, this Sutton Place townhouse can be three apartments, one modernist mansion, or anything in between

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

This six-story $13.9M Upper West Side townhouse has all of life's luxuries under one roof, with an elevator to get there

Bill Murray's former Snedens Landing home asks $3.7M

Color, texture, and pre-war details define this decorator's dream of a $4.85M Village co-op

Watch the seasons of Central Park change from this $3.4M top-floor Upper West Side co-op

VIEW ALL

January 9, 2018

Documentary journalist Pamela Hogan lists lovely Central Park West penthouse for $4.4M

This four-bedroom co-op, inside the Central Park West brownstone at 44 West 76th Street, is owned by the documentary filmmaker and journalist Pamela Hogan and her cinematographer husband Jeffrey L. Kimball. Hogan's behind the independent film Looks like Laury Sounds like Laury and was the co-creator of the PBS series Women, War & Peace. She and her husband snatched up the penthouse property in 1996 for $1.2 million, and they've just listed it for $4.375 million. The impressive space--which occupies the upper floors of an 1880s brownstone--boasts walls of windows and incredible light. It's a seamless blend between the historic townhouse and a bright, lofty aesthetic.
It's a triplex with a private terrace

Distinctive Homes

Before it was a national monument, Castle Clinton opened as America’s first beer garden

Image courtesy of NYPL

January 9, 2018

Before it was a national monument, Castle Clinton opened as America’s first beer garden

New Yorkers today know Castle Clinton, in Battery Park, as a national monument and departure point to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But the circular sandstone fort dates all the way back to 1811--and has served as everything from an immigration station, exhibition hall, theater, and public aquarium since. One forgotten fact of the historic structure is that it's considered the site of America's first beer garden, which opened as Castle Garden on July 3rd, 1824. The illustration above shows the beer garden--which also had a grand theater--featured in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in the 1800s. The open-air space, which eventually got a roof, was considered one of the premier attractions in Manhattan.
Read a little more history

History

To save Nolita’s Elizabeth Street Garden, a nonprofit wants to take ownership from the city

Sketch of Elizabeth Street Garden’s Site A courtesy of Ella Barnes/ESG

January 9, 2018

To save Nolita’s Elizabeth Street Garden, a nonprofit wants to take ownership from the city

A nonprofit with a mission to protect and preserve the Elizabeth Street Garden in Nolita released on Tuesday a plan to designate the park as a Community Land Trust (CLT), meaning it would no longer require funding from the city. The group, aptly named Elizabeth Street Garden (ESG), unveiled renderings of what the park could look like as a CLT, including a new composting station, solar panels, a volunteer work shed and more. The proposal from ESG comes after the city announced last month plans to demolish the garden to make way for an affordable senior housing development.
More this way

Albertine book store, via Wiki Commons

January 9, 2018

The 12 best specialty bookshops in NYC

By Rebecca Fishbein

Independent bookstores are still going strong in NYC, with standouts like BookCulture, WORD Bookstore, McNally Jackson, and, of course, The Strand Bookstore, continuing to provide literary New Yorkers with the written word despite the specter of Amazon. But while the aforementioned shops are great places to find new and used literature, if you’re looking for a more curated collection, look no further than some of the city’s finest specialty bookstores, where mystery fiends, activists, artists, Francophiles, and others can find works tailored to their interests, as well as rub shoulders with like-minded readers. Here are some of our favorites.
NYC's 12 best specialty bookshops

Replacement of Harlem icon Lenox Lounge to be a decidedly less jazzy commercial building

New rendering of 288 Lenox Avenue via Gambino + La Porta Architecture; Lenox Lounge photo via Ciro Miguel’s Flickr

January 9, 2018

Replacement of Harlem icon Lenox Lounge to be a decidedly less jazzy commercial building

The proposed replacement of the Lenox Lounge, a Harlem Renaissance club that once featured jazz greats like Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, is nothing to sing about. Designed by Gambino + La Porta Architecture, a rendering of the commercial building at 288 Lenox Avenue between 124th and 125th Streets reveals a non-descript four-story building, as CityRealty reported. While the space is rumored to bring Harlem's first Sephora, a tenant for the retail space on the ground floor has not been confirmed. There will be offices located on the second through fourth floors.
Find out more

New Developments

Harry Houdini’s one-time Harlem townhouse conjures a buyer at $3.6M

Houdini image: Wikimedia Commons.

January 9, 2018

Harry Houdini’s one-time Harlem townhouse conjures a buyer at $3.6M

The 6,008-square-foot four-story townhouse at 278 West 113th Street that once belonged to master escape artist Harry Houdini has sold for $3.6 million–a full $1 million below its original ask–according to Mansion Global. 6sqft reported last June that the former home of the illusionist, magician and one of the most talked-about celebrities of the early 20th century and his wife, Bess, had hit the market for $4.6 million. Houdini–born Erich Weiss, the son of a rabbi from Budapest, lived at the Harlem home for 22 years until his death in 1926.
This house is no illusion

NYC pedestrian deaths hit an an all-time low in 2017

Photo via WNYC/Flickr

January 9, 2018

NYC pedestrian deaths hit an an all-time low in 2017

Photo via WNYC/Flickr As traffic fatalities across the country have increased more than 13 percent in recent years, New York City has bucked the trend four years running, with a 32 percent drop in 2017, the lowest number in more than 100 years, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. Under the mayor’s Vision Zero initiative, fatalities […]

Uncategorized

Middle-income housing lottery in East Harlem provides little financial relief

View of 111 East 115th Street wrapping up construction in August, via CityRealty

January 8, 2018

Middle-income housing lottery in East Harlem provides little financial relief

In most cases, the city's affordable housing lotteries provide an opportunity to live in market rate-level apartments for a lower price. But at the new East Harlem rental building at 111 East 115th Street, the middle-income units provide minimal financial relief, and in some cases are even more expensive than the market-rate units. The general listings include $2,025/month studios, $2,300 one-bedrooms, and $3,100 two-bedrooms, while the "affordable" offerings for those earning 130 percent of the area median income start at $2,099/month studios and go up to $2,253 one-bedrooms and $2,716 two-bedrooms.
READ MORE

Affordable Housing

Roberta Flack’s ‘architect ready’ co-op in the Dakota is in contract

Photo of Roberta Flack via Wikimedia

January 8, 2018

Roberta Flack’s ‘architect ready’ co-op in the Dakota is in contract

By Annie Doge

Roberta Flack's co-op apartment with mirrored walls in the iconic Dakota has finally found a buyer, after being on and off the market since 2015. As the New York Post reported, the unidentified buyer plans to combine the four-time Grammy Award winner's five-room pad with an adjacent apartment, which was allegedly the one-time home of Judy Garland. While the final sale price of the combined package is not known yet, it appears the merge will restore the exact floor plan of one of the Dakota's 65 original units back when the building was finished in 1884. Flack's apartment was last listed for $6.99 million and the co-op next-door was most recently listed for $10 million.
See inside

Daniel Craig may be the buyer of this $6.75M fixer-upper Cobble Hill brownstone

. Actor Daniel Craig is the latest of the Hollywood brigade to land in Brooklyn, according to the New York Post. The 21st century James Bond and wife Rachel Weisz have reportedly scooped up the Cobble Hill townhouse at 22 Strong Place formerly owned by author Martin Amis. The home was damaged in a fire in 2016; Amis and wife Isabel Fonseca, who've moved to a Downtown Brooklyn apartment, offered the property complete with intact (despite the blaze) recent renovations and landmarks-approved plans for repairs as per the listing.
READ MORE

New York to be first major city with flood maps based on climate change factors

A Howard Beach home after Hurricane Sandy, photo courtesy of Pamela Andrade’s Flickr

January 8, 2018

New York to be first major city with flood maps based on climate change factors

For the first time since 1983, the Federal Emergency Mangement Agency is redrawing New York's flood maps, taking into account the consequences of climate change like rising sea levels and stronger storms. With hundreds of miles of coastline and a growing number of developments sprouting along its waterfront, New York has more residents living in high-risk flood zones than any other city in the United States, according to the New York Times. FEMA's new map, while still years away from completion, could have a profound effect on the city's future developments and zoning regulations. It could place more residents and buildings in high-risk flood zones, requiring pricey flood insurance as well as tougher building codes and restrictions on new developments.
More this way

Policy

January 8, 2018

Behind the scenes at the Loew’s Jersey City: How a 1929 Wonder Theatre was brought back to life

"The wealthy rub elbows with the poor — and are better for this contact," said architect George Rapp of his Loew’s Jersey and Kings Theatres--two of the five Loew's Wonder Theatres built in 1929-30 around the NYC area. The over-the-top, opulent movie palaces were built by the Loew's Corporation not only to establish their stature in the film world but to be an escape for people from all walks of life. This held true during the Great Depression and World War II, but by the time the mid-60s hit and middle-class families began relocating to the suburbs where megaplexes were all the rage, the Wonder Theatres fell out of fashion. Amazingly, though, all five still stand today, each with their own unique preservation tale and evolution. The Loew's Jersey, located in the bustling Jersey City hub of Journal Square, has perhaps the most grassroots story. After closing in 1987, the building was slated for demolition, but a group of local residents banded together to save the historic theater. They collected 10,000 petition signatures and attended countless City Council meetings, and finally, in 1993, the city agreed to buy the theater for $325,000 and allow the newly formed Friends of the Loew’s to operate there as a nonprofit arts and entertainment center and embark on a restoration effort. Twenty-five years later, the theater is almost entirely returned to its original state and offers a robust roster of films, concerts, children's programs, and more. 6sqft recently had the chance to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Loew’s Jersey Theatre with executive director Colin Egan to learn about its amazing evolution and photograph its gilded beauty.
Take a tour of this one-of-a-kind historic gem

During two weeks of brutal cold, city received over 21,000 heat and hot water complaints

Photo courtesy of Roman Kruglov’s Flickr

January 8, 2018

During two weeks of brutal cold, city received over 21,000 heat and hot water complaints

During a two week period of super cold weather, including a considerable snowstorm, New York City received nearly 22,000 heat and hot water complaints from renters. According to the Daily News, many of those calls came from residents living in New York City Housing Apartments. On Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said a lack of federal funding and upkeep is to blame for the defective boilers found at NYCHA apartments. “A lot of the buildings are 50 years old, 60 years old, 70 years old — they have not gotten the kind of upkeep they needed for decades,” the mayor told John Catsimatidis on his radio show.
Find out more

Policy

January 8, 2018

Window-wrapped turrets offer three-way views in this $6M Chelsea aerie

This almost-3,000-square-foot corner condominium on the fifth floor of Chelsea's historic O'Neill Building at 655 6th Avenue is the result of a 2007 conversion designed by award-winning architectural firm CetraRuddy. Asking $5.975 million, the three-bedroom loft is one of the building's most dramatic units due to its window-wrapped, curved rooms, enormous living space, and panoramic cityscape views.
See the rest

Distinctive Homes

NYC RENTALS: This week’s roundup of rental news & offers

Images (L to R): 325 Kent Avenue, Instrata Gramercy, 63 Wall Street and Watermark LIC

January 6, 2018

NYC RENTALS: This week’s roundup of rental news & offers

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 325 Kent Avenue, Instrata Gramercy, 63 Wall Street and Watermark LIC Billionaire Grocer Launches ‘THE EAGLE’ and Completes 1,000-Unit Project in Downtown Brooklyn New Listings at 7W21: See Inside Elegant Rentals by Morris Adjmi Architects Checking-In on The Eugene: New Homes in Midtown’s Tallest Rental Tower Leases from $1,800/Month at South […]

Real Estate Trends

January 5, 2018

Pale walls and pre-war elegance define this $799K North Slope co-op

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

In a Brooklyn neighborhood known for its brownstones and Art Deco and pre-war apartments, this one-bedroom co-op offers lots of space and charm for your $799,000. On the top floor of an elevator, doorman building at 235 Lincoln Place just off Grand Army Plaza, it's a prime example of the neighborhood's casual elegance.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Service changes to hit subways nearly as hard as a bomb cyclone this weekend

Photo by Vladimir Badikov via Flickr

January 5, 2018

Service changes to hit subways nearly as hard as a bomb cyclone this weekend

By Hannah Frishberg

The bomb cyclone may have officially passed, but the MTA is still struggling to get back on track following the relative havoc the storm wreaked on the frail subway signal system. Friday's overcrowded and delayed morning commute is unfortunately set to be followed by a weekend's worth of service changes, but hey, at least the LaGuardia Link is free again.
Bombs away

Transit

No Pants Subway Ride scheduled for Sunday; Jeanne Gang’s High Line tower officially on the rise

No Pants Subway Ride via Wiki Commons (L); Solar Carve Tower © Neoscape for Studio Gang Architects

January 5, 2018

No Pants Subway Ride scheduled for Sunday; Jeanne Gang’s High Line tower officially on the rise

By 6sqft

Not bothered by bare legs in sub-arctic temps? The annual No-Pants Subway Ride takes place this Sunday. [amNY] The most expensive home in America is now this $500 million Bel Air estate. [Apartment Therapy] A closer look at the fitness industry boom in urban settings. [CityLab] Fred Bass, who transformed his father’s small used-book store […]

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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 Ways to Decorate an Exposed Brick Wall Without Drilling

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

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Six chances to live near Green-Wood Cemetery, from $1,035 a month

Green-Wood Cemetery via Wiki Commons

January 5, 2018

Six chances to live near Green-Wood Cemetery, from $1,035 a month

A rental building with some stellar amenities at 198 19th Street in a rapidly-developing section of Greenwood Heights is now accepting applications for six newly-constructed affordable units. The five-story residence is just a few blocks from Green-Wood Cemetery, the popular Park Slope and Gowanus neighborhoods, and the D and R trains. An impressive amenities package includes a common roof deck, gym and recreation space, basement storage, furnished common area, and washers and dryers in each unit. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the $1,035/month one-bedroom apartments and $1,175/month two-bedroom units.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

The Peninsula, a Hunts Point mixed-use complex on former juvenile jail site, gets new renderings

All renderings by BLA + WXY

January 5, 2018

The Peninsula, a Hunts Point mixed-use complex on former juvenile jail site, gets new renderings

Updated renderings have been released of The Peninsula, a $300 million project that will bring 740 affordable housing units to the site of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point. In addition to the 100 percent affordable housing, the five-acre site will contain 52,000 square feet of open and recreational space, a 48,000 square feet of community facility space and ground-floor retail space that will span 21,000 square feet. According to CityRealty, there will also be an 18,000 square foot wellness center operated by Urban Health Plan to provide residents with quality healthcare services.
Find out more

Round two of Penn Station track work begins today

Amtrak workers setting concrete on track 10 at Penn Station this summer, image via Amtrak

January 5, 2018

Round two of Penn Station track work begins today

The winter round of repair work at Penn Station is slated to begin as scheduled on Friday, which means that changes are coming Monday for Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, and New Jersey Transit passengers, though most of the work will be done on weekends. This round is expected to end May 28 and will focus on […]

Uncategorized

The highlife: Architecture, spectacle and Art Deco New York

Photo of the 1931 Beaux Arts Ball courtesy of the Van Alen Institute

January 5, 2018

The highlife: Architecture, spectacle and Art Deco New York

By Lucie Levine

The architects who built the Jazz Age really knew how to get down. In January 1931, they turned the city’s annual Beaux Arts Ball into the ultimate Gatsby-approved bash. Instead of the stuffy historicism of years past, the party’s theme was “Fête Moderne -- a Fantasie in Flame and Silver." Advance advertising for the Ball in the New York Times promised an event “modernistic, futuristic, cubistic, altruistic, mystic, architistic and feministic," featuring the city’s most renowned architects dressed as their buildings, celebrating both themselves and the modern fantasy metropolis they had forged in flame and silver. Art Deco New York: the skyscraper city, glittering and strong, reaching ever higher – through technological advancement and American ingenuity – toward excitement, prosperity, enlightenment, and power.
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January 5, 2018

New renderings unveiled of John Catsimatidis’ 32-story Downtown Brooklyn rental ‘The Eagle’

Leasing has officially commenced at 86 Fleet Place, the final residential tower of John Catsimatidis' four-building development along Myrtle Avene, a site the billionaire first purchased from Long Island University in 1982. Dubbed by Catsimatidis' Red Apple Group as "The Eagle," the 32-story 440-unit building sits in between Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene and offers studios for $2,044/month, one-bedrooms for $2,743/month and two-bedrooms starting at $4,050/month. As CityRealty learned, residences will feature floor-to-ceiling windows, custom oak cabinets and Brazilian stone countertops.
More this way

January 5, 2018

The Urban Lens: Jasper Leonard miniaturizes NYC in ‘New York Resized’

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Jasper Leonard renders NYC in miniature in "New York Resized." Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Other than its apartments, New York City is not typically associated with the word "miniature," especially when it comes to the skyline. But Belgium-based photographer Jasper Leonard, who says he "feels the need to reshape the way reality is exposed," decided to turn this norm on its head with his photo series and newly released book "New York Resized." Employing a unique tilt-shift technique and climbing up to rooftops, bridges, observatories, and helicopters to take a total of 23,000 photos, Leonard created a birds-eye perspective of NYC in which cars become tiny blips among the streets and people fade away in places like Grand Central and Central Park.
Hear from Jasper and see his photo series

Places

January 5, 2018

A 407-acre state park will replace a landfill in Central Brooklyn next year

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced a plan to create a 407-acre state park on Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, which would be the largest state park in New York City. As a part of the $1.4 billion "Vital Brooklyn" initiative, the park would add much-needed green space in the Central Brooklyn neighborhood, an area the governor has described as a "park desert." Formerly the site of two landfills, the open space will be converted into parkland with opportunities for biking, hiking, fishing, kayaking, as well as educational facilities and an amphitheater.
See renderings of the park here

Architecture And Design

Report claims Mayor de Blasio inflated benefits of Stuyvesant Town sale to preserve affordable housing

Photo courtesy of Stuy Town

January 5, 2018

Report claims Mayor de Blasio inflated benefits of Stuyvesant Town sale to preserve affordable housing

The sprawling Stuyvesant Town complex on Manhattan's east side is no stranger to controversy and drama, and here's some more to add to the list. The city’s budget watchdog agency is saying that Mayor de Blasio’s office inflated the benefits of a deal to keep affordable housing at the complex in exchange for $220 million in taxpayer subsidies, according to the Daily News. This is based off the highly-publicized 2015 sale of Stuy Town, the biggest single deal done under de Blasio’s affordable housing plan. But a new report by the Independent Budget Office believes the city is getting less from the complex sales agreement than it claimed.
Get the scoop

Snag an affordable one-bedroom in Bed-Stuy for $985/month

Image courtesy of StudiosC

January 4, 2018

Snag an affordable one-bedroom in Bed-Stuy for $985/month

A Stuyvesant Heights building located in the heart of Brooklyn, nestled in the middle of Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and Williamsburg, is now accepting applications for nine affordable units. The five-story rental at 869 Park Avenue sits between two busy thoroughfares, Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Broadway. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the $985/month one-bedroom apartments.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

The Met waives its longtime pay-what-you-wish admission for non-New Yorkers

Photo via Wiki Commons

January 4, 2018

The Met waives its longtime pay-what-you-wish admission for non-New Yorkers

New York City’s most popular museum The Met will charge its longtime pay-what-you-wish admission policy for some visitors. Beginning March 1, visitors from outside New York state will have to pay the full $25 admission price to get into any of the three Metropolitan Museum of Art locations. That includes its main Museum Mile building, […]

Uncategorized

Snedens Landing house that may have been George Washington’s office sells for $1.6M

George Washington image: Wikimedia Commons.

January 4, 2018

Snedens Landing house that may have been George Washington’s office sells for $1.6M

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Located in the in the under-the-radar Rockland County celebrity enclave of Snedens Landing, this 18th century stone house, home of landscape designer and photographer Judy Tompkins for 60 years until she passed away at age 90 last May is rumored to have served as George Washington's office when his men were guarding the ferry service from the cliffs of the Palisades. 6sqft previously noted the home's rich history, beautiful interiors, and gorgeous perennial gardens created and tended by Tomkins, when the property hit the market last summer for $1.6 million. Now, the New York Post reports that the home has sold for its full asking price.
Check out the beautiful gardens

Fire Patrol House #2: From Benjamin Franklin’s fire prevention ideas to Anderson Cooper’s stylish home

Fire Patrol #2 in 2009, via Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Image Archive

January 4, 2018

Fire Patrol House #2: From Benjamin Franklin’s fire prevention ideas to Anderson Cooper’s stylish home

The former firehouse located at 84 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village is often noted for being the renovated and restored home of TV personality and journalist Anderson Cooper. But it’s just as noteworthy for an unusual history connected to Benjamin Franklin and insurance underwriters, and for not being the kind of firehouse you think it is at all.
The whole history and current use

History

January 4, 2018

Live inside a castle-like turret in Crown Heights for $4,400/month

A home with an incredible, well-documented history has a unit up for rent inside its turret. The townhouse in question is 1372 Dean Street in Crown Heights. The castle-like, three-story Romanesque Revival brick residence was built in 1888 for $8,000 with a slate-shingled turret. A few years back, its seller was featured in the New York Times--she had bought the property in 1983 for $66,000 and then sold it to an investor for $1.32 million in 2013. It has since been converted to rental apartments.
The master is inside the turret

January 4, 2018

$6.95M historic West Village townhouse has a rooftop solarium with Freedom Tower views

In the middle of a lovely cobblestoned block in the coveted West Village, the five-story Federal-style townhouse at 334 West 12th Street was built in 1853, but its charms hold up against its neighbors in the Greenwich Village Historic District and beyond. Asking $6.95 million, the 20-foot-wide single-family townhouse has two entrances, five bedrooms, a rear garden that looks like something out of an Italian villa, a large south-facing terrace with views of the Freedom Tower, and its crowning jewel, a skylit solarium brimming with greenery.
See more photos

Anti-Trump financier sells Trump Palace pad for less than half of original ask

“The problem is real and will not go away anytime soon.” Image via Google Street View.

January 4, 2018

Anti-Trump financier sells Trump Palace pad for less than half of original ask

Back in June 6sqft reported on efforts by former Goldman Sachs executive Laurence Weiss, who had been trying to sell his 3,600-square-foot, four bedroom apartment at Trump Palace at 200 East 69th Street for two years, to get the building's residents to agree to ditch the Trump name. Weiss had originally asked $15 million for the Upper East Side condo and still had no buyer even at $8.9 million. The building's name remains, but Weiss has finally sold the apartment–for $7.4 million, The Real Deal reports.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

January 3, 2018

$1.2M Upper West Side co-op comes with potential to design a roof deck

This two-bedroom apartment occupies the top floor of the townhouse at 39 West 87th Street on the Upper West Side. It comes with private, undeveloped roof space accessible through an internal staircase within the apartment--meaning that the owner has a blank slate to design their dream roof deck. The co-op, decked out with historic carved wood and some quirky modern additions, has just been listed for $1.195 million.
Walk through the space

Distinctive Homes

All 471 subway stations now have countdown clocks; First Rikers jail to close this summer

Countdown clock via Wiki Commons (L); Rikers Island via Wiki Commons (R)

January 3, 2018

All 471 subway stations now have countdown clocks; First Rikers jail to close this summer

By 6sqft

Did you know today is National Returns Day? UPS says it will handle a record 1.4 million returns on Wednesday alone. [WP] After 50 years of advocacy, Prospect Park is officially car-free. [Streetsblog] All 471 subway stations now have countdown clocks, 11 years after the MTA started the project. [NYDN] Permits have been filed with the […]

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Lottery opens for 130 mixed-income apartments in the South Bronx, from $865/month

Rendering courtesy of Dattner Architects

January 3, 2018

Lottery opens for 130 mixed-income apartments in the South Bronx, from $865/month

A Dattner Architects-designed building at 491 Gerard Avenue in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx is now accepting applications for 130 low- and moderate-income apartments. Developed by Signature Urban Properties and Monadnock Construction, the 12-story, 136-unit building is part of a bigger mixed-use complex. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 and 90 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a $865/month studio to a $1,831/month three bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

222 LES Tower + Lofts

222 East Broadway

Lower East Side

Art Deco romance meets 21st-century convenience

Studios starting at $799,000
1 bed starting at $1,100,000
2 beds starting at $1,955,000
3 beds starting at $2,875,000

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A massive 1,000-unit mixed-use project is planned right off the Coney Island boardwalk

Rendering of Coney Island North Venture via The Prusik Group

January 3, 2018

A massive 1,000-unit mixed-use project is planned right off the Coney Island boardwalk

It's slated to be a big year for Coney Island--and not just when it comes to new rides and attractions. A massive development will join the growing redevelopment of the beachfront locale, which will be home to at least four major projects totaling 2,151 units in the coming years. According to CityRealty, Taconic Investment Partners and The Prusik Group are planning to build a ground-up, mixed-use complex tentatively referred to as "Coney Island North Venture." It'll be comprised of 1,000 apartments, 80,000 square feet of office space, and 150,000 square feet of retail along Surf Avenue. The complex will join a new 42-story tower, plus a 440-unit development that will boast its very own trolley.
All the development details

New Developments

INTERVIEW: Legendary architect Beverly Willis on gender equity in the building and design industry

Photo of Beverly Willis courtesy of BWAF; photo of the San Francisco Ballet Building courtesy of Wikimedia

January 3, 2018

INTERVIEW: Legendary architect Beverly Willis on gender equity in the building and design industry

Throughout her more than 70-year-career, Beverly Willis has made an impact on nearly every aspect of the architecture industry. Willis, who began her professional career as a fresco painter, is credited with pioneering the adaptive reuse construction of historic buildings. She also introduced computerized programming into large-scale land planning and created a permanent prototype for buildings designed exclusively for ballet, with the San Francisco Ballet Building, one of her most iconic and enduring projects. As a woman in the building industry during the middle of the 20th century, and without any formal architectural training, Willis faced barriers that her male co-workers did not. After decades of success, instead of retiring Willis, founded the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF), aimed at shining a light on women architects who were left out of the history books. In 2017, BWAF launched a website, "Pioneering Women of American Architecture," that profiles 50 women who made significant contributions to the field. Ahead, architect Beverly Willis talks with 6sqft about how she became a pioneer in the field, the goals of her foundation and her continued push for gender equity in architecture, and beyond, through education and research.
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De Blasio announces $50M initiative to add 1,500 new security bollards

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City’s Security Infrastructure Working Group making the announcement at the Times Square pedestrian plaza. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

January 3, 2018

De Blasio announces $50M initiative to add 1,500 new security bollards

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City’s Security Infrastructure Working Group making the announcement at the Times Square pedestrian plaza. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office. In an effort to better prevent vehicular terror attacks in New York City, officials on Tuesday unveiled plans to add 1,500 permanent bollards, or barriers, in high-profile areas. “These bollards will […]

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Cuomo asks MTA to study possible subway extension from Manhattan to Red Hook

Red Hook waterfront, photo via Sunghwan Yoon on Flickr

January 3, 2018

Cuomo asks MTA to study possible subway extension from Manhattan to Red Hook

Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Tuesday to study a possible extension of subway service from Lower Manhattan to a new station in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. In addition to expanding transit options, the governor is also asking the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to consolidate maritime operations by relocating them to Sunset Park, as a way to free up space for community activities. The revitalization of Red Hook is Cuomo's 21st proposal expected to be delivered in his 2018 State of the State address on Wednesday.
Find out more

January 3, 2018

Views from this charming top-floor Windsor Terrace co-op might just be worth the walk up–and $700K