6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

If you've ever found yourself lost in a maze of corridors or trampled in a boarding stampede at Penn Station, help may have arrived in the form of yet another useful mobile app. Beginning this week, Amtrak will offer a free app, FindYourWay, that helps travelers–65,000 of whom pass through the station each day–find their way through the station and avoid the crush of crowds that form around electronic boards announcing train departures, the New York Times reports.
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A public waterfront park is finally taking shape at Greenpoint’s first skyscraper

Rendering of The Greenpoint via +TOM

December 14, 2017

A public waterfront park is finally taking shape at Greenpoint’s first skyscraper

The Greenpoint, a 40-story waterfront rental and condo tower and the neighborhood's tallest building, topped out in February, launched sales in July and now, is a few months away from getting a public 275-foot long promenade at its waterfront site. After nearly a decade of delays, the Brooklyn walkway, the first of its kind to be privately built in Greenpoint, will open in the spring. According to the Wall Street Journal, the park will total 29,500 square feet, including a 4,000-square-foot playground with lots of trees and colorful oval panels above.
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For $55M, own the 47-acre Long Island waterfront estate once home to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Photo of Brangelina via Wiki Commons

December 14, 2017

For $55M, own the 47-acre Long Island waterfront estate once home to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Photo of Brangelina via Wiki Commons A property spanning 47 acres of Long Island waterfront that includes a 22,000-square-foot Tudor revival-style mansion in the secluded Gold Coast village of Lloyd Neck is on the market asking $55 million. In addition to offering a private cove with its own pier, a 30-by-60-foot pool, lush gardens and a tea house, the estate was famously home to Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and family in 2009 when Jolie was filming “Salt” on Long Island (h/t New York Post). And it's only a 15 minute trip to Manhattan by helicopter.
Tour the grounds of this amazing waterfront retreat

MTA releases plan to address impending 15-month shutdown of L train

Photo of the L-train via Wiki Commons

December 13, 2017

MTA releases plan to address impending 15-month shutdown of L train

The MTA unveiled on Wednesday its much-anticipated plan for the 15-month shutdown of the L train, set to begin in April of 2019. Hurricane Sandy heavily damaged the 100-year-old Carnarsie Tunnel in 2012, filling it with 7 million gallons of saltwater and forcing a total reconstruction of the tunnel. The 225,000 daily L train riders that travel from Brooklyn through the tunnel to Manhattan will be given alternative travel options, as amNY reported. The MTA's plan calls for a new bus route that would run between Brooklyn and Manhattan, a busway on 14th Street in Manhattan with a two-way bike lane on 13th Street and increase subway service on nearby lines.
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‘Affordable’ Whole Foods opens next month in Downtown Brooklyn; How the Poinsettia made its way to NYC

300 Ashland Place via TEN Arquitectos (L); Poinsettias via Public Domain Pictures

December 13, 2017

‘Affordable’ Whole Foods opens next month in Downtown Brooklyn; How the Poinsettia made its way to NYC

Joining the new Apple store, the East Coast’s first Whole Foods Market 365, an affordable, no-frills version of the grocer, will open on January 31st at 300 Ashland Place. [6sqft inbox] The MTA is hiring a contractor to build the subway’s first platform safetey barrier. [NYDN] This holiday, give the gift of rat extermination. [Brokelyn] […]

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NYU’s Brooklyn tech campus expansion opens in former MTA headquarters

Rendering of 370 Jay Street via NYU

December 13, 2017

NYU’s Brooklyn tech campus expansion opens in former MTA headquarters

A long-vacant MTA building has been given a tech-filled new life. New York University announced Wednesday that the school’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) has moved into 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, a site that was previously home to the headquarters of the New York City Transit Authority. The New York City […]

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Lottery opens for 98 units at site two of Lower East Side’s Essex Crossing, from $519/month

Rendering of 115 Delancey Street via Handel Architects

December 13, 2017

Lottery opens for 98 units at site two of Lower East Side’s Essex Crossing, from $519/month

Applications are now being accepted for 98 mixed-income apartments located at 115 Delancey Street, known as site two of the sprawling nine-site Essex Crossing Development. The 26-story tower is the tallest building on the $1.9 billion complex and will host the Essex Street Market and a 14-screen Regal Cinemas Theater. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 60, 120 and 165 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a studio for $519/month to a three-bedroom for $3,424/month.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Distinctive Homes

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

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

This $3.3M Village co-op will brighten even the darkest winter days

$7.2M penthouse is most expensive sponsor sale in Williamsburg

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

$1.95M Turtle Bay co-op feels like a modern cabin in the middle of Manhattan

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

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

This $3.6M Spuyten Duyvil home is a tranquil refuge indoors and out, within New York City limits

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

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Sales at NYC’s 11 Trump-branded condos fall below average for the first time ever

Trump International via Wiki Commons; Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

December 13, 2017

Sales at NYC’s 11 Trump-branded condos fall below average for the first time ever

As we close in on Donald Trump's first full year as President, it's interesting to look at his business endeavors have fared, and here in NYC, it looks as though the Donald's real estate empire is starting to crumble. According to CityRealty's Year-End Manhattan Market Report, both average sales price and average price per square foot at the 11 Trump-branded condos fell below the Manhattan condo average for the first time ever. Not surprisingly, the Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West was the worst-performing, with average prices falling 27 percent. One of the company's most visible buildings, the condo was often the site of protests against the Trump administration throughout the year.
More on the 2017 market

Real Estate Trends

December 13, 2017

This map of NYC’s subway distorts geography to give commuters more realistic arrival times

While the standard map of New York City's subway from the MTA might be easier to read, it distorts the geographic distance between stops making it tough to really know how far apart they are from one another. Many designers and architects have taken a stab at creating more accurate maps to ease the struggle of subway straphangers. And now designer Nate Parrott has released his own interactive subway map that shows how many minutes it takes between point A and point B, as Co.Design reported. Click on a station and the whole map changes to show the travel time to reach every stop.
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Transit

December 13, 2017

INTERVIEW: Zoning and land-use attorney Michael Hiller fights to uphold the Landmarks Law

By Penelope Bareau

Michael Hiller is a zoning and land-use attorney who has represented community groups in seemingly impossible quests for about 20 years. His high-profile cases have often been against the Landmarks Preservation Commission, notably Tribeca's iconic Clock Tower Building and new construction along historic Gansevoort Street, both of which are pending appeal by the defendants. As one legal observer commented, "He has become an expert in the nuances of the Landmarks Law from a legal perspective. In court, he is very talented on his feet before a very hot bench, before judges who ask a lot of tough questions." His successes have won him designation as a Super Lawyer every year since 2009 as well as the 2017 Grassroots Award from the Historic Districts Council. 6sqft recently visited Michael at his office to learn more about his work.
Ahead, hear from Michael and learn more about his current cases

December 13, 2017

Soho style arrives at this dreamy Turtle Bay loft asking $999K

You wouldn't necessarily expect an artist loft up for sale in Turtle Bay, but here's one asking just a hair under $1 million at the Turtle Bay Towers condop complex. The open floorplan was renovated in the style of a Soho loft, according to the listing, but you get all the conveniences of being in East Midtown. After its renovation the space saw a big price jump in just a few years--it was asking $689,000 in 2012 before selling for $649,000.
Head inside

Distinctive Homes

December 13, 2017

Essex Crossing rental gets new renderings and a new name to honor jazz legend Sonny Rollins

Legendary jazz saxophonist and New York City native Sonny Rollins lived in an apartment on the Lower East Side home for many years during the late 1950s. Although the building he called home has long been demolished, the sprawling development rising on the same site, Essex Crossing, will pay tribute to the iconic artist by naming one of the buildings after him. The Rollins, a 15-story rental building at 145 Clinton Street, sits near the entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge, a spot where Rollins practiced every day for two years. As the New York Times reported, the Rollins, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, will include 107 market-rate apartments, which start at $3,150 for a studio, $4,450 for a one-bedroom, $5,800 for a two-bedroom and $8,450 for a three-bedroom. Leasing will begin in January for these market-rate units.
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Real Estate Trends

MTA to close East River tunnel to speed repairs

Image ©6sqft

December 13, 2017

MTA to close East River tunnel to speed repairs

As part of an effort to speed up its emergency repair plan, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced plans to close the E and M line tunnels under East River between Manhattan and Queens for five days at the end of this month, the New York Times reports. The shutdown will start early on December 26 and end early on Dec. 31, taking advantage of a rare lull: Almost a million fewer people use the subway during that time than other weeks of the year— five million compared with 5.9 million according to MTA data.
Find out the timing is right for a shutdown

Apply for a mixed-income unit at CetraRuddy’s Hell’s Kitchen rental, from $596/month

Rendering of 572 Eleventh Avenue courtesy of the Moinian Group

December 13, 2017

Apply for a mixed-income unit at CetraRuddy’s Hell’s Kitchen rental, from $596/month

A CetraRuddy-designed building at 572 Eleventh Avenue is now accepting applications for 46 newly constructed, mixed-income studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Developed by the Moinian Group, the Hell's Kitchen rental, which recently topped out this June, rises 13 stories high and features 10,000 square feet of commercial retail at its cellar and ground floors. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 60 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from a studio for $596/month to a two-bedroom for $2,715/month.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Michael C. Hall buys $4.3M El Dorado classic six

Michael C. Hall image via Wikimedia Commons.

December 13, 2017

Michael C. Hall buys $4.3M El Dorado classic six

The iconic El Dorado seems to have retained some of its celebrity cachet despite the decampment of Alec Baldwin and Bruce Willis; the New York Post reports that Michael C. Hall of "Dexter," "Six Feet Under" and David Bowie’s “Lazarus” fame just snagged a 10th floor apartment at 300 Central Park West. The Golden Globe winner and his wife Morgan paid $4.3 million for a newly-renovated 2,200 square-foot two-bedroom unit in the Emery Roth-designed co-op, according to city records. The Golden Globe-winner also owns a two-bedroom apartment in the pricey Greenwich Lane complex at 160 West 12th Street which was on the rental market last year for $15,000 a month.
Take a peek

December 12, 2017

LPC approves Achim Menges’ futuristic rooftop pavilion and stage for Pier 17

Between the controversial–and eventually nixed–condo tower and the news of ESPN's new studio plans, it's hard to keep up with what's taking shape at Pier 17 in the Seaport district. The latest arrival comes from above: Developers Howard Hughes Corporation announced plans earlier this year for a "crown jewel" for the new pier, a rooftop stage and installation with a see-through canopy that will maintain sightlines of Lower Manhattan. The high-tech topper was designed by German architect Achim Menges, known for ethereal, high-concept structures made with 3-D printers or woven from carbon fibers. Set for a summer 2018 opening, the new performance space will occupy 60,000 square feet according to Downtown Express. The project on Tuesday was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, who said it will "set a standard for all future temporary seasonal structures."
Renderings of the high-tech sky canopy this way

COOKFOX unveils design for five eco-conscious high-rises in Hudson Square

COOKFOX Architects released new renderings this week of its five proposed high-rise buildings in Hudson Square, part of the redevelopment of St. John's Terminal into a nearly two-million-square-foot complex of housing, retail and office space. As CityRealty learned, the design calls for an industrial-meets-earthy design with deftly sculpted towers detailed with geometric setbacks and planted terraces. Located near Pier 40, the proposed buildings will hold a total of 1,586 apartments, with 30 percent of them below market rate, office spaces, a hotel and about 400,000 square feet of retail.
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Photo via iStock

December 12, 2017

NYC establishes a digital hub for urban agriculture

The New York City council passed a bill today that will create the city’s first centralized digital hub meant specifically for urban agriculture. This hub will be run entirely by the city and will hopefully be seen as a resource for both new and established businesses. This bill, entitled 1661-A, is sponsored by council member […]

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December 12, 2017

Former ‘ Million Dollar Listing’ star lists Lenox Hill co-op that’s bursting with color for $4.8M

Calling this apartment colorful would be a total understatement. Each room of the Lenox Hill co-op, at 875 Fifth Avenue, is decked out in bold paint colors, artwork, and decor. The space was renovated in 2014 by the interior designer Nick Olsen for Michael Lorber, a former star of "Million Dollar Listing," who purchased the pad in 2014 for $3.6 million. Now fully renovated, the three-bedroom spread overlooking Central Park is on the market for $4.795 million.
Check out the decor

Distinctive Homes

December 12, 2017

Announcing 6sqft’s 2017 Building of the Year!

The votes have been tallied, and so it's time to name the 2017 Building of the Year! The winning title belongs to no other than One Manhattan Square, the Lower East Side meets Chinatown skyscraper that will be home to NYC’s largest outdoor private garden when it opens next year. The 800-foot-tall tower beat out 11 other significant NYC buildings in a competitive two-week competition held by 6sqft. Out of 3,782 votes cast, the Extell-developed, Adamson Associates-designed structure took first place with 959 votes or 25.35% of the total.
More on this year's winner!

City will convert cluster apartments occupied by homeless New Yorkers into affordable housing

Photo via Public Domain Pictures

December 12, 2017

City will convert cluster apartments occupied by homeless New Yorkers into affordable housing

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday another plan aimed at adding to New York City's affordable housing inventory, while combating homelessness. As the New York Times reported, the plan converts hundreds of cluster apartments, occupied by homeless families across the city, into permanently affordable units. Cluster or scatter-site housing are typically private apartments in buildings in which landlords rent out to the city to house homeless people. To lower the number of homeless New Yorkers and add more affordable housing, the city's plan could potentially place 3,000 people into permanent housing, allowing some homeless families to remain in the same apartment and not be considered homeless any longer by the city.
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Where I Work: Glaser’s German bakery has been satisfying Yorkville’s sweet tooth for 115 years

All photographs © James and Karla Murray for 6sqft

December 12, 2017

Where I Work: Glaser’s German bakery has been satisfying Yorkville’s sweet tooth for 115 years

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 Glaser's Bake Shop, a 115-year-old German bakery in Yorkville.Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! In the early 20th century, New York's German immigrants relocated from the East Village to the Upper East Side neighborhood of Yorkville, which soon became known as Germantown. The community was so culturally rich, that German was spoken more than English in this area. 86th Street was dubbed "Sauerkraut Boulevard" and was lined with German butchers, restaurants, and bakeries. After the dismantling of the Second and Third Avenue elevatrated trains in the 1940s and '50s, most of the German community moved out, but several of these old-time businesses still remain, one of which is Glaser's Bake Shop. When German immigrant John Glaser opened his bakery in 1902, there were half a dozen nearby competitors. 115 years later, the perfectly preserved storefront on First Avenue and 87th Street is the last of its kind in Yorkville, but it's still filled everyday with new neighbors and long-time residents alike, eager to satisfy their sweet tooths with the extra chocolately brownies, jelly donuts, Bavarian pastries, and their famous black-and-white cookies. Glaser's is now owned by John's grandsons Herbert and John, who are committed to keeping their family's traditions alive. 6sqft recently stopped by to watch Herb work on massive gingerbread village and chat with him more about the baker's history and how he's seen Yorkville change over the years.
Get a behind-the-scenes look and hear from Herb

Where I Work

December 12, 2017

Waterline Square mega-development tops out on the Upper West Side

Waterline Square, a mega-development consisting of three luxury residential high-rises and measuring 2.2 million square feet, officially topped out this week, one of the most ambitious projects to hit the Upper West Side in decades. GID Development Group commissioned three major New York City architecture firms, Richard Meier & Partners, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Rafael Viñoly, to design One Waterline Square, Two Waterline Square and Three Waterline Square, respectively. The 263 condominiums of the development, located between West 59th Street and West 61st Street on the Hudson River, will commence closings in late 2018. There will also be 800 rental units available, with 20 percent of them below market rate. Hill West Architects serves as the executive architect on the project.
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December 12, 2017

$6.25M Flatiron loft’s bohemian-luxe style reflects its owner’s international flair

Iconic even among the Flatiron district's classic loft buildings and historic architecture, the neo-Gothic 1892 MacIntyre Building at 874 Broadway rises 12 stories above the downtown neighborhood with its handsome turrets, Byzantinue columns and Romanesque arches. Asking $6.25 million, this corner loft co-op occupying two of the building's floors is right at home, overlooking Union Square. A thorough renovation merged two units, resulting in one massive three-bedroom home with a custom-engineered steel and glass staircase and 12-foot ceilings. According to city records, the loft's current owner is writer-director Tannaz Hazemi ("Before the Bomb"), whose culturally diverse international lifestyle may well have influenced the loft's spin-the-compass bohemian-luxe decor.
Tour this fabulously funky loft

Distinctive Homes

NJ farm selling rainbow-colored Christmas trees; new MTA president ‘confident’ he can fix the subway

Via Wyckoff Christmas Tree Farm (L); Via Dan Phiffer/Flickr (R)

December 11, 2017

NJ farm selling rainbow-colored Christmas trees; new MTA president ‘confident’ he can fix the subway

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

At this Jersey Christmas tree farm, have your conifer spray painted seven vibrant colors. [TONY] Three of the 26 new subway cars that cost taxpayers $2M each have failed tests and been pulled from the tracks. [NYDN] But Andy Byford, the MTA’s incoming transit president, has no doubt that he can get the subway system “to […]

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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 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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De Blasio launches new programs to make affordable homeownership easier for New Yorkers

Image: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

December 11, 2017

De Blasio launches new programs to make affordable homeownership easier for New Yorkers

In October, Mayor Bill de Blasio increased the goal of his ambitious affordable housing plan from 200,000 financed affordable homes to 300,000 by 2026. Expanding his Housing New York 2.0 initiative further, the mayor announced on Monday two new homeowner assistance programs, aimed at helping 2,100 New York City families own real estate and renovate homes over eight years.
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Visit the country’s biggest planetarium at Jersey City’s Liberty Science Center

Photo courtesy of Liberty Science Center

December 11, 2017

Visit the country’s biggest planetarium at Jersey City’s Liberty Science Center

Photo courtesy of Liberty Science Center If there’s one scenario in which size matters, it’s when you’re trying to show the entire known universe on one screen. The big-deal opening of the year for science nerds is the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, now open at New Jersey’s Liberty Science Center. Located just 30 minutes from Lower Manhattan, the […]

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Apply for 93 low- and middle-income apartments along the Grand Concourse from $822/month

Rendering via Douglaston Development

December 11, 2017

Apply for 93 low- and middle-income apartments along the Grand Concourse from $822/month

Applications are now being accepted for 93 newly constructed mixed-income apartments at 2605 Grand Concourse in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx. Built by Douglaston Development, the 12-story building is one of the first ground-up residential projects along this Bronx thoroughfare in decades. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60, 100 and 130 percent of the area median income can apply for units ranging from $822/month studios to $2,190/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

December 11, 2017

Last day to vote for 6sqft’s 2017 Building of the Year!

This year was all about new development redefining the New York City skyline. Construction moved along at a rapid pace, whether it be the topping out of Richard Meier's tower at 685 First Avenue or foundational work kicking off at Brooklyn's first supertall 9 Dekalb. In the next several years we'll see these buildings open and show off apartments at sky-high prices, but for now, we get to enjoy the construction process on some of the most notable new architecture to come to New York. We’ve narrowed down a list of 12 news-making residential structures for the year. Which do you think deserves 6sqft’s title of 2017 Building of the Year? To have your say, polls for our third annual competition will be open up until midnight on Monday, December 11th and we will announce the winner on Tuesday, December 12th.
VOTE HERE! And learn more about the choices.

New Developments

December 11, 2017

Producer Bob Weinstein makes no profit on $15M Upper West Side townhouse sale

By Annie Doge

Bob Weinstein, founder of Dimension Films and co-founder of Miramax Films, which he started with his brother, disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, has all but broken even on the sale of his Upper West Side townhouse. He bought the huge home at 39 West 70th Street for $15 million back in 2009 with ex-wife Annie Clayton. They listed it for $19 million last February and then dropped the price to $17.9 million earlier this month, but city records published today show that it was sold again for $15 million. Not only did the buyer get a bargain, but they'll get to enjoy the home's period details, rear garden, terraces, roof deck, and a gym with a half-sized basketball court.
See inside

The Urban Lens: The surprising beauty of Sunset Park’s Sims Municipal Recycling Facility

All photographs © James and Karla Murray for 6sqft

December 11, 2017

The Urban Lens: The surprising beauty of Sunset Park’s Sims Municipal Recycling Facility

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, we take a look at the inner workings of Sunset Park's Sims Municipal Recycling Facility, from trash heaps to machinery to a learning center. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. The beauty of trash is not often lauded, but out on the Brooklyn waterfront, at Sunset Park's Sims Municipal Recycling Facility, the process is oddly mesmerizing. En masse, the glass and plastic shards processed in the building's bowels become a disposable rainbow, the sharp shapes of residential recyclables a testament to the mesmerizing aesthetic of large-scale sustainability. Sims is located on the 11-acre 30th Street Pier, which also contains the city's first commercial-scale wind turbine. On Sims' second story is a recycling education center; surrounding its exterior are a number of nature-harboring reefs, moorings, and native plants; and on the roof is an observation deck. The plant sorts 800 tons of recyclables on 2.5 miles worth of conveyor belts and machines daily, the majority of NYC's "commingled curbside material," its site proudly purports. In total, the plant processes 200,000 tons of plastic, glass, and metal a year. Ahead, take a look at the Sims world, where trash is heaped so high it really does look like treasure if you squint.
Take a tour

Christmas tree prices rise as competition and soaring expenses threaten small vendors with extinction

A Christmas tree stand at 6th Avenue and 14th Street. Image: 6sqft

December 11, 2017

Christmas tree prices rise as competition and soaring expenses threaten small vendors with extinction

Each year in December, scores of Christmas tree vendors descend on New York City from as far as Quebec to turn the city's sidewalks into a virtual pop-up forest. What makes this seasonal opportunity so appealing? The “coniferous tree” exception, a City Council law dating from 1938, says vendors can sell and display Christmas trees on a sidewalk in December without a permit as long as they get an ok from adjacent building owners and they don't block the sidewalk. Sellers lobby adjacent storefronts for permission, sometimes paying a fee and often in competition with other sellers. This year, as the New York Times reports, competition from chain stores–and other vendors jockeying for prime spots in parks and other public locations that come with high fees–are chopping into the profits for the army of tree sellers that descends on the city at holiday time. Costs get passed to consumers–and prices are soaring.
Why trees are demanding more green this year

December 11, 2017

Extell’s proposal for the Upper West Side’s tallest tower faces backlash from the community

Architecture firm Snøhetta revealed last month their design for a 775-foot condominium tower at 50 West 66th Street, slated to be the tallest building on the Upper West Side. Developed by Extell, the condo will rise 69 stories and contain 127 units, featuring series of “sculptural excavations” that are “evocative of the chiseled stone of Manhattan’s geologic legacy,” according to the architects. As the New York Times reported, critics of the project from the UWS community say the tower would violate zoning restrictions in the area. Local advocate groups, joined by Council Member Helen Rosenthal and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, are pushing back against the construction of Extell's ultra-luxury tower. In a statement, Rosenthal said, "We will fight this project with every tool at our disposal."
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$80M Upper East Side mansion could set a record for most expensive townhouse ever sold in NYC

Google Streetview of 12 East 69th Street

December 11, 2017

$80M Upper East Side mansion could set a record for most expensive townhouse ever sold in NYC

A 20,000-square-foot Upper East Side mansion--complete with its own red velvet movie theater, panic room, and double-height library, has entered contract priced at $80 million. And according to the Wall Street Journal, if it closes at that price the property will become the most expensive townhouse ever sold in New York City. The sale would beat out a record set just this year, when the 25,000-square-foot, 41-foot-wide townhouse at 19 East 64th Street belonging to art heir David Wildenstein closed for $79.5 million. This home, located at 12 East 69th Street, came on the market in 2013 for roughly $114 million but was delisted after a price cut to $98 million in 2014.
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December 11, 2017

Joy Behar’s $3.5M Upper West Side co-op is in contract after just two months

Comedian Joy Behar's three-bedroom Astor Court co-op at 205 West 89th street has entered contract a mere two months after it was listed for $3.5 million. "The View" co-host has been doing her share of real estate restructuring recently: 6sqft reported last month that Behar and husband Steve Janowitz dropped $2.4 million on a three-bedroom Lincoln Square condo at 62 West 62nd Street about 20 blocks south. Behar had traded up to the larger Astor Court unit in 2013, having previously lived in a smaller apartment in the building. In 2016 she sold her Hamptons vacation home; a month later she dropped nearly $5 million on a gorgeous property in Sag Harbor.
Get a final glance

The Brooklyn Ballet’s Nutcracker mixes local history and contemporary culture

Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Ballet

December 8, 2017

The Brooklyn Ballet’s Nutcracker mixes local history and contemporary culture

George Balanchine staged his first iconic performance of The Nutcracker in New York City back in 1954. His choreography rightly became the gold standard, but the city has changed since then. Enter the Brooklyn Ballet, which has reinterpreted the holiday story to reflect its home into The Brooklyn Nutcracker, mixing the borough’s history as an old […]

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City will replace Nolita’s Elizabeth Street Garden with 121 affordable apartments for seniors

Rendering courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

December 8, 2017

City will replace Nolita’s Elizabeth Street Garden with 121 affordable apartments for seniors

After years of public battles between open space advocates and public officials, the city announced on Friday that it will create an affordable senior housing development at the site of the Elizabeth Street Garden in Nolita. Dubbed Haven Green, the project will be an energy-efficient passive house, with units reserved for seniors earning between $20,040 and $40,080, as well as formerly homeless seniors. According to the Daily News, the project calls for 121 deeply affordable units with 7,600 square feet of public open space in a new garden. Developed by Pennrose Properties, Habitat for Humanity New York City, and RiseBoro Community Partnerships, Haven Green will use 60 to 70 percent less energy than a standard building of its kind and will be designed to manage and reuse stormwater through permeable surfaces.
More this way

December 8, 2017

The Macklowe Gallery’s Ben Macklowe shares the top reasons to start an antique collection

"Vintage" furniture and decor is no stranger to young, urban professionals, with the proliferation of markets like Brooklyn Flea and do-good stores like Housing Works. But rarely do fine antiques enter the equation, often being tossed aside for their higher price points. But the antiques market has undergone a major shift in recent years, and no one has been more privy to it than Ben Macklowe, the second-generation president of the Macklowe Gallery who describes collecting as "the intersection of passion, taste and happenstance." After standing as a fixture on Madison Avenue for nearly 50 years, gaining international recognition for its collection of French Art Nouveau furniture and objects, Tiffany lamps and glassware, and antique and estate jewelry, the gallery recently relocated to a 6,000-square-foot space on 57th Street and Park Avenue, which, according to Ben is “thanks to our existing clients and a new generation of passionate collectors.” For this new generation, Ben believes the time is ripe to start collecting. Antiques are sustainable by nature, they lend themselves to cultural exploration, and, because of a generational shift, are more affordable than ever. Ahead, we break down the top-three reasons to start an antique collection.
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Photo of the Brooklyn Bridge via pixabay

December 8, 2017

To relieve Brooklyn Bridge congestion, the city wants a bike-only entry and fewer vendors

Dubbed the "Times Square in the Sky," the Brooklyn Bridge promenade remains the borough's most popular attraction, experiencing an increase in pedestrian volume by 275 percent between 2008 and 2015. The New York City Department of Transportation released a report on Friday that details ways to reduce the growing congestion of cyclists, pedestrians and vendors on the promenade. After hiring the consulting term AECOM over a year ago to conduct an engineering study aimed at improving safety, DOT has finally outlined steps to be taken in order to limit crowds. As the New York Times reported, the city is exploring ideas like building a separate bike-only entrance to the Manhattan side of the bridge, possibly expanding the width of the promenade and reducing the number of vendors allowed to sell goods, while restricting where they can sell them.
More this way

December 8, 2017

Escape to this extraordinary mini-castle overlooking Lake George for $395/night

The Airbnb listing for this unique retreat with the Adirondack Mountains and lakes as a backdrop offers a castle to match your fairy tale. Located in Bolton Landing, New York, Highlands Castle, the larger, grander fairytale venue next door, was featured by 6sqft in 2015 when it was listed for sale for $12.8 million. The entire property is the work of one John Lavender, who built the magical castles a mere 30-some years ago complete with knights, turrets, life-size lion statues and secret passageways to make good on a promise he'd made to his three-year-old son a decade prior that he’d build him a castle. The same #1 dad is offering the mini-castle on the property as an unforgettable mountain-country escape.
Tour the mini-masterpiece

Port Authority approves more than $1B for construction at NYC airports

Interior rendering of LaGuardia Airport, via Governor Andrew Cuomo on Flickr

December 8, 2017

Port Authority approves more than $1B for construction at NYC airports

With the approval of its $8 billion 2018 budget on Thursday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to spend more than $1 billion on major redevelopment projects at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty International and JFK Airports next year. The agency’s board of commissioners approved a budget that allocates $3.2 billion for operating expenses and $3.4 billion for capital expenses. According to the Wall Street Journal, $578 million will be put toward the $8 billion redevelopment of LaGuardia and $167 million toward a $2.3 billion redevelopment plan of Newark's Terminal A.
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December 8, 2017

Three $40M units go into contract at 432 Park, buyer may be assembling a mega-penthouse

A massive deal has entered contract at one of New York's most exclusive condos, the super-skinny skyscraper 432 Park. Mansion Global spotted three neighboring penthouses that all entered contract this Wednesday. There's #92B, which was asking $40 million; #93B was asking $40.25 million; and #92A was asking $40.5 million. One of the condos served as a model penthouse (pictured above), which was designed and furnished by Kelly Behun. The developers, CIM Group and Macklowe Properties, would not comment on sales, so, for now, it’s unclear if a single buyer is responsible for the same-day transactions over the two floors. If so, someone has nabbed a nearly 12,000-square-foot mansion in the sky for around $120 million.
The buyer-or buyers-are a mystery

Real Estate Trends

Lyft reveals that New Yorkers took the most rides to Katz’s, NYU, and the William Vale

Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

December 7, 2017

Lyft reveals that New Yorkers took the most rides to Katz’s, NYU, and the William Vale

These days, cars from ride-hailing services are as common on New York City streets as those ubiquitous yellow taxis, and if you’ve ever wondered where exactly New Yorkers are taking those cars, we’re about to let the cat out of the bag. Lyft just released its third annual Lyftie Awards, a tally of the company’s most-popular […]

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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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December 7, 2017

This $3.7M Cobble Hill townhouse is period-perfect with rooms to spare and harbor views

On a quintessential tree-lined Cobble Hill block just to the east of the Columbia Street Waterfront, the equally quintessential historic townhouse at 388 Henry Street is seeking a new owner for only the third time in 100 years. Asking $3.7 million, the four-story, two-family home is filled with period details, with plenty of room for new ones.
Tour all four floors

Distinctive Homes

City Council Speaker pushing legislation to expand NYC’s food truck industry

Photo via Megan Morris/Flickr

December 7, 2017

City Council Speaker pushing legislation to expand NYC’s food truck industry

Before the end of her tenure on Dec. 31, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is making an eleventh-hour push for legislation aimed at expanding the city's food vending industry. As Politico New York reported, the bill adds 335 more licenses for food vendors over 10 years, with 35 set aside for veterans. Currently, there are 5,100 licensed food vendors in the city. While the bill's passage could be a victory for immigrant workers, many who make a living working on food trucks or carts, although sometimes on the black market, critics say increasing the number of permits allowed for rent-free vendors could hurt brick-and-mortar shops.
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Policy

Bethenny Frankel buys her second Hamptons retreat as an ‘investment property’

Listing photos courtesy of Chris Foster for Town & Country Real Estate

December 7, 2017

Bethenny Frankel buys her second Hamptons retreat as an ‘investment property’

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Bethenny Frankel, Bravo Real Housewife and founder of the Skinnygirl brand, has picked up a new home in the Hamptons. The New York Post reports that she's the buyer of the once bed-and-breakfast at 2623 Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton, formerly known as the Morning Glory House. It was listed last year for $3.2 million and then made it down to $2.49 million. (The Post couldn't confirm Frankel's selling price.) And it's not her first home in the area, either. In 2015 she snagged a five-bedroom home in Bridgehampton asking $3.2 million. She plans to keep that one and has bought the Morning Glory House as an investment property.
Go inside her new digs

December 7, 2017

The Urban Lens: From Bob Dylan to Jack Kerouac, see rare photos of the Village’s Beat Generation

Perhaps no single photographer could be said to have captured the energy, the cultural ferment, the reverberating social change emanating from New York City in the second half of the 20th century as vividly as Fred W. McDarrah. McDarrah got his start covering the downtown beat of the Village Voice in the 1950s and '60s, as that publication was defining a newly-emerged breed of independent journalism. McDarrah penetrated the lofts and coffeehouses of Lower Manhattan to shed light upon a new movement known as "The Beats" and went on to capture on film the New York artists, activists, politicians, and poets who changed the way everyone else thought and lived. Through the generosity of the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah and the McDarrah family, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation was fortunate enough to add to its digital archive a dozen of the most epochal of Fred McDarrah’s images of downtown icons, including Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Jane Jacobs, and Allen Ginsberg. And just in time for the holidays, you can purchase your own copy (with all proceeds benefitting GVSHP!).
Learn the story behind all the photos

New renderings revealed for Extell’s Central Park Tower as it hits halfway mark

Rendering courtesy of Extell

December 7, 2017

New renderings revealed for Extell’s Central Park Tower as it hits halfway mark