6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

While New York City’s waterways have featured both floating pools and floating parks, they also once held floating churches. The Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey (SCI) first built a floating house of worship in 1844, designed for sailors. According to Untapped Cities, the group’s first big project included building the Church of Our Savior, which floated in the East River off of Pike Street in downtown Manhattan.
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History

October 10, 2017

For $1.65M, a folksy and funky East Village duplex with prime outdoor space

We are loving this East Village duplex, which boasts a front door straight out to a huge, elevated common terrace that acts like a private park for the residents of this boutique condo at 549 East 11th Street. Inside, a unique, whimsical interior has been decorated by owner Olga Vieira, owner of the yarn-turned-travel business the Koko Company. The apartment was last purchased in 1999 for $180,500 and now it's asking $1.65 million. And if you can't afford that, there's still a chance to Airbnb it.
Check out the outdoor space

Distinctive Homes

Bureau V’s 160-square-foot Urban Cabin is an homage to NYC Immigrants

Photos by Frank Oudeman/OTTO

October 10, 2017

Bureau V’s 160-square-foot Urban Cabin is an homage to NYC Immigrants

MINI has been working for the past couple years to expand its purview from tiny cars to tiny homes. Their endeavor began with a micro-living concept to address a lack of attractive, affordable housing in urban settings, and they've now expanded on this idea with an even more compact and personal model. First revealed at last month's London Design Week, the MINI Living Urban Cabin "fuses clever use of space with insights from local architects to create an area and structure suited for their city." British architect Sam Jacob was inspired by London's decline in libraries, but here in NYC, Greenwich Village-based firm Bureau V responded to larger global issues and based their design around New York’s history as an immigrant city.
See more this way

Architecture And Design

October 10, 2017

A borough-by-borough guide to NYC’s food halls

Cronuts. Raclette. Poke bowls. Avocado toast. While the list of trendy cuisines making a splash in New York City’s food scene appears endless, food halls are making it easier for New Yorkers to try a bit of everything all under one roof. The city is experiencing a boom in this casual dining style; real estate developers opt to anchor their buildings with food halls, as all-star chefs choose food halls to serve their celebrated dishes. Ahead, follow 6sqft’s guide to the city’s 24 current food halls, from old standby Chelsea Market to Downtown Brooklyn’s new DeKalb Market, as well as those in the pipeline, planned for hot spots like Hudson Yards and more far-flung locales like Staten Island.
More this way

Pier 17 glows red in honor of new tenant ESPN. Photo: Taylor Crothers via Howard Hughes Corporation.

October 10, 2017

ESPN will open first NYC studios in South Street Seaport’s Pier 17

Cable giant ESPN will be opening a big new studio–the sports network's first in NYC–this spring at the South Street Seaport Pier 17 complex in Howard Hughes Corporation’s $731 million East River waterfront redevelopment project. The New York Post reports that the network's studio partner, NEP group, has signed a multi-year lease for a 19,000-square-foot third floor space with Brooklyn and Manhattan skyline views at the new pier.
Find out more

New Developments

Stonewall Inn to get NYC’s first permanent LGBT pride flag

Stonewall Inn, photo via Wikimedia

October 10, 2017

Stonewall Inn to get NYC’s first permanent LGBT pride flag

LGBT activists will unveil a rainbow flag outside the historic gay bar Stonewall Inn on Wednesday, marking the 30th anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The Greenwich Village bar at 53 Christopher Street is often credited with launching the gay rights movement after multiple violent police raids in the summer of 1969. President Barack Obama designated Stonewall as a national monument last year, the first National Park Service unit dedicated to the gay rights movement (h/t DNA info). Stonewall's rainbow flag will be the first permanent LGBT pride flag in New York City.
More this way

October 10, 2017

Creative power couple’s Yorkville duplex asks $16.5M for 13 rooms, 20-foot ceilings and a waterfall pond

One of several high-profile homes for a high powered creative couple and their three children, this sprawling apartment at 170 East End Avenue is both a perfect canvas for a very serious art gallerist and collector and a home that is lacking exactly nothing, including river, bridge and skyline views, 5,000 square feet of interior space, 20 foot ceilings, 13 rooms, a 150-bottle wine cellar, several terraces, a teak gazebo and a pond with its own waterfall. Indeed "truly remarkable," with interiors by renowned architect Peter Marino, the condominium, just listed for $16.5 million, has 2,186 square feet of landscaped private terraces, six bedrooms plus a library, formal dining, an eat-in kitchen, a home office, studies and lounges–all in a full-service Upper East Side building with amenities galore.
Tour this colorful mini-MoMA

Distinctive Homes

Quirky NYC Train Sign adds real-time subway data to home decor

Image courtesy of NYC Train Sign via Instagram

October 9, 2017

Quirky NYC Train Sign adds real-time subway data to home decor

New York City life got easier when we could see live data on when the next subway train would arrive via signs on platforms, in stations and on our mobile phones. Now a Brooklyn-based startup called NYC Train Sign has created a way to display that data in our homes and businesses (h/t Curbed). In an interesting evolution of the wall clock, the company's flagship product is an artfully-designed countdown clock that displays real-time MTA data for trains in both directions for any train stop you choose. You can add a customized text slide, logo and real-time weather updates, too.
Cool. Where can I get one?

Distinctive Homes

An art historian's Village loft with pieces by Ai Weiwei and more asks $4.2M

An artist's Upper East Side condo is a palace-sized riot of joyful color for $8.75M

For $5.5M, this Flatiron condo with four-bedroom potential is a prize for loft-lovers

For $3M, this two-family Crown Heights townhouse fills every available inch of space with great style

A world traveler's Catskills haven is now a $2M mountaintop home

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

For $32.5K/month, rent a five-story designer townhouse in Gramercy

Bethenny Frankel lists her Bridgehampton property for $6M

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

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

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MTA may replace subway booth workers with roaming ‘ambassadors’

Subway booth at the Columbus Circle station, via Wiki Commons

October 9, 2017

MTA may replace subway booth workers with roaming ‘ambassadors’

Fresh off their announcement that they've begun the testing phase of a mobile device scanning and payment system to replace the MetroCard, the MTA has revealed that they're also considering doing away with the ye-olde subway booth worker. According to the Daily News, the latest attempt at modernization will replace the workers with "customer service ambassadors" who will roam stations to provide real-time travel info and answer questions.
They're even getting new uniforms

Transit

Hill West design a modest, 19-story condo for Billionaires’ Row

Rendering of 7 West 57th Street found at its construction site, via CityRealty

October 9, 2017

Hill West design a modest, 19-story condo for Billionaires’ Row

As Billionaires' Row on Manhattan's West 57th Street continues to grow with supertall towers, developer Sheldon Solow plans on constructing a more modest addition to the block. New renderings of the boutique condo at 7 West 57th Street, designed by Hill West, reveal a 19-floor building with an unassuming glass facade and a convex face, as CityRealty learned. The tower plays off of Solow's concave tower next door at 9 West 57th Street.
More this way

October 9, 2017

This $988K Tudor in Bayside, Queens looks like something out of a fairy tale

A turreted entryway, arched front door, leaded and stained glass windows and wood beamed ceilings--it all makes for a mini-castle in the heart of Bayside, Queens. This Tudor home at 48-12 217th Street was built in the 1930s, and is located in a neighborhood filled with other Tudor beauties with well manicured front yards. This home comes with plenty of suburban perks, like a front and back yard, garage and finished basement. Combined with the 1930s period details, it's a unique property that's now on the market for $988,000 and may just lure you out to eastern Queens.
There's even a Tiffany chandelier

MTA begins testing of new subway fare system, first step to phasing out MetroCards

Image: Phil Hollenback via Flickr.

October 9, 2017

MTA begins testing of new subway fare system, first step to phasing out MetroCards

With the goal of eventually phasing out the use of MetroCards in the New York City subway system, the MTA has begun the testing phase of a mobile device scanning and payment system. Untapped Cities reports that the first trials of a new mobile fare system are being installed at points where Metro-North commuters transfer to the subway, as an expansion of the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road's eTix app. At specific stations, riders can make the transfer with turnstiles fitted with scanners that allow them to swipe their phones. The new turnstiles have already been installed in the Bowling Green and Wall Street Stations in lower Manhattan for a test run; the expansion is a pilot for the eventual phasing out of MetroCards altogether.
Find out when and where you can try out the new system

October 8, 2017

Interview: Hasten CEO Aleksandr Lanin delves into trends in virtual staging

By Ondel Hylton

Anyone trawling through apartment listings may have noticed the upsurge of virtually staged apartment photos. The technique has proven to be a cost-effective and speedy alternative to traditional methods of staging vacant units. For those of you not fully warmed-up to the computer-aided technique, your reservations are understandable. Photos are the most important element to viewing listings […]

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

Images (L to R): FRONTIER, TOWER 28, LEVEL and 95 WALL

October 7, 2017

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

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): FRONTIER, TOWER 28, LEVEL and 95 WALL The Refinery, Newly Constructed Clinton Hill Rental Leasing from $2,150/Month [link] A New Frontier: Leasing Begins at 210 East 39th Street with Two Months of Free Rent [link] New Rentals Launch with 1 Month Free at Historic Offerman House in Downtown Brooklyn [link] Tallest […]

Real Estate Trends

October 6, 2017

For $3.75M, escape to the Mediterranean waterfront right in Westchester

This home looks better suited for Europe or California, but it's located just north of Manhattan in the Westchester suburb of Mamaroneck. The Spanish Mediterranean manse was built in 1926 and is situated on a half-acre of land right along the water. Stunning views from the waterfront lawn and private dock look out toward Larchmont Harbor, the Long Island Sound, and the distant Manhattan skyline. Inside, it's like an escape to a European or Hollywood retreat--take your pick--with incredible details that include Spanish tile floors imported from Seville.
Time to go inside

Distinctive Homes

The Urban Lens: Documenting NYC’s vanishing ATMs

Outside the Lower East Side club Fat Baby

October 6, 2017

The Urban Lens: Documenting NYC’s vanishing ATMs

6sqft’s ongoing series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Ivan Kosnyrev shares photos from his Instagram series Unreliable ATM. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. We recently shared photographer's before-and-after photos of Tribeca, a project that helped him learn about the history and present evolution of his neighborhood. Having only moved to NYC three years ago from Moscow, Ivan uses his documentary photography as a way to get acclimated with his new home. And when he wants to go outside his home base, he often does so through the lens of his Instagram account Unreliable ATM, which documents the vanishing street ATM. Not only does this disappearance represent changing times and technologies, but it's a visual reminder of how the city is losing its small businesses and culture. Ahead, Ivan shares some of his favorite ATM photos and talks about his inspiration for the project.
All that, this way

Places

Jennifer Lopez lists enormous Nomad penthouse for $27M

By Annie Doge

Bronx native and superstar J.Lo is selling her duplex penthouse in the Whitman, a luxurious condominium conversion at 21 East 26th Street, for $26.95 million. Lopez, who currently stars in the television show “Shades of Blue,” first purchased the Nomad pad in 2014 for $20.16 million. As the New York Times reported, the four-bedroom apartment overlooks Madison Square Park, spans 6,540 square feet on the building’s top two floors, and includes an additional 3,000 square feet of outdoor space spread across four sprawling terraces. Though Jenny from the Block will be departing (and taking her Grammy pictured above with her!), the next owner can still hobnob with the building's other A-listers Chelsea Clinton and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.
See inside

Airbus passes testing milestone on CityAirbus flying taxi

City Airbus. Image: Airbus

October 6, 2017

Airbus passes testing milestone on CityAirbus flying taxi

If you're stuck in city traffic, you'll appreciate this news: Airbus helicopters has just announced that it has completed its first full-scale testing on the propulsion system of the company's CityAirbus demonstrator, Designboom reports. The vehicle in question is a a multi-passenger, self-piloted electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle made for urban air mobility–in essence, a flying taxi.
Should we cancel our Uber account?

For $1,015/month, live in a new Clinton Hill rental with private balconies

Renderings courtesy of STUDIOSC Architects

October 6, 2017

For $1,015/month, live in a new Clinton Hill rental with private balconies

Move-ins started just a month ago at the new Brooklyn rental 10 Lexington Avenue, and now the lottery is opening for 17 $1,015/month one-bedrooms apartments in the building in the up-and-coming, post-industrial pocket between Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant. According to the building website, all units have private outdoor space and amenities include a roof deck, courtyard, laundry room, fitness center, and lounge.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

As deadline nears, New York City’s bid for Amazon’s second headquarters heats up

Photo courtesy of Robert Scoble on Flickr

October 6, 2017

As deadline nears, New York City’s bid for Amazon’s second headquarters heats up

With the deadline for proposals due Oct. 19, New York City politicians, business leaders and real estate developers are putting the finishing touches on their pitches intended to lure Amazon into building their second headquarters in the city. After Amazon first announced HQ2, which will bring $5 billion in initial city investment and 50,000 new jobs, over two dozen site proposals in 23 neighborhoods were crafted in New York. According to Crain’s, a group of city and state agencies is working together on a bid, with less than two weeks left before the due date. So far, proposals for neighborhoods like Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Sunset Park's Industry City, Long Island City and areas in the Bronx have been discussed.
Find out more

Policy

October 6, 2017

Everything’s big–including the waterfront views–in this $4M West Village loft

The condominium at 495 West Street in the West Village is known for having an exceedingly low turnover rate: Residents rarely leave. Built in 1999 by architect-developer Cary Tamarkin, the building's lofts were given generous floorplans and big-shouldered details like sixteen-foot-high casement windows. Today, it's still coveted, due in no small part to its wide-sprawling layouts and fabulous Hudson River views. This 1,988-square-foot loft with 776 square feet of private outdoor space, currently asking $3.995 million, is the first unit in the building to be on the market since 2004.
What makes this loft so special?

Distinctive Homes

Construction of Norman Foster’s ritzy One Hundred East 53rd Street tower is complete!

One Hundred East 53rd Street, photo via CityRealty

October 5, 2017

Construction of Norman Foster’s ritzy One Hundred East 53rd Street tower is complete!

The Midtown East tower designed by Norman Foster's Foster + Partners is finally finished. As CityRealty reported, the glassy design of One Hundred East 53rd Street takes into account the bronze hues of its historic neighbor, the Seagram Building, with a counter curtain wall. The luxurious residential building continues to be a magnet for celebrities, including couples like George and Amal Clooney and Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. The amenities are also of star quality: a wellness center, library lounge, swimming pool and a restaurant from the French chef Joël Robuchon who has earned 34 Michelin stars.
See inside

October 5, 2017

Rock royal Ann Dexter-Jones lists glam Village duplex for $5M

Ann Dexter-Jones, British-born socialite, jewelry designer, mom to the Ronson clan, and once-again wife of Foreigner’s Mick Jones (the pair married 32 years ago, divorced in 2007 and recently remarried) just put her chic three-bedroom Village co-op on the market (h/t New York Post). The 2,075-square-foot home at 42 West 9th Street in the coveted "Gold Coast" neighborhood off lower Fifth Avenue, asking $4.995 million, has a townhouse vibe and plenty of character. Four wood-burning fireplaces, 11-foot ceilings, and pre-war details can be found throughout, in a building with more amenities than a townhouse.
Take the tour

Short Films Walk presents architecture and design films in Soho’s showrooms

“Ghost Story.” Director: Sarah Elgart. 2017 / 7:33 min / USA. Image via ADFF.

October 5, 2017

Short Films Walk presents architecture and design films in Soho’s showrooms

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

The annual Architecture & Design Film Festival is always one of the coolest offerings among the Center for Architecture's Archtober events. This year, the one-night Short Films Walk (SFW), happening on October 11th, will connect the film festival with Soho's creative design showrooms. The event features an ADFF-curated selection of short films about architecture and design, to be screened at each showroom as a 15-minute loop. You can catch the short films at these Soho showrooms (including Flos, Moroso, Artemide and Hästens) from 5 p.m. to 9.p.m.
More about the short films and a ADFF ticket giveaway, this way

Uncovering the sites of the South Village’s secret ‘Little Italy’

Caffe Reggio, via Prayitno/Flickr

October 5, 2017

Uncovering the sites of the South Village’s secret ‘Little Italy’

Many think of Little Italy’s Mulberry Street or the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue as the centers of Italian-American life and culture in New York. But some of the most historically significant sites relating to the Italian-American experience in New York can be found in the Greenwich Village blocks known as the South Village--from the first church in America built specifically for an Italian-American congregation to the cafe where cappuccino was first introduced to the country, to the birthplace of Fiorello LaGuardia, NYC's first Italian-American mayor.
All the historic sites right this way

History

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MAP: Find the colorful fall foliage of Central Park’s 20,000 trees

Central Park in Autumn, photo via Anthony Quintano on Flickr

October 5, 2017

MAP: Find the colorful fall foliage of Central Park’s 20,000 trees

Central Park's most dazzling and vibrant season has arrived. With over 20,000 trees and 150 species of trees spread across 843-acres, Central Park in autumn remains a cannot-miss spectacle for New Yorkers. Thankfully, the Central Park Conservancy created a fall foliage map making it easy to find the leaves with the brightest shades of gold, yellow, red and orange this season.
Check it out

Events & Things To Do

October 5, 2017

REVEALED: Central Park Tower’s ‘Village Green’ lawn and pool deck

Central Park Tower, New York City's future tallest residential skyscraper, is getting a more down-to-earth design. As CityRealty learned, the supertall at 225 West 57th Street on Billionaires' Row will feature a sprawling landscaped space designed by HMWhite. The firm's terrace design includes both passive and active recreational areas, like a central open lawn and a sequence of complimentary garden rooms. Renderings of the projected 1,550-foot tall tower reveal a lap pool overlooking West 57th Street and a sun deck among pergolas and trellises.
More this way

October 5, 2017

For $3.65M, an Upper West Side brownstone duplex with a place downstairs for your guests

This Central Park West top-floor brownstone duplex co-op with a terrace and a roof deck is, as the listing says, "park block perfection." Even better: Grab the one-bedroom unit just downstairs–perfect for your guests, nanny, or new college grad. This pretty pair at 46 West 75th Street, asking $3.65 million, is also available as separate units, but why split up a good thing?
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

Robert A.M. Stern’s affordable housing development in Brownsville approved by City Planning

Rendering of Edwin’s Place via Robert AM Stern Architects

October 4, 2017

Robert A.M. Stern’s affordable housing development in Brownsville approved by City Planning

The New York City Planning Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal for 125 affordable units designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects at 3 Livonia Avenue in Brownsville. The proposed Brooklyn development, called Edwin's Place, would feature an eight-story building with 69 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units and 56 studios. Edwin's Place is being developed by nonprofit partners Breaking Ground and the African American Planning Commission, Inc. The proposal, which won approval from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Community Board 16, will move on to the City Council for a final review.
More this way

October 4, 2017

Celebrity photographer Ken Nahoum’s eye-popping three-penthouse combo asks $20M in Soho

This gigantic three-penthouse combo is owned by the celebrity photographer Ken Nahoum, who's captured everyone from Robert De Niro to Michael Douglas to Dr. Dre to Johnny Cash. According to Mansion Global, he began living in the cast iron SoHo building, 95 Greene Street, in the 1980s after it was converted to residential use. In 1999, he bought up a 1,231-square-foot apartment here with his now ex-girlfriend, Victoria’s Secret model Basia Milewicz. Then in 2002, he bought the two adjacent penthouses and the rooftop section. Now it's a massive showpiece penthouse, with 8,200 square feet of interior living space alongside five outdoor terraces totaling 4,000 square feet.
There are glass staircases, too

October 4, 2017

INTERVIEW: LOT-EK’s Giuseppe Lignano talks sustainability and shipping container architecture

After completing architecture school at Universita’ di Napoli, Italy, Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano fell in love with New York City, deciding in 1995 to establish an innovative firm in Manhattan called LOT-EK. Early experiments in the art world grew into a substantial architecture practice, but their philosophy has always been the same: Both Ada and Giuseppe are focused on a concept they call "up-cycling," taking existing objects and elevating them through art, design, and architecture. The firm has done its most innovative work re-using shipping containers and received a wave of attention this year for a Brooklyn residential project that utilized 21 shipping containers in surprising, stunning ways. The firm has just released its second monograph, LOT-EK: Objects and Operations, a photo-heavy showcase of dozens of projects the firm produced around the world over the past 15 years. "LOT-EK is a design practice that believes in being unoriginal, ugly, and cheap," the book states. "Also in being revolutionary, gorgeous, and completely luxurious." With 6sqft, co-founder Giuseppe Lignano talks about the early days of running a firm and waiting tables in 1990s New York, explains the firm's philosophy behind sustainability and re-use, and discusses the inspiration behind their notable Williamsburg project.
This way for the interview

October 4, 2017

Tribeca townhouse with an address once used for John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Nutopia’ is for rent

John Lennon and Yoko Ono never lived at this Tribeca townhouse—it's well known they preferred the Upper West Side—but they certainly have a unique connection to it. Here's the story, per the New York Times: in 1973, Lennon and Ono announced the birth of Nutopia, "a conceptual country" with no boundaries and "no laws other than cosmic." Mr. Lennon, who was being threatened with deportation because of a 1968 marijuana conviction in England, was seeking diplomatic immunity and United Nations recognition as a Nutopian ambassador. The iconic couple gave 1 White Street as the embassy address.
Check out the interior

MTA refurbishes and removes seats from E train to squeeze more riders in cars

Updated interior of E train, photo via MTA on Flickr

October 4, 2017

MTA refurbishes and removes seats from E train to squeeze more riders in cars

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Tuesday revealed the first cars refurbished and reconfigured under their "NYC Subway Action Plan." The authority has removed some seats on a few E train cars to allow more riders to board and limit delays caused by overcrowding. The redesigned trains are part of a 100-car pilot created to increase capacity; seat removal is expected to increase capacity by between 80 and 100 passengers. Subway delays continue to be problematic for commuters: an analysis from City Comptroller Scott Stringer this week found the economic cost of subway delays could range from $170 million per year to $389 million in lost wages and productivity for businesses.
See the new trains

De Blasio releases plan for New York City to follow Paris climate agreement

Photo via pixabay

October 4, 2017

De Blasio releases plan for New York City to follow Paris climate agreement

Following President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement in June, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order that committed New York City to honor the standards of the accord, which is an international negotiation aimed to mitigate climate change worldwide. On Tuesday, de Blasio released an action plan that details ways to lower the city’s carbon footprint, reduce 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030 and introduce a citywide single-stream recycling program by 2020. New York City is the first metropolitan area to release a Paris Agreement-compatible action plan, according to the report.
Find out more

Policy

October 4, 2017

Tatum O’Neal’s former mezzanine apartment in the LES Forward Building asks $2.5M

Dramatic historic details elevate this mezzanine loft in the Forward Building at 175 East Broadway, one of the Lower East Side/Two Bridges neighborhood's most coveted pre-war apartment buildings, as well as being one of its most interesting landmarks. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style, the building is the former headquarters of the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper–previously Forverts, founded in 1897 by a group of Yiddish-speaking socialists. This unique two-bedroom home–it was owned by actress Tatum O'Neal from 2006 to 2013 when she sold it for $1.72 million–asking $2.495 million, boasts a dramatic original decorative plaster ceiling dome with a sunburst centerpiece in the living room; both of its bedrooms have an original stained glass window.
Take a peek inside this unusual residence

Vishaan Chakrabarti reveals new designs for Domino Sugar Factory

PAU design for the Domino Refinery. Image courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism.

October 4, 2017

Vishaan Chakrabarti reveals new designs for Domino Sugar Factory

The past few years have seen as much change as progress in the rise of the three million-square-foot Domino Sugar Factory mega-development in Williamsburg; Two Trees broke ground on the first tower in the Domino Sugar Refinery Master Plan last spring, and the lottery opened for 104 affordable units at the SHoP Architects-designed building, the 16-story 325 Kent Avenue. Last October we saw the first set of renderings by architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle for the refinery building that will house Two Trees' new 380,000-square-foot office space at the massive new complex; the corresponding plans had been approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2014. Now, Justin Davidson writes in New York Magazine that a new round of designs by Vishaan Chakrabarti's Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) have been revealed.
See the new designs

October 3, 2017

Single-room treehouse in an Upstate forest was constructed by its owners for just $20K

Located within the forest of the Catskills town of Barryville is the Half-Tree House, designed by the Manhattan firm JacobsChang. This remote 60 acres of land, about two hours outside of New York, is a second-growth forest in a steep, isolated area with no vehicular access, no piped water, and no electricity. The firm designed this 360-square-foot cabin on a $20,000 budget for the clients, who also decided to construct the structure entirely by themselves with only weekend assistance. JacobsChang made building on the difficult site easier by lifting the structure above the ground and bringing in support from the surrounding trees. It was an apparent success, with a compact and modern cabin sitting gracefully within its surroundings.
The interior is simple yet stunning

October 3, 2017

Live in NYC’s highest rental at New York by Gehry for $45K/month

"I designed a building I would want to live in as a New Yorker... you could say this is my love letter to New York City," said starchitect Frank Gehry upon completing his rippling stainless steel rental building at 8 Spruce Street. Officially dubbed New York by Gehry, the 76-story tower is the city's tallest rental building, making its top-floor penthouses the highest rental units in New York. The largest and most expensive, a 3,771-square-foot, five-bedroom spread that occupies its own wing, has just hit the market for $45,000 a month ($40,154 net effective based on the offering of one month free), a unique opportunity to live in the epitome of this romantic notion.
See it all right here

City Planning Commission approves East Harlem rezoning plan

Photo via Wikimedia

October 3, 2017

City Planning Commission approves East Harlem rezoning plan

The City Planning Commission approved on Monday Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to rezone East Harlem. With this crucial approval, the plan moves to the City Council for the last stage of the public review process, which began in April (h/t City Limits). The de Blasio administration’s rezoning efforts, run by the city’s Department of City Planning, aim to create affordable housing, create economic opportunities and restore East Harlem’s role as a major transit hub and job center. Over a decade, the plan hopes to create about 122,000-square-feet of stores and restaurants and 275,000-square-feet of office and industrial space.
More this way

October 3, 2017

MAP: Watch 1 million+ NYC buildings being constructed since 1880

A walk down any block in today's New York City feels like taking a tour of a giant, noisy, scaffolded construction site. But the map mavens at Esri show us that this is definitely not the only time in history when living in the city felt like occupying a giant beaver colony. Their fascinating New York construction map brings new life to the word "built environment" with time lapse coverage of over a million buildings being built in NYC starting in 1880.
Check out the map

History

Photo of Rikers Island courtesy of Wikimedia

October 3, 2017

De Blasio may reopen Kew Gardens jail complex as Rikers alternative

A group of Queens City Council members urged Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday to use a shuttered Kew Gardens jail as an alternative to the Rikers Island jail complex. The Queens Detention Complex at 126-02 82nd Street, which closed 15 years ago, once housed more than 450 prisoners but is now used to shoot television shows and film, including Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black" (h/t DNAinfo). In a letter to the mayor, the 11 elected officials wrote that the Queens complex is “centrally located in a civic center, it is connected to the courts, and with the proper capital investment it can be functional for this use.”
Find out more

Policy

Olsen twins’ former West Village penthouse hits the market for $25M

Olsen twins photo via Wikipedia

October 3, 2017

Olsen twins’ former West Village penthouse hits the market for $25M

A massive penthouse with star power has just hit the market for a cool $25 million. The apartment, located atop luxury West Village condo 1 Morton Square, was previously owned by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. According to Curbed, the famous twins bought the pad for $7.3 million in 2009 while the building was still under construction, put it on the market soon after buying, and finally sold in 2010. Well-known New York developer Bruce Eichner of the Continuum Company was the buyer--for $7.7 million--and now he's looking to make quite the profit. The apartment is impressive, though, with interior details imported from France, a sculptural glass wine refrigerator, and a gallery to display art and sculptures.
You've got to see inside

October 3, 2017

One57’s 85th-floor unit comes back on the market for $70M after a full reno

In the building known for the city's most expensive residential sale ever (a dizzying duplex on the 89th and 90th floors of the iconic skyscraper at 157 West 57th Street whose $100 million sale closed in 2014), big-ticket buys hardly turn heads. But that same year, the headline-grabbing supertall saw its third most expensive unit change hands when Canadian investor and Ferrari collector Lawrence Stroll dropped $55.6 million on a 6,240-square-foot 85th-floor home in the building's tower. Now he's put the full-floor pad back on the market for an even more noteworthy $70 million. According to the listing, the apartment had a complete renovation even in its short lifetime–and clearly, Stroll, worth an estimated $2.4 billion spared no expense, including woven suede walls, a sculptural wall by artist Peter Lane, and a double-sided marble fireplace.
Get a look at this big bank account in the sky this way

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To boost local businesses, ‘Westoria’ might become the newest neighborhood in Queens

Photo via Wikimedia

October 2, 2017

To boost local businesses, ‘Westoria’ might become the newest neighborhood in Queens

While most of New York City’s neighborhoods get their nicknames from real estate agents attempting to make an area more marketable (ie: Nolita and DoBro), an area in Queens may soon get a new moniker to boost its local economy instead. As DNAinfo reported, Natassa Contini, the owner of the cafe and pet supply shop Chateau Le Woof, has started using “Westoria” to refer to the area west of 21st Street between Astoria Park and Broadway. Currently, the northern Queens nabe is better known as “Old Astoria” or “Old Astoria Village.”
Find out more

Uncategorized

October 2, 2017

Lottery opens for 45 affordable units across from the Empire State Building, from $867/month

Living amongst the hustle and bustle of the Empire State Building may not sound appealing at first, but when you can do it in a brand new, high-end tower for less than $900 a month, the option doesn't look half bad. Starting tomorrow, New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for 45 apartments at Midtown West's sleek new rental 42 West 33rd Street. Not only do prices range from $867/month studios to $1,123/month two-bedrooms, but the 41-story glass building offers a host of amenities including a fitness center, golf simulator, swimming pool and sauna, dog wash, and outdoor terraces and gardens (some of these may require an additional fee).
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

October 2, 2017

Live in a waterfront dome in Southampton for $729,000

A dome-shaped home located on the Reeves Bay in Flanders, New York has hit the market at an asking price of $729,000. While the 1,762-square-foot pad keeps things compact inside, it sits on nearly an acre of land and includes incredible waterfront views. As Curbed Hamptons reported, the Southampton dome at 48 Huntington Lane first sold in 2005 for $728,500 and returned to the market this July for $899,000. In addition to the artistic design, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home features docking rights, a garage and air conditioning.
Take a peek

October 2, 2017

A 1934 engineer’s plan fills in the Hudson River for traffic and housing

In mid-20th century America–particularly in New York City–a roaring economy emboldened by our ascendant international stature filled many a scholar of public infrastructure with eagerness to execute grand ideas. This proposal to drain the East River to alleviate traffic congestion, for example. Another ambitious but unrealized plan–one that would make it a lot easier to get to New Jersey–was championed in 1934 by one Norman Sper, "noted publicist and engineering scholar," as detailed in Modern Mechanix magazine. In order to address New York City’s traffic and housing problems, Sper proposed that if we were to "plug up the Hudson river at both ends of Manhattan,” and dam and fill the resulting space, the ten square miles gained would provide land to build thousands of additional buildings, as well as to add streets and twice the number of avenues to alleviate an increasingly menacing gridlock.
So how much would it cost?

October 2, 2017

VIDEO: Watch the 78-year-old Kosciuszko Bridge crumble in minutes in ‘energetic felling’