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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

Distinctive Homes

For $3.75M, this two-unit Crown Heights townhouse is filled with historic details and modern necessities

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

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

This $1.3M condo keeps the classic East Village spirit alive

For $6.9M, this Scarsdale mansion is a true 21st-century estate

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

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

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

A Victoria's Secret model's angelic East Village flat with a solarium and terrace asks $2.9M

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

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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

Distinctive Homes

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?

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

As of 8 a.m. Sunday morning, the old, traffic-snarling Kosciuszko Bridge is no more. The decaying bridge, which was officially closed in April when the eastbound span of its replacement opened, crumbled and fell to the ground in a matter of minutes in a process known as "energetic felling, the city's first ever implosion of a major bridge using explosives.
See the full video footage of the bridge getting blown to bits

Obamas scope out apartments in posh Upper East Side building

Barack and Michelle Obama via Wiki Commons; One of 10 Gracie Square’s terraces overlooking the East River, via CityRealty

October 2, 2017

Obamas scope out apartments in posh Upper East Side building

Yorkville's 10 Gracie Square is considered "one of New York City's most prestigious addresses" and "the most desirable residential building overlooking Carl Schurz Park," over the years attracting the likes of Alexander Woollcott, conductor Andre Kostelanetz, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. And now Barack and Michelle Obama may be added to that list, as "multiple sources" told the Post that the former President and First Lady were seen arriving at the Upper East Side building to view apartments. The co-op, located just down the block from the Mayor's residence Gracie Mansion, has plenty of perks that would likely attract the Obamas, including an indoor basketball court for the hoops-loving Prez, pet-friendly policy (we can't imagine they'd leave Bo behind), and a super-secure underground drive-in garage that would allow them to enter privately.
READ MORE

Celebrities

Subway delays could cost the city’s economy up to $389M annually

Image © 6sqft

October 2, 2017

Subway delays could cost the city’s economy up to $389M annually

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released an analysis on Sunday that found the economic cost of subway delays could range from $170 million per year to $389 million in lost wages and productivity for businesses. The comptroller’s office used data from the MTA that looks at train schedules, passenger volumes and wait assessments by each subway line (h/t NY Times). Stringer’s analysis listed five subway lines that cause the biggest economic losses: 5, 7, A, F, and 4 trains. During a news conference Sunday, Stinger said, "The summer of hell is turning into the fall of frustration for subway commuters."
Find out more

October 2, 2017

$5.5M UWS condo is spacious and stylish with help from architect Elizabeth Roberts

With 2,512 square feet of space to work with, it's not too much of a challenge to find space for everyday life, but not everyone could make it look this good–or this effortless. According to the listing, townhouse interiors architect du jour Elizabeth Roberts has had a hand in giving this five-bedroom pre-war condominium at 100 West 80th Street a perfect layout for family life, plus lots of options and plenty of laid-back modern style. Asking $5.5 million, the home looks just right in the elegant Orleans, surrounded by greenery and Upper West Side culture.
Tour this sprawling family-friendly home

Distinctive Homes

October 1, 2017

$895K upstate home has stained glass from Brooklyn Navy Yard and an archway from Jackie O’s estate

This is only one of a few estates still standing in the historic district of the upstate New York town of Tappan, and it's on the market for $895,000 (h/t CIRCA). Built in 1835, the Victorian home boasts everything from 10-foot ceilings, five fireplaces, wood floors, stained glass made at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and a grand archway in the dining room from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' estate. It's currently configured as a two-family home, but some TLC and elbow grease could turn this back into an impressive and stately single-family showpiece.
Check out the stained glass

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

The Latest Rental News & Offers (Images L to R): 507 WEST CHELSEA, KESTREL, 505W37 and 60 WATER

September 30, 2017

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

By Ondel Hylton

The Latest Rental News & Offers (Images L to R): 507 WEST CHELSEA, KESTREL, 505W37 and 60 WATER Live Inside a 35-Story Glass Tower Above the High Line & Hudson Yards [link] Historic Park Slope Building is Reborn; Rentals from $3,500/Month [link] New No-Fee Listings at The Kestrel, Award-Winning Brooklyn Rental [link] Tranquility Abounds at […]

Real Estate Trends

City will pay 12 months of rent for homeless families if they move out of NYC

Photo via Wikimedia

September 29, 2017

City will pay 12 months of rent for homeless families if they move out of NYC

Over the past few years, homelessness in New York City has hit its highest levels since the Great Depression. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, over 60,500 homeless people slept in one of the city’s shelters in July. To reduce these numbers, Mayor de Blasio’s administration introduced a program this week that pays 12 months of rent upfront for homeless families who find an apartment outside of NYC, as WNYC reported.
Find out more

Every borough but Staten Island is underserved by city’s affordable housing plan, study says

Photo via Wikimedia

September 29, 2017

Every borough but Staten Island is underserved by city’s affordable housing plan, study says

While in July Mayor Bill de Blasio touted his Housing New York initiative for creating the most affordable housing units since 1989, housing advocates are questioning how many of these units actually match the need of the most rent-burdened New Yorkers. According to a new analysis by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), city residents with the lowest income continue to be the most under-served by the affordable units created and/or preserved under de Blasio’s plan in every borough except Staten Island. New infographics from ANHD break down the share of each borough’s rent burdened population at each income level in comparison to the percentage of units created by de Blasio’s plan that serves them.
Find out more

September 29, 2017

Live among pro athletes at Midtown West’s Sky for just $613/month

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

Thanks to the building’s Carmelo Anthony-designed NBA regulation-sized basketball court and 70,000-square-foot recreation facility, Midtown West's swanky Sky rental has been attracting pro athletes since it opened under the Moinian Group in 2015. Current residents include the Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis and Sasha Vujacic and Met pitcher A.J. Ramos. And now the 60-story glass slab tower at 605 West 42nd Street is offering 166 low- and middle-income units through the city's affordable housing lottery. Available to New Yorkers earning 40 or 120 of the area median income, the apartments range from $613/month studios to $2,520/month two-bedrooms. Comparatively, market-rate listings in the building range from $2,982/month studios to $4,260/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

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Out with the old: The new Kosciuszko Bridge in the foreground, with the old bridge behind it. Image: Wikimedia commons.

September 29, 2017

Kosciuszko bridge officially getting blown up this Sunday

The long-delayed demolition of two old sections of the Kosciuszko Bridge has been scheduled for this Sunday, October 1, according to AM New York. The demolition will herald the first stage of the $825 million construction of the new Kosciuszko Bridge. The first section of the new bridge was opened to eastbound and westbound traffic in April. The implosion of the 78-year-old bridge–still subject to change depending on weather conditions–has been scheduled for 8 a.m. according to Councilman Stephen Levin's office.
Find out more

September 29, 2017

INTERVIEW: Architect Lee H. Skolnick on designing New York City’s 9/11 Tribute Museum

By Diane Pham

This summer, the 9/11 Tribute Museum opened in a brand-new space at 92 Greenwich Street in the Financial District. The 36,000-square-foot gallery became the second iteration of the museum which originally occupied the former Liberty Deli from 2006 until earlier this year. While many are more likely to be familiar with the 9/11 Memorial Museum just a few blocks up the street, the Tribute Museum differs in that rather than focusing on the implications of the tragedy, documenting the events as they unfolded and examining its lasting impact, it assumes a more inspired take, dedicating its exhibits and installations to the stories of the survivors, first responders, relatives of victims, and others with close connections to the tragedy who found hope in the terror and stepped up to help their fellow New Yorkers. Ahead, Lee Skolnick, principal of LHSA+DP and lead architect of the 9/11 Tribute Museum, speaks to 6sqft about the design and programming of this important institution, and how he hopes its message will inspire visitors to do good in their communities during these uncertain times.
read 6sqft's interview with Skolnick here

New details about JFK’s TWA Hotel revealed, on track to open in 18 months

Rendering of TWA Hotel via MCR

September 29, 2017

New details about JFK’s TWA Hotel revealed, on track to open in 18 months

MCR Development officially launched the mid-century modern TWA Lounge on the 86th floor of One World Trade Center on Thursday and provided a deeper look into plans to convert Eero Saarinen’s historic TWA flight center at JFK Airport into a hotel, event space, and dining destination (there will even be a bar in a vintage aircraft parked outside). As part of a public-private partnership between MCR and the Port Authority, the project will rehabilitate the landmarked Queens flight center by restoring the majority of its 1960s Jet Age features and adding a crescent-shaped hotel with 505 rooms flanking the original building on each side. According to MCR's CEO Tyler Morse, construction of the hotel is on schedule; it will go vertical on Monday, top out in December, and have its curtainwall applied by January. If everything remains on schedule, the project is expected to open in 18 months.
More details and photos this way

HFZ Capital Group taps Bjarke Ingels to design 33-floor office tower in NoMad

Photo of Bjarke Ingels via Wikimedia

September 29, 2017

HFZ Capital Group taps Bjarke Ingels to design 33-floor office tower in NoMad

Adding to the sudden skyscraper boom in NoMad, HFZ Capital Group is moving forward with plans for a project at 3 West 29th Street. HFZ’s original idea for the redevelopment of the site, which once held the now-demolished 1898 Bancroft Building, included iconic architect Moshe Safdie designing a 64-floor, 830-foot tall condo. However, instead, a pre-filed building application from earlier this month calls for a 33-foot office tower designed by Bjarke Ingels of BIG Architects, as CityRealty learned.
Find out more

September 29, 2017

$4.8M Yorkville duplex is like a renovated townhouse in a grand pre-war building

This impossibly spacious three-bedroom duplex maisonette in a gracious Upper East Side pre-war co-op at 520 East 86th Street is really a "best of both worlds" situation. For the price of $4,755 million, you get the privacy and space of townhouse living on two floors, three bedrooms and your own private entrance with its own address. You also get the convenience of a full-time doorman and a chance to live in a covetable Manhattan co-op.
Tour this gorgeous vintage home

Distinctive Homes

Donald Trump’s Empire State Building doodle expected to fetch $12,000 at auction

Sketch via Julien’s Auctions; Donald Trump via Wiki Commons

September 28, 2017

Donald Trump’s Empire State Building doodle expected to fetch $12,000 at auction

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Update 10/20/17: Crain's reports that Trump’s doodle has sold at auction for $16,000. The buyer has not been named, but a portion of the sale will benefit Connecticut National Public Radio station WHDD-FM. He may not have had any formal political experience before taking office, but Donald Trump was certainly well versed in doodling. In July, a 2005 charity auction sketch he made of the NYC skyline, which not surprisingly depicts Trump Tower front and center among anonymous buildings, sold at auction for an incredible $29,184. And now, as reported by the Guardian, a similarly elementary sketch he did of the Empire State Building is also headed to auction, where it's expected to fetch up to $12,000, a portion of which will be donated to National Public Radio (NPR). Interestingly, Trump did the signed drawing in 1995, the year after he began his fraught attempt to take ownership of the landmark building.
Find out more

September 28, 2017

Star of Netflix’s ’13 Reasons Why’ sells cute Ocean Hill townhouse for $1.5M

By Annie Doge

The star of Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” series, Tommy Dorfman, has sold his townhouse in Ocean Hill, a subsection of the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, for $1.495 million. The 25-year-old Atlanta native first purchased the home in the beginning of 2016 for $1.3 million. As the Real Deal learned, the actor’s home at 720 Decatur Street hit the market earlier this month and found a buyer within just 20 days. Recently gut-renovated, the five-bedroom, two-family home features spacious a living and dining area, as well as a private landscaped garden.
See inside

September 28, 2017

Iconic album covers of Greenwich Village and the East Village: Then and now

There’s no shortage of sites in the Village and East Village where great makers of popular music lived or performed. Less well known, however, are the multitude of sites that were the backdrop for iconic album covers, sometimes sources of inspiration for the artists or just familiar stomping grounds. Today, many are hiding in plain sight, waiting to perform an encore for any passersby discerning enough to notice. Ahead, we round up some of the most notable examples, from "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" to the Ramones' self-titled debut album.
Learn about the covers and see what the locations look like today

History

First renderings of Essex Crossing’s phase two reveal new buildings and huge public park

Rendering of Essex Crossing’s second phase, courtesy of Moso Studio via Curbed NY

September 28, 2017

First renderings of Essex Crossing’s phase two reveal new buildings and huge public park

Construction continues to progress at Essex Crossing, the roughly 1.9 million-square-foot mixed-use development planned to stretch several blocks on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The site, also known as the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, sat abandoned since 1967 until the city sold the nine sites to developers in 2013. While construction of the first phase of the massive project, which includes sites one, two, five and six, is underway, Curbed has acquired renderings for the development’s second phase, sites three and four. The third and fourth sites will be designed by CetraRuddy and Handel Architects, respectively, and feature residential, retail, office and outdoor space.
More this way

Architecture And Design

September 28, 2017

$13.5M UES townhouse boasts one of Manhattan’s finest private gardens

The listing tells us this six-story townhouse at 140 East 65th Street on the Upper East Side, with 18 rooms accessible by a wood-paneled elevator, is "the antithesis of the familiar, plain-vanilla, cookie-cutter developer spec house," and we'd have to agree. Asking $13.5 million, its 7,000 interior square feet and 900 square feet of private outdoor space are brimming with magnificent design details that include one of the finest private gardens in Manhattan, designed by the Curator of Japanese Gardens at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
Check out the endless details and rooms to spare

Distinctive Homes

MTA bringing 40,000+ digital video ad screens to subway cars and stations

Digital screen rendering, courtesy MTA’s flickr

September 28, 2017

MTA bringing 40,000+ digital video ad screens to subway cars and stations

If you thought those ads in taxicabs were annoying, wait until you see what's in store for NYC's beleaguered subway riders. The Post reports that the MTA has just announced that they'll be serving up ads on digital screens that will soon be appearing in subway stations and cars. Through a partnership with OUTFRONT Media, who will cover the $800 million installation, they plan to install nearly 14,000 screens in stations and platforms, 31,000 in 5,134 subway cars, and an additional 3,900 on LIRR and Metro North commuter trains.
You're kidding, right?

Beyoncé sells swanky Midtown apartment for $10M

Photo of Beyoncé via Wikimedia

September 28, 2017

Beyoncé sells swanky Midtown apartment for $10M

By Annie Doge

It’s been a busy summer for superstar couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The twosome recently purchased an LA estate for $88 million in August and shortly after they bought a home on East Hampton’s Georgica Pond for nearly $26 million. Adding to their real estate hustle, Beyoncé just sold her apartment at 151 East 58th in Midtown East for $9.95 million, as the New York Post reported. The 44th-floor pad is located at One Beacon Court, the exclusive Manhattan skyscraper with a Pantheon-inspired elliptical court. Beyoncé’s former pad features three bedrooms, floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views of Central Park.
See inside

Octagonal ‘periscope’ tower proposed for Rafael Vinoly’s 249 East 62nd Street

Google Earth aerial rendering of 249 East 62nd Street’s proposed massing, via CityRealty

September 28, 2017

Octagonal ‘periscope’ tower proposed for Rafael Vinoly’s 249 East 62nd Street

Real Estate Inverlad's in-the-works residential project at 249 East 62nd Street is now one less ZD1 diagram away from being a reality. CityRealty reports that the customary diagram is now on file, giving us a look at the tower's proposed bulk–and the Department of Buildings has found the project, even with a few clever tricks up its sleeve, compliant with the city's zoning laws. The diagram shows that the skyscraper will elevate a number of the units within by using an octagonally-shaped core, periscope style, to peer out over their Upper East Side neighbors towards Central Park and the East River.
See how it works, this way

September 27, 2017

West Village townhouse of NYC fashion scene veteran hits the market for $13M

Asking $13 million, this single family Greek Revival home at 57 Bank Street embodies what West Village townhouse dreams are made of. As with most such examples of perfection, original historic details are combined with an eye for color and style, and there's a landscaped garden and three terraces. City records show that the townhouse is owned by Anne McNally, Vanity Fair contributor and ex-wife of restaurateur Brian McNally, so it's not surprising that the five-story home has been featured in the pages of House and Garden, British Vogue, and W.
Tour all five floors

There’s a trolley car graveyard buried without a trace in Canarsie, Brooklyn

A Coney Island trolley, via Coney Island History

September 27, 2017

There’s a trolley car graveyard buried without a trace in Canarsie, Brooklyn

It may be hard to imagine today, but Brooklyn of the late-19th and mid-20th centuries was full of trolley cars. A number of different companies built out an expansive trolley system that connected residents to different neighborhoods and up to Queens—in fact, by 1930, nearly 1,800 trolleys were traveling along the streets of Brooklyn from Greenpoint to Gowanus to Bay Ridge and beyond. (The Brooklyn Dodgers were originally known as the “Trolley Dodgers,” for the practice of jumping out of the path of speeding electric streetcars.) But as automobiles began to take over the streets, trolley use diminished throughout New York. That, of course, meant that Brooklyn needed to figure out what to do with all those unneeded cars. According to Atlas Obscura, there were a few options, including sending cars to other cities as well as countries as far as South America, or selling them to museums. But the most fascinating—and forgotten—end to the Brooklyn trolley car can be found in Canarsie, where many were simply sunk into a pit about the size of a city block at the end of the Canarsie train line.
Learn more about this trolley graveyard

September 27, 2017

No one wants to rent Ivanka Trump’s Park Avenue apartment

After months of being on the market, the Manhattan pad of President Donald Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump just won’t rent, despite three substantial price chops. The first daughter first purchased the two-bedroom, two bathroom condo at 502 Park Avenue in 2004 for $1.5 million. Upon her father’s election, Ivanka listed the apartment at Trump Park Avenue in November for $15,000 per month. In February, the price dropped to $13,000 per month. On Tuesday, the asking price was $10,450 per month, a 30 percent price cut since the presidential election, according to Bloomberg.
See inside

My 550sqft: A textile designer fits a studio and warehouse into his railroad Ridgewood home

6sqft’s series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Ridgewood apartment of textile designer Christian Rathbone. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

September 27, 2017

My 550sqft: A textile designer fits a studio and warehouse into his railroad Ridgewood home

For most New Yorkers, 550 square feet would be a fairly comfortable one-bedroom apartment, but for textile designer Christian Rathbone it's that, plus his studio and warehouse. For the past 15 years, Christian has been working with native dyers and weavers in Turkey, who help bring his organic Kilim designs to life, using traditional vegetation dyes and hand-spun wool. And for the past six years, he's been running his business out of his apartment in Ridgewood, Queens. Not only has he built his own extensive shelving systems, but he's done so in a narrow, railroad unit. 6sqft recently paid Christian a visit to get a first-hand look at how he makes this live-work setup work and to learn more about his process and inspirations.
Take the tour and hear from Christian

City approves the Upper West Side’s tallest building, a 668-foot tower in Lincoln Square

Rendering of 200 Amsterdam Avenue via SJP Properties

September 27, 2017

City approves the Upper West Side’s tallest building, a 668-foot tower in Lincoln Square

The Department of Buildings gave developers on Tuesday the go-ahead to construct a 668-foot residential tower on the Upper West Side. In a partnership between SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America, the project at 200 Amsterdam Avenue will be the neighborhood's tallest tower, surpassing the current title-holder, Trump International, by more than 80 feet. As Crain's reported, construction was stalled after opponents argued the project did not follow required open space regulations and the buildings department shut down the site in July until the issue was resolved.
Find out more

New Developments

The 74

201 East 74th Street

Lenox Hill

Gracious Upper East Side condos with Central Park and skyline views

2 beds starting at $3,380,000
3 beds starting at $4,850,000
5 beds starting at $11,950,000

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Alec Baldwin drops $1.3M on third apartment in Greenwich Village’s Devonshire House

Devonshire House via CityRealty; Alec Baldwin via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

September 27, 2017

Alec Baldwin drops $1.3M on third apartment in Greenwich Village’s Devonshire House

By Annie Doge

It's like musical chairs for Alec Baldwin and his apartments at the Devonshire House. He bought the Greenwich Village building's penthouse for $11.7 million in October 2011; in June 2012, his wife Hilaria bought the unit next door in her name; and the following year, they scooped up an eighth-floor unit for $2.25 million. Two years ago, however, Baldwin sold this last apartment at a loss for $2.1 million, and this past May, he also unloaded the Eldorado apartment he shared in the '90s with ex-wife Kim Bassinger, both transactions leading many to believe the Emmy-winning Trump portrayer would be departing NYC. But Mansion Global now reports that he's bought another Devonshire unit for $1.3 million. It's on the same floor as his other two units, so it's likely that he'll combine the three into one massive spread.
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David Adjaye’s design for Harlem’s new Studio Museum building revealed

Exterior view from 125th Street Plaza. Courtesy Adjaye Associates

September 27, 2017

David Adjaye’s design for Harlem’s new Studio Museum building revealed

The Studio Museum in Harlem is scheduled to break ground on a new 82,000-square-foot home, designed by internationally renowned British architect David Adjaye, in late fall of 2018. Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Raymond J. Mc Guire unveiled designs for the new building Tuesday along with the announcement of a $175 million capital campaign to fund and maintain the new museum space. The groundbreaking coincides with the celebrated cultural institution's 50th anniversary year. In 2015, the museum announced that it would be working with Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson on the new building, having outgrown its current home, a century-old building on West 125th Street that it has occupied since 1982.
See more renderings and find out more

On the Lower East Side in the 19th century, a kooky cat lady took in more than 50 feline friends

Image courtesy of New York by Gaslight via Ephemeral New York

September 26, 2017

On the Lower East Side in the 19th century, a kooky cat lady took in more than 50 feline friends

Before cat sanctuaries existed in New York City, one woman, in particular, may have been responsible for saving many kittens from the harshness of 19th-century city life. In the 1870s, a woman named Rosalie Goodman lived in a run-down home on Division Street on the Lower East Side. While she rented out most of the home’s bedrooms to tenants, she left two rooms for her family and her roughly 50 cats (h/t Ephemeral New York). In an article from 1878, the New York Tribune wrote, “Lying in the closets, on the tables, and under the stove, were cats of all descriptions. Some had broken limbs or missing eyes, the result probably of prowling around at night.”
More this way

History

September 26, 2017

This $1.9M Clinton Hill townhouse is a bountiful harvest of toned-down brown

It's officially fall, and even though it's still too early for the season's sweaters and foliage, this three-story townhouse at 79 Irving Place in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn has some lovely autumn hues for you to peruse. Asking $1.9 million, the turn-of-the-century home with a crisp facade the color of hot cocoa offers a garden apartment with backyard access and a duplex above with a sprawling terrace and room to expand.
Take a toffee-tinted tour

Distinctive Homes

Kushner Companies revive plans for problem-plagued towers at One Journal Square

Old rendering of One Journal Square via KABR Group

September 26, 2017

Kushner Companies revive plans for problem-plagued towers at One Journal Square