6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

While most New Yorkers can describe each neighborhood in just a word or two, a new website takes these definitions and puts them on a map, giving users a better understanding of how locals see each city block. As ArchDaily learned, the platform, Hoodmaps, crowd sources information, letting the public “paint” parts of the city using six colors to represent “uni”, “hipster,” “tourists,” “rich,” “suits” and “normies.” In NYC, it’s no surprise users painted Times Square, Hell’s Kitchen and the High Line in red, marking high tourist spots. And of course, Williamsburg was yellow marking it “hipster central” on the map.
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City Living

July 18, 2017

Asking $6,800/month, this compact Nolita penthouse has a sweet rooftop terrace

This effervescent and efficient top-floor apartment at 14 Prince Street in chic downtown boutique district Nolita has just arrived on the rental market. For $6,800 a month the compact, smartly renovated "penthouse" spans 920 square feet, has one (big) bedroom and offers the rare-in-NYC bonus of a private terrace.
See the rest of this bright Nolita pad

July 17, 2017

‘Mad Men’-looking studio along Brooklyn Bridge Park asks $810K

This studio apartment at One Brooklyn Bridge Park looks straight off the set of "Mad Men." The owner managed to pack plenty of mid-century modern design into just 589 square feet while creating an inventive layout that creates some private spaces within the apartment. Best yet, the studio comes with a big wall of windows, a common feature throughout the Brooklyn Heights development, which leads out to a private terrace. After last selling in 2013 for $672,045, the studio is now on the market asking $810,000.
Check out the creative layout

Distinctive Homes

Vintage maps reflect the population distribution of Americans in 1930

Map of U.S. with population of each state and of cities of 50,000+(Printers’ Ink Publishing Co., Inc., Chart by Walter P. Burns and Associates, Inc., New York City)

July 17, 2017

Vintage maps reflect the population distribution of Americans in 1930

Using the 1930 census for their data, two distorted maps show where residents in the United States lived during this period of time. Both vintage cartogram maps exhibit how bunched Americans were in the north and the east coast, clustered in urban areas, despite the westward expansion of the previous century. As the Making Maps blog first featured and as Slate discovered, the size of New York and New Jersey grows in proportion to its expanding populations, moving further east into the ocean.
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History

July 17, 2017

A former Wells Fargo horse stable in Jersey City gets converted into a modern plywood loft

Located in the historic 1890 Wells Fargo building, the Wells Fargo Loft was originally used for the company’s horses and city carts. The loft, located at 299 Pavonia Avenue in Jersey City, was redesigned over the last few decades, but most recently by Jeff Jordan Architects in 2016 (h/t Architizer), who took full advantage of the ceiling heights ranging from 14 to 50 feet and amazing NYC views. To create a better live-work balance, the architects removed and reconfigured walls for a clearer separation between art studio and living spaces by using plywood and ample storage space.
See inside the unique loft

Photo via Wiki Commons

July 17, 2017

Hess Triangle is NYC’s smallest piece of private land

If you've ever walked by the busy intersection of 7th Avenue South and Christopher Street, you've likely seen people snapping photos of the iconic corner-facing Village Cigars, but what you probably didn't realize is that they were standing on top of New York City's smallest piece of private land. The Hess Triangle sits on the sidewalk at the southwest corner of this Greenwich Village crossing, a small concrete slab with an embedded mosaic that reads "Property of the Hess Estate Which Has Never Been Dedicated For Public Purposes."
Find out the story behind this cryptic message and one of the city's best historic remnants

History

Beekeeping finds a home throughout NYC’s five boroughs

Image via The Co-Op Group Urban Bees’ Revolution

July 17, 2017

Beekeeping finds a home throughout NYC’s five boroughs

By Cait Etherington

On June 1, the United Nations joined a growing local trend—they installed three apiary yards, better known as beehives, on their grounds in midtown Manhattan. The UN is hopeful that by summer’s end, their 150 bees will turn into a thriving colony of 250,000 bees. If this happens, the UN bees will not be alone. There are millions of bees buzzing around the five boroughs and not only in the backyards of earthy residents in neighborhoods like Park Slope and Greenpoint. From the rooftops of high-rises in Manhattan to community gardens stretching from the Bronx to Staten Island, New York City is home to thousands of active beehives, but this wasn’t always the case Prior to a 2010 ruling, beekeeping existed in the five boroughs but only under the radar. At the time, the city deemed beekeeping to be as dangerous as keeping cobras, tarantulas, or hyenas on one’s property. Indeed, if caught, underground beekeepers faced hefty fines of up to $2000. Since the 2010 ruling that legalized beekeeping, both bees and beekeepers have been on the rise citywide and so have organizations and services designed to help residents explore apiculture.
learn more about beekeeping in the city

July 17, 2017

Live in a studio across from the Brooklyn Navy Yard for $947/month

The Navy Green R3 in Fort Greene includes townhouses and condominiums located directly across the street from the bustling Brooklyn Navy Yard. New Yorkers earning between $34,355 and $40,080 annually can apply to enter the waitlist for $947/month studios in the complex's 45 Clermont Avenue. The eight-story building includes spacious units with high-end finishes, as well as amenities like a community room, bike storage, and large outdoor space.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Distinctive Homes

Bethenny Frankel lists her Bridgehampton property for $6M

Every inch of this $1.8M Fieldston home was hand-crafted by an artist resident

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

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

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

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

For $1.65M, this Prospect Heights pre-war co-op can expand to hold a classic six

$11M historic West Village home offers the privacy, parking, and outdoor space you'd find in a suburban subdivision

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

$475K Bed-Stuy co-op is a cozy home in a historic mansion

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July 17, 2017

First closings commence at Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th Street

The architect’s signature curves and organic indoor and outdoor architecture made the late Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th Street 6sqft’s Building of the Year. Now, closings have begun in the stunning Chelsea condo, starting with a pair of two bedroom units. Residences 9, which sold for $6 million, and 14, which sold for $6.2 million, are 2,147-square-foot two-bedroom homes with private balconies.
Find out more

July 17, 2017

Emma Stone’s former Chelsea townhouse gets a price chop and new looks inside

Back in January 6sqft reported that the 25-by-85-foot landmarked Greek Revival townhouse at 436 West 20th Street--with 9,000 square feet of interior space and a fully-stacked celebrity pedigree--had been re-listed for $19.75 million. The home, whose residents have included Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Glenn Close, Courtney Love and Olivier Sarkozy, has been on the market since 2010. Returning this summer for $18.75 million, the Chelsea home's five-unit configuration might prove daunting to prospective buyers, though a thorough structural and aesthetic renovation in 2013 plus the promise of almost $600,000 a year in rent certainly sound like positive attributes.
Take a look

July 15, 2017

This striking Bridgehampton home was designed with reclaimed wood from an old Brooklyn factory

This Bridgehampton estate combines the rustic rural farmhouse with the grittiness of a Williamsburg loft. The Brooklyn-based studio TA Dumbleton Architect designed the entire property, which includes both a guest home--a project 6sqft profiled here--and this main residence. The guest home, dubbed the WE Guest House, boasts an open 3,000-square-foot layout, double-height windows and insulated stucco walls. The main property, called the WE House, utilized reclaimed wood from a Brooklyn factory, board concrete and casement windows to make a strong design statement.
See the blend between farm and loft

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

Images (L to R): The Ventura, 90 West, Jackson Park and The Parkside

July 14, 2017

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

By Emrys Fitzgerald

One of New York’s First Skyscrapers is Now Rentals, and Leases Come with 1 Month Free [link] Watermark LIC: More Long Island City Rentals to Begin Leasing this Summer, Register Now [link] Brand New Bed-Stuy Rentals from $2,000/Month; Duplexes Available [link] One Hudson Yards Readies for Summer Leasing; Rentals to Start from $5,095/Month [link] New […]

Real Estate Trends

July 14, 2017

Nature informs modern design in this $6M upstate retreat with Scandinavian and Korean influences

This unusual property at 156 Duell Hollow Road known as Hammersley Ridge is the culmination of the desires of the current homeowner to find the perfect spot to live, and the vision of the home’s architect, Anik Pearson, of integrating Scandinavian and Korean design principles into its unique surroundings (h/t Mansion Global). In the hamlet of Wingdale, NY about a 90 minute commute from Manhattan, the 5,000 square-foot home sits just below a mountaintop overlooking a nature conservancy, which means your stunning vistas across the valley floor won't be spoiled by any new neighbors.
See more of this amazing mountain retreat

On this day in 1645, a freed slave became the first non-Native settler to own land in Greenwich Village

Plan of New York map courtesy of Curriculum Concepts International

July 14, 2017

On this day in 1645, a freed slave became the first non-Native settler to own land in Greenwich Village

In 1626, the Dutch West India Company imported 11 African slaves to New Amsterdam, beginning New York’s 200 year-period of slavery. One man in this group, Paolo d’Angola, would become the city’s first non-Native settler of Greenwich Village. As the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) discovered, and added to their Civil Rights and Social Justice Map, as a recently freed slave, d’Angola was granted land around today’s Washington Square Park for a farm. While this seems like a generous gesture from a slave owner, d’Angola’s land actually served as an intermediary spot between the European colonists and the American Indians, who sometimes raided settlements. This area, in addition to Chinatown, Little Italy, and SoHo, was known as the “Land of the Blacks.”
Find out more

History

July 14, 2017

Rosie O’Donnell drops $8M on a swanky Midtown East penthouse

By Annie Doge

Nearly two years after selling her chic Greenwich Village penthouse, Rosie O'Donnell finally has a new NYC home (she spends the majority of her time at her other house in Nyack). According to city records, Rosie dropped $8 million on a triplex penthouse at Midtown East's 255 East 49th Street. The uber-modern residence is a sprawling 3,563 square feet and has swanky features like a black granite fireplace in the living room, a huge glass walled television in the master bathroom, a sculptural Guggenheim-inspired staircase, an indoor two-person Swedish sauna, and a giant rooftop terrace with views of the Empire and Chrysler Buildings and the East River.
Take a look around

July 14, 2017

The Urban Lens: Tour the grimy and crime-ridden subway of 1981

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, we share a set of vintage photos documenting the NYC subway in 1981. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Grim, gritty, grimy--these are just a few of the adjectives one could use to describe New York City in the 1980s. Homicide rates were at near-record highs, the crack epidemic had exploded, the police force had dwindled after the recession, and government mismanagement left the city on the brink of bankruptcy. At the time, a 22-year-old photographer from Florida named Christopher Morris was interning at the photo agency Black Star. According to TIME, he saw the graffiti-covered subway, dark, dank, and dangerous, as a battleground that "proved an opportunity to work on something of a domestic front line." Now an award-winning photojournalist, Morris recently rediscovered this set of shots that he took over six months in 1981, during which time he devoted himself to this unique, seedy underworld.
See his photo series ahead

July 14, 2017

From the land of lofts, this bright $1.3M DUMBO space awaits your room-shifting skills

While Soho and DUMBO might have to fight it out over which was the more original loft neighborhood, there's no doubt that they brought living in a big, airy, open former industrial space, with maximum flexibility and minimum furniture, to a whole new level of cool. This loft at 50 Bridge Street in the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood brings both loft and luxury living up-to-date, and at a $1.3 millon price it doesn't rule out the entire creative class.
Get the loft tour

Distinctive Homes

The city added 24,293 affordable housing units this fiscal year, the most since 1989

Image via Pixbay After more than three years into Mayor de Blasio’s $41 billion, 10-year affordable housing initiative, the city announced on Thursday that 24,293 affordable apartments and homes were secured in Fiscal Year 2017. Out of those units, 40 percent were for families earning less than $43,000 a year, with more than 4,014 homes for families of three earning less than $26,000 a year. According to city officials, the mayor’s Housing New York initiative aims to help an estimated half of a million people afford to live in New York City. Despite these promising numbers, the plan still fails New Yorkers with extremely low-income, by making their affordability benchmarks too high.
Find out more

July 14, 2017

After three years, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s childhood home on the UES sells for $25M

James T. Lee, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' grandfather, was a prolific NYC developer at the beginning of the 20th century, bestowing upon the city some of its most elegant co-ops like 998 Fifth Avenue and the Rosario Candela-designed 740 Park Avenue. He himself took up residency in the latter building when it was completed in 1930 and gifted another apartment in the Upper East Side building to his daughter Janet and her husband John V. Bouvier; Jackie O lived there with her parents between the ages of two to seven. In more recent years, hedge fund manager David Ganek and his wife bought the duplex in 2005 for $19.1 million, using it to also showcase their impressive modern art collection. The couple first listed the home for $44 million in 2014, and after several price chops, it's finally sold $25.25 million reports the Journal. Jacob M. Safra of the billionaire Safra family, of Brazilian banking fame, is the buyer.
Take a look

July 14, 2017

Lottery opens for 26 affordable units in the South Bronx’s new supportive housing building

A year and a half ago, the nonprofit Unique People Services broke ground on Lynn's Place, an affordable and supportive housing project in the South Bronx.The $25 million+ project was financed by the city and various organizations and will feature community space on the ground floor, a sunken courtyard, a landscaped back yard, and a seventh-floor green roof, in addition to on-site support services. Of its 69 units, 42 are set aside for individuals with a mental illness or those who were formerly homeless. The remaining apartments are reserved for those earning 50 or 60 percent of the area median income. Ranging from $710/month studios to $1,107/month two-bedrooms, they've come online through the city's affordable housing lottery as of today.
Get the details

Affordable Housing

July 13, 2017

Sunny co-op with lots of exposed brick asks $510K in Prospect Heights

This bright Brooklyn co-op is worth the two floor walkup. The unit comes from the prewar, 16-unit cooperative 786 Washington Avenue, on the border of Prospect Heights. The price has gone up significantly over the years--in 2004 the apartment sold for $164,800, in 2014 it sold for $320,000 and now it's listed for $510,000. Over the years the one bedroom has gotten updates, like mosaic tile flooring in the bathroom. But it still retains wonderful historic details that includes tons of exposed brick.
Right this way for more photos

Distinctive Homes

The top 10 neighborhoods NYC artists are moving to

Image via Kid Monkey for the Bushwick Collective

July 13, 2017

The top 10 neighborhoods NYC artists are moving to

According to a new analysis by the Center for an Urban Future (CUF), the number of artists in New York City has grown in almost every discipline, borough and neighborhood between 2000 and 2015. Citywide, the number of artists has increased by an all-time high of 17.4 percent, to 56,268 as of 2015. Since 2000, the Bronx saw the number of visual and performing artists nearly double, to 2,920 from 1,524, while Manhattan saw a decline of 10 percent, from 28,454 artists to 25,650. On the other hand, Brooklyn grew 72 percent to 17,605, Queens grew at 35 percent to 8,726 and Staten Island experienced an 8 percent growth to total 1,367 in 2015.
Find out more

July 13, 2017

Meryl Streep’s daughter, actress Mamie Gummer, lists classy Chelsea apartment for $1.8M

By Annie Doge

When Meryl Streep is your mother it's hard not to get recognized, but actress Mamie Gummer has earned herself plenty of accolades in her own right, from starring in "Emily Owens, M.D." and having a title role in "The Good Wife" to winning a Drama Desk Award for her appearance in the play "Ugly Lies the Bone." True to her under-the-radar persona, Gummer's Chelsea apartment is simple yet classy, and according to LL NYC it's just hit the market for $1.8 million.
Check it out

Live around the corner from Harlem’s new Whole Foods for $1,015/ month

Image via Whole Foods’ Facebook

July 13, 2017

Live around the corner from Harlem’s new Whole Foods for $1,015/ month

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

Image via Whole Foods' Facebook New Yorkers earning 50 percent of the area median income can apply for two affordable one-bedroom apartments for $1,015 per month at 40 West 126th Street. The Central Harlem multi-family building was renovated in 2013 and is just steps away from the 2 and 3 train lines, an abundance of restaurants and bars like the Red Rooster and Sylvia's, the Studio Museum in Harlem, both the Apollo Theater and National Black Theatre, and the city's latest Whole Foods that's set to open next week.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

July 13, 2017

Art Nerd NY’s top art, architecture, and design event picks – 7/13-7/19

By Lori Zimmer

Art Nerd New York founder Lori Zimmer shares her top art, design and architecture event picks for 6sqft readers! This week, party it up at PS1 Moma’s Night at the Museum, then get to the roots of the salsa movement in New York with the Museum of the City of New York’s walking tour. The Center for Architecture leads a tour about the space-age architecture of the 1964 World’s Fair, and the Design Trust for Public Space hosts a potluck at the park outside of the Holland Tunnel. Speaking of public space, Madison Square Park’s art installation will be the scene to experience yoiking, a northern Norwegian practice of channeling animal spirits with the voice. Interesting. Then, this weekend is all about outdoor festivals. Head to Governors Island for free kayaking, boating and fun for City of Water Day, or to the Rubin Museum for their annual free block party. Finally, Bar Tabac shuts down Smith Street in Brooklyn to celebrate Bastille Day—a French festival of food, drinks, and petanque!
Details on these events and more this way

July 13, 2017

10 artsy daycation escapes from NYC to visit this summer

By Lori Zimmer

For some of us, the idea of a summer vacation is a fantastical memory from childhood, now seeming a far cry from demanding jobs and lack of PTO. But the same cultural rejuvenation can be yours—if only for a day. Whether by bus, train or if you want to get fancy and rent a car, an art-filled daycation could be just what you need this summer to get that vacation glow. From Jackson Pollock's Hamptons studio and Dia Beacon's minimalist art collection to the Rockefeller family's historic mansion Kykuit and the Gilded Age ruins of Bannerman Castle, we've rounded up 10 artsy day trips that are just a stone's throw from NYC.
All the best escape here

THE 6SQFT SHOP

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10 Ways to Decorate an Exposed Brick Wall Without Drilling

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

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July 13, 2017

Dry ice and solar power to be used in city’s $32M rat battle

Mayor Bill de Blasio declared Wednesday that he wanted "more rat corpses" in a $32 million crusade to rid the city's most plagued neighborhoods of the scurrying scourge. The New York Times reports that parts of lower Manhattan, the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx are the focus of the latest campaign that hopes to reduce the number of rats in those areas by 70 percent by the close of 2018. Among the battle's newly-forged weapons are 336 $7,000 solar-powered rat-proof garbage bins and an EPA-approved–and apparently very effective–method of killing rats in their holes using dry ice.
Psst...hey...pizza over here

City Living

July 13, 2017

Design concept replaces Rikers jail with community-based ‘justice hubs’

Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice, along with the Van Alen Institute, released a set of guidelines to decentralize Rikers Island and improve city jails in every borough. The "Justice in Design" report outlines recommendations for healthier jails, including interior and exterior design elements, greater amenities, and ways to better integrate the jail with the surrounding neighborhood. As one of the first steps to permanently closing Rikers, these new justice hubs, or decentralized borough-based jails, would be tailored to the needs of detainees, officers, lawyers, visitors and community members.
See the design concepts

July 13, 2017

One of NYC’s rare rooftop ‘cottages’ is for sale, asking $3.5M in the East Village

The listing calls the two-unit, three-story property that tops the condominium building at 72 East 1st Street "the most unique property in the East Village," and while it may not be the entire city's most interesting, it's definitely among them. The lower unit is a full-floor penthouse duplex, above which is perched a perfect replica of a New England cottage. The property is for sale for $3.5 million; while much has been written about the city's handful of rooftop cabins and cottages, they rarely appear on the market. In this case, the Nantucket-style cottage is an artists' studio, which makes it even cooler.
Check out this little sky cottage

The story behind ‘Scabby the Rat,’ NYC’s symbol of unionized labor

Photo courtesy of Big Sky Balloons

July 12, 2017

The story behind ‘Scabby the Rat,’ NYC’s symbol of unionized labor

Despite a nationwide decline in union membership, New York City continues to defy this trend. The number of city workers who belong to unions has risen for the last three years in a row, growing from 21.5 percent of all workers to 25.5 percent in 2016. And because of this high number of unionized employees, city residents have become even more familiar with Scabby the Rat--one of the most recognizable symbols of unions. The giant inflatable rodent, with its sharp buck teeth and beady red eyes, has been a staple of union construction protests in NYC and across the country for decades, and if there's a development project that enlists nonunion labor in New York, expect to see Scabby out on the street.
Find out more about Scabby's story

July 12, 2017

Food Network darling Katie Lee selling decked-out Hamptons estate for $5.5M

By Annie Doge

In a recent Instagram post, Food Network's Katie Lee revealed how she's able to feast on lobster rolls and fried chicken seemingly every day--with daily two-hour workouts in her Water Mill home's custom Tracy Anderson gym. In addition to the studio, "The Kitchen" co-host, cookbook author, and ex-wife of Billy Joel, decked out her Hamptons estate with a full outdoor kitchen complete with a pizza oven, climate-controlled wine cellar, home theater with stadium seating, and 42-foot-long heated pool. Lee first tried to unload the home two summers ago for $6.5 million, but now that she's become a much more recognizable lifestyle influencer and has her own Cooking Channel show, "Beach Bites," she seems more eager to move on, re-listing the property and reducing the price to $5.5 million (h/t NYP).
Take the full tour

July 12, 2017

Rent the lavish parlor floor of this 1900s Soho townhouse for $6,500/month

Not every Soho apartment is a former warehouse loft--and here's proof. This one-bedroom unit takes up the parlor floor of the 20-foot-wide 1900s townhouse located at 200 6th Avenue, one block south of Houston Street. Stretching over 1,300 square feet, the interior is loaded with drool-worthy prewar details that include herringbone hardwood floors, two working fireplaces, crown molding, antique chandeliers and wall-mounted candelabras. For good measure, there's a nice display of exposed brick in the bedroom--a typical feature of the traditional Soho loft. The condo is up for rent for either six months or a year, asking $6,500 per month.
Go inside

July 12, 2017

Apply for 22 affordable units in East Harlem’s HAP Ten, from $913/month

The HAP Ten building at 2211 Third Avenue and 121st Street in East Harlem was created by HAP Investment Developers and designed by Karl Fischer Architects, who employed a gray brick facade with metal panels and several rows of glass balconies. Starting tomorrow, New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for 22 affordable apartments in the 108-unit building, ranging from $913/month studios to $1,183/month two-bedrooms. Amenities include a concierge, fitness center, rooftop terrace, parking, outdoor entertainment space, and bike room.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

First look at Central Park Tower’s palatial amenity spaces and apartment layouts

Central Park Tower renderings (Extell / AS+GG)

July 12, 2017

First look at Central Park Tower’s palatial amenity spaces and apartment layouts

We expected that Central Park Tower, the city's tallest-tower-to-be swiftly rising at 225 West 57th Street, would be giving Midtown record-smashers like 432 Park Avenue a run for their trophy-tower money. And now newly-revealed details uncovered from the building's EB-5 brochure offer a first glimpse of what the upcoming supertall's rivals could be up against. The preliminary overseas marketing images spotted by CityRealty show off the 1,550-foot-tall building's apartment layouts and the ultra-luxe amenity spaces that will sit high above the hotel and Nordstrom, the building's flagship retail tenant. Developer Gary Barnett's new condo development is the most expensive ever attempted in the city and is projecting a $4 billion sellout including retail and hotel tenants.
Sky palaces and amazing amenities this way

July 12, 2017

Construction of Columbia’s Manhattanville campus to create $6.3 billion in local investment

More than ten years after it was first proposed, the expansion of Columbia University into Manhattanville is finally coming together, with its first building opening on Harlem’s west side. While some residents worried the expansion would infringe on the Harlem community, the president of the university, Lee Bollinger, said the ongoing construction will result in roughly $6.3 billion in local investment. As the Daily News reported, the school paid $578 million to minority-, women-, and locally owned firms for construction work in the last five years. The project also created more than 1,500 construction jobs each year.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

July 12, 2017

For $1.2M this little Bed-Stuy townhouse is ready for front porch rocking and backyard croquet

Located on one of those charmingly scruffy Bed-Stuy streets that seems to span three centuries with some "Little House on the Prairie" thrown in, this seriously detached house at 659 Madison Street, though it's only two stories high and 2,244 square feet, sits on a 25-by-100-foot lot. Asking $1.2 million, the three-bedroom home is still a lot bigger than the average condo–and what condo comes with a wrap-around porch? Though the listing says it's a single-family, it's actually a two-unit building, so there's even income potential.
Have a look around

Distinctive Homes

July 11, 2017

Entire 62-acre Connecticut ghost town sells for $1.85M

The small-town of Johnsonville in East Haddam, Connecticut has just sold for $1.85 million, after being abandoned for nearly 20 years. As Business Insider discovered, the international religious organization Iglesia Ni Cristo, known as Church of Christ, purchased the 62-acre property to turn it into a recreation center for its members. The current owner is hotel company Meyer Jabara Hotels, who paid $2.5 million for the town in 2001.
See the ghost town here

July 11, 2017

Built from the ground up, this Hamptons retreat combines nature’s beauty and paradise imagined

This Sagaponack, NY home might just be the perfect antidote for the summer of hell; it would definitely make an insufferable commute worth it. Summerhill Landscapes, Steven Harris Architects and Rees Roberts + Partners designed the idyllic Hamptons retreat on a swath of meadowland where the tall grass is never far from the sea on the East End of Long Island.
See more of this Southampton summer vision

Architecture And Design

July 11, 2017

Hip loft with vaulted ceilings and a private roof deck asks $485K in Bay Ridge

The neighborhood of Bay Ridge, in southern Brooklyn, isn't exactly known for cool loft spaces. But this 850-square-foot, two-bedroom pad, at the cooperative 307 72nd Street, might be mistaken for being in Williamsburg. It has high vaulted ceilings with skylights, multiple exposures, exposed brick, and a lofted home office. A large private roof deck is the icing on the cake. And it's definitely cheaper than any two-bedroom in Williamsburg: while the apartment was last listed for $359,000 in 2012, it is now asking $485,000.
Go take a look

Distinctive Homes

My 415sqft: Go inside a mini Union Square penthouse filled with Moroccan rugs and collectibles

6sqft’s ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to the Union Square penthouse studio of Leonard Shaver. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

July 11, 2017

My 415sqft: Go inside a mini Union Square penthouse filled with Moroccan rugs and collectibles

When Leonard Shaver moved into his studio penthouse 20 years ago, he never thought he'd be there two decades later. But thanks to a 320-square-foot terrace that not only makes the space feel twice its size but offers sweeping views of the skyline and Empire State Building, resurgence of the Union Square area, and the way his system of "organized chaos" has suited him, he now couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Admittedly a bit of a "hoarder," Leonard has an impressive set of Moroccan rugs, along with collections of Limoges Mona Lisa plates, Baccarat crystal, and shoes (yes, he even keeps them in the oven a la "Sex and the City"). 6sqft recently paid Leonard a visit to check out his home and learn about how he makes the small space work for himself and his two dogs Hunter and JJ.
Take the tour of Leonard's mini penthouse

July 11, 2017

Construction of locally-sourced food hall underway in Washington Heights

New York City’s furor for food halls has not fizzled out quite yet. Construction is currently in progress for the North End Food Hall in Washington Heights at 4300 Broadway and 183rd Street. Set to be the largest food and beer hall in upper Manhattan, the space stretches 6,000 square feet and will feature locally sourced and sustainable goods. As Eater NY learned, seven kiosks will serve everything from fair-trade coffee and craft beer to organic barbecue and burgers.
See inside

‘Talking Statues’ project brings NYC history to life with a new smartphone app

Statue of Frederick Douglass can be found at Central Park North and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, via CityRealty

July 11, 2017

‘Talking Statues’ project brings NYC history to life with a new smartphone app

If statues could talk, what would they say? Thanks to a new project called New York Talking Statues, you will now be able to find out. Beginning tomorrow, July 12, New Yorkers will be able to listen to the voices of 35 statues across the city through a smartphone app (h/t Untapped Cities). Users will be able to scan the QR code found on a sign next to each statue or type in the web address into the web browser. The team behind the project chose the statues by looking at their historical significance to the city, especially those with a special tie to immigrant communities as well as artists who have contributed directly to the city.
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July 11, 2017

Sit by a crackling fire in this old-fashioned Greenwich Village co-op, asking $1.4M

"Old-fashioned" can have any number of meanings: a euphemism for stodgy, or a signifier of cutesy and intentionally low-fi, for example. But the landmarked pair of 1883 Greenwich Village luxury co-op buildings named Portsmouth and Hampshire at 38-50 West 9th Street are exactly that–old fashioned–with no hidden subtext and plenty of charm. Rich in pre-war detail with two working fireplaces (summer will be over before you know it!), this one-bedroom apartment is up for sale for the first time in over forty years–and with the exception of important upgrades like a washer-dryer, and a $1.395 million asking price, it probably hasn't changed much over that time.
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Distinctive Homes

July 10, 2017

Lena Dunham sells her first Brooklyn Heights apartment for $850K

Though she grew up in Tribeca, Lena Dunham attended high school at Brooklyn Heights' progressive St. Ann's. And after hitting it big with Girls, she bought her first solo apartment in 2012 at 145 Hicks Street, not far from the school. She paid $500,000 for the one-bedroom, 800-square-foot co-op, but two years later, she upgraded to a $4.8 million condo in The Heights building, which she shares with her musician boyfriend Jack Antonoff. Dunham was subleasing her original pad to his sister, fashion designer Rachel Antonoff, but WWD now reports that she's officially unloaded it for a very cool $850,000.
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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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July 10, 2017

Billie Holiday’s last home on the Upper West Side sells for $9.5M

In the years prior to her untimely death in 1959 at the age of 44, jazz legend Billie Holiday lived in this Upper West Side brownstone at 26 West 87th Street, just steps from Central Park. The storied, historic home first hit the market back in October 2015 for $12,950,000, and after a series of reductions, the listing was handed over this past September to Million Dollar Listing's Ryan Serhant, who dropped the price to $9,999,000 and featured the property on a recent episode of his show. Lady Day's house, built in 1910 but recently renovated, has now finally found a buyer for $9,475,000.
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July 10, 2017

Interactive map reveals how your daily commute time compares with the nation’s worst

For something to ponder while trapped in subway hell or highway gridlock, a detailed visualization by statistician Chase Sawyer shows typical commute times clocked in every U.S. county, based on census data from 2011-2015. Citylab reports on the findings revealed therein; for example, we probably could guess that the top 10 easy-peasy commutes were in Alaska (where you can always find a seat on the subway), but you may not have guessed that Pike County, Pennsylvania has the worst transit time at an average of 44 minutes.
Find out how your daily trek stacks up

July 10, 2017

Perkins Eastman’s 99 Hudson Street will be the tallest building in New Jersey

While Jersey City boasts beautiful views of Manhattan, the NJ water-front community continues to build up its own impressive skyline. In the last twenty years, 15 towers reaching more than 500 feet tall have been built, with seven more in the works. Notably, as CityRealty discovered, the latest tower rising in Jersey City at 99 Hudson Street will be the state’s tallest building, reaching a height of 889 feet. When the condominium’s construction is complete in 2019, the tower will be the 15th tallest in the country, outside of New York and Chicago.
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July 10, 2017

Here’s what will change as the ‘summer of hell’ for commuters begins