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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 tips@6sqft.com. 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

July 14, 2017

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

Distinctive Homes

Miami meets Brooklyn in this $10M Williamsburg townhouse with a three-car garage

This $4M condo feels like a fresh start in a new addition to the Upper East Side

This $5.5M Queen Anne townhouse in Park Slope finds room for modern life in historic geometry

Tudor charm frames a $2.1M pre-war duplex on the Upper East Side

Marble slabs and hand-painted terraces make for an unconventional Soho penthouse, listed for $8M

Within this $10M Brooklyn Heights townhouse is a masterpiece of modern architectural design

Live in the treetops with private gardens below in this $12.5M Brooklyn Heights townhouse

This unusual $2.8M co-op is a compact triplex in a historic West Village townhouse

For $650K, watch spring arrive in the city from this bright Upper East Side co-op

For $4M, a terraced Park Slope townhouse, ready for spring gardening

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July 13, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.
Find out more

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.
Have a look

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.
READ MORE

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.
Take a tour

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.
Find out more

July 10, 2017

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

Eight weeks of infrastructure repairs at Penn Station officially began Monday, affecting commuters using the Long Island Rail Road, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit. Amtrak will close some of the station’s 21 tracks for renovations, which will force the MTA to cancel or divert 15-weekday trains between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. Overall, there will be a 20 percent reduction in the number of trains to Manhattan from NJ and Long Island. To minimize the impact on riders, the MTA has offered discounted fares and transit alternatives like ferry and bus service (h/t NY Times).
Find out how your commute will be affected

July 10, 2017

From NoLiTa to SoHa: The practice and controversy of rebranding NYC neighborhoods

By Cait Etherington

New York is home to dozens of distinct neighborhoods with their own names, identities, and histories. Some of these neighborhoods acquired their names by misfortune (Hell’s Kitchen gained its moniker due to its tough reputation), others by function (the Battery was once home to a series of artillery batteries), and some were coined by local artists playing with abbreviated combinations (SoHo is likely the most well-known example). However, at least some New York City neighborhoods, including the East Village and NoLita, were created by real estate agents in an attempt to “rebrand” areas that historically had a reputation for being either undesirable or simply boring places to live. Increasingly, this now well-established practice is coming under attack and if one local state senator is successful, the practice may even soon be illegal.
read more here

Real Estate Trends

July 10, 2017

Jane Pauley and Garry Trudeau drop $2.2M on a rather un-newsworthy Upper East Side co-op

New anchor Jane Pauley and "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau have dropped $2.2 million on a very un-newsworthy co-op at 166 East 61st Street in Lenox Hill. The couple's last real estate transaction was in 2005 when they traded a $13 million Central Park West pad for a much more modest $1.6 million co-op at 7 Beekman Place in Turtle Bay. Their newest buy, while rather bland, is about 20 blocks north and closer to the park and offers three bedrooms, three baths, and skyline views.
Get a look

July 10, 2017

Cozy Yorkville duplex with a private terrace asks $575K

Just two blocks away from the new Second Avenue subway stop at 96th Street is this very adorable duplex co-op. It's located at 226 East 95th Street, in Yorkville, a small 29-unit elevator cooperative. This particular apartment last sold in 2014 for $475,000 and is now asking $575,000. A spiral staircase from a brick-walled living room leads up to the single bedroom, which has a sliding door out to the lush private terrace.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

July 10, 2017

Two chances to live in hip Bed-Stuy from $947/month

Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for an affordable one-bedroom for $947/month or a two-bedroom for $1072/month at 452 Lafayette Avenue in Bedford-Stuy. Located at the intersection of Lafayette and Franklin Avenues, this apartment building sits near the Pratt Institute as well as plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants. Amenities include a roof terrace and laundry room, along with being just steps away from the G train.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

July 9, 2017

Rent this five-bedroom West Village dream townhouse for $25K a month

If you dream of living in a West Village townhouse with lofty, renovated rooms and charm-filled outdoor spaces, this 1845 beauty at 13 Gay Street could be your summer find. At $25,000 a month, that's $5,000 per bedroom, though it's not the sort of spot where you'd expect to find a bargain. At 19 feet wide with four stories of living space, the quintessential historic home has both original details and dreamy modern conveniences.
Take the four-story tour

Distinctive Homes

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

Images (L to R): The QE7, 71 Broadway, Columbus Square and Portside Towers

July 9, 2017

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

By Emrys Fitzgerald

From Bowling Alley to Co-Living Rentals, The Lanes Makes its Debut in Long Island City [link] The Posthouse Debuts in Clinton Hill; Brand New Rentals from $2,013/Month [link] Move-In Ready Apartments at Columbus Square on Upper West Side Leasing with 1 Month Free [link] North America’s Biggest New Co-Living Building Tops Out in Long Island […]

Real Estate Trends

July 8, 2017

Rural farmhouse meets urban loft at this Hamptons guest house by TA Dumbleton Architect

Brooklyn-based studio TA Dumbleton Architect designed and built their Bridgehampton WE Guest House in just eight months (h/t dezeen). In that short amount of time, the team converged the look of an old farmhouse with that of a New York City loft apartment, employing incredible double-height windows, an open 3,000-square-foot layout, and insulated stucco walls.
See inside

Architecture And Design

July 7, 2017

Live in Joe DiMaggio’s former Upper West Side penthouse for $4.5M

If the Yankees' recent spate of bad luck has gotten you down, here's one way to re-live the Bronx Bombers' glory days--though it'll cost you $4.5 million. LL NYC noticed that Joe DiMaggio's former Upper West Side penthouse has hit the market. Joltin' Joe lived in the classic six pad at 400 West End Avenue from 1939-1942, during his brief marriage to actress Dorothy Arnold, as well as his record-breaking 56-game winning streak. In addition to the celebrity pedigree, the most spectacular part of the home is its 1,300-square-foot, wrap-around terrace with three exposures offering views of the iconic Apthorp, Hudson River and New Jersey, and George Washington Bridge.
See the whole place

July 7, 2017

‘Romantic modernist’ Norman Jaffe designed this sculptural Long Island home, now asking $4M

This dramatic, swooping home is the masterwork of Norman Jaffe, an architect known for this “romantic modernist” homes throughout the Hamptons. This stunner is located in Old Westbury, Long Island, at 15 Horseshoe Road. It was built in 1977 and chosen as one of the "best houses in America" in 1979. As Curbed put it, the unique two-story structure is "formed by several hulking volumes" which include a wood-clad, wedge-like roof, a glass-walled living space, and a stone facade and patios. It's now on the market for $3.995 million.
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Distinctive Homes

Spring + Thompson

83 Thompson Street

Soho

Loft-like residences in Soho designed by Selldorf Architects

2 beds starting at $4,975,000
4 beds starting at $14,850,000

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July 7, 2017

An architect’s 1969 nuclear shelter plan shows a mini-Manhattan built thousands of feet underground

The 1960s Cold War years were America's peak fear/fantasy period as far as the threat of nuclear weapons being deployed. Related scenarios played heavily in science fiction works and frequently surfaced in art and writing. On occasion the line between sci-fi and urban planning tends to blur, at least in hindsight; such is the case for architect and city planner Oscar Newman's probably tongue-in-cheek vision of an enormous spherical underground replica of Manhattan located thousands of feet below the city itself, to be switched into action in the event of a nuclear event. Atlas Obscura reveals Newman's fantastical map to a subterranean metropolis where New Yorkers would wait out the fallout.
Head underground for a look-see

July 7, 2017

Extell’s Central Park Tower will have a $95M penthouse and 100th-floor ballroom

With massive condominiums, private elevators and a 100th-floor ballroom that overlooks Central Park, Gary Barnett and Extell Development won’t have much trouble luring the world’s richest to their ambitious $4 billion Central Park Tower. Although the building at 217 West 57th Street, slated to be the tallest residential tower on Earth and most expensive in NYC, won’t be completed until 2019, the Real Deal discovered the building’s floorplans and the price breakdown for each unit. According to filed documents, 20 of the 179 condominiums in the building have a price tag of $60 million and above. The most expensive unit listed? A $95 million penthouse that contains four bedrooms, a 2,000-square-foot terrace and an outdoor pool.
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July 7, 2017

The Urban Lens: Vintage NYC photos show everyday life in the 1940s

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 NYC in the 1940s. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at tips@6sqft.com. The 1940s were marked with both dark times and bright hopes. Nightly dim-outs, meant to both conserve energy and hide the skyline from possible WWII air and naval attacks, were a regular occurrence; police scuffled with citizens over race riots in Harlem and the AFL Strike on Wall Street; and President Roosevelt died. But towards the end of the decade, New Yorkers and the nation celebrated the end of the War; Times Square and Coney Island drew record crowds; and retail venues like the Fulton Fish Market and Orchard Street reached their height. Ahead, this collection of vintage photos showcases what everyday life was like in NYC in the 1940s, from the good times to the bad.
See all the photos here

July 7, 2017

Hudson River tunnel project’s price tag jumps nearly 50 percent to $13 billion

According to a report released Thursday by the federal government, constructing a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and repairing the existing one could cost nearly $13 billion, almost a 50 percent increase from an earlier $7.7 billion estimate. Transit officials say they are moving forward with the project because of its urgency; the two-track tunnel, which takes Amtrak riders and NJ Transit commuters to and from New York City, is over 100 years old and was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy. According to Crain’s, the report, which evaluated the plan’s environmental and economic impacts, follows the recent withdrawal of the U.S. Transportation Department from the Gateway corporation board.
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July 7, 2017

Fashion designer Reem Acra lists Chelsea condo combo with dramatic art for $5.5M