6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

Visiting the underground community of NYC republicans. [NYT] This Valentine’s Day, the Bronx Zoo is selling naming rights to its cockroaches for just $10. [BK Mag] Restaurateurs in Williamsburg and Bushwick are already mobilizing against the possible three-year L train shutdown. [Eater] Trump may be ahead in the polls, but new research shows his campaign is […]

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January 15, 2016

Study Suggests Competition From Uber May Curb Cabbie Rudeness

Is the rise of car share services like Uber and Lyft making taxi drivers nicer? The Washington Post reports that according to research presented this week by the Technology Policy Institute's Scott Wallsten, complaints are down in New York and Chicago, including those about general rudeness, busted A/C, and that bit about the credit card machine not working. The drop in complaints corresponds with the rise of availability of Uber and Lyft in those cities, they claim.
What are New Yorkers complaining about less

January 15, 2016

Spotlight: Jason Arthur Sapan Makes Holograms at NYC’s Only Holography Gallery

By Susan Cohen

In an old blacksmith's forge on East 26th Street, there is a subterranean laser laboratory. It's here that Jason Arthur Sapan, also known as Doctor Laser, makes holograms of everything imaginable at Holographic Studios. Jason describes his underground lab as being akin to Doctor Brown’s laboratory in Back to the Future (sans time travel, of course). A hologram, "is a three-dimensional image that is created using laser light," he explains. "We record the surface of an object the way that a piece of Play-Doh pressed up against an object takes an impression of its shape," creating something that's "lifelike and can appear to float in front or behind the film." Jason first became interested in holography in the late 1960s, and has been practicing the medium full time since founding Holographic Studios over forty years ago. He also teaches at NYU Tisch's ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program), where he works with graduate students. He's created holograms of politicians ranging from President Bill Clinton to Mayor Ed Koch and celebrities such as Billy Idol and Andy Warhol. The studio possesses the world's oldest gallery of holography, which attracts out-of-town visitors, locals, and even youngsters through classes and an internship program. 6sqft recently spoke with Jason to find out about the inspiration for his career in holography and how much joy it brings him to share this medium with the world.
The full interview, this way

January 15, 2016

Introducing Astoria’s Newest Rental Building: The ‘L’ @ 31st Drive

By Heather Cooper Vivares

Future Astoria renters, meet The "L" @ 31st Drive. Located on a sedate block at 23-36 31st Drive, the "L" is a brand-new 22-unit building with rentals ranging from $2,000/month studios to $3,200/month two-bedrooms. The design hewn by Gerald Caliendo Architects features a modern concrete and glass exterior rising five stories in height. Complementing its streamlined exterior, interiors boast floor-to-ceiling windows, light hardwood floors, clean white walls, and stainless steel appliances.
See more here

January 15, 2016

Behind a Boring Facade Are Cool, Lofty Apartments in Greenpoint

The four-story townhouse at 106 Dupont Street in Greenpoint is nothing to write home about. In fact, it's straight up boring, and it'd be fair to assume the interior was, too. But the building, which was gut renovated in 2006, actually holds some cool apartments inside. It was separated into three units: a super lofty, top-floor duplex with three bedrooms; a middle floor-through apartment with two bedrooms; and a first-floor, floor-through unit with two bedrooms and a private garden. The listing is marketing this as a good investment for "an end-user who wants to collect great rental income," as it's currently occupied by tenants. But they'll have to cough up a lot of cash first: the property is asking $3.78 million.
See the apartments

Distinctive Homes

January 14, 2016

World Reaches 100 Supertall Skyscrapers With Completion of 432 Park Avenue

As of December 23, when the slender 1,396-foot-tall 432 Park Avenue condominium tower was officially pronounced complete by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) as the building was "partially habitable," it became the world’s 100th supertall skyscraper (h/t TRD), categorized as those at least 984 feet in height. In addition to being the world's tallest all-residential building, 432 Park Avenue is also the world's 14th-tallest building overall and the city’s seventh supertall skyscraper. In fact, New York has the second-highest number of supertalls on the planet.
Find out more about the world's tallest towers

Architecture And Design

January 14, 2016

For $450K There’s a Lot to Love About This Sweet Cornelia Street Studio

It's not Valentine's Day yet, but for anyone who's dreamed of a lovely little garrett in the West Village, with plenty of whitewashed brick and an enchanted garden, we can see this impossibly charming studio co-op at 24 Cornelia Street tucked into a heart-shaped box. And the price, a fairly lovable $450,000, might set hearts aflutter, too; it's hard enough to find any apartment in New York City for under $500,000, let alone in the West Village.
See more of this sweet Village studio

Distinctive Homes

Distinctive Homes

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

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

For $5.8M, this Fifth Avenue co-op has 'Mad Men'-era vibes and Central Park views

This $3.15M co-op embodies East Village cool, all grown up

Watch the seasons of Central Park change from this $3.4M top-floor Upper West Side co-op

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

For $5.1M, this pretty Gramercy condo comes with a key to the private park

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

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

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

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January 14, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 1/14-1/20

By Lori Zimmer

In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers! This week, we've chosen a well-rounded experience that will get you out of the house and into varying genres within the art world. Start the weekend early by experiencing Julia Sinelnikova's hand-cut light sculptures, which can often be found at the Bushwick art raves you're too afraid to go to. Castor Gallery explores the diversity of contemporary artists working in the Middle East, and Fort Gansevoort brings its savory BBQ with a side of art, this time by Isabelle Fein. Celebrate the book release of "The Art of Ballpoint" while experiencing original works by artists featured in the book, or head to the Bronx to Wall Works Gallery, which specializes in new and old school graffiti. Bushwick's boutique hotel, BKLYN House, welcomes you to check out their 11 commissioned Brooklyn murals, and CHERYL begs you to get crazy with them at their all encompassing art dance party. And finally, hear some of the city's top starchitects discuss the ever-changing skyline.
All the best events to check out here

Events & Things To Do

January 14, 2016

The World Metro Map Mashes Up 214 Subway Systems

At first glance, it might look like a metro for some city you're not familiar with, perhaps Berlin or Beijing, but this map is actually a combination of almost all those cities that might come to mind. Titled The World Metro Map, it's a mashup of 214 subway systems, totaling 791 lines and 11,924 stations (h/t Cool Hunting). New York-based collective ArtCodeData teamed up with non-profit Open Access to create the map as a representation of "human mobility" explored through the unifying element of subways. The result is a "digital collage" that's colorful, geometric, and provides a new view of world transportation.
Learn more

Transit

January 14, 2016

Thing Industries’ Sacrificial Chair Replaces the Furniture That Gets ‘Covered in Crap’

Working and living in the big city lends itself to an extremely busy lifestyle that doesn't always allow time for more trivial chores like actually hanging your clothes in the closet. But that doesn't mean we want to prematurely dirty our beloved threads by throwing them on the floor. Designers Bridie Picot and Matt Smith of Thing Industries have the perfect solution with their Sacrificial Chair. It wasn't designed as a traditional chair (sorry folks you can't sit here), but instead to replace "that chair" that is "constantly covered in crap."
More here

Extell Files Permits to Demolish Six Midtown Buildings for a New Mega Development

A Google street view of the six buildings set to be razed

January 14, 2016

Extell Files Permits to Demolish Six Midtown Buildings for a New Mega Development

Yesterday, Gary Barnett's Extell (the developer behind the Nordstrom Tower, One57, and the controversial 250 South Street, to name just a few) filed a string of demolition permits with the city's Department of Buildings to raze six buildings along West 46th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The doomed four- and five-story structures are at 3 West 46th Street, 5 West 46th Street, 7 West 46th Street, 9 West 46th Street, 11 West 46th Street and 13 West 46th Street. And on Monday, The Real Deal reported that Barnett has secured ownership of two neighboring properties at 562 and 564 Fifth Avenue from Thor Equities and SL Green Realty. The prolific developer also owns 2 and 10 West 47th Street on the northern side of the block in the heart of the Diamond District. Back in 2014, sources said that Extell was planning for a new hotel tower at the site, but given the large amount of land the savvy developer has assembled (more than 30,000 square feet by our count) it will likely yield the largest tower built on Fifth Avenue in more than a generation.
More details ahead

New Developments

January 14, 2016

Subway Stations Start Closing for Years at a Time; Donald Trump Sells off Another Condo

With less than a week’s notice, nine Brooklyn N train stops will close for more than a year. [DNAinfo] L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan may face a similar fate. Better get going on that gondola plan. [Gothamist] Donald Trump sold a Trump Park Avenue penthouse for $21 million over the summer, and now […]

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January 14, 2016

Two-Bedroom East Village Co-op Asks Just $695,000, but There’s a Catch

In normal circumstances, it would be easy-as-pie to find a buyer for this East Village co-op, located in the five-story building at 268 East 4th Street. The apartment isn't fancy, but it has two bedrooms and 700 square feet. The ask comes in at a very reasonable $695,000, and that's topped with a very reasonable monthly maintenance of $575. But like all things that sound too good to be true in New York City real estate, there's a catch, and it's not even that this is a fourth-floor walkup. The unit comes from an HDFC regulated cooperative, which means that a buyer must meet certain income guidelines to own it.
More details on the cap

January 14, 2016

Jonas Brothers Get Back Together to Check Out a $10M Chelsea Penthouse

By Annie Doge

Fans looking for a Jonas Brothers comeback will be happy to know that the trio was recently spotted checking out an apartment together, reports the Post. Though this doesn't come with news that Joe, Nick, and Kevin will be getting on stage together again, it does hint that they're working on something here in Manhattan. The musicians looked at a swanky penthouse unit at 560 West 24th Street in Chelsea. The $10.25 million duplex spread has three bedrooms (how appropriate), a glass-enclosed living area with soaring 13-foot ceilings, and a large terrace complete with an outdoor fireplace.
Check it out

The Federal Government Will Start Databasing Secret Buyers of NYC Luxury Real Estate

The Time Warner Center, one of NYC’s most notorious buildings for secret foreign investment

January 13, 2016

The Federal Government Will Start Databasing Secret Buyers of NYC Luxury Real Estate

For the first time ever, the U.S. federal government will start identifying and tracking secret buyers of high-end real estate, requiring those making all-cash transactions or hiding behind an LLC to disclose their names for entry into a law enforcement database. The regulation is kicking off in Manhattan and Miami-Dade County, two hotbeds of foreign investment, according to the New York Times. "The initiative is part of a broader federal effort to increase the focus on money laundering in real estate. Treasury and federal law enforcement officials said they were putting greater resources into investigating luxury real estate sales that involve shell companies like limited liability companies, often known as L.L.C.s; partnerships; and other entities," the paper explains.
More details ahead

January 13, 2016

See How Atelier & Co. Would Transform This 432 Park Unit Into a Palace in the Sky

432 Park Avenue recorded its first closing last week: a 4,000-square-foot, 35th-floor pad that sold for a cool $18.1 million. For the critics who find the supertower's minimalist exterior and Deborah Berke-designed interiors a bit too austere, take a peek at this layout designed by the classically-attuned firm of Atelier & Co. The unit's square footage and its north-, south-, and east-facing exposures are akin to the unit that closed last week. Raphel Viñoly/WSP Cantor Seinuk's structural tube design provides column-free layouts, allowing for flexible reconfiguration of interior spaces. For this 40th floor spread, Atelier nearly doubles the size of the master bedroom and removes the sitting room to create a vast living and dining area dissected by a grand and ornate bookcase.
See it all right here

Architecture And Design

All You Need to Bring to This Curated Noho Loft Is a Toothbrush and $6,500 a Month

This classic loft at 49 Bleecker Street comes completely furnished, all set up for a short-term rental at $6,500 a month. It may be suitable for corporate renters as the listing suggests, but the 950-square-foot co-op on a perfect Noho block looks like it would be just as much fun if you’re in town for play rather than work. Funky flea market-chic furniture, colorful wall art and cool design elements–throws, pillows, vintage lighting, culturally relevant non-fiction–have been carefully selected and casually distributed.
Have a look around

Distinctive Homes

January 13, 2016

POLL: Is Sleepy Sheepshead Bay Set to Undergo a Building Boom?

On Monday, 6sqft revealed renderings of a new tower in Sheepshead Bay, the once-sleepy waterfront community that’s almost as far out as Coney Island. Its 331-foot height may not be news in most of the city, but here the residential tower will be four times taller than almost anything else in the area. Not only does this […]

New Developments

January 13, 2016

Wireless and Beautiful Speaker-Cabinet Brings Design and Music Together

It's beautiful when two of our favorite things, like design and music, come together, and this innovative speaker-cabinet is the perfect combo. From Verona-based designer Paolo Cappello, the Caruso is what we like to call a conversation piece. It boasts a beautiful design in both its aesthetics and functionality, as it doubles as a wireless speaker system. The cabinet is adorned with a gramophone, accessed by your device via Bluetooth.
Get more info here

January 13, 2016

Plenty of Period Splendor at This $5.5M Park Slope Brownstone

There are some New York properties in which it'll depress you that "we just don't make them like we used to." This is one of them. 226 Garfield Place is a single-family, four-story Park Slope brownstone built in 1901. It's located smack dab in the neighborhood's historic district and a few blocks from Prospect Park. The home withstood the test of time, then underwent a restoration and renovation in 2006 that returned many of the period details back to their original splendor. That means while you've got restored woodwork, mantlepieces and parquet floors, there are also fancy additions like dual zone central AC, new windows, plumbing and electrical and an upgraded roof. Best of both worlds!
See the interior

Distinctive Homes

January 13, 2016

The Bronx Is Losing Its History Channel Sign; Download Free Space Sounds From NASA

Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena wins the 2016 Pritzker Prize. [ArchDaily] The Bronx’s iconic History Channel sign is coming down. [Welcome2theBronx] A Neuroscientist patiently explains the allure of the adult coloring book. [NY Mag] NASA posted a free library of space sounds (rockets, lightning on Jupiter, and interstellar plasma, to name a few) on SoundCloud. [CDM] This […]

Uncategorized

January 13, 2016

WeWork’s Communal Living Concept on Wall Street Gets Its First Residents

By Ondel Hylton and Heather Cooper Vivares

Co-working space provider WeWork (which has 40,000 members in 19 US, European and Asian cities that share office space with perks like free coffee, cool furniture and a communal atmosphere) has launched their new "co-living" apartment concept, beginning with 45 units in a Wall Street building. FastCompany reports that last weekend, 80 new residents moved into furnished apartments at 110 Wall Street, where the company already runs a co-working space on the building’s first seven floors. They're part of what the company says is the first stage of beta testing for this community-driven concept, with New York City as the guinea pig. The concept is, according to a company spokesperson, "focused on enabling people to live more fulfilling lives. During this testing phase, we’ll be listening to feedback from our community." Plans are in the works to accommodate 600 people on 20 floors of the building.
Find out more about the latest co-living experiment

January 13, 2016

New Views of Robert A.M. Stern’s Limestone-Clad 70 Vestry Street

The Related Companies has launched the teaser website for its upcoming Tribeca condominium 70 Vestry Street. Related CEO Jeff Blau signed the purchase contract in December 2013 and closed on the six-parcel lot from Ponte Equities for $115.3 million in early 2014. Site excavation is already well underway, and new renderings of the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building have now surfaced. The project will pay homage to the neighborhood's distinctive warehouse architecture, and in true Stern fashion, will be clad in sumptuous French limestone.
More details ahead

January 12, 2016

Where I Work: Inside interior designer Ghislaine Viñas’ colorful, playful Tribeca loft

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we take a tour of designer Ghislaine Viñas' colorful and Tribeca loft. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! The work of interior designer Ghislaine Viñas is unmistakable; the bright colors, bold prints, and fun and funky decor have made her the go-to firm for both local Tribeca residents and international clients looking to jazz up their homes. After 25 years and winning countless awards (many of which celebrate her use of color), appearing on television stations like HGTV, and gracing the pages of publications from The New York Times to Vogue, Ghislaine is showing no signs of slowing down. Long fans of her work, 6sqft recently toured Ghislaine's live/work space, which, not surprisingly is the perfect example of her playful, yet modern, aesthetic. We learned about what influences her designs, how her team works together, and new product collaborations. We also got some tips on how to incorporate color into our homes like a pro.
All this and more ahead

January 12, 2016

New Renderings, Shape Shifts for Bjarke Ingels-Designed High Line Towers

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

New renderings have appeared via YIMBY for 76 Eleventh Avenue, the Bjarke Ingels-designed High Line-adjacent towers first revealed this past November. The planned project, developed by HFZ Capital with the goal of creating a "self contained kind of city," was expected to include a hotel, retail space, and around 300 luxury condos with prices to start at just below $4 million. The most noticeable changes from the earlier renderings, which showed the towers fitting together at an angle, show more space between the buildings, which now appear as more of a pair than two complementary parts of a "jigsaw-like" whole.
See what else has changed

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January 12, 2016

Studiomama’s Metamorphic Wardrobe Transforms to Divide Your Space

This pastel and pale wood room divider by Danish designer Nina Tolstrup for Studiomama does at least two jobs, besides adding Scandi style to your room. It excels at closet duty, featuring a central hanging rail and ten drawers of varying sizes, but also functions as a room divider when its front doors are opened outward.
See more

January 12, 2016

Massive Williamsburg Studio, Asking $3,750 a Month, Is Called a ‘Loft Lover’s Dream’

Are you the type of New Yorker who dreams of great apartments after you've gone to bed? Maybe you've dreamt up a loft that looks like this, with wide open space, strikingly high ceilings, a private terrace and roof deck with views of the Williamsburg Bridge (Every NYC apartment worth dreaming about has outdoor space!). The listing, anyway, claims this Williamsburg studio at 138 Broadway is the stuff of dreams, and we have to say that it does look dreamy in the photos -- especially the 20-by-22-foot main space that's being used as the living and bedroom. The apartment comes from a well-known Williamsburg building, the Smith Gray, a cast-iron design built in 1882 for the Smith and Gray Department Store Building. It was converted to condos in 2002.
Check out the apartment

Distinctive Homes

January 12, 2016

Residential Projects Surface Along the Astoria Waterfront Ahead of New Ferry Service

The Astoria waterfront is poised to become the city's next high-density residential enclave, with more than 4,000 apartments planned within the Astoria Cove and Hallets Point developments alone. Just to the south, and more modest in scale, a six-story, 65-unit condominium building is preparing to rise from a block-through site at 30-05 Vernon Boulevard. City records indicate 3005 Vernon BLVD Joint Venture LLC purchased the lot for $3 million in 2014, and filed demolition permits in November to raze the existing one-story warehouse. Renderings provided by the building's architect, Young Kim of Tan Architect, show a white brick building with a glass curtain wall on its east- and river-facing elevations. As required by zoning, on-site parking is provided at ground level, and the garage roof will hold an expansive rooftop terrace. According to Young Kim, the development is moving forward and the team is in the process of filing building permits.
Find out more

January 12, 2016

David Bowie’s NYC; Coachella Music Fest Moved to Randall’s Island

Subway riders share their feelings about four-legged passengers. [NYT] Sales launch today at Herzog & de Meuron’s 160 Leroy with 50 percent already sold. [6sqft inbox] Here are five iconic David Bowie NYC moments and places. [Untapped] And here you can read the late artist’s personal reflections on being a New Yorker. [Vulture] After original plans to hold […]

Uncategorized

January 12, 2016

Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower to Hit 1,066 Feet

Less than a month ago, developers Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit closed on Downtown Brooklyn's Dime Savings Bank building for $90 million, which provided them with the 300,000 square feet of air rights needed to construct Brooklyn's first 1,000+ foot tower at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension. Since news of the future tallest building outside Manhattan first came to light in August, the exact height hadn't been reported. But now NY Yimby has uncovered the number, and it's a whopping 1,066 feet, amounting to 556,164 square feet of total space.
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New Developments

January 12, 2016

Asking $3.75M, Young Designer’s Tribeca Triplex Is a Perfect Girls’ Night In

This girly-modern Tribeca triplex belonging to young interior designer Sasha Bikoff was featured–along with its owner–in a buzzed-about 2014 NY Times story about how NYC's young contemporary millionaires live, illustrating a penchant for downtown glamour over uptown gilt. The then-26-year-old–who's designed her share of uptown interiors–is pictured in the stylish pad, which she purchased in 2011 for $2.3 million and bestowed with a total makeover. The article highlights architect Ben Hansen's dazzling glass-fronted boutique condo residence at 471 Washington Street as one of a handful favored by the iconoclastic (and well-heeled) under-40 set. Bikoff listed the apartment a year ago for an ambitious $4.5 million; it has since changed brokers and toned down its earlier ask to $3.75 million. The apartment's decor–and a bedroom-sized dream closet–make it clear that stylish singles' pads aren't just for the boys.
See more of the glamorous pad

Distinctive Homes

January 12, 2016

See How 6 Columbus Circle Could Change the Central Park Skyline

Last Friday, a marketing brochure was released promoting the sale of 6 Columbus Circle, an 88-room boutique hotel that exudes a modernist '60s flair throughout its spaces. While the brick and limestone gem owned by the Pomeranc Group received an ungainly five-story addition in 2007, its ornate 58th Street facade survived intact–though now, its days may be numbered. The New York Observer reported last month that the owners have placed the building up for sale, tapping Cushman & Wakefield as exclusive marketers. With angled views of Central Park starting at less than 100 feet above street level, a source estimates the property could fetch a staggering $1,400 per buildable square foot, a pot of gold to developers' eyes. And the marketing brochure makes the possibilities very clear, conceptualizing a 700-foot-tall, mixed-use spire from the nimble, 42-foot-wide lot.
See how this could change the skyline

January 11, 2016

Did Beyonce and Jay-Z Just Buy a Condo at Brooklyn Heights’ Pierhouse?

By Annie Doge

That's what a Brooklyn Bridge Park security guard is saying. The luxury condo building Pierhouse, which is located in the Brooklyn Heights park, has become notorious for the controversy surrounding its height, but now the conversation has turned to its potentially famous new residents, as the guard let the news slip to a long-time local who then spilled the beans to everyone at a community meeting.
Find out more

Celebrities

January 11, 2016

This $1.95M Mediterranean Revival Home in Historic Fieldston Holds Some Modern Surprises

The leafy, well-tended Fieldston Historic District–one of New York City's only privately owned neighborhoods–lies within the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale. Here inside this 4,200-square-foot whitewashed stucco Mediterranean Revival home you'll find original 1901 details, modern, energy-efficient updates and at least five bedrooms–just twenty minutes from Lincoln Center. Altogether it's a mix of suburban quietude, townhouse grandeur and a New York City address, for $1.95 million. in addition to plenty of room on two stories for living and entertaining–plus outdoor space for gardening–there are a few 21st century surprises.
Take the tour

January 11, 2016

Visualizing All the Money in the World in One Infographic

From the value of all the Bitcoins in the world ($5 billion) to the amount of total global debt ($199 trillion) to the barely-fathomable amount of the derivatives market (as much as $1.2 quadrillion. Yup. Quadrillion), a chart created by The Money Project, produced by Visual Capitalist, attempts to put all the world’s currency in one place in the form of tiny, little squares (h/t Fast Co. Exist). Starting with the question, "How much money exists in the world?" this data visualization starts with the world’s total money supply.
More really big numbers, this way

Uncategorized

January 11, 2016

BONCHO: A Bike Poncho to Keep Your Legs and Feet Dry

The weather in New York can vary from sunny skies to downpours without notice, and most of us spend at least part, if not all, of our daily commute outside at the mercy of the elements. While the standard umbrella protects us from the rain when we're on foot, the bike riding community has continued to rely on plastic bags and oversized raincoats to stay dry, leaving their legs and feet exposed to the conditions. Thanks to VANMOOF and their new bike poncho design, cleverly named BONCHO, city cyclists are about to get a lot drier.
More on this clever product

January 11, 2016

Two-Bedroom Loft in Former Little Italy Warehouse Asks $7,250 a Month

This former warehouse building, constructed in 1915 at 138 Baxter Street, is right in the heart of Little Italy, just a block away from the Italian restaurants lining Mulberry Street. At some point, the seven-story building was converted into a six-unit apartment building, and this one is now on the rental market for $7,250 a month. It's a two-bedroom apartment with super high 14-foot ceilings, big windows and a nice open living, dining and kitchen area–it spans 1,200 square feet total. It's got all the loft bases covered, with some fun and funky interior decoration added on top. There have also been some sleek renovations in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Take a tour

January 11, 2016

Inside Penn Plaza’s New Food Hall; You Can Own the Playboy Mansion for $200M

Looks like subway ad dermatologist Dr. Zizmor might’ve sold his Bronx mansion to cover the $56,000 in unpaid office rent he supposedly owes. [TRD] Get a first look inside the Pennsy, the new food hall at 2 Pennsylvania Plaza. [Eater] Astor Place’s Alamo Cube is currently being restored in Jersey while construction work goes on around […]

Uncategorized

January 11, 2016

Gramercy Park’s Luminaria Condo Conversion Lights Up in Preparation for Sales Launch

In anticipation of its official sales launch later this winter, Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate Group has illuminated Luminaire, a 103-unit condominium-conversion at 385 First Avenue in downtown's Gramercy Park neighborhood. According to the marketing team, the cool-blue lighting scheme, specified by Magnum, is inspired by the building's floor-to-ceiling windows and sun-bathed units.
more here

January 11, 2016

First Look at the 331-Foot Sheepshead Bay Tower Set to Dwarf Its Neighbors

In Manhattan, much of Brooklyn, and parts of Queens like Long Island City, a 300-foot tower isn't even news. But out in the once-sleepy waterfront community of Sheepshead Bay, it's sure to get people talking. Last September, it was revealed that a joint venture between Muss Development and AvalonBay would be building a 30-story residential tower at 1501 Voorhies Avenue that would be four times taller than almost anything else in the area. Now, here's our first look at the large and rather glassy behemoth designed by Perkins Eastman Architects. According to revised building plans, the tower is two stories shorter than initially filed and has a height of 331 feet, 6 inches to the top of its rooftop mechanical bulkhead.
More details and renderings

January 11, 2016

Governor Cuomo to Transform the Subway With Free Wi-Fi, USB Chargers, and Mobile Payment

Is there anything in NYC that Governor Cuomo does like? He started his crusade to overhaul our infrastructure back in July when he revealed renderings for a $4 billion update to LaGuardia Airport. But this past week he pulled out all the stops, starting with a $3 billion redevelopment of Penn Station, a $1 billion expansion of the Javits Center, and now, a massive undertaking to "modernize and fundamentally transform" the MTA and the subway. Curbed reports that the Governor's latest plan includes expediting the addition of more countdown clocks, adding contactless payment by 2018, equipping all stations with Wi-Fi by the end of this year and cell phone service by the end of 2017, and outfitting both subways and buses with USB chargers.
More details right this way

January 10, 2016

Robert Kuster’s Hand Blown Glass Balloons Keep the House Party Going All Year

With the holidays behind us and the cold weather finally setting in, our next party seems farther away than we'd like to admit. With most of us our days spent either in our office or our apartment, why not invite the party into your living space with these vibrant hot glass balloons from artist Robert Kuster? Mr. Kuster started blowing glass as a second career, but has since achieved more success than most artisans do in their lifetime. His beautiful chandeliers currently hang in prestigious galleries, magnificent homes, hotels, upscale restaurants and public installations across the country, and now your New York apartment can be added to that list.
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January 10, 2016

A New York Minute With Architect Andre Kikoski

By Alyssa Alimurung

Last month, 6sqft kicked off a fun new series called A New York Minute, where we ask influential New Yorkers spitfire (and sometimes very random) questions about their life in the big city. Want to nominate yourself or someone you know? Get in touch! When 6sqft last heard from Andre Kikoski, he was itching to fly off to Niseko, Japan with his son for a ski trip; but it looks like the vacation may be on hold. Andre heads his own architecture firm, Andre Kikoski Architect, where they are currently working on a Nolita condo at 75 Kenmare, due to open in 2017. He's been living in Manhattan since 1995, making his way uptown from the Lower East Side to the Upper East Side. 6sqft shot him a few questions to find out more about his own New York experience.
Andre's NY minute this way

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