6sqft | NYC local news, events, and apartments

This home may be smaller than the average of those we showcase on 6sqft, but when it comes to incredible design details, it definitely doesn't come up any shorter than the rest. Jourdan Lawlor and her fiancé Tobin Ludwig purchased this sweet West Village pied-à-terre a few years ago for just $270,000, and after a $33,000 renovation, they turned their cramped 242-square-foot studio into a comfy home with brilliant, smart space-saving techniques like built-ins and space-maximizing illusions like white walls and good lighting. But a subdued color palette doesn't hurt this home. What it lacks in wacky wall coverings it makes up in the delightful interior touches all throughout. Curbed's Hana Alberts recently visited the apartment with photographer Max Touhey in tow—see some of their images ahead.
Tour the home here

Distinctive Homes

December 18, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Downtown Brooklyn Landmark for Sale; All The Ways You Can Describe One57

The Dime Savings Bank has just hit the market. The building, located next door to Junior’s diner and owned by JP Morgan, could fetch more than $100M. [Crain’s] An ongoing struggle… Here are all the ways the New York Times has tried to describe One57’s sales. [NYO] Developer Ben Shaoul sells his West Chelsea townhouse for $8.5M. He […]

Real Estate Trends

December 18, 2014

Rustic, Elegant Loft in Soho’s Tiffany Foundry Building Lists for $3M

Soho is one of NYC's most bustling neighborhoods, and if you're hoping to live in this action-packed hood look no further than this very cool loft that just popped up on the market. The spacious, three-bedroom apartment is located at 55 Prince Street in the Tiffany Foundry building built in 1861 and is currently listed for $3 million. The elegant, rustic unit has an open floor plan featuring original wooden beams, exposed brick, and oak flooring.
See the rest of the home here

Distinctive Homes

December 18, 2014

Daily Link Fix: 3D-Printed Paws Let Dog Run for the First Time; Fashion Week Is House Hunting

Derby the dog was able to run for the first time thanks to 3D-printed paws. [Designboom] This Staten Island library recalls the neighborhood’s maritime and oystering history. [ArchDaily] Fashion Week needs a new home; it’s been evicted from Lincoln Center. [West Side Rag] NYC’s “awkwardly shaped” tax lots, like the Hess Triangle, equal over five million square […]

Uncategorized

2015 Architectural League Prize Is Accepting Submissions for Authenticity Competition

The 2013 exhibition of winning proposals, via Architectural League of New York

December 18, 2014

2015 Architectural League Prize Is Accepting Submissions for Authenticity Competition

Budding architects and designers have the chance to submit proposals that cultivate new positions of authenticity within architecture, the task of this year's Architectural League Prize Competition, according to Arch Daily. Since 1981, this contest has been put on by the Young Architects + Designers Committee to recognize young practitioners. Authenticity has a very different meaning in today's digital world than it did in ancient Greece, for example, where the only two forms of copying were stamping and casting. Thus, the 2015 Authenticity competition asks participants to explore "how design, technology, and practice challenge authenticity and the ways that originality, expression, and authorship continue to be pursued."
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Architecture And Design

Davis Brody Bond, Architects of 9/11 Museum, Will Design New NYU Building in the Village

A rendering of the NYU expansion plan

December 18, 2014

Davis Brody Bond, Architects of 9/11 Museum, Will Design New NYU Building in the Village

Architecture firm Davis Brody Bond is continuing their tradition of designing projects met with much controversy. First came the 9/11 Museum, then the Frick Museum expansion, and now the new NYU building in the Village. Davis Brody Bond will join KieranTimberlake in designing the university's new building on the Coles Sports Center site on Mercer Street between Houston and Bleecker Streets. The building is part of the highly contentious $6 billion, 1.9 million-square-foot NYU 2031 expansion plan. The development agreement allows NYU to develop only one parcel of land at a time, with Coles being the first.
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December 18, 2014

Meredith Vieira Buys an $8.55M Penthouse at the El Dorado

By Annie Doge

All of Meredith Vieira's hard work has certainly paid off. According to the Post, the journalist-slash-talk-show-host-slash-game-show-host has just scooped up a penthouse at the El Dorado. The home is a three-bedroom stunner with two large terraces and Central Park reservoir views. The final closing price has yet to be revealed, but it was last asking $8.55 million in May when it went into contract. The previous owners paid $5.95 million for it back in 2011—surely a recent, beautiful, never-lived-in renovation helped give this CPW pad a price boost.
Have a peek inside

Celebrities

Distinctive Homes

The corner terrace at this $4.4M Stella Tower condo puts the city skyline at your feet

For $700K, this parkside Brooklyn co-op adds dramatic design details to classic pre-war bones

Bethenny Frankel lists her Bridgehampton property for $6M

$65M Sutton Place penthouse is highest on East Side waterfront

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

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

Behold the breathtaking views from this $18M home on the Montauk coastline

This $8.75M Village townhouse is a downtown dream home with an elevator, three terraces, and a rooftop office suite

This $3.75M Lefferts Manor townhouse has well-preserved historic details and every modern luxury

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

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December 17, 2014

Explore NYC in 3-D with Google Maps’ Latest Update

For those of you who remember the quirky Times story featuring a Google team's attempt to document every inch of Ellis Island, here comes the the payoff. The awe-inspiring world of Google Maps and Google Earth is growing into an even grander time suck with a slew of new city sites rendered in 3-D. Their latest update now lets us explore New York's landmarks from top to torch to spire, and all the details in between, right from our desktops. Some of the most impressive sites worth a gander include the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center.
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December 17, 2014

$2.5M Romanesque Revival Rowhouse in Prospect Heights Is Full of Original Details

"I want something with character." This is definitely a line brokers hear all the time. And if their current character-seeking client is looking to move to brownstone Brooklyn, this $2.5 million Romanesque Revival rowhouse in Prospect Heights is the perfect place to satisfy their check list. Located at 268 Prospect Place, the three-bedroom, 2,430-square-foot home was built by William L. Beers in 1899. It's oozing with historic details, including six fireplaces, stained glass transom windows, moldings galore, a carved wood staircase, sand wood floors, original wainscoting, cornices, and shutters.
Tour the historic home here

December 17, 2014

Can PS109 Affordable Artists’ Housing Slow the Gentrification of East Harlem?

We all know the typical gentrification pattern–artists move in to a neighborhood and make it hip; they're followed by trendy coffee shops and cool vintage stores; rents rise; the artists move on to the next frontier. But what if the influx of artists to a neighborhood slowed gentrification? It sounds like an impossible premise, but it just might be taking shape in East Harlem. Fast Co. EXIST takes a look at El Barrio’s Artspace PS109, the project which has transformed an abandoned public school building in East Harlem into 89 units of affordable live/work housing for artists and their families and 10,000 square feet of complementary space for arts organizations. A whopping 53,000 creatives applied to live in the building, where studios will rent for as low as $494/month and two-bedroom units will go for $1,022/month. But isn't Artspace’s goal to break the gentrification cycle—"to preserve the cultural fabric of a small corner of Manhattan that’s starting to change quickly" by preserving its affordable housing?
Read more ahead

December 17, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Ridgewood Apartments Going for Over Half a Million; The Condo Replacing Clinton Hill’s White Castle

Units in a brand new five-story residential building in Ridgewood are going for $339,000 all the way up to $769,000. The listings have only been live a day and two units are already in contract. [Curbed] Here are some renderings of the condo replacing Clinton Hill’s White Castle on Myrtle Avenue. [Brownstoner] The Naftali Group has sold The Bergen for […]

Real Estate Trends

December 17, 2014

Incorporated Architecture & Design’s Texas Hill House Was Inspired by Traditional Cow Barns

Like their Sixteen Doors House, Incorporated Architecture & Design’s Texas Hill House was inspired by traditional loft-like cow barns. Located on 25 acres in rural upstate New York in Craryville, a town at the base of the Berkshires, the three-bedroom home is strikingly modern while still blending in with its wooded farmland surroundings. It was developed for a young New York City-based couple–one born and bred in NYC and the other from Costa Rica and of Asian descent–who sought a retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday urban life. The home blends both of their decorative traditions as well as reminders of their travels through Europe, China, Japan, and South America.
Tour the rest of the home

December 17, 2014

1100 Architect Transforms a Boring Midtown Loft into Their Client’s Pop Art Dream Home

This home, which was previously your average-fair Midtown penthouse, was transformed by 1100 Architect to represent the playful and vibrant Pop art sensibility of the artists their clients admire most. With an art collection boasting names like Warhol, Riley, Lichtenstein and others, this penthouse renovation could be a mini-MoMA. The interior furnishings reflect the Pop style's infamous geometric forms and hard-polished surfaces like marble agglomerate floors, lacquer, stainless steel, glass, and plastic.
Tour this bright pad here

December 17, 2014

6sqft Gift Guide: A Minimal, Politically Correct Nativity Set by Émilie Voirin

If Jesus is your homeboy, you can share a bit of religious flair this holiday season without offending any Christian on your list. The Minimal Nativity Set is a contemporary take on the bible-based scene, employing beech wood or brass blocks inscribed with each scene member's name (Donkey, Joseph, Baby Jesus, etc.) to stand in for the traditional figurines. Created by French artist and designer Émilie Voirin, the blocks still represent the story and take place around the crib, but the characters have no skin color or features, leaving it up to people's imagination and personal beliefs.
More on the Minimal Nativity Set

December 17, 2014

NYU Professor Builds Himself a Tiny Cabin Using Recycled and Salvaged Materials

By Alyssa Alimurung

Everyone can use a break from the city, even those college professors we can’t imagine having lives outside the classroom. Equipped with a dream and a newly-bought plot of land in New Jersey, one NYU educator hired Derek “Deek” Diedricksen of RelaxShacks.com to build a tiny cabin perfect for grading papers and relaxation. The micro-pod was constructed on […]

December 17, 2014

Vote for 2014’s Building of the Year!

There is no shortage of towers on the rise in Manhattan, but amongst these glass and stone beauties are a handful that stand head and shoulders (and several hundred feet) above the rest. A red hot real estate market and cutting edge building technology have paved the way for towers of both unprecedented heights and prices. But worthy of equal credit are the visionary developers and architects who dare to change the NYC skyline. Here we've handpicked 12 of the most newsworthy buildings of 2014; these towers boast groundbreaking designs and record-breaking (or soon to be record-breaking) prices. But we ask you: Out of the dozen, which deserves the title "Building of the Year?" Cast a vote above to help us decide which is 2014's most important tower! Extended by popular demand… Voting ends TODAY, December 12th at 11:59 PM WEDNESDAY, December 17th at 11:59 PM and we’ll reveal the winner on Friday, December 19th. And if you’re still torn between two (or all), jump ahead for the low-down on each, from height to 2014 news highlights.
More on each of the buildings here

Ways You Can Give Gifts and Volunteer in NYC This Holiday Season

The holiday season is synonymous with gift-giving and sharing with others who may be less fortunate than you. This act of kindness can take on many forms; one might volunteer to serve hot food in a soup kitchen, another might donate warm clothing or kids' toys. Whatever your preferred mode of giving, there are ample opportunities in and around the city to share your holiday spirit with others. We've searched around and put together this list of the standard holiday do-gooding plus some other opportunities that could be considered a little more out-of-the-box.
Ways to give back here

December 16, 2014

Lubrano Ciavarra Architects’ West Village Townhouse Boasts a Plush Green Roof

This elegant West Village townhouse was recently renovated by Lubrano Ciavarra Architects, a Brooklyn-based firm founded by Anne Marie Lubrano and Lea Ciavarra in 1999. Nestled on a beautiful tree-lined street, it boasts a rich brick exterior and plenty of original details. The 2,900-square-foot home's design is a cool combination of modern, clean textiles and a very unique approach to incorporating nature in and outside of the house.
Take a look around here

December 16, 2014

Real Estate Wire: ‘Poor Door’ Building Has Private Pools; WeWork Now Worth $5 Billion

Check out the private pools at Extell’s “Poor Door” building, One Riverside Park. [Curbed] Co-working is cool! Shared workspace startup WeWork is now worth a staggering $5B. [WSJ] Not all of the city’s rising residential buildings are in a race to the finish line. This Brooklyn project has been stalled for nearly a decade. [NYT] Retail, […]

Real Estate Trends

December 16, 2014

$2.85M Soho Loft Mixes Historic Cast Iron Charm with Modern Industrial Design

This full-floor two-bedroom loft is located in the heart of SoHo's landmarked Cast Iron Historic District at 543 Broadway and is currently priced at $2.85 million. The expansive unit is situated on a high floor of a Neo-Classical loft building and is accessed through a private, key-locked elevator. From stainless steel appliances and glass-framed rooms to vaulted ceilings and original exposed brick, this home has the perfect combination of architectural details and luxury amenities.
Check out the rest of the loft here

Distinctive Homes

December 16, 2014

6sqft Gift Guide: Arbor Jewelry Stand Displays an Avian Inspiration

There's nothing worse than grabbing your favorite necklace just to realize that its chain is in a knot that would take you all day to detangle. Or when you reach for your favorite earrings to find one has gone missing. Know an absent-minded jewelry lover like this? Get them the Arbor Jewelry Stand this holiday season. Not only is it functional, but we love the avian inspiration that designer Zoë Mowat infused into the piece.
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Shop

December 16, 2014

Daily Link Fix: 25 Percent of Subways Are Late; Celebrate Veniero’s 120th Birthday with Free Cookies

25 percent of all subway trains are late, up 6 percent from last year. How ya feeling about that MTA price hike now? [Daily News] Legendary East Village Italian bakery Veniero’s is giving out free butter cookies to celebrate its 120th birthday on Thursday. [DNAinfo] The Living Christmas Tree Co. lets you rent live trees…we need to bring this to […]

Uncategorized

December 16, 2014

Brand New NYC Water Taxi Stop Makes It Easier to Explore Red Hook

Those who've been dying to check out up-and-coming Red Hook will now have a much easier, much more comfortable way of getting to the cozy, cute nabe. The New York Water Taxi Commission has just added a brand new stop that will ferry passengers to Van Brunt Street from Lower Manhattan, DUMBO and Midtown on the West Side. Locals residents have been championing for a stop for the last few years, citing that it would be a boon to business development in the area, particularly for those still hurting from the effects of Superstorm Sandy.
Find out more here

Transit

December 16, 2014

Times Square Is Getting a Heart-Beating Urban Drum for Valentine’s Day

As New Yorkers, we don't really think of Times Square as a romantic location, but for Valentine's Day 2015 we might just stand corrected. Brooklyn-based architecture firm Stereotank was announced as the winner of the annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design contest, a public art competition held for the past seven years by the Times Square Alliance and the Architectural League of New York. Stereotank's HEARTBEAT installation is an interactive, heart-beating, glowing urban drum.
More on HEARTBEAT ahead

December 16, 2014

Rent a Piece of History for $40K/Month with This Greenwich Village Townhouse

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

A fully furnished townhouse in Greenwich Village's landmarked MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District is available for a short-term lease for $40,000 per month. The 5,000-square-foot home has four levels along with a windowed cellar and a spectacular rooftop penthouse.
Take a look inside here

Distinctive Homes

THE 6SQFT SHOP

The best websites for buying and selling used furniture in NYC

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Everything you need to know about using a guarantor in NYC

15 quintessential NYC gifts for the New Yorker in your life

New York City's best holiday markets of 2023

Raising chickens in NYC: Laws, tips, and everything else you need to know

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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Is 125th Street the Next 14th Street? Big-Name Developers Think So.

125th Street via jmd41280 via photopin cc

December 15, 2014

Is 125th Street the Next 14th Street? Big-Name Developers Think So.

14th Street, 23rd Street, 86th Street–there's no question that these east-west thoroughfares are some of the city's most bustling corridors of commercial, cultural, and residential activity. And 125th Street in Harlem could now be joining their ranks, a real estate trend dissected in a WSJ article today. Big-name NYC developers are cashing in on the street's transformation. Greystone & Co. bought a $11.5 million site through a bankruptcy auction earlier this month, where they'll put 75 market-rate and affordable apartments, along with ground-floor retail space. Across the street, Continuum Co. will add 700 residential units and 85,000 square feet of retail. Nearby, Wharton Properties has obtained funding for their 33,000-square-foot retail complex that will be anchored by Whole Foods.
READ MORE

Real Estate Trends

December 15, 2014

Arne Glimcher, One of World’s Most Powerful Art Dealers, Buys $5.6M Madison Square Loft

By Annie Doge

If you're familiar with the NYC gallery scene you definitely know the Pace Gallery and its founder Arnold "Arne" Glimcher, one of the world's most powerful art dealers, as well as a film producer and director. According to city records, Arne and his son Marc have bought a $5.6 million Madison Square loft at 117 East 24th Street. The contemporary space boasts four bedrooms and 4,000 square feet as well as 11.5-foot ceilings and plenty of wall space to display one's art collection, though we're not sure which of the father-son art dealing pair will be residing in the loft.
Take a look around

December 15, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Jean Nouvel’s MoMA Tower Gets a Teaser Site; New Extell Mega Tower Coming to Times Square

Jean Nouvel’s MoMA tower at 53 West 53rd Street is back on track and it’s got a teaser site. [Curbed] Extell may bring a mega tall hotel tower to Times Square. [NYDN] Gowanus is also hot with hotel developments. There’s a seven-story project joining the already sizable list of accommodations on the rise. [DNA Info] You’re not […]

Real Estate Trends

December 15, 2014

Google-Backed Pedal-Powered Pod Cars Coming to a City Near You?

JPods, East River Skyway, an expanding Citi Bike—if one thing is clear, New York City's rapidly growing population has gotten a lot of people worried about how our already taxed infrastructure is going to account for all of these new bodies. The latest transportation idea to come out of the woodwork is not necessarily a new one, but it's one that's recently found a new boost thanks to interest and funding provided by everyone's favorite search giant: Google. Called "SkySMART," this new idea for mobility utilizes a series of sun- and pedal-powered pods that run along an elevated rail high above city traffic.
More on Skysmart here

December 15, 2014

QueensWay Elevated Park Moves Closer to Reality, State Allocates $444K for First Phase

It looks like the city is one big step closer to getting its second elevated park. DNA Info reports that the state has just allocated nearly $444,000 to the design of the first phase of the QueensWay, an urban renewal project that would transform 3.5 miles of abandoned elevated railway into a park akin to the High Line. The money was awarded to the Trust for Public Land via Governor Cuomo’s $709.2 million Regional Economic Development Council initiative. The first phase will consist of the design of the "Northern Gateway," which comprises a 1.5-mile-long stretch starting at Rego Park. The park is set to extend from Rego Park to Ozone Park.
Find out more here

December 15, 2014

6sqft Gift Guide: Metropolis Chalk Set Is Decorative and Functional

Here's a gift that both parents and children will get a kick out of. The Chalk Ware Metropolis chalk set contains eight custom-carved chalk pieces shaped like houses, skyscrapers, and everything in between. They don't resemble the buildings of a particular city, so they're perfect for your cousin in NYC or your aunt in Chattanooga. The fun pieces can be used as decorative objects on a mantle, and if mom or dad is feeling generous, the youngsters can take them and create their own works of art on the sidewalk or the chalkboard wall.
More on Chalk Ware

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December 15, 2014

Daily Link Fix: A History of the Rockettes; Journalists and Researchers Have Different Ideas of Gentrification

Did you know the Rockettes were originally the Missouri Rockets? Read this full history of the leggy holiday dancers. [Bowery Boys] A neighborhood guide to the Latino and Chinese cultures of Sunset Park. [Brooklyn Based] There seems to be a disparity between what journalists report as gentrification and what research actually finds. [City Lab] This […]

Uncategorized

December 15, 2014

EVENT: Here’s Your Chance to Check Out Billionaire Peter Brant’s Converted Con Ed Station

Now's your chance to get a look into one of the city's coolest spaces. EV Grieve tells us that from now through Sunday, the curious yellow brick building located at 421 East 6th Street will open its doors to the public for its first art show featuring Dan Colen. The former Con Ed substation was recently purchased for $27 million by billionaire Peter Brant from the estate of the late Walter de Maria, the famed sculptor who converted the 16,402-square-foot structure into an incredible home and studio back in the '80s. The event is sure to delight, if not for the artist's work (which ARTnews dubs "deeply mediocre"), then at least for the chance to get a first glimpse into the extraordinary space. Nondescript and gritty on the outside, the building’s cavernous interior spaces boast ceilings as high as 32 feet, and plenty of the near-century-old substation's original details remain intact.
Find out more here

December 15, 2014

Witness Superb Woodwork from the Days of Yore at This $2.4M Brooklyn Townhouse

Here at 6sqft we have a strong appreciation for all kinds of architecture–both old and new; but the truth of the matter is, they just don’t make homes like this anymore. In September 2013 this two-family home at 398 Sterling Place hit the market, asking nearly $3 million. When its price dropped to $2.79 million a month later, the townhouse was quickly snatched up. Now, the building’s 2,480-square-foot lower duplex is back on the market, touting restored original details and a new and improved reverse floor plan, for $2.39 million.
More pics inside

December 14, 2014

The Sea House by West Chin Architects Mixes Beachy Vibes with Contemporary Décor

Now that we've made it through the week of rain and dreary skies, we need a little extra sunshine in our lives, so we've decided to take a look at a beach house aptly titled the Sea. That whole nautical theme for a beach house can be a bit overdone, but we still like our seaside residences to feel as though we've been transported from the urban jungle to the sandy shores. That's why the Sea by West Chin Architects is the perfect getaway; it mixes contemporary décor with an easygoing design esthetic. Located in Long Beach, the Sea was designed to feel imposing, taking full advantage of its beach front location and stunning ocean views. Its other selling point is the abundance of outdoor spaces, including several balconies and terraces and the outdoor dining area with a bar and a lounge area by the pool.
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December 13, 2014

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

Park Slope’s Iconic Pavilion Theater May Go Residential Telecom Mogul Michael Hirtenstein Combines Three Apartments into One Elegant Tribeca Triplex REVEALED: New Look for Hell’s Kitchen Radio City Lofts Built Atop Historic Post Office Lena Dunham Buys $4.8M Brooklyn Heights Condo Traffic Light Installation Lets You Play Pong with Pedestrians on the Other Side of […]

Uncategorized

December 12, 2014

New Yorker Spotlight: Tony Muia Brings Us a Slice of NYC’s Largest Holiday Light Display in Dyker Heights

By Susan Cohen

Each December, New York transforms itself into a metropolitan holiday wonderland. From window displays to the Rockefeller Center tree to the Rockettes, the city is brimming with cheer. But there's one thing missing. Aside from the occasional decorated townhouse, New York lacks the light displays and decked-out front yards that are typically associated with the suburbs. But there is one place where New Yorkers can get their fill of small-town nostalgia, and it's just a quick trip away in Dyker Heights thanks to Tony Muia's bus tour of the "undisputed capital of Christmas pageantry." Inspired by the hospitality he experienced traveling abroad, Tony started giving guided pizza tours of Brooklyn in 2005. He later expanded A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours to include neighborhood tours and his famous Christmas Lights & Cannoli Tour, which was featured in a PBS documentary and on TLC. We recently spoke with Tony, the ultimate Brooklynite, about his passion for the borough, A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours, and the magic of Dyker Heights.
Read our full interview with Tony

December 12, 2014

How Bike-Friendly Architecture Can Transform Cities for the Better

By Steven Fleming

NYC is well on its way to becoming a bike-friendly city. With Citi Bike expanding and designs for bikes of all shapes and sizes growing in popularity, it's only a matter of time before we start seeing architecture built specifically for cyclists' use. In his article, “10 Points of a Bicycling Architecture”, originally published on ArchDaily, Steven Fleming explores ten ways major cities, like New York, can make this happen. A revolution is occurring in street design. New York, arguably the world’s bellwether city, has let everyday citizens cycle for transport. They have done that by designating one lane on most avenues to bicyclists only, with barriers to protect them from traffic. Now hundreds of cities are rejiggering to be bicycle-friendly, while in New York there is a sense that more change is afoot. Many New Yorkers would prefer if their city were more like Copenhagen where 40% of all trips are by bike. But then Copenhagen wants more as well. Where does this stop? If you consider that we are talking about a mode of transport that whips our hearts into shape, funnels many more people down streets than can be funneled in cars, has no pollution, and costs governments and individuals an absolute pittance, you won't ask where it stops, but how close to 100% the bike modal share can possibly go and what we must do to achieve that.
It's a beautiful day for a bike ride

December 12, 2014

Mayor De Blasio Builds a “Privacy Fence” Around Gracie Mansion to Keep Curious Eyes Out

“Man of the People” Mayor De Blasio seems to be getting a little annoyed with his constituents’ nosy nature. The Post reports that De Blasio has just erected a “privacy fence” adding another four feet to the home’s existing barrier. The new fence was constructed inside an existing red brick wall and a wrought-iron fence that […]

Celebrities

December 12, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Curious Pink Brooklyn House Wants $900K; Zaha Hadid Launches Teaser Site for Her High Line Condos

So bad, it’s good: Live in a bubblegum pink house in Gravesend, Brooklyn for $900K. [Curbed] Check out the teaser site for Zaha’s High Line condos. [520W28] Greenland, USA and Forest City Ratner will break ground on the second 100 percent affordable building for the Pacific Park Brooklyn development (formerly Atlantic Yards) on Monday. [6sqft inbox] Billionaire Steven Cohen […]

Real Estate Trends

December 12, 2014

6sqft Gift Guide: Insane Big Rig Exer-Desk Generates 100 Watts of Electricity

Do you have a friend who, year after year, promises that they'll work harder and exercise more? Pedal Power's kick-ass Big Rig exer-desk might be exactly what they need to stick with those new year's resolutions. This cool desk is totally "off-grid" and has the potential to generate up to 100 watts of electricity for one motivated user. And because it's modeled off an actual high-performance bike, it features an ergonomic seat for comfort, quick adjustments for different riders, a flywheel to smooth pedaling, and a wide range of gearing—meaning your giftee could easily go from tubby to Tour de France cyclist before the new year's close.
Find out more about the bike here

December 12, 2014

Stylish Williamsburg Loft in Desirable Gretsch Building Asks $2.5 Million

There’s a hot new loft available in Williamsburg’s coveted Gretsch Building, asking $2.5 million. The 1,832-square-foot corner apartment boasts three bedrooms and unobstructed views of the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. Add to that soaring 13-foot beamed ceilings, imported custom cabinetry, high-end custom finishes and…well, just look at it. The place is to die for.
More pics here

Distinctive Homes

December 12, 2014

This Suspended Tent Gives New Meaning to “Sleeping Among the Trees”

What happens when you combine an idea for a multi-story camping tent with the childlike love for treehouses? You get this fanciful creation known as Vista, a suspended "tree tent" or "portable treehouse" that allows campers to sleep among the trees (literally). Designed by British tent makers Tentsile, the suspended tent hangs between trees with a series of straps and ratchets. The basic unit has a roof and insect mesh, but isn't fully sealed on the sides to give the true experience of being one with nature. To add more stories to the tent structure, additional units can be attached underneath.
Learn more about the Vista tent

520 Fifth Avenue

Midtown West

Live at the center of NYC

1 beds starting at $2,445,000
2 beds starting at $3,435,000
3 beds starting at $6,775,000

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December 12, 2014

Luxurious Upper East Side Townhouse Fetches Impressive $9M

Massive townhouses that have received a modern overhaul can often feel cold and museum-like, but this Upper East Side stunner has managed to maintain its warm, cozy feel after getting a state-of-the-art contemporary upgrade from two-family home to one. Located at 435 East 87th Street, the five-story, six-bedroom home just sold for an impressive $8.9 million, according to city records. It was built in 1901, but its 6,500-square-foot interior has been completely reimagined as the ultimate "luxury entertainers' home." The classic décor, along with touches of the home's history like crown moldings and a sweeping staircase, make it pretty clear why the new owners dropped such a pretty penny.
Tour the rest of the home here

December 12, 2014

Ridgewood Gets Its Fourth Historic District with 990 Buildings

On the heels of the recent landmarks controversy, Queens' hottest new neighborhood just got its fourth landmarked historic district, the Central Ridgewood Historic District. The 40-block, 990-building area joins Ridgewood's three existing historic districts, Ridgewood North, Ridgewood South, and Stockholm Street. The district includes buildings along Madison Street and Catalpa Avenue, as well as others, which were recognized by the Landmarks Preservation Commission for exemplifying working class housing. Most of the Renaissance Revival brick row houses were built by German immigrants between 1906 and World War I.
More on Ridgewood's newest historic district

December 12, 2014

$2M Victorian Diamond in the Rough Could Be Your Next Dream Home