Search Results for: brooklyn history

As real estate developers and brokers continue rebranding neighborhoods with new nicknames, some community members fear this gentrifies and strips the history away from their nabes. Like NoLo (SoHo + Nolita + Lower East Side) and DoBro (Downtown Brooklyn) before it, SoHa, the new branding moniker for South Harlem, has been met with resistance from residents. According to Crain’s, newly elected state Senator Brian Benjamin, a native of Harlem, talked with so many residents that opposed the term SoHa, he has introduced a bill banning people, specifically brokers, from using the nickname as a marketing tool.
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June 1, 2017

Art Nerd NY’s top art, architecture, and design event picks – 6/1-6/7

Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top art, design and architecture event picks for 6sqft readers! Tis finally outdoor movie screening season! This week, the French Embassy’s Films on the Green debuts at Central Park and Yotel’s Midtown Rooftop Cinema kick off your movie-under-the stars summer. The Sing For Hope Pianos are back, beckoning your musical stylings across the five boroughs. Design mavens can network on the Intrepid for the annual IDLNY Gala, and Perkins + Will open their doors for drinks and discussion with the Architectural League. The Other Fair brings a host of international artists to Greenpoint, while Lars Jan’s short film comes to Times Square for the month. Finally, do not miss the debut of British artist Lucy Sparrow’s all-felt bodega, which takes over the Biergarten at the Standard High Line for three weeks!
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Events & Things To Do

May 18, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 5/18-5/24

Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top art, design and architecture event picks for 6sqft readers! There’s nothing better than walking around the city when the weather is great, and this week’s round up will get you outdoors and enjoying the sun. Open studios abound on Saturday and Sunday, offering art lovers a chance to peek into the private studios of artists across the boroughs. The city's sacred sites—churches, synagogues and temples—are also swinging their doors open, inviting the public to bask in the beauty of their stained glass collections.
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Events & Things To Do

May 17, 2017

NYC’s 10 best historic house museums

By Dana Schulz

Did you know there are 23 house museums across the five boroughs? All of which are supported by the Historic House Trust, a nonprofit that works in conjunction with the Department of Parks & Recreation to preserve these sites of cultural and architectural significance. From farmer's cottages to gilded mansions, these public museums span 350 years of city history and offer fun additions such as art collections, historic holiday-themed events, and specialized tours. Ahead, 6sqft has put together a list of 10 house museums that represent some of NYC's most storied history.
Check out our favorite house museums

May 12, 2017

INTERVIEW: Urban archaeologist Joan Geismar on the artifacts she’s dug up across New York

By Emily Nonko

Joan Geismar boasts a job that'll make any urban explorer jealous. For the past 32 years, she's operated her own business as an archaeological consultant, digging underneath the streets of New York City to find what historical remnants remain. Her career kicked off in 1982, with the major discovery of an 18th-century merchant ship at a construction site near the South Street Seaport. (The land is now home to the 30-story tower 175 Water Street.) Other discoveries include digging up intact remnants of wooden water pipes, components of the city’s first water system, at Coenties Slip Park; studying the long-defunct burial ground at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; and working alongside the renovation in Washington Square Park, in which she made a major revelation about the former Potter's Field there. With 6sqft, she discusses what it felt like unearthing a ship in Lower Manhattan, the curious headstone she found underneath Washington Square Park, and what people's trash can tell us about New York history.
The full interview ahead

May 11, 2017

Comedian Chris Rock lists Clinton Hill carriage house for $3.85M

Chris Rock has just listed his cool carriage house in the Clinton Hill Historic District, according to the New York Post. The comedian, who has owned the three-story home at239 Waverly Avenue since 1994, has been renting it since moving out in '96. The historic 1901 property was last listed for rent in 2013 with an ask as high as $15,000/month at one point. The new sales ask is $3.85 million for the renovated residence with room for two or three bedrooms, a 23-foot-wide master suite with skylights, and the elusive urban perk of being above a parking garage for not one but two cars.
Find out more about the carriage house and its twin

May 11, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 5/11-5/17

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! Get outside of the white cube this week and experience an art opening inside of a corporate lobby, or experience an architecture talk inside of an art museum. Celebrate Haiti’s rich culture with the kick off of their film fest, then check out future art stars at FIT’s graduate exhibition. Grace Exhibition Space hosts a five-hour performance art event, and the historic Salmagundi Club on Fifth Avenue opens its doors for the ARC Salon Exhibition. Head to the Bronx for JMR’s latest solo show, or spend the week at the architectural events lead by Van Alen’s Spring Festival.
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May 4, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 5/4-5/10

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! Another art fair week is descending onto New York, bringing in collectors, artists, and galleries from every corner of the globe. This year’s Frieze week is a little more chill than last year’s—the fair itself has shortened by a day, and several of the satellite fairs have declined to make a reappearance. However, despite a scaled down event, there are plenty of additional options to fill your social calendar, including sister fairs CONTEXT and Art New York, and a show entirely made up of immersive installations curated by SPRING/BREAK in Brooklyn. For those who are more into design and architecture, the Collective Design Fair opens with the very best from the fusion of the art and design worlds, while Times Square gives us a glimpse into the terrifying vision that Robert Moses had for Lower Manhattan through a new animation.
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Events & Things To Do

May 2, 2017

Acclaimed novelist Jonathan Safran Foer lists lovely Boerum Hill townhouse for $10.4M

By Annie Doge

Award-winning novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, author of "Everything Is Illuminated" and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," has listed his brownstone at 374 Pacific Street in Boerum Hill for $10.4 million, according to Variety. When his first book in ten years, "Here I am," was published last year, the Times referred to it as "often brilliant, always original but sometimes problematic," and though we can't find anything at all problematic about this 1899 Greek Revival residence, the former two accolades certainly apply. It was brilliantly renovated to include a three-story atrium cut through its core and a full rear wall of kitchen windows that overlook the private garden, and it's full of original touches like a charming mix of mid-century-modern and rustic furniture and plenty of built-in bookshelves (of course). Perhaps all of this, plus the fact that there's a separate garden floor apartment, is why Foer thinks he can double his profits after paying $5.4 million for it just a few years ago.
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Second building in Domino Sugar megaproject to break ground next month; new renderings

260 Kent; rendering courtesy of COOKFOX

April 27, 2017

Second building in Domino Sugar megaproject to break ground next month; new renderings

Two Trees Management will break ground next month on 260 Kent Avenue at the corner of Grand Street and Kent Avenue, the second building to rise at the Domino Sugar Williamsburg megaproject site. Designed by COOKFOX Architects, the 462,000 square-foot, 42-story mixed-use tower on the site of the former sugar manufacturing facility will create "a prominent visual corridor that leads to the East River waterfront," according to a press release.
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April 20, 2017

First look at Domino Sugar Factory’s 11-acre park and waterfront esplanade

By Dana Schulz

With building construction well under way at the Domino Sugar Factory site, Two Trees Management has now released details about the 11-acre park that will anchor the three-million-square-foot Williamsburg mega-development. To be known as Domino Park and designed by James Corner Field Operations, the quarter-mile open space will boast a new waterfront esplanade, six acres of parkland, a plethora of preserved artifacts, and easier waterfront access. In addition to sharing several new renderings, Two Trees also announced that the park will open in the summer of 2018.
All the details and renderings ahead

My 900sqft: A podcasting pioneer fills her family’s West Village apartment with historic American relics

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 West Village apartment of podcasting pioneer and DJ Suzy Chase. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

April 18, 2017

My 900sqft: A podcasting pioneer fills her family’s West Village apartment with historic American relics

By Diane Pham

Years ago, when Suzy Chase was presented with the opportunity to bring every piece of furniture from her childhood Kansas home to NYC, there was no question of what she'd take, but rather how she'd take it all with her. Steeped in a bounty of antiques and heirlooms, Suzy knew she could never part with the items that she loved so much growing up. So rather than putting it all into storage, she made the decision to clear out her family's 900-square-foot West Village apartment and fill it with as much of her Kansas furniture as possible. While many of you are probably asking why she didn't consider selling or donating these items, there is, of course, a twist to this story, and her situation is one that is quite unique: She's a descendant of the Chase family, one of the United States' most important political families. Ahead, have a look inside Suzy's home, a modestly sized two-bedroom filled with relics from the Revolutionary and Civil wars, centuries-old paintings, rare books and photographs, and countless other objects that were on American soil well before the Mayflower even touched Plymouth Rock.
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Why is New York City called the Big Apple?

Photo via Public Domain Pictures

April 13, 2017

Why is New York City called the Big Apple?

Most of the nicknames ascribed to New York make literal sense: Gotham; Empire City; the City That Never Sleeps; the City So Nice They Named It Twice. However, the context behind the “Big Apple” nickname isn’t as obvious. To help us understand the moniker, the New York Public Library detailed a history of the name, taking us through a tour of what “big apple” has meant throughout centuries.
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History

April 13, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 4/13-4/19

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! This week, check out the legacy of the Department of Tropical Research Field Expeditions at the Drawing Center through a series of nature drawings that date back over a century, then speed into the future and explore androgyny at Prince Street Project Space. Amanda Marie’s Darger-esque pieces open at MARCY Projects, and The Corp shows off an exhibition made over one hellish evening. Art group The Happening is back for an evening to raise money for Planned Parenthood, and you can go goth to support the blog Art F City. Finally, grab a hard hat and explore the abandoned Ellis Island Hospital with Untapped Cities, then dive into a bag of popcorn as the Tribeca Film Festival comes back to town.
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Events & Things To Do

April 6, 2017

Outrageous Bronx mansion built for Jesus’ second coming finally sells

Atop the city's second-highest peak, in Riverdale, the Bronx, this opulent mansion has been beckoning the heavens–and seeking a buyer–since 2009 when it hit the market with an ask of $14 million; As 6sqft previously reported, the 17-room 1home was built in 1928 for an eccentric owner who never actually lived there herself, but rather constructed it for Jesus’ second coming. The house was asking $11 million in 2013 and re-listed with a $10 million price tag in 2015. Welcome2TheBronx reports that the home finally sold for $6,250,000 on January 9th of this year.
Tour this unusual home

April 6, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 4/6-4/12

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! This week, designer agnes b. teams up with Craig Costello of Krink for a photo show and clothing collaboration, while Ilegal Mezcal presents a new music series to benefit Planned Parenthood. Street artist Swoon presents a series of prints curated by Brooklyn Street Art to benefit her Heliotrope Foundation, and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum opens a show dedicated to the glitzy aesthetics of the Jazz Age. Flemish artist Peter Depelchin makes his American debut in Brooklyn, and Spoke Art opens a massive group show dedicated to David Lynch. Finally, curator Akeem Duncan ponders the concept of "forever," and the Rubin Museum asks visitors to slow down for Slow Art Day.
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Events & Things To Do

April 4, 2017

Explore the homes of NYC’s notable writers with an audio-narrated tour

Some of the greatest literary giants of all time lived and wrote in New York City. In celebration of the 200th anniversary of HarperCollins, which was founded in NYC, the publishing company created an interactive walking tour map that narrates the history of each author as you walk (h/t DNAinfo). Just a few of the famed Big Apple authors include Harper Lee, Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright.
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April 4, 2017

The 10 best neighborhoods for New York City artists

Like most things in New York, creative communities come and ago as new development and rising rents force artists to move on to the next best, or cheaper neighborhood. While 6sqft found 'hoods like the Upper East Side, Harlem and Long Island City to be the best places for artists a few years back, we've updated our top-10 list to reflect the changing times. Ahead you'll find some areas you may expect--Sunset Park and Bushwick, for example, along with more up-and-coming artsy enclaves like Newark, Washington Heights, and the South Bronx.
The full list right this way

March 31, 2017

18th-century Dutch Colonial home, one of the city’s last, is for sale for the first time in 40 years

The Cornelius Van Wyck House in Douglaston, Queens, built in 1735 and both a New York City landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places, is now for sale asking $3.25 million (h/t Curbed). The home has been called New York City's "most impressive architectural remnant of the early Dutch Culture." In addition to its historic and architectural significance, it's located on Little Neck Bay and is one of the largest true waterfront properties in Queens. The home at 126 West Drive has been well-tended over the years, with many “interesting details of the Dutch period” still intact according to the property's 1966 landmark designation report.
Get a closer look at this unique piece of New York history

March 29, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 3/30-4/5

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! Spring is upon us and so is a whole new week of great art events. This weekend, see some of the best of the photography world at AIPAD or head to Brooklyn to check out Welancora Gallery’s new partnership with Nu Hotel. The Brooklyn Museum is also deconstructing the artist’s persona and hosting a new Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition. #MidnightMoment also kicks off a new film in Times Square—this April, Naoko Tosa’s "Sound of Ikebana" will take over the screens every night. Finally, come pick up my new book, "The Art of Spray Paint," and check out its corresponding exhibition at Wallworks Gallery in the Bronx.
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Events & Things To Do

March 28, 2017

‘Cash Cab’ will return later this year; Paul Manafort’s shady NYC real estate dealings

By Dana Schulz

New York-based designer (and 13-year U.S. citizen) Karim Rashid said he had a “crazy journey” getting by US Border Control at JFK. [Dezeen] Discovery’s trivia show “Cash Cab” hasn’t aired new episodes since 2005, but it’ll return later this year with a series of guest hosts. [Huffington Post] 10 lost or never-built structures in Prospect Park. [Untapped] An […]

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March 24, 2017

Behind the counter and into the caves at Murray’s Cheese

By James and Karla Murray

Murray's Cheese was founded in 1940 on Cornelia Street. When Rob Kaufelt bought the business in 1991, he grew the store into an internationally known food destination that now includes educational programs, a full-service restaurant, catering, and state-of-the-art cheese aging caves in Long Island City. Personally, our love affair with Murray’s Cheese began in 1994, when we were newlyweds on a budget, often buying cheese from the small Bleecker Street store to eat with some freshly baked bread purchased from the nearby Zito & Sons Bakery. Plus, with Murray’s being our namesake, we felt an immediate connection to the store. Just last month, the Kroger Company purchased the equity of Murray’s Cheese and its flagship Greenwich Village location to form a merger of the two companies. As this new era approaches, we decided to capture all the cheesy goodness of the store, restaurant, and caves, as well as chat with Rob, cavemaster PJ, and Murray's Cheese Bar's general manager Jake Goznikar to learn about Murray's history, unique contributions to local and world-wide food culture, and future.
Take the grand tour

March 23, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 3/23-3/29