Search Results for: navy yard

July 31, 2015

Feasibility Study to Address Streetcars or Light Rail for Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront

In the ongoing discussion of expanding the city's mass transit options to underserved areas, we may be a step closer to addressing the need for transit along the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront–between Astoria, Red Hook and Sunset Park, according to CapitalNY. While many of those areas have transit to and from Manhattan covered, a north-west connection is needed (and relying on the G train doesn't help much). An advisory committee comprised of developers, transportation experts and civic organizers has formed to address this need. Recently, the consulting firm of HR&A Advisors (former employers of city planning commissioner Carl Weisbrod) was hired by the committee to study the feasibility of a streetcar service or a light rail line to connect Sunset Park to Astoria, connecting rapidly growing neighborhoods like Red Hook, Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn, as well as burgeoning business and industry hubs like Long Island City and the Brookyn Navy Yard.
Find out more
July 9, 2015

Construction Update: NYC’s First Micro Apartment Complex Is Now Fully Stacked

Moving day inches closer for those looking to claim a module in the city's first micro apartment complex. As of this week, My Micro NY is fully stacked, rising 120 feet from its site at 335 East 27th Street at the border of Gramercy in Kips Bay. The project, also known as Carmel Place, is the product of a city-sponsored design competition launched by former mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2012 as a way to test out if micro dwellings could be an answer to the city's housing shortage, and in turn give enough reason for adjusting NY's dated building codes to allow for smaller units better suited for today's shrinking households. As it stands, the legal minimum is 400 square feet, while My Micro NY's apartments measure a mere 260 to 360 square feet.
More images of the construction
June 4, 2015

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 6/4-6/10

Kim Gordon, the unstoppable, inspirational Jane-of-all-trades leads the week with the opening of her latest fine art exhibition—as if playing in two bands and penning a best-selling memoir were not enough already. Novice art collectors can have their day at Cotton Candy for their very popular annual Tiny Trifecta, where all works by renowned artists are just $100. And being thrifty is in the air with the Museum Mile Festival which is offering free admission to nine museums along 5th Avenue. But if art isn't your thing, there's still lots more to do: get cultured with a French flick in Washington Square Park, or schooled at Lost Lectures as it returns to a secret, former ship-building warehouse somewhere in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
All the best events here
May 13, 2015

Move It Whole Foods, Brooklyn Is Getting a Wegmans!

Everyone rejoice! East Coast foodie favorite Wegmans is finally coming our way, inking a deal to open its first ever NYC location in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The New York Times reports that the supermarket giant will take up a whopping 74,000 square feet, anchoring the new shopping complex slated to replace Admiral's Row. Wegmans beat out three other proposals vying to enter the scene but was ultimately chosen because of the lack of affordable grocers in the area, and the store's commitment to bring 600 jobs to the area, 200 of which will be full-time—double what other proposals promised to deliver.
More on Wegmans coming to Brooklyn here
May 13, 2015

POLL: Is the Reign of Whole Foods Coming to an End?

Last week, we learned that Whole Foods is planning to open a cheaper chain of stores, targeting millennials and vying to compete with other affordable stores like Trader Joes. And today, the internet is abuzz with the news that a Wegmans grocery store is coming to the Brooklyn Navy Yards. This northeast chain is popular […]

May 9, 2015

May Design Agenda: 6sqft’s Guide to Navigating NYCxDesign Week

NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s official celebration of all things design, hits town from May 8–19, 2015. Home to more designers than any other US metro area, NYC is one of the world’s design capitals. Now in its third year, NYCxDESIGN spotlights the city’s diverse design community and its contributions to our economy and everyday life and increases awareness of and appreciation for design with a collaborative mix of cultural and commercial offerings. The seemingly endless program lineup offers exhibitions, installations, trade shows, talks, launches, open studios and receptions all across the city to celebrate the efforts of everyone from students to stars of the local and international design community. This year will see hundreds of events covering topics from graphic design to architecture, technology and urban design to fashion and product design, interiors to landscape, furniture to design thinking and more. It will be hard to head in any direction and not stumble into a design-related event, but we've compiled a guide to a few of the top collaborative efforts and highlighted some of our picks.
Check out our Design Week picks, this way
April 29, 2015

Feng Shui Affordable Housing Coming to Flushing; Bronx Man Squatting in a Barn Won’t Budge for Developers

Downtown Brooklyn’s Marriott Hotel will get a major makeover that includes a Navy Yard-inspired lounge and a bar stocked with local craft brews. [DNA Info] Inside the restoration of the gothic-style Bush Terminal International Exhibit Building on 42nd Street. [NYT] Garland Roberts, an Army veteran and a longtime activist, has been squatting in a condemned barn […]

April 21, 2015

City’s First Micro-Apartment Project ‘MY Micro NY’ Ready for Stacking

Just in time for Earth Day, New York's first micro-unit apartment building, dubbed My Micro NY, is entering its final construction phase. When finished later this year, urbanites will have a chance to live within the center of the city in a brand new building flush with amenities, all for under $3,000. Developed by Monadnock Development and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the soon-to-be-nine-story structure wrapped up foundation work this past winter, and a one-story steel platform is ready to receive 55 modular units. The units are currently being built off-site at the Brooklyn Navy Yard by a team of 50 workers. In late May, the units will be shipped to the Gramercy Park lot at 335 East 27th Street where they will be stacked and bolted together along with stairs, an elevator, and other shared spaces.
More details ahead
April 9, 2015

At Brooklyn’s Gateway, Woods Bagot Kicks Off Construction of the Jay Street Residences

AmTrust Realty has recently kicked off construction on a 250,000-square-foot, mixed-use project near Brooklyn's Manhattan Bridge approach. The development will be a step towards reconnecting Downtown Brooklyn to its waterfront, and, along with several other proposals, helps remedy a maelstrom of mid-century planning disasters between the two areas. Known as the Jay Street Residences by its designers Woods Bagot Architects, the project has previously gone by the addresses 120 Nassau, 199 Jay, 203 Jay, and 213 Jay Street. Its 38,000-square-foot lot, now under excavation, will give rise to an L-shaped complex composed of a 33-story tower anchoring Concord and Jay Streets, as well as an eight-story hotel and amenity wing along its western Jay Street frontage.
More details on the project here
February 10, 2015

My 3,900sqft: Four Ladies Turn a Clinton Hill Townhouse into a ‘Pop-Up Mansion’

What happens when you let four ladies run loose in a four-story Clinton Hill townhouse? Closets, corners and a pantry spilling over with shoes and coats, apparently. "There are shoes lining the kitchen pantry shelves; the tiny third bedroom upstairs that resembles a Swiss chalet in the twilight zone is filled with racks of vintage frocks, coats and designer handbags. You can really tell almost everyone in this house either works in fashion or hoards it," says owner and 6sqft writer extraordinaire Michelle Cohen.  We recently visited Michelle in her Brooklyn home to see the pretty amazing setup she has created for herself. Michelle, whose house you've certainly seen on our site before, is currently undertaking a major renovation that will turn her and her fiance Stanley's brick-clad buy into a modern-meets-historic home with a rental garden apartment. But while Michelle's poring over drawings with her architect, she's found a few friends to share the journey, and the house; namely three fabulous women with wonderfully different personalities. "Stanley likes to call it a sorority for outstanding ascendant young creative professional women," she muses. Jump ahead to meet Michelle and the girls—who range from a Vogue fashion stylist to a creative producer to a journalist who covers evolution, disease and health policy—in their home to get a closer look.
See more here
February 9, 2015

PlaceInvaders Invites You to Have Dinner in NYC’s Most Extraordinary Private Homes

There's definitely no shortage of amazing homes to ogle over from your desktop (especially when on 6sqft), but how often do you actually get to experience one of these places up close and personal? PlaceInvaders is a cool new local startup that gives us regular folks the keys to some of the city's most incredible apartments. Here individuals are invited to schmooze with fellow NYC inhabitants while also wining and dining on often experimental fare. PlaceInvaders recently brought foodies into Cindy Gallop's infamous “Black Apartment,” while another event found a group eating delicious moose pot pie (yes, you read that right) in an artist's loft overlooking the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Find out how to sign up here
January 14, 2015

A Madcap Engineer Wanted to Pave Over the East River to Create a “Mega-Manhattan”

The East River may not be the most beautiful body of water we've ever witnessed, but that certainly doesn't mean we'd like to see it paved over. That's exactly what T. Kennard Thomson, an engineer and planner, proposed in 1911, hoping to create a mega-Manhattan. Plus, he wanted to add a long hunk of infill at the southern tip of Manhattan, creating a new peninsula bolstered by Governor's Island, add more new land in the Hudson between Bayonne and Manhattan, and relocated the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Let's take a closer look at this ambitious, but never realized, plan
November 18, 2014

Accidental Placemakers: Grand Architecture That’s Given Way to Micro-Enclaves of Culture

Lots of clout is given to the grand scheme design of buildings and parks, and for good reason; but every so often a singular design element or function can unexpectedly emerge from a work to create something even more extraordinary. Destinations in their own right, these "accidental placemakers" turn run-of-the-mill architectural features into dynamic public spaces that create memorable connections to their immediate sites and improve the quality of everyday life. Here we take a look at five examples found in New York City showing how great architecture, in the details, can give way to something more impactful than just a pretty building.
See some of the city's unexpected placemakers
October 27, 2014

Lights, Camera, Annoyance: Why NYC Is the New Hollywood and Not Everyone’s Happy About It

Film crews on your block: Yet another thing New Yorkers love to hate, whether it’s a case of grumble-brag or a genuine inconvenience. Some people love the opportunity to watch their favorite shows being made (and maybe get a peek at their favorite stars) and argue that it boosts the local economy. Others give the whole gig a big two thumbs down.
Find out who’s filming, where and when–and how you can make the most of it.
October 15, 2014

Bed-Stuy: From Harlem and Hip-Hop to Hipsters, Hassids and High Rents

Brooklyn is changing fast and at the forefront of this is Bedford-Stuyvesant—or as it's more commonly known, Bed-Stuy. Like most New York neighborhoods, Bed-Stuy has had its ups and downs, its most notable down being the 80s and 90s when crime and drugs were at a record high. But as hard as the times may have gotten, the neighborhood has maintained itself as one of the city's most culturally significant. Bed-Stuy has long been home to one of the largest concentrations of African-Americans in New York, it boasts beautiful well-preserved architecture spanning countless styles and centuries, and of course, there is the neighborhood's central role in the hip-hop movement.
More on the history and future of Bed-Stuy
October 3, 2014

The Flowerbox Building: A Sustainable Gem in a Storied Setting

Built in 2007, The Flowerbox condo building at 259 East Seventh Street, about mid-way between Avenues C and D, is considered by many to be one of the city’s most beautiful new developments–and definitely a neighborhood standout, featuring a vertical garden that waters itself. The building boom that started with the 21st century and has continued apace since the end of the most recent economic downturn has given Downtown Manhattan an impressive collection of starchitect-designed creations, complete with Sky Garages, Boxwood Mazes and plenty of glass curtain walls. But the Flowerbox Building continues to charm with its design, quality and curb appeal.
Find out about the vertical
September 29, 2014

Goldilocks Blocks: Vanderbilt Avenue in Wallabout, Brooklyn

The culturally rich, architecturally stunning Brooklyn neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill need little introduction. The Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north is busily growing as a start-up business incubator and creative and commercial hub. An “in-between” zone—the sort of area that engenders a question mark and a furrowed brow when perusing neighborhood maps—lies just north of Myrtle Avenue and south of the Navy Yard. Known as Wallabout, the area was named for Wallabout Bay to the north, much of which was filled in to create the Navy Yard in the 19th century. Unique among its neighbors, a block-long stretch of this border district feels more like a small-town side street than a growing urban crossroads.
Find out what makes this historic block so special, and why it’s likely to stay that way.
September 17, 2014

Sunset Park: How Creativity and Commerce are Transforming This Waterfront Neighborhood

With plans in place that call for a public waterfront bustling with creative industry and commerce rather than luxury residential developments, Sunset Park is not on its way to becoming the next hip NYC residential neighborhood–and that’s a good thing. Located on Brooklyn's western waterfront flank, there are really two sides to Sunset Park. The neighborhood, generally defined as the area between 65th Street, the Prospect Expressway, Eighth Avenue and the East River, has long been a thriving residential community. Sunset Park is also home to about 15 million square feet of warehouse and light industrial space. The key to the neighborhood’s future may be the point at which the two meet.
Find Out How Fashion May Give Sunset Park a Chance to Shine As the New Garment District
September 16, 2014

REVEALED: East River Skyway Will Bring Brooklyn Commuters to Manhattan in Under Four Minutes

There's no stopping the Brooklyn development boom, but getting to and from the borough from Manhattan will increasingly become a nightmare with thousands of new residential units hitting the market in the coming years. If you've commuted from Brooklyn to Manhattan (and vice versa) you know that the subway system is already taxed. But as more and more homes are added throughout the borough, it's surprising that no plans have been made to alleviate the transportation stress that will soon come with it. Until now. Today, Dan Levy, the president and CEO of CityRealty*, will present his proposal for the 'East River Skyway', an aerial gondola system that would run along the Brooklyn waterfront and into Manhattan, bringing commuters over the river in just 3.5 minutes.
Find out more about the proposed project
September 3, 2014

Coffee Culture: Are Neighborhood Cafes the First Sign of Gentrification?

From “coffices” to lab-like minimalist gourmet coffee meccas to cozy neighborhood hangouts, neighborhood cafes are a fine example of the essential “third place” mentioned in discussions of community dynamics: that place, neither work nor home, where regulars gather and everyone’s welcome. Along with yoga studios, art galleries, community gardens, vintage clothing shops, restaurants with pedigreed owners and adventurous menus and, some say, a change in the offerings on local grocery shelves, cafes are often the earliest sign of neighborhood change. The neighborhood cafe serves as a testing ground for community cohesiveness while adventurous entrepreneurs test the still-unfamiliar waters around them. Beyond the literal gesture of offering sustenance, cafes provide a place where you can actually see who your neighbors are and appreciate the fact that at least some of them are willing to make an investment locally.
Get a fleeting glimpse of old New York City cafe culture in the West Village, meet the future of coffee distribution in Red Hook.
July 7, 2014

Real Estate Wire: KPF’s New Supertall Tower for Midtown Site Sensitive?; Crown Heights and East New York Having “A Moment”

Today’s real estate news highlights: Conversions, condos, rising land prices, and, of course, more coffee shops. It looks like Crown Heights is “having a moment” as Brooklyn’s new “it” neighborhood. [New York Times] Oh, it looks like East New York’s moment has arrived as well — though this change has a bit more substance. Under the […]

May 27, 2014

Diane von Furstenberg’s Penthouse Sparkles Above Her Meatpacking HQ

The headquarters of the "Queen of the Wrap Dress" (ladies, you know what I'm talking about if you've ever stood in line for one of these sample sales!) is well known for the big, geometric glass structure that sits perched atop the traditional Meatpacking District building. Not so well known, though, is that inside this rooftop crystal is Ms. von Furstenberg's penthouse apartment.  And just as you'd expect, the space is full of all of the sleek, yet glamorous style that the designer expresses in her clothing. Conceptualized by Work Architecture, the Diane von Furstenberg headquarters was adapted from this landmarked meat market building to house the firm's flagship store, administrative offices, and production space. The re-imagined rooftop is not only an apartment, but a garden oasis. The staircase, dubbed the "stairdelier" by the architects since it is lined with Swarovski crystals, ties the live/work space together and is its crowning jewel. Descending diagonally through the building's six stories, it reflects light throughout the entire interior.
More about the sparkling staircase and all of the interior eye candy this way
May 19, 2014

Your Art and Design Events Agenda, For the Week of May 19, 2014

We’re all looking forward to a long weekend this week, so why not get amped for Memorial Day by boning up on some of the knowledge this city has to offer? School yourself on Russia’s Modern Masters, learn about the genius of the Scandinavian design approach, or go one on one with a Whitney Museum artist. As Memorial Day looms, so does the opening of the city’s greatest isle of relaxation: Governors Island. You know summer is almost here when the ferries start running over to Manhattan getaway, so head to the ferry terminal this weekend!
All the best events here