Because not only is the suburban staple “hip,” it is also glitzy—two words that though not often used in the same sentence, no doubt spring to the lips of New Yorkers when they think of strip malls, highway exit ramps and establishments that serve chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks and oversized, sugary cocktails.
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E gads! A woman sustained minor injuries on a Citibike. [DNAinfo] How Superstorm Sandy will reshape the building code. [Crain's] A changed neighborhood houses two architectural retail gems. [NYT] Housing group presses New York’s next mayor to make affordable housing gains. [WSJ] Ben & Jerry’s to create city-inspired ice cream flavors. [Atlantic Cities] Manhattan broker investigated for photoshopping townhouse photos. [Post] Related to ban smoking in all apartments nationwide. [NYT] Williamsburg community board to fight boozy barbershop. [Gothamist] Neither cars nor bikes flock to Barclays, arena-goers favor public transport. [NYT] Thor Equities is also going on a buying spree in Chicago. [Bloomberg] Midtown South office leasing tightens, but Downtown lags. [TRD] Mansion supply dwindles in America’s wealthiest towns. [CNBC] Meditation is becoming more mainstream in New York. [DNAinfo] Now renters are unable to find a $2,800 a month two-bedroom in Greenpoint? [Brownstoner] Storage companies focus on increasingly lucrative Manhattan market. [TRD] Neo-traditional affordable housing rises in Bed-Stuy. [Brownstoner] Daily News claims that Coney Island is attracting “hip” chains. Like Applebees. [Daily News] MTA awards $208 million contract to complete the first phase of Second Ave. subway. [Crain's] Fed paper revives debate about taking over underwater mortgages via eminent domain. [Bloomberg]
Coldwell Banker—it’s a name that most Americans know from front yard for-sale signs across the country. Most Americans, that is, except for New Yorkers. But now Coldwell Banker is making inroads into in what may well be the most lucrative—and most competitive—real estate market in the country.
The mega-brokerage (the company claims to be the largest real estate franchise in North America) has announced that it will be entering the New York market via a franchise agreement with residential brokerage the Bellmarc Group (which acquired rental-focused rival AC Lawrence last November). The two companies will now be known as Coldwell Banker Bellmarc and Coldwell Banker AC Lawrence—a relationship that will give the real estate giant a toehold in the clubby world of New York real estate while offering Bellmarc a connection to Coldwell’s national and international network of clients.
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Some people are using Citibike for spinning (why not just bike?). [NYT] Barclays brings a few new customers to nearby businesses. [WSJ] New Bay Ridge massage parlors stoke fears of prostitution. [Bk Paper] Dolly Lenz is leaving Douglas Elliman—but where is she going? [TRD] A happy ending: Story House condo sells out. [Curbed] The carriage houses of Brooklyn Heights. [Brownstoner] Hasidic women complain that there’s no guarantee of a female lifeguard. [DNAinfo] New York City beaches get sharp new signs after Sandy. [Atlantic Cities] Florida billionaire Jeff Greene is planning two Manhattan condo projects. [TRD] McCarren Park tennis courts to get heated bubbles in the winter. [DNAinfo] We all scream for ice cream: the frozen yogurt invasion of Astoria. [Daily News] Firefighters rescue trapped firefigthers dangling outside of Hearst Tower. [Post] NYCHA plans layoffs and senior, community center closures in response to sequester. [WSJ]
Town Sports International-owned New York Sports Clubs is in the process of renovating its existing city locations by removing bulky weight-lifting equipment and adding CrossFit-like training areas – a move that reflects its struggle to compete with the insurgence of a niche fitness industry.
Crain’s reported that so far 22 of the chain’s 39 Manhattan Read More
Now that they can no longer frolic topless at Fort Tilden, where will the hipsters sunbathe and swim this summer? What beach is cool, but not trying too hard to seem cool? Populated with just enough locals to add authenticity, but not so many that hipsters can’t dominate the scene? Gentrified enough to sell gourmet street food? Or remote enough to have an unenforced BYOB policy?
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The Super Bowl will bring a toboggan to Times Square in 2014?! [Gothamist] Marketing professionals rejoice at finding $2,500 one-bedroom in Boerum Hill. [NYT] Coney Island businesses want city to subsidize ferry from Manhattan. [Bk Paper] Soho Louis Vuitton adds in-store atelier. [Racked] Rents rise in Manhattan; the median rent in Soho/Tribeca is now $5,300. [Crain's] Bike share is popular, but plagued by uncommon glitches. [NYT] Subtle forms of discrimination still persist in the housing market. [Atlantic Cities] The 1910 “high class” apartments of New York. [Curbed] Goldman Sachs to get huge property tax break on headquarters. [TRD] Cobble Hill produce store space to become bar. [DNAinfo] But you know who isn’t complaining about Citibike glitches? Queens. [Brownstoner] Dumbo mom takes storage ottoman to the next level with storage beanbag. [DNAinfo] At $30k a month, triplex loft in the Village is too rich for even successful artists. [WSJ] Letitia James threatens to withhold support for condo and cultural center. [Crain's] A lot of people are still against the NYCHA land-lease luxury housing plan. [WSJ]
There are renovations, and then there’s 45 East 74th Street.
Originally built in 1879, the Upper East Side townhouse was tragically disfigured in the 1950s by a renovation that removed its stoop, stripped it of its cornice, clad it in boring red brick and punched holes in its lackluster façade for air conditioning units. But after an extensive mutli-million dollar renovation, the property—now a stark, white, limestone-faced structure that makes its prewar neighbors look frumpy in comparison—is asking $30 million.
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a nearly $20 billion master plan Tuesday to shield the city from future Hurricane Sandys, complete with levees, sand dunes, bulkheads, flood walls and a proposed “Seaport City.”
The plan calls for the installation of removable “adaptable floodwalls” in riverfront locations across the city, including Hunts Point in the Bronx, along the East Harlem waterfront, the Lower East Side and the Financial District, as well as a new levee and floodwall system along the East Shore of Staten Island, with barriers that could rise as high as 15 to 20 feet.
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Veterans find V.A. mortgage loans hard to swing in New York City. [NYT] A tour inside Greenwood Cemetery’s catacombs. [Gothamist] Is Related delaying the on-sale date of One Madison Park again? [Curbed] Park Slope’s Tracy Mansion gets second price chop, is now just $15 M. [TRD] Corcoran courts potential brownstone sellers in Bed-Stuy. [Browntoner] New York’s population is growing, but where will we put them? [WSJ] Harvard to women in 1961: graduate urban planning study not worth it. [Atlantic Cities] Moving forward: RFP goes out for Queensway park design. [DNAinfo] New York City’ newest immigrant enclaves. [NYT] Are corporate home buyers inflating housing costs across the country? [WSJ] Project Runway’s Christian Siriano has a kick-ass loft. [Village Voice] Your Bushwick apartment may be rent stabilized. [Brokelyn] Foreclosure threatens to shutter a counter-cultural soapbox. [NYT] Owner wants hardship exemption to tear down landmarked UES apartments. [Crain's] Parents at UWS’s P.S. 199 break from PTA to openly fight redevelopment plan. [DNAinfo] Super generic blurb about Greenwich Village residents opposing a new development. [Post]
