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We already know that Frank Gehry has some of the most expensive apartments in New York, but it appears that is a universal trait for the awesomely over-hyped architect. According to a video report from the Wall Street Journal, an apartment at Mr. Gehry’s recently completed apartment tower in the hills overlooking Hong Kong’s inner harbor has just sold for $61 million. Read More
Inside the penthouses of 8 Spruce Street, the fact that the building was designed by Frank Gehry seems incidental. At 850-feet-high, the weirdly angled windows and sleek finishes blend into the exquisite (and exquisitely dull) good taste of thousands of other high-end apartments around the city. It is the view that dominates.
A set of rooms, in the end, can only have so many permutations, but the view from a tower that rises 76 stories above lower Manhattan—its developers say that it is the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere—is unique, the trump card that New York by Gehry is counting on to collect $60,000 a month for the largest penthouse and $45,000 a month for the two smaller ones.
“For this type of renter, it’s kind of understood that it has to have a good layout. But layouts are subjective,” said Clifford Finn, the president of New Development Marketing at Citi Habitats, the agent for the building. “There’s no question that anyone would walk in here and not like these views.” Read More
To be fair, it is (currently) the tallest residential building in the city. Still, the lengths to which the humble window washer must go to clean New York by Frank Gehry, the 76-story downtown apartment tower, are as extreme as the ripples in the buildings facade, according to The Times. Read More
The hottest commission for starchitects these days is not some new condo or office tower, or a serious new cultural center, but instead an opera stage. Santiago Calatrava and Herzog & de Meuron are among the boldface designers who have come up with new stages, and now none other than Frank Gehry, king of them Read More
If Zucotti Park is getting boring, and the folks at Occupy Wall Street are looking for something a little more flashy, they might want to check out New York by Frank Gehry. The super-rich rental tower (tallest in the Western Hemisphere!) rising at 8 Spruce Street has been open for more than a year yet it was not quite done.
The public plaza out front has been under construction until very recently, waiting in part for construction scaffolding to come down so that planting might commence. Now, the privately owned public space—a POPS just like Zucotti—is set to open in a matter of weeks, according to the folks at Forest City Ratner. Read More
The Pershing Square Signature Theater opened today, with the mayor, Ed Norten, Steve Ross and Frank Gehry in tow. The theater was literally finished yesterday, as they installed the box office glass during lunch, among other finishing touches, so there was no official photography yet.
Fortunately, The Observer knows one of the best photographers in the city, William Alatriste, the staff shooter at the City Council. He has a killer eye for drama and scenery, so naturally this was the perfect environment for him. Until you get your hands on some of those $25 tickets, enjoy this photo debut of the Signature Theater. Read More
Mayor Bloomberg has set an ambitious agenda for his final two years in office. No, not finally fixing the schools, reforming the pensions or redeveloping Willets Point. Those are the easy ones.
“You should know that Frank and I had a conversation backstage,” the mayor said at the opening of the Signature Theater today, “and we both committed to each other that we would get 10 more Frank Gehry projects going here—in the next 700 days. If my math is any good, Frank, that is one every 70 days, so we should meet some time later today to get going.”
New York has actually faired quite well in the Frank Gehry department. Read More
Once, living in a building with celebrity residents or prewar pedigree was the goal of every nouveau riche New Yorker. Trump International, anyone? Yes, please, 740 Park.
Now upwardly mobile denizens of our great city have slightly different aspirations: starchitect developments; that is, buildings designed by jet-setting, Pritzker-prize winning architectural wizards, typically of the old guard variety. While some have suggested that the starchitect craze is the result of pure unadulterated vanity, it turns out that buildings have made a pretty penny since they began to sprout up a decade ago, Crain’s reports. Read More
The downtown neighbors have come to a bit of a detente with their friends at Occupy Wall Street—quit banging on those damn drums, and we can live with you. But not everyone is happy with that agreement, according to The Journal. Read More
Yesterday evening, we were chatting with The Root’s drummer ?uestlove about his secret fire eating talents at a party for Jay-Z’s foundation. After learning that he had almost singed off his signature afro, The Observer wondered what he thought about his pal’s team, the Brooklyn Nets. The drummer gave a surprising answer. Read More
