By Elise Knutsen 10/03/11 10:00am

Literary Living

6 Photos

The Harold Ross House, 414 West 47th (Photo from StreetEasy)

Harold Ross’ Party House for Sale

Harold Ross was known as one of the best, if most obsessive, editors in the world. He founded The New Yorker, (“the book,” as he called it) and ran a tight ship as general editor of the publication from its inception until he died in 1951. When he got home, however, Mr. Ross liked to live loose.

The Hells Kitchen townhouse at 412 West 47th Street, which was for decades home to the storied editor, has just hit the market, and it has been attracting a slew of literary enthusiasts. “I’ve been impressed at just how some people are just riveted by the history,” Massey Knakal broker Chris Brodhead told The Observer.

“They don’t always have a lot of money,” he added. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9:02am

Bombing

10 Photos

No, that would appear to be a trio named LOOONS.

Olek Look-Alike Adorns Hell’s Kitchen Tree

While on our way to lunch yesterday, The Observer passed by a most unusual tree on West 44th Street, a block from the mothership. And no, it was not strange simply because trees are such a rarity in Midtown. Even in the sweltering heat, it had on a sweater. After our sweat-clogged mind cleared, The Observer realized it is, in fact, unusual for a tree to be wearing a sweater, even in November. No, this tree had been yarnbombed. Read More

By Pamela Engel 6/15/11 10:41am

Housekeeping

Hell's Kitchen

Empty Tables in Hell’s Kitchen

An unanswered door at a Hell’s Kitchen open house set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

Nobody showed up this past Sunday afternoon for three open houses in two Hell’s Kitchen buildings—at least as far as we could tell. Despite a posh lobby and modest prices in the first building, it was slim pickings for the brokers.

“This apartment has been on the market about two months,” said Bryan Tomczuk, a broker for one of the co-ops, adding that at previous open houses he’s seen between three to five prospective buyers.

The studio apartment, located at 430 West 34th Street, was asking only $275,000 and although it was not exactly spacious—the kitchen probably could not fit more than one person at a time—it seemed like a steal considering its surroundings. Read More

By Guelda Voien 5/21/10 12:52pm

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD

There Goes the Neighborhood: Bros in Midtown West

John Wilwol, 31, recently lived in a penthouse near 51st Street and Ninth Avenue that had four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two private balconies and access to a roof deck. Pretty sweet digs for a graduate student. And, to boot: “The value was great.”

And the apartment was suitably impressive for men of a certain age Read More

By Dana Rubinstein 10/02/08 9:35pm

Two Tiny Hell’s Kitchen Buildings Trade for $36.6 M.

Two small Hell’s Kitchen buildings, a one-story edifice and its four-story next-door neighbor, traded for $36.6 million, according to city records.

An entity called 400 Times Square Associates, affiliated with the Landis Group, snagged the buildings, at 571 and 573 Ninth Avenue, between 41st and 42nd streets, from the Washington Beef Company of New York Read More