Relive the Empty, Industrial Streets of 1990s Williamsburg
Mara Catalan has been capturing street life in North Brooklyn since the '90s, and her incredible photos show it. The Madrid-born photographer's early work stems from when she first moved to the city in 1990 and served as an apprentice darkroom technician while pursuing her own projects on the side. Calatalan's photos of Williamsburg before the hipsters took over—showing desolate streets, run-down factories, and a distinct absence of trendy stores, restaurants, bars, and waterfront residential towers that line its streets today—are currently on view at Picture Farm on Wythe Avenue. The show calls it "wild Williamsburg, a time before convenience and highrises." Go on, revel in what Greenpointers calls her "grainy, black and white shots that depict what most people who were here at the end of the last century tell people that arrived in this century—what the 'hood was like back when they arrived." Stay tuned for more, too, because Catalan is working on a book.
Wolf of Wall Street Character's Bonkers Pad Now Just $38.5M
Because no one in their right mind would pay $44 million for a Tribeca maisonette that's actually an ode to a crappy 1990s nightclub, the over-the-top house of one of the real-life characters personified in The Wolf of Wall Street has chopped its ask to $38.5 million. Although even that's still an exorbitant ask for the 7,500-square-foot maisonette, owner Alan Wilzig has toned the house down in more recent listing pictures (probably at the behest of a broker who nabbed the open listing after it failed to move when FSBO.) Still, the maisonette's ask is being chipped away at ever so slowly. It also appears that the house may be self-listed again; if Wilzig's gonna chop the ask anyway, might as well not pay that broker fee, right?
Exploring How the Dryline Could Transform Manhattan's Coast
[Rendering of the Dryline]
Architect Bjarke Ingels introduced New York to his fantastical-seeming "Big U" plan more than two years, enticing Manhattanites with the idea of a lushly planted park that would protect the island from future Hurricane Sandy-like storms. Plans based on the designs have actually moved forward since the city-hosted designed competition deemed Ingels's idea the best, and research is ongoing as to how this city-saving landscape could be built. The proposal is now called the Dryline (in a city with the High Line and the Lowline, the name was kind of inevitable), and the city is already in the survey phase of a protection plan for an area from East 23rd Street to Montgomery Street. The whole Dryline would stretch 10 miles from East 40th Street, around the tip of Manhattan to West 54th Street (coincidentally, just south of BIG's Via tetrahedron). Earlier this month, as part of Jane's Walk, the Municipal Art Society hosted a walking tour of what would be the Dryline first piece.
What $1,700/Month Can Rent You in New York City
Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a column that explores what one can rent for a set dollar amount in various NYC neighborhoods. Is one man's studio another man's townhouse? Let's find out! Today's price: $1,700/month.
↑ In the Stuyvesant Heights section of Bed-Stuy, this one-bedroom apartment overflowing with original details is asking $1,750/month. Apparently, bay windows, mantles, molding, and stained glass don't count for all that much, though, as the apartment started off asking $1,950/month and couldn't find a renter.
A Rare Freestanding Townhouse in Soho Sells for $6.9M
Just over a year after it first listed for $9.995 million, Soho's "only freestanding house" has sold for $6.887 million, 6sqft reports. The townhouse's new owners will have the option of building out the lot's additional 2,600-square-feet of development rights, but as-is, the townhouse is pretty darn charming. The brick and wood-heavy house comes with beamed ceilings, a mix of wood-burning and gas fireplaces, a landscaped terrace, and a massive master bathroom. The 1930-built house also has a 2,500-bottle wine cellar, which is majorly impressive.
Video Tour of an Abandoned Asylum Looks Like a Horror Film
Ruin porn goes cinematic in "Project Senium," a debut release from a group of filmmakers determined to preserve the experience of incredible abandoned spaces through elaborate short films. This video, just under 10 minutes, takes you through the ruins of a massive asylum that's been left to decay for nearly 20 years. Compared to similar projects documenting an abandoned seminary or an entire city, "Project Senium" involves a more dramatic soundtrack and more panic-inducing fast-forwarded shots, plus a haunting narrative voiceover.
Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pierhouse Hotel Looks Nearly Complete
Even as the controversy surrounding Pierhouse drives some work on the hotel and condo building to a temporary halt, things are really moving along on other parts of the contested Brooklyn Bridge Park development. Brownstoner visited the site and snapped a few pictures of its progress, mostly reserved to the "eco-luxe" Hotel 1, the building's northern component that will house a 200-key hotel due to open later this year. Brownstoner reports that the building's 10-story southern portion at 90 Furman Street, which will give way to condos, topped out in January and is awaiting its glass and limestone facade. The second portion of Pierhouse, on the other side of Squibb Park Bridge, stands four stories tall.
DoBro's Schermerhorn St. May Get Even More New Apartments
In the fall of 2014, a developer snatched up a handsome 1900s-built walk-up on Downtown Brooklyn's Schermerhorn Street for $11 million, which at the time set a record for price per buildable square feet. Condos were planned from the start, and as of November, 88 Schermerhorn was headed for the wrecking ball. Now a tipster, who is also a neighbor, spotted brand-new permit filings for the site, which propose a 27-story building with 23 units. designed by Think Architecture and Design. The developer appears to be SDS.
One57, Home of NYC's Priciest Condo, Now Rents to the 1%
[Unit 37F, a three-bedroom asking $50,366/month.]
The mindbogglingly expensive condos of One57 get all the attention—one sold for a whopping $100 million, for crying out loud—but the luxury supertall also has a collection of rentals, perfect for the rich person who just can't commit. In a story about the apartments, the Wall Street Journal says, "you don't have to be a billionaire to rent there," but it helps if you are part of the city's 1 percent. The "cheapest" of the 38 rentals costs $12,000 a month, so if Extell is using the usual formula of a renter's annual income needing to be 40 times the rent, you need to make $480,000 per year to live in One57. That puts you in the top 2 percent of all New Yorkers, and yet you would be the poorest person in the building.
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Chelsea Condo Project The Dorian Will Start at $3 Million
A new luxury condo project in Chelsea is set to launch sales, with prices ranging from around $3 million to around $10 million, according to the Instagram account of one Fredrik Eklund. The building, located at 221 West 17th Street, is being developed by Delshah Capital. It will consist of 10 stories with a total of 14 units over 40,000 square feet, according to The Real Deal, for an average size of 2,857 square feet per unit—huge for most areas of the city, but more standard for the type of uberluxury development that is springing up all over Chelsea these days. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
Williamsburg Warehouse 184 Kent's Condos Will Start at $800K
A sage tipster told us that if you go to RentOnKent.com, which was the website for the somewhat iconic warehouse-turned-rental building at 184 Kent Avenue, it automatically forwards you to a brand-new teaser site for its imminent (and dreaded, by current tenants) condo conversion. First bit of news: it shall be called the Austin Nichols House, after the original name of the 1915-built manufacturing facility, which was designed by Cass Gilbert of Woolworth Building fame. Coming back to the present, obsessively documented 184 Kent was among the first "fancy" buildings along the Williamsburg waterfront, and now the 388 rentals will replaced by one- to three-bedroom condos.
Penthouse of Ralph Lauren's Flagship Designer Asks $8.35M
[UPDATE: A representative for Scott Sanders has reached out to clarify that a NY Cottages & Gardens article incorrectly attributes the design of Ralph Lauren's flagship store to Sanders, when in fact Sanders helped create and was the first in-house interior designer for Ralph Lauren's home collection clients. Curbed regrets the error.]
This West Chelsea penthouse sure is more contemporary than one might expect for the home of the man who designed Ralph Lauren's flagship store on Madison Avenue. Tartan and mahogany, be gone. Scott Sanders took a more modern route with his penthouse of nine years at 231 Tenth Avenue. The 2,500-square-foot apartment was practically built for entertaining, with a 1,500-square-foot terrace and an open-concept kitchen that can conveniently be quartered off by a sliding panel. Sanders and his partner Peter Wilson picked the pad up for $3.05 million in 2006, and are looking for $8.35 million this go-around.
Second Avenue Subway Is Probably Maybe Making Progress
Could it be? Actual progress on the Second Avenue Subway? The New York Post frames it as such, reporting that the MTA's perennially plagued new subway line is now more than 80 percent complete, but while that sounds good, the southern portion stretching from 63rd Street to 96th Street was reported as 82 percent complete all of a month ago. However far along the line is, it sounds like it'll be great if it ever opens. The new stations, at 72nd Street, 86th Street, and 96th Street, will have Wi-Fi and climate control technology that will keep the station about 10 degrees cooler than street level (only in the summer, hopefully). The stations' walls be covered in porcelain panels rather than tile because they're easier to keep clean, and the subway is the paragon of clean.
Where To Watch Outdoor Movies in New York City This Summer
New York City in the summer is a glorious thing. Everyone's main goal should be to spend as much time outside as possible, huddled on a blanket with friends, devouring some bread and cheese, and enjoying the balmy climes. And if there's a good film playing in the background, well, what could be better than that? From parks to waterfronts to bars citywide—and even an aircraft carrier—there are more than 40 places screening outdoor movies this summer. They've already started, but begin to kick into gear over Memorial Day weekend, and showings last all the way into October. Search for the ones nearest you, and prepare your picnic supplies. It's time to ditch indoor cinemas in favor of these much, much better options.
Paul McCartney Buys $15.5M Penthouse on Fifth Avenue
Paul McCartney is the proud new owner of the $15.5 million penthouse in 1045 Fifth Avenue, the Post reports. The duplex apartment was created and customized by the co-op building's developer, Manny Duell, who died in 1977. His wife lived there until she died last summer, at 92. As a result, the penthouse is, as the Times described it, "a glamorous 1960s time capsule with a dash of Hollywood in its décor." Know who's probably a fan of the 1960s? Paul McCartney. So that worked out.
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