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September 27, 2007
Earlier this month the NY Post reported that Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction might be closing, which was met with a letter from the owners saying the Post "as usual, mixed fact with fiction." Last night a reader sent over the following letter, written by the same folks, which was sent to performers of the space:We're sorry to say, but Mo Pitkin's will be closing on October 20th, 2007, with a closing night party/performance... [continue]
| September 25, 2007
Gotham Gazette has an excellent look at the effects of "a housing bust" by Queens College demographer Andrew Beveridge. This map shows how much income goes towards mortgages; Beveridge notes:The median income of those paying less than 30 percent of their income on housing is $120,900. For those paying between 30 and 50 percent of their income, though, the median is $74,390, and for those paying over 50 percent the median income is $39,900.... [continue]
This afternoon, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to give parts of the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg landmark status. Redevelopment plans for the old Domino location call for 2,200 apartments (about 660 will be affordable housing) on the entire 11.5 acre site. The Landmark status was specifically given to three buildings (the filter house, the pan house, and the finishing house). Even before the LPC acted, development of the site included some preservation... [continue]
September 20, 2007
Yesterday, developer Sheldon Solow's ambitious plans to redefine the East River skyline were examined in the Sun, as he is presenting the plans to a Community Board today. Solow proposes to build six towers south of the United Nations along the East River, with over 5 million square feet of residential, commercial and retail space. So far, some residents and officials have met with Solow and his company, East River Realty, but one community... [continue]
September 13, 2007
A follow-up to the Census Bureau's data that most New Yorkers rent: The NY Times crunched the Census data and found that, yes, a "large percentages of residents see more of their income go to their mortgages and rents." The Times has a chart that shows that 31% of Brooklyn homeowners spend more than half their incomes on mortgages while almost 33% of Bronx renters spend more than half their incomes on rent. There's also... [continue]
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September 12, 2007
Some new Census Bureau data reveals yet another way New Yorkers are very different from the rest of the country: About 65% of New Yorkers rent their homes, whereas about 67% of Americans own a home. The NY Times notes that the half of renters and one third of mortgage holders nationwide "spent at least 30 percent of their gross income on housing costs, the level many government agencies consider the limit of affordability." Which... [continue]
September 10, 2007
Elected officials, including U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, are speaking out against the proposed expansion of Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus, directly south of the performing arts complex. The school wants to add 1.5 million square feet of building space to the midtown campus, which includes an undergraduate college and its law school, between Columbus and Amsterdam Aves., nearly tripling the complex's size from the current 800,000 square feet. Fordam gets to avoid complicated issues... [continue]
Six years ago, the prospects for downtown Manhattan seemed uniformly bleak. A persistent fire that burned for months amidst the wreckage of the World Trade Center filled the air with an acrid smell that was a constant reminder of 9/11. Restaurants and shops shuttered for lack of business. And many firms considered moving across the river, fearing that every tower in the financial district had a virtual target painted on its facade. The New York... [continue]
September 9, 2007
The New York Times describes a trend towards families with multiple children and a lot of money opting out of moving to large houses in the suburbs like Westchester. Instead, they are buying multiple adjacent residences in Manhattan highrises and shaping their own 4,000 to 8,500 square foot homes in the city. The Times dubs them Mansions in the Sky. The floorplan above is the "after" portion from the Times graphic of a man... [continue]
September 8, 2007
Supporters of Astroland will be gathering tomorrow at the Surf Ave. entrance of Astroland in a rally to save the boardwalk amusement park from shuttering for good. Sunday is the last day of the season for the park and unless Thor Equities extends its lease for another year, Astroland will be closing for good. One supporter recommend showing up early and will be providing foamboard and markers to make signs. PDF posters for printing... [continue]
September 5, 2007
While the future of Coney Island is still up in the air, some rides are already closing for good. The Post reports that the Spider and Zipper were packed up for the last time in their Coney Island location. Without an extension of their leases for 2008 from Thor Equities, the new owners of the land, workers began dismantling the two rides yesterday. The rides were sold by their owner and are destined for warmer... [continue]
Did you hear about the new arts and music venue opening in Fort Greene? Well, chances are that all of the blood, sweat, tears and money (over $1M) that went into it may have been for nothing. Amber Art and Music Space was being built out of an old liquor store at Fulton Street and Ashland Place by three friends who are now being told they can no longer develop the space. At the end... [continue]
September 4, 2007
New York City zoning laws are confusing. But there are questions about whether a condo seller and her real estate brokerage misled a couple into thinking they were getting a three-bedroom home, when the apartment technically only has one bedroom. The dispute: The Post reports that Valery and Revital Joseph bought a 3,000 square foot apartment at 354 Broadway from fashion designer Cynthia Rowley. The home cost $2.3 million and was advertised a three-bedroom by... [continue]
September 1, 2007
The Observer reports that Google is outgrowing its 360,000+ square foot office space at 76 Ninth Avenue and has closed on 130,000 square feet at 75 Ninth Avenue, the Chelsea Market. Located directly across the street from each other, Google is keeping private about any plans for the new space, but The Observer gets more info on how much it might have cost the company:The source also explained that a special deal had been worked... [continue]