The Blizzard Of 1888 Covered Central Park With 16.5 Inches One March Day

Snow may be piling up on the sidewalks as we speak, but we won’t likely be seeing more than they did in December of 1947, when a blizzard dumped 26.4 inches of snow on New York City. According to NYC.gov, “the City was paralyzed when the blizzard barreled its way through, stranding cars and buses in the streets, halting subway service, and claiming 77 lives.” It took $6 million, nearly 30,000 workers, and weeks of digging and plowing to get the city moving again (you can watch a video showing what 99 million tons of snow does to a city of eight million people, ahead). But there’s nothing unseasonal about a mid-March blizzard. In fact, the record for most snow to fall in a day was set on March 12th of 1888, when 16.5 inches piled up in Central Park.

If you peruse a little meteorological history, you’ll see that March really does manage a roar when it comes to snowstorms. Ephemeral New York tells of the March megablizzard that caught the city by surprise, following 40-degree temps and an overall warm winter (sound familiar?). The forecast predicted light rain. On Monday, March 12, 1888, “the city went into its gas-lighted rooms and its heated houses, and its parlors and beds tired, wet, helpless, and full of amazement,” according to the New York Sun on March 13, after being hammered by the “White Hurricane” that killed about 200 people, struck down power lines, paralyzed streetcars and trolleys, and left deep mounds of snow on a winter-weary city.

The National Weather Service agrees that March is no time to let down your guard–or put away your shovel.

Developers Step Up Concession$ In Tepid Market

With its undulating glass facade, 252 East 57th Street was among the marquee new developments that promised to reshape Midtown East back when it debuted in late 2014. But after an extended period of sluggish sales – just under half the condominium’s 95 units remain unsold – the developers decided it was time to take drastic measures.

On top of price cuts last year, World Wide Group and Rose Associates are now offering brokers a 4 percent commission, including 1 percent that’s non-refundable and will be paid as soon as a contract is inked.

“We were trying to think outside the box in terms of what would set us apart,” said Stribling’s Pamela D’Arc, who is marketing the condos. “People come down 57th Street and I think they literally go from one end to the other.”

Discounts have been part of the high-end condo market’s story for many months now, but price slashing is not the only way developers are trying to hook buyers. Faced with stiff competition from a heap of new luxury product on the market, developers are paying transfer taxes, offering discounts, dangling gifts cards and other sweeteners in front of brokers and buyers.

It’s all about getting deals done as quickly as possible.

“They don’t want to give off the perception that they’re lowering prices, so they may offer a concession,” said Douglas Elliman’s Vickey Barron. For buildings with unsold inventory, offering incentives can be an easy way to move sales along, she said.

“They’re not wrong for doing it,” Barron added. “You don’t want to be sitting with empty apartments.”

Developers whose construction loans are coming due have the most on the line, and are anxious to stave off lenders anxious about getting paid back.

“The pressure on developers is starting,” said one marketing executive. “I’ve been getting calls from banks asking what the larger units will rent for.”

Slow & Soft

It’s taking longer to sell new condos these days as high-priced units planned during 2014 and 2015 flood the market. New development sales dropped 13.2 percent year-over-year to 479 units during the fourth quarter, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. Meanwhile, the average number of days on the market jumped 20.7 percent to 181 during that time.

“People come down 57th Street and I think they literally go from one end to the other.”

In recent months, the slowdown has spooked a handful of developers, notably CL Investment, which scrapped its $300 million luxury condo conversion at 287 Park Avenue South this fall. In February, the Chinese investment firm also sold its 32.9 percent stake in Coda, Magnum Real Estate Group’s rental-to-condo conversion at 385 First Avenue.

 

Kuafu Properties hit pause on its major development at 161 East 60th Street, a $300 million site now controlled by ex-Kuafu principal Denis Shan, while JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group suspended sales at 111 West 57th Street last year. At the time, PMG’s Kevin Maloney preached the value of waiting until the market improved.

In instances where waiting isn’t an option, buyers are calling the shots, he recently observed.

“The next two years will be the year of the deal,” Maloney told Bloomberg this fall. “If you have cash, I can’t imagine there’s not a condo project that’s coming out of the ground where you can’t walk into the sales office and say ‘This is the deal I’m willing to offer.’”

And while the terms of those deals may not be ideal, many developers aren’t in the position to call the shots.

“In a strong market we would say no — in a soft market like now, we would consider it.” said Elliman’s Richard Steinberg, who is marketing the Chamberlain, Simon Baron Development and Quadrum Global’s 39-unit condop at 269 West 87th Street. He said buyers always try to push the closing costs, transfer taxes and mansion taxes onto developers — that’s the name of the game. The difference is, in a market like this one, they’re more likely to be successful.

“At the end of the day, it’s what is net to the developer,” Steinberg said. “So if it’s a higher offer, and they want us to pay closing costs, of course we would do it.”

Just The Tax

While many developers stay mum about offering concessions, others talk them up as a marketing tool.

121 East 22nd Street and Doug Yearley

Last month, Toll Brothers City Living offered to pay the transfer and mansion taxes for any buyer who went into contract at select buildings before Feb. 26. Billed as a part of the company’s “national sales event,” the offer was good at 55 West 17th Street, 100 Barrow Street and the Sutton at 959 First Avenue.

“We have, in certain locations, had increased incentives to sell,” Toll Brothers CEO Douglas Yearley said during a Feb. 22 earnings call. “But even with those increases in incentives, our gross margins have far exceeded the company average.” He said while the company was proceeding with caution in the market, it was “well-positioned to absorb what has been going on in New York City.”

Still, Toll Brothers is one of very few developers who have made across-the-board offers. It’s far more common for sponsors to take a building-by-building — and deal-by-deal — approach to sales.

“Each developer is in his own situation with his own project,” said Magnum’s Ben Shaoul, who said he’s willing to pay transfer and mansion taxes at 100 Barclay — where sales launched in 2015 and prices average $2,254 per square foot, according to StreetEasy — but wasn’t extending the same offer at 196 Orchard Street, which hit the market a year later and is asking $2,324 per square foot, on average. “To generalize about the market is naive and ridiculous,” he said.

Most buyers nowadays are trying to save a buck where they can. “If you are a buyer at over $10 million, you will be asking for concessions,” said one top broker, who requested anonymity.

Compass’ Leonard Steinberg said, “Correctly priced properties in prime locations that are beautifully executed, mostly don’t require additional incentives to sell. But right now, there is a bit of a race to drive concessions.”

For example, Jody Kriss’ East River Partners is offering tax concessions for a “limited time” at its condo developments at 164 South Oxford Street and 171 South Portland Avenue in Fort Greene. MNS’ Andrew Barrocas, who is marketing the projects, said the sweeteners helps sales velocity, and that the developer was only offering them until the end of March.

“Extell’s commission deal shook the market.”

The savings, particularly on luxury apartments, can be significant. For a $10 million property, mansion and transfer taxes — which come to about 2.5 percent — can set a buyer back $250,000. Watching who foots the bill for attorney’s fees, which can run another several thousand dollars, are another way to take the temperature of the market: When things are red-hot, buyers sign those checks, but when sales are sluggish, sponsors may absorb those costs.

 

“Particularly in the over $2,000-a-foot market, developers are more likely to negotiate on some of the costs,” said Alvin Schein, a partner at law firm Seiden & Schein, who has worked with Toll Brothers, Madison Equities, Magnum and Extell on various projects.

The Bentley club

357 West 17th Street

But developers aren’t just luring buyers by agreeing to pick up the tab on the added extras. In some cases they’ll agree to make design modifications if it will get a buyer over the line.

Others are trying more outlandish stunts. Wonder Works Construction and Girona Ventures, the developers of a townhouse at 357 West 17th Street asking $36.8 million, are throwing in a Bentley worth at least $200,000. And at the Nevins, a new condo in Boerum Hill that hit the market six months ago, the developers offered gift cards to brokers and buyers during the holiday season if they signed a contract by the first week in January. (They offered $2,000 for one-bedrooms, $3,000 for two-beds and $4,000 for three-bedroom units.) “We didn’t want to lose momentum,” said the Corcoran Group’s Tamir Shemesh, who is marketing the 73-unit project for developers Naveh Shuster Group and Adam America Real Estate. Shemesh said the building is nearly 70 percent in contract, but, “you can’t sell a project at the same pace that you sell in the beginning, so when you see the potential for slowdown, you boost it up.”

Some developers prefer to spend their dollars on agents who can bring in buyers. Earlier this month, Extell took the unusual step of offering brokers a 50 percent commission advance on sales at properties now under construction — including One Manhattan Square, 70 Charlton and the Kent.

“Extell’s commission deal shook the market.” said one broker. “We’re going to see more and more of it — particularly in the Midtown corridor where there is a glut of product.”

Gale International, which is trying to sell the last penthouse 21 West 20th Street  , is taking a similar approach, wooing brokers with an unusually high commission of five percent.

“Offering a higher commission does not sell an apartment, but what it does is attract the attention of the brokerage community,” said Stan Gale Jr., president of the firm. “Everyone knows that there’s a lot of product out there, people need to differentiate.” He declined to comment on whether the firm would offer concessions in the form of paying closing costs. Toll Brothers City Living is also offering a portfolio-wide commission incentive.

But in some cases, the only way to sell is to cut prices.

“Developers are not only offering to cover closing costs, but are breaking the final barrier — pricing,” said Martin Eiden, a broker at CORE. “The reduction in pricing not only affects people who bought in the building and are trying to resell, but neighboring properties.”

In January, for example, Extell cut the prices of five apartments at Carlton House by 10 percent. “We’ve priced to account for today’s market,” Barnett recently told the Wall Street Journal. “The market wants to see some discounting.”

 Gary Barnett, One Manhattan Square, 70 Charlton Street and the Kent

Others are going a lot further, finally facing the music about what their product is worth.

DHA Capital and Continental Properties’ triplex penthouse at 12 East 13th Street was once asking as much as $30 million. But sitting without a suitor for three-and-a-half years, it’s now all the way down to $16 million.

“It’s a very different market now,” said Compass’ Herve Senequier, who is marketing the pad. “Most properties above $15 million have received pricing adjustments, and the price now makes more sense.”

Rents In Every Segment Of The Manhattan Rental Market Fell Back In February

Dipping rents — a trend that has affected Manhattan’s high-end rental market for months now — is starting to seep into other segments of the market.

The median rent for every home-size category in Manhattan declined in February, according to the monthly rental report from Douglas Elliman. It’s the first time in almost five years that declines have been widespread across the borough.

The median rental price in Manhattan was $3,260 last month after concessions, a year-over-year decline of 1.7 percent, the report showed.

“I think part of this is just rent fatigue,” said Jonathan Miller.“The general trend is coming from record high rents to something that’s more in-sync with what consumers can afford.”

The median rental price for Manhattan studios was $2,500 in February, a year-over-year drop of nearly 7 percent. For one-bedrooms, the median price fell 1.3 percent to $3,350. Two-bedrooms hit $4,500, a drop of more than 5 percent, while the median rent for three-bedroom homes was $6,031 — a drop of nearly 4 percent when compared to this time last year.

Brooklyn, which has experienced an abundance of luxury rental product, also saw widespread declines last month. However, median rent decreases across all sectors of the Brooklyn market is much more common than in Manhattan.

“Brooklyn was later to see declines, but then fell faster,” said Miller of the rental prices in the borough.

The median rental price in the borough was $2,715 in February, a year-over-year decline of just over 1 percent. For studios it was $2,363, while the median rent for one-bedrooms was $2,600. The median rent for two bedrooms dropped more than 5 percent to $3,000, while median rent for three-bedrooms and above was $3,488 — a fall of 1.2 percent.

In northwest Queens, a market that Miller has described as “choppy,” the median rent was $2,800, a fall of 5 percent.

For months, landlords in the city have relied on renters’ incentives to keep vacancies at bay. The report showed concessions still made up significant share of new leases signed in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, but not quite at levels seen in previous months.

A separate report from Citi Habitats found 31 percent of new Manhattan leases included a move-in incentive during February — down from 37 percent in January.

“[Landlords] may have been emboldened by the declining vacancy rate from December to January — as a result, they pulled back their use of concessions slightly last month,” said Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats. “There is simply a lot of inventory available.”

America’s Affordable Housing Shortage

Extremely low-income renters face a shortage of affordable housing in every single state and major metropolitan area in the United States, a deficiency of 3.9 million units, according to a report (h/t CityLab) by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). Nationwide, only about 35 affordable housing units exist per 100 extremely low-income homes, labeled as ELI households, and in the New York metro area (as defined by New York-Newark-Jersey City) the results are just as grim with only 32 units available per 100 households at or above the ELI threshold.

According to the NLIHC, to be classified as extremely low income, a household sits at or below the poverty guideline or 30 percent of their area median income (AMI). Their findings show that 11.4 million Americans fall into this income level, a figure that accounts for 26 percent of all U.S. renter households and nearly 10 percent of all households.

Although the NLIHC’s New York metro figures are aggregates, their finding of a 638,500 ELI unit deficit does cause great concern, particularly in light of looming budget cuts to federal housing under the Trump administration. As 6sqft reported yesterday, NYCHA is expecting to see their budget slashed by at least $35 million, some even speculating that figure could balloon to as much as $150 million.

At the city level, it is widely known that the De Blasio administration has made affordable housing a core tenet of its policy-making. The mayor announced early on a goal to preserve or build 200,000 units over 10 years. In three years of the mayor’s term, a total of 62,506 apartments have been built or preserved, according to the latest available data. Unfortunately, more than half of the apartments went to middle-income New Yorkers, not homeless or low-income New Yorkers that would be characterized as ELI.

Citywide Ferry Coming Soon!

For the first time in 100 years, ferry service will be available to all five boroughs as part of a two-year $325 million initiative by Mayor de Blasio.  As the Wall Street Journal reported, the plan will add at least 200 jobs to the city’s economy. Half of these available jobs will pay at least $50,000 per year or more, according to the mayor. The plan for the citywide ferry service, launching this summer, will be managed by the Economic Development Corporation and Hornblower Cruises, who will hire deckhands, captains and other crew members.

Over a period of two years, six new waterway routes will be constructed, reaching all five boroughs.

Set to begin this summer, the first phase of the ferry expansion will include the Astoria, South Brooklyn and Rockaway routes. Construction is already underway at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a 56,000-square-foot space that will include enough space for 25 boats, maintenance facilities and the restocking of food and drinks.

Each boat, which will carry 150 passengers, will be equipped with Wifi and sell food and alcohol. The cost of a single ride will remain the same as the subway costs, $2.75. With 20 vessels operating at 21 landings in NYC, the city estimates about 4.6 million trips will be taken per year across the six waterway routes.

Currently, 11 full-time jobs are listed on the Citywide Ferry’s website, with additional part-time jobs expected to be listed as needed. The service has already hired 50 positions, including its first round of captains, who are currently in training in the Gulf Coast for sea trials.

The exact date of the ferry’s summer launch will be announced this April.During a press conference, de Blasio said: “For the price of a subway ride, Citywide Ferry service will connect millions of riders to jobs and homes all along New York City’s waterfront.”

Bookworm Emma Watson Is Hiding Literature In The Subway

Did you just find a Maya Angelou novel on the subway? Did it improve your commute? If so, you should thank Emma Watson.

The “Beauty and the Beast” star hit the underground this week to encourage straphangers to put away their phones and open up a good book. With a rucksack of books and a camera, Watson hid Maya Angelou’s “Mom & Me & Mom” behind pipes and in corners — a book she describes as “one of my favorite books of all time.”

How about here?

Or here?

“So if you’re on the subway, and you find a copy of this book, read it, please, and then bring it back for someone else to find. Pass on the good deed and the love. There’s a new library happening!” Watson told Vanity Fair, which organized the stunt along the 23rd Street C and E line.

In 2015, Watson joined the organization Books on the Underground, a London-based organization that secretly plants books on public transport, which inspired here to do the same in NYC.

516 West 47th Street, Unit N5H

516 West 47th Street, Unit N5H

HELL'S KITCHEN, MANHATTAN

1 Bed  |  1 Bath  |  Condo

Offered At $1,495,000

Taxes: $620 / mo.  |  CC:$629 / mo.  |  Doorman  |  Gym  |  Putting Green

 

Fully renovated modern one-bedroom apartment with luxury finishes and custom kitchen in a full-service doorman condominium building. With bright southern exposures overlooking a beautifully landscaped common courtyard, this property is both exceptionally quiet and sun-filled.

The spacious layout is well appointed with a large separate bedroom, dining room and home office space. Whitewashed hardwood oak flooring run throughout, with flush mount doors enhance this property’s contemporary feel. The custom chef’s kitchen is finished with Caesarstone countertops and back-splash, integrated Liebherr refrigerator and European convection oven, gas range and is rounded out with a dishwasher.

The bathroom with radiant-heat flooring features premium Grohe, Toto and other top-of-the-line finishes and fixtures as well as a glass enclosed shower and a heated, jetted soaking tub. Throughout the apartment there are four large closet which provide ample storage and closet space.


The Clinton West Condominium at 516 West 47th Street features 24 hour doorman and concierge, gym, putting green and a beautifully landscaped courtyard with separate greenhouse atrium, perfect for relaxing. Storage, bike storage and laundry are on site. Pets welcome! On top of all that the location can’t be beat, close to almost all major subway lines and numerous restaurants and theaters. Also close to the beautiful walkway on the Hudson River, perfect location to relax, eat and watch the sunset while enjoying the skyline of Manhattan.

Asking A Whopping $250M!

This Los Angeles mega-mansion is now the most expensive house for sale in the country, asking a whopping $250M. The LA Times reports that owner-developer Bruce Makowsky—purveyor of luxury handbags and, apparently, luxury real estate—spent 4 years building and curating the contemporary home, which he likens to a luxury yacht rather than a house. To that end, it is surrounded by a labyrinth of moat-like canals and an infinity-edge pool that give it the appearance of floating on water. The interiors span 38,000 square feet over 4 floors and house 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, 3 kitchens, a bowling alley, a candy room and a movie theater. To sweeten the deal, the buyer will also get a luxury car collection worth $30M, custom furnishings, 130 art installations, a decommissioned helicopter parked on the roof and seven full-time staff members that Makowsky will pay for two years.

How Citi Bike Stacks Up Against Other Bike Shares Around The Country

After initial skepticism and half-hearted arguments from bike-haters and snide remarks from bike snob cities like Seattle and San Francisco, New York City’s first official bike sharing system has turned out to be a success–that much we know. The numbers compiled by Priceonomics Data Studio for their client Spin reveal some surprising numbers when it comes to how we’re using those bikes. D.C., for example, beat the other cities handily on most metrics, with San Francisco and Seattle consistently at the bottom of the list. Ok, so the research was done for a bike sharing startup hoping to expand its station-less system (more on that, too), but it’s interesting to compare statistics of share programs in the nation’s biggest adopters of this new public transportation option–and get a chance to see how Citi Bike fares.

In Paris in 2001, mayor Bertrand Delanoë implemented a bike sharing program enabling people to rent bikes within a network of stations throughout the city. The effort was intended to spread the environmentally friendly practice of riding bicycles in a city of apartment-dwellers with little room for bike storage and a familiar fear of parking their bikes on the street. This effort came at the right time to spark a bike sharing revolution throughout the world. In the past ten years, hundreds of international cities have launched bike sharing plans, adding up to over 700,000 bicycles. As 6sqft previously reported, in 2016, there were 14 million Citi Bike trips taken, an amazing 40 percent more than the previous year.

Spin and Priceonomics took a broad look at how many people in some of the country’s most densely populated cities were sharing and riding. Looking at a year’s worth of data in 2015-16, in raw numbers representing the number of share bikes on the road, New York City’s Citi Bike system has the largest army, an astounding 10,000. Cities like Seattle (500 bikes) and San Francisco (1,030 bikes), with a rep for starting America’s bike revolution overall, had far fewer. Calculating bikes per 1,000 people, SF and Seattle somewhat surprisingly bring up the rear. Even more surprising is the top spot, D.C., which may not strike many as a city on two wheels.

D.C. also pulls way ahead of the pack in the number of stations it offers share riders (5.6). NYC ends up near the bottom with 2 per square mile, though it’s worth noting that  late 2016  saw a huge expansion in the number of bikes deployed in the five boroughs and even more to come this year.

New Yorkers took more bike trips per day than the other cities (3.6), with the Bay Area and Seattle taking a beating here as well.

This one’s no surprise: New Yorkers are always in a hurry. Time spent on bike trips was second lowest to San Francisco, with only 18:07 spent in the saddle.

Spin goes on to make the case for stationless share systems, explaining that station-based bike systems are limited by the strength of their station network. Based in the Bay Area, the company points to how that city is low on both stations and usage, despite its bike-friendly reputation. The stationless system lets people pick up and drop off bikes anywhere legal at $1 per trip.

Images: Spin via Priceonomics.

Emmy Rossum Lists Her Stunning Sutton Place Pied-à-terre

Actress Emmy Rossum’s perfectly outfitted pied à terre has a new owner. LLNYC reports that a buyer has just scooped up the “Shameless” star’s one-bedroom charmer at 455 East 57th Street for $1.1 million.

Rossum quietly listed the home last November, just a month after she invited Elle Decor over to photograph the space. The full spread shares Rossum’s journey of turning the “pied-à-teardown” into an elegant escape with the help of Brooklyn interior designer Antonino Buzzetta. According to Elle, Rossum asked Buzzetta for something “chic, European, the look of a modern girl who has inherited her grandmother’s stuff.” “I wanted it to have a young energy, but with old-fashioned touches,” she said.

French glamor with a contemporary bent is certainly the vibe that permeates the 800-square-foot home, helped along by a 19th century carved Cararra marble mantle from Paris, a wood-burning fireplace, beamed ceilings, and herringbone floors. Large iron-framed casement windows also offer plenty of light and air, and large antique mirrors flanking the fireplace open the place further.

The kitchen also received a complete gut renovation with Scavolini custom cabinetry, Carrina Caeserstone-covered countertops, and Miele appliances. A large bedroom offers north and south exposures, and the windowed bath is clad in marble. Rossum originally purchased the apartment in 2015 for $715,000. The residence sits within a 1928 white-glove co-op.

Hidden Tunnel Will Take You From 30Rock To Times Square

New York City’s avenue blocks are long, as are its winters; getting from Rockefeller Center to Times Square can be an unpleasant, cold and crowded experience–unless you take the underground passageway, the city’s largest, that spans the entire two-block-plus distance. Below, take a virtual stroll from avenue to avenue (and from the B/D/F/M to the N/R/W subways): Enter on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Street and exit at Seventh Avenue and 49th Street–and buy yourself a few more minutes before you burrow into that parka.

Intrepid guide Minh T. Nguyen from nycsubwayguide.com explains how you can use the indoor underground passageway to get from Rock Center to Times Square, starting at 630 Fifth Avenue across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and emerging triumphantly into Seventh Avenue’s commercial melee. Even better, you can shop, dine, or stop to read a book and have a coffee at various points along the way. The passageway is only available during business hours as it traverses the bowels of various office buildings along the way.

The 10 Best Plants For Apartments

From purifying the air to making your apartment feel more welcoming and alive, there are a multitude of reasons to incorporate plants into your home decor. However, for many of us, keeping these precious specimens alive can be a small but legitimate challenge—especially when space and natural sunlight is limited (like many apartments in New York City). To make the commitment to caring for and sustaining the life of greenery a bit easier, we’ve put together this list of special and very sturdy plants perfect for apartment dwellers like yourself.

1. Pothos – Epipremnum Aureum ↑
This leafy green is ideal for adding lively accents higher up in your apartment. They are perfect for hanging baskets or as a climbing plant. Plus their purifying qualities allow them to absorb and strip toxins like formaldehyde often found in common household items like carpet and area rugs. They can survive in a variety of lighting conditions, but please note that low light may reduce the leaves’ variegation.

2. Snake Plant – Sansevieria Trifasciata ↑
Snake plants are some of the most tolerant plants out there. They can withstand weeks of neglect without loosing their shape and fresh look. Snake plants are great for the novice green thumb as they can thrive in environments with very low light and water. Added benefits include their ability to help purify the air by removing toxins like formaldehyde and benzene.

3. ZZ Plant – Zamioculcas Zamiifolia ↑
ZZ Plants are native to Zanzibar, a country located in East Africa, and are considered by some as the “Houseplant of the Future.” This is one of the lowest light plants available, only needs to be watered three times per month, and rarely attract pests.

4. Iron Plant – Aspidistra Elatior ↑
Iron Plants boast dark leafy greens, and can add a visually striking aesthetic to any dark corner. They also have an affinity for low lighting and can survive with very little water and poor soil.

5. Cacti – Cactaceae ↑
If variety is what you’re looking for then you might want to invest some of your apartment funds into purchasing cacti. Cacti are available in all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes and sizes. These easy to care for plants can survive in the desert, so if you have a window available, it’s likely your apartment will be an equally equip environment to provide these plants with everything they need to thrive.

6. Succulents ↑
Who doesn’t love a succulent? Over the past few years we’ve seen a boom in this plants popularity which can probably be attributed to their good looks and their no fuss MO (they are nearly indestructible). All you need to keep these guys going is a little bit of sunlight and water once every other month.

7. Spider Plant – Chlorophytum Comosum ↑
Spider plants again fall into the low light category, but they also self propagate by sending out off-shoots. So if abundance is what you’re after, look no further. Spider plants do well when their roots are crowded, making them the perfect companion for any New York apartment whether planted in a bundle or on their own.

8. Bamboo ↑
Bamboo only needs water and shade to survive, and in addition to its good looks, bamboo is also meant to create a positive living environment. It is considered a living example of the feng shui elements of water, wood and earth, and in accordance with feng shui practices, if you place your bamboo in the correct pot, it can introduce fire and metal to complete a balance of the five elements.

9. Ficus Tree – Ficus benjamina ↑
If you’re lucky enough to have room for a full tree, then the ficus is what you should be after. Also known as the weeping fig or Braided Ficus, this low-maintenance, attractive plant is perfect for your indoor oasis. The braided trunk however does not occur naturally. When the plant is young, its multiple trunks can be weaved together to grow into a permanent braid. While the ficus is a very common indoor plant, they are also grown outdoors. In nature it can reach up to 50 feet tall.

10. Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum Wallisii) ↑
This beautiful plant boasts long dark green leaves and elegant white flowers. The Peace Lily is great for small spaces and requires little sun for survival. In fact, direct sunlight can actually damage the plant’s foliage—it has the nickname “Closet Plant.” The plant doesn’t require a lot of watering, but when it does, it’s easy to tell as the leaves begin to drop.

9 Artsy & Cheap DIY Wall Decor Ideas

1. Make your own wall decals
Decals work best on a clean white space, but even if your walls are brick, a mess of pipes, or otherwise unsuitable for decorating, your ceiling is also a great area for a DIY mural. Using cardstock, cut out an easily repeatable shape, like a triangle, and tape it in a pattern on your wall.

2. Window art
Not all of us can afford to live in homes with original stained glass, but GelGems, Window Art, and vellum make for a pretty good alternative. While personal experience has shown GelGems to have the shortest lifespan, they’re also the least effort to acquire and apply, available at plenty of local and corporate retailers. Window Art, meanwhile, is a pricier option, but makes for a fun art project and can last for decades (at the risk of having to chisel the material off your windows)

3. Paint chip collages
Using the free paint chips available at your local hardware store, create a gradient mural or mini collages by designating a background color and a front color. Cut the front color, as you would with a paper snowflake, and paste it on the background one. Easy peasy!

4. Smash a mirror
Find a mirror, break it, coat the shards in rubber cement, and securely tape, paste, or otherwise fasten them to your wall in a design of your choosing. Sure it’s taboo, but it’s neat, so burn some lavender and enjoy your creation. It’s worth the risk of bad luck.

5. Add greenery
Whether it be a single mini succulent, a window box of perennials, or a full indoor garden, plants will bring oxygen and literal life to your apartment. For those with limited window space and not a lot of light, try setting up a grow light for your plants (yes, these can be used to grow things besides marijuana). Put it on a timer, leaving you responsible only for watering them. Here’s a full list of plants suitable for apartment dwellers.

6. Paper taxidermy
Cheap, animal-friendly, and fun, paper taxidermy is a growing trend with kits increasingly available for purchase at local art suppliers. An added bonus is that they are light and easily mountable.

7. Hang Plates
Decorative plates are another easy and cheap way to dress up a plain white wall. Use sets that you already have, or if you don’t have a collection you feel you can show off, hit up your local thrift store, flea market, or even Target for some inexpensive but attractive options.

8. Washi Tape Frames
Can’t afford to frame your art? Consider creating Japanese washi tape frames. This handy tape comes in all sorts of colors and costs just a few dollars a roll.

9. Tie dye
Sure you haven’t done it since summer camp, but the fact that you were able to tie dye shirts back then proves that tie dying is pretty difficult to screw up. You’ll need white sheets within your price range, a tie dye kit, and somewhere to put your creation as its drying. Follow instructions (they’ll be more pleasant to follow outdoors, in warm weather) and voila, you now have a lovingly made, posi-vibed bed spread (it works for throw pillows and couch covers, too!). Pro tip: Thinking beyond the typical swirl tie dye pattern of psychedelic rainbow colors will keep you from looking like a Dead Head. Instead, carefully choose your color palette and consider different folding styles like shibori, suburst, or ombre.

The Monthly Update - March 2017

As the U.S stock market continues its steady climb to as-yet unexplored heights, real estate brokers are finally starting to see the fruits of the upward trajectory in our day-to-day activity of buying and selling New York City property.

Leading with the luxury market, the Oshlan Luxury Market Report, which focuses on properties at the $4 million mark and above, noted that February 2017 was the second strongest February on record for contract signings. The bulk of those luxury market contracts were in a sweet spot between $4 million and $6 million, specifically.

The Hoffman Team at Compass, indeed felt the same surge in business with 10 contracts signed in February. We are also seeing an increased number of online website views of our listings — a good indicator of future business — and at the water cooler, other agents are talking about a general buzz industrywide.

Is it the Trump effect? Is spring finally in the air? Is it because the Fed all but guaranteed that interest rates will be given a hard look during their March meeting? I'd say all of the above are, at last, bringing buyers to the point of purchase, so let's all ride this general wave of optimism while it lasts, shall we?

But alas, there are future hurdles ahead for markets around the word. Take a look at France's elections in late April, for example. Another Nationalist is leading in the polls, and if Marine Le Pen wins, there could be another blow to the EU as she would like to go the way of Great Britain and exit (Frexit?). And, our own Fed has given us mixed singles as to what exactly they intend to do with rates over the long haul.

These type of pluses and minuses point to a general rule that one cannot look too far into the future. It's best to just capitalize on what is happening right now, which is cautiously positive if you are in the real estate market.

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Real Estate Is Latest Target for Would-Be Disrupters


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Gwyneth Paltrow’s All-White Tribeca Penthouse Hits The Market For $10M

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Though not notable for leading a private lifestyle (might we mention her very public “conscious uncoupling” and certain intimate products that she’s touted on her blog Goop), Gwyneth Paltrow has been reticent to showcase interior photos of her Tribeca penthouse. She first listed the pad at 416 Washington Street last March for $14.25 million; after chopping the price to $12.85 million in November, she self-published a few images on Goop; but now that it’s taken a third cut to $9,995,000, it looks like Gwynie is loosening up. LL NYC first spotted the new listing with Compass, which now has plenty of views, from the famous fuzzy nap zones, to the living room swing made of an antique Indoor door, to endless swaths of white marble and ethereal hand-painted wall coverings.

Gwyneth enlisted celeb designers Roman & Williams to outfit the 3,892-square-foot home, requesting a departure from their usual dark and moody interiors. According to Robin Standefer, principal at the firm, “Gwyneth saw how we could instead channel this ethereal palette: light delicate whites, palest lavenders, grays, silvers, embroidery details.” On Goop she was sure to note that it’s unlike those Tribeca lofts with ““rough-hewn wooden beams and exposed lightbulb filaments,” but rather “floats above the cobblestone streets like a pale, dreamy cloud” thanks to “pastel silks, hand-embroidered wallpapers, and cool swaths of marble.”

A large entry gallery is filled with storage, as well as a fireplace, skylight, and powder room. Next, the great room is topped by an 11-foot-tall, custom-pressed tin ceiling and lined with oversize arched windows and French doors leading to a charming 500-square-foot terrace. There’s a marble gas fireplace, the aforementioned sofa swing, and a super-low, zen-like dining table.

Another oversized banquette-style dining area is off the kitchen, which is covered in book-matched white marble, custom white cabinetry, and white-painted wood floors.

The master suite has access to another terrace and also boasts four custom closets and a sky-lit bathroom with heated floors, a steam shower, and deep soaking tub.

There are two more bedrooms, both with large closets and en-suite bathrooms, joined by a pocket door.

As 6sqft previously explained, “Gwyneth and then-husband Chris Martin bought the apartment as a pied-a-terre in 2007 for $5.1 million after selling a nearby loft at 13 Harrison Street that they’d bought in 2005 for $7.95 million.” Since the family is now based full-time in LA, she decided to sell.

‘The Daily Show’ Host Trevor Noah Buys $10M Hell's Kitchen Penthouse

It looks like Trevor Noah’s $15,000 rental at Stella Tower was just a space for him to kill time while waiting to move upstairs into a $10 million penthouse. The Journal reports that Noah closed today on the top-floor duplex apartment that spans the 17th and 18th floors of the 1927 Ralph Walker-designed skyscraper. In all, the star’s new spacious abode measures 3,600 square feet and comes encircled by a large, 930-square-foot terrace with sweeping views of the city.

Per the Journal, Noah scored quite a deal on the three-bedroom home, which was most recently listed at a discounted $11.5 million, down from an initial ask of $13 million.

The penthouse is surely a stunner with 14-foot ceilings and oversized windows with jaw-dropping views of Midtown and Downtown NYC. There’s also an eat-in kitchen, large closets, and solid oak flooring, details resulting from a recent conversion and renovation by JDS Development.

Amenities in the building include a 24-hour attended lobby, fitness center, media room, resident’s lounge with piano and bar, and outdoor garden.

The Hell’s Kitchen home is also close to the 52nd Street and Eleventh Avenue studio where “The Daily Show” is filmed, making for an easy commute for the TV star.

3 Things to Know About Selling a House on Your Own

3 Things to Know About Selling a House on Your Own

Do-it-yourself sellers hope to save commission fees but will have to work at it.

By Jeff Brown | Contributor Feb. 27, 2017, at 10:39 a.m.

The internet is full of sites that help homeowners sell property on their own, promising thousands in savings by avoiding commissions, but the National Association of Realtors says commission savings on a for-sale-by-owner transaction, or FSBO, are more than offset by lower sales prices.

The truth lies somewhere in between, according to most objective analysts. So for most sellers, deciding whether to go FSBO is a tough call.

Ali Wenzke, a Chicago writer with a blog called the Art of Happy Moving, says do-it-yourself transactions have worked well for her.

"My husband and I have sold two houses FSBO and purchased one home without an agent," she says. "Be objective. Work hard. Be flexible to do showings at any time."

"Anyone can do it and the average home is shown five times or less," says Sissy Lappin, co-founder of the FSBO website ListingDoor.com. "The notion that no buyers or sellers can understand or manage what happens in a transaction is simply absurd."

One thing is sure: the average seller's experience does not necessarily apply in any specific case. What matters is whether you can succeed with a FSBO, regardless of whether your neighbor has.

Adjust your expectations. Experts do agree that FSBO novices should be realistic. Even if you get top dollar and avoid the agent's commission, the process can be a time-consuming headache. And even if you don't have an agent of your own, you may have little choice but to pay one representing the buyer, cutting the savings in half.

"While listing on your own seems easy, you are in fact replacing a job which you usually employ a broker to do full time," says New York-based real estate agent Dylan Hoffman, who is not a fan of FSBOs. "You will need to organize showings, tours, previews and open houses. Plus all the back-end work, like maintaining photos and descriptions on websites, checking for a clear title, etc. An owner would also take on the role of marketing, both digital and print."

The internet has made the process much easier, with many sites now offering listings, advice and services like printing signs. For a fee, usually several hundred dollars, some services will get your home on the multiple listing service used by real estate agents and buyers, though Lappin says it's good enough to list on a site like Zillow.com, which is free. The goal is to save the agent's commission, typically about 6 percent of the sales price, or $18,000 for a $300,000 home.

"FSBO has grown up and sellers don't have to settle for a red-and-white generic yard sign," Lappin says.

She says the seller of a $400,000 home with $60,000 in equity would spend 40 percent of that equity if they paid a real estate agent 6 percent commission, or $24,000.

What kind of homes sell without an agent? The National Association of Realtors says about 10 percent of home sales are conducted without an agent, though some critics say the figure is higher. The association says the average FSBO sells for 13 percent less than the average agent-assisted sale. Again, critics like Lappin disagree, with many noting the association's studies do not look at comparable homes and lump in mobile homes and other inexpensive properties, as well as intra-family deals that tend to have low sales prices. Association figures do show that FSBO is less common with high-priced homes.

FSBO advocates generally agree that doing it yourself is more difficult for the seller, and can take longer. Though you might catch a buyer's eye right off the bat, the FSBO approach is relatively passive, as you won't have an agent steering buyers your way. Obviously, the seller must be available to show the house, and that can require weekdays, not just Sunday afternoons.

"It takes a lot of people skills to sell your own home," says law professor David Reiss, director of The Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at New York's Brooklyn Law School. "Can you engage with potential buyers even as they are criticizing your house and the choices you made about it? Can you distinguish serious buyers from window shoppers? Can you negotiate without giving away the farm or playing too hard to get?"

Anti-discrimination laws limit what you can tell buyers about issues like the ethnicity of neighbors, or even the number of school-aged kids or seniors on the block. And you have to be willing to show to all comers.

Going it alone also means you won't have an agent's advice setting the home up to it up to look its best, though you could hire a professional stager.

Pricing a home can be difficult. While online services like Zillow and Realtor.com show asking prices and recent sales prices in the neighborhood, your home might need an adjustment up or down for the age of the roof or presence of a pool. So it may pay to hire an appraiser for several hundred dollars.

Generally, the title company handles the nuts and bolts of the closing, like paying off property taxes and title insurance, though many experts say the FSBO seller should have a lawyer.

"I think by doing FSBO you are going to increase your days on the market unless you are incredibly well priced – most likely under market," says Kevin Lawton, an agent with Coldwell Banker's Schiavone & Associates in Bordentown, New Jersey. "The reason for this is that unless you work really hard to market the property the exposure will not be so great. On top of not having as much exposure, you run the risk of agents not showing FSBOs to their buyers as options. "

The FSBO seller can get agents on board by offering a buyer's agent commission of 2.5 to 3 percent.

Experts also say DIY sellers should require prospective buyers to show they have been preapproved for a mortgage large enough to buy the home.

Haggling over terms can be draining. The two parties must agree on a closing date, a penalty if the buyer pulls out and contingencies such as what happens if the buyer's appraisal comes in too low or the buyer doesn't get a mortgage.

Full Article HERE

Brooklyn Farmers Are Growing Crops Inside Shipping Containers

Square Roots first broke ground by financing and mentoring local entrepreneurs who are growing tasty, nutritious greens in, of all places, a Brooklyn parking lot. Now it’s taking things a step further — right to your New York City office. 

The new “Farm to Local, by Square Roots” initiative delivers snack-size bags of salad greens to workplaces. It already has subscribers at Vice Media and Kickstarter, said Square Roots CEO and cofounder Tobias Peggs.

“Your farmer will literally come to your desk and drop off same-day-harvested greens,” he said.

These farms aren’t your traditional sprawling upstate acreage tended by laborers or a guy on a tractor in bib overalls. Set up near where Jay Z grew up, they’re 10 steel shipping containers converted into hydroponic vertical farms, meaning crops grow in tower formation with recycled water and without soil.

Inside the LED-lit modular containers are rows of panels sprouting pesticide-free plants in a controlled climate — so freezing temperatures and snow pose no problem. Each container produces an annual harvest equivalent to an estimated two acres of land.

Square Roots raised seed financing to build the campus, which cost more than $100,000. Then, 10 young farmers were chosen from more than 500 applicants for a yearlong stint that started in November.

One of them is Electra Jarvis, 27, an Alphabet City resident who grows kale, mustard greens, and Salanova lettuce and is working on cilantro.

“At farmers markets, people are always impressed with the shelf-life and the taste,” said Jarvis, who had been a master’s student in sustainable environmental systems at Pratt Institute and interned with a hydroponic research and development company and an urban farming consulting firm.

The farmers work about 30 hours per week, splitting their time between working on the crops and sales, Peggs said.

“They build a big network of mentors and learn how to build a sustainable business,” said Peggs, whose background is in technology. “Then they are in an incredible position to go off on their own entrepreneurial journey.”

Germination of the idea

Peggs, 44, arrived in the U.S. in 2003 from the United Kingdom. A few years later, he met Kimbal Musk (whose brother is the entrepreneur Elon Musk). Musk, a chef, had cooked for firefighters at ground zero after 9/11. “That’s when he began to see the power of real food and its ability to strengthen communities,” Peggs said.

Peggs and Musk worked together in social media analytics, until Musk broke his neck in a skiing accident and, “realizing life can be short,” shifted his focus to The Kitchen, a farm-to-table restaurant group that started in Colorado, Peggs said. In 2014, the duo began developing the idea for Square Roots.

“What we saw was that millions of people, especially in our biggest cities, were at the mercy of industrial food,” Peggs said. “This is high-calorie, low-nutrient food, shipped in from thousands of miles away. The results are awful, from childhood obesity to adult diabetes to a total loss of community around food.”

For example, Peggs said, a supermarket apple may have been traveling for nine months and is coated in wax. “You think you’re making a healthy choice, but in that time the nutrients have broken down, and you’re basically eating a ball of sugar.”

Square Roots aims to expand to 20 metropolitan areas by 2020.

Until then, in Brooklyn, they’re growing mainly leafy greens (spinach, arugula, chard) and herbs (basil, shiso). Peggs believes berries and tomatoes could follow.

“At the end of the day, if the food doesn't taste amazing, no one will buy it,” Peggs said. “So we focus every day on making sure the food tastes amazing. And it does.”

125-Year-Old Cathedral Finally Declared a City Landmark

On Tuesday the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the 125-year-old Cathedral Church of St. John The Divine, the world’s largest cathedral; in addition, 115 neighboring buildings became the Morningside Heights Historic District. The designated district runs from West 109th to 119th streets between Riverside Drive and Amsterdam Avenue and includes the famously unfinished cathedral and surrounding campus. With the designation, calendared by the LPC in September, comes a 3-D online map that provides more information about the buildings in the district, most of which were constructed between 1900 and 1910, including townhouses dating back to the late 1800s as well as pre-war apartment buildings.
 

Full Morningside Heights Historic District interactive map here.

Commission Chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan said in a statement, “The Cathedral is among the most famous church buildings in the world and is visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year who want to experience this 125-year-old masterpiece and complex with its varied and unique architectural styles…Preservation is not static; it can look towards the future.”

The first phase of construction of the iconic 124-foot French Gothic cathedral happened from 1892 to 1911, and the second phase, from 1916 to 1941, saw the nave completed and connected with the choir; a third phase was begun in 1979 on the western section, which remains unfinished.

Commissioner Shamir-Brown said, “It’s meaningful and important to designate the cathedral as a building that is unfinished. We’re recognizing not only what it was but what it will become. That says something about the potential open-endedness of preservation.”

Enclave at the Cathedral; image: CityRealty

In 2002 the City Council overturned a decision to designate the unfinished cathedral in an attempt to preserve the entire Cathedral Close. Two rental towers known as Enclave at the Cathedral that flank the cathedral’s northern exposure were excluded from the site’s designation. As 6sqft previously reported, the new rental buildings developed by the Brodsky Organization were involved in a controversy for their position obstructing the cathedral.

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Jason Biggs & Wife List Stylish Tribeca Loft For $3M

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“American Pie” and “Orange is the New Black” actor Jason Biggs married actress and author Jenny Mollen in 2008, after they met filming “My Best Friend’s Girl.” Five years later, the trendy couple bought a sprawling Tribeca loft at 288 West Street for $2.55 million, enlisting designer-to-the-stars Cliff Fong (with whom they’d worked previously on two L.A. homes) to outfit the space with a combination of modern furniture and accessories from Wayfair.com, their extensive art collection, and playful and comfortable pieces to accommodate their three-year-old son Sid–all of which blend seamlessly with the loft’s brick walls, exposed timber framing and beams, raw pipes, and open floorplan. They’ve now decided to put the apartment on the market, and it’s asking a not-especially, marked-up price of $2,995,000.

The 2,200-square-foot home is currently configured as a three-bedroom plus home office. Throughout are high ceilings, hardwood floors, and sleek recessed lighting. Fong used patterned and textured rugs to divide the open space into separate functions; he also thoughtfully mixed colorful statement pieces like the orange chairs in the sitting area with more classic choices like the Danish-style dining table and chairs. In a feature on their home, Biggs told People magazine that his style is “eclectic, rebellious and comfortable,” which certainly comes through in the interior design and artwork.

The kitchen is outfitted with all stainless steel, high-end appliances, as well as custom concrete countertops, a wine fridge, and industrial-style open shelving.

The master suite is quite large and has two window seats, an updated bathroom, and a washer/dryer.

In addition, the building has a 1,000-square-foot common roof deck with a gas grill and panoramic Hudson River views.

Your new home awaits.