January 16, 20205 yr Author ^ i see its 1401' and 58 floors. i believe there will be an observation level too, so between that and the busy base there will be a lot of public access in it. i keep thinking ny has a transamerica bldg now everytime i see it. ha.
February 11, 20205 yr Author this is kind of weird, but the iconic macy's dept store is getting a tower: A 900-foot tower will be built on top of Macy's in Herald Square By Shaye Weaver Posted: Monday February 10 2020, 3:53pm Facing financial hardship like many other box stores, the iconic retailer is closing about 130 locations to cut costs and will be reclaiming New York City as its official headquarters, according to its new three-year plan. To that end, the company aims to add 1.5 million square feet of office space above the current flagship building that spans an entire block. The proposed "sky lobby" at Macy's Herald Square. Photograph: Courtesy fxcollaborative Macy's is also adding more office space at Tishman Speyer's Long Island City project, The JACX, which it will use for its merchandising branch (currently housed at 11 Penn Plaza), the New York Post says. more: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/a-900-foot-tower-will-be-built-on-top-of-macys-in-herald-square-021020
February 11, 20205 yr Author i dk, but the store does, just like higbees in the terminal tower did. i always liked them. come to think of it i seem to recall macys ny was getting rid of the wood escalators though. not sure where i heard that. here are some pics of one vandy i took this past friday -- after i came back from an upstate work commute it's via gct, 43rd st & 5th av -- Edited February 11, 20205 yr by mrnyc
February 11, 20205 yr Author here are a couple looks i took at the crazy barry diller funded pier 55 construction -- as seen via the high line recently. this view from the jersey side is a jaw dropper:
February 11, 20205 yr Author this clear-cut blockbuster in hudson square near downtown is going to be disney offices: its for disney affiliates, abc7, live with kelly and ryan, etc. designed by som 1.2M sq ft 4-5k employees public retail on ground -- similar to chelsea market this is what used to be there --- which i saw via a still current streetview walk around --- it was city winery, etc. (city winery just moved to pier 57 at w15st)
February 29, 20205 yr tomorrow is D-Day in New York: the plastic bag ban goes into effect? I hope this nanny state edict can be overturned soon. The amount of plastic that comprises discarded tissue -thin plastic shopping bags is so minuscule in comparison to the products we buy (and throw out) encased in plastic (just in supermarkets alone), that the environmental "benefits" of this law will be so negligible as to go unnoticed. Should all products be packaged in cardboard boxes and paper bags now?? And haven't there been studies that show that paper is actually less environmentally friendly than plastic? http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
February 29, 20205 yr 1 hour ago, eastvillagedon said: tomorrow is D-Day in New York: the plastic bag ban goes into effect? I hope this nanny state edict can be overturned soon. The amount of plastic that comprises discarded tissue -thin plastic shopping bags is so minuscule in comparison to the products we buy (and throw out) encased in plastic (just in supermarkets alone), that the environmental "benefits" of this law will be so negligible as to go unnoticed. Should all products be packaged in cardboard boxes and paper bags now?? And haven't there been studies that show that paper is actually less environmentally friendly than plastic? Much of the product packaging we buy doesn't end up blowing through the streets and ending up in the Hudson, East River and on to the oceans...
March 2, 20205 yr Author something about that line about getting into plastics in the old movie the graduate ... haha. actually, how quick we forget, but all these plastic bags we use were not even a thing in the usa until the 1980s. evd don is certainly old enough to remember when for example groceries came in paper bags prior to that. although europe was using the plastic bag much longer than us, since the 1960s i think. anyway, its a pain to change back to paper for sure, but we'll be fine.
March 2, 20205 yr 17 minutes ago, mrnyc said: actually, how quick we forget, but all these plastic bags we use were not even a thing in the usa until the 1980s. evd don is certainly old enough to remember when for example groceries came in paper bags prior to that. although europe was using the plastic bag much longer than us, since the 1960s i think Europe has also charged for plastic bags to dissuade their use for at least the last 20 years since I've been traveling there. 18 minutes ago, mrnyc said: anyway, its a pain to change back to paper for sure, but we'll be fine Agreed! Only Cleveland.com commenters seem to be truly mortified for their lives!
March 2, 20205 yr Author lets enjoy 9 dekalb at long last rapidly coming up out of the ground in downtown brooklyn! https://twitter.com/LindeGriffith/status/1229795660762882048
March 2, 20205 yr Author for jersey city, here's another one breaking ground in journal square -- they are popping up regularly over there: BY: SEBASTIAN MORRIS 7:30 AM ON FEBRUARY 29, 2020 Journal Square Urby will soon break ground following approvals from Jersey City’s Division of Planning. Located at 571-577 Pavonia Avenue, the building will rise 25 stories and contain a mix of rental apartments, amenity spaces, and dedicated office space for the on-site leasing team. From HLW Architects and Amsterdam-based design studio Concrete, the building will contain 340 market-rate apartments that range from studio to three-bedroom spreads.
March 2, 20205 yr 4 hours ago, mrnyc said: evd don is certainly old enough to remember when for example groceries came in paper bags prior to that. how dare you? lol Remember the days when supermarket paper bags didn't have handles? I don't recall now if those were still around in NYC in the early 80's. I think only Trader Joe's and Whole Foods uses them for now. I guess the other chains will catch up. Off topic, but speaking of TJ's, Trader Joe himself passed away at 89 https://nypost.com/2020/02/29/trader-joes-founder-joe-coulombe-dies-at-89/ http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
March 3, 20205 yr Author hey now, the paper grocery bags were well in use until sometime in the 1980s, so i remember them just as well too. since we are going back to that, and we have to pay extra for the bags anyway, yeah are going to need handles on them! **** hot off the press, a new sunnyside yards queens master plan/vision/render was released today. a $14.4B deck, 12,000 affordable apartments, 10-12 new schools, 60+ acres of park space, and a new regional train station. Half of the housing would provide rental apartments for low-income families earning below 50% of the area median income with the other half committed to affordable home ownership programs: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-queens-project-to-include-12-000-affordable-apartments-11583244000
March 9, 20205 yr Author cranes are up and google hudson square is well underway at 550 washington street. it will be a redevelopment and addition to the 1934 freight terminal. Late last year, Oxford Properties Group filed plans to build a 588,000-square-foot, nine-floor addition to the St. John’s Terminal building located at 550 Washington Street in Hudson Square. The Wall Street Journal broke the news in November 2018 that California-based Google is in discussions to lease the entire building, a deal that was finalized this past summer with the internet tech giant committing to the entire 1.3 million square feet of redeveloped office space to be created inside. The adaptive re-use plan designed by COOKFOX Architects involves salvaging the 1934-built former freight terminal of the High Line and building above it. A recent pass by the site reveals that work has started at Google/Oxford's nearly 600-foot-long portion spanning south of West Houston Street between Washington and West streets. The northern sections of the St. John's Building, which includes the bridge over Houston Street has been demolished (alas!). The section of the terminal building that stretched from West Houston to Clarkson Street will be developed with housing and retail, tentatively known as Clarkson Square. The conversion/addition is expected to be finished in 2022. The plan, in addition to Google's forthcoming expansions within Hudson Square, at Pier 57 and at Chelsea Market, has the potential to nearly double the search giant’s local headcount to at least 14,000 employees. Google's $1 billion investment into the neighborhood, collectively known as Google Hudson Square, includes taking up space at 315 Hudson and 350 Hudson Street. Built as a rail freight terminus to the High Line in 1934, the St. John's Terminal features incredible ceiling heights, oversized floorplates and an unprecedented sweep of Hudson River-facing exposures. While Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group will develop the northern end of the terminal separately, the Oxford vision entails preserving the first three floors of the old structure and incorporating them into a 1.3 million square foot, 12-floor office building — a groundscraper of sorts. According to permits on file, the addition would nearly triple the height of the existing structure from 80 feet to 232 feet high. The floor schedule shows there will be ground floor retail, a bike room for 237 bikes, staff lockers, workshop and break rooms in the cellar, and offices above. more: https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/market-insight/features/future-nyc/google039s-massive-hudson-square-outpost-550-washington-street-gets-craned-973m-financing/23301
March 16, 20205 yr Author i took a walk toward downtown along the hudson river park this morning. they are wasting no time putting up the googleplex.
April 16, 20205 yr On 3/2/2020 at 11:49 AM, mrnyc said: lets enjoy 9 dekalb at long last rapidly coming up out of the ground in downtown brooklyn! https://twitter.com/LindeGriffith/status/1229795660762882048 Will they keep construction going on this since it includes a good number of affordable units? I think I read somewhere that construction will continue or buildings with affordable housing in them?
April 20, 20205 yr Author ^ yes that is correct -- there are like 250 construction projects that can continue because they are tied to affordable housing. i heard there is some work still being done on 9 dekalb. or was? not sure any work is going on at full steam though. i would doubt it. edit: looks like work is happening per ny yimby blog -- its now above ground !!! Edited April 23, 20205 yr by mrnyc
April 26, 20205 yr Author construction work restrictions are loosened up and work is now allowed for 8k projects: https://thecity.nyc/2020/04/construction-exceptions-keep-many-nyc-building-sites-open.html
April 29, 20205 yr Author check out the apt sales numbers for the newest stern tower 220 cps. it boggles the ‘ol noggin: https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/midtown-west/220-central-park-south/closing-history-mobile/55214
April 30, 20205 yr On 4/29/2020 at 4:24 AM, mrnyc said: check out the apt sales numbers for the newest stern tower 220 cps. it boggles the ‘ol noggin: https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/midtown-west/220-central-park-south/closing-history-mobile/55214 Yowzers. Those prices are stunning. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
April 30, 20205 yr 35 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said: Yowzers. Those prices are stunning. Liberal cesspool.....
April 30, 20205 yr I don't think it's liberals buying those properties but rather out-of-town investors. Someday the city will have to mirror some of Vancouver's rules i.e. vacancy and foreign-buyer's taxes.
April 30, 20205 yr Author ^ not sure about that as it hardly affects typical new yorkers. the mega rich just buy up a few of these small footprint hyped up residential tower apts in nyc. who looks up? lol. its not like, say, the west end of london, where you have swaths of empty westend townhouse neighborhoods that are a kind of velvet gloved blight. its also not the same as the majority of nyc buyers are locals. remember nyc does lead the world in the number of billionaire residents. or people like for example, howard schultz, the starbucks ceo, who is clearly a seattleite, but is also a brooklyn guy. otherwise, i dont think there are many, if any, different rules for foreigners buying properties in nyc though. there is an additional withholding tax, not sure if that is fed or state, but they get it back. thats what i have heard anyway. so strength of the local market protects nyc to a great extent from going the route of vancouver, miami, westend london or south of france with the absentee or gangster money launder buyers, at least for the highest end apts. it would not surprise me if that was the total reverse on lesser properties though. ha.
May 4, 20205 yr Author i did not think we would be hearing any significant development news for quite awhile, but there is some today regarding a new thousand footer for downtown manhattan at the seaport. no, its not 80 south street, the long simmering supertall down there. its 250 water street. the site on a parking lot that is an old polluted factory superfund site. its designed by som and it can happen because its funded by howard hughes corp, which owns everything at the seaport and which has plenty of coin. no idea what mischief the "it's tooo taaawwl" nimbys will make though, we will see. of course my spouse's company would move buildings and we loose her catbird seat office window when this happens, lol, oh well. https://newyorkyimby.com/2020/05/official-renderings-revealed-for-soms-supertall-250-water-street-in-south-street-seaport-district.html this street view render is entirely a parking lot as of now.
May 18, 20205 yr Author on the smaller side, related took out a low lying chelsea u-haul corner for a nice robert a.m. stern apt building 555 west 22rd st. you can never have enough classy sterns.
May 27, 20205 yr Author i bring the good news from downtown brooklyn. this kind of stunned me, in the best way. it's ssp boerumer's update of work as of last week on the neo-gothic superstar to be, 9 dekalb!
May 27, 20205 yr Author might as well put this here for something different. 14 lecount place is underway in suburban new rochelle. 2 x 27 floors.
May 27, 20205 yr Author and last for now, it looks like skyline tower in long island city is finishing up. i guess it topped out in oct --- its the tallest in queens now at 778' per wiki.
May 30, 20205 yr Author we have a new, bulked up render for the bx point development just below yankee stadium. its 1,045 low income apts, hip hop museum and more, including being: the first and only affordable housing project to achieve WEDG certification. The rating system was founded by the Waterfront Alliance, an independent offshoot of The Municipal Art Society of New York, that establishes guidelines for ecologically friendly waterfront design and construction. i can tell you from walking by it the current site is an empty lot which a fly by night kids carnival would take over for awhile every year. i am looking forward to this moving forward at long last --- and it will be nice to have the area surrounding it fixed up into parkland. more: earlier 2017 design
June 16, 20204 yr Author a somewhat overlooked, but important part of the 111 w57st tower is the steinway hall building. the entrance got a renovation -- and best of all it will be open to the public! The Rotunda at Manhattan's Historic Steinway Hall Shines Again Elizabeth Fazzare June 16, 2020 Music is once again in the air—and on the ceiling—at Manhattan’s historic Steinway Hall. Designed by Warren and Wetmore, the venerable architecture firm behind such treasures as Grand Central Terminal, this 1925 neoclassical landmark served as the headquarters of the American piano company Steinway & Sons for nearly nine decades. At its heart, a spectacular domed reception hall wowed patrons with marble columns, plaster tympanums, and Paul Arndt murals depicting lyrical scenes of putti and other revelers. By the time JDS Development Group, Property Markets Group and Spruce Captial Partners bought the building in 2013, chronic water damage had tarnished its opulent interior. But after a meticulous restoration, the space sings once more. “With classical architecture and Italianate decorations, the rotunda is very grand,” says conservator David Riccio of John Canning & Co., who led the team to repair plaster ceilings, clean faux-marbled entablatures, and return walls and metal- work to their original color palette. “The subtlety of some materials utilized is also striking.” The removal of three layers of varnish and grime from the dome’s fresco secco and marouflage, meanwhile, revealed the rosy cheeks of cherubs and the bright draped garments of female harpists. Soon all New Yorkers will be able to take them in. Though the building will act as the West 57th and 58th Street entrances to a new 91-story tower by SHoP Architects, with interiors by the AD100 firm Studio Sofield, the rotunda will double as retail space, tempting shoppers and architecture lovers alike. more: https://news.yahoo.com/rotunda-manhattans-historic-steinway-hall-120000214.html
June 16, 20204 yr On 5/27/2020 at 10:20 AM, mrnyc said: i guess it topped out in oct --- its the tallest in queens now at 778' per wiki. I need to scan my photos from my summer 2000 trip to NYC. I walked around Roosevelt Island one day by myself and took a few photos of the Citibank tower when it was all by its lonesome over there. I found the thing to be pretty comical. I recall that the subway only extended one more station eastward into Queens from Roosevelt Island and didn't connect to anything in Queens as it does now.
June 16, 20204 yr Author Just now, jmecklenborg said: I need to scan my photos from my summer 2000 trip to NYC. I walked around Roosevelt Island one day by myself and took a few photos of the Citibank tower when it was all by its lonesome over there. I found the thing to be pretty comical. I recall that the subway only extended one more station eastward into Queens from Roosevelt Island and didn't connect to anything in Queens as it does now. well there were multiple subway connections from manhattan to lic in 2000, but yes that particular train, the Q, doesnt even go over there anymore, it turns north and became the 2nd avenue subway. for now anyway. the F train took its place and the through tunnel was opened in 2001. anyway it took awhile for major development to take off in lic, but somebody had to be first. so moma ps1 and then later citibank were the catalysts. it was inevitable with the location and that kind of major transit nexus.
June 17, 20204 yr LIC is my goal for my next home if I choose to leave Jackson Heights whenever I choose to sell my current one-bedroom. My office is adjacent to GCT and my partner works on 59th so it would be perfect for us plus the waterfront in Hunters Point is my favorite park in the city. Just gotta keep on track with these investments because my salary isn't going to be enough to pay for what I want in LIC...haha.
June 17, 20204 yr Author 12 minutes ago, jmicha said: LIC is my goal for my next home if I choose to leave Jackson Heights whenever I choose to sell my current one-bedroom. My office is adjacent to GCT and my partner works on 59th so it would be perfect for us plus the waterfront in Hunters Point is my favorite park in the city. Just gotta keep on track with these investments because my salary isn't going to be enough to pay for what I want in LIC...haha. a friend of mine and his family moved from one of those new hunters point tower apts to a house in astoria a couple years ago. funny enough it has the known biggest backyard in queens. best of luck to you. we are looking hard at sunnyside, but during normal times my spouse just walks over to work to her office now in hudson square -- so its always a toss-up, we want more room, but we cant beat our location. Edited June 17, 20204 yr by mrnyc
June 17, 20204 yr 2 hours ago, mrnyc said: so moma ps1 and then later citibank were the catalysts. I went to PS 1 on that trip. The high concrete wall that surrounds the grounds was already there - no doubt to keep out the bad element. In fact I now remember that our entire organized trip started there since we couldn't get into the hostel until after 5pm or something like that. I remember flying into Islip and then taking the LIRR into Penn and then the #7 out to PS1. We were all self-conscious and didn't want people to think we were tourists even though we were rolling around our damn luggage. I just looked at it on google streetview and I was like...wow. In addition to how built-up it is, I'm amazed by how small the whole area is. It seemed a lot larger in my mind. In 2000 it was like a burnt-out area of Akron or Youngstown over there but with an arts organization struggling to get off the ground. Back then there wasn't GPS (or even cell phones) so to get to places you had to navigate via written instructions. Places like museums had walking directions on their literature, of course, but finding people's apartments or artist's studios or whatever always had a little tension to it since you had to pay attention while looking like you knew where you were going or else you risked getting mugged or worse, looking like a tourist.
June 18, 20204 yr On 6/16/2020 at 9:07 PM, mrnyc said: a friend of mine and his family moved from one of those new hunters point tower apts to a house in astoria a couple years ago. funny enough it has the known biggest backyard in queens. best of luck to you. we are looking hard at sunnyside, but during normal times my spouse just walks over to work to her office now in hudson square -- so its always a toss-up, we want more room, but we cant beat our location. There's a specific building I want to live in in LIC called Arris Lofts. They're like 25% out of reach so it'll be a bit before it's within my comfort zone. But the biggest thing is I'm not a big spender and currently my partner and I collectively only spend 18% of our income on housing and I put away about 42% of my salary every month. Moving to LIC would be a major shift so I'm waiting until my money is at a point where it's earning enough interest to really truly consistently offset the additional housing expenses living there would entail. Hudson Square is a nice area. My coworker has an insane loft in an old schoolhouse there that was featured in Dwell. I'm jealous every time I set foot in it haha.
June 22, 20204 yr Author ^ don’t even get me started on real estate and cool places, its blood sport in nyc lol. hang on prices will eventually dip, especially if the stock market does. our dream is sunnyside gardens, you know the neighborhood of those homes with the little walkways between the blocks. or an apt around there. quiet, but close. we’ll see. but yeah you cant beat no commute except for a beautiful short walk for my spouse. it was even shorter when she worked for dc/google — its right across the street and thats as short a commute as it gets lol. On 6/16/2020 at 9:40 PM, jmecklenborg said: I just looked at it on google streetview and I was like...wow. In addition to how built-up it is, I'm amazed by how small the whole area is. It seemed a lot larger in my mind. In 2000 it was like a burnt-out area of Akron or Youngstown over there but with an arts organization struggling to get off the ground. well lic is much more than just around ps1, its a big area with smaller neighborhoods in it. and ps1 never had any problem getting off the ground, it is a moma branch and was a huge hit from day one to today. as for the ps1 setting, you are talking about looking at the 5pointz grafitti building. it was across the street from ps1. it was unique, there was nothing like that anywhere else. a real tragedy it had to go, but that was a different ny.
June 23, 20204 yr As an architect I want to end up in something with some sort of unique aspect but...so does everyone lol. Oh well, for now I'm perfectly fine with my very affordable Jackson Heights one bedroom with my small mortgage and low interest rate. I can stick it out until I find the right place down the line.
June 23, 20204 yr On 6/22/2020 at 11:46 AM, mrnyc said: as for the ps1 setting, you are talking about looking at the 5pointz grafitti building. it was across the street from ps1. it was unique, there was nothing like that anywhere else. a real tragedy it had to go, but that was a different ny. That building definitely wasn't famous in The Year 2000. If it had graffiti on it at the time it was no different than any other sort-of vacant building. Aside from PS1 we visited a woman's painting studio in that area, which was a small industrial building with a big metal hook hanging from the ceiling in the kitchenette. I remember her remarking that art gallery owners and critics had only recently started making "the trip" over to Brooklyn and Queens to make studio visits. I remembered her name and she is still active: https://www.pamelafraser.art/ We also visited a guy in DUMBO who was renting a whole floor of a warehouse with another artist for $1,600/mo, so $800/each. It was this guy: http://artstudioreynolds.com/. This underwater short film was shot on a shipping container that he had delivered to the bombed-out land next to his building...he built a family room in it and then filled it with water: http://artstudioreynolds.com/drowning-room/ I mean...imagine how rich you'd have to be today to have the ability to rent ground space in that area to shoot a film with no chance of making money. Plus, you'd just be another hipster tinkering with a shipping container.
June 23, 20204 yr 5 Pointz was definitely known in the 90s but didn't get widespread renown until after 2002 when it was renamed as such. I was way too young at that point in time to have known about anything happening in NYC, but when I started getting into development in like, 2007 or so, I remember reading up on it and Long Island City in general as it was then poised to be a hot bed of development that we see now today. The towers in its place now, which still aren't complete, are fairly blah. It's a shame this couldn't have been preserved in some meaningful way. I never got to see it in person. I pass by the site on the 7 train to and from home all the time (well...not so much these days...) and most of the new development is lacking any soul whatsoever. The cooler areas of LIC make up for it a bit, but it would have been nice for the rezoned area with all the new towers to have a little more personality. Keeping the chunk of 5 Pointz along the roads and building a tower or two behind it would have been a nice middle ground in my mind. I know people would complain of authenticity and all that jazz, but housing is in short supply in the immediate area and it would have been a better end result than what's currently there.
June 23, 20204 yr The thing about visiting Brooklyn or Queens back then was that is seemed...really far. In your mind you were traveling for like, miles and miles when it was just a single mile. Plus, the roads are laid out haphazardly so it feels like you're walking forever. Google Maps shrunk and demystified it. The trains are still slow, obviously, but overall newcomers must have a much greater concept of where they are than people did in the past.
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