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Beauty in the Bronx
Situated in the far northwest section of the Bronx, Riverdale is bounded on the west by the Hudson River and the north by the Westchester County line but to many it feels like a suburban enclave within the city. Read More
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
There was a saying in the 1950s that went, Read More
The Hamptons
While most full-time residents of New York City love their big, scrappy town, sometimes the crowded streets, the cacophony of aromas and sounds that waft from restaurants and apartments, and the hectic pace - particularly in the summer months, when the mercury gets longer and tempers get shorter - can be a bit much. Read More
The Long and Short of It
It all started with a man and a dream. The man was William H. Reynolds, a young tycoon and New York's youngest state senator at only 24 years old. The dream was to turn an unsung barrier island in Nassau County into the next playground for the rich and famous. Already famous himself for constructing Dreamland - Coney Island's largest amusement park - in 1903, Reynolds purchased Long Beach in the early 1900s and set about making his dream a reality. Read More
More Than Just MoMA
What makes a city or town appealing? Is it the people who live in the area, the residents who imbue their surroundings with different cultural influences? Is it the geography of the place, the nearness to or separation from a major metropolitan area? Could it be the arts scene? The economy? What about cost of living? When people look at a city and its neighborhoods, whether they're considering a location to start a new business or the perfect place to raise a family, it's important to ask all of these questions. Read More
On The Waterfront
Cobble Hill, Brooklyn has undergone a tremendous transformation from its days as a waterfront marketplace. The commercial makeover of Smith Street has transformed the locale into a thoroughfare of popular restaurants and today, it's considered the destination where young professional couples can buy more affordable historic homes and raise their families. Read More
A Little R & R in DUMBO
The area of Brooklyn known as DUMBO, short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, has been named renamed and named again throughout its history. As early as 1642 as the Dutch settlers moved into Long Island and began establishing farms it was known as "no mans land." As these same settlers began to run ferries between Manhattan and the Brooklyn waterfront, entrepreneur Robert Fulton came along with the steamboat service and made it an eight-minute commute from pier to pier. Ferry soon became the most popular means of commuting, and the steamboats began to bring people, food, mail and even wagons to the island. This popularity turned the area from "no-man's land" into "Fulton Landing" and soon thereafter into a miniature commercial port for Brooklyn. Read More
The Once-Forbidden City
Of the many distinct neighborhoods in New York City, a select few have established their reputation to such a degree that they've become urban entities of literary proportion. Greenwich Village is one, Harlem is another. Manhattan's Chinatown - a two-square-mile area loosely cordoned off by Kenmore and Delancey Streets on the north, East and Worth Streets on the south, Allen Street to the east, and Broadway on the west side - is a third. Read More
Bohemian Rhapsody
Williamsburg, Billburg, Billyburg" call it what you like. But whatever you do, don't call it over. The Utne Reader called it "the third hippest neighborhood in America" a few years back. Like any place that gets hyped this much, Williamsburg - located in Brooklyn just across the river from Midtown Manhattan - has its share of detractors whining that it's getting overpriced, that it's being gentrified, that it's not all that. But Williamsburg is still a world-class cultural incubator, a diverse and thriving community, and an all-around nice place to live. Read More
Manhattan's Crown Jewel-Keepers
One hundred and fifty years ago, the New York State Legislature passed a bill designating land in the heart of Manhattan as a great central park. Today, the 843 acres that was saved from being swallowed up by developers is now treasured public landscape used as a respite from the feverish pace of the metropolis by over 25 million visitors and residents each year. Read More
Tulips and Trust Funds
Tell someone your address is on Park Avenue in New York City, and immediately you've conjured images of luxury, affluence, and status. Over the last two centuries, Park Avenue has become synonymous with the good life - the home of millionaire industrialists since the turn of the last century, it is now the address of wealthy financiers, attorneys, medical professionals, and old-money families who've been there for generations, living in some of the most luxurious co-op buildings in the city. Read More
It Takes a Village
Say the name "Greenwich Village," and immediately images of quiet, leafy streets lined with brownstones, or beret-clad bohemians drinking coffee and discussing art come to mind. The Village is one of New York's most famous and recognizable neighborhoods, and for the last two centuries, it's been a hotbed of cultural and social activity. Read More
Harlem Song
Just about every neighborhood in New York City has had its ups and downs and its own particular stereotypes. Areas rise and fall as centers for culture or as fashionable places to live. For whatever reason, few places have been on the roller coaster longer than Harlem. Harlem is home to both jazz and hip-hop, the rich artistic history of the Harlem Renaissance, and the stereotypical concept of the urban ghetto. Read More
Developing the Downtown
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the agencies charged with overseeing the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, have narrowed the field from nine design concepts to two, both of which contain varying residential components. Read More
Westchester County
With all the diversions and distractions on parade past our front stoops 24/7, it's easy for Manhattanites to forget that the New York City metro extends beyond the rivers that ring our little island. Vibrant communities large and small spread in every direction, eastward out along Long Island, across the Hudson into New Jersey, and up into the sizeable gap between "The City," and "Upstate." Westchester County occupies part of that gap, and is home to both picturesque towns and villages with names like Sleepy Hollow and Pleasantville as well as cities like White Plains and Yonkers that are every bit as urbanized as Brooklyn or Queens. Read More
Unearthing Bloemendaal
Thanks to the city's preservation efforts, most of the buildings lining Columbus Avenue from 67th up to 82nd Streets are first-generation developments. These designated landmarks, with their original storefronts intact, elicit memories of the quaint, little old New York of more than a century ago. Yet, even in this carefully tended historic district, only a fraction of the Upper West Side's rich history is preserved. Read More
Museums, Mansions, and Millionaires
On Manhattan's Upper East Side, embracing world-class museums, exclusive private schools foreign embassies and just steps from Central Park, lies one of New York City's premier "status" neighborhoods. Commercial truck clamor is rarely heard here - the noise and bustle of downtown replaced with a liberal dose of baby strollers and small, well-groomed dogs. Carnegie Hill has been called New York's "quintessential residential neighborhood' and is home to some of the city's most lavish real estate properties. There is a waiting list for just about everything here, but an address in this affluent enclave imparts a sense of history and continuity that's sometimes hard to find in other, trendier neighborhoods. Read More
Castles in the Sky
There is a full-sized English manor perched on a rooftop on East 41st Street, overlooking land that used to be awash in beer and blood. You can’t really tell from the street, of course, but if you can manage to get access to one of the roofs neighboring Hardwicke Hall in Manhattan’s Tudor City, there it is; a castle, floating 15 stories above the traffic and noise. Read More
In the Heart of Things
For all the permanence that its centuries-old history suggests, the midtown neighborhood of Murray Hill and Kip’s Bay is a neighborhood with a little bit of everything. A gently evolving mix of turn-of-the-century brownstones rubs shoulders with modern high-rises. Restaurants and storefronts stand cheek-to-jowl with small office spaces. Parents pushing strollers walk the streets alongside commuters and tourists. According to Suzanne Stern of Flat Iron Real Estate, "The area is considered neat and nifty in the sense that it’s well kept with all the amenities of New York and it’s close to everything." Read More
Phoenix and the Ashes
The implications of the attacks of September 11 are far-reaching, with tentacles stretching around the world. But what about right next door? An entire section of Manhattan has been forever altered, as have the lives of all the people who call TriBeCa, Battery Park City and the Financial District home. What will become of these residents? After all that has happened, will people still want to live here? And how will that affect the real estate market, both in Lower Manhattan and elsewhere in the city? Read More
The Sixth Borough
Hoboken is a city of about one square mile sandwiched between the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels. Once the butt of urban renewal jokes ("Hey, if it’s Hoboken, don’t fix it!"), the city has enjoyed a renaissance in the last quarter century as its proximity to Manhattan’s Financial District has attracted more affluent tenants, pumping money into the local economy and reviving what was once a depressed town. Read More
A City on the Rise
Jersey City knows something about bouncing back. With property values rising, a steady influx of retail stores, trendy restaurants and the arrival of some of the corporate world’s heaviest heavyweights, Jersey City has become a magnet for families, young professionals and others looking for a safe place to live that’s exciting, yet stable. Such was not always the case, however; Jersey City has survived harsh Colonial conditions, stock market crashes, and the onus of not being Manhattan, but yet as time passes, the area is beginning to thrive. Read More
Washington Heights is at its Height
For the last decade or so, Washington Heights has remained a well-kept secret. A narrow stretch of Upper Manhattan crowned by the picturesque Hudson Heights neighborhood, it is home to many transplanted down-towners, among others. The area, which runs from 155th Street to Fort Tryon Park, has been undergoing a renaissance of sorts, and its reputation is on the upswing. Read More
Something for Everyone
Home to residents from more than 70 countries speaking more than 40 languages, Jackson Heights, Queens stands as a truly international community. And it is a community in every sense of the word; It’s not unusual to see a Peruvian shop owner dining side-by-side with a Long Island-born accountant in a Taiwanese restaurant, or a Bangladeshi shopper perusing crates of fruit imported from South America. This diversity is part of what attracts residents to Jackson Heights–and more importantly, it’s part of what keeps them there. Read More
Brooklyn Heights
If Manhattan is a sea of change, Brooklyn Heights is the peaceful shore to which weary Manhattanites retreat. More than 175 years ago, Brooklyn Heights emerged as one of the first American suburbs. Bounded by the East River, Fulton Street, Atlantic Avenue and Court Street, this quiet neighborhood has long been a haven for professionals, couples and families with its tranquil, tree-lined streets and stately 19th century homes. Read More
Grit and Glamour
New Yorkers pride themselves on their ability to appreciate places and things that others often find dirty, oppressive, or just plain ugly. New York City itself is occasionally accused of being all three, yet New Yorkers remain fiercely loyal in defending their city against such slurs–after all, anybody who can’t see the beauty and glamour of Gotham through the haze of pollution, the din of traffic, and the crush of frenzied humanity just doesn’t get New York City. Those who do get it, however, can find beauty in the most unlikely places–and if they can’t find beauty, by heaven–they’ll at least find real estate. Nowhere is this more evident than in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, or MePa, as some brokers insist it’s becoming known. In the last 20 years, the neighborhood has gone from being a no-man’s land of drugs, filth, and abandoned warehouses to being some of the most sought-after real estate in the city. Read More
Residential Ghost Town No More
Under the sweeping shade of the World Trade Center, something miraculous is happening—a neighborhood is coming to life. Once the enclave of intense financiers worried more about the bottom line than where they would hang their hats, Manhattan’s Financial District has become home to thousands of new residents. While the focus in recent years has been toward rental properties, condos and co-op development is beginning to take place. With this renaissance, the birthplace of New York City may soon enjoy a deserved second look as not only a place to work, but a place to live and play as well. Read More
Brooklyn's Gold Coast
There will always be those who insist that if they can’t live in Manhattan, they would rather not live in New York City at all. They feel that Manhattan is the one true New York and that the outer boroughs are remote hinterlands barely fit for human habitation. Read More
Chelsea Chic
"When my building at 15th Street and Seventh Avenue was built in 1980," says Jarvis Irving, a Chelsea resident for the past 23 years, "it was marketed as ‘Greenwich Village North.’ Nowadays, people wouldn’t miss the opportunity of saying their apartment is in Chelsea. Chelsea is a hot neighborhood." Read More
Peculiar Allure
"We’ve lived in this neighborhood for 17 years," says Bob Berkow, a Clinton resident and co-op owner at the 48-unit Piano Factory at 454 West 46th Street. The Piano Factory was originally built as Wessell, Nickel & Gross Company in 1888, a manufacturing site for the interior components of pianos. Construction was in the style of a New England mill building with an inner courtyard accessed through a Romanesque revival arch. Converted to co-ops in 1980, the courtyard is now used for barbeques and parties by residents and children play outside during the warm months. "It’s the kind of place," says Berkow, "where I can attach a hose to our building and wash the car in shorts or jeans without feeling out of place." Read More
Central Park North and Harlem
Real estate brokers and developers have seen sales of condos and co-ops on Central Park North and in Harlem take off in the past year. On Christmas Eve of 1999, Saadia Lynch, a broker with Bellmarc Realty, a residential real estate brokerage firm in Manhattan, was asked to sell a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom beauty at 1800 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard, in a pre-war building overlooking Central Park. The apartment sold for $305,000. A year later, Lynch is selling another apartment in the same line for $100,000 more. This supply of desirable properties, mingled with an expansive market, is turning Central Park North and Harlem into one of Manhattan’s biggest boomtowns; one where it is still possible for average New Yorkers to live in relatively large, attractive homes. Read More
SoHo Sophisticated
English author Samuel Johnson once claimed that when a man tires of London, he is tired of life. The same could be said of SoHo. Nestled alongside Greenwich Village, Little Italy and Tribeca, SoHo has long held a reputation as New York’s artist enclave. Today, while still home to a sizeable population of working artists and countless galleries, SoHo has expanded to welcome professionals, families and a bustling commercial and retail district, housing everything from J.Crew to a new luxury hotel, dubbed one of the "world’s hippest hotels" by Read More
Alphabet City
In a city humming with real estate development projects, one area showing great promise is now poised for explosive growth. Alphabet City, the eastern-most stretch of Manhattan’s East Village, is the new frontier for development that is pushing inexorably to the East River. Read More
Battery Park City
It’s a corner of New York City where the Hudson River kisses the shore and majestic towers reach to the sky. It’s a place where business professionals make multi-million dollar deals and parents raise their children. It’s a place to dine with friends, shop and take a stroll. It’s a quiet oasis with brilliant sunsets and salty breezes. Read More
