“I was by the building on Madison Park today. Although I hate what it did to the park, it is an attractive building, very elegant and transparent. It is neither dull nor uninspired. Of course, the fact that I like it makes me hate it even more!”—Sai Baba [Tribeca Arrested Development Winds Up on eBay]
For too long the only hotel option (legal hotel, that is) in Williamsburg has been the BQE-neighboring Hotel Le Jolie, but Brownstoner reports there’s progress at 160 North 12th Street, a new seven-story hotel in a row of three buildings designed by blahchitect Gene Kaufman. The other Kaufmanites will be residential. Hotels should do pretty brisk business in the ‘Burg just off visiting parents, given all the residents that are too young to have completely disappointed them yet. [Brownstoner]
Aqueduct Entertainment Group’s short reign as the designated developer for a casino at the Aqueduct racetrack has ended. The Times reports that the company provided “insufficient financial details” for its investors and won’t be getting the contract. Governor Paterson’s office said it now wants to pursue a “traditional, though rapid,” process for developing the site. The decision is not much of a surprise, but we’re still sad to say goodbye to a design that was basically the city in miniature. [NYT; previously]
Did you know that Curbed has a Twitter account? Follow us @Curbed or the bosses will whip us. [CurbedWire Staff]
The city’s rent regulation program needs some reform, Bob “Big Knak Attack” Knakal argues, because right now “the benefits go to New Yorkers based upon inertia rather than economic ability.” Since about 1.4 million apartments in the city are occupied by regulated tenants, eight million New Yorkers fight over only about two million apartments, pushing up rents. Knakal suggests means testing as a way to figure out who’s qualified for regulation and reduce illegal use of regulated units. Can of worms: open! [NYO]
The four rent-stabilized tenants still remaining in in the studios above Carnegie Hall are set to get hit with eviction notices any minute. They pledge to keep fighting for their right to die in their apartments, which, based on their ages, could be any minute now. Carnegie Hall wants to renovate the artist residences into new rehearsal and office spaces, and has pledged to place the tenants in new apartments and pay the difference on their rent. They’d prefer $10 million. [DNAinfo]
Brick Underground studied last year’s residential noise complaints logged by 311, and leading the way was Washington Heights/Inwood with 6,439 grievances, followed by Harlem and then Community Board 3, which includes the East Village, LES and Chinatown. Midtown and CB1 (Tribeca, FiDi, BPC) had just 403 and 436 residential noise complaints, which are kept separate from disturbances related to commercial properties. We’d chide our uptown friends, but c’mon, Aventura is not meant to be played softly. [BU]
The owner of Williamsburg’s Bagel Store set off a mermaid maelstrom when he said his landlord recruited Starbucks to take over the Bedford Avenue space in 18 months, but this latest ‘Burgbucks rumor is running out of steam, Courier Life reports. And so the final piece of the Williamsburg gentrification puzzle is still missing, for now. Hold on to that cred, little guy! [YourNabe; previously]
Now that the city’s takeover of Brooklyn Bridge Park is complete, the next step is tearing Governors Island out of the state’s death grip, a process that is going well, the Post reports. Mayor Bloomberg says $30 million earmarked for stalled Javits Center expansion could give the Governors Island parkstravaganza a boost, and he “optimistic” a deal will happen soon. Meanwhile, the city is setting Brooklyn Bridge Park curfew at 1 a.m., according to the Daily News. And no necking! [NYP; NYDN]
“Perhaps Gehry was given the boot not so much for financial reasons – as he claims, but due to widespread dissatisfaction with his overall scheme. Sure his stadium looked nice, but the rest of the complex was sterile and redundant. Bringing in a host of other architects would make for a far livelier, and eclectic. This is probably the best news we’ve heard out of Atlantic Yard since….I’m not going to answer that.”—anon [Architecture Dream Team Being Assembled for Atlantic Yards?]
Flushing’s Sky View Parc may be coming out of the freezer, Crain’s reports. That’s right: the $1 billion mixed-use project with 1,100 luxury condos on top of a mall, with amenities like a putting green and tennis courts, is on the verge of handing off sales and leasing to Related. Three of six planned residential towers are almost done, with the first and second apparently partially sold. Does this mean the plan to take Flushing development upscale in the middle of a recession wasn’t actually totally crazy? [Crain's; previously]
Things have been quiet lately at UWS blockbuster condo conversion the Apthorp, but New York Magazine reports that the city’s Health Department will be doing a sweep of the “hilarious hellhole” this afternoon. Tenants have already brought in certified court experts to test for hazardous materials, and they reportedly found illegally high levels of lead and asbestos. According to New York Mag, “the Apthorpites, needless to say, are ready to go to war.” Except for the ones who are just trying to get the heck out. [NYM; previously]
For the Downtowners that have begrudgingly accepted the Tower o’ Garbage as fait accompli, the one upside frequently mentioned is, hey, at least the Sanitation Department will get off the Gansevoort Peninsula, freeing up the land to be absorbed into Hudson River Park! Er, not so fast. DNAinfo reports that the the city is moving ahead with a $10.5 million “recyclables transfer facility and environmental center” on the Gansevoort Peninsula, reviving a controversy of old. So it’s garbage trucks for Hudson Square and recyclables for the Meatpacking District. On your guard, West Village! [DNAinfo]
For every preservation opponent, there is an equally ardent preservation defender—in Victorian Flatbush. The Daily News reports that Victorian Flatbush residents are feeling a little left out after a recent Landmarks Preservation Commission emphasis on expanding historic districts in brownstone neighborhoods. Even Borough President Marty Markowitz is getting in on the controversy, telling the LPC in a letter that “it is not appropriate public policy to place [Victorian Flatbush] on hold while purely Brownstone Brooklyn is pursued.” Ruh-roh. [NYDN]
Twenty-seven statues that look like naked human beings will be placed on Midtown rooftops over the next couple of days, but don’t worry: it’s not a suicide epidemic, it’s art. The Police Department has issued a statement letting New Yorkers know these aren’t real people, hoping to prevent a flood of emergency calls from passersby. The statues are modeled after artist Antony Gormley, who wants to “play with the city and people’s perceptions.” Sounds like he’ll do exactly that. [NYT]
Brooklyn’s Community Board 1 voted 23-12 against the redevelopment of the Domino Sugar factory on the Williamsburg waterfront last night, the latest public lashing of the 2,200-unit housing bonanza. The board’s vote is only advisory, and the developers—who are dealing with criticism about the project’s density and affordable housing—will next take their case to the borough president, the City Planning Commission and the City Council. Will they find a less chilly reception? Oh wait, that’s just the draft coming in off the river. [BK Paper]
“Er, this isn’t a skyplaza. It’s a hyperactive rehash of plazas and bridges, mixed with some Archigram zaniness, DS+R rendering style, and a Koolhaas-style embrace of kitsch and commercial culture. The only thing is, I don’t understand what problem they’re trying to solve.”—цarьchitect [Architects Don't Want Us To Keep Our Feet on the Ground]
Crain’s reports that the Joseph Papp Public Theater has broken ground on renovations mapped out back in November ‘08. The plans include a 75-foot-long black granite “monumental stairway,” a glass canopy, and a wider sidewalk. But the theater is still $7 million short of the $35 million it needs to complete the renovation, so perhaps that stairway will end up being a little less monumental. [Crain's; previously]
The City Planning Commission has given its approval to Rose Plaza on the River, a proposed South Williamsburg project that would require a rezoning. Opponents have argued that the planned 800-apartment complex doesn’t include enough affordable housing and that the towers will be too tall (with the highest at 29 stories). But the developer doesn’t seem to lack confidence the project will be approved: “City Planning approved the best project that the city has seen in years, and I expect the Council will do the same.” [BK Paper; previously]
The Department of Buildings has signed off on repair work at an East 110th Street building residents claim has been damaged by construction at adjacent 1280 Fifth Avenue. 1280 Fifth developer Brickman denies that construction has led to 8 East 110th Street’s structural problems but will still be forking over about $60,000 for repairs. That’s making the tenants feel better, sort of. They’re still a little bitter over the loss of their community garden to Robert A.M. Stern’s design. [DNAinfo; previously]
How will the Atlantic Yards agitators at Freddy’s Bar commemorate the Barclays Center ceremonial groundbreaking on Thursday? By holding their own “ceremony” at the exact same time, featuring “three-foot tall bobblehead versions of the Atlantic Yards enablers” (including Mayor Bloomberg, Bruce Ratner and Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov) that “will shovel dirt to bury the soul of Brooklyn.” That sounds even better than the beer can guillotine. Admit it, Ratner, you’re going to miss these guys. [CurbedWire Inbox; previously]
A partnership that includes local megadeveloper Extell has signed a deal to purchase the Helmsley Carlton House at 680 Madison Avenue (at 62nd Street) from the estate of late real estate lioness Leona Helmsley for $170 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 16-story brick luxury hotel has 161 apartment-style rooms, and though the story doesn’t mention the investors’ long-term plans, might Extell be plotting another blockbuster condo conversion of a classic Upper East Side hotel like the company did with Fifth Avenue’s Stanhope? [WSJ]
Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 isn’t open to the public yet, but while you wait, you can at least stare at the design on video. Park landscape designer Michael Van Valkenburgh recently did a virtual walk-through of Pier 1 for the Brooklyn Heights Association. For the really forward-looking, video tours of pier 2 and 6 are up, too. If you bring your computer outside to watch, is it just like being at the actual park? [BHA via BHB; previously]
Construction unions will be holding a rally at the World Trade Center site today in the hope of getting the negotiations between Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority moving again. The union says it just wants to point out that the workers are ready to build two more WTC office towers. But it wouldn’t be the WTC without allegations of shenanigans! One anonymous source said Silverstein prodded the unions to rally so as to put pressure on the Port Authority. [NYT; previously]
“Unless someone is planning to buy the place FURNISHED (which I doubt), what is the problem with a well-maintained 1 bedroom apartment (with an actual VIEW!) in a building with lots of amenities? So it’s not to your taste, big deal — pull up the carpeting and re-paint as desired. You’d probably do that anywhere you moved. The basic “bones” of the place are decent, so I don’t see what makes it undesirable.”—anon [Whatever You Do, Don't Think About This UES Pad's Decor]