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Apartment Towers Coming to Penn Station Wasteland?
In a move that could help revive debate about the future of midtown west’s grungy office stock, Edison Properties wants to build a 407-unit residential tower in the area directly south of Penn Station,...
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Mo’ MA: Museum’s Inspired, Insipid Tower Returns
The Death Spire. (Atelier Jean Nouvel) New York City may have brought down Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but another torrid Frenchman will not be held up by the likes of us. Jean Nouvel, winner of the...
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MoMeh: Nouvel’s New Museum Tower Looks Very Familiar [Pics]
When Amanda Burden and the City Planning Commission cut Jean Nouvel’s Torre Verre down to size, the architectural cogniscenti were dismayed. Hines, the project’s developer, had sworn the project would...
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Amanda Burden: Shorter MoMA Tower ‘Is Glorious’
Amanda approves. It was Amanda Burden who stopped the MoMA Tower, giving Jean Nouvel’s 1,250-foot spire a haircut, and it is up to her if the project will ever snake its way onto the skyline. As The...
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Don’t Tread on Me: Could Occupy Wall Street Save New York’s Neglected...
Welcome? (Matt Chaban) The city will gain what amounts to a permanent, open park in the heart of one of the most densely built-up areas in the world. It is principally because of this public benefit...
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AIDS Memorial Divides Village People: Tiny Triangle Tears Community Between...
Reflecting on an AIDS memorial. (AIDS Memorial Coalition) Happy hour had just ended at the Stonewall Inn on Monday night (2-for-1 well, beer and wine). Rob (dirty martini) and Steve (Budweiser) were...
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Another Reminder of Just How Terrible Brooklyn’s Would-Be Park Avenue Has Gotten
Really. Really? (kerry!/Flickr) Much as we want to be, The Observer is no real fan of the transformation of the Fourth Avenue from grotty auto shops to shoddy “luxury” apartment buildings. As usual,...
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A New BluePRint: City to Speed Up Land-Use Reviews
BluePRint pulls back the curtain on development. (Getty) One of the more onerous aspect’s of developing in New York City is the public review process, known as ULURP, a seven-month gauntlet of meetings...
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Faulty Towers: Midtown Needs a Makeover, with Twice as Tall Towers, But Can...
Midtown, 2025? (Photo composite: Ed Johnson/NYO; Photos: Getty) It was but one line in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s State of the City address in January, but it could prove to be one of the biggest of his...
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Would You Ditch Your Squalid Share for a 300-Square-Foot ‘Micro-Apartment?’
The city will try and build a building for micro-apartments on a lot along First Avenue and East 27th Street. (Bing Maps) Dream house? A model of a 300-square-foot apartment. (Matt Chaban) It has long...
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Midtown Slowdown: Councilman Garodnick Asks City to Take Its Time on Rezoning...
Too big, too fast? (DCP) Easy does it. That is the message from Councilman Dan Garodnick, echoing concerns of two Midtown community boards, that the Bloomberg administration is moving too fast in its...
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Good News and Bad News for the High Line as Chelsea Market Expansion Approved...
Do the setback! (Studios Architecture) The earlier 10th Avenue addition, sans setback. (Studios Architecture) Much of the debate around the expansion of the Chelsea Market has centered around not the...
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Keeping It Contextual: City Planning Commission Approves Rezonings in West...
It was a busy day at the City Planning Commission Wednesday. Not only did the commissioners debate the upzoning of the Chelsea Market, which they unanimously approved, but they also approved the...
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BIG News: Planning Commission Approves Durst’s 57th Street Pyramid Apartments
A tweaked north side for Durst/Fetner’s 625 West 57th Street. (Durst/Fetner) Big, pointy apartments. (Durst/Fetner) When Douglas Durst began deciding, yet again, what to do with the almost block-long...
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Who Will Be New York’s Next Chief City Planner? And Does It Matter?
Who will follow in Amanda Burden’s (very stylish) footsteps? With the New York City mayor’s race not even past the Democratic primary, it’s a bit early to be handicapping the city’s next chief city...
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