Thursday Blogwrap

Photo by xbettyx from the Brownstoner Flickr Pool. Super Trashy Park, Trashier Playground [BVIB] Calif. Carnival Sends Rides to Coney Island….Including...

Closing Bell: Flea on the Fourth (and the Fifth!)

At this point, hot dogs are almost as American as apple pie (even though we didnt exactly invent them.)...

StreetLevel: Cleaners, Threading Joint Replace Argyle Office

The 5th Avenue storefront that used to be a sales office for the Argyle condo now has two new...

Brownstoner on Twitter

Just a reminder that you can follow us on Twitter.

House of the Day: 664 Westminster Road

This three-story Victorian House at 664 Westminster Road in Ditmas Park was an Open House Pick back in early...

Co-op of the Day: 201 Clinton Avenue, #15E

The Clinton Hill Co-ops are a familiar topic around here--not fancy but solid with nice layouts as views, as...

Inside Third & Bond: Week 90

This week, the Hudson team comes through on a promise... Since we imagine you are busy packing your beach bags...

Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million

Some of the sales recorded last week that went for $1 million or less: $250K or under: SUNSET PARK 4404 6th...

Washington Street Parking Lot No More

As of yesterday, there's a lot less parking available in Dumbo. The lot on Washington Street between Prospect and...

A Mini-Mall for Bushwick?

Picking up on earlier posts on Bushwick BK and Racked, The Brooklyn Paper asks the question, Is Bushwick ready...

Manhattan home prices plunge

The housing bust has finally clobbered super-pricey Manhattan home prices.

Housing rebound continues, barely

Home sales continued their modest upward swing in May, according to a closely watched industry report that rose for...

Beazer settles $50M mortgage fraud case

Read full story for latest details.

Rent-to-own your home: Pro and con

With buyers scarce and financing tight, some home sellers are offering rent-to-buy options to potential buyers. In fact, there's...

Mortgage applications at 7-month low

Read full story for latest details.

Home prices drop, but at a slower rate

Home prices continued to tumble in April, falling 18.1% from a year earlier -- but the change from March...

5 steps to a quick home sale

1. You have to seriously undercut the competition

The Fairchild

The Fairchild is built with tradition in mind located at 55 Vestry Street. It features 21 homes with large...

Carriage House

The Carriage House located in the heart of Chelsea at 159 West 24th Street. This beautiful building has been...

One Madison Park

One Madison Park is a beautiful bright light in the New York skyline. This work of architecture, located on...

Kalahari Harlem

“Living Green” usually means recycling, using alternative power sources, minimizing energy use and cutting down or eliminating the use...

540 W. 28th

Located in Chelsea, 540 W. 28th can be likened to a painting hung in one of the most artistic...

34 Greene Street

The five or so families who earn the privilege of calling 34 Greene Street home may not find themselves...

2056 Fifth Ave

Luxury isn’t the first word that comes to mind when Harlem is mentioned. But this historic New York neighborhood...

The Alexander Plaza

Just steps from a similarly-named development, The Alexander Plaza (developed by Sydness Architects) is making a splash. The homes...

Fifty Franklin

Designed by prominent architect Ed Rawlings, FIFTY Franklin is a reminder of ancient Greek architecture, located in the...

The Charles

The marketability of new properties has decreased as a result of a downturn in the economy, but that isn’t...

Feds seize Madoff penthouse, wife leaves

U.S. marshals take control of financial swindler’s $7 million Manhattan penthouse ahead of sale to help reimburse victims.

June’s jobless jump jolts stocks

Employers slashed more workers last month than many expected. How rough is it? In NYC, nearly one in four...

S. Carolina governor’s book deal shelved

Gov. Mark Sanford’s planned tome on fiscal conservatism is axed after he admitted an affair with an Argentinean woman.

EmblemHealth breaks off talks to buy insurer

Last-minute demands by Health Net of Northeast apparently scuttles buyout by publicly traded parent of HIP and GHI.

NYC foreclosure rates decline slightly

Even so, PropertyShark says the data show no reason to celebrate.

No lie: Javits Center redo finally good to go

Long-delayed renovation and much-scaled-back expansion of meeting space gets last bureaucratic approval in Albany. Work on $463 million project...

Cable network plans layoffs

TruTV to eliminate 106 NYC jobs.

Which NYC hospitals have best, worst infection rates?

New report names names that might rather not be named; lists local medical centers whose infection rates after certain...

Report: 279 magazine closures in first half

Condé Nast Portfolio and Domino made headlines when they shuttered, but regional titles were hit hardest.

2010 NYC trial set for Guantanamo defendant

Federal judge Lewis Kaplan set a trial date of Sept. 13, 2010 for a Guantanamo detainee charged in the...

Thursday PM Linkage

· Q2 foreclosures report: NYC f-bombs down 7% from last year (above) [Real Deal] · Bernie Madoff's UES penthouse...

CurbedWire: Son of THOR Takes Form, Carroll Gardens Brownstone Four-Fifths Sold

LOWER EAST SIDE—It looks like the open-top glass atrium part of 115 Norfolk Street, aka Son of THOR because...

Comment of the Day: "Oh, I finally get their PR...

"Oh, I finally get their PR strategy...(1) hire 'raw talent' summer intern, preferably unpaid, (2) tell them to design...

Curbed Hamptons: McMansion Dreams, Madoffs, And More!

This week's headlines from Curbed Hamptons, our overserved East End outpost... 1) Is it the end of the road...

Stay Out of Brooklyn, Brooklyner: The Brooklyn Paper, in a bit...

The Brooklyn Paper, in a bit of man-on-the-street fun, got people to comment on The Brooklyner, the 500-unit rental...

PriceSpotter Big Reveal: Trophy Home on the New Bowery

And now, the results of yesterday's PriceSpotter asking price guessing game... Location: 195 Bowery Asking: $3,900,000 This week's PriceSpotter...

Lower East Side Flower Thief Caught Yellow-Handed

Marie Viljoen, of landscape designers Holly, Wood & Vine, decided to check out the lilies of the LES's Sara...

BPC Birds Shot Down: The craziest idea of this week—architecture...

The craziest idea of this week—architecture firm Ballistic Architecture Machine's desire to build a bird sanctuary on the roof...

Don't Judge New Barclays Center Design Yet, Developer Says

Oh, you thought all those leaked renderings of the new and incredibly shitty Barclays Center were the real thing?...

On the Racked: Soho Mystery, Freeman Alley Overcrowding

The latest from Racked, covering shopping and retail from the sidewalks up. [One guess as to what neighborhood this...

New Firefox Brings Location to the Browser

Location awareness is one of the killer features in the new iPhone. Especially in real estate apps, like Zillow’s...

Looking for Hyperlocal Content?

Outside.in has you covered. They have just launched a new product called Outside.in for Publishers - what they’re calling “an out-of-the-box...

WellcomeMat Brings Local Video to Your TV

6 months ago I gave up my cable TV subscription. How? One word. Boxee. Boxee is a revolutionary application that lets...

Friday Fun: Augmented Reality Nearly Here

A nice demonstration of a visual navigation app being developed by Occipital. The app searches for what you’re looking...

Real Estate Connect registration deadline tomorrow

Have you got your ticket for Real Estate Connect San Francisco 2009 yet? Only one more day till the...

Realestate.com Goes Social, Launches Town Square

Realestate.com, the online real estate destination owned by the online mortgage giant LendingTree, rolled out a new sitewide redesign...

Why the Future of Real Estate is Mobile…

Real estate technology is headed straight to the small screen. ‘Nuff said. For more background on this - read some of...

Estately Heads South

Estately has been playing the slow and steady game, but it’s one that I’m increasingly convinced is working out...

Tweetlister Promotes Properties Over Twitter

Gahlord Dewald writes today over on Inman.com about Tweetlister - a new service that helps you market your listings on...

Roost Redesign Radically Changes Experience

MLS powered search site Roost launched a brand new redesign last week (see Roost.com announces redesign). Unfortunately, it undid a...

Medical Tower Lines Up First Tenants

NEW YORK CITY-Eleven healthcare suppliers, including the $87-billion Cardinal Health, have signed on for space at the forthcoming 60-story...

Trepp Sees Rise in CMBS Delinquency

NEW YORK CITY-Defaults on securitized loans will keep ticking upward, although Trepp says the June delinquency rate is inflated...

Two Leases Total 26,000 SF at 810 Seventh

NEW YORK CITY-Comverse Technology is doubling its space to 17,320 square feet; new tenant Nigro Karlin moves in with...

Council Signs Off on Fordham Expansion

NEW YORK CITY-The plan approved by the City Council on Tuesday incorporates further changes to the university’s blueprint for...

Massey Knakal Tapped to Sell Warehouse

NEWARK-The 17,500 distribution facility is being marketed for $1.8 million.

Taubman Mall Appeal Is Denied

LONG ISLAND, NY-According to the Long Island Business News, the January 2009 environmental impact statement request ruling will stand.

High Court to Hear Atlantic Yards Appeal

NEW YORK CITY-Both community activists and Forest City Ratner Cos. say they’re confident of prevailing before the state Court...

VIDEO: The Sharpest Slide in US Market Ever

NEW YORK CITY-Ian Ritter, GlobeSt.com's national online editor, chats with IPD's Ian Cullen about world economics, its impact on...

Japanese Consulate Renews 57,000-SF Space

NEW YORK CITY-A tenant at the 1.2-million-square-foot 299 Park Ave. since 1989, the Consulate General of Japan is staying...

Planning Commission Okays ARC Tunnel

NEW YORK CITY-The City Council will now review the $8.7-billion rail project, a joint venture of the Port Authority...

Daniel Libeskind Leaps Into Prefab Market: Other A-List Architects to Follow?

You may have read about Daniel Libeskind's 5500-square-foot prefabricated home when it was unveiled a few weeks ago, but...

"Amorphous Thin Film Glass" to Power MStudio's 100 Varick Street Hotel

Developer Charles Fridman filed plans last week for a 26-story hotel at the corner of Varick and Watt Streets...

1211 Avenue of the Americas: LEED-EB Program Certifies Its Largest Building

Beacon Capital's 1211 Avenue of the Americas (on Sixth Avenue between West 47th and 48th Streets) recently earned LEED-EB...

Welcome to the New gbNYC!

Welcome to the new greenbuildingsNYC! I'm thrilled to be unveiling the new site to you today thanks to the...

Expanded, Green Mandell School Set for Columbus Square on Upper West Side

Aragon Construction is set to begin work on a new home for the Mandell School at the Chetrit Group's...

515 Madison Avenue Pursues LEED-EB, Inks Trio of Tenants

Thanks, perhaps, to a $5 million facelift and LEED-EBOM application, 515 Madison Avenue (at East 53rd Street) has been...

The Visionaire: New York City's First LEED Platinum-Certified Condominiums

The Albanese Organization’s Visionaire in Battery Park City earned formal LEED Platinum certification from USGBC yesterday. The 33-story, 500,000-square-foot...

Konyk Architecture's Prefab Hydra House Concept

Designed by Craig Konyk of Brooklyn-based Konyk Architecture, the Hydra House was completed some time ago for a design...

14 Maple Avenue Features Country's Largest Biowall, Seeks New Jersey's Third LEED Platinum Rating

Developed jointly by the Morristown Parking Authority and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, 14 Maple Avenue in Morristown, New...

PassivHaus in Windsor Terrace, $1.3B in Stimulus to NYC, & High Line Preview

Brooklyn Cohousing project in Windsor Terrace to use PassivHaus design techniques , could be city's...

Bond market to Obama: Wake up

Commentary: Government borrowing a threat to long-term ratesread more

How do you spell 'recovery'?

Realtor Notebookread more

Zillow crunches new refi limits

6.6% of loans too deep underwater for Home Affordable refisread more

Title premiums down 25% in Q1

Decline less severe than last yearread more

Mortgage rates retreat from highs

Rates down quarter percent from '09 peakread more

Manhattan sales down 50%

Median price slips 18.5% from a year agoread more

A stickier real estate Web site

Tech Tool Shedread more

Home Affordable refi program expanded

Loan-to-value ceiling raised from 105% to 125%read more

When real estate days are numbered

Letters From the Home Frontread more

Tweet all about it: Inman Twitter contest

Win free registrations, dinner, other prizesread more

[In The Media] CNBC SQUAWK On The Street 7-2-09

Diana Olick did a nice job covering the important points on the release of our Manhattan Market Overview 2Q...

[Where Credit Is Due] 2Q 2009 Manhattan Market Overview Available For Download

The 2Q 2009 Manhattan Market Overview that I author for Prudential Douglas Elliman was released today. ...

[In The Media] Fox Business News 6-30-09

I did another stint on Fox Business News covering the The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and how...

Case-Shiller Index: 18.7% Becomes 18.1% = Market Falling, Just Not As Much

Here’s a cool WSJ interactive map on the results and here is the official CSI press release. The general media...

Real Estate Mass Delusion Necessitates Consumer Protection

Two interesting articles for Matrix readers to take a look at… In the current issue of the New Yorker, there’s...

AMC Appraiser: How Am I Supposed to Appraise This Thing?

I was recently speaking to a real estate agent who was quite upset and was asking me for advice...

[The Housing Helix Podcast] Vicki Been, Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, Director of the Furman Center

I had the pleasure of speaking with Vicki Been, who among other positions is a Professor of Law at...

One In Four Mortgage Defaults Are Strategic

In the current edition of The Economist magazine, the article: Can pay, won’t pay with subtitle “It is easier...

[The Housing Helix Podcast] Ellen Harnick, Center for Responsible Lending

I spoke with Ellen Harnick, Senior Policy Counsel of the Center for Responsible Lending about the initial testimony being...

New Home Sales As Recession Measurement

In Floyd Norris’ “Off the charts” column A Recession Measured by New-Home Sales The pattern difference between new and existing...

But Does It Have a Ballroom?

Four days before his Billy Elliot won the Tony for Best Musical, Stephen Daldry bought a house in Chelsea.

Woodstock Is Dead

Long live Rosendale.

The Neighborhood News

Our roundup of news from around the city.

Rupe, Brangelina Beached Here

Rupert and Wendi Murdoch have put their North Shore summer getaway, on the market for $12.8 million.

Unsustainable

In a recession, does green development sell?

Xanadu, CT

The most ostentatious mansion in Greenwich history managed to survive the outrage. Now, will it survive the bust?

Rent Now!

The global economic meltdown means incredible last-minute deals.

Fame Slept Here

Thirty years ago, in 1978, 77 White Street opened its doors as the Mudd Club.

I Have Seen the Best Houses of My Generation

Just because real-estate reports coming out of the Hamptons have been gloomy doesn’t mean celebrities have abandoned it.

WTC Cheat Sheet

Construction is under way at ground zero—but not much of it.

Houses of the Week: MAPLEWOOD, NJ

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2½ Square feet: 1,511 Common charges: $961 -- Marketed as "Manhattan living" in the...

Dream Homes: TRIBECA

Sometimes when a real estate opportunity is trumpeted as "unique," it just means you've seen nothing like...

Houses of the Week: PLEASANTVILLE, NY

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 3 Square feet: 2,158 -- This "charming" Colonial offers great space outside (check out...

Dream Homes: UPPER WEST SIDE

Sure, a home on a high floor can be great, but this "immaculately maintained" condo is "conveniently...

Houses of the Week: DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

Bedrooms: 1 Bathrooms: 1 Square feet: 1,055 Common charges: $354 -- Get in for just 5 percent...

Houses of the Week: STONY BROOK, LI

Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 3½ Lot square feet: 3,800 -- Pretty much everything you should want in Suffolk...

Houses of the Week: INWOOD

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Square feet: 1,600 Maintenance: $0 (for six months)Talk about zero maintenance: Once you...

Dream Homes: FLATIRON

More about this "superlative" apartment in a second; first, how would you like to work out with...

JUST SOLD!

Manhattan CHELSEA $2,250,000 252 Seventh Ave. Prewar two-bedroom, two-bath loft condo, 2,269 square feet, with open kitchen...

PARK-ER SLOPE

Sarah Jessica Parker might be moving to Brooklyn. Rumors are swirling in Park Slope that Parker, 44,...

Streetscapes | 440 East 56th Street: For a Lullaby, the Bip-Bop-Bip of Tennis Balls

The apartment building at 440 East 56th Street is an exemplar of how modernism and humanism can coexist.

Habitats: The Traveling Circus Stops Here

Two clowns who perform in some of the most troubled places on earth practice in a walk-up near 128th...

Away: A Jazz Voice Finds a Mellower Range

When it’s time for the jazz singer Sheila Jordan to work on arrangements, she heads to Middleburgh, N.Y.

Property Values: What You Get for ... $400,000

A bungalow in Spokane, Wash., a four-bedroom Georgian in Lexington, Ky., and a house in a St. Louis suburb.

Organic Farms as Subdivision Amenities

Developers are trying to make lots more attractive by putting crops in the ground.

International Real Estate: For Sale in ... Iceland

Iceland’s real estate market boomed for much of the last decade, but now many people are being forced to...

High & Low | Coeur D’alene, Idaho: Outdoors for All Seasons

Residents of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, a city of about 42,000 surrounded by lakes and protected forest, like to compare...

Sharp Price Drops in Manhattan Apartments

Grim figures reflecting the downturn’s darkest months came as brokers said sales had been improving recently.

Living in the Heart of the Village

When Linda and Lee Bigelow decided they wanted to be part of the village life in Southern France.

A Trying Time in Housing for Elderly

Tough economic times have meant that only 54 or 240 units at Fox Hill have closed in the six...

List of social Web resources 07-02-2009

Chris Brogan interview Excellent interview with Chris Brogan on how he’d run an airline and implement some social web karma;...

Interviews with innovative change artists

Data Visualization (32 minutes): Eric Rodenbeck, founder of Stamen, discusses how data visualization allows one to tease-out non-obvious yet...

List of social Web resources 06-19-2009

Social media is social what? A call for dropping the term “media” from the phrase “social media”. Compelling argument to...

Client attentiveness at Southwest Airlines

There is a reason I choose Southwest Airlines as my preferred airline: client attentiveness. There is a reason why...

List of social web resources 6-12-2009

Brand engagement This presentation, The Audience is Always Right, by TBWA\ Berlin Media Arts team is one of the best...

Independence Day weekend hiatus

The Real Deal will be on hiatus for July 4th weekend and will resume posting on the Web site...

Where in the world did Shvo go?

From the July issue: No one personified the excesses of mid-2000s New York City quite like Michael Shvo. The...

Plans approved for renovations at Javits

The long-delayed renovation plans for the 23-year-old Jacob K. Javits Convention Center received final approval yesterday from the Public Authorities Control...

Biggest price cut of the day

The home to see the biggest price cut today is a penthouse in the St. Urban building at 285 Central...

City council votes to demolish PS 133, REIT index rises 28 percent ... and more

1. City Council votes to demolish PS 133 building in Park Slope [Brownstoner]2. City proposes alternative Gowanus Canal cleanup...

Bronx resident charged in housing scheme

Bronx resident Amadou Lamoudi was indicted today after allegedly directing a fraudulent scheme in which he helped unqualified tenants file false...

High Line boosts traffic at new condos

The first section of the High Line opened last month, and brokers at residential projects in the area say...

Priciest, cheapest units to hit the market

817 Fifth Avenue (left) and 161 West 133rd StreetThe most expensive home to come on the market this week...

Signs of improvement for office market

According to Colliers ABR report for June, vacancy rates for Class A office space in Manhattan saw a decrease of 10...

Market report king adds rentals to repertoire

The most trusted name in New York City residential real estate statistics, Jonathan Miller, is finally releasing his long-awaited quarterly rental...

56 Leonard Tribeca Condo by Herzog & de Meuron

The long awaited design for 56 Leonard Street in Tribeca by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron has been...

HL23 - Condos at 515 West 23rd Street

Who said the credit crunch would stem the flow of design driven condo development? Here we take a look...

15 Union Square West - 15 USW

The conversion of the 5-story building at 15 Union Square West into 36 condominium apartments has revealed an 1870...

Twenty9th Park Madison - 39 East 29th Street

Urban planners might want to make a case study out of the area just north of Madison Square Park...

One Madison Park - 23 East 22nd Street

This strikingly tall and narrow 60-story condo tower is to be known as One Madison Park and will smartly...

Superior Ink Condos - 400 West 12th Street

If only the most well located new condo projects are getting financing in the credit crunch, then Related's Superior...

One Jackson Square - 122 Greenwich Avenue

One Jackson Square at 122 Greenwich Avenue in Manhattan's West Village fills a long vacant lot just below 14th...

166 Perry Street - Asymptote

Another week, another "avant garde" condo in Manhattan -- this time from the developers who made the first leap...

Condos at 151 & 205 East 85th Street

The Lucida - 151 East 85th Street The Brompton - 205 East 85th Street Two new condo apartment houses...

Manhattan Q2 Report Thoughts

A: Due to the lagging nature of these quarterly reports, nothing disclosed here is a surprise; at least not...

So Your Dog Wants to Live in a Co-Op?

(Christine Toes here) About 15% of Manhattan co-ops don't allow pets. I think by now everyone knows that if...

Quick Manhattan Snapshot: Market Pricing OUT Fear

A: I have been too busy to blog lately, which is nice of course, but wanted to give a...

New Development Offering Plans & "Special Risks"

(Christine Toes here) When reviewing a condo offering plan (a huge document that, when accompanied by its amendments, explains basically...

The Beav Gets Creative

Just a quick update on the William Beaver House, which we discussed in a piece a little while ago...

Commercial Real Estate - Chasing the Ball Downhill

The sale of One Worldwide Plaza,at 8th Avenue and 49th street, reportedly fell through for the 3rd time last...

Jonathan Miller Podcast w/ Noah Rosenblatt

A: I had the pleasure to be a guest on Jonathan Miller's Housing Helix Podcasts earlier this week that...

Wall Street Salaries Rising

So I'm still banging away on research towards a piece on Wall Street employment and compensation. But I'm...

Fed Day

A: Markets will be very slow until 2:15PM when the fed will announce their NON MOVE and issue the...

Prime Jumbo MBS Downgrades From 1998?

A: Hat tip to Calculated Risk for bringing this one out to people's attention. Umm, one would think that...