If you are anything like me, and immediately hit the power button on the bottom-right corner of taxi TVs within seconds of beginning your ride, risking contamination by the germs left by the countless others who have done the same thing in order to avoid this blaring annoyance, this cannot come soon enough! It's not as if these programs themselves are particularly annoying, it's that the taxi...
Although prices are still at historic highs, it's a good time to be a Brooklyn brownstone buyer. I recently read an article about the prices of Brooklyn Brownstone listings surging dramatically. I think you will find it interesting. Article can be found here. About Digs: Digs Realty is a full-service residential brokerage company specializing in home purchases and sales in New York City....
Supply and demand are at work! I hope that the development in Downtown Brooklyn actually creates the vibrant street life that is so needed to sustain neighborhood growth, weaving together the enormous area - stretching from the bridges to the Barclays - which is currently bisected by some pretty imposing avenues. Developers should do themselves a favor and make people want to live there for reasons other...
I recently found and read an interesting article of the co-op ecosystem in NYC and beyond, and thought our readers and clients would find it interesting, too. Here's the gist of it: small co-ops can be collapsed through the acquisition of a supermajority of shares, while holdout shareholders are forced to go along with the developer's conversion plans. Article can be found here. About...
Here's an interesting tidbit I learned from a recent article I read on TheRealDeal.com: The current home of The Collegiate School, an Upper West Side institution established in 1628 as a school for New Amsterdam colonists that has been at this West 70s location since 1892, will be replaced by an 18-story residential condominium after it moves to its roomier new digs in the West 60s on Freedom Place in...
A Detailed Description of the NYC Home Buying Process I really enjoy working with first-time homebuyers in NYC real estate because I feel like I add the most value to them, financially, strategically, and emotionally. Financially, with the rebate; strategically, with my market knowledge, written analyses, and guidance throughout; and emotionally, as the buying process can be extremely frustrating and...
I recently read an interesting article on Brooklyn's Restaurant Row, Smith Street: Smith Street's high quality laid back restaurant scene was certainly a significant neighborhood draw for Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, and one of the reasons why the housing markets in those neighborhoods experienced such meteoric price appreciation over the last 15 years (see $15.5MM Cobble Hill townhouse). I...
I recently watched something quite interesting, and I think our readers will enjoy it: Check out this brief video tracking, in mesmerizing animation, neighborhood population density on Manhattan island from 1800 through 2010. According to Patrick Lamson-Hall and Shlomo Angel, who produced the study and corresponding video for NYU's Marron Institute of Urban Management, using data from historical...
The Upper West Side is America's Most Livable Neighborhood! According to AARP, the Upper West Side is America's Most Livable Neighborhood! Read the AARP article at this link. Here's a quick summary: AARP actually placed it second to a neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin that few people probably know about here on the East Coast, except for some of those rabid Badger alumni who populate these...
Priced Out of Brooklyn? Try Manhattan. The NYTimes published an article this morning about a new trend taking shape in Brooklyn. People who once reluctantly made the trek across the East River to find an affordable home are now realizing their considerable gains and moving back to Manhattan because they have been priced out of the borough that once welcomed them (and their smaller downpayment) with open...
Last week, New York YIMBY published two articles concerning the Census Bureau's estimates for 2014 and revised numbers for 2013. Some highlights of the articles as as follows: "If the latest Census estimate is indeed accurate, New York City is probably over 8.5 million people as of today. With the urban renaissance now in full swing across wide swaths of the city, development pressure will continue to...
Crain's reports today that Democrats in New Jersey's State Senate have called upon the Port Authority to sell its real estate, including the iconic One World Trade Center. I couldn't agree more, especially given that we are at a time in history where commercial real estate values have hit an unprecedented high and regional transportation infrastructure is either woefully inadequate or operating above...