WHAT’S SELLING NOW: Homes That Sold for Around $450,000
Harry Black: from bootlegging liquor to building skyscrapers
The little-known titan who built some of NYC’s most iconic properties — and amassed a fortune that made him one of the richest entrepreneurs of his era
Living In: Alphabet City
In Alphabet City, a stylishly scruffy part of Manhattan’s East Village, civic pride sometimes comes with a dose of gallows humor.
A couple of decades ago, when violent crime related to drug-dealing was a concern, especially on the easternmost blocks, both arrivals and longtime residents seemed to take the problems in stride. The “A” in Avenue A stood for “alive,” according to a popular saying, while Avenue “B” was for “breathing,” Avenue “C” for “comatose” and Avenue “D” for “dead.”
Today, in a spiffier era, that guide might need an update.
Preservation Magazine
Garden Variety: Explore the Brandywine River Valley
Inspiration for history buffs, artists
and green thumbs
At first glance, the banks of Brandywine Creek seem to contain not much more than reeds. But as I paddle past, a bird slowly emerges from its hiding place, stretching its body until it is nearly the size of the kayak before taking off with a flap of its massive wings. And then the great blue heron is gone, sailing downstream on the breeze.
Yaddo Artists’ Colony, Host to Capote, Arendt, Foster Wallace, Looks to the Future
Yaddo, an arts colony that for nearly a century has nurtured some of the country’s most acclaimed writers, including Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath and Patricia Highsmith, is turning over a new leaf at its upstate New York campus.
The Hamptons’ Top Brokerages
Memorial Day Weekend marked the official opening bell for the Hamptons season. And while most of those flooding into the East End were thinking about which beaches and restaurants to hit, residential brokers were more focused on capturing business.
That’s especially true because while prices and sales volume were up in the first quarter on the East End over last year, they were down compared to the fourth quarter.
“Everybody seems to be taking a little bit of a breather,” said Paul Brennan, the Hamptons manager for Douglas Elliman.
A Chicago Spire Tries to Rise Again
The Chicago Spire, a hyper-tall condo from Santiago Calatrava that tried to soar into the record books as the world’s second-tallest building, only to get mired in the recession, may be inching back to life.
ABI Climbs, But Firms Remain Cautious
The announcement that the Architecture Billings Index (ABI), a reliable measure of the industry’s health, had clocked in at a post-recession high of 54.9 in February has many designers feeling that the worst of the downturn is behind them, even if they have made that claim before. The ABI has now surpassed 50 for seven straight months, its best performance since the official 2009 end of the recession. Still, hiring continues to be soft, as firms refocus their energies.