By Nora Bosworth

“Ken told me that he has not seen a room this crowded since the anti-war debates of the sixties,” announced Jason Haber, Chair of Community Free Democrats, who co-sponsored the democratic mayoral debate on Thursday night.
Ken Sherrill, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Hunter College, moderated the panel of five candidates: Sal Albanese, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and former Comptroller Bill Thompson.

Photo by Steven Barall

The event filled the Goddard Side Community Center to its capacity, with an estimated 300 to 350 people, according to Joan Paylo, District Leader of the 69th Assembly District, Part B.
There were “huge numbers of people turned away,” she added. Many attributed the debate’s great turnout to the Upper West Side’s history of passionate advocacy and political awareness.

“The Upper West Side has a long and proud tradition of progressive activism,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal. “This district more than any other, I believe, is the embodiment of democratic values.”
Rosenthal added that her district always votes “in droves.”
Excitement reverberated throughout the Community Center as hundreds of local New Yorkers waited to hear the mayoral candidates address issues close to the residents’ hearts. Topics ranged from proper budgeting, to which Bloomberg policies the candidates would change first, to which borough the potential mayors know best. (Albanese, de Blasio, and Thompson said Brooklyn; Liu said Queens and Quinn said Manhattan).

After a series of playful questions, (when was the last time the candidates paid rent, and how much did they pay?), shouted an audience member: “Let’s ask some real questions!”

Quickly, the conversation turned to housing.

“Can you represent the interests of tenants when you take money from developers?” came the next question.

Applause erupted throughout the room.

Liu reminded everyone that the question did not apply to him, saying, “Sal and I are the only ones who do not accept contributions from people who do business with city.”

Albanese came out more aggressively, per usual, against his opponents.

“If you think [accepting contributions] has no influence, I can sell you the Brooklyn Bridge,” he growled. He added that he alone would not be “wearing handcuffs” if elected mayor.

Thompson said his actions spoke louder than any accepted donations. He spoke to his years as comptroller, in which time he brought a spotlight to the failings of the Mitchell-Lama programs, which provides affordable middle-income housing.

“We worked to make sure people weren’t pushed out of Mitchell-Lama,” he said.

Quinn touted her record as Council Speaker, saying, “I can tell tenants I can deliver as mayor, because I’ve delivered as speaker.”

She cited her passing of the Safe Housing Act, which gives the city power to repair New York’s worst buildings, and then bill the landlords for the work. She also praised the Tenant Protection Act that she passed, the first law the city has seen that grants tenants the right to sue landlords over harassment.

“The law was so good it was sued by the landlord lobby,” she said, half-joking.

De Basio came out strongest against private developers.

“The real estate industry thinks it has tremendous power in the election and has played favorites over the years,” he said. He lauded one of his creations as Public Advocate, The Worst Landlords Watchlist, an online tool that reports and allows one to research the landlords with the most violations in the city. De Blasio said the webpage has helped “thousands and thousands of tenants,” and gotten some buildings “out of private hands and into non-profit hands.”

“That’s the kind of leadership I believe in,” he declared.

But perhaps the most fiery housing issue discussed was the New York City Housing Authority’s plans for building market-price condominiums on public housing project land. The Upper West Side’s Frederick Douglass housing would be particularly affected if the plans are realized; the Authority intends to erect four new buildings in that area alone.

The Housing Authority states that by leasing such prized land to private developers, some fourteen parcels in eight different public housing units, they could pay for the thousands of repairs needed throughout the various projects. The deal would grant the private developers access to the land for 99 years.

Among the many concerns voiced by the community and their mayoral candidates was a pervasive skepticism that the Authority is hurting as badly financially as they claim. Adding to this doubt was last year’s discovery that the organization was sitting on almost one billion dollars while petitioning the government for more funding.

In light of this scandal, their upcoming project, widely known as the “infill plan”, has encountered harsh criticism.

“NYCHA was sitting on a billion dollars of capital funds,” said Liu. “Now they’re claiming poverty, that they need a revenue stream; they shouldn’t keep piles of money lying around under the proverbial mattress while they go out and ask citizens to pay more.”

De Blasio, on the other hand, does not doubt that NYCHA is suffering economically. (In his testimony to the New York State Assembly this month, NYCHA Chairman John B. Rhea announced that the organization is currently stuck with “6 billion dollars in unmet capital needs.”)

Nonetheless, De Blasio stated that the proposal “can’t be trusted,” and that “people worried about losing housing have every reason to be worried.”

“Let’s call this for what it is,” said Thompson, echoing his opponents’ views. “A sham.”

Quinn also voiced her agreement, calling the auctioning off of Housing Authority property to the highest bidder “a terrible idea.”

“Stop this proposal and stop it right now,” Quinn exclaimed, “because we will never get that land back!”

The agency plans to sign with developers by November 2014, according to a recently released report.

Based on the Upper West Side’s history of activism, however, it’s safe to say there is more resistance to come.

By Helaina Hovitz

An example of the typical “fixer upper” backyard.

If you’re movin’ on up to the East Side, you’d better bring a contractor with you.

According to real estate listing site Point2Homes, the Upper East Side has the most run-down and outdated spaces for sale in all of New York City. The search words describing these condos and townhouses include “wreck,” “poor condition,” “needs extensive repair,” and “huge damage,” and many are in need of complete gut renovations.

So why are these pricey extreme-home-makeovers-in-waiting selling like crazy?

A spruced up deck after a major renovation.

The majority of people seeking these dilapidated apartments are “well-off,” and, according to Ryan Serhant, star of Million Dollar Listing New York and Executive Vice President and Managing Director at Nest Seekers International, they want their home to be done their way.

“People who have a lot of money prefer to live in a dream home of their own design,” said Serhant. “We’re selling these properties to two kinds of people: people who want to create their own product, and people who are investor-savvy.”

According to Mike Lubin, Vice President and Director of Brown Harris Stevens, LLC, many of these buyers are either in real estate or interior design, like his most recent clients.

“The estate hasn’t been touched since 1918. I took one look and said, ‘perfect,’” explained interior designer Rebecca Zimm, who scooped up a decrepit $2.3 million condo on East 79th Street.

“It’s also a lot like operating on a very old person,” Zimm continued. “You go in anticipating one thing and then you find something else.”

Surprisingly, when given the choice, many of Lubin’s clients will actually choose an unrenovated apartment over a fully up-to-date space, even when it runs for the same list price.

“People will turn down a fully furnished apartment because they want it to be their own,” Lubin explained. “Also, the details of old floors, old moldings – those are priceless.”

According to Caroline Bass, Senior Vice President and Associate Broker at Citi Habitats, this “recent” trend is actually not so new. Over the past four years, Bass and her team have sold twenty fixer-uppers above 59th Street on the East Side.

“I’ve done more homes in ‘estate’ conditions than anywhere else in the city. I don’t want to be morbid, but there’s more older people on the Upper East Side.” She said. “They don’t typically do renovations, and then you have a vacant apartment badly in need of them that hasn’t been touched in 30 years.”

Above, an example of the end result of a gut renovation on a formerly antiquated property. 

Usually, Bass gives her clients a markdown on the market price based on what projected renovation costs will be.

“If someone has to put $50,000 – $200,000 into renovations, we price it accordingly. If it’s going to cost $150,000, you should decrease the selling price by that much,” she said.

However, Serhant has found that there isn’t always a need for that. Many of his listings have been selling at full market rate, including a townhouse at 152 E. 71st Street that just went for a cool $6 million.

A room in the recently purchased 152 E. 71st Street that will receive a major overhaul.

“There aren’t many townhouses for sale, especially on Upper East Side, so people are jumping on any opportunity that might be available, even without a price cut,” he said.

The $6 million townhouse on 71st Street was sold to a family attracted to the home’s Hollywood history: Breakfast at Tiffany’s was filmed from the third floor of the house, and Woody Allen’s Manhattan was filmed from the fourth. Famous neighbors have included the Fondas and Marlena Dietrich.

The house’s current owner, Kent Russell, 61, says it’s been in his family since the 1940s — and looks like it hasn’t been touched since.

“It’s a wreck. A beautiful wreck, but a wreck,” he said, adding that some of the original features, like wallpaper, piping, and gaslights, date back to 1865.

Bass said she’s found that most of the people buying these homes aren’t families but young professionals looking to do the work.

“I haven’t sold these to people with large families, because they’ll be displaced while work is underway,” she explained. “These are clients who are able to stay with a friend, commute into the city, or live in a rental.”

Andrew Ellis, 29, is one of them. Currently living in Murray Hill, he bought the first fixer-upper Bass showed him just last week, which happened to be on 95th and 2nd Avenue. He didn’t initially set out to find an apartment badly in need of renovations, but found that he wanted to change something about every other apartment he saw.

“I thought, ‘this wall shouldn’t have been put there to begin with,’ or, ‘there are other ways space could be utilized,’” he said.

Ellis is a consultant who works out of town Monday-Thursday, so he’ll be mostly out of the way while contractors work on the apartment.

The co-op board of the building was thrilled to have him move in, he said, because they’ve been waiting for someone to come in and fix it up, lacking the funds to do so themselves.

However, for Second Avenue buyers like Ellis, there are other things to consider, like where the contractors are going to park while the Second Avenue Subway Construction is still underway. Though businesses continue to close left and right, Ellis is optimistic, hoping that restaurants and bars will come back into the neighborhood once the subway is complete.

“The way I see it,” he said. “The whole area has nowhere to go but up.”

Photo by Steve Friedman

When it comes to designing luxury homes in Manhattan, Gary Jacob keeps New Yorkers in mind by always including the essentials. He wants to create homes that are as useful as they are beautiful.

“We want to build the best living environment so that people come home to their apartments happy,” said Jacob, Executive Vice President of Glenwood Management Corp., one of the city’s largest owners and builders of luxury rental apartments.

Glenwood properties are found in the Upper East and Upper West Side, Midtown East and Midtown West, Gracie Point and downtown Manhattan. Some features include fitness centers, swimming pools and granite counter tops in the kitchens.

However, being that it is New York City, ample closet space is another feature Jacob includes in his buildings.

“A lot of apartments in New York City have nice layouts but there’s really not enough space for storage and we really concentrate on doing that,” he said.

Aside from amenities, price is also important to Jacob when it comes to real estate. Jacob is the Vice President of Settlement Housing Fund Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing developer in New York City. Jacob said he thought this would be a great way for him to get involved with affordable housing.

“We want to have diversity in NYC,” he said. “At Glenwood now, most of the rental buildings that we develop are in the 80/20 program. Twenty percent of the units are reserved for lower income families.”

Aside from Settlement Housing Fund Inc., Jacob is Vice President of the Rent Stabilization Association, an Executive Vice President of Associated Builders and Owners of New York, co-chairman of the Housing Committee of the Real Estate Board of New York, a member of the Board of Governors, and he serves on the M&T Bank’s Mortgage Advisory Board.

His community service efforts extend to supporting Israel. He was honored by the American Jewish Committee and by the State of Israel Bonds. He is also a supporter of the Anti-Defamation League, which aims to stop defamation of Jewish people and strives for equality for all.

“I do my best to lend a hand,” he said.

Jacob credits his success with having the opportunity to have worked with Leonard Litwin in the first place. Jacob flew in to New York City after graduating from Harvard in 1973 to meet with President of Glenwood Management Corp. Leonard Litwin, who became the first lifetime honorary chairman for the Real Estate Board of New York in 2012.

Litwin asked Jacob to be his right hand man and assistant.

“Come this June I will have been working for him for 40 years,” Jacob said.  “And even though I was trained at Harvard Business School I got to learn from a master. I think it really was just a wonderful opportunity that I was given to have been able to work with Leonard Litwin.”

The rest is real estate history as Glenwood keeps developing. In the middle of 2013, Glenwood will start construction near West 70th Street and their new Crystal Green development on West 39th Street is almost 50 percent rented.

“What I like about real estate compared to other industries such as investment banking or bond trading is you’re actually creating a tangible product,” Jacob said. “I think what sets us apart is we do our own construction. We want to build our buildings to last and we have a tremendous attention to detail.”

“Architecturally,” said Blodgett, “it’s one of the best.”

“A lot of the Village is gone,” he added. “A lot is left, but if it’s not preserved, a lot more will be gone.” At this he indicates a nearby hole in the scenery where a building was destroyed six years ago by developers who are still undecided on how to proceed.

Blodgett is but one of many community members who worries that the impending rezoning of Hudson Square, which has yet to be voted on by the City Council, will have negative fallout for surrounding areas, as well as the Hudson Square area itself, without the necessary safeguards. Blodgett fears further destruction for the nearby South Village. There’s no doubt the Hudson Square rezoning will happen, he says, but as far as the particular repercussions, everyone’s unsure and wary of what to expect.

The plan to rezone Hudson Square into a more “mixed use” area was discussed at the only City Council hearing on the issue last week, after passing the City Planning Commission in late January. A study issued by the Department of City Planning in 2002 recommended rezoning the area for optimal residential use, retention of current manufacturing zoning and in order to guide future growth and land use in the area. The rezoning plan, which would impact City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s district, has seen backlash by groups like the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), which fears the subsequent impact on the South Village.

Some worry development in the area will be out of context with Hudson Square’s character, while developers meanwhile stress the importance of taller buildings for greater affordability and insist contextual appropriateness is still achievable. David Reck, the former chairperson of Community Board No. 2’s Land Use Committee told The Villager, however, residents of Hudson Square are overwhelmingly in favor of the rezoning.

Those in favor of rezoning say it brings promise of more affordable housing and open, recreational areas. Trinity Real Estate, which owns 40 percent of property in the area according to the Wall Street Journal, says the rezoning efforts would transform the area from what is essentially a deserted ghost town at night into a more livable and popular social hub. On its official website, Trinity explains: “The neighborhood’s continued evolution is threatened by its antiquated zoning…Trinity and its neighbors can protect the neighborhood’s historic character while helping it evolve into a unique and vibrant community.”

Community members and advocates for the preservation of the South Village fear the rezoning of Hudson Square will bring spillover and ambitious developers to the Village, which has not been transformed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). They urge the Council not to approve the rezoning until the South Village has been appropriately transformed. The city is stalling on the decision, say GVSHP representatives, because of pressure from both sides. Many residents and community members want to preserve the Village’s aesthetic and history, while developers see it, like Hudson Square, as an ideal market, ripe for rebuilding.

Blodgett says Speaker Quinn, who did not make an appearance at the City Council hearing, has been all but unresponsive on the issue.

While the LPC has stalled on landmarking the area for years, advocates hope the rezoning plan will perhaps serve as a catalyst to keep the Village intact.

However, Blodgett describes a paradox. Those who visit and live in the Village appreciate it for its character, but this popularity is what drives developers to the area, he explains.

“It’s sad to imagine,” he said, of an area he knows as a historic gem. “It could be destroyed.”

The City Council will cast its vote on the rezoning in March.

A Manhattan Townhouse. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Life in a Box
To the Editor:
I was extremely disappointed to see Our Town (“Could You Live Here?” Aug. 9) not just reporting, but essentially hyping, the downgrade or waiver of current zoning regulation minimums for rental apartments from 400 to 300 square feet for “micro units,” even if such a policy is endorsed by a billionaire mayor who couldn’t be bothered to move out of the comfort of his townhouse for Gracie Mansion, by a Department of Housing and Development which has overseen the scandalous deregulation of hundreds of thousands of apartments with thousands of backlogged cases concerning pricing and habitation violations, as well as real estate brokers and agencies who wouldn’t mind putting tenants to live in refrigerators or coffins if that could be made to seem acceptable and marketable.

Rental regulation (of both amenities and cost) has undeniably proven to be the single best, if not the only, means of preserving affordable, livable housing for New York’s middle and working classes given a pampered, enormously wealthy, politically powerful and subsidized industry that knows no limits of greed in controlling what should be a human right. Instead of caving in to permit smaller units at even higher (unregulated) prices, the mayor, the DHCR and a responsible media should require and promote affordable housing to be built as a condition for any building permits, as well as universal regulation. This would serve the public’s interest instead of that of a voracious, corporate monopoly which currently and very profitably reaps all the benefits of loopholes, tax breaks and subsidies while selling or renting on the basis of a “free” market which they, in actuality, control.

The article demonstrates that tenants will resourcefully and desperately try to make the best out of anything, but in the marketing of such a necessity of life, responsible authorities should be protecting the public interest for the good of the city, not assisting an industry to fleece its inhabitants.

If Mr. Thompson, chair of Community Board 6, says, “There is simply too much demand and not enough supply,” the answer is not diminishing the product further but demanding more and better. His enthusiastic endorsement makes me rather wonder what space Mr. Thompson enjoys.

And one last point, would Our Town please refrain from the demeaning term “renters” for tenants currently being promoted by the landlord industry until you call them “mortgagers” which is, of course, what they do, thus giving them yet another write-off.

—Edward Maloney

An East Village resident on the scene said to Gothamist that at first the officers were “not aggressive” toward the man or the dog. “The dog was barking very loudly, as though it were protecting its turf,” the resident said. The officers sprayed mace at the dog, according to the resident, then shot it when it advanced toward them.

Police Issue Warning Over Subway Thefts
The number of cellphone thefts around the city is increasing, and the NYPD is issuing a warning to all with those and other electronic devices. Over 70 percent of larcenies occur on trains and just under 15 percent occur on platforms. Police urge New Yorkers to refrain from using their devices onboard trains and on the platforms. They also advise riders to secure their bags with the electronic devices in them. Stay away from train doors if using a device and remain alert. Thieves usually target those with headphones on since this is a sign of distraction. The NYPD also suggest registering your iPhone using the “find my iPhone” application and keeping a record of the device’s serial number to help recover the stolen property.
Tribeca Film Festival
Announces New Program
The Tribeca Film Festival announced that next year’s fest will take place April 17 to 28. They also unveiled a new transmedia program and award to celebrate new trends of digital media, as well as recognize these transmedia creators who employ an innovative, interactive, web-based or multi-platform approach to story creation.

Filmmakers are encouraged to send in narrative features, documentaries and short-film entries. Bombay Sapphire gin supports this new program. Sept. 17 is the first day for submission and Nov. 30 is the official deadline. Check out other deadlines and the submission form (available Sept. 17) at tribecafilm.com/festival.

High Summer Demand for NYC Apartments
The city’s rental market hit an all-time high in May, according to a FiDi report created by downtown real estate firm Platinum Properties. The report also confirmed that in June, the rent on studios increased again by 1.7 percent, one-bedroom apartments increased by 0.98 percent and two-bedroom apartments increased by .07 percent.

Two new developments, Metro Loft’s 166 John St. and Magnum’s 254 Front St., are adding to the needed supply of apartments as rental inventory is decreasing due to the high demand. New York renters report on the Apartment Ratings website that average rents are increasing by about $112 this year.

By Paul Bisceglio

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer recommended conditional disapproval of the sale of three city-owned buildings in the Civic Center area last week. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) proposed the sale as part of the City’s 21st Century Civic Center plan, which aims to relocate municipal agencies out of the partially vacant and under-utilized buildings so they can be consolidated with other agencies elsewhere.

Relocation would reduce the city’s operating and maintenance costs, saving the city an estimated $100 million in the next 20 years.

Stringer endorsed the goal of consolidation, but argued that financial considerations should not be the sole motivation for the disposition of the three buildings, which are located at 22 Reade St., 49-51 Chambers St. and 346 Broadway.

“Lower Manhattan is one of the nation’s premier central business districts, but it is also experiencing a boom in its residential population,” he said in a statement. “I believe the city should strive to provide the infrastructure necessary to support this new population.”

Stringer stressed that vacant city-owned properties provide an opportunity for the city to meet this growing Lower Manhattan need. Rather than selling to commercial developers, he said, the city could provide community-related infrastructure like public schools, affordable housing, cultural space or space for nonprofit organizations, none of which are included in the current plan. Stringer noted that these spaces would be difficult to create in privately owned properties without significant cost to New York City taxpayers.

Stringer’s review suggested several conditions for the city to meet, including the modification of the proposal to include publicly oriented uses and the creation of a community and elected official task force to review future applications.

“The Civic Center plan offers great potential benefits to our city, and I look forward to discussing it further with the administration,” said Stringer. “By working together, I believe we can simultaneously advance the goal of consolidation, realize significant taxpayer savings and consider a variety of ways to meet the needs of Lower Manhattan.”

City is pushing for even smaller apartments

Last month, the Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) unveiled a scheme to construct what the city is calling micro-units, apartments designed to be 300 square feet or less.

HPD has launched a design competition called adAPT NYC, asking developers to submit proposals to create these miniscule living spaces. The winning bidder will be able to build on a city-owned site in Kips Bay; at least 75 percent of the units in the building, which will be at 335 E. 27th St., will be micro-units, between 275 and 300 square feet (half the size of a subway car), and will be reserved for one- or two-person households.

The city will have to waive current zoning regulations that require new apartments to be at least 400 square feet in order to build the apartments, but the mayor is hoping not only that it will work but can serve as a model for new buildings around the city. The units will be designed with efficiency in mind and will be situated for maximum exposure to light and air. They will also be kept at below-market rates, which for a studio in Manhattan is currently about $2,000.

“Everyone is excited to see the response to the RPF [request for proposals] and what sort of creative designs and financial solutions are presented,” said Mark Thompson, chair of Community Board 6, where the new building will be constructed. “There’s been a lot of interest generated about the possibility of creating units that are below market rent.”

Thompson said that while the project could be welcome in such a densely populated neighborhood with few vacant apartments, it will also depend very much on the price point of the units. If they’re designed for people just starting out who can’t otherwise afford their own apartment, close to $2,000 isn’t going to cut it, he said.

There are, of course, the lucky few who rent apartments in Manhattan for well below market rent. Felicia McCoy lives in a cozy studio on West 104th Street. While she always thought she might one day move to a more spacious pad, the stabilized rent—currently $889—has kept her happily in place for 22 years.

“I’m trying to be a minimalist,” said McCoy of not having a lot of space. “I’m also not home a lot, so I really don’t care.”

For McCoy, the tradeoffs of living in a small space—no place to put a proper table, stray papers quickly piling up in the middle of the room, a tight squeeze with visitors—are primarily worth it because of the price and location. Paying close to $2,000 for a potentially smaller space in Manhattan, even if it was a design and amenities upgrade, just doesn’t appeal to her.

“I would move to the Bronx, like a friend of mine did,” she said, before she’d pay more for a studio.

But real estate agents swear there will be people clamoring to get into the micro-units if they are priced even slightly below normal market rents.

“Prices are so high now; if [renters] want to live and work in Manhattan, they have no other alternatives,” said Jason Haber, CEO of Rubicon Properties. He was standing with one of his agents, Eric Mendelsohn, in a tiny Upper West Side one-bedroom that rents for $1,975 a month. Haber and Mendelsohn said that the apartment, which is less than 500 square feet, would probably be snapped up soon because the lack of direct sunlight was offset by a dishwasher, an anomaly in a prewar building.

They both insisted that demand for micro-unit apartments in Manhattan will be high. The housing shortage practically guarantees that anything under $2,000 will be easy to rent, Haber said.

Mendelsohn said he works with a lot of recent college graduates who want to live in Manhattan, but their options are shrinking.
“There’s a real housing shortage and there’s not enough inventory,” Mendelsohn said. “Many managing agents aren’t allowing pressurized walls anymore,” which young people commonly use to turn an out-of-their-price-range one-bedroom into a divided two-bedroom apartment they can share with a roommate, he explained. The micro-units would be perfect for many of his clients, he said.
Lower East Side resident Lisa Travnik was among the young professionals scouring Manhattan for an affordable place two years ago, and she snapped up a studio for less than $1,500, with a big sacrifice on space. Travnik lives in a 275-square-foot apartment; she is living proof of how people might exist in the forthcoming micro-units.

“My kitchen is a decent size, my bathroom is a normal size and it has fairly high ceilings,” said Travnik. “Those are the things that make it livable.”

Travnik’s apartment, which she described as a “cozy cave” that doesn’t get too much direct sunlight or cell signal, has its charms. The exposed brick and new kitchen appliances are bonuses, she said, as is the prime location in her neighborhood of choice. Her queen-sized bed—something she insisted on having, since she spends much of her time sitting on it—takes up most of her living space, but she has it strategically lifted to fit baskets underneath. Still, it’s a challenge to keep it clutter-free, and it’s not necessarily a bargain-basement price.

“Sometimes it seems like [a lot to pay] for how small it is. But I know that rents are going up. When I first got it, it felt like more,” Travnik said. “For the area, it’s pretty low.”

Travnik hopes to stay at least another year in her place and thinks she’s set it up to maximize the little room she has. She’s become a de facto expert on storage, learning how to “store up” and utilize her vertical space and how to choose furniture pieces carefully to fit in exact spaces. She loves her apartment but can’t imagine sharing it with another person. She did say, however, that in a more mindfully designed space, it could very well work.

Sally Augustin, an environmental psychologist who studies how people’s surroundings affect their mental well-being, agreed that design is a key factor in whether two people, or even just one, could thrive in a micro-unit. But more important than that, she said, is the element of choice.

“We need to feel like we’re in control of our lives, including our physical world, and if people really get to choose to live in these apartments, they will feel better about the whole experience,” she said. “If it turns out that everybody getting a certain kind of aid from the city is forced to live in these spaces, there will be some real unhappiness.”

The city is positing that the micro-units can accommodate couples as well as singles, aiming to give more options to the 1.8 million one- and two-person households in New York. But can two people really co-exist in a space that small? Augustin said it truly depends on good design, as well as personality.

“All human beings need to be able to be alone to order their thoughts from time to time,” Augustin said. “You can be alone in different ways. Two people can be alone in 300 square feet, if they can sit in ways that they don’t see each other.”

She said that something as simple as having two chairs back to back can facilitate the kind of privacy that most people think only comes from having a larger apartment with multiple rooms. But it also depends on the personalities of the people living there—the cramped space is probably not great for an introverted person to share with an extroverted one, for example.

Perception is also a key factor, she said.

“Someone comes from Hong Kong to the United States, [it’s] not as dramatic [a change] as for someone who grew up in a great home in Chappaqua, a kid who grew up in that type of large home,” Augustin said.

She suggested that painting the walls light colors, eliminating clutter and using vertical storage can all help make a simple small room into a welcoming home.

“When we have more clutter, our eyes catch on more stuff, it’s quite difficult to survey our environment,” she said.

All of these prescriptions for small living could be the way of the future, especially if the city continues to grow in population with a mind for environmentally conscious development. For some, any move toward providing more middle-range rental housing is urgently welcomed, even if the space is minimal.

“There is simply too much demand and not enough supply,” said Haber. “And this is in a sluggish economy. Imagine if the economy picked up.”

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Remember Geico’s reality show spoof commercial “Tiny House”? It may be turning into even more of a reality for solitary New Yorkers who could find themselves living a little more like Alice in Wonderland after imbibing the growing potion. Or, the City could simply be updating itself to resemble living situations in comparable cities worldwide.

(by Alissa Fleck)

Mayor Bloomberg announced today a contest to design a small apartment layout—like 300 square feet small, reports Gothamist. The goal is to meet changing housing and demographic needs and put an end to rampant illegally subdivided apartments in the City.

“Developing housing that matches how New Yorkers live today is critical to the City’s continued growth, future competitiveness and long-term economic success,” said Bloomberg in a statement. 76% of New Yorkers currently live in 1-2 person households, according to Gothamist. 

The competition is called adAPT NYC and the aim is to develop a model building in the Kip’s Bay neighborhood consisting of “micro-units,” or residences smaller than what is allowed under current regulations. The statement okays designs as small as 275 square feet. According to Bloomberg, NYC housing has thus far not evolved to meet the City’s shifting demographics.

Bloomberg said the benefits and stability of affordable housing in the City outweigh the sacrifices for space. The City will temporarily waive zoning regulations for the units in the pilot program while their viability is ascertained. Rental price cannot be determined at this time, but will likely be lower than typical studio rental.

Hopefully this will simply create more options, as Bloomberg promises, rather than merely lower living standards for New Yorkers.

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

If you thought you were at least safe indoors in New York City, this news will be unnerving.

(by Alissa Fleck)

Around 1 a.m. a brownstone in Carroll Gardens—a multiple family home previously listed at $3,500,000—partially collapsed last week, according to Gothamist. All residents were successfully evacuated without injury from the building once previously described as “filled with grandeur and charm.” Neighbors were evacuated from the scene as well, and police say nearby subway service was also briefly disrupted.

The couple who own the building say they paid over $1.5 million for it in 2004, reports Gothamist. They say it never underwent any construction during their ownership. The Buildings Department determined the brownstone will need to be entirely demolished, a process which will begin immediately.

Sisi Schneider, who co-owns the home with her husband, told the New York Times the city had been “amazing” in helping out her tenants. Rest assured if your building collapses the city—most likely—won’t leave you out to dry (and in this heat, dry you will).