Features

Goethals Bridge Replacement: Twin Spans on Track to Become City’s First New Crossing in Half a Century

4:00 pm on August 12, 2016 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

As far as skyline watchers like ourselves are concerned, we live in a glorious time. But with our gaze normally aimed upon the ever-rising skyscraper pinnacles, we sometimes forget that we live in the greatest bridge-building era in more than half a century. At least three major bridges in New York City and its vicinity are being replaced with new spans, with major reconstruction underway on several more. Of these, one of the easiest projects to miss might be the twin replacement spans of the Goethals Bridge, which will connect Staten Island’s Howland Hook and Elizabeth, New Jersey. Upon their 2018 completion, the cable-stayed spans will stretch across the Arthur Kill, replacing the cantilever span that has served the borough since 1928.

Examples of 100 Gates at 81 Hester Street. From left to right, artwork by Kim Carlino, Oksana Prokopenko (unfinished), Chamberlin Newsome, and Oksana Prokopenko. All photographs by the author

100 Gates Project Continues to Beautify the Lower East Side

4:00 pm on July 8, 2016 By Evan Bindelglass

YIMBY recently told you about some new murals created to spruce up the Essex Street Market. Well, that’s not the only project out there making Manhattan’s Lower East Side a more beautiful place. 100 Gates has been at it for nearly two years.

Foster's 200 Greenwich, composite by Jose Hernandez, image originally by Joe Woolhead

It’s Time to Bring Back Norman Foster’s Design for 2 World Trade Center

5:00 pm on July 1, 2016 By Nikolai Fedak

News broke this week that billionaire Ron Perelman committed $75 million to financing the World Trade Center’s Performing Arts Center, which will provide the complex with a much-needed cultural amenity. But with 175 Greenwich (3 World Trade Center) nearly complete and the remaining puzzle pieces now falling into place, it is YIMBY’s opinion that it is also time to reconsider the design changes proposed for 2 World Trade Center. With Fox failing to commit to BIG’s proposal for the site, it makes much more sense to return to Norman Foster’s far more attractive design for the tower, which was shelved last year.

Where Does Landmarking in New York City Stand, Mid-2016?

4:00 pm on June 24, 2016 By Evan Bindelglass

The year 2015 marked the 50^th anniversary of the law that created the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. It was full of celebration, and education. However, it is 2016 when the future of the commission is being decided.

Tales of the Tenderloin: Theaters, Nightlife, and the World’s Longest Painting Once Graced 1205-1227 Broadway, Site of Future Virgin Hotel

4:00 pm on June 17, 2016 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

Over the past 200 years, Broadway was the center stage for many that came to make their fortunes in the big city. Foundations for the world’s second Virgin Hotel, part of billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, are underway at 1205, 1225, and 1227 Broadway, between West 29th and West 30th streets. The site’s relevance in the city’s history is rooted deeper than the new skyscraper’s supports. Before it housed the three 1920s office and retail buildings that graced the site until 2015, the block was home to a prominent theater row, a theater-museum built by John Banvard, once the world’s richest and most famous artist, and a number of other ventures worthy of remembrance and commemoration, undertaken by the gritty and relentlessly driven people that give New York its signature flair and energy.

101 Murray Bites the Dust and 111 Murray Street Rises Skyward in Ever-Changing West Tribeca

4:00 pm on June 10, 2016 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

As befitting one of the planet’s key engines of economic and cultural motion, New York City exists in a state of constant change. This is particularly true for the city’s older, centrally located neighborhoods, such as TriBeCa. Over the past two centuries, its western portion along West Street has been repeatedly transformed beyond recognition, particularly by the 1960s urban renewal program that completely cleared dozens of formerly-vibrant blocks. But even there, a 32-year building life span is short by any measure.

Watch Time-Lapse of World Trade Center Transportation Hub’s Construction

4:00 pm on May 27, 2016 By Evan Bindelglass

It took over a decade and nearly $4 billion, but the main concourse of the Santiago Calatrava-designed World Trade Center Transportation Hub, known as the Oculus, opened in early March. It’s located along Greenwich Street, in between the nearly topped out 3 World Trade Center and the site of what will be 2 World Trade Center. We now have a new look at its construction, via a time-lapse produced by EarthCam.

FDNY Investigation Underway at Burnt Shell of Landmark Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, 15 West 25th Street, Flatiron

3:35 pm on May 27, 2016 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

As this month got underway, we brought you the unfortunate news regarding the landmark Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava at 15 West 25th Street, designed by Richard Upjohn, the architect of the Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. The 1855 building, which was the city’s only house of prayer servicing the Serbian Orthodox community, was reduced to a charred stone shell on the evening of May 1, just hours after the Orthodox Easter celebration. While the church is collecting donations for reconstruction, the authorities are investigating the fenced-off site for the cause of the conflagration, while engineers keep an eye on the ruined building’s stability. The building is a New York City landmark and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Although the city’s laws protect the building from further demolition, the stone shell may be torn down if ultimately deemed dangerously unstable. Fortunately, the walls appear to be structurally sound for the time being, though serious reinforcement work would be permitted only after the investigations are complete.

Major Streetscape Improvements Proposed for Long Island City

7:00 am on May 11, 2016 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

The ongoing transformation of Long Island City is astounding. In the decade between 2006 and 2015, more than 8,600 housing units have been completed in the area, with well over 22,000 more on the way. Between 2012 and 2015, prices for prime development sites have jumped by 269 percent. As the neighborhood rapidly transitions from commercial/industrial to high-density residential, the local street grid, characterized by odd angles, must undergo a significant transformation. The city government began to address this need in 2010, when Jackson Avenue, the area’s principal thoroughfare, was upgraded with a green median, while a small triangular park was created at the intersection of 27th Street, Hunter Street, and 43rd Avenue.

Workers replace track on the L line in April 2015. Photo by Patrick Cashin via the MTA Flickr

MTA Lays Out L Train Shutdown Options at Williamsburg Public Meeting

4:00 pm on May 6, 2016 By Rebecca Baird-Remba

The MTA held the first of two major public meetings on the looming L train shutdown at the Marcy Avenue Armory in South Williamsburg last night. Top MTA brass presented the details for the two possible L trainocalypse options—a partial three year shutdown or a full eighteen month shutdown.

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