Architect Daniel Libeskind’s proposed 54-story skyscraper, dubbed the “New York Tower,” incorporates a “glass-tub-enclosed vertical garden running up the center” that not only looks good, but also has several green applications. In addition to creating optimum natural lighting conditions, generating a whole lot of fresh oxygen, and encouraging lots of live plants, the building is aesthetically pleasing too. It also makes for a great future perfect design if the country—or even the city—ever matures enough to tax and regulate weed. |Dvice|
“This afternoon, the City Council approved a measure that will place height limits on new buildings in the East Village and the Lower East Side. The plan will rezone over 111 blocks from Delancey Street to East 13th Street, and east of the Bowery to Avenue D. |Gothamist|
With the “Big Three” begging for money on Capitol Hill like the homeless, uncertainty in the market, and the national worriment of President Bush holding the reigns till noon on January 20th of next year, the economy isn’t likely to rebound anytime soon which could make for a very bad holiday season for the city’s upscale retailers. Especially the ones located on Fifth Avenue aka the “world’s most expensive shopping street,” for the seventh year in a row. |Bloomberg|
Wall Street continues to fuck up things for the rest of the city: “The current economic downturn could lead to a drop in overall construction spending here over the next two years, with a sharp dip taking place in 2010, according to a report by the New York Building Congress released today. Spending, predicted to top out at a record $33.8 billion this year, is projected to drop to $33.4 billion next year, and then take a deeper dive to $26.2 billion in 2010.” |GlobeSt|
Construction for the lower middle class (by NYC standards): “City and state officials gathered last week to help celebrate the beginning of construction of 89 affordable co-op units and a multi-purpose center in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The 14-story building, to be constructed at 775 Lafayette Ave., between Throop and Marcus Garvey avenues, will be called The Shelton.” Local residents meeting the following criteria get first dibbs: “Sixty-six of the 89 units will be sold to households with incomes at or below limits ranging from $63,504 to $94,122 for a family of four.” |BrooklynEagle|
Artist Erik Burke recently finished painting this two-story mural for Jeremy Sapienza, editor of BushwickBK. It incorporates visual characteristics from the surrounding area including specific buildings, the elevated JMZ train, and actual people from the neighborhood, which could account for it taking so damn long. “Finally, finally finished this one,” writes Burke, “every time I thought it was almost done a new kid in the neighborhood would come over and beg to have their portrait added.” Even with the barrage of “chit-chat” by curious onlookers and continued additions, Burke says he finished it “this month spaced out over about 7 days.” While this is certainly one way to spruce up a building, it also seems like an awfully inviting canvas for graffiti writers—they tend to bomb anything containing a subway motif. More detail here and here.
(Photo: Erik Burke)
It looks like Asian American pop culture mag Giant Robot is scaling things back and giving up one of its storefronts on east 9th street in Manhattan. The 700 square foot space with limited backyard access and a damp basement, will soon be occupied by San Francisco spawned, art fueled brand Upper Playground. Hailing from the West Coast, they’re responsible for pumping out lots of artist designed gear, books, ephemera and have also been instrumental in producing all those limited edition Obamartist prints. Hopefully these guys can make the space at 437 east 9th street work, it seems to have a high turnover rate for the art inclined entrepreneur*. |TWBE|
*[Ed. Between 2001 and 2004 I leased the same space, called it Soma NYC and it's where the idea for ANIMAL was conceived basically.]
New York City could use some really motivated community organizers, or fuck it maybe lobbyists are the way to go, to get the people to collectively challenge the open-container laws or at least get them to persuade the City Council to amend it when it comes to people drinking on their own stoops. This recent blitz of tickets issued to Brooklynites, of legal age, is really draconian and just about as intrusive as it gets. Even more so in the case of this quartet that were knocking back beers on the secluded second floor deck of this house with a significant 3-4 ft overhang. The cops said their imbibing was “visible from the street.” However, can this really be considered public space?:
The law defines a public place as one ‘to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access, including, but not limited to,’ a sidewalk, street or park.”
As the Brownstoner notes, “Access seems to be the gray word, here.” |Brownstoner|
With the 7th anniversary of the World Trade Center Attacks approaching, architects kicked things into high gear and released some renderings of the proposed 9/11 Museum and memorial site today. Like all things being built at the hole, it won’t be completed till 2012—a full 11 years after the tragedy. Although the building that houses the museum appears minimal, the costs associated with it are anything but: “Museum officials have estimated the annual maintenance cost of the memorial and museum at $45 million to $50 million.” Depending on where the funds come from, they’re even thinking about charging to get into this thing. But to see what? Is there going to be a video loop of the planes crashing? Tragic photos of jumpers? Burnt out remnants of the previous structure? Actually yes: “Two surviving tridents from the north face of the north tower, each almost 90 feet tall, will return to ground zero to be incorporated in the atrium of the museum.” |CityRoom|
The $170 renovations for a High Line park are almost completed as this rendering is what it’s supposed to look like. Architects tried to incorporate the wild, slightly overgrown look of the elevated patch of railway that made it so enchanting. Although many developers originally wanted to tear down the railway, a campaign to turn the abandoned property into a park was launched and now the High Line has become a coveted strip of real estate development. Architect Ricardo Scofidio describes the delicate balancing act that went into this project: “It’s almost a ying-yang between pavement and planting, and I hope that one will have the feeling that if you didn’t do anything the plants would just continue to grow and take over again.” |AP|
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