Asking $1,399,000, this two-bedroom home at 54 Willow Street in historic Brooklyn Heights definitely has location going for it. And though it may not be huge, the classic co-op has central air and a wood-burning fireplace for all-season comfort. Two baths and an in-unit washer and dryer make it all you really need for a compact and carefree home base.

The spacious, sunny living room is framed by a wall of windows with treetop views. High ceilings, built-ins, and the aforementioned marble-wrapped fireplace are highlights of the home’s pre-war charm.

The pass-through kitchen features a window into the dining area. Granite countertops and clean white cabinetry provide plenty of space to store and prep.

The spacious primary bedroom features an ensuite bathroom, a deep closet, and garden views. The second bedroom is served by another full bath.

The covetably situated pet-friendly co-op offers basement storage, bike storage and low maintenance fees. Unlike many co-ops, subletting is allowed after two years of residency.

[Listing details: 54 Willow Street, 2B at CityRealty]

[At The Corcoran Group by Jay Glazer, Kholood Breiche and Jason Breier]

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Strap on your skates! Brooklyn Bridge Park’s first-ever ice skating rink is now open. Located under the Brooklyn Bridge at Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, the rink, called Glide at Brooklyn Bridge Park, offers skating for guests of all ages, rinkside food and beverages from the nearby Time Out Market, and spectacular Manhattan skyline views. The rink is open through March 1, 2024.

Last spring, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation issued a request for proposals (RFP), seeking out partners interested in constructing and operating a seasonal ice-skating rink in Emily Warren Roebling Plaza.

Under the RFP guidelines, Glide BK will be responsible for assembling and operating the temporary rink from November through mid-March and disassembling it. The management group is responsible for ticketing, maintenance, renting skate equipment, and programming, according to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s website.

Tickets start at $15 for adults and $10 for children during off-peak hours. The rink offers special pricing for groups and can be rented for large events. Additionally, a limited amount of discounted tickets (starting at $9) will be available daily for NYC residents with proof of residency.

More information on Glide BK can be found here.

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• An ice skating rink is opening under the Brooklyn Bridge
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• With the opening of Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, original plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park is complete

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The $100 million restoration of Park Avenue’s famous Lever House tower by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the iconic building’s original architects, has been completed. The project revitalized the tower for the 21st century while preserving the distinct architectural aesthetic the building has expressed since it was first completed in 1952. Lever House features a reimagined lobby, ground-level public plaza, modernized building systems, and a new indoor and outdoor hospitality suite called the Lever Club.

“This renovation brings Lever House into the 21st century,” Chris Cooper, a design partner at SOM, said. “With completely updated plaza and outdoor spaces, a fully restored lobby, and brand new mechanical systems throughout the building that improve its energy efficiency, we’ve modernized this midcentury icon to its original splendor, to make it, once again, Park Avenue’s premier boutique office building.”

SOM thoughtfully restored the building’s public and private spaces and installed key infrastructure upgrades, including a new energy-efficient dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) to improve Lever House’s energy performance. The architects worked closely with Integrated Conservation Resources to create a space that rejuvenates the landmarked building’s original appearance from 1952.

The lobby’s original terrazzo flooring has been restored, and a glass mosaic tile wall located in the elevator vestibule has been cleaned and repaired. The vestibule also features a new diffused lighting system that improves brightness while also being more energy-efficient.

SOM even located the original stone quarry for the building, using the stone to extend the original finishes past the lobby to the interiors of the elevator cabs and the new tenant’s cellar entrance. Marmol Radziner has furnished the lobby and tapped Ellsworth Kelly who has provided sculptures that are located throughout the entry space and into the ground floor plaza.

The property’s plaza has been replaced with durable cast-in-place concrete that matches the design of Lever House’s original exterior paving. One of the ceilings that experienced water damage has been replaced with a new, high-quality plaster, and the original stainless steel-clad columns that line the site have been refinished.

In addition, SOM collaborated with TM Light to replace the original lighting and illuminate the space with energy-efficient, long-lasting LED lights.

Landscape architecture firm Reed Hildebrand designed a new landscape program across the property, spanning from the plaza’s lobby-level planters to the third-floor terrace. Lever House’s landscaping has changed frequently over the decades and is now more unified under a birch tree canopy and a lush distribution of native plantings throughout.

The new hospitality suite, the Lever Club, takes up the entire third floor and has 15,000 square feet of outdoor terrace space. The club will feature a central bar area with lounge and cafe seating surrounding it, as well as a dining room and conference rooms for private events. Tenants will be able to enjoy meals and snacks on the go during workday hours.

Seen as a pioneering feat of architecture upon its completion in 1952, Lever House was one of the first buildings in the United States to feature a glass curtain wall facade. Its design served as a benchmark for modern skyscraper construction in the decades that followed.

The structure’s facade and slim tower allow for sunlight to reach all of its floors, and its podium sits atop stainless steel columns, allowing for expansive public space on ground level. Lever House is one of only 50 buildings in the world to receive a Twenty-five Year Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Lever House was one of the first, and most recent, modern buildings to be designated a New York City Landmark in 1982. The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) decided to add the building to its register due to concerns that it could potentially be replaced with a larger skyscraper, according to The Architect’s Newspaper. The LPC approved the most recent renovation project in July 2021.

The building underwent its first major renovation in 2001 when its glass facade was restored.

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• Lever Club will bring a new dining and lounge option to Lever House tenants after renovation
• $100M restoration of Midtown’s iconic Lever House skyscraper has begun

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Public libraries across New York City will soon be closed on Sunday in response to budget cuts announced by Mayor Eric Adams this week. Under the updated fiscal year 2024 budget released Thursday, every city agency will see a 5 percent budget reduction, including the police, sanitation, and education departments, as well as the public library system. New York, Brooklyn, and Queens public libraries said seven-day service will be eliminated, including ending Sunday service at most branches that offer it.

The first version of Adams’ budget for the next fiscal year included cuts to the library system totaling $36.2 million. After several rallies in protest and a campaign that garnered over 120,000 letters to City Hall voicing opposition to the cuts, the library funding was restored in June.

On Thursday, Adams said the cuts were necessary due to the current asylum seeker crisis, which the city has spent $1.45 billion this year and expects to spend nearly $11 billion on this crisis over the next two fiscal years without significant support from the federal government.

“To balance the budget as the law requires, every city agency dug into their own budget to find savings, with minimal disruption to services,” Adams said in a statement. “And while we pulled it off this time, make no mistake: Migrant costs are going up, tax revenue growth is slowing, and COVID stimulus funding is drying up. No city should be left to handle a national humanitarian crisis largely on its own, and without the significant and timely support we need from Washington, D.C., today’s budget will be only the beginning.”

Under the updated budget, the libraries face a $23.6 million cut for FY24, and a $60 million cut in FY25. The libraries plan to reduce spending on materials, programming, and building maintenance and repairs.

“Without sufficient funding, we cannot sustain our current levels of service, and any further cuts to the Libraries’ budgets will, unfortunately, result in deeper service impacts,” reads a statement from the three libraries. “We know how much New Yorkers rely on the vital resources we provide, and we remain committed to meeting their needs as best as we can.”

Service at the following library branches will be affected:

New York Public Library (last day of Sunday service is November 26)

• Bronx Library Center (Bronx)
• Grand Concourse (Bronx)
• Parkchester (Bronx)
• Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (Manhattan)
• SNFL (Manhattan)
• Jefferson Market (Manhattan)
• Washington Heights (Manhattan)
• Todt Hill–Westerleigh (Staten Island)

Brooklyn Public Library (last day of Sunday service is December 17)

• Borough Park
• Brooklyn Heights
• Central
• Greenpoint
• Kings Highway
• Macon
• Midwood
• New Lots

Queens Public Library (last day of Sunday service is November 26)

• Central Library (Jamaica)
• Flushing Library

According to the New York Times, budget cuts will bring the number of NYPD officers to below 30,000 for the first time since the 1980s. The education department’s budget will drop by $1 billion over two years, with universal Pre-K and the Summer Rising program affected. Plus, curbside compost pickup in Staten Island the Bronx will be delayed by seven months, Gothamist reports.

RELATED:

• NYC public libraries say $36.2M budget cut will impact service, free programs

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Behind a classic cast iron loft facade at 123 Prince Street in the heart of Soho, this triplex loft expands to three levels, with all-new interiors that include three bedrooms and plenty of living space. Asking $4,250,000, the downtown co-op has been outfitted with high-end custom finishes, including a rear wall of glass that overlooks a private vertical garden.

A full menu of modern amenities complements loft living. State-of-the-art systems include central air, thermostatically-controlled heating, custom LED lighting on dimmers throughout the apartment, and a retractable 110-inch home theater screen with surround sound speakers. You’ll also find a laundry room, abundant closets, and Boffi-appointed bathrooms.

The home begins on the middle floor, through an entrance gallery with floor-to-ceiling closets. The most dramatic space is the central living/dining room with high ceilings and exposed brick walls. A glass wall and sliding doors frame an outdoor patio.

A sleek Boffi kitchen designed by Piero Lissoni is anchored by a center island with a unique overhead storage system that includes an extractor fan and floating stainless steel shelving. Corian and Pietra Cardosa countertops frame custom walnut millwork and Miele and Gaggenau appliances. Also on this level, a home office/media room is concealed by sliding frosted glass panels.

Up a modern floating staircase, the lofted primary suite includes a closet-lined dressing room and separate linen closets. The en-suite bath has heated floors, a Boffi custom vanity, a two-person Kohler soaking tub, and a separate glass-enclosed rain shower. Petal-pink walls contrast with blue-hued accent walls on the main floor, providing a guideline for future color options.

On the home’s lowest level are two more bedrooms, a sitting area, and another full bath with heated flooring. Both of the bedrooms are lit by skylights and tall windows facing the back garden.

Built in 1891, the seven-unit boutique cooperative offers a new automatic elevator, a new boiler and hot water reservoir tank, and a refurbished lobby among many recent upgrades. There is no underlying mortgage and the building has a permanent Certificate of Occupancy.

[Listing details: 123 Prince Street Apt. 1 at CityRealty]

[At Brown Harris Stevens by Richard Orenstein and Lawrence Kieran]

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The city’s Department of Transportation completed the full restoration of the national medallions found along the Avenue of the Americas. The medallions, which were originally installed in 1959, had fallen into disrepair, with only 18 of the original medallions remaining in early 2023. The medallions depict the emblems of 43 nations and territories across the Western Hemisphere and are now on display atop lampposts along Sixth Avenue between Canal and 59th Streets.

“With the installation of these medallions along the Sixth Avenue corridor, we honor and celebrate the immigrant story that is New York City,” Ydanis Rodriguez, commissioner of the DOT, said. “The combined contributions of immigrants from these lands to New York have made New York such a diverse and attractive city for its culture, for its food, for its neighborhood, and for its inclusivity.”

At the end of World War II in 1945, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia renamed Sixth Avenue the Avenue of the Americas in honor of Pan-American unity. During Mayor Robert Wagner’s administration roughly a decade later, the nearly 300 original medallions were installed, celebrating a unified hemisphere after the end of the war.

However, the medallions were neglected, and after a few decades, they began falling apart. The original medallions were made of materials like porcelain enamel that were not easily accessible, and so without maintenance, they began to corrode and rust. Gradually, the medallions were removed for safety concerns due to their deterioration.

The new medallions were designed, fabricated, and tested by DOT’s team of in-house engineers. Instead of porcelain, the new circular medallions are constructed out of light, weather-resistant aluminum.

Measuring roughly three feet in diameter, the new medallions are closer in size to highway signs than DOT’s standard street sign materials and have been installed with sturdier brackets which will ensure their durability and make it easier to maintain them. They will also be easier to move out of the way for events like the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The signs were produced at the transportation department’s sign shop in Maspeth, Queens, and then transported to Manhattan. Before creating each emblem, the DOT worked with the Mayor’s Offices of Immigrant Affairs and International Affairs, the Public Design Commission, consulates general, and other key stakeholders to make sure each of the nation’s emblems is authentic, according to the agency.

“New York City is the most diverse city in the world, and that diversity makes us the greatest city in the world,” Mayor Eric Adams said.

“We’re all from somewhere — and the iconic national medallions on the Avenue of the Americas celebrate the tremendous contributions of our immigrant communities across this city. 

In January, DOT unveiled nine of the restored medallions on the Avenue of the Americas, representing the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Argentina, St. Lucia, and Uruguay.

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Eataly’s third New York City outpost will open in Soho next week. Located in a landmarked building at 200 Lafayette Street, the store will offer Eataly’s world-renowned authentic Italian goods, a specialty market with curated Italian and local delicacies, a restaurant, and an all-day cafe. Eataly Soho will open its doors on Saturday, November 25 at 12 p.m.

The new store will span roughly 20,000 square feet, encompassing a restaurant, cafe, and marketplace. The restaurant will serve as Eataly Soho’s anchoring experience, offering a vast menu featuring signature dishes including handmade fresh pasta, pizza, seafood, and meat dishes.

Menu highlights include the “Tajarin al Tartufo Bianco,” a handmade pasta dish served tableside with shaved white truffle, a wide selection of made-to-order pizzas, and premium meats like the new “Fornello Pugliese,” a Pugliese-style skewer served with sides. The restaurant’s wine menu will also feature more than 300 Italian bottles in addition to a dense selection of cocktails and mocktails.

The marketplace sells thousands of imported Italian and local products, as well as fresh house-made ingredients. Customers can browse more than 200 varieties of salumi e formaggi (cured meats), 100 extra virgin olive oils, aged balsamic vinegar, 200 shapes of both fresh and artisanal pasta, sweets, meat cuts and seafood, and seasonal produce.

Opening just in time for the holiday season, Eataly Soho will carry a large selection of panettoni and pandori, including the new Eataly Panettone, and an extensive selection of gift boxes.

The cafe, the store’s all-day coffee bar experience, will serve premium espresso and cappuccino, pizza alla pala, and a selection of sweet and savory bites. Pastries are made by Eataly’s in-house pastry chefs daily, which include chocolate and vegan croissants, and an assortment of cakes and tarts. At the end of the day, the cafe will serve wine glasses and cocktails.

“We are very proud to expand our presence in New York City with a third store and to open in such an incredible and iconic neighborhood as Soho. North America is the focus for expansion over the next five years, and we are actively pursuing several initiatives throughout the territory, from increasing the floor space of our flagship store in the Flatiron district to actively seeking new locations in Manhattan and throughout the United States and Canada,” Tommaso Brusò, CEO of Eataly North America, said.

“Eataly embodies in its DNA the authentic Italian culinary culture and lifestyle and our goal is to continue building our love story with the North America community, especially with this opening in a magical city that has welcomed us from the beginning.”

Eataly Soho made its United States debut in 2010 when it opened its flagship store in the Flatiron District, followed by a second New York City store near the World Trade Center in 2016.

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The Brooklyn Public Library and Fifth Avenue Committee on Wednesday opened the Sunset Park Library and Apartments, a first-of-its-kind development with 100 percent affordable housing above a new state-of-the-art public library branch. The eight-story mixed-use building at 372 51st Street brings new affordable housing homes to Sunset Park for the first time in two decades. Officials say the project could establish a new model for co-located affordable housing developments in the city.

Designed by Mitchell Giurgola Architects, the building’s new library occupies the first two and a half levels of the building. The expanded branch spans over 20,000 square feet, roughly twice the size of the old Sunset Park branch. The new library features bright lighting, and an open, flexible layout with modern technological systems including an HVAC system.

The library, considered the BPL’s busiest branch, now features the largest dedicated space for teens of any library in the borough, a new recording studio, and a community program room that can be rented for community events during and outside of regular library hours.

“Sunset Park has always been one of our busiest libraries, and we’re thrilled to welcome the neighborhood back to a new space built on a foundation not only of concrete, but of community input, engagement and passion,” Linda Johnson, President and CEO of BPL, said.

“In addition to providing a large, inviting and functional library for visitors to enjoy our programs and collections, the building also provides urgently needed 100 percent affordable housing in Sunset Park — the first collaboration of its kind in the city. We are profoundly grateful to Fifth Avenue Committee for their invaluable partnership, to the State and City of New York, and to our elected officials and other key partners who helped make this project a reality.” 

Library patrons are welcomed by two large-scale murals created by Tatiana Arocha, featuring captivating scenes of nature that are as diverse and vibrant as Sunset Park itself. On display in the library’s vestibule is destellos naranjas en la copa de los árboles (glimpses of orange between the treetops), a portrait of an urban forest that depicts plants native to Brooklyn and animals from distant lands.

Arocha’s second artwork, Antes del amanecer (Before Dawn), is installed on the blue wall of the main reading room and features a large, mystical tree with two owls.

The affordable housing component is located on floors two through eight of the building; there are 49 permanently affordable units across about 50,000 square feet. The residences are a mix of studios, one-, two-, and three-bedrooms.

Apartments are reserved for low- and moderate-income residents earning between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area median income. There are additional apartments for Section 8 recipients and formerly homeless households.

A second-floor roof deck with roughly 2,000 square feet of outdoor space will host library programming and also be used for recreation. The laundry room is located adjacent to the roof deck and provides natural lighting and easy access to the outdoor space. The building also features energy-efficient kitchen appliances, high-end finishes, bicycle storage, high-speed internet, an on-site superintendent, Wi-Fi in common areas, and views of Lower Manhattan and the New York Harbor.

The project is the result of a unique collaboration between the library, FAC, New York State Homes and Community Renewal, and the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The development of the library cost $17 million, approximately half of what it would cost to build a similarly-sized standalone library on its own. Funding was sourced from an NYSED State Grant, capital funds from BPL, and revenue from the sale of BPL’s Brooklyn Heights Library.

The Brooklyn Heights Library opened on the ground floor of the luxury condo One Clinton last year, becoming the second-largest library in the system.

“The opening of the new Sunset Park library has been long awaited by many in our community,” Council Member Alexa Avilés, who represents the neighborhood, said. “Libraries provide some of the most key bedrock services that city government has to offer and I’m grateful to BPL and Fifth Avenue Committee for their hard work. Coupling construction with some of the only truly affordable housing created in Sunset Park for many years has meant delivering on spaces our community both deserves and needs.”

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• East Flatbush’s new library is light-filled and inviting

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Attention revelers: the streets of Midtown will soon be filled with fun, pedestrian-friendly cheer. As part of a special holiday open street, Fifth Avenue will close to cars and transform into a winter wonderland on three Sundays in December. The Fifth Avenue Association on Tuesday revealed the “Gift of Fifth” campaign that will turn the historic corridor from 49th Street to 59th Street into a holiday destination, with jolly decor, festive food and beverages, photo-ops, store giveaways, and more.

Last week, Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to fully pedestrianize Fifth Avenue from 48th and 59th Streets, expanding the open street by three blocks to reach Central Park. Additionally, select streets around Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall will be closed to cars every day throughout the holiday season, ensuring that the hundreds of thousands of people visiting the festive area have a safe experience.

The Fifth Avenue Open Street will run on December 3, 10, and 17 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be 11 blocks of curated programming, 19 food and beverage partners, eight performance areas, 15 participating retail brands, and about 500,000 visitors.

“Fifth Avenue is always iconic, but during this holiday season everything will be even more exceptional and beautiful,” Marie Boster, president of FAA, said. “The Gift of Fifth gives all New Yorkers and visitors more beauty, more music, more creative seasonal food, and for the first three Sundays in December, more space beyond the sidewalks to take it all in. We are grateful to our partners for sharing in our vision to transform our streetscape into a winter wonderland for everyone.”

Kicking things off on November 20, the upper portion of Fifth Avenue will become a winter wonderland. The corridor will feature all-new sidewalk decor, including an installation of 150 live Fraser and Noble firs twinkling with warm white lights sitting atop 50 custom silver platforms. Visitors will also be able to snap a photo under a double arch made of holiday greenery outside GM Plaza at 767 Fifth Avenue.

On December 17, the Doris Duke Foundation will feature Grammy Award-winning jazz singers to pay tribute to Fifth Avenue’s intricate role in jazz history. The avenue was better known as “Swing Street” during the early 20th century due to its hosting of legendary jazz musicians like Miles Davis and Billy Holiday.

Other performers will include Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra, a jazz ensemble provided by Hire Juilliard Performers, the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Metropolitan Klezmer, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School.

Food lovers will be able to enjoy blackcurrant donuts and non-alcoholic eggnog from the Modern, a two Michelin-starred restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art, hot chocolate from the world-famous Longchamp’s pop-up cafe, and bao buns and bubble tea from local vendors Mao’s Bao and Tea and Milk.

A selection of Fifth Avenue brands, including Assouline, Bergdorf Goodman, Coach, DIOR, P448, The Plaza, Puma, Tag Heuer, and Victoria’s Secret, will create fun pop-up retail experiences.

In October, it was revealed that last year’s Open Streets program on Fifth Avenue drove an additional $3 million in spending at businesses on pedestrianized streets. According to a study conducted by Mastercard, merchants on pedestrianized streets saw an average of $90,000 in additional spending per day.

RELATED:

• NYC holiday open streets return to Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center
• Last year’s holiday open streets in Midtown drove $3M in spending at local businesses
• NYC proposes pedestrian-friendly path on Fifth Avenue from Bryant Park to Central Park

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The design of a new 17-story condominium in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District celebrates the history of the neighborhood and the spirit of innovation in New York City. Designed by DXA Studio, 10 West 17th Street features a facade of ultra-high-performance concrete molded to look like flowing fabric, a nod to the neighborhood’s role in the garment industry and as a major shopping destination during the Gilded Age. The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday voted to approve the unique design.

The building will rise on a vacant site that borders Flatiron, Union Square, and Chelsea. Plans from 2014 called for a 16-story building designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, which was approved by LPC in 2016. That building was never constructed and developer Anbau has since acquired the property.

The building, called 10W17, will rise 185 feet and include 23 two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments, including two duplex units. The amenity space will measure 2,000 square feet.

Designated in 1989, the Ladies’ Mile Historic District was the center for commercial retail at the turn of the 20th century, an area where the garment industry converged with department stores. The district was a place to see and be seen among elite New Yorkers, particularly women, who felt safe to go shopping unaccompanied by men for the first time.

During a presentation to the LPC on Tuesday, Jordan Rogove, partner at DXA Studio, explained how the firm was inspired by the cultural and technological shift from Victorian-era fashion to ready-to-wear simplified attire, advocated for by Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic movement and also seen in architecture of the time.

“This building is a nod to a specific moment in the district’s history when the aesthetic movement occurred,” Rogove and Wayne Norbeck of DXA Studio, said in a statement.

“This centered around the move away from the overly exaggerated dress of the 19th century fashion trends, towards a more functional and form fit style of clothing that focused more on expressing the human body. The building design concept then draws parallels between this and the modern movement of architecture that was occurring also at this time.”

The building envelope of 10W17 pays tribute to the architectural history of Ladies’ Mile under a concrete facade inspired by the “spirit of modernity and origins of the Aesthetic movement.” The street facade features 200 ultra-high-performance concrete panels molded to look like fabric. These will sit on a rain screen paneling system designed to improve thermal performance.

“At the bottom of the building, we thought this was an opportunity to kind of pull back the curtains, to pull back the fabric expression, or cloak, of the building and show some of that underlying foundational building that is in line with the more historic form of the district,” Rogove said.

While the Community Board 5 last month recommended the project be denied for “lacking appropriateness and harmony within the district,” LPC commissioners applauded the interesting design, including the unique swooping element seen at the top of the building, which provides a transition from the two buildings the condo sits between. During Tuesday’s meeting, both the Historic Districts Council and Victorian Society New York voiced support for the project.

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