Apr 29, 2011

Manhattan Neighborhood: Carnegie Hill

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Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side Manhattan  

Uptown on the East Side, from 86th Street to 98th Street and from Lexington Avenue to Central Park. 

The Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan, full of magnificient townhouses that are rarely for sale because their owners tend to hang on to them, has wonderful access to Central Park.











Larger buildings house prewar apartments of six or seven rooms, known as “ Classic Sixes and “Classic Sevens,

 The resulting old-world feel, even in modern condos in Carnegie Hill, shows you why steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie picked this quiet, countrified section of Manhattan as the place to build his ultimate family home.

You can still visit it today on your way to buy or rent an apartment —

it’s now a branch of the Smithsonian known as the Cooper Hewitt museum -->

Even now, Carnegie Hill feels like a grand village tucked away from some of Gotham’s hustle and bustle.

Whether you’re walking on Park Avenue with its tulip plantings, past French and Italian renaissance apartment buildings with doorman luxury hidden behind their ornate façades, or along a side street with its well-preserved brownstones, you’ll realize that Carnegie Hill is a truly special section of the city.

Shopping is varied, which makes for gracious uptown living. Madison Avenue offers all kinds of designer duds, even for babies and toddlers. Many of the local shopkeepers have been here for decades — when you move into your new Carnegie Hill home they’ll learn your name.

In keeping with the suburban feel of the area, entertainment is more museum mile than rock’n’roll: Carnegie Hill is home to the Guggenheim Museum, the Jewish Museum, and the 92nd Street Y, which offers a variety of arts and cultural programming.

The Coper Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution is the only museum in the  nation devoted exlusively to historic and contemporary design. Cooper Hewitt is located in the landmark Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue.

Apr 22, 2011

Happy Earth Day! Greener Greater New York City!

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced new initiatives to the city's long-term sustainability plan, PlaNYC, yesterday in anticipation of Earth Day today. 

A Greener, Greater New York that assessed the progress of PlaNYC since its launch four years ago and charted a new direction for the City's future. The update was presented at the Harlem Stage, a performing arts venue inside Harlem's Gatehouse, part of the Croton reservoir system built in 1890 and still in-service as part of New York's water supply network today

You may be surprised to learn that New York City is one of the most energy-efficient places in the United States, consuming a quarter of the national average in energy consumption and emitting a quarter of the national average of carbon dioxide, according to Columbia University’s Earth Institute. Large cities such as New York may be the future of sustainability in general.


Downtown Manhattan is quickly becoming the world's greenest and most dynamic urban community. 7 World Trade Center lease, is the first to incorporate groundbreaking language crafted by real estate industry leaders working with the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability to promote enhanced energy efficiency and sustainability. 

Under traditional leases, building owners are responsible for the upfront cost of energy efficiency improvements. Tenants, however, are the immediate beneficiaries of those upgrades, in the form of reduced energy costs.  Because owners do not share in the benefit, they have little incentive to invest in energy upgrades. The new commercial lease language allows tenants and owners, to share the costs, as well as the benefits, of energy efficiency improvements. "When it is fully realized, this ‘Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, the first of its kind in our nation – will be the equivalent of making a city the size of Oakland, California completely carbon neutral.” according to mayor Bloomberg.

PlaNYC and the Mayor’s Office today launched a new social media tool called “Change by Us.” The tool encourages and enables New Yorkers to improve their communities by connecting them with the tools, resources, and people needed to turn ideas into reality.
Starting today, and again frequently throughout the year, the City will pose a question that residents can respond to by text message or through the Change by Us web and mobile sites. The first question asks how we can we make our City greener through projects such as :
  • Storm water management
  • Brownfield cleanup
  • Parks stewardship
  • Creation of new open spaces
  • Energy efficiency
  • Local air quality
  • Community composting
The site launched today in preview mode for select community-based organizations. After the preview period the City will open the site to the general public. Change by Us will become a powerful tool for New Yorkers to tell the City how they can make the their communities better.


PlaNYC has ten chapters and each one has an overarching goal:

Energy: Reduce consumption and make our energy systems cleaner and more reliable

Air Quality: Achieve the cleanest air quality of any big U.S. city

Solid Waste: Divert 75% of our solid waste from landfills

Climate Change: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30%

Climate Change: Increase the resilience of our communities, natural systems, and infrastructure to climate risks

Transportation: Expand sustainable transportation choices and ensure the reliability and quality of our transportation network

Housing & Neighborhoods: Create homes for almost a million more New Yorkers while making housing and neighborhoods more affordable and sustainable

Parks & Public Spaces:  Ensure all New Yorkers live within a ten-minute walk of a park
Brownfield Remediation: Clean up all contaminated land in New York City

Waterways: Improve the quality of New York City’s waterways to increase opportunities for recreation and restore coastal ecosystems

Water Supply: Ensure the high quality and reliability of our water supply system



related "green" blog posts:


Apr 1, 2011

Manhattan Market Report - 1st Quarter 2011

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Corcoran Manhattan Market Report Q12011


The Manhattan market had a solid performance during First Quarter 2011. The number of sales was improved both versus last year (up 6%) and last quarter (up 7%).

Prices continued their steady course. Market-wide for all apartments the average price was up 2%, median price was down 2% and average price per square foot was down 1% versus First Quarter 2010, all negligible changes. Listed inventory is virtually unchanged from First Quarter 2010 at approximately 9,000 units available for sale.

However, nuances in supply and demand are having different effects between various neighborhoods, product types and market segments. For example, resale condominium median price is up 11% versus a year ago and average price per square foot is up 5%.

But new development median price is down 5% and average price per square foot is down 6%. Why the difference? The supply of new developments is decreasing, as the lack of construction financing for developers means there are very few new properties coming online now.

This is particularly true at the high-end of the market, where most luxury new developments are completely or nearly sold out. As a result, the new development sales that do occur are in lower-priced properties, bringing the average down. Demand for condominiums is therefore shifting to the resale market, driving prices there higher.






 (Download complete Corcoran Manhattan Report)

 

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