Hangover Observations: Open House New York

1.

OMG the 30th St spur looks like Munich in 1971!

2.

Those are not beguiling photographs of the High Line, but the problem is the photographer, not the High Line. When you take photographs in bad light, when the park greenery is either dying or removed for construction, you certainly end up with unsexy prospects, but that doesn't make them revealing. You can see a huge variety of views -- both "sexy" and plain, historic and current, and in every season of the year -- at www.thehighline.org.

3.

"What you’ll get, in other words, is a thoughtfully conceived, beautifully designed simulation of the former High Line—and what more, really, do we ask for in our city right now? Isn’t that what we want: that each new bistro that opens should give us the feeling of a cozy neighborhood joint, right down to the expertly battered wooden tables and exquisitely selected faucet knobs? And that each new clothing boutique that opens in the space where the dry cleaner’s used to be—you know, the one driven out by rising rents—should retain that charming dry cleaner’s signage, so you can be reconnected to the city’s hardscrabble past even as you shop for a $300 blouse? And that each dazzling, glass-skinned condo tower, with the up-to-date amenities and Hudson views and en suite freaking parking, should be nestled in a charming, grit-chic neighborhood, full of old warehouses and reclaimed gallery spaces and retroactively trendy chunks of rusted urban blight? Isn’t that exactly what we ask New York to be right now?"

4.

>>>The city's great annual architecture and design dorkfest is now done

Hey, I resemble that remark, as Gorilla Monsoon used to say.

www.forgotten-ny.com

5.

Regarding OHNY, we stopped at the Octagon apartments on Roosevelt Island, being pitched as a "green" development in their marketing materials. They get 3% of their power from a few solar cells on the roof (not sure why so few, though) and the tour guide (one of the developers) did not seem to know much else about the green aspects of the building. The marketing materials tout sustainable wheat hull wood (or something like that) for the kitchen cabs, low-e "operable" windows (uh, wow?) in the apartments and "recycled plastic deck chairs" in the shared outdoor plaza. Maybe it's just me, but when you get down to touting the deck chairs in the first paragraph, maybe you've not got much else to talk about. As for the apartments, we saw one with an amazing river view, lots of light, and probably about 850SF of living space. Aside from the aforementioned kitchen, not much seemed overly eco-conscious, and the crappy contractor grade doors and poorly installed parquet floor sure made me wonder who would pay over $5K a month to live here, a 15 minute walk from the subway. Nice views, though.

6.

Regarding OHNY, we stopped at the Octagon apartments on Roosevelt Island, being pitched as a "green" development in their marketing materials. They get 3% of their power from a few solar cells on the roof (not sure why so few, though) and the tour guide (one of the developers) did not seem to know much else about the green aspects of the building. The marketing materials tout sustainable wheat hull wood (or something like that) for the kitchen cabs, low-e "operable" windows (uh, wow?) in the apartments and "recycled plastic deck chairs" in the shared outdoor plaza. Maybe it's just me, but when you get down to touting the deck chairs in the first paragraph, maybe you've not got much else to talk about. As for the apartments, we saw one with an amazing river view, lots of light, and probably about 850SF of living space. Aside from the aforementioned kitchen, not much seemed overly eco-conscious, and the crappy contractor grade doors and poorly installed parquet floor sure made me wonder who would pay over $5K a month to live here, a 15 minute walk from the subway. Nice views, though.

7.

Hey Adam of the zippy prose style, I see same new-condo blight and encroaching Faux New York that you see, but the High LIne will be a free public park. No en suite parking required. It's not going to be battered to look like Ye Olde High Line; it's getting a fresh coat of paint. And it's also getting some walkways because otherwise it couldn't be opened as a park because it wouldn't be accessible to kids, older people, the handicapped, etc. The walkways might as well be as handsome as possible, because someone's got to pay for them anyway. Yeah, there's lots of building going on around the High Line, but anytime you introduce something nice into the city fabric, business and real estate interests figure out a way to exploit it. Whaddya gonna do?

8.

We went on the Riverhouse and High Line tours (and did, indeed, swipe a bunch of City Bakery Cookie coins at the RH sales office). Riverhouse was so unimpressive. The floor plans are strange, rooms are small, and the windows (as seen above) are more pane than glass. Also, the window blinds are set between the panes of glass and the mechanism to adjust them is extremely difficult to use. The lobby will be beautiful, as will the park in the center of the building. The apartments are not worth the money.

On the brighter side, it was exciting just to be on the High Line. The tour only went a few blocks but was cool nonetheless. It put into perspective the West Side Redevelopment Plans released last week, especially considering the part of the High Line toured might not be preserved depending on which project ultimately gets built. Hopefully the final plans for that area will be drawn up after the first segment of the High Line opens and the developers are able to see the value added to the neighborhood . If they really want to thoughtfully develop that area, they'll continue the High Line park.