We stumbled upon this documentary on the European-born architect, Costas Kondylis, thanks to Thirteen and their series Treasures Of New York: Building Stories. Needless to say, we were rather impressed with the story of an immigrant architect who struggled to find artistic identity in the midst of pressure and compromise from real estate forces. Definitely worth a peep!
Watch Treasures of New York: Building Stories on PBS. See more from Station Promos.
Looks like there won't be a mass uprising for a raise of the American minimum wage soon. Why? Because Americans are just too busy working to afford the most basic of necessities--housing! According to an infographic based on statistics from the National Low Income Housing Coalition workers have to toil for up to hundreds of hours to afford decent housing (a 2-bedroom unit at fair market rent) under minimum wage. Some of the frightening numbers include 136 hours in New York, 130 hours in California and a whopping 175 hours in Hawaii! Keeping in mind that there are only 168 hours in a week, these statistics are pretty out of this world!
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Best-selling Canadian author, Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point), explores the financial factors behind the acquisition of the new Brooklyn Nets--a deal that involves much more than basketball, apparently. The article, published in September for Grantland, points out how factors like the recession, eminent domain, ambitious real estate plans, and wealthy politics are really what were at stake.
A man buys a basketball team as insurance on a real estate project, flips the franchise to a Russian billionaire when he wins the deal, and then — as both parties happily count their winnings — what lesson are we asked to draw? The players are greedy.
One of Uptown Manhattan's most peculiar residencies is up for grabs this year--the infamous Pumpkin House! Located at 16 Chittenden Avenue and named rightfully so because of its underpass shape, the 3000 square foot home is on the market for a mere $3.9 Million. Real estate experts report that the space has been a bit of a "tough sell," as the prior owner had so much trouble repairing its roof and facade that it eventually tired him out! Nevertheless, the unique abode is going to be featured in this Thursday's episode of HGTV's "Selling New York." Who knows, maybe we'll be convinced to buy?
In case any of our readers are in the market for an island residence, we present to you the Villa Tre and Li Galli Islands, a jaw-dropping, three-island paradise located on the Amalfi coast of Italy. The land houses a huge mansion with 19 suites, 3 salt-water pools, a spa area, a helipad and boat launch area! Price, you ask? Try € 195,000,000.
How about a beach front property fit for a kingdom, let alone a king? With a little help from Sotheby's International Realty and a cool $59 million, you can snag up Castillo Caribe, a 48,000 square-foot luxury estate on the Cayman Islands, complete with tennis court, wine cellar, theater, and cave-inspired spa! Quick, where's our wallet?
New York City's downtown Chelsea neighborhood is getting ready to welcome a new, $1.8 Billion dollar tenant! Announced late last week, Internet giant, Google, has acquired the second largest building in the city for that amount. The structure, a 2.95 million square-foot goliath that occupies 15th and 16th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue, is the new home of Google Headquarters!
[via Reuters]
Assouline and the Council Of Fashion Designers Of America recently conspired to create Fashion Designers At Home, a photo-book dedicated to the residencies of over 100 of the most revered fashion designers of our time. Some of the residences featured include Ralph Lauren's Colorado Ranch, Betsy Johnson's NYC apartment, and Oscar De La Renta's Connecticut estate, among others. The book retails for $65 here.
Check out these pool like, Asian inspired, zen filled and most likely feng shui certified bath tubs designed by German based company Käsch. To quote the Kohler faucet commercial, design a bathroom around this!
Please join us in supporting Michelle García and her documentary "Tell’em Who You Are.” Michelle will be screening exclusive clips from the film followed by a Q&A session.
About the film
The U.S.-Mexico border occupies a mythical place in the U.S. psyche, a wasteland of lawlessness, dirty and wild. With that image firmly rooted in our minds,, the U.S. government sold the public on the idea of a multi-billion dollar Border Wall across hundreds of miles of the southern border.
Turns out, there’s some truth to those tales and legends. Blood once soaked the brush country and Tejano and Mexican rebels sacked towns and traded gunfire with Texas Rangers and Army soldiers. My heart pumps with the blood of those rebels, I am their heir and successor and the spirit of their cause summons me home.
Tell’em Who You Are is a return home, the embattled South Texas frontier, to recover memory, the historical memory of the Tejano-owned land that will be lost to the wall. Fighting on the front lines of Border Wall battle are the descendents of those largely known Tejano rebels and revolutionaries, continuing in a struggle for respect that began over a century ago. Our ancestors, the bandits and outlaws of Hollywood stories were actually Tejanos defending and protecting their land,identity and dignity from colonization. More than a century later, their fight is now ours.
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Camaradas El Barrio
2241 1st Ave/115 St./ Manhattan
Donation at door: $5 bucks
About Michelle
Michelle García is a writer, reporter, subway rider and Texas highway driver.
