Spring thaw
Lower East Side and Hamptons listings, Interruptrr, Cold Spring, sports bars, FOUND SF, FOUND MIAMI, MORE
THE ASK • FOUND SF + FOUND MIAMI
Here’s a scoop: FOUND is launching soon in San Francisco and Miami. Hop on the SF list here. And Miami here. We’re also looking for contributors in both markets. If that’s you, hit reply or email found@foundny.com with FOUND MIAMI or FOUND SF in the subject line and we’ll chat.
REAL ESTATE • In Contract
Upper Lower East Side
In our youth at The Magician, it was hard to imagine a future of luxury apartments on the Lower East Side. Granted, the neighborhood still isn’t a regular on the weekly rolls of haute listing contracts we track here as part of our solemn duty at FOUND. But it does make occasional appearances, tucking in alongside the Upper East Side, Chelsea, the West Village to steal the scene.
Today, it was this Rivington St. penthouse (above) — six blocks west of The Magician on the edge of Nolita — that caught our eye. It’s a striking apartment, with soaring ceilings, a rooftop pool, and a grand staircase. But it took those stairs down from its original listing price of $10.75M in 2020 all the way to a pre-contract price of $4.995M.
We had to scroll through three months’ of Olshan archives to unearth two more contracts to make our listings trifecta. All three entrants are below. And If you’re in the market, four more are currently for sale above $4 million.
→ 15 Rivington St PH (Lower East Side) • 3BR/3BA, 2200 SF condo • Closing ask: $4.995M • Triplex with 34’ ceilings and that rooftop lap pool • Days on market: 316+ • Monthly common charges: $897; Monthly taxes: $1965 • Agent: Elizabeth Sahlman, Compass.
→ 199 Chrystie St 6N (Lower East Side) • 3BR/3.5BA, 2405 SF condo • Closing ask: $4.5M • One of 14 “interlocking villas” in new Thomas Juul-Hansen design • Days on market: 277+ • Monthly common charges: $3605; Monthly taxes: $3120 • Agent: Noble Black et al, Elliman.
→ 196 Orchard St 9E (Lower East Side) • 3BR/3.5BA, 2048 SF condo • Closing ask: $4.795M • Corner unit with 1137 SF terrace in Ismael Leyva building • Days on market: 433 • Monthly common charges: $3096; Monthly taxes: $3415 • Agent: Richard Hottinger, Elliman.
NYC REAL ESTATE LINKS: Lawsuit challenging NYC’s property tax system can proceed • More on what the broker commission settlement means for buying and selling real estate in NYC • What’s happening at the high end of the NYC real estate market: ‘hit or miss’ • New renderings revealed for KPF’s 520 Fifth Avenue supertall in Midtown • One High Line’s public plaza taking shape in Chelsea • The condo-ification of the Upper East Side • Pier 97 will fully open on Upper West Side this summer • Back to the drawing board for the 79th St. Boat Basin dock house.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
Fridays at the museum
ELMIRA BAYRASLI • CEO and editor • Interruptrr
Neighborhood you live in: Windsor Terrace
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
My Interruptrr newsletter — a weekly roundup of global headlines and events, via experts, who happen to be women — goes out first thing on Friday morning, which means I'm up early scanning the news. I make last-minute adjustments and updates and send it off at 7:30am. That's when my weekend starts. I make myself a cappuccino then get down to what's on tap for the next three days. A secret hack I've discovered: Friday afternoons are an ideal time to go to a museum.
Where are you dining this weekend?
I'm lucky my friends are professional foodies and travel writers. They push me to explore the very neighborhood I grew up in, in Brooklyn. We're debating picking up some wine and heading to Taci's Beyti or Village Cafe on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood. On Sunday, the homestyle Italian Provini is my go-to in my neighborhood.
How about a little leisure or culture?
If I'm able to make it up to the Upper East Side, I love hitting the Museum of the City of New York (above). The exhibits are continually changing, and it's fun to get a fresh perspective. One of my favorites was an exhibit that featured music set in New York City. Who knew that there's a song dedicated to Bensonhurst by Oscar Benton?
Any weekend getaways?
If I'm able, I love heading up to Cold Spring to go hiking. The Hudson Valley is breathtaking. As a history and politics nerd, I'm a fan of the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park and the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site in Val-Kill. For a quicker getaway, I hop on the Staten Island Ferry, which is free and head to the Alice Austen House. Alice Austen was a photographer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The House, where Austen lived with her partner Gertrude Tate, and surrounding park are a nationally designated LGBTQ+ site.
What was your last great vacation?
This is the equivalent of asking a parent which is their favorite child. (It’s me BTW!). I went to Mexico City this past Christmas, and was wowed by the food and museum scene. A month isn't enough to explore all of it.
CULTURE & LEISURE • March Mania
10,000 Maniacs • City Winery (Chelsea) • Sat @ 8p • side premier, $125 per
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament • Duke v Vermont, Wisconsin v James Madison • Barclays Center (Flatbush) • Fri @ 710p • section 108, $552 per
The Whitney Biennial • Whitney Museum of Art (Meatpacking District) • 1030a-515p slots • $30 per (or become a member for anytime access)
CULTURE LINKS: What to see and skip at the Whitney Biennial • Pitch perfect: Inside the NYC a capella playoffs • Art in the time of TV Guide at Grimm New York • More people are buying art online • Free Blockbuster is bringing back the DVD.
GETAWAYS • Hamptons
Green fields of the mind
Ah, spring, when the earth blooms anew and real estate brokers take to the media to tell everyone how hot the Hamptons real estate market is. Except maybe this year, it really is? There are, at least, signs of thaw. Last month, 116 new single-family homes were listed in the Hamptons, per Elliman, 51% more than the same time last year. Further evidence that spring has truly sprung this year: the number of deals also climbed, with 75 signed contracts in February, up 44%.
Houses priced between $5 million and $9.99 million are particularly abundant, with 136% more new listings than last February. Here, three in that class — early bird gets the worm.
→ 171 Great Hill Road (Southampton) • 5BR/6.1BA, 5261 SF • secluded, modernist home with salt-water swimming pool and tennis court • Listed: 2/26/24 for $6.995M • Listing agent: Susan Breitenbach, Corcoran.
→ 109 Kellis Pond Lane (Water Mill, above) • 5BR/4.2BA, 5427 SF • recently renovated house adjacent to reserve with swimming pool • Listed: 2/22/24 for $9.95M • Listing agent: Bespoke Real Estate.
→ 21 Westwood Road (Wainscott) • 7BR/7.3BA, 6350 SF • new construction (just) south of the highway • Listed: 3/1/24 for $6.65M • Listing agent: Melissa McGrath, SERHANT.
GETAWAYS LINKS: The Innes hotel people designed a house upstate that’s for sale • Soho House global membership nears 200k • New SFChron critic’s Zuni Cafe reassessment: ‘the chicken is good’ • Aman’s new ‘affordable’ spinoff hotel brand, Janu, opens first outpost in Tokyo.
LOST & FOUND • Behind the Paywall
Dispatches from the frontline, from FOUND subscribers for FOUND subscribers:
→ A handful of favorite NYC restaurants from new subscribers: Gertrude’s (Prospect Heights) • Jean-Georges (Columbus Circle) • Press Club Grill (Herald Square) • Anton’s (West Village) • Marc Forgione (Tribeca) • Saga (Wall Street) • ROKC (Harlem) • Indian Accent (Midtown East) • District Social (Garment District) • Chleo (Kingston, NY).
BARS • The Nines
Sports bars, elevated
For your March madness needs:
The Paris Cafe (Seaport), old brasserie bones date to 1873