Kitchen of 93 Nevins Street in Brooklyn. (
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Exterior of the Octagon on Roosevelt Island. (
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Architecture junkies have had a very lean year.
Many of the city’s starchitecture projects have been shelved, like Ben van Berkel’s Five Franklin Place and the Frank Gehry design of Atlantic Yards.
But we have good news for those in search of a fix. This weekend Open House New York (OHNY) is throwing open the doors to some of the city’s most interesting spots, both old and new.
One can take a gander at the new Standard Hotel and the recently renovated Apollo Theater. Or delve inside the Atlantic Avenue tunnel (the world’s oldest subway tunnel). Or get a tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Even Murray’s Cheese is on the list. And best of all, it’s free.
But for those who want to see the way people live, here are our five picks for the most interesting residential sites in this year’s mix. Visit ohny.org for the full schedule and registration details.
Kushner Residence
79 Barrow St., Greenwich Village
Now, before you get all excited thinking you’ll get a glimpse at Ivanka and Jared’s private love nest, this is a different Kushner residence, belonging to architect Adam Kushner. Nevertheless, the 14,000-square-foot, top-floor duplex apartment on Barrow Street is seriously snapshot-worthy. Kushner designed the interior to be completely open, with such urban flourishes as IRT subway doors (at entrances and closets), real subway tiles and real city bedrock. “I call it tactile modernist,” says Kushner, who fully integrated stone, wood, glass and stainless steel into the décor. This is his fifth year participating in OHNY: “The apartment is a teaching tool; I am expressing the way one could live, showing that you don’t have be confined to rooms.” It will be open for tours on Saturday only.
93 Nevins St. and 453 Pacific St.
Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
These townhouse residences, each priced at $2.595 million, just opened for sales last week, and the developers, R&E Brooklyn and Green Depot, have partnered to create one of the eco-friendliest projects around. The two 3,000-plus square-foot homes, with three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms, boast plenty of green features you can see — rooftop solar panels, green roofs, recycled glass counters — and some you can’t, like hybrid heating and cooling and air-filtration systems. Both residences, which have been completely outfitted with Room & Board furniture, will be open for tours on Saturday and Sunday.
The Castle Braid
114 Troutman St., Bushwick, Brooklyn
If the name “Castle Braid” sounds familiar, it might be because it was the name of the factory in Betty Smith’s “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.” The building was real (it was a ribbon factory) and is now a rental. The 143-unit building (which opened less than a month ago) consists of one-, two- and three-bedrooms starting at $1,650, $2,200 and $3,000, respectively. The developer, Mayer Schwartz, says he wants to create a community of “young professionals in the creative areas — music, movie producing, art, fashion, graphics — by having them all share their skills and pool it.” Along with deluxe amenities— a gym, game room with pool table and Nintendo Wii, tennis court, library, screening room, dog park and 6,000-square-foot courtyard — Castle Braid is also hosting the Brooklyn Artillery art fair through the end of October. On the tour, you’ll see the art, amenities, apartments and (possibly) some of the artists.
Kips Bay Towers
300 and 330 E. 30th St., Kips Bay
I.M. Pei, the Chinese-born Pritzker Prize winner, is one of the lions of modernist architecture. Pei, now 92, designed the 20-story condo Kips Bay Towers in the early ’60s; they were New York’s first exposed concrete apartment buildings. They’re still standing, and they’re still attracting residents. The towers take up an enormous 7 1/2-acre compound (with a 3-acre private garden) and consist of a staggering 1,118 units. (According to Annette Petrusa, a broker who works exclusively on Kips Bay Towers, studios start in the low $400,000s and three-bedrooms go up to $1.4 million; rentals start at $1,700 and go up to $5,200.) The Saturday-only tour will highlight common areas including the gardens and the newly renovated community room.
The Octagon
888 Main St., Roosevelt Island
If you’re “crazy” about NYC history, you’d be loopy not to stop by the Octagon on Roosevelt Island, designed in 1841 as the New York Pauper and Lunatic Asylum. About 100 years ago, the asylum was converted to a general hospital before falling into disrepair. In 2006, it was restored to its current splendor as a 500-unit rental complex, which gets its name from the five-story, octagon-shaped rotunda that now houses some of the complex’s amenities (and which will be one of the central attractions on the tour). About 20 percent of the units are affordable housing, while market-rate units start at $1,600 for a studio and go up to $5,000 for a three-bedroom. Plus, the silver LEED-certified compound boasts the city’s largest array of solar panels.