Greatest Real Estate Finds

[cany10011]

On 3/11/2026 at 8:07 PM, Luv2play said:

How old are you? I stayed in a b&b on Jane St down near the Hudson in 1997. The host was a retired actor and playwright in NYC. The street was very nice, old brownstones and the people held a street party for my host that weekend as he was turning 75.

Perhaps 50 years earlier it was dicey but so was the whole lower west side before the gays moved in. North of there the meat packing district was rough but became gentrified later.

I went back two times, once in 2001 after 9/11 and in 2019. Both times the place was as nice as I remembered it in 1997. In the first visit I went out to dinner with the b&b host with my sister. The last visit he was no longer alive. So I just walked the street reliving  the memories. 

I'm in my 50s and remember moving to NYC in 1995. Jane St is not far from the triangle around 14th and 9th Ave sex clubs - J's Hangout and Manhole, which were quite dicey in the late 1990s.  My neighbor owns a restaurant near there now. Those were the days were you had to unbuckle your belt while making your way downstairs... Totally dodgy yet exhilarating at the same time.  Even far west chelsea where I live now was super dicey. 

Edited April 30 by cany10011

[MikeBiDude]

Four Hundred Million dollar estate listed here in SoCal, allegedly the most expensive listing in US.

 

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/400m-bel-air-megamansion-now-priciest-home-listed-in-the-u-s/

 

[Luv2play]

2 hours ago, cany10011 said:

I'm in my 50s and remember moving to NYC in 1995. Jane St is not far from the triangle around 14th and 9th Ave sex clubs - J's Hangout and Manhole, which were quite dicey in the late 1990s.  My neighbor owns a restaurant near there now. Those were the days were you had to unbuckle your belt while making your way downstairs... Totally dodgy yet exhilarating at the same time.  Even far west chelsea where I live now was super dicey. 

Where was the Mineshaft? I seem to remember it being somewhere between the West Village and west Chelsea.

[CuriousByNature]

1 hour ago, MikeBiDude said:

Four Hundred Million dollar estate listed here in SoCal, allegedly the most expensive listing in US.

 

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/400m-bel-air-megamansion-now-priciest-home-listed-in-the-u-s/

 

Is that a Koons sculpure at the end of the reflecting pools?

[BSR]

1 hour ago, Luv2play said:

Where was the Mineshaft? I seem to remember it being somewhere between the West Village and west Chelsea.

Yup, pretty much nailed it:  835 Washington Street, corner of Little West 12th

[Luv2play]

4 hours ago, BSR said:

Yup, pretty much nailed it:  835 Washington Street, corner of Little West 12th

Well I was a great walker in those days. I could walk 50 or 60 blocks easily in a couple of hours. I ranged over much of lower and mid Manhattan in the 80s and 90s on my various visits. 
I recall standing outside the door of the Mineshaft late one evening and after about 20 ministers deciding not to go in. 
Might have saved my life. 

[+ Charlie]

1 hour ago, Luv2play said:

Well I was a great walker in those days. I could walk 50 or 60 blocks easily in a couple of hours. I ranged over much of lower and mid Manhattan in the 80s and 90s on my various visits. 
I recall standing outside the door of the Mineshaft late one evening and after about 20 ministers deciding not to go in. 
Might have saved my life. 

The Mineshaft was one of my favorite bars when I lived in NYC in the last century. I never thought there was anything scary about it.

[Luv2play]

23 minutes ago, Charlie said:

The Mineshaft was one of my favorite bars when I lived in NYC in the last century. I never thought there was anything scary about it.

It was probably all in my mind. There were other bars I frequented that didn’t bother me at all, in fact I revelled in them. The one on Christopher St. Ramrod I think where you went downstairs and the guy at the bar would intone every half hour or so “Gentlemen, mind your wallets please”. Just a reminder as our jeans slipped down our legs to grant greater access. 

[samhexum]

On 4/27/2026 at 12:38 PM, samhexum said:

THE GATES OF HELL:

New York City storefronts that still drop solid metal gates at closing time are officially on the clock. The Department of Buildings took to X on Feb. 25, 2026 to remind property owners that roll-down security grilles on buildings classified as Business (Group B) or Mercantile (Group M) must meet a visibility standard by July 1, 2026.

The Gate Guy Preparing for a Very Busy Season

https://www.curbed.com/article/nyc-storefront-gate-manufacturer-roll-down-solid-law.html

[samhexum]

https://www.brownstoner.com/real-estate-market/innovative-urban-village-30-inspiration-lane-east-new-york/

Affordable Housing Lottery for East New York ‘Urban Village’ Has $561 Units

The new building is part of an ‘Innovative Urban Village’ complex, the longtime vision of a megachurch pastor.

 

 

[Lotus-eater]

You can buy Michael Kors's summer house on Fire Island:

https://robbreport.com/shelter/celebrity-homes/michael-kors-beach-house-new-york-fire-island-1238055514/

 

 

[samhexum]

1 hour ago, Lotus-eater said:

You can buy Michael Kors's summer house on Fire Island

WTF are you talking about?  I can't even rent the walkway to the water for ten minutes.

Edited May 16 by samhexum
for absolutely NO @%!*ING reason at all!

[Lotus-eater]

Historic D.C. townhouse owned by JFK and William Marbury (of Marbury v. Madison) has sold for $6.1 million:

https://robbreport.com/shelter/celebrity-homes/jfk-dc-presidential-campaign-home-sells-1238060857/#recipient_hashed=d1c076ce027f6f576e2f6e744cebd8356ffc6e31ca901691e2401500b77c73d1&recipient_salt=fe9756824f82c003d9428447aad9c87cfcd5a74611f39545d44605355bb75958

 

Edited May 18 by Lotus-eater

[samhexum]

https://www.brownstoner.com/real-estate-market/city-financed-buildings-lower-rent-mamdani/

The mayor will announce on Tuesday that New Yorkers who are considered “extremely low-income” — no more than $50,880 for a family of four — will pay a quarter of their income on rent, down from 30 percent, on city-subsidized apartments.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is think about ‘affordable to whom,’” said Dina Levy, commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The rents set at a quarter of household income will apply to HPD-financed new projects that close on their financing as of June 2026. The rental level will not apply to households that use vouchers.

The change in rent requirements in affordable apartments for the lowest-income New Yorkers comes as part of the administration’s plan to address the housing crisis, one that touches on everything from preserving existing affordable apartments, creating new ones, code enforcement, and land-use changes to spur new housing.

“At a moment when working people are being pushed out of the city they built, New York cannot afford half-measures or delays,” Mamdani said in a statement. “This plan meets the housing crisis with the urgency it demands.”