Starting on September 12, 2011 and continuing throughout a 4 week period, the firm collected minute-by-minute data for various pollutants at 10 locations between E 69^th and 87^th Streets.  The final report, revealed that most measured pollutants were below national air quality and industry standards. 

• High concentrations of one type of particulate matter were “attributed to local traffic emissions, other local sources such as commercial and residential boilers . . . with no significant contribution from blasting activities”, according to the report.
• Another spike during the 3 to 7 pm blasting period showed concentrations below acceptable levels to indicate no adverse health effects.

According to a statement released Thursday, MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu  “Based on the results of the study, there are no concerns that Second Avenue Subway construction si causing any danger to the public’s health. We will continue to do everything we can to be a good neighbor as we complete this critically important project as quickly as possible.”

Several measures were implemented to mitigate the odors and dust :

• “Dust Bosses” that spray water mist to force the dust particles to settle within the “muck house” structure were installed in two of the structures.
• Wet burlap curtains were installed in the shafts to act as screening for dust.
• Permanently sealing some overhangs
• Installed additional vents
• Increased time between blasts to allow for dust and smoke to dissipate.

Residents agree these measures have improved the conditions, but lament the delay in implementation.

The study findings will be presented by the MTA to the Community Board 8’ Second Avenue Task Force at Hunter College, 695 Park Ave, West Building Lecture Hall Room, 714W on January 26, at 6:30 which we will be attending.

Excerpted from DNAInfo.com article by Amy Zimmer.

1/18/12:  ‘Medical Arms Race’ Spurs Massive Health Development on East Side:   “At a time when the city’s public hospitals are struggling and Brooklyn hospitals are facing possible closures, top-tier East Side institutions — including the Hospital for Special Surgery, NYU Langone Medical Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College and Mount Sinai Medical Center — could dramatically reshape the city’s landscape over the next five years as they expand their footprints, modernize and adapt to upcoming health care reforms.”  Read about it at DNAinfo.com

 1/21/12:  Chefs, Butlers, Marble Baths:  Hospitals Vie for the Affluent:  “Pampering and décor to rival a grand hotel, if not a Downton Abbey, have long been the hallmark of such “amenities units,” often hidden behind closed doors at New York’s premier hospitals.”  Read about it in the New York Times

1/22/12:  Massive, Exclusive Full Floor UES Co-op Wants $30M:  “It’s not every day when a unit at the fabled 2 East 67th Street comes onto the market, and this massive full floor unit is certainly impressive.”  See the floor plan and read about it at Curbed

1/24/12:  East River Underwater Turbines Give Jolt to City Power Grid:  Using underwater turbines in the East River off the coast of Roosevelt Island, Verdant Power will be electrifying New York with roughly 1 megawatt captured from the strait’s natural tidal currents — enough for an estimated 1,000 city homes.  Read about it at DNAinfo.com

1/25/12:  A-Rod sells his NYC condo for a considerable profit:  “According to the Wall Street Journal the New York Yankees third baseman has already received a contract for his 3,500-square-foot condo on the 35th floor of the Rushmore building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.”  Read about it at YAHOO! Sports

• Housing prices in Manhattan continue to remain stable. The median sales price of a Manhattan apartment was $911,333 in the third quarter, essentially unchanged from $914,000 in the prior year quarter and up 7.2% from $850,000 in the prior quarter.
• Although year-over-year co-op sales activity was unchanged, the increase in condo activity resulted in a 16.7% year-over-year increase in overall sales activity. An increase in demand from foreign buyers due to the weak US dollar is likely a key factor for the gain.
• There were 7,726 active listings at the end of the third quarter, 4.9% fewer than 8,123 listings in the same period last year and 4.3% less than 8,070 listings in the prior quarter.
• Consistent with the decline in inventory, the time to sell an apartment and the discount from list price have also declined. Days on market fell to 119 days from 125 days and the discount from the list price at time of sale slipped to 4.4% from 5.8%, both from the same period last year.

Updates:

• Mayor Bloomberg ordered a mandatory evacuation of coastal areas in Brooklyn, Queens, including all of the Rockaways, and Staten Island, along with Battery Park City and the financial district in Lower Manhattan and Governor’s Island. People are expected to be out of these areas by 5PM on Saturday.
• MTA and NJ Transit service, including subways, buses, and railroads, will begin to shut down at noon Saturday. Depending on the effect of the storm MTA service may not be restored in time for rush hour Monday morning.
• The NYC Department of Buildings is ordering suspension of all work at construction sites in New York City as of 2 p.m. Saturday, August 27 to 7 a.m. Monday, August, 29, 2011. Please continue to review their website for the most up to date information on precautions for buildings and construction sites.
• The City is revoking permits for events on Sunday and in the low-lying areas on Saturday.
•  Evacuation centers are open as of 4:00 pm today, Friday August 26; there are 91 centers in total. See link below for location of evacuation centers.
• Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has declared a state of emergency in the State of New York and may close bridges and tunnels if winds exceed 60 miles an hour for more than a short time

Building Owners and Managers can prepare by:

• Organizing emergency contact information for staff, tenants, and vendors.
•  Locate and review relevant insurance information.
•  Ensure you have proper staffing to run the building and perform EAP duties.
•  Secure objects in and around building such as lawn furniture, garbage cans, gas grills, antennas and satellite dishes.
• Check flood pumps to ensure proper operation.
• Make sure backup generators are working properly and you have adequate fuel.
• Residential buildings should notify residents to secure outdoor furniture on patios and balconies.

In addition to the city’s local preparations, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security have regional and national support personnel briefed and on call. FEMA’s Private Sector Desk is operational from 8am-8pm daily and can be reached at FEMA-NRCC-Private-Sector@dhs.gov or by calling 202-212-2240. Our regional private sector liaison is Terry Winters who can be reached at Terence.Winters@fema.gov or 212-680-8516.

For more information on Hurricane Irene, please check the resources below:

NYC Department of Buildings:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/news/pr_weather_advisory_082611.shtml

NYC Office of Emergency Management:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/home/home.shtml

FEMA:

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=57362 
http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html

National Weather Service:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/

To locate your local evacuation center:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/downloads/pdf/hurricane_map_english.pdf

Details of MTA Shutdown

http://www.mta.info/

Please stay safe.

StreetEasy has searchable listings and user forums geared towards sales rather than rentals. For $15/month you can get sold prices of coops, condos and townhouses. A must have if you are trying to determine what the “correct” selling price should be.

Trulia  has searchable listings and interesting neighborhood stats.

The New York Times website  has articles and searchable listings.

PropertyShark.com  provides you with comprehensive and detailed data including zoning, permits (Department of Building information), property tax information etc.

Curbed NY  is a cross between commentary and gossip, it is a good place to get a feel for New York real estate and learn about new developments and conversions. Tongue-in-cheek

The BrickUnderground gives practical advice, with current prices and advice on rental apartment living.

Hotpads A search tool with thousands of apartment listings plotted on a map.

NabeWise ranks neighborhoods based on various characteristics.

If you have certain neighborhoods in mind, for rentals,  sites like Naked Apartments and RentHop  provide search tools to narrow preferences

Navigating the waters of Manhattan real estate is not for the faint of heart.  It takes stamina and persistence to find just what you want at a price you can afford.  Educating yourself is a great first step.

 Adapted from a New York Times article by Joseph Plambeck

Faith Hope Consolo, Chairman, Retail Leasing and Sales Division
of Prudential Douglas Elliman recently published the shop ’til you drop Spring 2010 New York Retail Leasing Report

“Sales activity was elevated as purchasers sought to take advantage of improved affordability brought on by low mortgage rates, the federal tax credit and lower housing prices.”

• There were 2,093 sales in the fourth quarter, 13.4% higher than 1,846 units in the same period last year and 13.3% higher than 1,847 units in the prior quarter.
• As a result of increased sales activity, inventory declined over the same period. There were 5,439 listings available at the end of the fourth quarter, 10% below the 6,042 listings available at the end of the same period a year ago and 2.9% below the 5,600 units available at the end of the prior quarter.
• The median sales price of a Brooklyn property was $447,174 in the fourth quarter, down 8.7%
• from $490,000 in the prior year quarter and down 6.1% from $476,000 in the prior quarter.
• Days on market expanded by a month to 163 days, from 133 days in the same period last year, but was essentially unchanged from 165 days in the prior quarter.
• Listing discount—the percent spread between the list price at the time of contract and the contract price—was 6%, up from 4% in the prior year quarter and up from 5.6% in the prior quarter.

“The fourth quarter 2009 Queens market experienced a surge in sales activity, with 55.6% more sales than during the same period a year ago. Consumers took advantage of the federal tax credit, low mortgage rates and more affordable prices. As a result of the increase in sales, listing inventory has fallen 10.6% and is at its lowest level in three years.”

• There were 4,260 sales in the fourth quarter, 55.6% more than the 2,737 sales of the prior year quarter and 52.7% more than the 2,789 sales in the prior quarter.
• Listing inventory is at its lowest level in three years. There were 8,778 properties listed for sale at the end of the fourth quarter, 10.6% below the 9,822 units listed for sale in the prior year quarter and 10.4% below the 9,797 units listed in the prior quarter.
• Prices continue to slip. Median sale price was $350,000, 7.9% below the $380,000 median sales price of the prior year quarter and 3.3% below the $362,000 median sales price of the prior quarter.
• The average days on market was 104 days, or two weeks longer than the 90 days on market in the prior year quarter.
• Listing discount, the spread between the last list price and contract price, fell to 6.1% in the fourth quarter, down from 8.7% in the prior year quarter and unchanged from the prior quarter.

Yes, Halloween is Saturday, so it’s time to finalize your Trick-or-Treat plan if you are old enough to give out candy, under 13 or the parent of same.

Here are some tips for celebrating All Hallows Eve in the city:

• If you welcome visits from all the little superheroes, pirates, witches and bumble bees in the building, make sure you’re apartment number is included on the list that should be posted in the lobby of your building.

• If your building doesn’t have such a list, suggest one to the super.  It ensures that those who don’t welcome visitors won’t be disturbed.

• If you really don’t care how cute little Sara is going to be in her princess outfit, leave a supply of candy with your doorman with “Happy Halloween from 11A” taped to the side of the bowl.  He’ll hand them out – and enjoy a few of the mini Snickers himself.  (Be sure to mention it if you want your bowl back in the morning.)

• No doorman?  Want to participate but don’t want to spend the evening traipsing back and forth to the front door?  Leave a container of candy outside the door.  Remember to replenish the offering as needed as long as your budget allows.

• If you live in a walkup, take pity on the frustration this causes for kids and parents – put a sign on your door to announce whether you are a treater.  You might try to post a lobby list and let everyone add themselves at the appropriate spot, but messing with the list may be irresistible for kids between 13 and 30 (possibly 40 in some cases of arrested development – you know who you are).

• Make sure to give kids only store-bought, individually-wrapped candy, since wary parents will toss anything else.  Trick-or-Treaters’ faves include chocolate bars, Skittles, and Tootsie Roll Pops.  Kids today often are not fond of candy corn – yet another sign that times change.  No one but dentists gives sugarless gum.  It’s only once a year!

• In the process of shedding pounds or watching your weight?  Buy only treats you dislike enough that you really, really won’t eat them, and be sure all extras get dropped off in a child household or taken to work on Monday.

Parents, here is some more information on how to Trick or Treat in New York City.

Happy Halloween!

The end of a quarter brings a blizzard of Residential Sales and Rental Market Reports; followed by a spurt of press coverage spinning and analyzing the reports. But here’s a report that’s different.

New York Retail Leasing Activity Report created by Faith Consolo Chairman of  Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Leasing and Sales Division.

The Faith Report reads like a who’s who of luxury retailers.

Faith believes that “New York City luxury retail remains resilient, with new entries and expansions paving the way for a phenomenal fall.”

From Madison Avenue to 5th Avenue and the Upper East Side,  across Central Park on the Upper West Side down to Union Square, the West Village, Soho, Nolita, Tribeca and to the Lower East Side, the Faith Report alerts you to the newest digs for your favorite designers and other trend-setting retailers.