In 'No Shit Sherlock' News...

"New York tops a recent list of America's most expensive cities, with a measured cost of living surpassing that of Houston, Boston and Washington, D.C.

The culprit? High rent: $4,300 a month on average for a two-bedroom, unfurnished luxury apartment. The silver lining: That's down $200 from when the survey was taken in 2008."

To see what other cities ranked check out the full article at MSNBC.COM

Cuppa Cawfee

If you've been to New York you know this coffee cup. Over nearly half a century, New York has made the improbable cup its own - we have used as many as 15 million of them in a single month. Still so identified with the city, the iconic cups have become standard-issue props on TV shows and motion pictures set in the city. This humble coffee cup is one of the things that makes New York, New York. Ever wonder how they came about?

"When Greek immigrants arrived in New York in the early part of the last century, they brought their coffee culture along with them, giving birth to the city's ubiquitous Greek diners and sidewalk pushcarts. In 1963, the Sherri Cup Company set out to produce a to-go coffee cup that would appeal to the Greek vendors. Marketing director Leslie Buck dreamed up a motif that included blue-and-white colors from the flag of Greece. His customer-friendly message, WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU, was printed in Greek-style letters, adorned with a trio of steaming, mustard-yellow cups, flanked by ancient "Anthora" urns, and framed with a Greek Key pattern. "

If you're as smitten with them as I am you can get them for yourself without the trip to NY at The NEW YORK FIRST Company.

Change Purse

Ceramic Cup

Cufflinks

Reusable Tote

(first image from valentinapowers flicker)

Tell Me How You Really Feel...

McGuinness Boulevard- Brooklyn
(via newyorkshitty)

Watching- THE LOST TRIBES OF NEW YORK CITY

Urban anthropologists Andy & Carolyn London interview some of New York City's more overlooked citizens. Genius.

.99-ish or so

Graham Avenue- Brooklyn
(via: newyorkshitty)

Summer Rituals

"In 1909, clotheslines were as much a part of the defining look of the city as the front stoop. The sails of linens and laundry stretching across historical photographs impart a strange nautical aspect to the buildings, as if they rested not on the street but on the sea."

Then

"As the temperature goes up, so does the quantity and the variety of items fluttering in the air across New York, where clotheslines hung outside apartment buildings, a hallmark of tenement life a century ago, have stubbornly defied the elements, the ages, the landlord and the fluff ‘n’ fold.

This year, it seems, immigration, environmentalism and the penny-pinching of recession have combined to make the lines a more familiar sight in both lower-income and gentrifying neighborhoods, as well as in suburbs, where sheets and towels blowing in a breeze are a sign that summer has arrived."

Read the complete article in The New York Times.

Now

The Schinasi Mansion

Built during the American Renaissance and designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill (of Carnegie Hall fame) The Schinasi Mansion is the only private freestanding homes left in Manhattan. Lucky for us it's on the market so we get to step inside and indulge in some exquisite real estate porn.

Enjoy...


You like?

Want to see the floor plan? Here is the link to the Brown Harris Stevens listing.

In Memoriam

Helen Levitt (pictured left 1963), who pioneered street photography using East Harlem and the Lower East Side of New York City as frequent settings died Sunday at her apartment in New York City. She was 95.

Her obituary from The New York Times pays homage to her impact as both an artist and story teller through her lens.




Some of my favorites:

New York, circa 1959-60, © Helen Levitt. Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery and/or powerHouse Books.

New York, circa 1940, © Helen Levitt. Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery and/or powerHouse Books

New York, circa 1971, © Helen Levitt. Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery and/or powerHouse Books

New York, circa 1940, © Helen Levitt. Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery and/or powerHouse Books