In a world that often feels chaotic with so much happening all the time, one thing remains consistent: Rents in New York City are  high. But as rental activity has, unsurprisingly, slowed in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, market uncertainty is beginning to chip away at rents across the city. And that, along with rental concessions—perks paid for by the landlord—could translate to deals...

Now that they've bought the ultimate beach house, Bill and Melinda Gates are certainly ready for summer. The billionaire philanthropist couple purchased a jaw-dropping property in Del Mar, California, a beach town just outside of San Diego. The Microsoft cofounder and his wife paid $43 million for the home—surpassing San Diego County's previous record home purchase record by $8 million—according to...

As New Yorkers grapple with financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) has moved forward with their annual process—this time virtually—to decide whether to freeze, increase, or rollback rents for the city’s nearly one million rent-stabilized units. Late Thursday, during a preliminary vote, the RGB voted in favor of a rent freeze for one-year leases and, for...

The New York City subway has run round-the-clock since the day it opened in 1904. The subterranean mainstay, a symbol of the city’s tireless energy, has survived terrorist attacks, blackouts, and hurricanes. But since the COVID-19 pandemic began, ridership has plunged more than 90 percent and thousands of sick workers have hobbled the MTA’s ability to run service as officials scramble to disinfect the...

Video calls have become the new normal for work meetings, hangouts, and even public hearings, as New Yorkers are asked to stay at home as much as possible to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. And if you’re using Zoom, the video platform allows you to add an image to change your background (and maybe hide the mess inside your apartment). And if you’re missing your regular trips to your local...

The list of “essential” construction projects and permitted work has ballooned sixfold since Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a virtual construction shutdown last month, Department of Buildings data shows. Some 4,936 job sites are now allowed to be worked on, up from about 800 on April 3, according to the Buildings Department. Among them: hotels in Manhattan and Brooklyn, a new Queens Target, and, as the...

New York city and state officials have sought to slow the novel coronavirus pandemic by shuttering all nonessential businesses, closing schools, and urging residents to hunker down at home. As a result, ridership has plummeted across New York’s mass transit systems—subway, buses, commuter rail, and ferries—as officials scramble to keep service running. But as the city’s COVID-19 cases continue to...

New Yorkers are spending more time at home than likely ever before, as the novel coronavirus pandemic has led to limits on how many people can gather in one place at any given time, and the widespread closure of the city’s myriad cultural institutions. But many of those institutions—museums, parks, performing arts centers, libraries, and more—have risen to the challenge, providing virtual access to...

Although it seems unlikely he’ll ever spend a night on the premises, Seth Rogen has shelled out nearly $2 million for an attractive, designer-renovated 1920s Spanish Revival-style cottage just beyond the West Hollywood city boundaries. The blockbuster comedic actor (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) turned aspiring marijuana mogul appears to have acquired the house for...

Curvilinear forms seem to have captured the imagination of prolific architect Bjarke Ingels. Following last fall’s opening of his The Twist art space in Norway’s Kistefos sculpture park, a literally twisted building whose interior feels something like falling down Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole, the founder and principal of the international AD100 firm BIG has created a similarly spiraling...