Screaming fans, salty hot dogs with mustard and sauerkraut, countless cans of "cheap" beer - nothing says summer in the USA more than cheering on your favorite team at a live baseball game. New York City has one of the most storied histories when it comes to America’s past-time, which has long considered to be the most popular of the New York sports. NYC is home to some of the top teams in the country -- the Yankees and the Mets. Before moving to LA, the Brooklyn Dodgers made history when Jackie Robinson took to the field as the first African-American in Major League baseball. While it is a special treat to watch the Yankees and Mets in their massive stadiums, two minor league teams provide all the fun at a fraction of the cost. I discovered the Staten Island Yankees when a friend celebrated his birthday at one of their games. After a free ride on the Staten Island Ferry, for $20, we got a ticket, all-you-can eat burgers and dogs, and a baseball cap. The Stadium boasts amazing views of the City, and the intimate atmosphere feels like true Americana. Whether you go major or minor, you can't go wrong with American's favorite pastime this summer in NYC! The YANKEES: Some of the greatest baseball players to ever step on the diamond played for the NY Yankees. Yankee Stadium in the Bronx has become an institution. No fan base can match the passion and intensity of the New York Yankees. (Yankee Stadium: 1 E. 161st Street, Bronx, NY) The METS: The New York Mets joined the National League in 1962, and have been fighting to make a name for themselves in the Big Apple ever since. With a solid core of young talent, and a brand new park in Citi Field, the Met’s don’t plan to remain the “2nd” team for long! (Citi-field, 123-01 Roosevelt Avenue, Queens, NY) The STATEN ISLAND YANKEES: The “Baby Bombers” are a Short-Season A classification affiliate of the New York Yankees and play in the New York–Penn League at Richmond County Bank Ballpark along the waterfront in St. George. The SI Yankees last won the title in their league in 2011. (Richmond County Ball Park, 75 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301) The CONEY ISLAND CYCLONES: The Brooklyn Cyclones are a minor league baseball team based in Brooklyn. Like the SI Yankees, they play in the Short-Season A classification New York–Penn League, and are affiliated with the New York Mets. The Cyclones play at MCU Park just off the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn. In its entire franchise history, the team has won seven division titles. As the Brooklyn Cyclones, the team has won 5 division titles and made the playoffs eight times. (1904 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) #NYCHappenings #BlogPosts

Prospect Heights has largely already seen its big boom - while prices will still slowly rise, over the past 5-7 years the area has already close to doubled in valuations. A 1 bed coop will run $550-650,000, a 2 bed $700-850,000 depending on size, and all the newer condo developments are much higher. Crown Heights has also already seen a huge rise in prices in the western areas of the neighborhood (around Franklin/Bedford/Nostrand) and although the more eastern parts are still much cheaper (around Utica Avenue), that is already changing. Prospect Lefferts Gardens however, to the east of Prospect Park and just south of the bustling Franklin Avenue corridor of Crown Heights, offers a much lower price per square foot than any of its northern neighbors, although inventory can be low since there are generally a lot more single and multi-family properties than coops and condos on the market. At $508 per square foot you can buy a 2200 square foot townhouse in Prospect Lefferts for about the same price as a 1250 square foot condo in Prospect Heights. Prospect Lefferts Gardens is a residential neighborhood where large apartment buildings, bodegas, and numerous small restaurants have joined the original mix of single-family Tudors, limestone townhouses, and shingled Victorians. Like Prospect Heights and Crown Heights, Prospect LG borders the park and has access to similar subway lines. While there are more limited amenities now, Smorgasburg has recently relocated its Dumbo location to Breeze Hill in Prospect Park, just inside the Lincoln Road entrance. The area promises to see many other similar additions over the next few years. FOOD & DRINK Brooklyn Smorgasburg – The Sunday Market has moved to a new spot in beautiful Prospect Park. (This market replaces the former Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5 location.) Find 100 vendors and food from all over the world every Sunday May – October (Breeze Hill, From the Lincoln Road Entrance to Prospect Park, Sunday 11am-12pm) De Hot Pot - In an area replete with options for Caribbean fare, this Trinidadian hot spot gets the best reviews for its “doubles” (fried bread sandwiches with chickpea curry) rotis, jerk chicken, and goat curry. Note – THIS WILL BE SPICY! (1127 Washington Avenue, Hours: 9am-8pm daily) Blessings Herbs and Coffee - A cozy café with friendly service, a diverse clientele, and delicious health conscious lunch options plus a popular brunch menu. Highlights – Seared Salmon salad, Quinoa Salad, Sauteed Garlic Spinach and Organic Eggs, Fresh-Squeezed Mimosas. (663 Flatbush Avenue 7am-7pm) Midwood Flats - Part restaurant, part cocktail bar, the interior of this all wood paneled vintage styled space is impressive, but the real gem is their excellent selection of craft beers and whiskeys. Also, make sure to try their gastro-pub take on a traditional bar menu. Highlights – Signature Burger, Craft Beer and Whiskey Flights, and Crispy Lobster Rolls. (577 Flatbush Avenue M-F 5pm-2am, Weekends 11-4am) Bluebird Food and Spirits – Comfort food in a gorgeous setting complete with fireplace and outdoor seating. Highlights – Nightly DJ Spin-offs every Friday, Low and slow brisket sandwich with banana butter, the dark dark and story cocktail, backyard picnic burger. (504 Flatbush Avenue M-F 5pm-11pm, Weekends 11:30am-11pm). If you are interested in exploring our entire Brooklyn Series at once, please reach out and we can get you the full brochure. #NYCMarketAnalysesTips #BlogPosts

Industry City, once known as Bush Terminal, is a historic shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex on the waterfront in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. According to the Encyclopedia of New York City, "Bush Terminal was the first facility of its kind in New York, and the largest multi-tenant industrial property in the United States.” The Bush Terminal Company managed shipping for all the Bush Terminal tenants, making it the first American example of completely integrated manufacturing and warehousing, served by both rail and water transportation, that operated under a single management system. At its peak, Bush Terminal covered 200 acres bordered by Gowanus Bay to the west and north, 50th Avenue to the south and 3rd Avenue to the east. Bush Terminal is named after its founder Irving T. Bush. Bush Terminal was unique from other rail-marine terminals in New York due to its distance from Manhattan, the magnitude of its warehousing and manufacturing operations, and its fully integrated nature. Wholesalers in Manhattan faced expensive time, transportation, and labor costs when importing materials and then exporting finished goods. In 1895, Irving T. Bush, along with his father’s company The Bush Co., constructed six warehouses and one pier on the waterfront of South Brooklyn to serve as a freight-handling and manufacturing terminal. While it took a huge effort on the part of Irving Bush to make the terminal profitable - Railroad officials originally would not ship directly to Brooklyn, and ships were leery of docking at the new pier, the Bush Terminal eventually succeeded and expanded. At it’s peak during WWII the terminal was one of the largest shipping and manufacturing hubs in the region. Irving Bush died in 1948, during the peak of his terminal's success. On December 3, 1956, Bush Terminal was the site of one of the largest explosions in New York City history. Dockworkers accidentally ignited thousands of pounds of ground foam rubber scrap which started a massive fire. Too large to control, the blaze managed to reach a container of Cordeau Detonant Fuse, setting off a massive explosion, that decimated a large portion of the complex. By 1961, the Bush Terminal Company sold its lower Manhattan headquarters and consolidated its offices at the terminal itself. A real estate group led by Harry Helmsley bought Bush Terminal in 1963. Due to the decline of the railways after World War II, Bush Terminal Railway finally went defunct in the 1970s, and shipping activity at Bush Terminal also declined after World War II. The introduction of containerized shipping and the construction of the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey hastened the decline of sea traffic to Bush Terminal. While it remained an active shipping terminal until 1974, traffic was low and the port went largely unused. In 1974, the City of New York Department of Ports and Terminals hired a private company to fill the spaces between Piers 1 through 4 to make space for parking shipping containers. However, filling was stopped in 1978 after reports of environmental violations. New York City officials later learned that toxic wastes including oils and other waste had been dumped at the site. After officially being declared a “Brownfield” waste site in 1979, the entire shipping area of the terminal, including the partially filled in piers, sat vacant until 2006. However, despite these crippling disasters, the complex maintained 95 percent occupancy through the mid-1970s and even after the Brownfield designation in 1979. In fact, Bush Terminal housed the highest concentration of garment manufacturers in New York City outside of Manhattan during the 1980s and 90s. In 2006, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NY Governor George Pataki announced a $36 million plan to clean up and redevelop the Bush Terminal piers. Bush Terminal was renamed Industry City in the mid-1980s, and began to attract a diverse mix of businesses encompassing artisans, garment manufacturing, data centers, and warehousing. Today, Industry City (owned by Industry City Associates) comprises roughly 40 acres of the former Bush Terminal, including 16 original buildings. The 6.5 million square foot complex has undergone, and is still in the process of completing massive renovations to modernize the historic infrastructure. Developers hope to “preserve the industrial heritage of the project for future generations of artisans, craftsmen, and small businesses.” Industry City set out to attract a very different clientele in 2009 when they built 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) of artists' studios and conducting creative events such as film screenings and art installations. Industry City now hosts Brooklyn's Fashion Weekend, a biannual exposition showcasing the work of local and international fashion designers. Tenants at Industry City include Virginia Dare, Freecell, Fiber Media, Tumbador Chocolate, Paul Chan, Cory Arcangel, Nils Folk Anderson, Andrea Geyer, Jarrod Beck, Tamar Ettun, Julia Dault, Chris Kannen, K8 Hardy, Elizabeth Shelton, Torild Stray, Cara Enteles, Peter Maslow, NEW (non-traditional employment for women), Yona Verwer, Natalia Zubko, Lenore Mizrachi, and street artists Andrew Hermida and Cycle. A full-scale renovation plan was announced in September 2011. The 10-year program will include repaving the streets that separate the property's buildings, bulkhead renovation to the buildings that line the waterfront, installation of overhead power distribution and buss ducts, and a complete modernization of the property's 150 elevators. On June of 2014, the Brooklyn Nets announced their plans to move their training center to Industry City. The new facility, known as the Hospital for Special Surgery Training Center (HSS Center), was built on the roof of an empty warehouse in the complex, occupying 70,000 square feet of space and cost roughly $50 million to complete. This and other new developments and tenants in the complex promise to usher in a new era in the former shipping terminal, and, much like Williamsburg in the early 2000's, the affect this has on property values, amenities, and the general landscape of the surrounding neighborhood of Sunset Park is likely to be profound. #NotableinNY #BlogPosts

It is my pleasure to share with you Compass' 2Q16 Manhattan Market Report. This report highlights the prevailing trends shaping the market from this past quarter. A few major trends to note from the data: - The 2Q16 median closing price was the highest on record for the market overall ($1,195,000), co-op ($795,000), and the highest second quarter on record for condos ($1,650,000). - Absorption is brisk in the Downtown Market, where median time on market (68 days) nearly matched that of Manhattan overall (63 days) despite a median closing price that was 41% higher than Manhattan's overall median closing price. - Supply is slowly on the rise and as inventory posts slight gains the pace of contract signings tends to slow - The lower end of the market is moving quickly while the higher end, especially the 5M+ market, remains slow. 30% of all units priced below $1M went into contract within the first 30 days, while more than half of all sales priced above $10M spent more than 180 days on market before selling Data indicated that despite domestic and global uncertainty around interest rates, the U.S. Presidential Election, and the long-term results of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, we expect to continue to see record-breaking median closing prices in the coming quarters due to the volume of existing in-contract inventory I hope that you find these key takeaways useful and I strongly encourage you to check out the Compass Markets App for more detailed data broken down in to neighborhood analysis for both Manhattan and Brooklyn. I welcome your comments and am always happy to answer any questions you have about the NYC Real Estate Market. #CompassMarketReports #BlogPosts

Every New Yorker has one or two particularly perfect weekend day-drinking haunts - in the summer, nothing seems nicer than a cool cocktail on a boat on the water. However, since not all of us are ready to purchase our own yachts, and fleet week past almost a month ago, it can be hard to find a nautical vessel where you can make this dream a reality... Let me introduce you to some of the most well known boat-turned-bar/lounge/restaurant New York City has to offer (as well as a few hidden gems).... So go on, next weekend make time to get your drink on "Sea Style" - no sailors or swear words required, promise. 1. BOAT BASIN The Boat Basin Café is a casual outdoor restaurant, arranged in three sections & located in Riverside Park at the end of 79th Street on the Hudson River. There is an Open air patio that overlooks the Marina and the Hudson River with nice views of the sunsets over New Jersey. There is also a Covered Rotunda section in the middle of the restaurant which can come in handy during the weather pending summer months. Prices can be a bit steep but the views and venue are well worth the price tag - and drinks tend to be fairly cheap. W 79th Street on the Hudson River (Upper West Side, Manhattan) 2. FRYING PAN The Frying Pan includes a former Lackawanna railroad barge, the Pier 66 Maritime Bar & Grill, the Lightship Frying Pan, a historic rail float bridge, and an authentic 1900’s caboose. The Pier 66 Maritime Bar & Grill is located on the floating railroad barge that is docked at Pier 66. The Lightship Frying Pan and the John J. Harvey Fireboat are moored alongside. It's great spot to spend a casual afternoon with friends and watch the boats sail down the Hudson River before sunset. Pier 66 at W 26th Street (Chelsea, Manhattan) 3. THE WATER TABLE A U.S. Navy Yard Patrol boat turned maritime bar and restaurant, the Water Table cruises down the East River on Friday and Saturday and offers a three-course meal for $80 as well as a special Sunday supper for $55. Both cruises offer sunset views, along with sights like the Statue of Liberty, the remains of the Domino Sugar Factory and the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Docks: 10 India Street Pier (Greenpoint, Brooklyn) 4. GRAND BANKS Set on the historical F/V Sherman Zwicker schooner, this floating ship of summery libations remain parked, but still offers salty air, ocean views, and nautically-themed cocktails. This summer they will also be adding a second bar area to accommodate New Yorkers' insatiable lust for floating alcohol. Pier 25, Hudson River Park (Tribeca, Manhattan) 5. NORTH RIVER LOBSTER COMPANY A triple decker boat that leaves from Tribeca and cruises around the Hudon River 45 minutes intervals before returning to the dock – the specialty is all things lobster, and it comes at a fairly steep price (think $25 Lobster Rolls and $8 beers) however you can sit on the boat all afternoon as it makes its daily rounds for free as long as you are buying food or drinks. Pier 81 at West 41st Street (Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan) 6. AMBERJACK V Kitchy and charming, this Sheepshead Bay floating restaurant, that also does private events, serves a mixed menu of Russian and Turkish cuisines, like simple grilled fish and steak salad. They offer a full bar and while they typically stay docked, the boat can set sail for private events. 2100 Emmons Avenue (Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn) 7. BROOKLYN BARGE BAR Located in Greenpoint, this floating bar/restaurant has changed owners and opens this year with a new menu, which promises to offer more than average burgers and fries seen in the last incarnation. 97 West Street (Greenpoint, Brooklyn) 8. THE CROW'S NEST One of the few East River Options on the Manhattan side, this Yacht doesn’t set sail but is a nice spot to lounge and take in the less often seen views of Queens from the water. The food isn’t anything to write home about, but the drinks and the location make it worth the visit…You can get a bucket of six beers for $35, which isn't bad considering the boat is conveniently located right by the East River Ferry stop at 35th Street. Docked at The East River between 28th & 32nd Street (Murray Hill, Manhattan) #NYCHappenings #BlogPosts

Everyone has walked in to some friends Great Aunt Sally's living room and been fully assaulted with all the ways nautical theme can go wrong... like cayenne pepper or paisley, nautical accents are all about proportions. However, as we move in to summer and New Yorkers begin dreaming of beach days filled with clam bakes, sea shells, and rose, a touch of nautical flair can certainly be a fun addition to your decor. Something as minimal as a single accent, like a playful sea themed coaster set from Jonathan Adler or a change in color scheme, such as a white base with pops of nautical blues like the ones shown in the Minimalisti design blog, can bring summer in to your home with minimal effort and expense. As I mentioned in previous posts, I have a thing for collecting shells, and summer always seems a particularly nice time to bring them out to display - this of all the tiny decor pieces you have tucked away and see if any might bring a more beach-y vibe to your current scheme. This could also be the time to revisit the idea of large scale wall art - the image below is from the Gracious Home blog, and illustrates that just one single piece of art can change the entire tone of a room from muted to bold. Check out the entire list of nautical idea on the Gracious Home blog, as well some nautical accents I have made in my own home - note the sconces in my earlier post about my DIY Head board. Have a great time bringing summer in to your home, not matter how often you actually make it to the beach this year - As always I would love to hear your success stories and personal nautical decor favorites. #DIYDecor #BlogPosts

Every year in NYC, Memorial Day Weekend heralds the official kick-off of summer! There are countless events from rooftop openings to street fairs to concerts this Memorial Day Weekend – and you don’t have to venture beyond the city to enjoy them! (Plus you might not want to with traffic projected by the Times to be the worst in a decade) Memorial Day Weekend 2016 will fall on May 28-30th and will overlap with Fleet Week - don’t forget to take minute out of your long weekend to celebrate the patriotic heroes of this holiday with our sailors at one of the many Memorial Day parades taking place in all five boroughs. - The biggest Memorial Day parade starts at 1pm on Grand Ave. at 72nd St. in Queens on Sunday. - The 149-year-old Brooklyn parade starts in Bay Ridge at 101 St. and 4th Ave. at 10am on Monday. - Manhattan's Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Day Observance takes place at Riverside Dr. and 89th Street at 10am Monday as well. Aside from Parades, here are a few notable recommendations for ways to ring in the summer with a splash… 1. Governor's Island The city’s biggest car-less backyard opens for the season. Walk, jog, bike, or relax in this often forgotten gem in the East River. 2. Concerts NYC is full of amazing music events during the summer – check out this list from Time Out New York and get your groove on! 3. Beaches For the price of a subway ticket you can get the city’s free, public beaches. If you are feeling extra adventurous try some surfing lessons at Rockaway Beach or stroll down the Coney Island Boardwalk before hopping on the infamous Cyclone coaster at Luna Park! My personal favorite beach excursion is lunch at Tatiana's at the Brighton Beach Boardwalk. 4. Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, Washington Square Park; May 28–30 This city tradition feels fresh every spring when artists following in the footsteps of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning set up shop in the park. Hundreds of exhibitors, from NYU students to artists who remember the Village as a creative enclave, display their paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry and woodcraft. 5. Picnic in the Park Prospect, Fort Greene, Central – pick your park, dust off your Frisbees, pack your gourmet goodies, and call your friends! If you are on the hunt for some good gourmet spots to snag fun portable snacks, I’d highly recommend making a stop off at Chelsea Market in Manhattan or Stinky, Sahadis, and BRKLYN Larder in Brooklyn! 6. Rooftops Those first rays of summer feel great, especially at one of the cities many rooftop bars – check out Gallow Green in the McKitrick Hotel in Flatiron or The Ides at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg! 7. Waterfront Libations Head to the Boat Basin on the UWS the Frying Pan in West Chelsea or North River Lobster Company in Hell's Kitchen to dine on fresh seafood al fresco right here in Manhattan. 7. New Museum Exhibits Get a head start seeing this summer’s most anticipated exhibits. Check out Yoko Ono at MoMA or Frida Kahlo at the New York Botanical Garden. #NYCHappenings #BlogPosts

If you are in the market for a non-traditional day at the beach this summer, make sure to pencil in a trip to Dead Horse Bay. Like most of New York City, Dead Horse Bay has a long and slightly gritty history. While much of old New York has been rebuilt, renovated, refurbished, and rebranded, at Dead Horse Bay, remnants of the past are still strewn as far as the eye can see. Thousands of glass bottles, many over 100 years old, litter the beach along with other more resilient pieces of garbage turned relic. The bay is usually empty, making it a deliciously shiver-worthy post-apocalyptic playground for history buffs, artifact collectors, and NYC urban adventurers alike. The bay was given its name in the 1850s, when it was home to numerous horse-rendering plants that used the remains of dead horses (which were plentiful in the era of carriage travel) to manufacture glue, fertilizer and other products. From the New York Times: "Dead Horse Bay sits at the western edge of a marshland once dotted by more than two dozen horse-rendering plants, fish oil factories and garbage incinerators... The squalid bay, then accessible only by boat, was reviled for the putrid fumes that hung overhead." With the expansion of the automobile industry, buggies (and the horses that pulled them) became a thing of the past. By the 1920s there was only one rendering plant left. During this transitional era in the 1910s-20s, the marsh of Dead Horse Bay was used as a landfill for the city. It filled quickly and by the late 1930s, the trash heap was capped. However, in the 1950s the cap burst, and since then the beach and surrounding areas have been filled with bottles, cans, automobile parts, even metal signs - a treasure trove of refuse from a by-gone era. If you, like many New Yorkers, enjoy a slightly sordid history lesson after brunch on Sundays, this should be one spot quite close to home that you don't miss. #NotableinNY #BlogPosts

While I enjoy cooking, there are certain dishes and meals I tend to leave to the professionals. My baking skills are strictly limited to knowing good bakeries and making diet coke cake (don't ask, it's basically poison). I have made it my mission this month to make one (1) delicious homemade baked good... starting with Bill's mother's recipe for praline pecan pie. We first had the dessert two years ago at Thanksgiving and the recipe has since then been sitting in my email inbox... but that is going to change this month! The best part of this particular recipe is that it doesn't require many ingredients: Butter, Sugar, Flour, Milk, Eggs, Vanilla, Pecans. All items I know, recognize, and have cooked with before. As a baking novice, I think it is easier to focus on recipes with fewer ingredients that I have used and have on hand - I have also been assured the recipe is simple and fool-proof. TBD... Here is the recipe (BELOW) Let me know if you attempt it as well, and how your pie turns out! Even if your first venture into the culinary unknown is less than perfect, it is still fun to try new things - whether your challenges include desserts, grilling, BBQ-ing, or simply new styles of cuisine, remember that practice makes perfect and there will always be a few burned cookies and dried out steaks before you make the perfect dish... Prepare your significant other to compliment your efforts regardless. Bill is available for tutoring services in this field if needed... If all else fails, there is always Court Pastry Shop or whatever your fall back delivery staple may be! Happy cooking! #DIYDecor #BlogPosts

The Hamilton Grange is part of the National Park Service and is now located in St. Nicholas Park, which sits on a small part of the once 32-acre estate of Alexander Hamilton. It is located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood in upper Manhattan. While Alexander Hamilton only enjoyed two years at his beautiful residence before his fateful decision to accept the duel challenge with Aaron Burr in 1804, the building itself has had a lifetime of history after his death including two moves and many changes in ownership. Originally commissioned by Hamilton in the late 1790’s, the Grange was designed by architect John McComb Jr., and completed in 1802. It remained in the Hamilton family for the next 30 years following Hamilton’s death in 1804. However, by 1889, the Grange was in foreclosure and had been condemned for destruction in order to allow for the implementation of the Manhattan street grid, then just reaching that area of Harlem. The congregation of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church acquired the house and moved it a half-block east and about two blocks south, conforming to the new street pattern, to what became 287 Convent Avenue. The original porches and other features were removed for the move. The church used the house for services over the next 30 years, but after construction began on a new building for the church in 1924, the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society bought the Grange and turned it into a public museum where furniture and decorative objects associated with the Hamilton family were displayed. The Grange was designated a National Historic Landmark in December 1960. Congress authorized the National Memorial on April 27, 1962, requiring that it be relocated and the house be restored to appear as Hamilton knew it in 1804. It was decided that the now heavily built-up Convent Avenue setting was inappropriate and that the country house should be relocated, however, it took more than forty years to find a location that was acceptable to the community, since there was strong local opposition to any options proposed that required moving the Grange out of the neighborhood. Finally on May 9, 2006, the Hamilton Grange Memorial was closed to the public to allow for extensive architectural and structural investigations as part of a long-term plan to move the house to its final location in nearby St. Nicholas Park. The park location was judged a more appropriate setting for display that would permit restoration of features lost in the 1889 move. The new location would also keep the house in the neighborhood and keep it on land that was within the boundary of Hamilton's original 32-acre estate. The Grange re-opened to the general public in its current home on September 17, 2011. In the renovated house, a visitor's center is located in the entirely newly constructed ground floor, where the kitchen, laundry and servants' rooms would have been. Today, in the wake of recent Broadway hit “Hamilton” visits to the estate are up more than 400 percent according to DNAinfo, and there has been a resurgence of activity in Hamilton Heights. Set between the Upper West Side and Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights is a bucolic oasis of a neighborhood, full of unique historic architecture. It is home to many historic townhouses and brownstones, and even has some rustic Gothic and Romanesque buildings that add to the fusion of architectural styles in the area. Hamilton Heights stretches west from Edgecombe Avenue at its easternmost end to Henry Hudson Parkway to the west, and includes many beautiful vistas and parks along the Hudson River. One special subsection of this Hamilton Heights neighborhood is called Striver’s Row, or the St. Nicholas Historic District. It is home to a large collection of Italian Renaissance row-houses designed by Stanford White of the noted McKim, Mead & White architectural firm. Hamilton Heights is also home to the City College of New York campus and parts of Columbia University, along with Riverbank State Park. #NotableinNY #BlogPosts

It is my pleasure to share Compass's newest market analysis tool with you. You can now find specific market data through the Compass Market App, which allows you to get an even more in depth read on trends and changes in specific boroughs and neighborhoods. I personally have spent a large part of Q1 working with multi-family and single family home buyers and I have been struck by how much you can get when you are willing to venture beyond Manhattan and the more established Brooklyn neighborhoods. For the price of a one or two bedroom condo in Lower Manhattan or Brooklyn Heights you can easily find both single and multi-family properties. I have also been working with several buyers in these areas at a slightly lower price point and am amazed at how many buyers are flocking to previously over looked neighborhoods. Flatbush, Hudson Heights, Weeksville, Greenwood Heights, and Stuyvesant Heights have seen a great surge in demand and these markets are growing quickly - it is a great time to look to new neighborhoods both for more space, but also to set yourself up for a nice return on investment as these markets continue to grow over the next few years. Even now, all of my buyers have ended up in bidding wars, and these areas are only gaining momentum: move over Park Slope and Gramercy, there's a new kid(s) in town. I hope that you find these key takeaways useful and enjoy reading the full analysis in this quarter’s app reports and analysis. I welcome your comments and look forward to speaking with you soon about the NYC real estate market or process. #CompassMarketReports #BlogPosts

While many New Yorkers would love to have the kind of space pictured on the right, in reality, huge open walls and massive display spaces are few and far between in most NYC apartments. I collect a variety of things, from Jonathan Adler vases to sea shells from my various travels, and it can be hard to find a visually appealing way to arrange them if I don't have the space to display the entire collection. One of my favorite things about collections is the sense of cohesiveness an entire arrangement of the same kind of items gives to a room, but when space is limited, it can be hard to get the same effect. Also, smaller collections like seashells tend to present a similar issue - putting out a massive tub of shells, or one single tiny shell alone, is not exactly in my decor scheme. However, I recently found an interesting article on design sponge that has lots of both effective and easy ideas for displaying collections - one of while involves photographing collections to create large wall art. Photographing arrangements that display your entire collection and having these blown up to create large but simple wall art is a clever way to display a collection with out actually having to deal with all the individual pieces. I am planning to do this with my shell collection and excited about creating a very cool wall hanging that both allows me to see the collection better and also does not take up any of my precious floor or shelf space. It is also a nice way to create wall art that is more meaningful, personal, and original - it can help give your home greater character and infuse your space with images that reflect your interests, memories, and personal style. So dust off those boxes of treasures you have been saving over the years. Also, check out lots of cool collection display ideas at design sponge, my inspiration behind the photography idea! Now you can enjoy them every day, even when they are once again packed soundly away. #DIYDecor #BlogPosts