When you take a look at the Upper west side school rezoning which had received approval late last year and will take effect for the 2017 school year who were the winners and who were the losers? Well, the plan was to integrate the system and relieve overcrowding. PS 452 which is a sought after small school will move into a larger facility and PS 191 moves into a brand new luxury building and in a state of the art facility. PS 191 also starts a gifted and talented program beginning with 3rd grade.
PS 199 one of the most highly regarded schools in District 3 will see it’s zone shrink to alleviate crowding at the school on West 70th street. If PS 191 turns into the school that the District hopes then this rezoning will be a win on all sides. What do you think?
The Sunday New York Times did a profile of the Upper West side’s Manhattan Valley which is sandwiched between the upper west side, Harlem and Morningside Heights. With excellent transportation including access to the B,C and 1 train, it is easy to see why many choose to live in Mahattan Valley. Also plenty of green spaces as residents are close to either Central Park, Morningside Park or Riverside Park for that matter. There are walk up buildings, full service buildings and even some new construction. This particular part of Central Park west is as undiscovered as any section and there are co-ops and condos that can be purchased for $1000 to $1500 per square foot.
Madonna has been in and out of litigation with her co-op board at 41 Central Park west on more than one occasion. The co-op board apparently had changed the rules requiring a shareholder to be present in the apartment while other family members or domestic help are there as well. There goes the idea of using her Harperley Hall upper west side cooperative as a place for her domestic help to stay while she slums it in her Upper East side mansion or tours. The judge hearing her suit will rule in the coming days but denied to give her any special treatment.
This points to the idea of how a co-op works. They change the rules and then as a shareholder,(even if you are Madonna) you have to abide by the rules or they can evict you and terminate your proprietary lease. The relationship that you have with your co-op board is more like a landlord(them) tenant(you) one than in a condo. In a condo, it’s much more difficult to remove an owner who may be ignoring the rules.
The NYC tennis permit currently costs $200 per season. Due to a declining amount of permits sold each year, the City is proposing to cut the price in half to $100. About 6000 permits were sold last season compared to 2008 when the amount was more than double and the price stood at $100.
The Citi Bike station that was on the sidewalk just south of West 100th street on the western side of the street has been moved to the park side of the street. While some people may mourn the loss of parking spaces, pedestrians who walk to the subway between West 100th street and the B,C train at West 96th street will no doubt have a little more space now that the station is gone. Word is it that Park West Village, the condo development adjacent to the station and locals complained about the location and to their credit DOT moved it to the park side of the street.
Last week, I was walking across Central Park West at West 100th street and a car turned in front of me. At that time, the police car that is frequently stationed at West 100th street and CPW, did an immediate U-turn and pulled the driver over. I thought could it be that the driver was pulled over for not yielding to a pedestrian in the crosswalk? Nah.. But then, the same exact thing happened this morning at which point, the police immediately pulled over the driver. Then about 30 minutes later, at the very same intersection, I saw a very rare sight. Two bikes that ran through the light at West 100th street were stopped by the same police cruiser written summons. Could there be a shifting in the enforcement of the laws in favor of pedestrian safety?
The rezoning of several schools within Manhattan’s Upper West side district 3 has been approved. The contentious debate lasted over 1 year. Proponents of the plan say that it will integrate the school system and alleviate over crowding. PS 452 will move 16 blocks south to a large facility and PS 191 will get a new building as part of the Riverside Center complex. It will be in the base of the luxury rental building at 61st street and west end avenue known as 21 West end avenue. The school will also start a gift and talented program for 3rd grade and up.
Some of the buildings including part of the Lincoln Towers complex will no longer be zoned for the coveted, yet crowded PS 199 but will now be zoned for PS 191 in it’s shiny new digs.
Opponents of the plan feel that the effect of the rezone was not studied enough and believe it will not alleviate over crowding and integrate the schools.
The rezoning will take effect in September 2017. Children that are already in the schools will not be moved and their siblings will be grandfathered in.
A high floor, 1 bedroom/1bath condo in 400 Central Park west has been sold. The asking price was $1,375,000 for the south facing apartment with the 18′ terrace and views of the park.
The building features a 24 hour concierge, live-in-super, on-site management, gym, laundry, children’s playroom, storage and parking(wait list).
Les Petits Sourires will be opening a location on Manhattan’s upper west side at 120 W 97th street. The school will serve only 20 students with 5 teachers. The programming will be from 7:30am to 6pm with half of the day being in French. Pricing is $2,399 per month for the full day program. There will be options for half days etc…
Information sessions will be held on Thursdays 5 to 7pm in December according to DNAInfo.
Three of the biggest starchitects will be designing the three remaining buildings coming to the Riverside Center development. Richard Meier and Partners Architects, Rafael Viñoly Architects, and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates will all be designing buildings that will have the name 1,2 and 3 Waterline Square. The three condos will have condos on top and rentals on the bottom and will have a 20 year tax abatement. The development is between 59th and 61st street, the Hudson River and Freedom Place. They will connect via a park to 1 West end avenue, the amenities rich Silverstein and Elad collaboration that is selling very well. 21 West end avenue is right next door and is a rental building with 616 units and will be the new home of PS 191 if the Upper west side school rezone goes through later this month.
It will be interesting to see the pricing of the new condos since the sales have gone well at 1 WEA and One Riverside Park sold out very quickly as well. If I was guessing, I would say around $2500 per sqft and up given the market conditions and location. Completion is set for 2018.
News about the NYC real estate residential and commercial markets provided and interpreted by an industry veteran licensed since 1999. Brian Silvestry of BSRG Inc. Licensed real estate broker
