Category Archives: Real Estate
Bea Arthur LGBT Residence
On Monday, July 20, 2015, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Bea Arthur Residence, an 18-bed residence for homeless LGBT youth operated by the Ali Forney Center.
In 2012 the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President awarded $3,300,000 for the renovation of a long vacant building owned by the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation Development.
The building has now been turned over to the Ali Forney Center in partnership with Cooper Square Committee, and renovations are beginning this month. It is anticipated that the building will begin to provide housing by the end of 2016.
Bea Arthur gave one of her final public performances as a benefit for the Ali Forney Center in 2005. She was very upset to learn that hundreds of thousands of LGBT teens were rejected by their families, and driven to homelessness. She said that she would do anything in her power to help these teens. When she died in 2009 the Ali Forney Center learned that she had bequeathed $300,000 to us in her will. At that time, Carl Siciliano, the Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, pledged that the first building they owned would be named in her memory.
The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the building site, located at 222 East 13th Street at 1pm. In attendance will be the staff and clients of the Ali Forney Center, as well as invited politicians who have supported this project and the work of the AFC, including Brad Hoylman, Democratic Senator for the New York State Senate in Manhattan’s 27th district, New York City Council Members Richie Torres, Danny Drum, Carlos Menchaca and Rosie Mendez, a representative from Mayor DiBlasio’s office and Steve Herrick, Executive Director of Cooper Square.
Said Carl Siciliano, Founder and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center:
“It meant the world to me that a star of the magnitude of Bea Arthur would do so much to help the Ali Forney Center in our work of housing homeless LGBT youths.” says Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center. “I am very grateful that we will now be able to honor Bea and continue to keep her compassion alive through the establishment of the Bea Arthur Residence for Homeless LGBT Youth.”
In an article prior to her passing, Bea Arthur said this:
“I’m very, very involved in charities involving youth. These kids at the Ali Forney Center are literally dumped by their families because of the fact that they are lesbian, gay or transgender — this organization really is saving lives.”
The Future of New York City
This week the Huffington Post ran an awesome series of photos showing what New York City may look like in the coming 20 years!
The new Penn Station – above. This summer a multibillion dollar plan will finally get underway to
brighten up the dank rail station and better accommodate the 600,000
people that pass through it each day. But it’ll be a while before the
much-maligned space looks fresh and tidy. Madison Square Garden, which
sits on top of the transit hub, was given 10 years to relocate.
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The world’s largest ferris wheel will come to Staten Island in 2016. At 625 feet, the New York Wheel is predicted to draw millions of visitors to the borough.
After more than a decade of controversy — including scrapped Olympic
and Jets stadium plans — developers have crafted an ambitious plan to
convert 26 acres of rail facilities into the largest private real estate
development in city history. Hudson Yards is “a $15 billion
15-structure mini-city on Manhattan’s West Side that will create more office space than exists in Portland, Ore.,” according to the New York Daily News.
SEE THE REST AT HUFFINGTON POST!
Hudson Yards : A City Within New York City
High Rise and Condo Construction Back on the Rise in New York City
SPRING has sprung in New York, (well, sort of…)and so have condo developments. The housing slump appears to be over and developments are sprouting up everywhere!
