Apartment rentals New York with The New York Times

All-Whirled: Architecture Critics Flip For Gehry's New Financial District Rental at 8 Spruce Street

Gehry Financial District Rental Luxury Rentals ManhattanWe've never been afraid to say it here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog: Frank Gehry’s new Financial District rental at 8 Spruce Street is jaw-dropping. The Spruce Street project -- formerly known as Beekman Tower and still kind-of-known as 8 Spruce Street -- is called New York by Frank Gehry. Not only is the new Gehry rental the the tallest luxury residential building in New York City, it is also one of the most-celebrated new construction apartment buildings the city has seen in years.   If you move around the tower the shape changes constantly. Why? Well, because of its rumpled stainless skin, its curved windows and, perhaps, the vertiginous 76-story height that makes it look something like the Transformers’ headquarters. In short, 8 Spruce Street sits on the northern edge of the Financial District; west of Cass Gilbert’s 1913 Woolworth Building, east of McKim, Mead & White’s 1912 Municipal building, and at the top of any list of new Manhattan rental listings worth celebrating.

Kids Stuff: Was The New York Times Fair To Murray Hill?

By the admittedly pricey (some would even argue too-damn-high) standards for Manhattan rental listings, Murray Hill rental listings are among the best value per square foot in NYC real estate. Which, come to think of it, probably has something to do with why they're among the most popular rental listings on Luxury Rentals Manhattan. But while there's plenty to recommend about Murray Hill, it's also a neighborhood with some image issues. Yes, it's home to a host of appealing luxury rental buildings, from the venerable Windsor Court to new construction blockbusters like the Costas Kondylis-designed Anthem. But Murray Hill's reputation as a party-happy 'hood favored by younger twentysomethings has led it to be labeled something of an urban suburb. Which is fair only insofar as any suburb anywhere can boast the knockout Indian food on offer in Curry Hill, or a bar scene half as lively as that spanning Third Avenue in Murray Hill. A new essay in the New York Times on the post-grad scene in Murray Hill won't help that reputation much, which is no doubt fine with the twentysomethings (and thirty-, forty- and so-on-somethings) who call the neighborhood home. But is it fair?