Gramercy-Flatiron ranked number one on the top-10 list of New York neighborhoods that are best for singles, compiled by the Daily News, based on nightlife, population of young people, income, crime and affordability. In Gramercy-Flatiron, home to 34,000 people, the median house price is $525,000, and the area “has everything a single person could want,” if you can afford it, according to the Daily News. More than 73 percent of the people rent and over 75 percent of the population is single. Its location is also a draw. [more]

From the April issue: There are still plenty of unsold new construction condos in New York City, especially in areas like Midtown, the Financial District and Williamsburg. But brokers say that months of busy sales activity (combined with some sellers taking their units off the market) is creating a shortage of inventory in some hot spots. Indeed, Miller Samuel’s fourth-quarter market report found that Manhattan inventory was down 18 percent from the previous quarter and almost 25 percent over the fourth quarter of 2008. In some neighborhoods, buyers are increasingly frustrated because they can’t find the type of apartment — often resale condos or prewar co-ops — they want. As a result, the competition for those apartments, when they do come on the market, can make the downturn seem like a distant memory. This month, The Real Deal asked brokers to identify the types of Manhattan apartments facing the worst shortages. [more]

From left: the Paramount Hotel at 235-245 West 46th Street, La MaMa Experimental Theatre at 72 East 4th Street, and the two townhouses at 145 and 147 Eighth Avenue

Four new Manhattan spots garnered landmark status yesterday, with the Landmarks Preservation Commission announcing the designation of the Paramount Hotel, La MaMa Expertimental Theatre Club and two Eighth Avenue townhouses yesterday. The hotel, at 235-245 West 46th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, was designed by famed architect Thomas Lamb and was built in 1927 and 1928. The Paramount was originally endorsed for landmarking in June this year, with the support of Community Board 5. While La MaMa Experimental Theatre club, which houses a theater and art gallery, didn’t move into its space at 72 East 4th Street until approximately 40 years after the Paramount first rose, its building had housed prominent German cultural organizations from when it first opened in 1873. The two townhouses that received landmark status, 145 and 147 Eighth Avenue between 17th and 18th streets, were both constructed in the first half of the 19th century. One Staten Island site, the Vanderzee-Harper House, was also granted landmark status. Up next for the commission’s consideration are the Greyston Estate gatehouse in the Bronx and the site of the 11th Street Methodist Episcopal Chapel in the East Village, the Observer reported.

Citi-Spaces yesterday closed one of its four offices, according to
company founder Israel Horowitz, who squelched pervasive rumors that
the 60-agent company is folding. “I never thought of closing,” Horowitz said, adding that he, too, has
heard rumors of the company’s shuttering from agents interviewing with
the residential sales and rentals brokerage. The perception is so
widespread, he said, that four different firms have approached him in
recent months with offers to buy or merge with Citi-Spaces. “I was considering it, but a merger didn’t make sense,” he said. “What
made sense was to get rid of the office that was causing the headaches.” That office was Citi-Spaces’ East Village branch at 174 Second Avenue,
between 11th and 12th streets. The 27-agent storefront branch opened
eight months ago, just as the city was descending into the financial
turmoil, at a rent reflecting the previous hot market, he said. [more]

More than half of the $2.5 billion in stimulus money coming to New York
state is going to housing, highway and bridge projects within New York
City, the New York Post reported. The city will get $23 million to
repair East Houston Street in the East Village, $1 million for
restrooms in Penn Station and another $830,000 for office space
renovations there. Other funds will go toward boardwalks at Coney
Island and Rockaway Beach and repairs at the Brooklyn Bridge, among
other projects. [more]