@RentersBrew

Add a shot of info to that espresso: news prospective renters can use, and updates existing renters will appreciate!

[rentersbrew-blog]

Manhattan apartment rents climbed 4.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier as tenants opted to renew leases in a tightening market, leaving home- seekers to compete for fewer vacancies.

The median effective rent, or what tenants pay after landlord-sponsored incentives, increased to $2,970 a month from $2,831 a year earlier, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. New leases declined 6.9 percent to 7,998, and the number of listings on the market dropped 1.9 percent to 4,605.

[rentersbrew-blog]

In an unconventional move raising eyebrows among retail brokers, the affordably-priced pancake restaurant IHOP is moving to Ashkenazy Acquisition's Limelight Marketplace, the former church and nightclub at 656 Sixth Avenue in Chelsea,

[rentersbrew-blog]

Uniqlo's flagship store on Fifth Avenue is set to open Friday with bright, cashmere sweaters and jewel-toned down jackets stretching as far as the eye can see.

[rentersbrew-blog]

New York Dog Nanny, slated to open later this month in Murray Hill, will offer a slew of indulgent services, from Reiki treatments to manicures and pedicures to essential oil rubdowns — and it’s all for dogs.

[rentersbrew-blog]

Harlem residents won't have to travel downtown to get their Lady Gaga, Captain America or Charlie Sheen Halloween costumes. Ricky’s NYC has opened a Halloween pop-up shop on 125th Street for the third year in a row.

[rentersbrew-blog]

Answer: Since the start of the week, they have both been down (more times than up) :-(

[rentersbrew-blog]

A new concept store from Nike Inc. will soon be racing after runners' dollars in New York City, sources said.

The maker of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment leased 14,000 square feet at 156 Fifth Ave. to open a Nike Running store. The specialty store caters to runners by offering services and promotions beyond just selling sneakers, clothes and accessories. For example, the stores offer running workshops and allow customers to try out new merchandise, according to a Nike web site. There are a least two such stores. A Nike spokesman confirmed the Fifth Avenue space has been leased for a new concept store.

[rentersbrew-blog]

It’s time to get ready for Open House New York Weekend, which will give an all-access pass into often-closed architectural and historical gems across the city on Oct. 15 and 16.

The listing of private homes, architecture studios and other sites on this year’s roster goes live on Tuesday.

One of the Upper East Side's historic buildings with an interesting backstory featured on the list of behind-the-scenes tours is the Roosevelt House, at 47-49 E 65th St. at Park Avenue. Now housing the Public Policy Institute of Hunter College, it had been built in 1906, commissioned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s mother as a wedding present for him and Eleanor — which she promptly moved into along with the new couple.

[rentersbrew-blog]

According to their own mission statement, the Occupy Wall Street crowd blames the financial services Wall Street represents for everything plaguing the universe: from foreclosures to job losses. Not to mention, unspecified abuses against "non-human animals."

Essentially, their manifesto is short on specifics and fails to grasp the basic irony of their situation. That irony being the fact that while the protestors play the role of average man on the street — other, real Americans are in those buildings earning salaries to feed themselves and their families.

[rentersbrew-blog]

A new 12-story, 156 unit affordable rental building, The Balton, to rise on West 127th Street between St. Nicholas Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The building is named after Charles "Ibo" Balton, a Harlem resident and Department of Housing Preservation and Development Director who died in 2007, for his contributions to Harlem's development over the last decade. 

[rentersbrew-blog]

Forget painted blue walkways and multicolored beach chairs.

The Times Square of the future will feature dark, concrete flooring punctuated by small metal rivets designed to bring some of the grit back to the Great White Way, according to a multi-million-dollar redesign plan unveiled Monday night.

The plan, which will officially cement the plazas as permanent structures, calls for the leveling of surfaces across the plazas from 42nd to 47th street to create a continuous pedestrian space, with no vestiges of the old curbs and sidewalks that used to mark the roadway.

[rentersbrew-blog]

2 Gold Street, the luxury high-rise that made headlines last year when one of its occupants was murdered, was the scene of another crime on Monday — this time a bank robbery — according to police.

Cops say a man wearing blue latex gloves was caught on security camera as he entered the Sovereign Bank on the ground floor of 2 Gold St. about 9 a.m. and forcibly moved a woman who was speaking to a teller.

He then handed the teller a note demanding cash and stating that he was carrying a gun.

The teller complied and the man fled the scene with an unknown amount of money, police said. No one was injured during the heist.

[rentersbrew-blog]

The now somewhat famous Clock Tower triplex penthouse by developer David Walentas at 1 Main Street in Dumbo has been chosen as Esquire magazine’s bachelor pad, the magazine said today. The unit will be host to various celebrity and charity events throughout the fall and the annual design showcase for the sophisticated gentleman. This will be the first time the bachelor pad has come to Brooklyn. 

[rentersbrew-blog]

Gastón Acurio, opened his first New York City location near Madison Square Park: La Mar Cebicheria Peruana. He chose a two-level spot near East 25th Street and Madison Avenue for his latest creation, which served its first dinner service last Tuesday. The menu features dishes that give traditional Peruvian cuisine a modern twist, said executive chef Victoriano Lopez.

[rentersbrew-blog]

The Department of Transportation has refused a request by elected officials, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, to allow residents and business owners on West 34th Street to load during the day.

Apartment-dwellers on the south side of the 400 block of West 34th Street say they've been dodging tickets while loading groceries and furniture to their lobbies from the street.

[rentersbrew-blog]

Construction on the $150 million project called the Bay Center, located at 1752 Shore Pkwy., is expected to start by the end of the year. Thor Equities, however, has already lined up an anchor tenant. BJ's Wholesale Club agreed to occupy 134,000 square feet on the lower level of the retail center, which will also boast a double-level parking garage for roughly 700 cars. The complex will feature a 2.4-acre public esplanade on Gravesend Bay

[rentersbrew-blog]

The Peck Slip Post Office is moving to John Street as soon as this coming spring to make way for Downtown's new elementary school, the US Postal Service announced this week.

The Postal Service is close to signing a lease for the former Andrews Coffee Shop space at 116 John St., said Henry Burmeister, a manager at the Postal Service's Northeast Facilities Service Office.