Battery Park City, bordered by the Financial District on West Street, is planned community located on the southwestern tip of Lower Manhattan and a prominent example of community renewal. Surrounded by the Hudson River on three sides, this 92-acre stretch of land has grown into an intimate part of New York City that flawlessly balances urban living with an array of scenic views and green spaces.

Looking for an inexpensive way to get a bird’s eye view of Manhattan? A 5 minute ride on the Roosevelt Island tram, that takes off from 59th Street and Second Avenue, over dramatic city sights, high-low elevations of the Queensborough Bridge, and the Manhattan skyline; offers riders just that.

It may not feel exactly like it now, but spring is coming soon to New York City! The sloppy weather we have been experiencing for the past few days is going to make way for a glorious, warm season which will make most of us want to spend more time outdoors in the city. This is where living near a park comes in handy—the city’s beautiful parks are a great place to hang out and soak up the sunshine during the warmer months.

There's a scene in the otherwise not-so-good horror flick Dark Water that packs a solid laugh for New York City real estate watchers. Well, several scenes if you're the sort who finds the idea of haunted bathtubs amusing, but the one we're thinking of is when John C. Reilly's real estate agent proudly describes a Roosevelt Island apartment building (spoiler alert: it's haunted) to Jennifer Connelly as featuring "brutalist school" design. Which, as much as we love newer Roosevelt Island rental developments like Manhattan Park, is certainly a fair enough way to describe the East Berlin-style retail strip (above) that runs down the center of Roosevelt Island. While the community's quiet, city-within-a-city vibe is a big part of what makes Roosevelt Island apartments appealing, no one will mourn the passing of those identical, charmless facades. The good news, of course, is that those facades are indeed on their way out -- Roosevelt Island Operating Company is soliciting bids for a company to give that drab main street a long-overdue makeover that could make this loveliest of non-Manhattan Manhattan neighborhoods that much more appealing.