Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos, clockwise from left: Frankie Alduino, Jonas Fredwall Karlsson, Jutharat ‘Poupay’ Pinyodoonyachet, Luiz C. Ribeiro, Kit Noble, Michelle Groskopf
It might feel impossibly distant now, but 2024 began with many of us transfixed by a standoff over a secret tunnel dug beneath a Brooklyn synagogue. Since then, our readers have dwelled on all sorts of real-estate stunts and mishaps, like the band of squatters who took over an abandoned Beverly Hills mansion or the loft owner who discovered her tenant had a habit of demolishing his rentals. Then there are the stories that burrowed into bigger, ongoing controversies: How did the Alexander brothers become the city’s most elite brokers while allegedly assaulting more than a dozen women? Who are the volunteers valiantly, maybe barely, holding back a tide of feral cats? Readers also loved our dives into the perennial mysteries of living in New York City: How does a family of five make do in a one-bedroom anyway? Why do the brand-new units on StreetEasy already look outdated? And finally, of course, there was an insatiable interest in a certain celebrity couple (farewell Bennifer 2.0!) and the real-estate symptoms of a marriage hurtling toward its end.
Below, you’ll find our list of the 20 most-read articles we published this year, measured by total collective minutes of audience engagement. It’s just a small sample of the work Curbed puts out, alongside New York’s print edition and its other five digital sites — Intelligencer, the Cut, Vulture, Grub Street, and the Strategist — and a growing portfolio of newsletters. For more of all of it, be sure to sign up for Curbed’s daily newsletter (along with our Design Hunting and Listings Edit newsletters) and subscribe. If you haven’t already, download the all-new New York app and read it all in one place.
By Justin Davidson
Photo: Hugo Yu
In office districts, and especially in lower Manhattan, developers are taking the cubicles out and putting the bedrooms in. It’s much harder than it sounds. Read the story …
By Christopher Bonanos
Photo: Hannah Yoon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The S.S. United States, the biggest passenger ship ever built in America, has spent the last two and a half decades moored in Philadelphia. A real-estate company’s plans to turn it into a floating hotel may not work out. Read the story …
By Kim Velsey
Photo: Exclusive to New York Magazine
The standoff gripped the city for more than a week: When Chabad leaders moved to fill in the secret tunnel under their headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, chaos ensued. Read the story …
By Kim Velsey
Photo: Kit Noble
A waterfront house might last for two years or ten. These homeowners are willing to take the risk. Read the story …
By Kim Velsey
Photo: Bauer-Griffin/Getty
It isn’t just Ben and Jen. Brokers say that they’re often the first to get the call when couples are headed for a breakup. Read the story …
By Bridget Read
Photo: Creative Home Engineering
From installing electrified doorknobs to ballistics-grade walk-in closets, the city’s ultrarich are feeling ultra-paranoid. Read the story …
By Christopher Bonanos
Photo: Jonas Fredwall Karlsson
The Power Broker is turning 50. Caro’s final LBJ book is almost — well, he won’t say exactly, but he’s trying for 900 words a day. Read the story …
By Christopher Bonanos
Photo: Luiz C. Ribeiro
In May, 75 illegal weed shops were shut down in New York. It was the start of a big sweep: the Adams administration’s “Operation Padlock to Protect.” Read the story …
By Chris Crowley
Photo: Here & Now/ Co-owner Tobly McSmith
For the handful of New York City kava bars serving a largely sober clientele, the city’s concerns over the effects of kava and kratom has led to closures, trials, and the loss of permits. Read the story …
By Laura Fenton
Photo: Frankie Alduino
These parents love their pricey neighborhoods more than having privacy from their children. This is how they make do. Read the story …
By Adriane Quinlan
Photo: Christopher Payne
After the two comedians bought the decommissioned ferry, it sat, and sat, and sat. But their plan for transforming it into a venue isn’t a pipe dream. It’s actually underway. Read the story …
By Kim Velsey
Photo: Douglas Elliman
The supertall at 9 Dekalb is now the most recognizable feature in the Brooklyn skyline. But it may have been doomed from the start. Read the story …
By Kim Velsey
Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Douglas Elliman, Core Group Marketing
“It used to be that seven to ten years was the shelf life of a beautifully finished apartment,” says one broker. “Now you look at something and say, ‘How can this look dated already?’” Read the story …
By Rafil Kroll-Zaidi
Illustration: Ben Kirchner
New York created a program that let citizens earn money by reporting polluters. Then it went to war with them. Read the story …
By Molly Osberg
Photo: Jutharat ‘Poupay’ Pinyodoonyachet
Volunteers are the only thing standing between the city and a stream of sick cats. They’re barely making a dent. Read the story …
By Ben Ryder Howe
Photo: Larry Malvin Photography
Phoenix Suns co-owner Justin Ishbia made a quiet deal for a land swap on a coveted slice of Lake Michigan. Then his old-money neighbors found out. Read the story …
By Andrew Rice
Photo: Alamy
Donald Trump’s most troubled real estate could soon become a slick machine to curry favor with the president. Read the story …
By Bridget Read and James D. Walsh
Photo: Alexander Team/Facebook
How did the Alexander brothers become real-estate elites while allegedly raping or assaulting more than a dozen women? Read the story …
By Suzanne Seggerman, with additional reporting by James D. Walsh
Illustration: Federico Yankelevich
He moved into our Noho loft — then tore out most of the interior walls. Turns out it wasn’t his first impromptu demolition. Read the story …
By Bridget Read
Photo: Michelle Groskopf/Michelle Groskopf
After a fugitive doctor abandoned his mansion, an enterprising group of party-throwers slid in the front door. Read the story …
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