by Laura Matiz 

The Water Tank Project aims to raise awareness about that most critical of resources that we sometimes take for granted: water. H2O. There are 17,000 tanks in the city, hinting at the abundance we enjoy, but that is not the case in many parts of the world. Founded by Mary Jordan, an artist and filmmaker, The Water Tank Project wraps artwork created by acclaimed artists around the iconic water tanks of the New York City skyline. This project caught my attention a couple of years ago when I was introduced to it by Brook Christopher, the official photographer for The Water Tank Project, and I have been following the project since. 

My photo safari began when Brook Christopher – who has been documenting the process since inception – asked me to accompany her on a mission to capture a couple of the covered tanks in lower Manhattan. Her task was to photograph "Gush" by Marilyn Minter and "Psychogeographies" by Dustin Yellen, shown below.

by Laura Matiz 

The Feed the Hungry Friday Dinner Program at St James' Church offers a hearty meal every Friday night for the hungry and homeless. This past Friday, I was guest chef cooking a delicious and healthy meal for 90 guests, with the assistance of a team of over a dozen individuals. The program is led by the unstoppable Faith Fraser, who makes working in the kitchen for four plus hours a satisfying experience for all the volunteers. Because this was my fourth time as guest chef, gathering my team of volunteers was fairly easy. Friends, family, and my kid's classmates pitch in to do the work—and there is a lot to do to get ready. 

St James takes pride in making all the guests at the Friday night meal feel welcomed and served. The ten large round tables are set nicely with cloth and dinnerware before the guests arrive. A  group of volunteers warmly greet the guests as they come in. After everyone is seated, Faith leads the group with a grace prayer before the volunteer waiters start serving hot tea and coffee – much in demand on this cold evening. They then serve and bus the three-course meal. My main course on Friday was my version of American Goulash, sautéed string beans, and garlic bread. A salad and homemade cookies for dessert were the other two courses. The hearty meal was much appreciated by all. ...

by Laura Matiz

The 4th quarter Manhattan Sales Report from Douglas Elliman is now available. This quarterly survey of co-op and condo sales shows that while housing prices continued to rise, the market remained constrained by a lack of inventory. A highlight from the report is that nearly half of all sales resulting in purchase prices that were at or above the asking price, meaning that many buyers are dealing with bidding wars. 

Sales activity fell below the record volume from last year, but it was still robust. The activity is likely to be affected by new developments that will come on the market this year. The report and I believe that the strong finish in 2014 will lead to an active market in early 2015.

For a shorter read, check out the one-page summary that features such highlights:

• Median sales price jumped 14.6% to $980,000, second only to the record of $1,025,000 reached in the second quarter of 2008 before the financial crisis began. 
• There were 39 luxury sales at or above $10 million, a 143.8% increase from the same period last year. 
• The number of months to sell all inventory at the current pace of sales, was 5.5 months, up from the near record 3.8 month rate in the prior year quarter. 
• The fourth quarter absorption rate was 34% faster than the ten-year 8.3 monthly average. 
• Listing discount, the average percentage difference between the listing price at time of sale and the sales price, fell to 2.4% from 3.6% in the prior year quarter. 

 
Call me to talk about this report, especially if you are considering selling or buying in this market. I can help clarify figures and tables from the report and how they might affect your interests. 

by Laura Matiz

My Winter 2015 newsletter was released earlier this week. This latest digest covers postings from the last three months of 2014. Since released, I have received many comments, via email and via Twitter, all of which are much appreciated and makes all the work worth it. Here's a smattering of those comments: 

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I also want to thank Gloria Castro for the stunning photo of the San Remo that was used for the banner image on the newsletter.