The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission paved the way for Snøhetta to partially redesign Philip Johnson’s Postmodern skyscraper at 550 Madison Avenue Tuesday with a vote backing the contested plan. [...]

The biggest change to the property, which was granted landmark status in July 2018, is the privately-owned public space (POPS) at the ground level. — Curbed NY

It’s official: The TWA Hotel will start taking reservations on February 14, in anticipation of a soft opening on May 15. [...]

The hotel’s opening will be the culmination of years of work to revive Eero Saarinen’s beloved midcentury landmark. The TWA Flight Center, a stunning example of Space Age architecture, closed in 2001, and has largely been hidden from public view since then, save for a few tours and events here and there. — Curbed NY

Any visitor to New York over the past few years will have witnessed this curious new breed of pencil-thin tower. Poking up above the Manhattan skyline like etiolated beanpoles, they seem to defy the laws of both gravity and commercial sense. They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors, raw extrusions of capital piled up until it hits the clouds. — The Guardian

As the Museum of Modern Art begins the final stage of its $400 million overhaul, it will close for four months to reconfigure its galleries, rehang the entire collection and rethink the way that the story of modern and contemporary art is presented to the public.

The Picassos and van Goghs will still be there, but the 40,000 square feet of additional space will allow MoMA to focus new attention on works by women, Latinos, Asians, African-Americans and other overlooked artists... — NY Times

One Vanderbilt is officially the latest skyscraper in New York City to claim supertall status. Located at 41 East 42nd Street in Midtown East, the imminently 1,401-foot tall office building already soars above Grand Central Station, and new steel columns continue to sprout along the perimeter and core, having now punctured the 1,000-foot mark. — New York YIMBY

The New York Post reports that the 9/11 Memorial and Museum plans to open a section dedicated to those who’ve died or have grappled with 9/11-related illnesses—first responders, survivors, and New Yorkers who lived close to the World Trade Center site during the recovery efforts among them. — Curbed NY

A much loved skyspace work by James Turrell in New York, his installation Meeting (1980-86/2016) at MoMA PS1 in Queens, has been closed to the public because the scaffolding from a nearby high-rise development has encroached into the viewing field. The artist requested the work be shut, the museum says in a statement, and “it will remain closed until the temporary construction scaffolding is no longer visible.” — The Art Newspaper

Thomas Heatherwick’s 150-foot-tall, honeycomb-shaped climbable public art installation at Hudson Yards is set to open for public climbing in March along with the complex’s Shops and Restaurants on March 15. Known for some time as “The Vessel,” the bronzed steel and concrete structure has no official title as of yet. — 6sqft

Hedge funder Ken Griffin has closed on a massive penthouse at 220 Central Park South, paying a record-shattering $238 million, according to sources familiar with the deal.

The Citadel founder has long been rumored as the buyer of the condominium’s most lavish spread — a 23,000-square-foot quadplex encompassing the 50th through 53rd floors of the limestone tower, developed by Vornado Realty Trust and designed by Robert A.M. Stern. The asking price was $250 million. — The Real Deal

[...] a demolition application was filed for 270 Park Avenue, the current, but not for long headquarters of JPMorgan Chase. The filing is a pivotal step for the bank, which plans to replace the 1.5 million-square-foot Modernist tower with a 2.5 million square foot supertall skyscraper designed by Lord Norman Foster. — CityRealty

All eyes have been on Long Island City since its partial triumph in Amazon’s urban beauty pageant. [...]

Queens native Kris Graves has kept his eye on Long Island City continuously since moving there ten years ago. Photographing what presents itself outside his door in Hunters Point South and as he walks around the neighborhood, Graves never intended to create a record of a vanishing scene (RIP 5Pointz notwithstanding). Instead, his photos, accumulating over time, represent an additive process. — Urban Omnibus

Amazon could be a new tenant in the Chrysler Building, already increasing its upcoming presence in New York.

The tech giant, which is bringing half of its second headquarters to Long Island City, is close to signing a lease for about 10,000 square feet in the famed property, according to the New York Post. The building’s owners, Tishman Speyer and Abu Dhabi Investment Council, are putting the landmark tower at Lexington Avenue and East 42nd Street up for sale. — The Real Deal

New Public Hydrant uses design to overcome public misperceptions of the city’s hydrant water. The design prototypes bring attention to possibilities for improvement of overlooked, local water infrastructures on the one hand, while simultaneously engaging what it means to drink locally...How might publics reimagine these small-scale urban elements to serve in day-to-day situations, rather than solely in the case of emergency? — Urban Omnibus