The world’s tallest proposed modular tower may actually reach its full potential.

Developer Bruce Ratner has finally resumed work on his 32-story residential building next to the Barclays Center after a five-month hiatus stemming from a dispute with construction giant Skanska over the pre-fabricated design.

As a result of that legal fight, Ratner gained control of Skanska’s factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where modules for the proposed tallest modular tower were made. — nydailynews.com

That’s a lot of accolades for one building, but the SHoP Architects-designed tower at 111 West 57th Street is looking to sweep the supertall competition. Originally planned to rise 1,397 feet, the tower will now soar to 1,421 feet, surpassing 432 Park Avenue (the current tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere) by 24 feet, according to city records uncovered by Crain’s. It will also retain its title as the world’s slenderest tower. — http://www.6sqft.com/

“Penn Station did not make you feel comfortable; it made you feel important.” [...]

Unlike McKim’s monument, today’s Penn Station — where many visitors, both domestic and international, encounter New York City for the first time — certainly does not make you feel important. Comparing the vanished terminal with this tawdry replacement, the Yale architectural historian Vincent Scully once wrote, “One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat.” — nytimes.com

Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie have turned to a familiar idea in their pledge to reform the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: selling its real estate.

A report released over the weekend highlights a plan to sell off many of the agency’s sprawling property holdings, by far the most notable of which is the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.

That concept has long been pushed within the agency, and it has been implemented gradually over the past decade and a half. — wsj.com

While independent communications infrastructure, renewable energy, and resilient heating and power systems may all be major priorities in contemporary urban development, the three aren’t typically incorporated into the same project. Beyond The Grid — an ambitious plan underway in the Two Bridges neighborhood of Lower Manhattan — does just that. And the fact that the proposal has been created in this neighborhood is no accident. — urbanomnibus.net

Here's one for you lovers out there: in the annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design contest, Brooklyn-based, Venezuelan-born firm Stereotank just came out as the winner with their entry "HEARTBEAT."

The interactive installation is scheduled to open for an entire month to couples and singles alike on February 9. — bustler.net

The WXY Studio Architecture + Urban Design and dlandstudio design of an elevated park in Queens, New York has just gotten a $440,000 cash infusion from New York State. The money will go towards the design of the first phase of the project, estimated to cost $120M to build. The park, when complete, would transform 3.5 miles of abandoned elevated railway into a park akin to the High Line Park in Manhattan. — 6sqft

You know how you’re supposed to turn out the lights when you leave a room to save energy? New York City Council member Donovan Richards wants the owners of many of the city’s office buildings to start doing the same—on a much bigger scale.

Richards [...] has introduced a bill that would prohibit owners of approximately 40,000 New York commercial buildings from illuminating the interiors or exteriors of their structures once workers have gone home for the night. — citylab.com

With a nod to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing plans, New York City’s Department of City Planning is inventing a “new neighborhood” to take what it thinks is a promising section of the Bronx from parking lots to high-rises. While the city has promised to make community outreach a cornerstone of its plans, the idea of a “new neighborhood” has left many who live there seeing Brooklyn-infused foreshadowing. — nextcity.org

The American Museum of Natural History, a sprawling hodgepodge of a complex occupying nearly four city blocks, is planning another major transformation, this time along Columbus Avenue: a $325 million, six-story addition designed to foster the institution’s expanding role as a center for scientific research and education... — New York Times

Of all the roles of government, emergency response may be the least controversial. When disaster hits, we expect our fire, police, and other public services to provide immediate relief. But as James McConnell, Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Data at the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM), reminds us, tactical effectiveness in a crisis requires more than boots on the ground, ready at a moment’s notice. — urbanomnibus.net

A new condo building is going up in Manhattan's Hudson Square neighborhood — the triangle on the river between Tribeca, SoHo, and the West Village that has until recently been mostly commercial and industrial buildings.

15 Renwick isn't just any building: it's a steampunk-themed luxury development. Steampunk-themed. Luxury. Development. — Business Insider