Hundred Stories and The 92nd St. Y co-produce “City of Tomorrow” conference

New York, NY  “City of Tomorrow,” the two-day conference co-produced by Hundred Stories and The 92nd Street Y, sold out this past weekend, having brought together the leaders and pioneers of the real estate, architecture and interior design worlds. Subjects explored ranged from architecture’s influence on the identity of New York in the 21^st Century and changing NYC neighborhoods, to improving home value and the art and science of Feng Shui.

“City of Tomorrow’s” opening night, sponsored by Douglas Elliman Real Estate, began on Friday, February 3 with interior designers Thom Filicia, Celerie Kemble and Jennifer Post discussing “Timeless Designs: Luxuries That Never Go out of Style.”  The evening continued as real estate enthusiasts packed the room to listen to “Building the New New York,” where developers Harry Macklowe, Jeff Blau and Ian Schrager shared their visions for New York’s future.

Architects Liz Diller, Christopher Sharples, Roger Duffy, Patrik Schumacher completed the night with a discussion on the state of architecture’s effect on New York’s 21^st Century identity. The consensus on how architects should approach their work was perhaps best summed up when Duffy said, “Things with imagination can have transformative powers.”

Douglas Elliman, hosted a cocktail reception Friday evening where professionals mingled with panelists.

The conference resumed on Saturday, February 4 with many panel discussions and workshops.

From “Bringing Hospitality Home” with Adam Tihany, Jeffrey Beers, Alexandra Champalimaud, and Skie Ocasio; and “The Making of Hudson Yards” with Howard Elkus, to “The Science and Emotional Power of Color,” with Rebecca Atwood, Lori Weitzner and Donald Kaufman, it was standing room only.

Douglas Elliman brokers headlined “Home Improvement Updates That Impact Your Home’s Value” with Jacky Teplitzky, South Florida and Manhattan broker; “All Aboard the Second Avenue Subway,” with Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group and “Hot Topics with Christina Cuomo: Private School Admission and Real Estate” with top Manhattan brokers Jared Seligman and Paul Zweben.

The exceptionally cold weekend brought out the “Snowbirds” in spades. The lively discussion on the “ins and outs” of the South Florida real estate market featured experts Fernando de Nunez of ONE Sotheby’s, Laurie Kazenoff of Moritt, Hock & Hamroff, Lynda Fernandez of Miami Association of Realtors and Louis Birdman developer of Zaha Hadid’s One Thousand Museum.

“The outpouring of appreciation for the Summit - from patrons and participants alike - has been nothing short of astounding,” said Robin Dolch, president of Hundred Stories. “This really started out as an experiment. Is the demand there? We thought, ‘How could it not be?’ Let’s just build it and see. Based on the tremendous response, we seem to have our answer.”

2017 Summit sponsors are Douglas Elliman, One West End, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, The Hite Foundation, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, ONE Sotheby’s, Simon Baron Development, One Fine Stay, Turnberry Ocean Club and One Thousand Museum.