This week, Mayor Bloomberg initiated a competition for developers to design a rental building filled with efficient studio “micro-apartments” no bigger than 300 square feet each. The current zoning precludes anyone from doing this, so it would be a change to the law — and even though it’s illegal, everyone knows that there are people who live in the confines of space smaller than this. How many people are there in this city who share an apartment of 600 square feet with 2 roommates?

I love the Mayor’s idea, as you may tell from my enthusiastic response on CNN, seen above. New York is a city filled with single professionals who are being priced out of the housing market. Even the surrounding boroughs are expensive, and I think that this initiative will keep some of these people here where they belong. Hopefully this will be the start of something new, and why stop at rentals? I look forward to the day when developers can build “for-sale” housing in the city of this size. This will make the entry level into home ownership easier to those who cannot afford $600,000 for a starter studio, not to mention encouraging smart design and creative architecture.

Shaun Osher is the founder and CEO of CORE.

One of the greatest living American architects, Robert A.M. Stern is also the only contemporary architect to have designed two buildings along Central Park: 15 Central Park West, the two-tower limestone complex regarded as the most successful condominium of all time, and 1280 Fifth Avenue, home to the Museum for African Art and, above, the residences of One Museum Mile. CORE founder and CEO Shaun Osher sat down with Stern, who is also the dean of Yale University’s School of Architecture and an accomplished architectural historian, to talk about the unique design of One Museum Mile, the history of Central Park, and the similarities and differences between Stern’s pair of buildings along New York’s most iconic park. For more on Stern’s work, visit his firm’s website, and for more on One Museum Mile, click here.

How can you still get some enjoyment out of a rainy New York City day? Set up a camera inside the penthouse of a famously glassy architectural icon to capture how light flows in and out with the clouds. That’s precisely what Curbed recently did at CORE’s rental listing at Blue on the Lower East Side, which recently hosted an event for our own Jarrod Guy Randolph. Check out the time-lapse video above for a moody look at downtown Manhattan. The amazing apartment is still available for $14,000 per month.

Our most popular penthouse was back on the small screen last night, as CBS’s Emily Smith took a tour of the A Building duplex that comes complete with an indoor slide for her Living Large series. CORE’s Lindsee Silverstein, who shares the $3,990,000 listing with Elizabeth Kee, showed Smith around the unique and modern 2,400 square foot space, and then everyone took a spin down the slide — resulting in at least one blooper. Check out the full video below.

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Can there ever be such a thing as “too much house?” Not in the Big Apple, where a home with history on a nice block is New Yorkers’ #1 wish, just ahead of a Knicks NBA championship and a prime time table at Eleven Madison Park. And 233 West 20th Street delivers, with six floors and 7,000 square feet of meticulously renovated and modern interior space, all in a historic shell built in 1824. CORE Managing Director Tom Postilio has the $10,950,000 listing, and he guided viewers through the incredible six-bedroom home on last weekend’s “Open House New York.” See his walk-through in the video above.

We don’t often make it out to New Jersey, but when we do, it’s for something truly special, like this French-inspired mansion in an exclusive enclave within the Garden State. CORE’s Michael Graves has the listing for the newly constructed $19 million Saddle River estate, which features a 5-bedroom, 25,000-square-foot Corinthian stone manor on 4.4 beautiful acres of land. The mansion’s features and amenities — including a pair of double parking garages, a USTA grade tennis court and an indoor pool — are too lengthy to list here, but luckily CBS 2 reporter Emily Smith toured the property for a “Living Large” segment that aired last night. Check out the video below for a peek inside the palace:

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The popular “slide penthouse” in the East Village’s A Building, located at 425 East 13th Street, was back in the press in a big way last weekend. CORE’s Elizabeth Kee showed off the duplex penthouse listing, famed for its sculptural steel slide linking the two floors (there’s also a staircase), on LXTV’s “Open House,” which aired on NBC New York on Sunday morning. See the full segment above, including the 2,700-square-foot penthouse’s glass fireplace, game room, outdoor spaces, and, of course, the slide that has everyone talking. For pictures and more info on the apartment, check out the listing.

CBS 2’s Emily Smith brought the “Living Large” cameras to the incredible 5-bedroom apartment at 240 Park Avenue South listed by CORE’s Michael Graves, a 3,700-square-foot condo unit with a curved wall of windows that encompasses the entire eastern wing of the building. Check out the video above to get an inside look at one of New York’s best chef’s kitchens, and a whole lot more!

Marking a new focal point on Manhattan’s celebrated Museum Mile — home to iconic cultural institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York — is a distinctively designed limestone structure: One Museum Mile.

Located at 1280 Fifth Avenue and directly across from Central Park, One Museum Mile’s classic design and limestone relief façade are credited to legendary architect Robert A.M. Stern, who collaborated with Andre Kikoski Architect PLLC and SLCE Architects to create a structure which unifies this luxury condominium with the future home of the Museum for African Art, located in the building’s base.

The video above features an exclusive interview with Stern, who touches on Upper Fifth Avenue’s history and attractions, which influenced the design of One Museum Mile. Referencing his approach to “make an icon out of the museum and a very important neighbor out of the apartment building,” Stern has brought a quality of detail and charm that many new residential developments lack.

In a neighborhood rich with architectural gems, One Museum Mile compliments Fifth Avenue rather than competing with it. One Museum Mile offers a 24-hour full-service concierge, on-site parking, a landscaped roof terrace with outdoor pool, residents’ lounge with fireplace, fitness center with terrace, media lounge, children’s playroom, bicycle room and more.

For further information on this luxury development and its residences, please visit onemuseummile.com.

Inside the A Building’s Slide Penthouse from David Sherwin on Vimeo.

If you build it, they will come. And by “it,” we of course mean a penthouse with a steel slide connecting its two luxurious levels, and by “they,” New York City’s real estate media. CORE’s “Slide Penthouse” listing at the East Village’s A Building is receiving another wave of press, including AOL’s House of the Day and a profile with some great photos in the New York Daily News. But the coolest mention might just be from Curbed videographer David Sherwin, who stopped by the $3.99 million, 2,400-square-foot penthouse to capture the slide in action. His video can be seen on Curbed and directly above, and for more on the penthouse, check out the Elizabeth Kee and Lindsee Silverstein listing.