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.

When reviewing famed Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi’s new Lower East Side condominium tower in 2007, former New York Times architecture Nicolai Ouroussoff wrote, “I can’t get the Blue Building out of my mind.” It was a thought shared by many architecture watchers in the city, and not much has changed since. Tschumi’s 17-story Blue, covered in a hypnotic array of blue glass panels, remains one of the most architecturally adventurous buildings built in downtown Manhattan in recent memory. Rising over old tenement buildings and the steel of the nearby Williamsburg Bridge — two signatures of the history-rich Lower East Side — Blue takes on a crystalline form, creating some very unique shapes in its residential layouts. Penthouse opportunities in such significant buildings are rare, but now the building’s the 2,500-square-foot penthouse duplex, which Ouroussoff singled out in his rave review thanks to its spacious private terrace, is available for rent through CORE’s Elizabeth Kee for $14,000 per month.

Here are some of the details from Kee’s listing: “A key locked elevator opens onto this private duplex loft with cantilevered glass walls, comprised of pixilated blue glass windows, giving you the feeling of floating in the sky. This 2,500-square foot 2-bedroom, 3-bathroom residence has a double corner living and dining room with breathtaking views that include three East River Bridges and the Empire State Building.” Check out that listing for more details on the apartment’s finishes and amenities, as well as a gallery of photos (some are seen below). If television is more your thing, the apartment will be featured on an upcoming episode of HGTV’s “Selling New York,” so stay tuned.

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The rising 1 World Trade Center is changing the face of the Lower Manhattan skyline as it climbs all the way up to 1,776 feet, which will make it America’s tallest building. On the Lower East Side, another downtown neighborhood, but one known more for nightlife and historic tenements than tourists and office towers, the view from 195 Bowery is perfectly unobstructed, giving you a one-of-a-kind glimpse into the changing cityscape. Looking out over the rooftops, all the way to the skyscrapers of the Financial District, the view cuts to the core of what New York City really is: a collection of diverse neighborhoods.

When location and quality come together, it’s a beautiful marriage. Call them trophy homes, perfect properties, or Manhattan’s most wanted. Just don’t call them in a month, because they probably won’t be around that long. Here are three listings on the market that are bound to make fans, fast.

Where: 422 East 72nd Street, 28/29C
Size: 4 bedrooms/3 bathrooms
Asking: $4,250,000
Listed by: Alison Abovsky and Kirk Rundhaug

The Upper East Side has a reputation as a family-friendly neighborhood, and this gorgeous duplex in a full-service condominium building has the perfect layout for a large brood. Add the turnkey condition, with a recently completed design and renovation by a renowned architect, and the appeal is easy to understand. Air and light make good Manhattan homes great, and this 2,900-square-foot space is filled with sunlight and boasts two balconies to take in excellent city views.

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Who says dreams don’t come true? When I first began tramping around the Lower East Side in search of the perfect dive bar, I always looked upon it as a playground; a place to drive to in my 1962 “Three on the Tree” Rambler Wagon from my home on Staten Island, not a place I’d wind up living, even though everything about the neighborhood piqued my interest: so funky, so diverse, such a time capsule of a New York rapidly vanishing and evolving, the people, the places, the vestiges of the immigrants who settled here at the turn of the 20th century! Wistfully, I’d imagine a day I would be living on the lower east side the same way, I suppose, Chekhov’s Three Sisters imagined getting to Moscow. But unlike Olga, Masha, and Irina, my journey took place. Read all about it!