New York Magazine
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Tech entrepreneur Kathy Leake and her husband, Brian White, a digital-media specialist, live in a cloud—or as close to a cloud as a home can get. Their 3,400-square-foot loft, designed by architects Brian Messana and Toby O’Rorke of Messana O’Rorke, is located in a former printing factory in the West Village. The original space was actually two separate apartments, but they liked it so much they knocked down the walls and devised a luxurious open-plan design. The pink wall greeting, seen here in the entrance hall, is a sticker. “It was meant to be a temporary installation before we found a real piece of art,” says Kathy. “But it was so cheerful and fun, we kept it.”
Photo: Frank Oudeman
Dazzling kitchens and elegantly mod spaces are Messana O’Rorke’s specialty. Kathy and Brian’s kitchen features a custom-designed, twenty-foot-long Corian island, complete with stovetop, sink, dishwasher, and steam oven. Friends and family gravitate here whenever Brian, who loves to cook, is behind the stove. (An extractor fan is built into the light unit above.) “I originally wanted marble, but Corian is so great-looking and durable,” says Kathy. The tin ceilings have been painted white, along with almost everything else in the loft.
Photo: Frank Oudeman
A panoramic view of the kitchen, the back wall of which contains appliances and storage. Just beyond the kitchen lies the master bedroom, bath, and walk-in closet.
Photo: Frank Oudeman
Northern and western exposures flood the loft with natural light, while islands of furniture define different areas within the open space. The dining table is actually three different tables from Room & Board, with alternating marble and stainless-steel tops. Even the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Ava, has a design-minded play station: It rests atop pink rubber floor tiles.
Photo: Frank Oudeman
“We have visited 65 countries, and every country we went to has a pin in the map,” says Kathy of the wall covering she found online at Rand McNally. “It comes in eleven different panels; it’s really easy to put up, and you can arrange it the way you want.” The white couch is from BoConcept.
Photo: Frank Oudeman
The master bedroom is also white-on-white, save for the color in the reverse-negative photo of a Gerber daisy, the kind of flower Kathy carried at her wedding.
Photo: Frank Oudeman
The master bath has a marble floor, a six-foot-long double sink, and a five-foot-ten bathtub.
Photo: Frank Oudeman
Where there’s a will there’s a way, and if Kathy likes something enough, money is no object. Case in point: Kathy commissioned a perfect replica of her all-time favorite painting, Francis Bacon’s Study of Nude With Figure in a Mirror, to hang on the rear wall of the loft.
Photo: Frank Oudeman
Carl Henry Nacht (left) West Side Highway and 38th Street. After dinner on June 22, 2006, Nacht, a doctor who often cycled to make house calls to his elderly patients, was hit by an NYPD tow truck crossing the Hudson River Park bikeway.
Shamar Porter Linden Boulevard near Williams Avenue, East New York. On August 5, 2006, Porter’s Little League team won its playoff game. He was struck by a minivan after leaving the field.
Reginald Chan (left) Third Avenue and 17th Street. On September 15, 2006, Chan was hit by a flatbed tow truck while making a delivery of Chinese food.
Brandie Bailey Houston and Essex Streets. On May 8, 2005, Bailey was struck by a private sanitation truck while on her way home to Williamsburg after waitressing at the West Village restaurant Red Bamboo. Bailey was a regular at CBGB, where a memorial was held in her honor.
Craig Murphey (left) Ten Eyck Street and Union Avenue, Williamsburg. Early in the morning of October 18, 2007, Murphey was biking home from escorting his date to her South Williamsburg apartment. According to police reports, Murphey attempted to outrun a gas truck turning left on Ten Eyck Street. His pelvis shattered on impact, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. In his honor, over 40 friends have since received tattoos that read BE BETTER.
Frank C. Simpson Linden Boulevard near 175th Street, St. Albans. Simpson, a janitor returning from the evening shift at a Con Edison facility, was hit by a Dodge Stratus on November 9, 2006.
Jose Mora (left) North Conduit and McKinley Avenues, Cypress Hills. On September 4, 2006, 11-year-old Mora was on his way to the barber for a back-to-school haircut; that week, he was to start the sixth grade at nearby Junior High School 302. He was struck by a Honda while walking his bike across an intersection.
Jonathan Neese South 4th Street and Roebling Street, Williamsburg. On August 12, 2006, Neese, a bike messenger known as “Bronx Jon,” was struck by a livery cab while cycling from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Sam Khaled Hindy (left) Base of the Manhattan Bridge. On November 16, 2007, Hindy was run over after mistakenly entering a Manhattan Bridge lane reserved for cars.
Habian Rodriguez Main Street and Horace Harding Expressway, Flushing. On September 1, 2007, Rodriguez collided with a city bus and died 30 minutes later.
Elizabeth Padilla (left) Fifth Avenue and Prospect Place, Park Slope. Commuting to the Brooklyn Bar Association on June 9, 2005, Padilla swerved to avoid the open door of a parked P.C. Richard’s truck. She lost control of her bike and fell underneath the wheels of an ice-cream delivery truck.
Juan Luis Solis East Gun Hill Road and Bouck Avenue, the Bronx. Attempting to pass a double-parked car on June 22, 2007, Solis was struck by a box truck and died of severe head trauma. The truck did not stop.
Jeffrey Moore (left) Chauncey Street and Rockaway Avenue, Bed-Stuy. According to witnesses, on May 29, 2007, Moore was run over (twice) by his girlfriend Jeanine Harrington. She was indicted on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon (her Nissan Pathfinder).
Derek Lake Houston Street and La Guardia Place. On June 26, 2006, Lake reportedly skidded on a steel construction plate and was crushed underneath the wheels of a passing truck.
Elijah Armand Wrancher (left) Springfield Boulevard and 130th Avenue, Springfield Gardens. On August 28, 2007, 12-year-old Wrancher attempted to ride his bicycle while holding onto a moving truck. He lost his grip and fell under the truck’s rear wheel.
David Smith Sixth Avenue and 36th Street. On December 5, 2007, Smith was biking up Sixth Avenue when the passenger-side door of a parked pickup truck opened unexpectedly. He was knocked into the path of an oncoming truck.
Anthony Delgado (left) Palmetto Street and Central Avenue, Bushwick. Shortly after midnight on April 29, 2007, 13-year-old Delgado borrowed a bike to head home from his friend’s baptism party. As he crossed the intersection, he was struck by an SUV.
Carolina Hernandez 57th Avenue and Junction Boulevard, Elmhurst. On August 16, 2007, Hernandez was riding to a mall when she was struck and killed by a Chevy truck. The driver pled guilty to driving with a suspended license.
Anthony Delgado (left) Palmetto Street and Central Avenue, Bushwick. Shortly after midnight on April 29, 2007, 13-year-old Delgado borrowed a bike to head home from his friend’s baptism party. As he crossed the intersection, he was struck by an SUV.
Carolina Hernandez 57th Avenue and Junction Boulevard, Elmhurst. On August 16, 2007, Hernandez was riding to a mall when she was struck and killed by a Chevy truck. The driver pled guilty to driving with a suspended license.
Anthony Delgado (left) Palmetto Street and Central Avenue, Bushwick. Shortly after midnight on April 29, 2007, 13-year-old Delgado borrowed a bike to head home from his friend’s baptism party. As he crossed the intersection, he was struck by an SUV.
Carolina Hernandez 57th Avenue and Junction Boulevard, Elmhurst. On August 16, 2007, Hernandez was riding to a mall when she was struck and killed by a Chevy truck. The driver pled guilty to driving with a suspended license.
Anthony Delgado (left) Palmetto Street and Central Avenue, Bushwick. Shortly after midnight on April 29, 2007, 13-year-old Delgado borrowed a bike to head home from his friend’s baptism party. As he crossed the intersection, he was struck by an SUV.
Carolina Hernandez 57th Avenue and Junction Boulevard, Elmhurst. On August 16, 2007, Hernandez was riding to a mall when she was struck and killed by a Chevy truck. The driver pled guilty to driving with a suspended license.
The Beefcake in the Backcourt- Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.
Fall Fashion Features
- The Beefcake in the Backcourt
- Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.