Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Green Building Materials for New York General Contractors
Photo from PSFKSo The Green Depot just opened a store on the Bowery in Manhattan to showcase the best and most functional green building products and materials to New York General Contractors and homeowners.
The Green Depot is based in Brooklyn, NY and is already well established as a nationwide supplier of eco-friendly materials for construction and renovation. The Daily News just gave their new store a write-up this week:
Located at 222 Bowery between Prince and Spring Sts., the 3,500-square-foot
store contains hundreds of premium products, including a host of private label
and exclusive product lines. Addressing a growing need for affordable,
accessible, "green" products, the Bowery store marks the premiere of the
company`s proprietary product labeling system, developed to help consumers
navigate the changing landscape of green products through the use of a simple
icon system. The icon system is designed to clarify how and why a product can
claim it is "green", based upon five simple categories: air quality,
conservation, local, energy and responsibility.
What kind of stuff will you find at the store?
* Hundreds of premium products, including high-quality, appealing private
label lines developed via local manufacturing partnerships, in categories such
as cleaning, baby, and zero-VOC paint.
* Exclusive artist series featuring limited editions of inspired
sustainable design solutions developed by talented home designers.
* A resource and design center where trained Green Depot staff work with
customers to find green building materials that are cost-efficient and easily
adaptable into their construction or renovation projects.
* The first and only zero-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint bar in New
York City.
* A baby section that empowers new mothers with the basic tools and
knowledge to design and build a healthy environment for their children.
* A "Found" section, where the most innovative new green products are
displayed for purchase, along with select vintage and salvaged items.
This sounds really cool, we'll be checking the store out asap.
Full Story:
The Green Depot (Daily News)
Labels: Building NYC, Green Building, Manhattan Contractors, New York General Contractors
Friday, December 26, 2008
Best of the cityhammer blog: July, August & September
Editor's Note: As our readership has steadily increased over this, our first year writing the cityhammer blog, we thought we'd spotlight the posts from 2008 that we are most proud of and that we feel were the most interesting. Today, we cover July, August and September of 2008. Tune next Wednesday, December 31st for the rest of the "Best Of" series.
July:
In July, we offered a glance at HGTV's new site, Frontdoor.com and talked about some bathroom wood flooring ideas. We also introduced a new Featured Member on cityhammer.com, California Closets of NYC and Westchester. We also posted some thoughts on how to sell a house in New York when it must be sold right now.
August:
The weather was red hot in August and so was the cityhammer blog as we posted a massive guide to kitchen cabinets for New Yorkers. There was a very informative post on the best temporary wall companies in New York, a Nicky Haslem profile, and a debate about the difference between using a storefront flooring contractor versus an independent. We even had time to throw in some dorm room decorating tips for the schoolbound.
September:
We were one of the first blogs in New York to break the Target Bodega Project and we talked about handymen in two posts, the first being a list of the best handyman companies in New York, the second being a list of tips for hiring a handyman. We showed off Design Expressions new Virtual Showroom online and did a special report on Attorney General Cuomo's major web initiative for recording complaints against New York General Contractors.
We also discussed some of the hottest trends in kitchen remodeling for 2009.
In July, we offered a glance at HGTV's new site, Frontdoor.com and talked about some bathroom wood flooring ideas. We also introduced a new Featured Member on cityhammer.com, California Closets of NYC and Westchester. We also posted some thoughts on how to sell a house in New York when it must be sold right now.
August:
The weather was red hot in August and so was the cityhammer blog as we posted a massive guide to kitchen cabinets for New Yorkers. There was a very informative post on the best temporary wall companies in New York, a Nicky Haslem profile, and a debate about the difference between using a storefront flooring contractor versus an independent. We even had time to throw in some dorm room decorating tips for the schoolbound.
September:
We were one of the first blogs in New York to break the Target Bodega Project and we talked about handymen in two posts, the first being a list of the best handyman companies in New York, the second being a list of tips for hiring a handyman. We showed off Design Expressions new Virtual Showroom online and did a special report on Attorney General Cuomo's major web initiative for recording complaints against New York General Contractors.
We also discussed some of the hottest trends in kitchen remodeling for 2009.
Tune in next Wednesday for part four of The Best of the cityhammer blog 2008 when we take a look back at the tips, trends and news from the October through December period.
-Mitch Mayer, Staff Writer
Labels: California Closets NYC, Dorm Decorating Tips, Handyman New York, Kitchen Cabinets NY, Kitchen Trends 2009, New York General Contractors, Temporary Walls NYC, Wood Flooring New York
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Special Report: Attorney General Cuomo Sets Up Website to Record Consumer Complaints Against New York Contractors
From nyknowyourcontractor.comIn response to the huge influx of unqualified contractors and the accompanying deluge of unsatisfied customers over the last few years, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has set up a website to field and record consumer complaints about New York's general contractors.
Against the backdrop of "housing instability" leaving many homeowners in the same houses and in need of repairs, Cuomo's office has launched NY Know Your Contractor, a region-by-region database of all licensed contractors in New York along with a record of complaints against them from consumers who were unhappy with the work performed.
The New York AG has received over 1550 complaints against home improvement contractors since the beginning of 2007.
Here at cityhammer.com, our whole purpose in building New York's #1 Remodeling Directory from day one was to provide New Yorkers with a place to go to find highly rated New York contractors, designers, painters, plumbers, architects and so forth.
Having a government website where people can go to to an extra bit of homework sounds like it will be helpful, provided the government is fair to the professionals themselves. There are always bad apples out there, as well as the cream of the contractor crop, and we hope this helps the reputable general contracting companies in New York rise to the top.
There is also a link on the site for a contractor who believes the allegations made on the site are false or of an exaggerated nature to refute them, and we hope they get a fair opportunity to set the record straight in these situations.
For consumers who have been taken advantage of or have been the victims of shoddy construction in their homes, there are links to each region's Office of Consumer Affairs.
We remind all New Yorkers to do their homework on any home improvement company before hiring and to let your neighbors know not only when there are problems, but also to post favorable reviews on sites like cityhammer.com when the work is done well and exceeds their expectations.
Visit nyknowyourcontractor.com for more details
Labels: Complaints Against NY Contractors, Home Improvement New York, New York General Contractors, New York Office of Consumer Affairs
Friday, August 29, 2008
Finding Contractors and Interior Designers in New York Just Got Easier!
New Drop-Down Menus on the MothershipHappy Labor Day, Gang. Before the long weekend, we thought we'd take a second to show off the new drop-down menus on cityhammer.com, New York's #1 Remodeling Directory.
Lot's of visitors have requested a way to sort each service category by borough or county to help them narrow down their search when looking for plumbers, movers, painters etc. The web team sprang into action and the site now offers New Yorkers and New Jersey-ites (we made that up, don't try to steal it) two ways to find them. You can search all areas or narrow down the list of pro's to just the area you live in.
For example, when you roll your mouse over "Flooring", you can choose to see all of the flooring companies listed on cityhammer.com or just the flooring companies that service Westchester or Brooklyn.
Take it for a test drive, and as always, if you have feedback on how we can further improve the site and make it easier to use, we're all ears.
Use the contact page here: Contact cityhammer.com
Wear plenty of sunblock, we'll see you in September!
Labels: Flooring Companies in Brooklyn, Home Improvement NY, Interior Designers, New York General Contractors, Westchester Flooring
