Virginia K. Smith

When headlines started circulating recently about a high-priced Williamsburg rental building that'd been evacuated due to a lack of permits and conditions that rendered it a virtual "death trap," suffice it to say, our imaginations ran a bit wild.

If there's any good reason to leave NYC, these Christmas-themed towns might be it (CityLab)

From cheap to luxe, what to do with your friends and family when they visit the city (Thrillist)

Riverdale has long had a reputation as a haven for sprawling suburban-style mansions just outside the city, steeped in history and dripping with period details. Not so with this $2.675 million seven-bedroom home at West 261st Street which is newly built and larded with high-end perks, including rather imposing motorized steel front gates.

It's a truism about Brooklyn apartments that the best feature is often their prime views of Manhattan. And this luxury Williamsburg two-bedroom asking $6,995/month takes skyline-centric design to a whole other level, with a 750-square-foot wraparound terrace that's almost as big as the actual apartment:

A woman is rightly suing after finding a hidden camera in the bedroom of her California Airbnb (Refinery 29)

Today in oddball lawsuits: a condo board allegedly took revenge on a resident by blocking their views with dead plants (NYP)