Residents of a new Queens rental can soon light up the city that never sleeps.
Sven, a 958-unit Durst Organization property in Long Island City — where 288 apartments are income-restricted — will offer a dazzling amenity far beyond the typical luxury-market trappings of a screening room, a gym and a pool.
When leasing soft-launches on Monday, Sven will become the first building in New York where residents can illuminate the tippy tops of city towers — such as the 300-foot spire at One Bryant Park in Midtown — with just the tap of a finger.
Every tenant will receive membership to Spireworks, a mobile app launched within Durst in 2017, that lets its users control the colors and effects that glow at the summits of select Durst buildings — including at the 71-story Sven itself.
Residents will also be able to control the chromatic display atop 151 W. 42nd St., which is known for its H&M signs, and — on certain occasions — the technicolor array at the peak of One World Trade Center, which Durst owns alongside the Port Authority.
Residents will have the ability “to change New York’s landscape,” said Dan Mogolesko, vice president of residential at Durst. “It’s a really special, intimate experience for the user that all of New York can see.”
Previously, access to Spireworks was exclusive — available by invitation only — and was a favorite flex of architect Bjarke Ingels, who loved to change the colors of building tops to wow guests at cocktail parties. It created such a craze in its early days that the app’s founder, Mark Domino, who’s also the director of digital at Durst and son-in-law of the organization’s honcho Douglas Durst, asked Tinder to take down a profile seeking to pay $1,000 for an otherwise free membership.
Ever since, Spireworks has occasionally opened up to the public for charity and corporate events. And now the app, which has more than 30,000 users, estimates its ranks to grow by between 1,000 to 3,000 at Sven.
“That’s significant for us,” Domino told The Post, adding that the invite program is on pause and that Durst is looking for other growth opportunities for Spireworks, such as opening it up to commercial tenants. “It’s not going to double our size or anything — we’re well beyond that — [but] it will definitely bring new interest to all of our lighting installations.”
On the app, Spireworks users see a carousel of available light installations to play with. If there’s no event running — such as a display for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, which has set colors — they’ll be able to see the more general palette Durst set for that particular night. After waiting in a queue (“Tens of minutes tops,” said Domino) users will have a two-minute-long session to change the colors and even play with light effects, such as pulsing or glittering gestures. The system holds up to five users concurrently, allowing for brief collaboration or even competitive play.
Sven, which doesn’t have a spire, will offer residents a months-long, and exclusive, access to change the hues at its crown.
“I think with Sven it’s going to be holiday colors since we’re launching so soon,” said Domino. “And then going into the new year it will be more of an open palette, more of a rainbow going into the winter and spring.”
What’s more, a number of south- and west-facing units at Sven will have Manhattan-facing views, and vistas of the buildings whose colors residents can change.
Beyond this light-up perk, Sven — at 29-59 Northern Boulevard — has studios to three-bedrooms priced between $2,950 and $6,000 per month. Designed by Handel Architects with interiors by Annabelle Selldorf, units include washer/dryers and floor-to-ceiling windows whose tint tenants can control with an app. And beyond a screening room, a gym and a pool, amenities additionally include a private dining room, co-working spaces and a poker lounge. Durst will handle leasing in-house from an onsite office.
Meanwhile, Spireworks offers both at-home and on-the-go flexibility.
“It is a really rounded experience, because you find yourself in funny places — on the ferry boats or inbound flights, things like that,” said Domino.
But it can also give a sense of place.
“It can get you to connect with your city for a second,” he added.
