From a $250M condo to Pokemon Go, the top stories of 2016

It's time to make up a bunch of awards and hand them out to the most deserving people, places and things in the real estate, architecture and neighborhood universes of New York City! Yep, it's time for the 13th Annual Curbed Awards! Up now: the year’s 10 biggest real estate stories.

What did Curbed's readers love in 2016? If the biggest stories of the year are anything to go by, then tiny apartments, celebrity news, and exclusive peeks inside normally off-limits spaces ruled—as did Pokemon Go. Here now, the 10 most read stories of 2016.

↑ 10. Petite West Village studio on a charming, hidden street wants $675,000

Never underestimate the power of privacy and a good location: That combination made this itty-bitty West Village studio irresistible to readers. The studio in is located on the top floor of a 19th-century "back house," which has its own private courtyard and is accessed via its own little walkway from the street.

↑ 9. Behold, NYC's 15 Most Rapidly Gentrifying Neighborhoods

A study published by the NYU Furman Center identified the 15 NYC neighborhoods that are gentrifying the most quickly, and—quelle suprise—Williamsburg and Greenpoint topped the list. Commenters, unsurprisingly, had a field day with that.

↑ 8. Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo List Their Spacious Soho Loft For $5.5M

Never underestimate the power of some celebrity apartment gawking. This spring, the Maroon 5 singer and his supermodel wife put their loft at 112 Greene Street on the market for $5.5 million, with the option to purchase the couple's furniture for an additional fee.

↑ 7. 'Psycho' House Has Been Re-created on the Met Museum's Roof

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's roof garden is perennially one of the most popular spots in New York City during the summer, and this year’s exhibit—a re-creation of the eerie house from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, by British artist Cornelia Parker—proved especially compelling.

↑ 6. Where to Watch NYC's July 4th Fireworks

U-S-A! U-S-A!

↑ 5. NYC's Most Expensive Apartment Will Be a $250M Condo at 220 Central Park South

This story has a little bit of everything: a starchitect (that would be Robert A.M. Stern); a veil of secrecy around the building, 220 Central Park South, itself; a superlative (THE most expensive condo in New York City, EVER!); a so-high-it-seems-made-up figure ($250 million!); and even a possible billionaire buyer, hedge funder Ken Griffin.

↑ 4. The 30 most expensive New York City homes for sale

Speaking of superlatives: While the list of the 30 most expensive homes for sale in NYC changes with some regularity, many of the properties on the list—including the most expensive pad, a $96 million co-op at 834 Fifth Avenue—have remained in place for the better part of 2016.

Shutterstock.com

↑ 3. 16 small towns near NYC you need to visit right now

Yes, we’re devoted almost exclusively to covering New York City here at Curbed NY, but sometimes we branch outside of the five boroughs. This map of small towns near the city—all good weekend trips, particularly in the summertime—is proof.

Max Touhey for Curbed

↑ 2. At Last, Tour Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub

After more than a decade of planning and political squabbling, the Oculus and the WTC Transportation Hub opened to the public this spring. Unsurprisingly, Curbed photographer Max Touhey’s stunning photos made this the year’s second most popular post.

Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com

↑ 1. The Best Places to Catch Pokemon in NYC

But nothing could stop this summer’s unstoppable Pokemon Go juggernaut. That’s right: 2016’s most popular post was a map of NYC spots where you could catch lots of Pokemon. Of course, not everyone was enamored of the game: “Just what we need,” said commenter NYCsince1983, “more phone zombies shambling through the city, staring at their screens, not watching where they’re going.” (It’s not so much a problem anymore, anyway.)