another day in albany

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, speaking today in Albany. (Photo: governor.ny.gov)

Cuomo to Investigate Legislators After Campaign Finance Reform Fails

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that he will follow through on his threat to create a Moreland Commission to investigate state legislators after they failed to come to a deal on a proposed new public campaign financing system the governor has tried to sell as an anti-corruption bill.

“That is the direction I am planning to proceed,” Mr. Cuomo told reporters at a press conference in Albany this afternoon, as the legislative session winds to a close. Read More

3D printing

Cutting the Ribbon at MakerBot's new Sunset Park facility

Stratasys Is Acquiring MakerBot for $403M in Stock

First Tumblr, and now comes another sizable New York City exit. Turns out the whimsical MakerBot won’t be raising a round, after all, because the desktop 3D-printing startup is being acquired by publicly traded behemoth Stratasys, for $403 million in stock. (Of course, that’s just the initial value, based on today’s $84.60 closing price for shares of Stratasys stock.) Stakeholders qualify for additional performance-based earnouts, with an initial total value of $201 million. Read More

Manhattan Transfers

Beekman Place.

Ellen Biddle Shipman’s Beekman Place Townhouse House Fetches $35 M.

New York is a city with many fabulous townhouses, but for those who desire a manse on the East River, the options are few. One of the rare houses to come on the market in recent years—if one does not count Gracie Mansion, which Christine Quinn et al are now vying to take possession of—is the Ellen Biddle Shipman mansion at 21 Beekman Place, which was listed in late September. So The Observer was not particularly surprised when we learned that a buyer has already snapped up the former home of the late, trailblazing landscape architect.

“There is not in all New York another piece of property like it, for it has the seclusion of Beekman Place, southern exposure, beauty of architecture combined with the extended view of the East River,” Biddle once of the neighborhood that she helped mold into the fashionable district after buying 21 Beekman in 1919. The buyer, whose identity remains a mystery (at least until the sale hits public records), apparently agreed with Shipman, given that he or sale paid $35 million for the the furnished home, according to sources familiar with the deal.

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Planes Trains & Automobiles

Bill Thompson and Anthony Weiner chatting at the forum.

Prospective Mayors Spar on Transportation Policy

At a Democratic mayoral forum this morning focusing on New York City’s transportation policies, the candidates often agreed on many of the issues–stated support for bike lanes, for example–but starkly disagreed when it came to several topics, including school bus contracts.

Setting up the dispute, former Comptroller Bill Thompson, the leading candidate for the teachers’ union endorsement set to be announced later this afternoon, defended pricey school bus driver contracts and provisions that protect current employees. Read More

Love in the Time of Algorithms

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‘Grab Her Hand and Put it Right on Your Dick:’ Redditor Successfully Kickstarts His Terrible Dating Book

Are you a foreveralone munching on Cheetos in your mom’s basement, wondering how to get women to touch your penis? Good news: Ken Hoinsky, whom you might know as “TofuTofu” on Reddit, has drawn up a comprehensive dating guide to help teach guys everywhere how to “get awesome with women”–and also make creepy unwanted advances on them. Read More

The Eight-Day Week

Bethesda Terrace in Central Park

To Do Wednesday: Pig Out in the Park

Prepare the juice cleanse: at the Central Park Conservancy’s annual “Taste of Summer,” dozens of fancy food tables amount to a cavalcade of calories. Gourmet grub is provided by the 21 Club, Armani Ristorante, La Esquina, PJ Clarke’s, Sirio Ristorante, Swifty’s and Tulsi, to name a few. Those with fat wallets and hungry tummies who Read More

Trendy Toddlers

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‘Quinoa Doesn’t Just Live A Modern Fairy Tale, She Wears One’: Imaginary Mom Loves Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter

Toddler fashion has a new face, and her name is Quinoa.

Quinoa is basically just your typical preteen–a hip firecracker with flawless style, razor-sharp wit and private school credentials.

Her playmates are named Elias, Hawkeye, Jasper and Chevron. Her look has been emulated by the likes of Heidi Klum and Rachel Zoe, and she reads Read More