Tuesday: Gehry’s “Flimflam,” Lauder’s “Club,” and $7b for MSG

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:20:00 -0400

Steves Roth and Ross have a little $7 billion plan to move Madison Square Garden a block west. And to build the Farley Post Office into Moynihan Station, of course. And to transform Pennsylvania Station by erecting a monumental glass canopy (plus 20 Corinthian columns). And to construct five towers on top of Penn Station. "We are about making money here on a grand scale," Mr. Roth admits. (A political "battle royale" The Times declares, "seems unlikely.") (The New York Times)

Jonathan Lethem flexes his argumentative muscles, penning a 2317-word open later to Frank Gehry. Some choice phrases: "out-of-scale flotilla of skyscrapers," "mendacious flimflam," and "slickly patronizing." (Slate, via Curbed)

Really, our hotel industry is doing just fine: if the Hotel Association of NYC ratifies a new labor deal with the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council today, a potentially horrific citywide strike just might be avoided. (Crain's)

Can shunning real estate brokers save sellers money? Sort of. But Prudential Douglas Elliman Senior VP Corinne Pulitzer makes a really convincing case against independence: "We don't drill our own teeth if we're a dentist, and we would go to a real estate professional--both buyer and seller--to understand the data." Exactly. (NY1)

Weird New York beaches are all the rage: the only thing keeping Manhattan tanners from the scenic shores of Astoria, Battery Park and DUMBO are the beaches' isolation, neglect and pollution--plus the potential for drowning. (NY Daily News)

You only have to sacrifice a nation-high $175 (per foot, of course) in order to join the so-called Country Club--a group of skyscrapingly elite Manhattan office buildings. It's really a small price to pay for hanging out with Ron "Klimt" Lauder. (New York Post)

- Max Abelson

Observer » Tuesday: Gehry’s “Flimflam,” Lauder’s “Club,” and $7b for MSG

Tuesday: Gehry’s “Flimflam,” Lauder’s “Club,” and $7b for MSG