“We may be getting too close to Big Brother,” a “clearly bothered” Speaker Shelly Silver told the New York Post about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s upcoming ban on large sodas at food establishments, but Mr. Bloomberg isn’t quite sure he’ll hold to that position.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, I assume the governor would veto it so I’m not sure how much of that is made up,” Mr. Bloomberg said this morning on the possibility of Mr. Silver introducing legislation to thwart his soda ban plan.
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At the Pier 15 party last night, after discussing the beauty of the pier itself, as well as SHoP’s work further up the East River Esplanade, particularly the new Pier 35, which Amanda Burden described as “fantastic,” the City Planning Commission chair shared her thoughts, however brief, about NYU’s upcoming expansion. The commission will be voting on the plan come Wednesday.
“It’s perfectly balanced between the needs of the community and the needs of the university,” she said.
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That’s what Gregg Pasquarelli, the SHoP principal told us last night, at a party on the pier, part ribbon cutting (even though the thing opened last fall) part book launch (even though that came out three months ago). Really, this is one of the hottest firms in town, so whenever an opportunity presents itself to drink and party, it is taken.
As The Observer was leaving, Mr. Pasquarelli grabbed our arm and pointed out to the FDR, the underside of which glowed a faint purple.
“You’ve got to take your wife out there, I promise she’s going to kiss you,” he said. “It happens to everyone.”
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“This scheme is plotted on the chart to my left –the smallest demonstrative exhibit that I’ve ever seen used in the DA’s office,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.
The exhibit Mr. Vance was referring to during a press conference in the 8th floor Library at One Hogan Place earlier today was indeed small, just barely large enough to be read from a generous distance.
The scheme, however –in which Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a bank with predominantly Chinese clientele, allegedly helped its customers submit fraudulent mortgage applications that resulted in approximately a billion dollars worth of mortgages issued out by Fannie Mae– was infinitely larger in size, scope and relevance.
19 individuals, former employees and managers of Abacus Federal Savings Bank, were indicted as a result of the scam. 7 of those people already entered guilty pleas, while the remainder of them were set to face arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court throughout the day.
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After all, rival 432 Park is already underway—and looking for more investors, if you’re interested, as The Journalrevealed yesterday—so we figured, what the hey, let’s put them all together.
Welcome to your new skyline, circa 2015.
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Pass the syrup—and the Kleenex, because the Death of Downtown lamentations are only going to get louder as the Village gets its second IHOP.
There’s one in Harlem and one on East 14th Street, and soon there will be one in the West Village, too, at 80 Carmine Street. The International House of Pancakes has hit the Big Apple, folks, and it looks like it’s here to stay.
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In leu of the fact that all bicyclists, regardless of age,might have to start strapping on helmets, the Observer thought we’d get a head start (pun intended) on searching for the most stylish helmets available. As for what to do about the “helmet hair” that we’re sure to get after wearing one, we’re still working on that.
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The journalist Andrew Blum was covering architecture when he got the idea for Tubes. “I was writing mostly about architecture, about buildings, but somehow writing about architecture meant sitting in front of a screen all day, then getting up and walking over and immediately looking at the other screen in my pocket. That seemed like a very strange way of relating to the physical world I was writing about.”
Mr. Blum decided to reverse his research process. Instead of using the Internet to research architecture, he started using architecture to research the Internet. And by architecture, of course, we mean the tubes.
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Yet another beloved Lower East Side institution is in danger of closing its super-cool doors forever. Cake Shop, the club, concert space and baked good purveyor where you can simultaneously dine on vegan whoopie pies and apple cider whilst listening to live music, needs your help. Or rather, your money.
In recent months, the seven-year-old bar/club/music venue has run into financial difficulties, founding brothers Nick and Andy Bodor told The New York Times. To raise money, they have turned to the Internet crowdfunding site, Pledge Music, in the hopes that fans of the club and music lovers will help them rescue their sinking ship.
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Most 24-year-old New Yorkers are putting up with the indignity of shared bathrooms and subdivided living spaces converted into pseudo-bedrooms with pressurized walls.
But not Sophie Auster, whose lit-star dad Paul bought her a one-bedroom condo when she was a senior at Sarah Lawrence.
During an extended tour of Ms. Auster’ amazing condo, the budding chanteuse reveals to the Post that daddy dearest, who lives in a regal Park Slope brownstone, had considered purchasing a Paris pied-a-terre. But when the economy began to hiccup in 2008, Mr. Auster dropped the idea of a pad in the city that fostered his early literary life, opting instead to buy his daughter a place in Hudson Square.
“They thought, well, if we’re going to invest money in some place, we might as well invest it in a place for our child to live while she is trying to do what she wants to do,” Ms. Auster told the Post.Read More
