The living room.

You might think that the sale of a magnificent Charles Gwathmey-designed penthouse on Central Park would be as rare as spotting an Iceland Gull in the manicured greensward below. But this year two Gwathmey masterpieces changed hands. What's more, the sellers were both Goldman Sachs men. (And, for the record, on December 17, an Iceland Gull sighting was confirmed at the Reservoir).

On New Year's Eve, Goldman Sachs vice chair J. Michael Evans sold his Charles Gwathmey-designed Park Laurel penthouse at 15 West 63rd Street for $23.7 million, city records show. Mr. Evans slipped in just before the capital gains tax jumped up, saving him considerable cash given that he purchased the 11-room condo for just $10.3 million back in 2003 from Bradford Weston, another Goldman Sachs man.

Mr. Evans, who is among the candidates that may succeed big Goldman boss Lloyd Blankfein, must have been inspired by the stunning Gwathmey penthouse sale at the Verona when he listed his duplex this September with Douglas Elliman broker Sabrina Saltiel.

The Verona sale, which closed over the summer, netted ex-Goldman partner Jonathan Sobel $21 million. The buyer, commerical real estate investor Steven J. Meringhoff, paid a premium for the penthouse, because it wasn't technically for sale. Mr. Sobel, for his part, was happy to trade the penthouse that Mr. Gwathmey had called "a labor of cabinet love" for a grand 15-room duplex at 740 Park Avenue.

Mr. Evans was able to get an even loftier price for his starchitect renovation, though not as much as he would have liked: he was asking $26.5 million. Mr. Evans purchased a $27 million Fifth Avenue co-op earlier last summer, and clearly hoped to trade up without dipping into his considerable savings. (This point goes to Mr. Sobel, who managed to knock down the price on his 740 Park duplex to $19 million, giving him a $2 million profit to line his pockets with).

So how about this architectural masterpiece, located on the top two floors of the Park Laurel? It's no labor of cabinet love, but the living room has 20-foot ceilings, glass and gunmetal walls and an "art wall wine display." Tiny lights in the ceiling "evoke the stars" and provide, you know, light, as well. There are other neat touches like a moving bookcase that seals off the study from the library. Meanwhile, the library is separated from the living room by a stone and steel double-sided fireplace.

Sounds great, but where's the piano, you ask? Why, cantilevered off the balcony!

The buyer is Shadywood Holdings LLC, an organization that we can say definitely sounds shadowy. Or at least not out in the open. Though, knowing what we know about the magnetic attraction that Goldman guys have to Gwathmey, and the pool of buyers who can afford $23.7 million penthouse, we can't help but wonder if this might not be another  one of their ilk.

kvelsey@observer.com

The New York Stock Exchange had planned to open trading electronically while shuttering its physical trading floor. "We are open for business and at the same time acting in accordance with actions taken by the city and state of New York," said NYSE CEO Duncan L. Niederauer said in a release yesterday afternoon.

But NYSE reversed course  last night, announcing it would halt operations completely. The exchange is closed today, and may close tomorrow, "pending confirmation," according to a release.

Nasdaq is also closed today; "it is likely that the markets will be closed" tomorrow, the exchange said in a release.

Bond markets will open, but the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association recommended that markets close at noon today.

Wall Street firms, meanwhile, have been asking nonessential staff to work from home. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan and American Express are among firms to close buildings in evacuation zone A in downtown Manhattan. From a Citigroup memo published by The Times:

All staff based in Citi facilities within mandatory evacuation zones must invoke their work-from-home strategies for Monday and Tuesday unless they are in business-critical roles that have established alternative work locations. Other Citi facilities outside of mandatory evacuation zones should be accessible for critical personnel only; non-critical personnel should invoke their work-from-home strategies.

But when it comes to Greg Smith and the “Why I’m Leaving Goldman Sachs” meme started by The New York Times in March, the investment bank has got plenty to gripe about. According to the Times’s own research, almost all the claims made in Smith’s incendiary Op-Ed--about Goldman Sachs’s moral bankruptcy, toxic culture and love of ripping off clients and referring to them as “muppets”--turned out to be “curiously short” on evidence.

Sure, Goldman went on an all-out PR blitz to make sure we knew this, but that doesn’t mean it's wrong. As the company put it on Twitter this week, the Times took Greg Smith and "made [him] famous,” then, a few months later, exposed him as a fraud.

The trajectory of  this “viral op-ed,” as The Guardian called it, embodies so many of the ills of the media today.

The New York Times created a narrative so powerful that it generated millions of page-views, became a trending topic on Twitter and scored a seven-figure book deal for Smith. Then, months later, the paper saw no conflict in publishing an equally popular story that dismantled that narrative--without the paper having to issue a retraction or admit to any error in judgment.

Of course, the Times doesn’t have to endorse the viewpoints of every guest op-ed, but by giving space to a particular author, it is saying, “‘this person is worth your time.” It is now clear from the Times’s own research that it doesn't believe Smith was.

Did this happen because the Times and the rest of the media failed to police themselves? No, they were having their cake and eating it too. Despite its pretensions, the Times is a traffic-hungry monster like any other publisher, and polarizing stories move the needle. Outlets will do whatever it takes to get them--whatever makes the most money--even if it means creating the rumors, myths and chatter that they later shoot down.

Publish Greg Smith and get a bunch of people riled up. (Don’t vet his credibility pre-publication, of course, because then you might not be able to run it.) Then publish an article--with plenty of help from Goldman Sachs’s crisis PR department--that accuses Greg Smith of acting from ulterior motives ... and, what do you know? People are riled up again. How nicely (and lucratively) that works out!

The data justifies it. The Times is surely aware of the study of its own articles by the Wharton School of Business that found unequivocally that the No. 1 predictor of "virality" is how angry a New York Times piece makes readers.

People have criticized Tina Brown for her trolly Newsweek covers, but the reality is that all journalism today is corrupted by trolling. From Gawker to The New York Times, the game is about publishing whatever will get us to click--not about getting to the truth. In their own way, it’s almost impressive how artfully these sites can do it. Attack Goldman Sachs? It’s a perfect target, because the public has been hoping for dirt on the “evil” financial industry. Once that narrative gets stale, what’s next? Tear down the hero it built up as a vehicle for the first story. Next!

And the rest of the web blindly follows the agenda, publishing its own iterations of whatever the hot story of the moment is. Nine months ago, Goldman Sachs was the villain. Today, it’s Greg Smith. It’s all theater, and the only sincere reaction in town comes from naive readers who don’t know they’re being played.

Until the economics of the business change, we’re stuck with a model in which the press will build people up and tear them down. Our main job as readers--and frankly as human beings--should be to resist the urge to bite.

Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator and a PR strategist for brands and writers.

At Bloomberg Television, Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle followed yesterday's reporting on the results of Goldman's internal investigations (bankers like Jim Henson!), with an interview today with Edith Cooper, global head of human capital management at the firm.On her initial reaction to Mr. Smith's New York Times op-ed: Quite frankly, I had not experienced someone resigning to The New York Times. My first reaction was, who is he and what was his experience? Let's figure that out. What is it, where does he work…to really understand Greg Smith's story.

Her first response: We spoke to his managers. We looked at his reviews. And then we went into a much more exhaustive analysis of all of the different avenues, whether that is compliance or outside third parties that we have in place that our employees could call. It was very difficult for us to believe that an individual could have been in a position where he was so concerned that he would not have expressed it. Our culture is about communication.

On the results of her fact-finding: We focus on the things that we can control and the things we can control are how we can interact with our people. My biggest disappointment is that Greg Smith did not come forward and speak with us. That is our biggest disappointment. Then of course, as we looked into his claims, I was very pleased to see that here there was no merit to those claims.

Meanwhile, from Deal Journal yesterday:

Mr. Smith tells of one near-encounter when he saw Mr. Blankfein, sans clothes, after taking a shower at the gym. Mr. Blankfein was “air-drying,” Mr. Smith writes, something Mr. Smith took not as a display of power but as something men of an older generation tend to do

Which is to say: We're still looking forward to getting out hands on a copy.

A week ago yesterday, The Financial Times reported on the results of Goldman's internal investigation into the allegations that Greg Smith made in a New York Times Op-Ed published in March. What the probe turned up: Prior his very public departure from the firm, Mr. Smith had submitted compensation requests that his superiors believed to be out of line with his performance, and 99 percent of the time Goldman employees wrote the word "muppet" in an email, they were referring to the 2011 movie—not the firm's know-nothing clients.

Perhaps discontented with the attention received by the FT reports, Goldman went and slipped a nine-page summary of the so-called muppet hunt to Bloomberg, which reported today that "the documents paint a picture of Smith that is at odds with the image he fashioned for himself in the op-ed: an altruistic kid from Johannesburg, out of place in the rapacious, wealth-obsessed world of American high finance."

While Goldman was busy getting ahead of Mr. Smith's Oct. 22 pub date, news outlets have likewise been active seeking out early excerpts of the book. On Monday, Dealbreaker had an excerpt describing Mr. Smith's first exposure to the firm, in which one poor undergraduate learned a life lesson by way of a cheddar cheese salad; then Politico offered snippets regarding an apparently unseemly business in options on European banks and a woman nicknamed Ms. Silicone, and Dealbreaker was back with a kind of riveting tale of Mr. Smith's Ping-Pong prowess.

On the strength of these leaked excerpts, it's been understood that the book doesn't contain any major bombshell allegations against the firm.  Well, perhaps that's not surprising, given Mr. Smith's mid-level position at the firm (he was one of about 13,000 vice presidents, according to Bloomberg), and his presumed distance from the subprime business that sullied Goldman's reputation.

Be that as it may, we found the excerpts engrossing—not the first nor last word but a well-written one, and a relatively rare glimpse into life at the firm. For a guy who ended his career in investment banking in the heat of moral indignation, the bits we've read don't paint a particularly harsh picture of Goldman.

Maybe that's not surprising, but it was enough to remind us of the prologue to The Big Short, in which author Michael Lewis reflected on his first book. If he'd had any hopes for the publication of Liar's Poker, Mr. Lewis wrote, it was that "college students trying to decide what to do with their lives might read it and decide that it's silly to phony it up, and abandon their passions or even their faint interests, to become financiers." Instead college students took Liar's Poker as an instruction manual.

Well, we're not saying that Mr. Smith is Michael Lewis, and of course we've only read a smattering of pages, too few by far to know the tone of Why I Left Goldman Sachs. But it tickles us to consider the possibility that, for all of Goldman's efforts to dismiss the book pre-publication, and even as we tread into an era of boring banking, Mr. Smith's tale of his career, pre- and post-crisis, might make the industry feel fun again.

Greg Coffey, the co-chief investment officer of Moore Capital Management's European business, is stepping away from the trading floor, according to Bloomberg. Mr. Coffey lost money for clients in the last two years amid tumultuous European markets. He joins Brevan Howard co-founder Chris Rokos and energy trader John Arnold among big players to walk away from hedge funds in the last year.

New Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat's experience running the bad bank which disposed of toxic assets in the wake of the financial crisis, will likely come in handy. According to The Wall Street Journal: Citi Holdings accounts for 24 percent of the bank's assets under new capital rules.

Worst-case scenario projections for the Spanish economy used in a stress test of the nation's banks looks increasingly likely, according to some banking analysts.

A lawyer for Rajat Gupta, the former McKinsey & Co. chief executive officer convicted earlier this year of insider trading, said his client should be sent to Rwanda, not prison. Gary P. Naftalis suggested that Mr. Gupta should be sentenced to probation and allowed to spend the time conducting humanitarian work in the African nation, according to The Times. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of eight to 10 years.

Also from The Times article on Gupta: imagine the indignation when Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney whose office prosecuted Mr. Gupta, arrived to speak to one of his daughter's Harvard Business School classes.

Morgan Stanley beat analysts' estimates, posting profit of 28 cents a share excluding accounting adjustments, according to a press release today.

Bank of America eked out a small profit in the third quarter, the firm said yesterday.

When states attorneys general agreed to a $25 billion settlement with the nation's largest mortgage servicers, the deal included direct payments totaling $2.5 billion to states themselves. The expectation was that state governments would use the funds for mortgage initiatives, according to The Wall Street Journal, but much of the money is being used to plug budget holes.

The FBI arrested a Bangladeshi man and charged him attempting to detonate a 1,000-pound bomb on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Which is to say, a court in Ghana ruled in favor of Mr. Singer yesterday, affirming the hedge fund manager's right to seize a training ship owned by the Argentinean navy over unpaid sovereign bonds. The Elliott Management affiliate contesting the issue is believed to be asking $20 million to return the three-masted frigate.

When you say not-nice things about people, they tend to say not-nice things about you, at any rate, that's been the case for Greg Smith, noted ping pong enthusiast and author of the forthcoming memoir, Why I Left Goldman Sachs. With the book set to come out next week, some Goldman bankers chatted up the Financial Times, telling the paper that until shortly before Mr. Smith's resigned on the op-ed page of The New York Times, he'd seemed more concerned with how much money he was making, and less interested in what he later labeled Goldman's toxic culture.

In other news, 99 percent of the times Goldman bankers used the word "muppet" they were referring to last year's movie, again, according to the FT.

Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein would pay higher taxes if it meant he didn't have to read Mr. Smith's book, or you know, if it would reduce the national debt or something.

JPMorgan said third-quarter profit rose 34 percent from a year ago as revenue from mortgage-lending rose.

The firm's chief financial officer Doug Braunstein is considering a new role at the bank, according to Bloomberg. Head of regulatory affairs and former chief risk officer Barry Zubrow was said last week to be retiring at the end of the year.

Morgan Stanley and IKB are being sued for selling mortgage-backed securities that quickly soured, turnabout for IKB, which has often been on the other side of mortgage lawsuits.

Brian Moynihan is still planning on letting go 30,000 employees.

Larry Ellison may be bidding on sports and entertainment giant Anschultz Entertainment Group, according to Reuters.

Alexander Rekeda, a former trader at Mizuho Financial Group, was the rare distinction being charged over two separate derivatives deals he structured in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Abelow: now investing in real estate.

It is one thing for a young banker to move to Williamsburg. It is an expected, if unfortunate, product of gentrification. But what does it say when a former Goldman Sachs boss and New Jersey political hand drops a million bucks on a Burg condo?

While former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine distracted himself from the whole MF Global scandal with plans for a new hedge fund (who wouldn't like to think of making millions after you lose billions?), his former chief of staff, Goldman buddy and MF Global second-in-command Bradley Abelow decided to pick up another home, a condo on Karl Fisher Row overlooking the track and field at McCarren Park.

20 Bayard Street.

City records show that Mr. Abelow purchased a three-bedroom, two-bath condo at 20 Bayard Street through the Bradley Abelow Family 2000 Trust. Carolyn Murray, Mr. Abelow's wife, is named as trustee.

The sponsor unit was only listed for $995,000 with Corcoran brokers Deborah Rieders, Sara Shuken and Yael Epstein. But what's $5,000 to a former Goldman partner, who paid an even $1 million for the property?

Given that Mr. Abelow has a comfortable spread in Montclair, N.J., and he really seems more the Upper East Side or formerly-UES-now-Tribeca type, we doubt he bought the space for himself. Even if it is "the tallest building on McCarren Park." No, we'd guess that this loft-like space was purchased as a crash pad for one of his kids. Sure, Wall Street types have been picking up fancy condos on the waterfront, but they're more up-and-comers. Not suburbanites hoping to spend their weekends in the city at Brooklyn Flea. Or maybe they are?

Not that the place would make a bad pied-a-terre. Mr. Abelow could count his gold on the aptly-named Calcutta Gold marble countertops or take long, relaxing baths in the deep soaking tub to forget the headache that was MF Global.

It could also be an investment property, since the Brooklyn, especially the North Brooklyn, rental market is so hot right now. Then again, given Mr. Abelow's recent track record (a reelection bid lost to Chris Christie, the whole MF Global thing), maybe this really is the kiss of death for the Burg.

kvelsey@observer.com

Goldman Sachs is lobbying the government to exempt investment vehicles known as credit funds from the Volcker rule, The Journal reports. If lobbying fails, the firm may be preparing for a game of a "Whac-A-Mole" as it devises strategies to dodge regulators.

An oil discovery in the Celtic Sea may offer salvation for the Irish economy!

Gold mining offers hope for Greece!

A list of nearly 2,000 Greek's with Swiss bank accounts has gone missing as the nation's political system devolves into "tragedy with elements of low comedy."

Leon Black, the chief executive of Apollo Global Management and the presumed buyer of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" for $120 million in May, acquired the high-end art book publisher Phaidon as a personal investment, according to The Times.

Third Point, the hedge fund founded by Dan Loeb, financed Penske Media's acquisition of Variety. Marc Lasry's Avenue Capital and Ron Burkle were said to be underbidders.

Wells Fargo managed to sell bad mortgages without sending embarrassing obscenity-filled emails about it.

Some finance professors sent out an anonymous survey to chief financial officers of publicly traded companies. About 20 percent said they engaged in legal but aggressive accounting techniques to hit earnings targets.

The outpouring began last month, when Goldman announced that Mr. Schwartz would succeed Mr. Viniar at the beginning of next year. Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt told The Journal that the Federal Reserve would love Mr. Schwartz's "no-nonsense demeanor and sense of humor." The Times called him "affable and brawny." 

That sort of measured praise was mere appetizer to the meal Bloomberg served today, in which one former colleague said Mr. Schwartz would "put the firm first" but not to the "detriment of the firm's clients," and another noticed "whenever we were in a situation where things were either tough or difficult," Mr. Schwartz was lending a hand, and a host of other sources who noted that:

Mr. Schwartz was a lackluster high school student whose facility with numbers led him to finance; borrowed money to get through Rutgers and later donated $1.5 million to fund financial aid at the university; plays mediocre but enthusiastic golf; bicycles; was apparently a voice of reason when Goldman was selling mortgage investors shitty deals; lives with one Annei Hubbard, a hero of a 2002 incident at an East Village bar, during which she was shot in the leg while helping to apprehend a deranged gunman; wrote a $10,000 check to help a stranger (Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert) buy a house for another (Indonesian) stranger.

Well, sounds swell! A quality which will note doubt serve him as he seeks to push the firm's share price above 2005 levels.