In honor of the station's 100th anniversary next year, the Architectural League and the Transit Museum teamed up to host a drawing competition calling for "architectural sketches for a contemporary terminal." Well, contemporary they sure are. Among the 20 winners (all on display on the League's website) are some conventional, and quite lovely, renderings of the station. But there are also some dynamic, dizzying, dreamy and deconstucted ones as well, which The Observer liked best and has collected here.

A special edition Moleskine notebook, available at the Transit Museum, has been produced to honor the drawings, as well as containing historical info and images about Grand Central. And it still leaves room for your own sketches, of course.

Wouldn't it be something if this was the Grand Central of the future? Just watch your step.

A shady deal! (Getty)

Apple has been one of the hottest companies on the planet for going on a decade now, and that includes its retail stores. That glass cube on Fifth Avenue is perhaps the architectural icon of the city this century.

When The Observer learned that Apple was thinking of bringing its biggest iStore to Grand Central Terminal last year, it was viewed as a coup for both the company and the MTA—could there be a more desirable shop in a more desirable location? The fanfare that greeted the store's opening rivaled that of an Apple product launch, with lines for days.

But then it was revealed that Apple was not paying a share of its profits to the MTA, as every other retailer at Grand Central does. The MTA insisted it was a good deal, but State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli promised an investigation last fall, and he has concluded in a new audit [PDF] that Apple got a sweetheart deal that is rotten for the MTA and tax payers.

The audit found that as far back as November 2008, nearly three years before an official RFP was released for the project, the MTA's real estate department (MTA RED in the words of the audit) had begun negotiating with the Cupertino-based tech giant. There were a number of negotiations between that period, not only with the MTA but also Metazur, the Mediterranean restaurant that occupied the concourse Apple would later take over for a $5 million buyout.

"Our analysis shows that the playing field was not level and fair for all vendors," the audit reads. "We conclude that the competitive process reported by MTA RED in this instance was significantly slanted in Apple’s favor."

Among the more damning passages in the audit is the fact that Apple agreed to front $2 million to Metazur five days before the RFP was released, suggesting it already had a lock on the space. It also suggests that there were no other respondents to the RFP besides Apple in part because it was tailored expressly for the company.

According to the audit: "One vendor’s correspondence to the MTA dated June 17, 2011 stated that the upfront cost of $5 million was too great of an investment and precluded the vendor from submitting a formal bid on the space. The vendor further indicated that only an entity with a lot of liquid capital would be able to afford the lease under these terms."

In a fiery statement, MTA chairman and CEO Joe Lhota said that the agency followed the letter of the law in issuing its RFP and the comptroller's report demonstrates an ignorance of real estate negotiations.

“The Comptroller's audit staff clearly has no understanding of how high-profile commercial real estate works, given the shockingly inaccurate and clearly biased audit they issued," Mr. Lhota said. "Remember Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's old adage, 'You have the right to your opinion, you don’t have the right to your own facts'?  This audit is not fact-based, and accordingly, the auditors’ opinion is worthless."

It is true that the RFP process presents its own problems for finding a tenant in a market-based way closer to what private landlords can undertake, but that means the RPF process needs reform, not subversion.

There is a political dimension to the audit in that the comptroller is now seeking authority to oversee similar RFPs in the future. Currently, that authority only extends to non-competitive contracts. While this one was deemed competitive, the comptroller is arguing that was merely a sugar coating—the MTA spent two years negotiating with Apple, then essentially used the agreed upon terms to issue the RFP.

Yet the comptroller is not saying this is necessarily a bad deal for the agency so much as a matter of bad practice—what if next time the insider is not Apple but someone less impressive? Had the process been a single-source contract, which would have been reviewable, so be it.

“While Apple may turn out to be a good tenant, the MTA set a troubling precedent when it played favorites and gave Apple a competitive edge over others for the Grand Central space,” Mr. DiNapoli said in a release. “Apple was directly involved in setting the terms of the lease and given exclusive access to information more than a year before any other vendor knew the Grand Central location was available."

In fact, the comptroller is quite fond of Apple: the state pension fund owns more than 3.1 million shares of the company's stock worth $1.9 billion.

Choo chew! (Peep Meat)

History has shown us that when being invaded, one party’s failure to cooperate seldom ends peacefully. Although in this instance World War Three won’t be the outcome, for some New Yorkers, it may feel like it: Shake Shack is not coming to Grand Central just yet.

A legal battle is looking certain as Grand Central Mexican restaurant Zócalo has refused to vacate its space in the terminal to make way for the new Shake Shack, according to Crain's. Last summer, word of the famous burger franchise’s intentions of moving into the landmark leaked out like a melting shake, but a year later there are still no shackstacks available in its marble corridors.

"Zócalo is desperately pursuing any possible means to remain in possession of space it no longer has the legal right to occupy, contrary to the legal rights of the MTA and Shake Shack," an MTA spokesman told Crain's. He noted that a civil court in a landlord-tenant proceeding already ruled that the Mexican eatery is in unlawful possession of the space, since its lease has expired.

In the current lawsuit, Mr. Shapiro, who also owns two Flex Mussels restaurants in the city, alleges that because Shake Shack is a chain that operates 14 locations, including outposts in Dubai and Kuwait City, it is ineligible for the spot under the request for proposals restrictions. The request limited bidders to chains with fewer than 10 operating locations, according to the suit.

Like in invasions of the past everybody loses. Owner Danny Meyer must wait to open his 6th Manhattan shack. A mediocre Mexican restaurant looks to be entering a legal battle it cannot win but most importantly it could well be another year before commuters will be able to get their hands on one of the coveted patties.

Dig in!

The new Apple store in Grand Central Terminal is a lovely, understated project in one of the city's premier public spaces.

All the same, some sour apples have been complaining that the Cult of Steve has been paying below market rents for its space, leading to an investigation by the state. The M.T.A. counters that Apple is still paying more than the previous tenant, and its arrival means bigger revenues across Grand Central, given Apple's appeal. This latter bet appears to be paying off.

According to Crain's, that culinary slam dunk, The Michael Jordan Steakhouse, has seen a 7 percent jump in sales since Apple opened. And this is not simply because a competing restaurant was closed—while the new store was under construction, there was no commensurate rise in receipts. The M.T.A. says this proves the success of the Apple strategy, as do the dribbling meat eaters.

“We know their customers are coming here,” Matthew Glazier, an owner of the steakhouse, told Crain's. “I'm always looking for the little white bags."

Another perfect accompaniment? Maybe a Junior's cheesecake or some of Mendy's signature matzah ball soup. Just imagine the synergies when Shake Shack opens. Between there and Apple, a giant Möbius strip of lines will form, with no escape.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

Mr. Pinsky gave his comments participating in a panel this morning in midtown hosted by the accounting and business consulting firm Margolin, Winer & Evens LLP and came as other panelists, including Mr. Pinsky himself, highlighted the need for new space in the city.

16 Court Street.

Edward Minskoff, chief executive of the eponymously named real estate investment and development firm as well as Christopher Albanese, a prinicipal at the Albanese Group, also spoke at the event and described new office development projects their firms are undertaking.

Mr. Minskoff is currently in the initial stages of building 51 Astor Place, a roughly 425,000 square foot office building that he said would cost tenants upwards of $100 per square foot in rent but would nonetheless draw takers, he said, because of its state-of-the-art space and amenities. Mr. Albanese’s firm is also planning a new office development at 511 West 21st Street, which borders the popular High Line Park. He said he would seek rents around $80 per square foot for the property.

Talk has become focused in the real estate industry in recent years about the city’s aging office stock and the need to develop new buildings in order to preserve the city's place as a preeminent global city, especially as new development surges in competing foreign markets like China and India. Mr. Pinsky acknowledged the challenge, citing the city’s recent exploration of a rezoning plan in the neighborhoods surrounding Grand Central Terminal that would encourage new, larger office towers in that area.

But when the panel’s moderator, Michael Stoler, a managing director at Madison Realty Capital and host of a popular real estate talk show on public television, turned the conversation to downtown Brooklyn, Mr. Pinsky came to the defense of the proposal, which would create a district of landmarked skyscrapers in that neighborhood.

“Just because the buildings there are old doesn’t mean they can’t be made into technologically advanced properties,” Mr. Pinsky said.

“Google paid almost $2 billion for an old Port Authority industrial building,” Mr. Pinsky added, referring to 111 8th Avenue, where the internet giant bases its New York headquarters. “Just because it can’t be torn down doesn’t mean it’s doomed to remain obsolete.”

Creation of the downtown Brooklyn skyscraper district took a major step forward on Tuesday when a subcommittee in the New York City Council voted to approve the area’s landmarking, leaving only the Council, which usually follows the wishes of its subcommittees, to vote on it. The city’s real estate industry has recoiled at the landmark proposal, complaining that it would preserve unremarkable buildings and would make renovations and new development in the area difficult or impossible.

Mayor of the Capital of Innovation. (Getty)

The main focus of the Mayor Michael Bloomberg's State of the City speech today may have been on taking another crack at fixing the city's schools and streamlining its government, but this is still Mike Bloomberg, remaker of skylines and rebuilder of waterfronts, so there was bound to be a lot of development goodies studding the speech.

Aside from the Kingsbridge Armory announcement, which was previewed yesterday, the proposal that most jumped out was one for the heart of Midtown. "In the area around Grand Central, we’ll work with the City Council on a package of regulatory changes and incentives that will attract new investment, new companies and new jobs," the mayor said.

That was all he said about the proposal, in fact. The Observer reached out to City Hall and the Department of City Planning a few hours ago, but so far we have not heard back on what this plan could be. A rezoning? Rent breaks? Tax breaks? Hard to say exactly, this being a highly developed area commanding the highest commercial rents in the entire country.

Still, with the World Trade Center and the Far West Side developing at a nice clip, some in the real estate industry have complained that the still grand but not quite central midcentury towers of Park and Lex may become ugly step children in the brave new New York. With East Side Access in the works, providing an easier commute to the station, it would make sense to find new ways to continue growing the heart of the city's central business district.

Among the other marquee projects outlined were new fine arts and film incubators, new incentives to keep the Hunts Point produce market from crossing the Hudson into Jersey, and, of course, ongoing support at the World Trade Center to see that project through. (Even if the mayor is butting heads with the governor over the opening date of the 9/11 museum.)

There is a new mega-mall coming to Parkchester in the Bronx and a new mega-development in Astoria—that appears to be the long-delayed Hallets Point project, which began making news again at the end of last year. And there will be rezonings and relocations.

"We’ll begin rezoning East Fordham Road to allow for more private sector investment and explore economic development possibilities on Webster Avenue. To do that, we’re working with a group of neighbors we call the Bronx Quad: the New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo, Montefiore Medical Center and of course, the emerging basketball powerhouse, Fordham University."

[...]

“In Queens, Jet Blue will open its new headquarters in Long Island City and an expansion of the Queens Museum of Art will double its size. On Staten Island, we’ll create a new blue-collar-friendly industrial business zone, we’ll redesign the zoo’s aquarium, and we’ll help break ground on a major apartment and retail development at the Homeport, creating more than 1,100 construction jobs.

“In Brooklyn, more good blue-collar jobs will come to the waterfront both in Sunset Park and at the Navy Yard."

There will also be even more tourists, the mayor hopes.

The most far-reaching proposal may come from the streamlining section of the speech, where the mayor introduced the Partnership to Build NYC, an expansion of the current Department of Buildings programs to speed up building approvals. "Our goal is ten days or less–and we’re not talking about cutting corners, we’re talking about cutting red tape," the mayor said.

He also said he wants "streamlining City Planning’s review of land use applications." Could this mean the overhaul of ULURP everyone from community advocates to Big Real Estate have been clamoring for?

And not to ignore the streets, there will be more slow zones and more bike lanes—just in time for bike share—so the bikelash may indeed continue into 2012.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

It's better than nothing... or warmed over Mexican. (Getty)

This time next Friday—actually, starting sometime around Monday probably—the fan boys will begin lining up in Grand Central Terminal to be the first into the new Apple Store when it opens Dec. 9.

Will they care whether Apple is paying $60 per square foot, or $80, or $180? Probably not. But State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli cares, and yesterday, his office announced they would do an audit of the M.T.A.'s real estate practices, following up on one from last year, to make sure the transit agency is not cutting anybody—Apple, Danny Meyer, their mother—a sweetheart deal.

To which the M.T.A.'s response is: "Bring it on."

That is the opening volley in a statement sent out today in response to the news of the audit. The statement concludes: "This is the best possible deal for the MTA, quadrupling the rent we receive and bringing foot traffic to Grand Central Terminal that will increase revenue from all of our retailers. We look forward to explaining the details of this competitively bid transaction to anyone who is interested."

According to M.T.A. spokesman Aaron Donovan, the kind of crowds that will soon be flooding Grand Central are precisely why the M.T.A. fought so hard to bring Apple into the station. Not only is it paying a much larger rent than the previous tenant, restaurant Métrazur, but it will occupy previously closed spaces and contribute $2.5 million in permanent capital improvements to the station.

But the real plus—unless you're a commuter trying to wend your way through them to catch a departing trains—are those crowds. For while the M.T.A. will not be taking a cut of Apple's sales, it still gets a bump from almost every other business in the station. Assuming there is a trickle down effect, which the M.T.A strongly predicts, it still means more money for the agency, a 1 percent bump in revenues for every extra $500,000 spent in the station, in fact. (That's a lot of Junior's cheesecakes.)

"It's like an anchor tenant," Mr. Donovan said. And then some. Apple is projecting it will do $100 million in sales at the store.

"Of course they gave them the store," retail broker Faith Hope Consolo said. "They stood on their head to give it to them. It's a win-win for everybody."

Ms. Consolo said to not factor in the infrastructure investments or the $5 million Apple had to pay to buy out the restaurant's lease, as the Post did when it originally reported the "sweetheart deal" would be to ignore the basic economics of commercial leasing. "If they didn't have to do that, of course the M.T.A. could have charged them more, but they wouldn't have taken the space."

As for whether or not Apple should have to pay a percentage of its sales like everybody else, Mr. Donovan said it was the company's corporate policy not to do so. This is despite the fact Apple does pay part of its sales at both its Fifth Avenue and Soho stores to the landlords there. An Apple spokesman declined to comment. "That's not information that we share," he said.

"We had an uphill battle going that because they were the only bidder," Mr. Donovan said of Apple's interest in the space. Take it or leave it, in other words.

Regardless, it underscores the station's growing popularity as a shopping destination, from the food hall to the luxury shops lining the concourses—it's not all newsstands and shoeshines anymore. Between Apple and the new Shake Shack, Grand Central has arrived. And Comptroller DiNapoli does not necessarily dispute this, either. "Just because we are looking at this does not mean it is a bad deal," a spokesman said. "We do audits all the time."

Nonetheless, there will be an audit, no matter what the M.T.A. or Apple says, which will take about two months to complete.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

Ticked off. (Dan Kaufman)

With all the fan boy excitement surrounding the new Apple Store at Grand Central, it is no surprise the shiny glass bauble was able to land a sweetheart deal for the space. Now, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is probing Apple's lease with the M.T.A., according to the Post, looking for signs of whether or not there was anything untoward about the deal.

As the Post reported yesterday, Apple is forgoing profit-sharing requirements that are common among most Grand Central retailers at the same time the glass goldmine is enjoying particularly below-market rents for its space. Receipts are expected to top $100 million a year.

"The article in the New York Post about the M.T.A.’s contract with Apple in Grand Central Terminal is a cause for concern,” Mr. DiNapoli told the tab. “This is a prime property, and I intend to make sure that the M.T.A. hasn’t given away the store.”

The M.T.A. argues that because Apple had to buyout the previous tenant, it is actually paying about three-times its listed rent of $60 a square foot, and there is the fact that the M.T.A. is still making more off Apple than the restaurant it is replacing, almost 10 times as much. Still, why is it everyone always makes exceptions for Steve?

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

Their strategy for being in front of as many New Yorkers as possible—New York is the media capital of the world, their site notes--was to host the final tournament in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall, where media elites traipsing home to the suburbs would practically trip over it.

The $12,500 per day rental fee marks the most expensive installation that Teen Masters tournament founder Gary Beck says he has ever hosted.

“We’re telling a very compelling story, and if you’re going to do that, you need to tell the story where it can be heard,” Mr. Beck, who lives about 20 miles outside of Charlottesville, explained. “There’s no other place in the world you can reach as many people as New York.”

Already, the event has been mentioned by New York media sources such as DNAinfo, the New York Times, and HuffPost.

But at 2 p.m. today, though several media sources had already arrived for the 1 p.m. start, no bowling balls could be heard.

A man bent over the bowling lane with a saw in hand, trimming the end.

They had begun setting up the lane and surrounding bleacher seating last night at 8 p.m., working through logistical issues. 18 hours later, Mr. Beck still had not slept.

When the contractors had arrived this morning to work on the lane, their attire had not met required safety standards, so they had to go shopping for items such as metal-toed shoes before beginning work.

“We had problems because it has never been done before,” said Mr. Beck, adding that the 1,600 pound pin deck had to be carried from the loading dock three blocks away. “It’s more complicated but it’s worthwhile… You wouldn’t be talking to me if we weren’t here.”

“We have all kinds of wacky events in Grand Central,” said MTA spokesperson Margie Anders.

An annual squash tournament, cooking demonstrations and fashion shows have also taken place in the train station’s Vanderbilt Hall. A wedding – complete with a 53-piece orchestra and 500 guests – is scheduled for later this month.

“You never know what you’re going to see in there,” Ms. Anders stated.

The space was converted from a 650-person waiting room to event venue in 1998. Just one lane was being set up for the tournament – the design already approved to meet MTA engineering and safety standards – with the oil pattern determined by the current tournament leader.

Still, with 700,000 people passing through the terminal on a given weekday, Grand Central is no average tournament bowling alley.

“I believe it’s going to be so distracting and nerve-wracking,” said 18 year-old Ryan Ventillo, who had moved onto the final round. “I think it’s a good idea for exposing the sport and the tournament, but as far as bowling I think it’s going to be real difficult… You can’t let all these distractions and all these obstacles get to you.”

While no competitors are city residents, several are from New York State, and as Long Island resident Jeffrey Juarez described, can often be identified because they “tend to be very loud and obnoxious when they bowl.”

After all, 15-year-old reasoned, “You want the intensity level to stay right where it is.”

The Teen Masters Bowling championship participants had taken a party bus from New Jersey to Manhattan that morning for the opening ceremony and final rounds. Many said they play for school teams, attend tournaments weekly and practice daily for about three hours. Of five participants from New York interviewed, three said they took up bowling because their parents bowl.

“I pretty much grew up in a bowling alley,” Tommy Genova, a 17-year-old participant competing for the $64,000 scholarship prize, said, adding that he hopes the event brings attention to an often overlooked sport.

“That’s a shame he had this delay,” an onlooking father noted of Mr. Beck, as he tested the event microphone.

But rush hour was still a ways away.

The Apple store at the GM Building. The new one will be a lot bigger.

It's official, at least according to The New York Post: Apple will be opening a grand new store in Grand Central: 23,000 square feet at $800,000 a year for the first 10 years and then a lot more after that.

The long and winding road to this reportorial point started with The Observer in early February. It was back then we had what we thought was a big, big scoop:

Apple has begun a super-secret quest for a store in historic Grand Central Terminal, potentially creating a hive of buzzing techies in the glamorous Beaux Arts landmark.

Reliable sources tell The Observer that the maker of ubiquitous iGadgets–from computers to cell phones–hopes to open a store in the transportation and retail hub, though it has yet to begin the long approval process necessary for opening in a city landmark.

The world little noted, nor long remembered it. In fact, we very nearly retracted the scoop a month later based on a single tweet by a broker. We did think it was odd, or at least a hell of a thing to pull off, given the landmark status of the train station and the costs inherent in doing retail business inside there.

But then The Times story dropped last week, and The Post's this week.

And we're all booted up for fresh tech puns in headlines. Here's one: Apple Takes Shine to Grand Central.

tacitelli@observer.com    ::     Follow on Twitter @tacitelli