By Kim Velsey 10/01/12 2:00pm

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

It's stunning, of course, but is it stunning enough?

Will One57′s Billionaires Butt Heads Over Renovations To Their Brand New Penthouses?

You might think that life would be impossibly pleasant for the set wealthy enough to buy magisterial spreads on the top fifteen floors of One57. But The New York Times reports that a potential storm is brewing on the building’s uppermost floors. Extell is deeply concerned that members of the “billionaire’s club”  will clash with each other as they undertake massive renovations to the yet-to-be finished spaces. Read More

By Matt Chaban 11/11/11 5:28pm

Ink-Stained Wretches

breaksTIMES

Is The Times Making Fun of Itself and Its Building Sale?

David Dunlap, The Times‘s lovely chronicler of the city’s architectural foibles (not to be confused with architecture critic Michael Kimmelman) has a nice little item about the transformation of the old New York Times Building on 43rd Street by that maestro behind-the-scenes building, Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray.

The focus of the piece is a quixotic look at the transformation of the old executive dining room into a basketball court, but one section caught The Observer‘s pink eye in particular. It appears that someone is being razzed here. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 10/04/11 12:15pm

Troubling Developments

The Pavillion, 500 East 77th Street

People Who Live in Waterproof White Brick Boxes…

If you’re considering moving into a white brick building, perhaps to compliment your Mad Men craze for skinny ties and dry martinis, don’t. The bleached blocks, heavily used in the postwar building boom, have fallen distinctly out of style, both aesthetically and materially, according to The New York Times. Once championed as an easy solution to the wear and tear weather wreaks on traditional building materials, as well as a symbol of clean city living, highrises with white brick facades are crumbling around the city. Read More