The (Big) Round-Up: Monday

The collapse of a 22-story crane Saturday killed at least four people and injured 24. [NY Times]

Questions about the New York Public Library's purpose muddle the $1 billion planned expansion. [NY Times]

Manhattan attracts more butlers than any city in the western world, and 17 of them are working 24-hour shifts at the newly renovated Plaza. [NY Times]

Brooklyn residents eagerly await the Landmarks Preservation Committee's vote to designate the Midwood Park-Fiske Terrace a historic district Tuesday, but even then only half of Victorian Flatbush will be protected. [NY Times]

The story of the departure lounge jacked up on timbers and amputated from its concourse in an out-of-the-way-section of the tarmac is an odd tale of airport diplomacy. [NY Times]

"Where did all the truckers go?" An upscale Italian restaurants serving a $15 braised, short-rib sandwich, a bodega turned nightclub, and a planned Whole Foods are just a few signs of Gowanus' gentrification. [NY Times]

Lowballers are feeling empowered to bid low and keep their hopes high in the current real estate market. [NY Times]

Habitats: In the wake of bad publicity, a retired investment banker buys two raw floors at Richard Meier's 173 Perry Street building for a relative bargain. [NY Times]

Duncan Sheik has put the 2,400 square foot Tribeca loft where he wrote Spring Awakening on the market to move to more adult digs. The asking price was just reduced $75,000 to $2.85 million. [NY Times]

The 575 units in one of Williamsburg's largest developments The Edge are about to go on sale in a market already suffering from a glut of condos. The success or failure of The Edge will be a barometer for both the New York City market and Williamsburg's. [NY Times]

Getting rid of an entrenched co-op board that is not doing its job is no easy feet, real estate lawyers say. [NY Times]

A rising number of borrowers are no longer attempting to renegotiate mortgages and instead are filing suits against lenders in court. [NY Times]

Living In: Woodside Queens. [NY Times]

What's behind the 13 violations at the Turtle Bay construction site? [NY Post]

Crane phobia sets in across the city. [NYDN]

The early probe into last weekend's East Side crane disaster focuses on the building contractor. [NYDN]

A second bidder emerges for Brooklyn's biggest affordable housing complex Starrett City. [Crain's]

JP Morgan agrees to buy Wall Street's fifth-largest securities firm Bear Stearns for $240 million, about 90 percent less than it was valued last week. [Bloomberg]