The Round-Up: Wednesday

A new Brooklyn research facility focused on finding an AIDS vaccine is Bloomberg’s latest effort to transform NYC into a biotech center. [NY Times]

At a town hall meeting in Syracuse on the state’s dire financial situation, Paterson has some tough words for concerned New Yorkers. [NY Times]

New Jersey’s many malls—the most per square mile of any other state—prepare to ride out the economic turbulence. [NY Times]

What $150,00 gets you. [NY Times]

Bloomberg faces an uphill battle with his Willets Point redevelopment plan. [NY Times]

Mayor offers to double the affordable housing units included in his Willets Point plan ahead of a crucial City Council vote on Thursday. [NYDN]

Why one Willets Point business-owner sold out to Bloomberg. [NYDN]

The cost of a subway ride could climb to $3 unless the MTA is graced with a state bailout. [NYDN]

NYC’s non-profit animal shelters to loose $434,000 as part of Bloomberg’s budget cuts. [NYDN]

A colony of rats infest former classroom trailers at a Williamsburg elementary school. [NYDN]

Bronx residents, particularly blacks and Hispanics, are having a tougher time obtaining mortgages than homeowners in other boroughs. [NYDN]

Between the Bricks: Major developers like Extell and Tishman Speyer shed staff; after bailing on the former Limelight, the New York Artist Series decides to open an event space at 54 Crosby Street; Northeast Power Coordinating Council to move from 1515 Broadway to the 10th floor of 1040 Avenue of the Americas. [NY Post]

Bloomberg vows to trim the size of the municipal workface rather than cut its wages. [NY Post]

PBS series This Old House to renovate a 104-year-old Prospect Heights brownstone. [NY Post]

Fannie and Freddie to “streamline” the loan modification process for hundreds of thousands of homeowners behind on their payments. [WSJ]