On Oct. 25, 2007, in a typically optimistic New York Sun column entitled, “All Signs Pointing Up in Downtown Manhattan,” Michael Stoler used the Setai at 40 Broad Street as one of many examples of the florescence of Lower Manhattan.

Josh Zamir, son of 40 Broad developer Asher Roshan Zamir, told Mr. Stoler that a condo buyer had agreed to the highest price ever for a Financial District condo, in this case the project’s penthouse: $1,800 a…