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Transformer! Brooklyn's Biggest New Tower Set To Change Downtown's Tone, For Better or Worse

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:41:35 -0400

Hundreds of new residents will pour into downtown Brooklyn when its tallest building—the 51-story Brooklyner—opens in 2010.

Building the high-rise at 111 Lawrence Street—Brooklyn’s tallest by two feet—has not been cheap. According to a March report from Commercial Mortgage Alert, the Clarett Group borrowed $181.5 million from the Bank of America, JP Morgan, and ING Real Estate for the $280 million project.

But rents are likely to offset the cost. Studios will start at about...

Single Person's Movie: Conspiracy Theory

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:01:34 -0400

It's 2 a.m. and you awake with a jerk, alone in your fully lit apartment and still on the couch. On TV, the credits of some movie you've already seen a billion times are scrolling by. It feels like rock bottom. And we know, because we're just like you: single.

Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass...

Original Real Estate Stories This Week from Observer.com: 7.10.09

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:58:57 -0400

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Sloane Mansion, Once New York's Priciest Listing, Taken Off Market

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:38:12 -0400

This is a hard, lonely time to be a ludicrously expensive, exceptionally massive piece of luxury Manhattan real estate. Just last month, a Time Warner Center penthouse that was put on the market last year for $65 million sold for just $37.5 million, and Madonna paid $32.5 million for a townhouse that was once asking $45 million.

But an even bigger, more sumptuous piece of New York luxury realty won't be selling anytime soon at...

Krushed by Kardashians at Bubble Gum-Flavored Vodka Klatch

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:53:21 -0400

Holy hangover! Reality stars descended en masse to the introduction of Three-O Bubble Vodka at the Greenhouse nightclub on Thursday, July 9.

Hair-gelled and spray-tanned revelers sipped the bubble-gum-flavored drink of the evening while craning their necks to get a look at the upstairs VIP section, where Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Real Housewife of New Jersey Danielle Staub and The City's Erin Lucas mingled and danced to the DJ’s set of—surprise!—Michael Jackson songs. Pop singer...

Meet New ABT Phenom, Natalia Osipova

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:18:52 -0400

If ever we needed proof that the gods giveth even as they taketh away, it was to be found at ABT this season, when on successive evenings the company presented in the role of Giselle first Nina Ananiashvili, the greatly admired ballerina on the verge of retirement, then the very young and much heralded Bolshoi ballerina Natalia Osipova.

Ananiashvili has never got by on mere virtuosity. She has an endearing personality, appealing looks and—most important—a...

The Old Gang, In Charge

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:38:07 -0400

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Opening this Weekend: Sacha Baron Cohen Says "What's Up" With Brüno and a Former Blair Witcher Makes a Comeback

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:00:57 -0400

If you aren’t in the mood to laugh, we suggest staying away from movie theaters this weekend. Three films hit screens today, all with the express purpose of making you laugh (and possibly cringe). As we do every Friday, here’s a handy guide to the new releases.

Brüno

What’s the story: Unless you’re coming out of a Rip Van Winkle-like sleep, chances are you’ve already...

Hook Lines: Postcards at the Edge

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:53:54 -0400

Editor's note: Hook Lines is a new biweekly column by Sadie Stein, an editor at the blog Jezebel and a Brooklyn resident, about the property and daily life of Red Hook. The first column can be read here.

“Sorry,” says Anne O’Neil, running across the street, clutching a sandwich, to unlock the door of her new shop, Tiburon. “I had to get lunch at Fort...

This Was a Movie Project?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:49:00 -0400

You may have heard that Sony Pictures “dropped the ball” or “struck out” (depending on which baseball cliché jumped into a writer’s head) on a film version of Michael Lewis’ best-seller, Moneyball. The film was set to star Brad Pitt with Steven Soderbergh directing.

The reasons behind Sony’s decision appear to be sound. According to Michael Cieply in The New York Times, Sony has already paid $10 million in script developments...

Train TV: NBC Local Media Keeps on Chugging

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:48:43 -0400

The plight of the modern media company is how to feed an increasing number of platforms with a decreasing number of journalists—er, content creators. In recent years, nowhere has this dynamic been more dramatic than at NBC Universal's local media division. Over the past year, NBCU in New York has rolled out a new 24-hour local lifestyle/news channel, revamped its local Web site, etc. all while jettisoning a sizable chunk of the veteran news...

Look Mag Building Likely To Be Landmarked as LPC Continues Modernist Spree

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:09:07 -0400

Mayor Bloomberg apparently likes Modernist buildings.

The Modernist, multitiered 488 Madison Avenue, once the home of Look Magazine, is on the road toward landmark status as the Bloomberg-controlled Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected Tuesday to begin the designation process for the 1949 building. The move is the latest in a series of designations of Modernist buildings around the city, including the white brick Manhattan House; the International-style, S.O.M.-designed One Chase Manhattan Plaza in Lower...

Entourage Returns for a Sixth Season and Tries to Grow Up

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:04:14 -0400

The tagline being used to promote the sixth season of Entourage (how exactly did we get to six already?) says everything you need to know about why the show is still entertaining after all these summers: “Life Changes. Friends Don’t.” Strip away the dirty jokes and ridiculous plot lines (Medellin anyone?), and the real reason the seminal HBO series still connects with...

Did You Digg It?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:56:27 -0400

If the NYTimes.com most-emailed list was curated by Aunt Mabel, Digg.com's 'top news in all content' list is probably generated by her 20- (or 30-) something nephew: a Twittering, iPhone wielding, card-carrying member of the Wii Generation. Here's what this dude, we'll call him Kevin, and the rest of Diggnation, have been Diggin' in the past week ...

Best shirt for a graduation [PIC] - "Thanks Wikipedia." For sale here.

Dem leader...

DJ Cassidy's 28th Birthday Party Was Last Night—and He Still Hasn't Slept!

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:44:27 -0400

On the night of Wednesday, July 8, DJ Cassidy celebrated his 28th birthday at the New York Public Library with guests Funkmaster Flex, Jay-Z, Estelle, Doug E. Fresh and other hip-hop heavies. Bobby Brown and Rakim put on special performances, and the DJ-to-the-president got an extra-special cake from his father. Due to an embarrassing fall and subsequent busted knee, the Daily Transom missed the festivities, but we caught up with the birthday boy the next...

CNN's John Zarrella on Landing the Bubbles Scoop and His Love of Freaky Florida Stories

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:28:22 -0400

On the night of Monday, June 29, John Zarrella, the Miami correspondent for CNN, got a phone call from a woman named Julie Harder, who is the only female licensed alligator trapper in the state of Florida. Mr. Zarrella was just getting started on a profile of her for the news channel. She told Mr. Zarrella that she had a line on a couple of gators. Did he want to tag along with her...

Jay-Z Close to Book Deal With Spiegel & Grau

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:24:38 -0400

Jay-Z is close to finalizing a book deal with the Spiegel & Grau imprint of Random House. The literary agent repping the rapper, Matthew Guma, had no comment, but sources say the book will consist of Jay-Z commenting on and telling the stories behind his lyrics.

Sources said that when Mr. Guma originally approached editors and publishers earlier this summer, he was talking about doing a bundle of three books: One was going to...

Wells Tower Leaves ICM For Andrew Wylie

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:02:17 -0400

Wells Tower, author of the short-story collection Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, has switched literary agents. Mr. Tower, whom The Observer profiled in March, was previously represented by Heather Schroder of ICM. Today he can be found on the client list of the Andrew Wylie Agency.

Mr. Tower received unanimous praise for Everything Ravaged, his debut collection, which was published this spring by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Before that, Mr. Tower was known primarily for the...

Today on Observer.com: July 9

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:51:13 -0400

Our New Lieutenant Governor, Our Old Senate

City Launching Plan to Turn Unfinished Condos Into Subsidized Housing

I Got It, Thanks: Leases in Manhattan's Doorman Buildings Plunge

Funny People, Lame Marketing

Jimmy the Geek

With Foursquare, Dennis Crowley Aims Past the Nerds

It's Miller Time! The Affable King of Comps Aims at Rentals

C'Mon, Get App-y! For Some iPhone Users, Profusion of Programs Is...

C'mon, Get App-y: For Some iPhone Users, Profusion of Programs Is Just ... Irritating

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:44:40 -0400

One of the key aspects in the marketing campaign for the iPhone 3G S, introduced on June 19, has been the availability of 50,000 applications, with prices for said applications (or “apps” as all the iPhone users call them) ranging from free (such as Google Earth, Cool Facts and fan-favorite Shabbat Shalom) to $449 (the infamous MyAccountsToGo Dynamics GD, which has no user reviews in the online App Store).

Yet despite the seemingly infinite possibilities,...

It's Miller Time! The Affable King of Comps Aims at Rentals

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:08:38 -0400

For the last 15 years, Jonathan Miller has produced the Prudential Douglas Elliman sales reports that hold the New York real estate world in thrall. Thursday, for the first time, he released a rental report. He was excited.

“To me, this is fun,” Mr. Miller said. “I don’t do something unless it’s fun. I’m very childlike. I have four boys, and if they get a remote control car, I get a remote control car.”

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Anything Goes at Shakespeare in the Park!

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:49:30 -0400

I feel that I must reluctantly correct a serious error Oskar Eustis keeps making about his own theater.

The artistic director of the renowned Public Theater is known for his sometimes manic enthusiasm. He’s like the Music Man leading the parade while singing a rousing rendition of “Seventy-Six Trombones”—and no particular harm in that. But in his natural exuberance, he gets things wrong. Among a number of lapses I could mention, by far the...

With Foursquare, Dennis Crowley Aims Past the Nerds

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:04:11 -0400

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Our New Lieutenant Governor, Our Old Senate

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:13:22 -0400

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The History of Jazz, by Darcy James Argue

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:05:02 -0400

Leading his interviewer up to his second-floor apartment on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, Darcy James Argue, the leader of the Secret Society, a postmodern, 18-piece, big-band jazz outfit, apologized for the mess. He'd just received a new shipment of Secret Society T-shirts.

"They are all over my apartment," he said. Mr. Argue's flat is actually almost disappointingly neat. From his billing of his band as "steampunk" and the persona he presents on his Web...

Jimmy the Geek

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:54:20 -0400

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is by far the nerdiest late night show on network television. Our Twittering, video-blogging host has welcomed tech bloggers and Diggnation dudes as headlining guests; he's showcased the latest gadgets—from XBox 360's wireless controller to the Palm Pre—on his show and we (mostly) love him for it. With the help of Fallon's co-producer, G4-TV Attack of the Show! vet Gavin Purcell, Late Night is courting that hyper-connected millenial audience—and...

Desperate Restaurants? Semi-Annual "Week" Will Probably Ooze, Like a Molten Chocolate Cake, Past Labor Day

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:39:26 -0400

At the Time Warner Center on the afternoon of Thursday, July 9, the cast of Hair will serenade New Yorkers in an attempt to drum up excitement for Restaurant Week—which is increasingly seeming like a misnomer for a semi-annual promotion that last January was extended a full four weeks past its initial run.
This season, the “week” is slated to last 19 days, with an option allowing participants to extend their runs until Labor...

I Got It, Thanks: Leases in Manhattan's Doorman Buildings Plunge

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:23:29 -0400

New rent stats suggest that doorman buildings are starting to go out of fashion for the masses as Manhattanites seek to cut back on expenses—even if it means having to hoof their own packages upstairs.

The number of new leases for apartments in doorman buildings dropped 63.2 percent annually in the second quarter of 2009, while apartments not armed with service teams saw a less marked year-over-year drop (47.7 percent) and a 58.2 percent...

City Launching Plan to Turn Unfinished Condos Into Subsidized Housing

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:51:07 -0400

Will the dangling of city money be enough to get stalled condo projects moving again?

Perhaps.

The city is launching a $20 million initiative to restart stalled condo projects, turning some of the unfinished developments into below-market-rate housing. Details are still hazy, but Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Rafael Cestero, said Wednesday that the city would solicit proposals from developers and lenders by the end of...

Maazel's Big Mahler Toodle-Oo: Grand, But a Tad Technical

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:11:42 -0400

In choosing Mahler’s Eighth Symphony for his final suite of concerts with the New York Philharmonic (June 24 through June 27), Lorin Maazel doubtless wanted to go out big—and there’s nothing bigger than the Eighth, which employed some one thousand musicians at its world premiere in 1910. But in doing so, he also chose, unwittingly, a work that could serve as a metaphor for his own conducting: flawless in technique, commanding in style, but...

VocabSushi: Read the Times Without a Dictionary!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:07:56 -0400

Ever read The Times and feel like you need a dictionary by your side? Last month, Times deputy news editor Philip Corbett sent a memo to reporters about the 50 most frequently looked-up words on nytimes.com. "Sui generis," "penury," "peripatetic" made the top of the list. Interesting!

Well, now there's a site that can help you brush up on your vocab without pulling out a No. 2 pencil. Check out VocabSushi.com, a site...

Today on Observer.com: July 8

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:06:20 -0400

The Coney Island Odyssey

Madonna Paid $32 M. for Mansion, More of a Bargain Than We Thought

From Hendrix to Intermix: Bleecker Retail Exits the '60s

PBS Eschews MJ Circus, Will Provide Live Coverage of Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings

Men's Health Columnist Saved by Bimmer; Kristen Johnson Gets Crafty

Basic Blake

Booked!

Aunt Mabel...

The Coney Island Odyssey

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:04:07 -0400

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Madonna Paid $32 M. for Mansion, More of a Bargain Than We Thought

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:13:37 -0400

Two deeds filed in city records Wednesday morning show that Madonna's very weirdly located new mansion officially cost $32 million. She bought the 12,000-square-foot house--where there’s a 38-foot-wide drawing room overlooking a garden; a formal dining room off a garden terrace; three pantries and two kitchens; two libraries and a sitting room; a parlor-floor dry bar and a “wine cellar/grotto” in the basement; plus, of course, a gym--last month, through a limited liability corporation...

From Hendrix to Intermix: Bleecker Retail Exits the '60s

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:46:41 -0400

“Think Jimi Hendrix, think Bob Dylan,” a man walking with a small cluster of tourists last week up Bleecker Street told his camera-toting followers as they continued northwest past Seventh Avenue.

“Think Marc Jacobs,” seems far more accurate today.

And now think LTJ Arthur, as the sleepwear company opens its third New York City location – the others are on Madison and in the Plaza Hotel – joining Intermix, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, and other...

Basic Blake

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:46:33 -0400

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PBS Eschews MJ Circus, Will Provide Live Coverage of Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:57:53 -0400

Unlike, say, NY1, PBS did the seemingly sensible thing yesterday and chose not to provide live coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial, which was, after all, already being carried by all the major broadcast networks, the cable news channels, various Web sites, etc.

But next week PBS will be providing live coverage of an event much more in its wheelhouse than the Hollywood spectacle over the death of a fading pop star—namely,...

My Summer Horribilus

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:37:06 -0400

By the time you read this, I will be far, far away.

For verification, feel free to Google Earth me. Do it right now. Buon giorno! Yes, that’s me in the gaudy, age-inappropriate Etro swim shorts and oversize Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. There I am, splashing around in the Med in front of a little eaterie named Da Giorgio on the island of Capri. Ciao, suckers!

Don’t be jealous. Be glad....

Men's Health Columnist Saved by Bimmer; Kristen Johnson Gets Crafty

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:24:01 -0400

In one year, Mark Millhone’s younger son almost died from birth complications; his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer; his mother died from a heart attack; his dog bit his older son's face, leaving a scar; and his marriage to his wife, Rose, was slowly falling apart.

He bought a 1994 BMW on eBay: an attempt to escape from the life he was living.

Mr. Milhone—a filmmaker, screenwriting professor at NYU and columnist for Men’s Health—just...

Times Sues Council, Gets Reduced Rate for Information That Will Soon Be Free

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:44:57 -0400

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The Malaise-Proofing of Michael Bloomberg

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:56:55 -0400

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Ensor Unmasked

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:29:42 -0400

In Bosch and Breughel, the failings of humankind inspired great images; and following their example, the Belgian painter James Ensor (1860-1949) brought the human caricature up to date. Ensor paints as if to be human is to be grotesque; yet for all our extravagance, gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, pride, we humans remain compelling objects. Mesmerized by this state of affairs, he painted it over and over, primarily through...

Wall Street Journal Develops New York–Specific Culture Section

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:06:49 -0400

Eighteen months ago, at the Marriott Hotel on West Street in the Financial District, Rupert Murdoch had his first meeting as owner of The Wall Street Journal with the newspaper’s bureau chiefs and senior editors.

Over dinner and cocktails, Mr. Murdoch started beating a drum about things he wanted to add to The Wall Street Journal—a snappier front page, an expanded Web site, a sports section and a beefed-up culture...

Zoom! Yum! New Internet 'Paper' to Cover Jetpacks, International Conflict, Food

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:44:10 -0400

Just when you thought the Internet couldn’t get any louder! Tomorrow brings the launch of the Faster Times, “a new type of newspaper for a new type of world.”
Modeled on the Huffington Post, the Faster Times is a combination of original content and aggregated links divided into about 15 sections, including business, politics, arts, food, sports, design and travel. Its staff, led by Faster Times’ founding publisher and...

Palin to Punditry? Probably Not

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:40:53 -0400

Long before Charles Gibson asked her about the Bush Doctrine, before Katie Couric asked her about what publications she liked to read and before her subsequent recriminations about gotcha journalism, Sarah Palin studied communications in college and spent the early days of her career as a local TV sports reporter in Alaska.

“The Iditarod is the biggie, but it’s not the only mushing going on …”

In short, Ms....

Bah, Brüno! We Miss Borat!

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:20:29 -0400

Brüno
Running time 83 minutes
Written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer and Jeff Schaffer
Directed by Larry Charles
Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten

So here’s the problem: How exactly should one judge the new Sacha Baron Cohen movie, Brüno? Should it be critiqued on its success in shocking people (a resounding yes), or for the queasy, teetering-toward-darkness comedy that incites waves of nervous laughter (yes, again), or for the insane...

Bon Jovi Croons, Stahl Snoozes, Cristal Pops in Hoppin' Holiday Hamptons

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:29:46 -0400

To visit the Hamptons over Fourth of July weekend in 2009 was to enter a state of denial about any “global financial crisis.”

On Friday, July 3, business was booming at Savanna’s restaurant in Southampton—a favorite of effusive Real Housewife Ramona Singer. “The people that are running it are from T-Bar in the city, which I love,” she said. “The food, just so everybody knows, is great food now, and great service. Because that...

Zagat Me, Baby! New Mobile App Will Tell You Where to Eat

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:18:12 -0400

In a video posted on YouTube, a pretty young woman with long blond tresses twirls in Times Square at night, phone in hand. She’s staring at the screen, which flashes a compass plotted with nearby restaurants. Scores and distances float above a red dot marking a restaurant’s location. She turns: There’s Bond 45! Turns again: There’s Junior’s! So many options, and all Zagat-ranked.

Handy! Or, definitely handier than...

Blip.tv's Dina Kaplan: When Is the Next Mark Zuckerberg Gonna Startup in New York?

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:06:25 -0400

Dina Kaplan, co-founder of blip.tv, was one of the few New York tech community entrepreneurs who spoke at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's MediaNYC 2020 announcement today. "When we started blip four years ago, everyone kept asking, when are you going to move to Silicon Valley?" Ms. Kaplan said about her company, which hosts and distributes more than 48,000 original Web shows. Ms. Kaplan, a former news reporter for WNBC in New York, founded in Blip.tv...

The Education of Joe Sitt

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:56:29 -0400

The tone of a City Council hearing last week on Mayor Bloomberg’s major Coney Island redevelopment plans was music to Joe Sitt’s ears.

The red-carpeted Council chambers in City Hall quickly became an interrogation room as successive Council Members took their turns bellowing aggressive questions and assertions at a trio of Bloomberg economic development officials.

Why not rule out the...