That Popping Sound

The Post follows the money and sees less and less of it. Miller Samuel reports a 13 percent drop in average home price in Manhattan—but then again, outrageous luxury sales have been exagerrating market gains for a long while. More troubling, the Times discovers, is the fact that it is taking almost a third longer to sell real estate than it used to and, nationally, executives at big residential builders are selling stock like Froot Loops. The Post quotes Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman saying, “Their assumption of double-digit price increases every six months isn’t realistic.” Now she tells us. Steve Cuozzo reports that Larry Silverstein is not buying the Governor’s plan for retail at Ground Zero. In the Daily News, Councilmember Yassky rides herd on the Mayor for forgetting about Newtown Creek now that the Olympics aren’t coming. The federal labor board has found a way of solving New York’s rodent infestation problem: get rid of the union rat. Finally, Tom Tomorrow explains New York’s emergency evacuation plan to you.