Thursday: Stavros III's Grandpa, Today's Ann Curry, Hammarskjold's Milkshakes

Neighbor from hell. [Trent]

• Why should Brooklyn get all the gargantuan $1 billion developments? The City Council has approved plans for Long Island City's Silvercup Studios. The name says it all: 2.7 million square feet of television and film fun, 665,000 square feet for commercial space, plus 1,000 units of housing. And a roof terrace for the grateful Queens public. (Crain's)
• Cute little Ann Curry is being sued by her neighbors on West 71st--though technically she hasn't even moved to the block yet. It usually takes us years to alienate those in our immediate proximity, though to be fair we've rarely done home construction which forces out 25-year tenants nearby. (Also we usually move into our $2.9 million townhouses in less than 32 months.) (NY Daily News)
• Why the enormous photograph of Paris Hilton in a Post commercial real estate column? Because a non-profit named after Ms. Hilton's ex-boyfriend's grandfather has bought the 22nd floor at 645 Madison. Equally bewildering: the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation paid $105 per foot. (NY Post)
• Frank Bruni gets nostalgic for the simpler times, when Dad--or any gentleman--could provide guests a price-free menu when hosting at a restaurant. "Giving her a menu that didn't show how much the lobster cost was considered a laudable act of chivalry," Mr. Bruni explains. A hex on "women's liberation"! A hex on The Four Seasons and its liberal sensibilities! (NY Times)
• The riveting milkshake saga continues: The Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Park have failed (at least for now) in their effort to stop a milkshake vendor from setting up shop in the pretty D.H. Plaza. Those shakes are so tasty, yet so controversial. (NY Sun)
• - Max Abelson