High-powered law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is in negotiations with Vornado Realty Trust for more than one-third of the tower planned for atop the Port Authority bus station, a move that, if cemented, would extend the legal establishment’s apparently inexorable drift westward from the white-shoe stronghold of midtown.

A source close to the negotiations confirmed that Paul, Weiss is in serious, though early, negotiations to take 500,000 square feet in the middle of the 42-story building slated to rise from a platform atop the seedy bus terminal.  read more »

On Wednesday, we wrote about a Real Estate Weekly report about how plans to relocate Fashion Week to the Port Authority were on hold because of issues over whether the bus terminal could accommodate additional traffic.

According to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Port Authority is one of many possible locations under consideration, but a deal to move the bi-weekly fashion shows to the grungy midtown bus terminal is nowhere near being finalized.

"Fashion Week is a vital asset to New York City and we are working expeditiously with IMG and the fashion industry to find a suitable new home,” said Patrick Murphy, the head of fashion/retail industry growth initiatives at the NYEDC. “The reports of an imminent or scuttled deal to move to the Port Authority Bus Terminal were erroneous.”  read more »

Yesterday the Port Authority awarded the largest single construction contract for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center to Navillus Contracting in Long Island City, City Room reported.

Navillus, which is new to ground zero, joined with Bovis Lend Lease to bid on the $103.9 million concrete contract.  read more »

The contracts for the foundations of two World Trade Center towers have been awarded, Silverstein Properties announced today, as developer Larry Silverstein revs his engines before taking control of the site at the start of next year.

The contracts, totaling about $40 million, are fairly minimal given the approximately $7 billion cost of the three Silverstein towers on the site, though the contracts mark one of the first construction-related actions by Mr. Silverstein.

Press release after the jump.  read more »

Maverick developer Gary Barnett and his Extell Development Company have closed on a sliver of Port Authority-owned land at 31st Street and 10th Avenue for about $17 million, property records show.  read more »

Food is pricey in this town, and when you eat it with other hot shots, it costs even more. Here, from a response to a Freedom of Information Act request, are some examples of how executives of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have spent their lunch money—i.e., your tolls, landing fees, docking charges, etc.--over the last year or so:

$3,500 for 10 people to eat at a “vice chairman table” at the New York Building Congress's Leadership Awards Luncheon on April 17, during which the Port Authority’s chairman and executive director presented an award to construction executive Dan Tishman, whose firm is building the Freedom Tower for the Port Authorty;

$1,300 for two tickets to the New York Building Congress Industry Recognition Dinner at the Grand Hyatt, Oct. 19, 2006;

$1,100 for 20 people to eat at an Association for a Better New York (ABNY) breakfast March 2 with Governor Eliot Spitzer;

$1,200 for 20 people to hear the same Governor Spitzer speak about six weeks later at a Crain’s New York Business breakfast;

$550 to reserve a 10-person table at an ABNY event last Nov. 16, featuring Senator Hillary Clinton;

$550 for a 10-top at another ABNY breakfast, May 15, headlined by Anthony E. Shorris, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey;

And, the highest figure in the pack: $7,381.80 for 10 tickets to the annual black-tie banquet thrown by the Real Estate Board of New York at the New York Hilton Hotel on Jan. 18, 2007.

Compared to those prices, $2 for a Peppermint Pattie at JFK sounds like a steal.

Governor Eliot Spitzer said the cantilever on the JPMorgan Chase building would let you play chess in the rain. Here’s another, um, "advantage": lighting a church from the heavens.

Anthony Shorris, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said today that the overhang would extend out over the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church that is supposed to be rebuilt at the southwest corner of Liberty and Greenwich streets.  read more »