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June 24, 2008

Dear Friends of Clay,

It is said that people die the way they live. Knowing Clay as you do, you will probably not be surprised by the story I want to share with you. In the past week, as he approaches the final deadline of his life, Clay’s life force returned with gusto.

Not that it ever flagged for long. In the past year, he has astonished every doctor and nurse who predicted “It won’t be long now.” Last summer, after three months in a rehab unit in Riverdale, Clay revived from near-drowning in double pneumonia and worked with physical therapists twice a day until he could circle the floor twice on a walker at about the speed he used to reach while sprinting across town for an important lunch date.  read more »

A couple more tidbits from Empire State Development Corporation downstate chairman Pat Foye's daily schedule from April through October, which we reported on yesterday. (The 300 or so pages listing six months of appointments were obtained through the Freedom of Information Law):

• Is ESDC looking to drop its indistinctive acronym?  read more »
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Does the Adam Moss formula know no bounds? The latest spin-off from New York magazine is set to hit newsstands Nov. 15, and will be a twice-yearly fashion magazine called New York Look, helmed by fashion director Harriet Mays Powell. (First reported on in August, the magazine will be released at a launch party on Nov. 13.)

Since taking over New York in February 2004, editor-in-chief Moss has gradually remade the magazine into a sometimes overly clever compendium of What It Means to be a Mossian New Yorker. (It doesn't hurt that owner Bruce Wasserstein seems to be willing to sink an infinite amount of money into the operation.) Mr. Moss' information-heavy formula—composed of equal parts think pieces and charticles—focuses on the verticals of fashion, real estate, food, politics, and culture.  read more »

Barack Obama needs more people for his March 9th fund-raiser in New York.

Which either means that the response was overwhelming -- organizers say they've changed the event's location to a new, bigger space in the Grand Hyatt Hotel to make "room for more people," and, of course, for more money -- or that it wasn't quite overwhelming enough.  read more »

After the jump is the email, composed and sent out by New York Magazine spokesperson Serena Torrey.

--Jason Horowitz

It's awards season for Eliot Spitzer's main adman.

The MTA has to pay how much in debt service?

Chuck Schumer made some new friends at New York Magazine's party last night.

Judith Kaye delivered her state of the judiciary speech today [pdf].

Hillary Clinton's official blogger has footage from the campaign trail.

Joe Trippi thinks Hillary got what she needed out of that fight with Barack Obama.

The Village Voice hired an editor from the New York Sun.

Roy Moskowitz, who managed the Democratic campaign against Rep. Vito Fossella, laments that he's not part of the "cabal" picking the replacement for the late Assemblyman John Lavelle.

There's a fascinating discussion here between Yoda, Larry Littlefield and Steve Malanga about whether Rudy Giuliani or Mike Bloomberg is to blame for New York's high tax burden.

Bloomberg's Assistant Director/Special Counsel for Environmental Procurement is leaving to take a job with the New York Chapter of the U.S. Green Buildings Council [job title corrected].

And pictured above is Senator Frank Padavan at a recent press conference in Albany.

-- Azi Paybarah

So here, for the record, are the complete, unabridged lyrics to the song that "Mike Bloomsteen and the Bullpen Band" of deputy mayors performed for mayoral staffers at their Gracie Mansion party last night.

Born to Run

I was born a long, long time ago-and became an Eagle Scout. And then John Hopkins accepted him which they're still happy about. Harvard Grad-then Wall Street pro Got fired, opened a company, made big dough (oh!) Two-term Mayor, so serene Then I read...New York Magazine... I say "Next stop-Washington!" 'Cause folks like us...Baby we were Born to Run!

We'll win, you'll see-and beat the G.O.P. and Democrats Unite the country-make more jobs And banish all trans fat! Fix the schools-make profits grow Get the White House painted saffron by Christo (oh!) I know I said this job I'd keep But Sheekey said "Don't be cheap Only cost you half a bil-ion 'Cause folks like us...Baby, we were Born to Run!

Now let's all follow our leader there And find a treasure trove We all will get big cabinet jobs And I can be Karl Rove I'll become Supreme Court Judge I'll get the Olympics for D.C. In 14 years with him, I'll go from Bloomberg L.P....to Bloomberg V.P.!

The City Hall team is so great - that Bullpen is the best With Leg. Affairs and Research, Correspondence, M.I.S. Operations, Fiscal, too Security, the drivers, C.A.U. (Whoo!) I still wonder what I should do Called my mother - to get her view I said, "Please advise your son" And mother said - "Baby, you were Born to Run!" Mother said - "Baby, you were Born to Run!" Mother said - "Baby, you were Born to Run!"

Update: A self-identified conservative Christian from New Jersey called into the mayor's weekly radio program just now to urge Bloomberg to run for president. The mayor said he was flattered, but added, "The bottom line is I'm going to be mayor for the next three years."

-- Azi Paybarah

• A Google founder is headed to a $30 million apartment at 15 Central Park West. Sadly, New York isn't sure if it's Larry Page or Sergey Brin. Plus, Arnold Rothstein's Franconia is selling its roof. (New York Magazine)
• Eliot Spitzer happens to have a dad who's built up $500 million-worth of real estate. (That's half a billion dollars.) Among his jewels are 1050 and 800 Fifth Avenue, the Corinthian on East 38th, and the curvy 200 Central Park South--which Eliot once owned a part of. (NY Daily News)
• The duplex penthouse at 823 Park sold for $30 million, which is a record for the modest little avenue. Tragically, the apartment and its rooftop garden will belong to a hedge fund kid, who had been "prowling the market for trophy properties." (NY Times)
• In Crain's this week: wonderful Tower Records is gone, which means West 66th and East 4th will soon be much less cooler. Also, Duane Reade "gets kinky" by hawking a high-end line of erotic goods. (Crain's premium)
• Last week Forbes reported that hip-shaker Shakira and Pink Floyd's elderly frontman Roger Waters are buying (and developing) a 700-acre island in the Bahamas. It takes time for news like that to really sink in. (Forbes)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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Ben follows Hillary's cross-wearing habits.

Kirsten Gillibrand tries making a strip club an issue in her race against John Sweeney.

Rudy's blogger thinks Hotline is cheerleading for John McCain.

New York Magazine notes that Esquire withdrew its endorsement of Tom Reynolds because of his weird press conference where he used kids as a human shield. The other Esquire endorsements are here

John DeSio wonders who posted this ad looking for a "fearless investigative reporter" on Craigslist.

Mike Bloomberg gave $143.9 million to charities last year.

Barry Popik wonders why the mayor hasn't held a fund-raiser for Chris Callaghan.  read more »

Shelly Silver parks himself on the couch and opens up to City Hall News.

-- Azi Paybarah

• Carolyne Roehm, a veteran of 740 Park and 1 Sutton Place South, was shocked--completely shocked--when she went apartment hunting. "How can you live on Fifth Avenue and have wire hangers," she asked. Listen, Mommy Dearest, why were you looking in strangers' closets in the first place? (NY Times)
• David "Pied Piper of DUMBO" Walentas is offering a free decade of rent to any theater group that will hole up at his new 110 Livingston condo. What does his son say? "It can't be three kids out of NYU." (D.I./New York Magazine)
• Banks are headed to the outer boroughs, because Manhattan has officially been super-saturated. Hoorah! (Crain's Premium)
• Also in Crain's: Whole Foods is headed to Park West Village. Finally, the Upper West Side has a hip supermarket. (CP)
• The $1.7 billion Javits Center expansion is breaking ground today. And that's really bad news because the new and improved building "will be a tempting terrorist target." Or maybe everything will be fine--as long as those 18-wheel tractor-trailers are screened. (NY Post)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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George Pataki hosted Republicans from the Granite State in Saratoga.

Daily Kos has August fundraising numbers from the netroots.

37% of of people surveyed by Pace University/New York Magazine want a definitive timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

Rock Hackshaw wonders why the Times opted not to endorse indicted Brooklyn Assemblywoman Diane Gordon or either of her two challengers.

Empire Zone watches John Spencer's new ad and wonders "Has anyone actually seen them on television?"

And for anyone keeping track...the Spitzer biography is ranked 14,400 on the Amazon.com sales rank. Wayne Barrett's new book on Rudy Giuliani is ranked 752.

-- Azi Paybarah

Dope on the Slope, how we love ye! After the jump, check out Mr./Ms. Dope's Brooklyn Borough Cheerleader Marty Markowitz takedown. Clever, witty and to the point.  read more »

Is Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons, according to this item in New York Magazine.

In the past, most of Parsons's political contributions in the City have gone to Democrats like Mark Green and Freddy Ferrer, and potential '09 challenger, Bill Thompson. There was one notable Republican who got a donation from Parsons: Rudy Giuliani.

So, if this media mogul is anything like the one who ended up in City Hall, Parsons could run as a, uh...?

-- Azi Paybarah

• Nothing says 'new Financial District condo!' like chic concierge service. The developers of South Star at 80 John Street are luring buyers with amenities from the Gansevoort Hotel (which, of course, the developers also did). Shouldn't private terraces, a "rock-climbing-wall machine" and in-house acupuncture treatment be big enough condo bait? No. (NY Times)
• Who knew New York magazine would be interested in the identity crises of Park Slope mothers searching for a nice night out? This week's profile of "adult space" hits up the Slope's Tea Lounge and Prospect Heights' Amorina, plus Cafe La Fortuna and Bottino in Manhattan. (But can we trust a writer who boasts: "I have eaten tuna tartare with my kid"?) (New York Magazine)
• It's hard to find a bargain in the Lower East Side these days, which surely means the neighborhood is dead. Where is Foreman's? Blame the 'hip Village-type crowd' that likes staying out late. Or blame the phrase 'LoHo.' Or blame the $200-sf rents. (NY Daily News)
• But who should be blamed for the theater district zoning deal that allows theater owners to trade around air rights (thereby building higher than they should)? The City. Who should be blamed for preventing all the extra money from going to state education? Stephen Sondheim and Tony Randall. (New York Times)
• Apparently 34th Street is "the next 'It' neighborhood." And apparently it is entirely rational that tourists and businessmen crave a second Times Square. (Crain's premium)
• DUMBO's waterfront Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park will be open past dark, which means the neighborhood might finally become hip. No matter how bright its lights are, they won't match up to 2012's super-mega Brooklyn Bridge Park. (NY Daily News)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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The Times reports Bloomberg 2008 speculation continues.

The Daily News reports on a New York Magazine quote used in Suozzi literature that called him "The perfect candidate for governor..."

The Post reports that Joe Lieberman trails Ned Lamont by 13 points.

—Nicole Brydson

• First comes Tiffany & Co. on Wall Street, up next is Philippe Starck's Hermès ("a purveyor of leather goods"), and before you know it we'll all be enjoying downtown's "renaissance." (The New York Times)
• Maybe the good times have already spread citywide? This past year retail vacancies dropped to .4% in the Penn Plaza/Garment District, to 1.5% in Chelsea, and to a (projected) 5.5% in Harlem. This means, of course, that the price of city retail space will jump to nearly $110 per foot. (Crain's)
• Yet, luckily, the good vibes haven't spread to the Hamptons: indeed, poor little monoliths like Bridgehampton's "Three Ponds" are finding themselves unsold. The culprit here might be the "noise and congestion from the Mercedes-Benz polo matches"--or is it the $75m asking price? (New York Magazine)
• Things aren't going so well at The Times, but at least the company's shimmering real estate investment looks like it's paying off. The value of Renzo Piano's new tower is "so hot," in fact, that "About.com staffers will be staying in their less expensive downtown location." (NY Post)
• Straight from Oxford Circus, the British fashion giant Topshop will be opening a New York flagship as soon as next spring. This mecca of "disposable chic" is looking for 60 to 90,000 square feet, preferably somewhere "popular." It'll cost them--though fortunately the store usually rakes in $2,000 per square foot. (The New York Times)
• Back in reality, hundreds of New Yorkers gathered at a Monday hearing to protest the Rent Guidelines Board's proposal for a 3 to 8.5% price increase for rent-stabilized apartments. Tomorrow, head to Cooper Union's Great Hall for Manhattan's very own get-together, and call (212) 385-2934 by 1 today if you wish to speak. (NY Daily News)
- Max Abelson
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• Zaha Hadid plays nice, pleasantly conversing about the future of architecture. Eventually she cracks and says things like: Paris is "beautiful, but it has no energy." At the grand finale she somehow acknowledges the possibility of seeing her work in twenty years and gasping: "Oh, my goodness, this is really irritating." (New York Magazine)
• The FBI informs us that New York City's crime rate fell while the nation's numbers rose. But prospective New Yorkers beware: our robbery stats don't look so good--plus, we turn out to be the second-least generous folks in the country. (AP, via Crane's)
• New York lawmakers try their very best to get generous: a $1 billion property tax relief plan is passed, although it happens to be similar to the one "scuttled" by George "Prez" Pataki earlier this year. (The New York Times)
• Listen to William Zeckendorf talk about his billion dollar baby: 15 Central Park West. And there's more: he even chats about the overall NY condo market. (The Real Deal Podcast)
• Billy Joel and his eighteenth wife visit the Brooklyn Heights townhouse that first went on the market for a borough record-setting $20 million. Luckily the price has since fallen to $16 and then $12.9 million. ("We are not coming down from here," swears Corcoran broker Deanna Kory.) (New York Daily News)
• Over at the Freedom Tower construction site, so far things are going just perfectly (seismologically speaking). (The New York Times)
- Max Abelson
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• How did the New York hotel market become "a haven" for foreign investment? "All the stars are aligned," suggests an executive at CB Richard Ellis. In other news, the average nightly room rate climbed from last year's $189 to $211. (The foreign tourists can thank the foreign investors.) (The New York Times)
• Last month, Giuseppe Cipriani was this close to transforming ancient Pier 57 (at West 15th Street) into the "Leonardo--a $300 million offshore Italian mini-theme-park." It seems that past involvement with a Gambino turncoat (in which some money may have been given to quiet some labor trouble at Mr. Cipriani's Rainbow Room) muddied the deal. (New York Magazine)
• Yaakov Goldfeder continues to thrive as "the city's No. 1 property tax deadbeat," but sadly it's only over $9.75 million in unpaid bills for a bland Brooklyn apartment building. "Believe me," Mr. Goldfeder implores, "I am the victim here." (New York Daily News)
• If The Times says prime Manhattan real estate can be traded for cute art, cosmetic surgery and colon hydrotherapy, then we must all become cute artists or colon hydrotherapists. (The New York Times)
• This summer, Greenpoint's McCarren Pool will complete the glorious transformation from a long-abandoned pit into a mecca for hipster rock. But can hipster rock stir up excitement (forty million dollars of excitement) about the renovation project? (New York Post)
- Max Abelson
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We apologize to Serena Torrey for missing last night's forum on third-party candidates, which New York Magazine, vis-a-vis its current package, is trying to market as the "purple party."

Especially since Ben Smith, who as a staff of one over there is still more mobile than our temporary Politicker staff, got in and got that already-known-yet-totally-fun-to-totally-confirm tidbit out of the evening: Hillary's Running for President!

Ben says:

There's a famous, convenient superstition in Clintonland that you don't look past the next election. Clinton pollster Doug Schoen, happily, isn't the superstitious type, and delivered an unusually blunt assessment of Hillary's 2008 plans and prospects at a New York Magazine forum on an imagined third-party movement* last night at the New School.

What'd he say?

"She undeniably is a 50-50 chance, at least," to be elected president, he said. "Senator Clinton...has the luxury of being able to position herself toward the center as time goes forward...[leaving the] opening and opportunity on the left wing of the [Democratic] party."

Schoen went on at some length on the topic; see Ben's blog for more.

Then again, third-party symposiums are symptoms of early days in an election. Aren't they? We hope?

- Tom McGeveran Note to comments section: We will link to Ben's blog when we want you to read items there. It's not "awkward" or "weird" or "surreal." Nor does it mean you're reading "the same stuff" on both blogs. It means: we're linking to another blog. Not unheard of. Just to clear that up. You need to read this item, so we're linking to it. Maybe you already read it? Then you're well-read! Congratulations!

Today's stroll kicks up a lot of posts on Mike's recent win in the Court of Appeals--the subject over at Gothamist.

Gothamist also links to a Intelligencer clip from New York Magazine about Jonathan Tisch as the next billionaire mayoral candidate.

Freshman council member Darlene Mealy talks to City Limits about crippling the Boyland legacy and the difficulties of City Hall politics.

And finally, The Neighborhood Retail Alliance picks up the latest on Roger Toussaint.

—Nicole Brydson

WNYC's Brian Lehrer got our nightmare pitch recently: Fire Island is the Thinking Person's Hamptons. Kill. Kill. Related: More Boys Needed For House of Slags in Kismet. World's Dirtiest Human Soup Needs More Victims. More Homos Needed To Pack Into Overly Fussy House. We Were In New York Magazine and We Love Us!

A correction in this week's New York Magazine: "In 'The City Politic: The Suozzi-Spitzer Showdown'...the head of the New York Stock Exchange compensation committee that gave final approval to the 139.5 million exit package for Richard Grasso should have been identified as Carl McCall, not Ken Langone."  read more »

On Wednesday evening, Housing Here and Now will sponsor a second forum for the Speaker candidates; details here. I'm not sure if, or how, the format will differ from the last time around.

In related news, this week's issue of New York Magazine examines would-be Speakers' donations to their City Council colleagues.  read more »

"It's not quid pro quo," David Weprin told the magazine. "No councilman would want to sell their speaker vote to the highest bidder. If they did, it's not a vote you would want anyway."

Well, somebody's campaigning against Mike Bloomberg today:

"Bloomberg to NY Mag in 2001: 'obscene' to spend too much money on campaigns" is the subject line on the apropos-of-nothing campaign-style email.

"FLASHBACK: April 2001, Bloomberg tells New York magazine: $30 million is too much to spend on a campaign. 'At some point, you start to look obscene.'"

Thing is, the email came from New York Magazine spokeswoman Serena Torrey, former spokeswoman for the New York State Democratic Party.  read more »

The email arrived at 1:12, and by 1:14 another message came in: "Did Serena accidentally just slip back into her old job as State Dem spokesgal?"

Over on Newsday's op-ed page, some guy has a piece on the failure of blogs, and Internet politicking, to catch on in New York the way they have nationally.

The bottom line is hardly a shock: New Yorkers blog about what they care about -- mainly gossip and real estate -- and politics isn't at the top of that list.

The piece also offers an opportunity to dredge up my favorite bad prediction of the year, from an Andrew Rasiej-inspired piece in New York Magazine:

"We'll help the Ferrer campaign build a micro-version of what we did for Dean," said Ferrer tech consultant Vinay Bhagat.  read more »

Micro indeed.

A reader was puzzled by the discrepancy between reports in the Times and in New York Magazine on Governor Pataki's counter-terror subway ride last week: New York: "After the press conference with Governor George Pataki, the mayor walked to the Lex (Pataki entered through a gate held open by one of his bodyguards; Bloomberg swiped a MetroCard) for a ride to City Hall." New York Times: "Down below, Mr. Pataki pulled out a MetroCard and tried to swipe it through the turnstile. It didn't work. Instead, the governor encountered that all-too-familiar message, 'Please swipe again.' He obliged. This time it worked."

So did he? Or didn't he?  read more »

Pataki spokeswoman Mollie Fullington emails that Pataki "most certainly" swiped.

"I wonder who that mysterious very tall man was," she adds.

We're not sure we'll be able to make this schedule item, what with deadlines and all. But anyway, New York Magazine's photographer has already captured the campaign's feel here. So we don't feel so bad. Monday 9:30a-10:15a PHOTO SHOOT - New York Magazine All 4 Mayoral candidates Photographer Bruce Gilden Location: Sidewalk on the Northwest corner of 55th St. and 5th Avenue  read more »

What amazes us most about this New York Magazine item, which revisits those notorious "racist" flyers from the 2001 campaign, is how Freddy has evidently forgiven what once appeared to be a rather personal wound; while Mike Bloomberg, the sole beneficiary of the Democrats' racial meltdown, is now keeping the grievance alive.

To explain: Freddy, as the New York piece points out, essentially launched this year's campaign by embracing Carl Kruger, a South Brooklyn pol who played a central role in Mark Green's much-criticized appeal to white Brooklyn voters.

Mike, meanwhile, seems to have pursued rather extreme means of distancing himself from the affair. The kid who did the mechanical work of designing the flyer, Micah Lasher, is now a political consultant. (When we say "kid," we mean that, as we recall, he was 19, and an undergrad at NYU, in 2001.) His partner is doing work for Bloomberg. And Team Bloomberg is petrified of the flyer's taint:

"Bloomberg's advisors were so worried about flyer blowback that, after some debate, they had Lasher sign a notarized paper saying he'd recused himself from working with them."  read more »

Notarized?! This strikes us as quite a precedent. What better way to validate the charge that the flyer was racist, toxic, a page from Der Sturmer? And what better way to signal that you'll be an easy target for similar accusations in October?