Matthew Schuerman

The Observer's and (The Real Estate's) Matthew Schuerman is scheduled to be interviewed this evening on WNYC about the obstacles to green buildings examined in last week's article on microturbines.

A related Observer story on waterless urinals ran last year; the urinals, unlike microturbines, have actually gained a foothold in New York City. (How's that for priorities?)

Tune in to 820 AM or 93.9 FM or via the Web at the bottom of the 5 o'clock hour.

It always seemed like a funny trick to get support for the new Yankee Stadium: build a new Metro North station nearby, not with the Yankees' money, mind you, but with the public's. Unfortunately, the $45 million that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had set aside for the project, which was supposed to start this spring, is not nearly enough.

Try $80 million instead.

All of which, Real Estate Weekly reports in its March 21 issue (available in print only), led Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión to look for another way to pay for it. Wait, how about asking the Yankees to pitch in? No, Mr. Carrión has another idea.

He wants to let a developer build "an extensive mixed-use development" on top of the station in return for paying for the station's construction.

Bidder up!

- Matthew Schuerman

The Real Estate is going for a Robert Moses trifecta this morning. This item's about one of his newer critics, Bronx community organizer Majora Carter, who dared criticize Mayor Bloomberg's development policies and who received a warm response from the media at the Feb. 1 opening of the Moses exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.

The notice above, received via e-mail from Ms. Carter herself, says it all--including the fact that the museum is showing itself pretty receptive to airing all sides of the story.

- Matthew Schuerman

The city's Economic Deveopment Corporation officially rolled out its new Web site on Tuesday morning (in reality, it has been coming online in dribs and drabs), including a not-to-miss interactive map that shows the boundaries for all the various incentive programs, indicated by different colors and patterns. (Hint: Check out Lower Manhattan for a particularly pretty picture.) - Matthew Schuerman

Despite last month's stormy City Council hearing on the future of the Brooklyn waterfront, the city's Economic Development Corporation is pushing part of its Red Hook plan forward--the part it can push forward without engendering further controversy.

A request for proposals issued on Tuesday asks for bidders to submit plans for a marina and marina repair shop in the Atlantic Basin and Pier 10, which the city has been leasing from the Port Authority since early 2005. The request (PDF) only very slightly mentions Pier 10, which is where the EDC has met resistance in its effort to replace the cargo-container port with Brooklyn's second cruise-ship terminal.

- Matthew Schuerman

As reported by the Observer's Matthew Schuerman yesterday, Council Speaker Christine Quinn has reached a deal on a bill to revise the 421a program, the Lindsay-era initiative that gives developers huge tax breaks on new residential construction. Essentially, the deal preserves the controversial program while mandating that developers in some rapidly gentrifying areas (Harlem, Carroll Gardens, etc.) include an affordable housing component in their developments if they want the tax break. Azi reports from City Hall that a press conference on the deal is set to begin at 12:45, and a vote is said to be coming later this afternoon. Details on the final bill are still a bit sketchy--I'll have more to say on it later. --Andrew Rice

Bruce Ratner's so-called friends are about to cost him tens of millions of dollars in lost tax breaks because of a bill pending in the City Council.

The stormy debate over the 421-a multifamily housing tax incentive still has a few days to play out (and another year in the state Legislature), but the version backed by Speaker Christine Quinn and a majority of City Council members would revoke a 15- to 25-year tax abatement that Ratner's condos would have received had they been built under current rules.  read more »

More after the jump...

- Matthew Schuerman

Some 400,000 of the already famous 1.1 million new New Yorkers that are expected to be living here come 2030 will be over the age of 65, the Department of City Planning said on Wednesday in detailing its population estimates.

That's a combination of people living longer and staying in the city longer. The school-age population will drop slightly, the City Planning report says. Needless to say, nightclubs may feel a bit of a crunch, but the early-bird special could make a big comeback.

- Matthew Schuerman

Jason Horowitz has a story on Hillary Clinton's Obama-inspired outreach to officials and donors, including Eliot Engel's description of what she laid out as her winning presidential scenario.

Matthew Schuerman writes about the mayor's evolved position on corporate welfare.

Niall Stanage reports on the celebrations in some quarters over John Bolton's demise. There's some particularly brutal stuff in there from Colin Powell's chief of staff, who clashed repeatedly with Bolton at the State Department.

Michael Calderone looks at the way that the New York Times has become the beneficiary of a leak bonanza from the Bush administration. And Mike DeBonis provides a glimpse of Johnny Apple's memorial service yesterday.

Joe Conason applauds Robert Gates for delivering a blunt assessment of the war in Iraq, but predicts that it won't change anything.

And Steve Kornacki says that Mitt Romney is faking it.

-- Josh Benson

Ten of the 12 state referenda restricting the government's right of eminent domain passed Tuesday, according to the Castle Coalition. No Land Grab says the two that failed (Idaho and California) were "anti-regulatory, anti-environment ballot propositions disguised as eminent domain reform."

-Matthew Schuerman

So we got a copy of Port Authority Executive Director Ken Ringler's letter that Bill Thompson found so "inappropriate and offensive." Was it maybe Ringler suggesting that Thompson was "suffering from serious misinformation with regard to the Port Authority's financial commitment to Ground Zero" which set the City Comptroller off?

The whole thing, apparently, started with Ringler asking if Thompson wanted to contribute any money from Battery Park City revenue, which the Comptroller helps oversee, "to meet shortfalls on some of the broad infrastructure costs for the construction of streets and sidewalks in and around Ground Zero, and to provide access to Battery Park City."

Apparently, that last bit is a reference to the underpass under West Street.

The BPC funds were supposed to go towards affordable housing but until recently have just been used for New York City's general budget.

Ringler notes, "We agreed with you that much of this fund should be used for housing, but if you want to make a positive contribution to the rebuilding effort, you could help release some of those funds toward rebuilding."

Affordable housing versus rebuilding Ground Zero: two noble issues no one wants to get on the wrong side of.

What's odd here is how two of the most mild-mannered figures in government are getting nasty.

Here, in PDF, are letters one, two and three.

-Matthew Schuerman

Our commercial real estate reporter Matthew Schuerman passes on this little observation:

It makes sense that Bill Batson would get a lot of backing from opponents of the Atlantic Yards development. (He's been one of the project's most outspoken critics during his run for a seat in the assembly.)

As it turns out, about a third of the contributions ($10,750 of $32,841) he has received since announcing in March came from board members or close associates of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. The group's spokesman, Daniel Goldstein, and his father Lawrence accounted for $6,600 of that, according to Batson's latest campaign filing.

The other candidates in the 57th assembly race have until Saturday to file their reports.

Jason Horowitz asks if this is the beginning of the end of Rudy's bubble.

Anna Schneider-Mayerson reports that Karl Rove learned via blackberry that he would not be charged with a crime.

Matthew Schuerman reports on the courting of the 2008 Democratic convention.

In Opinions, Joe Conason, Niall Stanage and Richard Brookhiser share their sentiments.

And David Yassky in the editorials.

Already tired of Le Cirque coverage, you say? Well, there is a lot more than just the red carpet sightings here! Tom McGeveran and Michael Calderone head up to One Beacon Court's 55th floor penthouse, marvel at the technocratic wonderland of Bloomberg LP headquarters, and head downstairs to a couple Le Cirque opening parties.

Matthew Schuerman discovers why New York's big developers have been giving their dough to an upstate Republican Congressman: it's all part of a strategy to make sure the one-seat-ride to J.F.K. Airport gets federal funding. And the Jivamukti yoga center has just opened around Union Square. Sting, Uma, and Russell are all hanging out there. They're eating odd things like "reality sandwiches" and "salvation salads."

Over on The Real Estate, Matthew Schuerman posts about Eliot Spitzer's transportation agenda, unveiled this morning at a Regional Plan Association conference.

The Post editorial page today objects to Bloomberg's no-holds-barred endorsement of eminent domain.

Does this mean that the Post will get more involved in the imminent eminent domain battles at Atlantic Yards and Columbia University?

Bloomberg is quite right about the good that can come from restrained use of eminent domain.

But in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last year that vastly expanded government's right to seize property, Americans - including many New Yorkers - are, correctly, worried.

Imagine, Rupert Murdoch being more nuanced than Michael R. Bloomberg!

-Matthew Schuerman

The Port Authority board just approved the deal with Larry Silverstein over in the agency's Park Avenue South headquarters. The developer signed the "framework agreement" this morning. For the most part, it sounds like the Port Authority accepted Silverstein's last minute amendments, although the agreement still will not close until September.

Chairman Anthony Coscia acknowledged, "As we turn that framework into a definitive agreement, there will certainly be issues that we will have to tackle together, but they are issues largely about the way of implementing what the parties have decided to do."

P.A. Executive Director Kenneth Ringler took his bow in front of a gaggle of reporters. "Hopefully we are not going to be as newsworthy. You will just see construction going on. It has been nice knowing all you guys."

Construction on the Freedom Tower could begin within days. Aren't you excited?

-Matthew Schuerman

Reuters is reporting that Larry Silverstein has just accepted an offer to allow the Port Authority to build the Freedom Tower instead of him.

According to Reuters, the implication is that ground could be broken on the Tower in days or weeks.

We've got Matthew Schuerman down there now, where Larry made the announcement; watch this space for more.

- Tom McGeveran

This flyer was found in mailboxes in parts of the Crown Heights zip code where Easter bonnets were much more prevalent than peyes.

Our real-estate reporter, Matthew Schuerman, received one:

Trouble is, this flyer landed in a building in the western half of Crown Heights, which is full of African-American and Caribbean-American churchgoers.

Well, it's not really a problem, except that it leads one to wonder: should the sixth question this Pesach be: Who exactly are my constituents?  read more »

- Jason Horowitz

Race, Class Pervade Mall Talk

To the Editor:  read more »

Race, Class Pervade Mall Talk   To the Editor:    read more »

Matthew Schuerman reads the coded conversations about what the Fulton Mall needs.

Michael Calderone profiles the 15 Upper East Side townhouses presently marketing for $20 million or more.  read more »

In Manhattan Transfers: Russell Simmons' beleaguered duplex in Tribeca--which has been on the market at different prices since before Sept. 11 when P. Diddy opted out--is offered for $7.2 million after another price drop. Also, Elia Kazan's widow sells their Carnegie Hill townhouse.

The dailies carried stories this morning on Mayor Bloomberg warning that Larry Silverstein could walk away from rebuilding the World Trade Center after recouping his investment (the Post) or even reaping a half-million dollars (Newsday). We missed the press conference, but the transcript we received from City Hall shows that the stories were generated by an odd softball of a question, which the Mayor hit out of the park:

Reporter: Mr. Mayor, are you concerned about Larry Silverstein delaying Ground Zero for years and then walking away with a half a billion dollars?

 read more »

Here’s a sketch by architect Jeff Vandeberg of Irwin Cohen’s plan for the new Bronx Terminal Market, one of many unbuilt fantasies of our age. Cohen’s plan to move the 16 remaining ethnic food vendors at the market across the Major Deegan Expressway and along the Harlem River collapsed when the City Council last week approved the proposal by the Related Companies for a shopping mall at the old market site. Cohen has not given up—the riverfront parcel remains empty--but a lot of the political willpower is lost now that the vendors have agreed to a buy-out.  read more »

Matthew Schuerman uncovers what Sheldon Solow did to stop the United Nations from building a tower just north of the Consolidated Edison site where he is planning a mega-luxury-development.

In Manhattan Transfers, architect Emilio Ambasz is not too busy with his MoMA show to try selling his $31 million townhouse once again. Adam Lindemann continues adding inventory to the luxury market. And, a hungry Wilf takes a bite out of East End Avenue.

If you think that Brownstoner guy has some crazy home renovation stories, Choire Sicha, and his racist Czech cleaning woman, will blow your mind.

And Moira Hodgson chows down at Philippe.

Downtown Brooklyn's gonna look busy soon, with thousands of square feet of residential property going up, as Matthew Schuerman reports in today's Observer. But another nearby development, the Brooklyn Public Library's Visual and Performing Arts branch, at Flatbush and Layfayette avenues in Fort Greene, is hitting some speed bumps, according to The Brooklyn Papers. Seems that funds are drying up, and construction, originally planned to happen in four to five years, is now looking like it'll take much longer.

What's the problem? Well, it looks like the library's only raised $18 million for the $70 million to $85 million price tag on the Enrique Norton-designed "slinky, all-glass, ship-bow-shaped" library. A retooled design revealed last week includes more commercial space, which will provide a revenue stream for the library's operating expenses.

This raises the question, once again, of commercial interests moving into public space: It monopolized discussions about the redesign of the northern end of Union Square Park (in which the local community board came down hard against a new restaurant), and commercial activities in various city parks have been questioned. It's basically a question of why, when tax money should be used to support public facilities, does the city need to sell or rent out public space to for-profit businesses?

It also raises the question of why must a public building be designed by starchitects, especially a public library, when prices can be so expensive (see Jason Horowitz's article on Rafael Viñoly to understand the dangers of architectural visionaries).  read more »

And, as a cautionary tale, take a look at Seattle's Rem Koolhaas-designed public library. Are we the only ones, or is it really as ugly as we think? (And let's not even talk about the inside. It's well worth a trip west just for a chuckle.) (The Brooklyn Papers)

-Matthew Grace

Perky Regis-sidekick, Kelly Ripa, continues making Soho real estate deals, in Manhattan Transfers. On the Upper East Side, a $20 million apartment at tony 720 Park sells (while a unit on a higher floor coincidentally enters the market). And a new trend emerges this week: the $2 million luxury drop. Just ask Harry Belafonte.

David Gunn, the man who saved New York's subways in the 1980s, tells Matthew Schuerman why he got canned from his latest job, as Amtrak president, and why Ed Koch was so much better a person to work for than President Bush.  read more »

Ever wonder where those commissions go? This year, Douglas Elliman brokers party at The Four Seasons! And guess who might have to crash the Corcoran holiday party? See The Observer holiday party roundup for the answer.

To the Editor:    read more »

In today's Observer: In Manhattan Transfers, Russian developer Janna Bullock wants to flip an Upper East Side townhouse for a profit--a profit--of $19 million. Marketing strategy? Offer the place up as a "designer showhouse" for charity! Get the place looking snappy and charge for the open house!

Matthew Schuerman profiles Richard Lipsky, the self-styled David responsible for running giant Big Box stores like Wal-Mart and BJ's out of town.

Matthew Grace looks at proposals to make the streets around Union Square less of a death-trap for pedestrians; the locals want “Barnes dances” around the square, where signals at intersections periodically give pedestrians the right of way in all directions.  read more »

The sale of the Edmond and Lily Safra collection at Sotheby's, Brook Mason reports, pulled in $48.9 million for the auction house. That's the highest total ever achieved at a decorative-arts auction in Manhattan, and it may be just the beginning. (Third item.)

The Plaza as a "transient hotel"?

Matthew Schuerman finds out it's you who'll pay if the landlords who lost their property on Eighth Avenue when the state took it for the Times (eminent domain!) get awarded more money.  read more »

A pair of houses on the same leafy East 64th Street block get more than $20 M. S'Wonderful!

Lee Bollinger's expanding Columbia's campus--but not the programming he means to put there.

Michael Calderone reports that a few weeks after an alleged “groping” last May, Christian Slater bought himself a condo. And a new synergy comes to open houses in the form of celebrity book signings!

Matthew Schuerman chronicles the campaign the International Freedom Center is waging to stay at Ground Zero.  read more »

Matt Haber reveals the true story of living on Chambers Street with literary it-boy Benjamin Kunkel.

And Anna Schneider-Mayerson learns the fine art of milkshakes over at The Shake Shack.

Matthew Schuerman and Michael Calderone trek up and down the High Line, and find some developers already cashing in. Very soon, Chelsea residents will bump into Frank Gehry, Robert Stern, and Andre Balazs (and maybe Uma)!

In Manhattan Transfers, Michael Calderone offers something for political junkies, sports fans, and those of use who haven’t given up on the Brat Pack: Andrew Rasiej buys in Soho, Warner Wolf put the Ice House behind him for the Upper West Side, and Andrew McCarthy sells his 161-year-townhouse.  read more »

The Transom faintly hears The Internationale playing over at Soho House as the workers rise up (2nd item).

Go into television! So learned our admirably flat-chested Michael Calderone when he talked to Barbara Corcoran about her new TV venture; she's got lots of ideas, and only one is an elimination contest among people who want to work in real estate! Just what kind of security plan is Goldman Sachs pressing for at Ground Zero? Matthew Schuerman finds that almost anything will do--as long as the squabbling and jurisdictional chaos among the state agenices, private security forces and local police and emergency workers can be quelled.  read more »

Matthew Schuerman talks to Ground Zero planner Daniel Libeskind about the Freedom Center. He's all for building it right there on the World Trade Center site, but will the Governor have to scrap his master plan to make nice with angry victims' families?

Michael Calderone talks to the "Boy-Eloise" of the Algonquin Hotel. He's trying to raise enough money to buy it out of contention for big, out-of-town real-estate investment firms and secure it's future as a--well, as a hotel-slash-historical tourist trap.  read more »

And, this is just dirty.

- Tom McGeveran

Michael Calderone charts the entry of the Mellon mansion onto the Manhattan real-estate market, harbinger of the $20 million townhouse trend.

And he and colleague Matthew Schuerman pierce the diamondlike glow of Gary Barnett to find a seasoned real-estater--with a history of coming to blows with developer Bruce Ratner--behind the Atlantic Yards counterbid.  read more »

Also, Jessica Bruder puts her eye on the danse macabre known as Quiet Disco, a Netherlandish import where radio-controlled headsets carrying feed from a DJ move hipsters like marionettes across a Williamsburg dance floor.

Ben takes a close look at the uncertain future of a mid-sized regional company called Pataki, Inc.

Michael Calderone and Matthew Schuerman examine whether Gary Barnett, who has his eye on some MTA property in Brooklyn, is just another spoiler, like Jim Dolan and the Jets. The short answer is no, but that doesn't mean he'll vanquish Bruce Ratner's longstanding plan to bring the Nets and Frank Gehry there instead.

Jason Horowitz ponders the role private institutions are playing in the city's efforts to prepare for a terrorist strike, thanks to an influx of federal funding.

Lizzy Ratner and I follow the money to some of the summer's swankiest campaign fund-raisers and find that, McCain-Feingold be damned, the old gorge-and-gouge tradition is still alive and well in the Hamptons.  read more »

And then I venture off to Williamsburg for a Quiet Disco, where all the dancers wear wireless headphones. This is not, of course, worth mention on a political blog, though I'll use it as a sample for the kind of sightings I hope you'll send me, like: "I saw Hilary Clinton dancing in wireless headphones."

Michael Calderone contemplates the Summer of Bill--that's Bill Hemmer--in this week's installment of Manhattan Transfers; the underemployed anchor has moored at a $1.75 million McMansion in the Hamptons. And, as always, more little nuggets of real-estate gossip.

Matthew Schuerman surprises the architect who developed a low-slung but incredibly modern housing development for Olympians on the Queens waterfront when he tells him that other developers are bidding to build there.  read more »

Jessica Bruder profiles Arnie Geller. He wants to finish a famous journey that, er, bumped into a bit of trouble, and bring the 17-ton hull of the wrecked Titanic to lower Manhattan.

Nicole Laporte takes us to sunny Venice Beach--the Brooklyn of Los Angeles? Or is that still Hollywood-Los Feliz-Silverlake-Et Cetera?--where Hollywood machers are rapidly gentrifying things.

Our Matthew Schuerman reports:

The six-foot five-inch George Pataki has been known to sink a three-pointer. But his height didn't help him when he came to town today to show off new soccer fields in Hudson River Park. (He also came to straighten out the mess at Ground Zero, but that was earlier in the day.)  read more »

He seemed surprised at first when the emcee said the Governor would take a shot--"I'm not too good at this. Maybe Eddie can give me some pointers." (Eddie being Eddie Johnson, a forward on the U.S. national team.) The Governor's first two shots got nabbed by the goalie. The third was far enough to the left and a foot or two off the ground that she could let him score gracefully.

Then Pataki got back to the truly important part of his job--answering questions from the press.

Today, Matthew Schuerman files a story on the Observer's Website taking a look at how the MTA board ended up making their decision. Though Kalikow & Co. kept claiming that it all came down to the bottom line (Cablevision offered more money upfront - $400 million to the Jets' $210 million), in the end, the board took other things into considereration such as jobs created and the mayor's promise to spend $2 billion to extend the 7 train. The pullquote has to be Real Estate Board prez Steven Spinola's assessment of the Cablevision offer: "Bullshit. And you can quote me."  read more »

Sorry about the slow posting and the glitches. We've been having some technical problems. Which is part of why Marcus had to email over his update on what's in today's paper:

-Will he or won't he? We're curious About George, and Terry Golway takes the pulse of Governor Pataki  read more »

-As decision day approaches on the West Side Yards, Matthew Schuerman examines how the competition between Cablevision and the Jets has driven up costs on both sides.

The editorials in today's paper: NYU Steamrolls the Ivies, City's Pollution Law: Close the Loopholes, The Secret to Marriage: Reality or Romance?