Ken Livingstone

Today’s Observer package on Little Europe (a.k.a. New York City) has a corollary: Europe is becoming a lot like New York, too. Witness this morning’s announcement by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and NBA Commissioner David Stern that the basketball association will open an office in the British capital in order, according to the press release, “to focus on grassroots and business development efforts in Great Britain and throughout Europe.”

Basketball, apparently, is Europe’s second most popular sport, and NBA teams will play six preseason games over there in the fall, including one in London.

The announcement, however, was made in New York.

• London's wonderful mayor Ken Livingstone wants to charge gas-guzzling cars £25 to enter London's "congestion charge zone." What will Mayor Mike do in response? One can only hope that he bans Hummers, at least those yellow ones. [Times of London, via Streetsblog]
• The crawl toward gentrification out in Bed-Stuy is speeding up thanks to a few restaurants on Bedford Avenue (with expensive names like Le Toukouleur.) The street is apparently "turning into something of a Restaurant Row for the neighborhood," even though it's on "an otherwise pretty foresaken stretch of road." [Brooklyn Record]
• But if one small store could ever summarize a mammoth borough, it would be Enamoo in Brooklyn. You'll find a "mixture of vintage household items with uniquely-designed t-shirts and nice little arrangements of plants." Throw in the "trademark antique cheese crates planted neatly with aloe-like vegetation" and you've got upscale New York City in your hands. [Apartment Therapy]
• Superior Inks Warehouse, the last factory on Greenwich Village's waterfront, will probably not live to see its 88th year. On the plus side, a 15-story luxury condo will take its place. Hurrah! Everyone loves more 15-story luxury condos! [NY1]
- Max Abelson
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Talk about downtown office vacancies! Carl Weisbrod starts his new job as executive vice president for real estate, at downtown land moguls Trinity Church, on Monday, leaving headless the Alliance for Downtown New York, the largest business improvement district in the country.

An alliance spokesman assures The Real Estate that a search committee has been working "in earnest" since the hire was announced in May. In the meantime, William Bernstein is interim chief. (Weisbrod is shown here with London mayor Ken Livingstone back in 2001.)  read more »

- Matthew Schuerman

OK, if you're also having a bit of trouble keeping your attention on the local scene today, here are two things:

Tim Worstall, a British blogger, has an early sense (this link now works) of how Brits are reacting.

And here's London Mayor Ken Livingstone's statement from Singapore:

"This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful; it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers; it was aimed at ordinary working class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christians, Hindu and Jew, young and old, indiscriminate attempt at slaughter irrespective of any considerations, of age, of class, of religion, whatever, that isn't an ideology, it isn't even a perverted faith, it's just indiscriminate attempt at mass murder, and we know what the objective is, they seek to divide London. They seek to turn Londoners against each other and Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack.  read more »

"I wish to speak through you directly, to those who came to London to claim lives, nothing you do, how many of us you kill will stop that flight to our cities where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another, whatever you do, how many you kill, you will fail."

A city plan to remake the area around the cube sculpture at Astor Place moved into its infancy on th  read more »