Verizon Communications Inc.
Real Estate Hoax of The Day: Verizon Gives Up Building to Pace University
There have been rumors swirling around today that Verizon Communications would be transferring ownership of 375 Pearl Street to Pace University at the beginning of next year, and that the university would convert a number of floors in the building to dorms.
Well, folks, its not true.
“This a complete hoax,” Chris Cory, Pace's public information director, told The Observer. “I am not sure where this information came from.” read more »
George and Hilly
George and Hilly
George and Hilly
George and Hilly
Friday: Even More Reasons To Hate the Hamptons, To Love Harlem, To Fear the Market
Whites in Sagaponack
- Today's Most Gloriously Sensational Lead Sentence About the US Real Estate Market: "By any measure, things are getting tougher for American homeowners." (Seriously, the Wall Street Journal doesn't kid around when it comes to measuring toughness.) But GlobeSt.com clocks in at a very close second: "The buzz about a possible 2007 economic downturn is growing." (WSJ)
- MetLife can get away with crushing Stuy Town, but the monolith will really get into trouble if they move 1,700 executives into 42nd's old Verizon Building . Why? Because only five years ago NYC gave MetLife $26.4 million to move those execs to Long Island City. (New York Times)
- It's been 11 grueling days since the Times' article about Harlem's hotness, and nearly a month since a Post cover-story on the same topic. So it's time for The Sun to weigh in: "Harlem has finally been recognized as being in Manhattan... Harlem has arrived." (The Sun)
- What kind of sentiments are shared by the vacationers at the post-mortem Hamptons ? "Sometimes, perhaps, when you get down to it, those June and July pals are just not our kind, dear." Or: "Having a common experience was great but [you] didn't necessarily like the people you were having it with." Or: "[Class] distinctions might be more of an issue if they got together during the fall and winter." (New York Times) - Max Abelson read more »
Thursday: Millions for Times Square, The Met, and Aspen; Not the Hamptons
The Prince has left the Aspen
- For starry-eyed, semi-impoverished young New York creative types, a cheap Harlem "dorm" run by a utopian semi-landlord is the obvious housing solution. But does such a happy homeland for "the overeducated and underpaid" really exist? The Times' cover story omits an address, so maybe we'll never know. (The New York Times)
- Times Square Name Game: Will the former Bertelsmann Building--1540 Broadway--be renamed after Equity Office Properties Trust? One hopes not, though Equity, "the nation's largest publicly traded office building owner and manager," has bought up the offices of pointy 1540 B-way for $525 M., a bit more than the price the group paid last year for Sixth Avenue's Verizon Building. The company, says Crain's, "has been on a tear." (Crain's)
- Toasty weather has helped the Hamptons avoid a bad rental season, though ocean-front real estate is still available for August vacationers who have entirely lost touch with reality. And up north in equally horrifying Cape Cod, rental prices are being cut as much as 25 percent. (WSJ/Real Estate Journal)
- The Metropolitan Opera will finally become elegant: Marie Schwartz has given The Met $1 million to fund a contemporary art gallery in its Lincoln Center lobby. The gallery, curated by Vogue's Dodie Kazanjian, will open elegantly on September 22. (Crain's)
- Yet it would take 135 times the amount of Ms. Schwartz's gift to buy the Aspen abode of former Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz (above). The asking price of the 56,000-square-foot shack (bigger than the White House, and maybe as powerful) surpasses Trump's $125m tag for his Palm Beach estate. If the Aspen home is purchased at $135m, the lucky Prince will dwarf Ron Perelman's $70m sales record. (Aspen Times, via CNN/Money) - Max Abelson read more »
NYCLU Calls Spitzer on Phone Records, Gets Busy Signal
The organization claims to have made several requests to the AG's office asking for an investigation into allegations that the telecom giants, AT&T and Verizon, have shared millions of New Yorkers' telephone records with the National Security Agency. They mailed letters (one on May 24th, one on June 26th), sent petitions (the first with 510 signatures, the second with 4033), and followed up on the phone.
So far, they say: no response.
"The one person who has the best record of not being intimidated by the federal government is Eliot Spitzer," said NYCLU staff attorney Corey Stoughton. "So it would be really great if he could step up."
The NYCLU says the Attorney General 's office has the authority to look into whether AT&T and Verizon violated New Yorkers' privacy and consumer rights, pointing out that the New Jersey Attorney General issued subpoenas to five telephone companies, including AT&T and Verizon, last month and that Vermont's Attorney General is assisting with an investigation by the state's Department of Public Service.
But a spokesperson for the Attorney General just told us that all requests are processed and evaluated, and promised to check into the status of the NYCLU's letters and petitions. No word yet, obviously, on an investigation.
-- Lizzy Ratner Update: Spitzer spokeswoman Juanita Scarlett called yesterday to say that the June 26th follow-up letter and petition from the NYCLU had not yet arrived, but that the NYCLU shouldn'th hold its breath for a positive reply. "Considering that Congress is looking into the matter and the ACLU has launched a lawsuit, it is not likely our office will open an investigation," she said.Whole Foods, in Downtown Brooklyn?
The Real Estate called up Whole Foods to see if they are eyeing the space, but they wouldn't comment on it, saying only, "We're looking at the best possible location." But they did tell us that their Park Slope location is currently being cleaned up from the toxic sludge discovered earllier at the site, and groundbreaking for construction should begin in two and a half months, with a completion date in about 14 months.
-Matthew GraceViva la Vestibule! Wild West Village Stops at My Door
Friday-Morning Roundup
Speaking of Ground Zero, Verizon returns to its headquarters at 140 West Street.
The City Council overrode the Mayor's veto of the Council's earlier decision to remove the landmark status of the Austin, Nichols Warehouse in Williamsburg.
The Post reports that the Port Authority's board of commissioners has approved an agreement to begin the transfer of Piers 7 through 12 in Red Hook to the city by March 2007. For a bit more on this, see our earlier post.
In Bushwick, an illegal excavation forced the evacuation of several apartment buildings yesterday. The contractor is not known nor can be found.
Back in Billyburg, developer Mendel Brach's in trouble for tearing down a warehouse while building the "Finger Building," a 220-foot tower at 144 North Eighth Street, reports the Daily News. read more »
And The Sun reports that Mr. Silverstein might have some competition for those Liberty Bonds--someone whose plans hew more closely to Jefe Bloomberg's Ground Zero vision.
-Matthew GraceTribeca Rally
The debate over anti-terrorism measures in the MTA is obviously hampered by the same circumstances that prompt it. How can you point out security flaws in the system without exposing them to would-be terrorists?
That was the problem some Tribeca residents grappled with until they decided to go public about the telecom hotel at 60 Hudson Street.
The building was issued a variance allowing it to store high levels of diesel fuel—more than would normally be permissible under city building codes.
"I live a block and a half away from this building... and four years ago I started negotiations with Patricia Lancaster (Buildings Commissioner) and hoped this could be resolved without going public," said former Board 1 chair and LMDC board member Madelyn Wils at a rally in front of the building Sunday.
New York Civil Liberties Union head Norm Siegel was there, too.
"We don't want talk about it because we don't want to be part of a self-fulfilling prophecy," he said referring to fear of a possible terrorist attack on the building. "Now going public, people are going to say we're responsible if something happens, but we have no choice."
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Councilmember Alan Gerson and State Senator Martin Connor were also there.
"A school is right across the street from this building... It's outrageous that the Department of Buildings would grant a variance," said Mr. Conner.
"I'm surprised that with post 9/11 experience, we still have to fight in this mode over such an issue," said Tribeca resident Roland Gebhardt. "What does the Fire Department think of this?"
Sixty Hudson is host to many communications companies such as FiberNet and Tel X. Tel X provides connection service to major businesses like AT&T, Cablevision and Verizon, according to its website. The oil is used for telecom back-up generators. According to attorneys for 60 Hudson, in the event of a blackout, the amount of diesel fuel permitted by city building codes would not be enough to uphold the telecommunication network infrastructure. Those codes have not been significantly updated since 1968, before telecom hotels were invented.
Tim Lannan, head of Neighbors Against Noise, a group of local residents that pioneered an effort to force 60 Hudson to comply with city standards, called for the DOB to enforce recommendations based on the recently-released National Institute for Standards and Technology report on the Trade Center collapse. Building 7 is believed to have collapsed in part because of fuel stored in the building's base.
—Sara Levin read more » 
