Sean Combs

This week's big media story was undoubtedly the Los Angeles Times' erroneous report that alleged Sean “Diddy” Combs and his posse were responsible for a 1994 attack on Tupac Shakur outside the Quad Recording Studio in New York. The report, by Pulitzer Prize winner Chuck Philips, which first appeared on LATimes.com on March 17 along with several supposed F.B.I. documents implicating Combs, immediately prompted an investigation by The Smoking Gun, which determined that the documents—and the information they contained—were false.  read more »

Few of Fashion Week’s most anticipated shows are held at Bryant Park’s tents (Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, and Thom Browne, for example, are all off-site), and last night’s Zac Posen show made clear the reasons.

Security guards demanded invitations or credentials at the entrance, despite the fact that the Daily Transom had breezed through all week with neither. “There are a few shows that are huge, and everyone tries to sneak in,” said one sentry apologetically. “And everyone tries to sneak in.”)  read more »

From Fox & Friends this morning:

Brian Kilmeade:

They say statistically that 18-34 belongs to Barack Obama. And he says that he’s the new generation. Have you met him? What do you think?

Diddy:

I met Barack Obama – but I think he has to say something. He has to mean something. No candidate can get away for their gender or for their race. I definitely am honored that a black man is running for the presidency. But I think that, to be honest, he has to do something for black people. I need to hear him say he is going to do something to change our lives – because we need our lives changed.

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On Thursday, May 31, Sean (P. Diddy) Combs hosted a private party at Simon Hammerstein’s burlesque club, the Box. “It was so ghetto,” said one (white) source present that night. “And it was super-packed. It was so not the Box.”  read more »

• A megastar is in the market for a manager for his (or her) four estates. The job requires flexibility and thick skin--plus there will be "VERY long hours," renovation, and apparently interior design. Sounds fun, no? [Gawker]
• Late last year, Bloomberg decided that New York would sustainably have 9 million complainers and money managers and Bikram yoga addicts by 2030. Architects and planners ask: What about the housing? The construction? The money? (The space for yoga?) [Streetsblog]
• Residential real estate in Manhattan isn't as costly as Fashion Week real estate: Puff Daddy has to pay $150,000 per day for his Cipriani venue. [Forbes, via Luxist]
• Great News of the Day: Donald "Little Ratner" Trump won't develop in Brooklyn. Yet. [B. Paper]
• $30 is a tiny price to pay to pretend that you're Donald Judd in his five-floor home-studio on Spring Street. The phrases "SoHo Historic Cast-Iron District" and "500 works" are both pretty exciting [see above]. [Apartment Therapy]
- Max Abelson
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The king of Fifth Ave [FWD]

• The big news is that the Freedom Tower (far, faraway from completion) has a tenant for nearly half its space--1 million out of 2,600,000 square feet. That tenant is our kindly Big Bro--federal and state agencies like the NY Governor's Office. The even bigger news is that this probably has more to do with "symbolism and politics" than the long-term welfare of WTC real estate. (New York Times)
• Who has helped transform a "dowdy" section of Fifth Avenue into a soon-to-be wonderland of fashionable exclusivity? Diddy, aka Puff Daddy, aka Sean Combs, of course. His burgeoning Sean Jean retailer has upped the status of 500 Fifth--a building that is now forcing out its less trendy retail tenants in order to serve its growing upscale clientele. (Crain's premium)
• This week, The Post's omniscient Dear John column delves into everything you've ever wanted to know about real estate investment. The real lesson: "When the consensus is that real estate will never be a good investment again, that's when it probably will be a good investment." Invest away! (NY Post)
• Chinatown has had some hard-luck years since 9/11-- but luxury condominiums are coming to the rescue. Among the new crop is Hester Gardens (at Hester and Mott), and seven more posh developments are on the way. Penthouses have been going from $1.5-3 million, attracting even (take a breath) non-Chinese buyers. "This is either a renaissance," says a local museum director, "or gentrification to the hilt." (New York Times)
• A teenager named Ben Passikoff had the genuinely brilliant idea to photograph the city's "ghost signs" (those ancient facade advertisements for "steam power, garters [and] taxidermy.") His book--the kid has a book--captures the happy, bygone days before LCD billboards and those illegally mammoth scaffolding ads. (NY Daily News)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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• The International Workers of the World have set their sights on three Manhattan Starbuckses (is that the plural?) to unionize, after settling with the company on an unfair-labor-practices suit. Reader poll: Where are they? (AP, via Crain's)
• The Dubai company that wanted to manage the Port of New York has withdrawn its bid. (The Washington Post)
• Jim McManus of the fabled McManus Democratic Machine Club was kicked out of a cigar-smokey West 44th Street storefront and now suffers the indignity of running his operation in a suite across the hall from P. Diddy. (The New York Times)

The Fulton Mall.

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.