Wednesday night, as The Observer crossed the West Side Highway at Bank Street and walked over to Pier 49, the pink-orange sun was reflecting onto the Hudson River, and people had filled the surrounding patches of grass, waiting for the official unveiling of a new public artwork by artist Jon Morris called Reflecting the Stars, Read More
Arriving to the Pier 66 boathouse on the Hudson River Wednesday evening, The Observer admitted we hadn’t been in a kayak for at least ten years. Even then, we just splashed around at summer camp. “Do you know how to swim?” asked Lev Grote, president of the New York Kayak Water Polo Club. “That’s key.” Read More
When an $80 million penthouse at 15 Central Park West came off the market late last month, it left a depressingly big hole in New York's super-luxury apartment market. (As it happens, an 18th-floor duplex in the building is being quietly offered for $75 million, while Courtney Sale Ross' sprawl at 740 Park Read More
In what must surely be a bit of good news for super-luxury Manhattan real estate--but, then again, must also be a bit of bad news--Hugh Jackman has closed on the Hudson River triplex that The Observer wrote about last month. It's a reason for jittery brokers to sigh, considering that two sources said last Read More
In the early 1980's a water engineer once described the Hudson River to me as "the biggest and fastest flushing toilet in the world". Until the North River sewage treatment plant opened in 1986 for what was called "advanced preliminary treatment" we dumped all of the west side's raw sewage straight into the Hudson. No Read More
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of reading
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was passed in 1972 over then President Richard Nixon's veto. Pete Seeger was an important voice in the chorus that demanded government action on cleaning up our water. For nearly forty years the Clearwater has continued its educational mission. Read More
Location: The Feb. 23 video of rats overrunning a health-inspector-approved KFC/Taco Bell in Greenwich Village triggered a city Health Department crackdown, resulting in three times as many daily restaurant closures as usual. Hunt: It’s actually four times as many. O.K., four times. Isn’t it about time the city put some teeth into the inspection process? Read More
The 'Worth [www.nyc-architecture.com]
Well, today's McCain story has generated quite a lot of letter writing from addresses we usually don't see here at the li'l old Observer. Most of the e-mails coming in are from conservatives west of the Hudson River, and they argue that McCain's moderate stance on domestic issues does not represent their values. Many Read More
We know guessing when the Ground Zero negotiations will end is a game no one wins, but we couldn't help noticing the time frame Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia mentioned in a press huddle after his meeting today: "We are very optimistic that in the ensuing weeks that we are going to come to some Read More
David Lombino has a fascinating piece on how another tunnel under the Hudson River is fitting into negotiations about who controls Ground Zero. It involves too much horse-trading to go into here, but, unlike most Sun articles, it is completely free on the Web. -Matthew Schuerman
In April 2004, gallery owner Barbara Gladstone signed a contract at Richard Meier's latest residential project, 165 Charles Street, as reported a few months later by New York magazine. Well, the deal finally closed earlier this month for $4.75 million, according to deed transfer records. (Ms. Gladstone is in Europe and could not Read More
Greenwich Village dwellers and preservationists won a battle today when the City Planning Commission voted to limit the height and scale of new developments in the far West Village, a haven of luxury real-estate speculation since the infamous Perry Street celebridorm by Richard Meier, overexposed both literally and figuratively, went up along the Hudson River. Read More
Today, the Department of City Planning is meeting to review a proposal to rezone the Far West Village, from roughly west of Greenwich and Washington streets to the Hudson River, between 14th and Morton Streets. The D.C.P. will be considering a down-zoning, which would decrease the bulk and maximum height of new buildings in the Read More
"Hey, you're that guy!" I turned and saw that the actor David Duchovny was talking to me. It was 5:30 in the morning. We were in line to get body-marked at the 2004 New York City Triathlon.
"You're the reason I'm doing this," Mr. Duchovny said. "I registered after reading your article. I grew up Read More
