Murray Hill | The New York Observer

Halstead Stakes Its Investment Sales Claim

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:21:34 -0500

Odd timing. That’s what New York investment brokers are saying about Halstead Property’s recently announced plans to open a commercial real estate investment arm during one of the worst markets in recent history.

“I don’t think it’s a great idea,” said an investment broker from a rival and well-established firm, which, though it has a good name and strong client relationships, has seen activity plummet. “We will crush them.”

Others...

The Local: Murray Hell, Fratastic As Ever

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:41:20 -0400

It’s that time of year when thousands of recent college graduates descend upon Manhattan for their obligatory, pre-suburban stint in the city.

Manhattan’s rental market is traditionally the tightest from May to August and early September—apartment-hunting season for newly christened young professionals.

After their hopes of living below 23rd Street in quasi-bohemian squalor are dashed by a broker, the Manhattan newbie has just a few neighborhoods to choose from.

Six Buildings Evacuated After Midtown Manhole Explosion

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:26:07 -0400

WNBC.com is reporting that a manhole explosion on East 39th Street prompted the evacuation of six nearby buildings early this morning.

No injuries have been reported.

The blast occured just a few blocks from the scene of last July's steampipe explosion near Grand Central Terminal, which injured 41 people and caused one woman to die from a heart attack....

As Solow Scales Back East River Ambitions, Garodnick Vows 'Conversations' Over Traffic

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:54:01 -0500

Sheldon Solow has made a lot of concessions to get the City Council to green-light his massive mixed-use development covering almost 10 acres along the East River, but it looks like he will have to overcome a few more hurdles before the plans are approved.

At a public hearing before a City Council zoning subcommittee this afternooon in City Hall, Mr. Solow's representatives defended their application to build six residential buildings and a...

Garodnick, Others Keep Up the Heat for East River Park

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:49:44 -0500

With the City Council preparing a vote in coming weeks on Sheldon Solow’s plans for the Con Edison site; the UN expanding its campus into the nearby Marcus Garvey Park; and the reconstruction of the midtown portions of the FDR Drive set to kick off, Murray Hill residents are reminding city and state officials to prioritize the development of a waterside park in the area.

Last spring Councilman Dan Garodnick, the Municipal...

Showdown in Murray Hill

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:35:38 -0500

On the far East Side site of the former Con Edison plant, patience appears to be a virtue for Sheldon Solow, the billionaire developer and owner of the land. For the seven-plus years since he agreed to buy the 9.2-acre site, Mr. Solow has slowly planned for a mostly residential development defined by seven modernist, skinny, Skidmore Owings & Merrill-designed towers to rise along the East River, just south of the United Nations, on...

Younger Renters Priced Out of Murray Hill's Better Buildings

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:06:26 -0500

Rents in doorman buildings in Murray Hill went up across the board in 2007 according to a report released today by the Real Estate Group New York.

Through 2007, average rents in doorman buildings rose by 11.5 percent for studios to $2,578; by 9.6 percent for one-bedrooms to $3,514; and by 10.3 percent for two-bedrooms to $5,190. Though there are still bargains to be found in non-doorman buildings in the neighborhood--studio rents...

Shott On Location: Phallic Jokes Abound At Second Avenue Deli Salami-Cutting

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:50:54 -0500

"This is some bris," wisecracked one reporter, as Jack Lebewohl unleashed yards of linked nickel schtickel sausages from a brown box along the 33rd Street sidewalk.

His son, Jeremy Lebewohl, meanwhile, brandished a foot-long pair of scissors.

At least 20 members of the press corps, ranging from Reuters to Jewish Week, were on hand as the Lebewohls' cut the ceremonial salami and officially reopened the clan's hallowed Second Avenue Deli on Monday.

"Here's a circumsized...

Slice The Salami! Second Avenue Deli Opens Monday

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:23:37 -0500

A ceremonial salami-cutting is scheduled for Monday morning, when the hallowed Second Avenue Deli reopens in Murray Hill.

A spokesperson for the Lebewohl family said Tuesday that the grand-opening festivities will commence at 11 a.m. at the new deli, located at 162 East 33rd Street near Third Avenue.

She added that the ceremonial meat would be "nickel shtikle."

Further details on the long-awaited opening:

New York City (December...

Second Avenue Deli Not Opening Next Week--Maybe Next Month

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:24:53 -0400

A spokesperson for the Lebewohl family called The Observer this morning to clarify that -- contrary to yesterday's Real Deal article -- the Second Avenue Deli is not opening next week on 33rd Street near Third Avenue.

NY1 follows up today with some additional details about the hallowed eatery's new digs:

The finishing touches for the new kitchen are underway. The tables are ready to be set, and the soda fountain is ready to go,...

Second Avenue Deli Opens Next Week Closer To Third Avenue (UPDATED)

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:08:22 -0400

The Real Deal is reporting that the Lebewohl family has finalized its purchase of 162 East 33rd Street -- the new site of the clan's hallowed Second Avenue Deli, which will now be closer to Third Avenue.

The new deli, which opens next week, will seat at least 75 people in a renovated space that was the site of a tapas restaurant. ...The old deli, which closed on Jan. 1, 2006, had 128...

Murray Hill Corned-Beef Clash Could Go On All Night

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:33:45 -0400

The reincarnated Second Avenue Deli -- soon to open on 33rd Street near Third Avenue -- will be open 24/7, according to yesterday's New York Times magazine.

And so the battle for bragging rights as Murray Hill's top matzo-ball-soup maker heats up!

As The Observer reported last week, the new Second Avenue Deli is moving in just four blocks south of another historic (albeit less storied) Jewish deli, Sarge's, at 548 Third Avenue between 36th...

Nosh In My Backyard! Veteran Deli Eyes Newcomer

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:22:35 -0400

“This isn’t some touristy deli,” said Jimmy Failla. “This place has street cred.”

He was referring to Sarge’s, the grungy old Jewish delicatessen with the bright red awning on Third Avenue between 36th and 37th streets.

For more than four decades, this hole-in-the-wall house of hot brisket, corned beef and pastrami has carved out its niche in the neighborhood, tucked far away from the more famous Manhattan cured-meat...

One Park Avenue to Sell for $550 Million

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 13:40:04 -0500

One Park Avenue, an 18-story Class A office building, is in contract to Murray Hill Properties. The building, owned by SL Green, is being sold for around $550 million, according to two sources familiar with the deal. The 920,000-square-foot building will sell for about $585 a foot. That trumps the $526 a foot that 2 Park Avenue, directly across the street, got two months ago when L & L Holding Company bought it...

News Flash: Manhattan Rents Highest In Expensive Neighborhoods

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:44:14 -0500

Soho and Tribeca were the most expensive Manhattan neighborhoods to rent an apartment in this October, according to a new report from brokerage Citi Habitats. The average rent for all types of apartments in those wealthy havens was $4,316 last month, leaps ahead of the cheapest neighborhood surveyed - Harlem, where an apartment could be had for $1,754, on average, in October. Meanwhile, forget about finding a decent apartment, apparently. The report says the...

Atlantic Still High and Dry

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:36:03 -0400

The application by a top Pataki contributor for state financing of two low-income apartment buildings is still in limbo, having failed to receive final approval for the third time in a row. The application, from Peter Fine's Atlantic Development Group, was tabled at two previous meetings of the Public Authorities Control Board. At a meeting earlier this week, it was not even considered, according to a spokesman. "There was no attempt to put the...

Taxis for the New

Fri, 26 May 2006 05:16:45 -0400

As the influx of young people to Manhattan has clearly diluted the population of people who understand how New York works, perhaps it's time for some basic service journalism for our newest neighbors. (Or a terrorist incident. The Transom is happy to help but O.b. Laden could certainly do more.) All up and down the East Village stretch of First Avenue this Friday morning of Memorial Day Weekend, bitches are frantically hailing cabs, their multiple...

Sloane Penelope Kaplan

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Feb. 16, 2006

10:53 p.m. 6 pounds, 9 ounces New York University Hospital The aptly named Tiffany Kaplan, 30, director of marketing at jewelry wholesale company B&M Imports, has a sparkling new little gem. “A little pixie!” crowed Ms. Kaplan’s husband of three years, Steven Kaplan, 38, a partner at the corporate law firm Kaplan and Levenson. Little Sloane joins Daisy, 19 months, who lovingly provides the baby with blankets when the latter...

Sloane Penelope Kaplan

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Feb. 16, 2006 10:53 p.m. 6 pounds, 9 ounces New York University Hospital The aptly named Tiffany Kaplan, 30, director of marketing at jewelry wholesale company B&M Imports, has a sparkling new little gem. “A little pixie!” crowed Ms. Kaplan’s husband of three years, Steven Kaplan, 38, a partner at the corporate law firm Kaplan and Levenson. Little Sloane joins Daisy, 19 months, who lovingly provides the baby with blankets when the latter cries. “With little girls,...

Abuse Me! I Like It! The Weirdness of Hiring A Personal Organizer

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 19:00:00 -0500

I’m sure that’s what she said. I’m sure I couldn’t have misheard. Still: Her psychosexual baggage? Mine? It was the morning after she’d spent 10 hours throwing away everything I...

Abuse Me! I Like It! The Weirdness of Hiring A Personal Organizer

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 19:00:00 -0500

“If you use anything except an ashtray to put your cigarette out in, I’ll come over there and cut your fingers off, and then you’ll have to smoke with your penis,” she said to me on the phone the next day. I’m sure that’s what she said. I’m sure I couldn’t have misheard. Still: Her psychosexual baggage? Mine? It was the morning after she’d spent 10 hours throwing away everything I thought...

Countdown to Bliss

Sun, 07 Aug 2005 20:00:00 -0400

Lauren Berger and Stuart Ruderfer Met: August 2000 Engaged: July 2, 2005 Projected Wedding Date: Fall 2006 Sometimes, ladies, it pays to date the boss. Stuart Ruderfer, co-founder of a marketing company called Civic Entertainment Group, hired Lauren Berger fresh out of the University of Pennsylvania. His partner was impressed that the blond interviewee had been president of her sorority. “Don’t ask me which one,” said Ms. Berger, 27, sipping a glass of Cabernet...

Letters

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:00:00 -0400

Hell to Pay

To the Editor: Lizzy Ratner appears rather appalled by the state of affairs in Murray Hill ["Welcome to Murray Hell!", July 11]. I mean, imagine the horror of Murray Hill: a community of fresh college graduates-many harking from the nation's most prestigious universities-who have flocked to one of the few remaining semi-affordable enclaves in Manhattan to be around-gasp!-kids their own age who are working and trying to support themselves, while also establishing...

Letters

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:00:00 -0400

Hell to Pay

To the Editor:

Lizzy Ratner appears rather appalled by the state of affairs in Murray Hill [“Welcome to Murray Hell!”, July 11]. I mean, imagine the horror of Murray Hill: a community of fresh college graduates—many harking from the nation's most prestigious universities—who have flocked to one of the few remaining semi-affordable enclaves in Manhattan to be around—gasp!—kids their own age who are working and trying to support themselves, while also establishing a social circle.

As Ms. Ratner scoffs:...

Welcome to Murray Hell!

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 20:00:00 -0400

The strip of Third Avenue that runs between 29th and 38th streets in Manhattan is more than 1,500 miles from Club Med Cancun, but on sticky summer nights it could easily be mistaken for that spring-break frat-trap where youth is ascendant and every hour is happy hour. On almost any evening, the bars lining the strip pump and grind to the beat of screechy-boozy flirtation, while "Mambo Number Five" blasts over the sound system...

Welcome to Murray Hell!

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 20:00:00 -0400

The strip of Third Avenue that runs between 29th and 38th streets in Manhattan is more than 1,500 miles from Club Med Cancun, but on sticky summer nights it could easily be mistaken for that spring-break frat-trap where youth is ascendant and every hour is happy hour. On almost any evening, the bars lining the strip pump and grind to the beat of screechy-boozy flirtation, while “Mambo Number Five” blasts over the sound system like...

A Wing and a Prayer, Or How I Found My Nesting Instinct

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 20:00:00 -0400

On my last birthday, I decided to buy a parakeet. I'd been out of college for a year and was living in a pet-friendly building in Murray Hill, in an alcove studio also known as "Fort Me." For the first time in my life, I was living alone, with no boyfriend and no one to take care of other than myself and the occasional bartender. But after a year of reveling in a state...

Dining out with Moira Hodgson

Sun, 22 Sep 2002 20:00:00 -0400

'Way Out' Pizza

In the West Village Ever get a hankering for grilled watermelon pizza? You'll find it at Gonzo, an Italian restaurant that opened early this summer in a brownstone in the West Village. The chef entered a competition for watermelon recipes and came up with a dish he liked so much, he put it on the menu. So, with your interests at heart, dear reader, I ordered it the other night, ready to...

Ex Marks Her Spot

Sun, 22 Sep 2002 20:00:00 -0400

Joanne Corzine's been flexing her muscle since her divorce in March from New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine, closing on a New York apartment that is miles away-literally and figuratively-from the couple's previous New Jersey and Upper East Side spreads.

Ms. Corzine, a N.J.-based real-estate developer who divorced Mr. Corzine in March, paid $3.7 million for a four-bedroom, 3,900-square-foot condo at the Cobblestone Lofts at 28 Laight Street, closing the deal on June 27, city records...

The Avon Lady Rings All the Doorbells, Park Ave. to Gracie Sq.

Sun, 12 Dec 1999 19:00:00 -0500

When Andrea Jung took over as chief executive of Avon Products Inc. on Nov. 4, she became the fourth female chief executive of a Fortune 500 company. At 41, she is the makeup giant's youngest chief executive ever. Several weeks later, Ms. Jung became the new owner of a 2,600-square-foot co-op apartment at 7 Gracie Square, on an exclusive cul-de-sac off East End Avenue that dead-ends above the East River. Sources said Ms. Jung...

At Murray Hill's Coach House, Forgione's Hommage to Beard

Sun, 17 Oct 1999 20:00:00 -0400

Recently, I ate in what was formerly the Coach House in Greenwich Village, now an Italian restaurant called Babbo. The next week, I went to the new Coach House, which has opened in Murray Hill. I wondered, as I looked around the room, if the venerable name signified anything at all to the people having dinner there. The original restaurant, with its red brick walls and 19th-century English oil paintings, still inspires misty recollections...

Chef and Guests Living Large at Strangely Sybaritic Scopa

Sun, 26 Sep 1999 20:00:00 -0400

Scopa is one of the strangest restaurants I have been to recently. It officially opened this summer in Murray Hill, which has always struck me as a lugubrious part of town but which I've read is now the cool place to live. There certainly were no signs of life at the address I had, 79 Madison Avenue, so I went down 28th Street to ask directions. The doors of a small cafe and takeout...

Meet the Murrays of Murray Hill

Sun, 15 Mar 1998 19:00:00 -0500

If you stroll out to the traffic island where Park Avenue South intersects East 37th Street (and, civil citizen that you are, you will do so in accordance with the municipal traffic regulations that you have memorized in preparation for the day when Rudy Giuliani subjects us all to a surprise quiz), you'll find a roadside marker commemorating a bit of long-forgotten history. A plaque there pays tribute to the memory of one Mary...