The Real Estate

Paul Sevigny and Keith McNally both squashed rumors from a Radar on-line report that the Balthazar proprietor is buying the reigning, super-exclusive city nightspot the Beatrice Inn. [Eater]

Trader Joe's, The Shake Shack, and other evidence that New Yorkers love to hate lines. [Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]

With slogans like "We Shine Where the Sun Don't," Cotonelle's advertising blitz in the New York City subway system is bad enough. But apparently the toilet paper manufacturer has taken the scatological campaign a step further by papering the interior of three cars on (you guessed it) the S train with faux-paper. [Guest of a Guest]

JP Morgan starts axing jobs at Bear Stearns in New York City and the UK, cutting 62 of the 73 positions in the firm's Foreign Exchange Division. [Deal Breaker]

Subprime borrowers in Brownsville and Ocean Hill, two of the city's poorest neighborhoods, have little recourse but to foreclose on their homes since refinancing is too expensive. [TRD]

East Village residents gathered to pay their last respects to the Toy Tower over the weekend before the Parks Department dismantles the five-story neighborhood landmark this week due to safety concerns. [Curbed]

Hotels in the Bronx are usually overlooked by the tourism industry, but they are meccas for baseball fans. [City Room]

The gentrification train keeps roaring its way up to Harlem and Morningside Heights, or should we say "SoCo."

Today Curbed posted two items that spell trouble or progress, depending on your point of view. W Hotel's parent company Starwood is building a branch of its new Aloft brand on Frederick Douglass Bpulevard and 124th Street. Aloft Harlem is slated to open in June 2010 next to an old carriage house that perhaps not coincidentally was long-rumored to be the site of a W hotel before it was recently converted to lofts.

And if the 125th Street rezoning, a luxury boutique hotel chain, and Columbia's expansion were not enough to seal upper Manhattan's fate, brokers have coined a pretentiously trendy name to attract young people to the nabe: "SoCo."  read more »

It's the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge this month and the city is rolling out a nearly week-long celebration through Memorial Day that might cost as much as the $15.5 million spent to build the bridge between 1880 and 1883.

The five-day festivities kick off on May 22 with a performance by the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, and a Grucci fireworks show, the city announced today. A series of lectures, concerts, and family events running though Memorial Day is planned; and, from 9 to 11 nightly, starting May 22 through Memorial Day, the 1,595-foot-long bridge will be lit with colored lights.

Mayor Bloomberg pushed back against a pet initiative of Senator Schumer's today, saying the city “would never agree” to the Port Authority taking over the troubled Moynihan Station project.

Since March, Senator Schumer has been an outspoken proponent of moving the project under the purview of the Port Authority, saying the bi-state agency has the experience and the capability to complete the long-stalled project. Governor Paterson has supported the idea and said the move is likely, though some legislators are against it.

This morning Mr. Schumer tried to push the idea further, saying at a Crain’s New York breakfast that the state’s development agency, which currently has authority over the project, “is not capable of being a major development agency here.”

Shortly after, responding to questions from reporters, Mayor Bloomberg said, effectively, thanks but no thanks.  read more »

At 6 tonight, the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side plans to rally against what now appears to be the inevitable rezoning of the East Village just to the north.

The group has labeled the rezoning a "racist" plan to limit building heights and essentially abolish the community benefits incentive in 110 blocks of the East Village and Lower East Side. Last week, the Department of City Planning certified the proposal, giving Community Board 3 60 days to review it before it goes to the borough president and the City Council. The Coalition wants to send the rezoning plan back to the drawing board to include the area south of Delancey Street and East of Avenue D.  read more »

Victoria's Secret, lingerie maker to the masses, will remain in 666 Fifth Avenue, the cloud-buster Jared Kushner (owner of The Observer) bought from Tishman Speyer for a record-setting $1.8 billion.

The company renewed its lease for 55,755 square feet, at $92 a square foot, for five more years in the 41-story building, which just got an $18 million renovation that included a fancy new lobby.

CB Richard Ellis's Eric Deutsch, Ken Meyerson, Jason Pollen and Mary Ann Tighe represented the lingerie maker. Greg Conen, of Tishman Speyer Properties, represented the landlord.

It's awards season in retail! That means lots of schmoozing, and carousing and lots and lots of drinking. And, of course, awards.

The nominations are in for the Real Estate Board of New York’s coveted Retail Deal of the Year Awards, which will be presented on June 10 at the REBNY Retail Committee’s annual cocktail party at the 101 Club.

Check 'em out after the jump.  read more »

New York City may be the star of the Grand Theft Auto IV, but from a business standpoint, New York isn’t investing enough in the gaming industry, according to a study released today by the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan think tank.

In fact, New York City, whose gaming industry employs just 1,200 people, trails “gaming hubs” like Seattle, Los Angeles, Montreal and Boston (Boston?!?!), according to the study, “Getting in the Game.”

But there is some good news:  read more »

In a drive to reclaim the “I ♥ NY” logo, New York State Tourism Board officials plan to penalize those who sell unofficial products. [NY Times]

The Ex-Talking Heads frontman will turn a building into a musical instrument. [NY Times]

A "farmhouse" off the L Train in Ridgewood, Queens. [NY Times]

Worth the Climb: Some of the best deals in New York right now are for top-floor apartments in walk-ups. [NY Times]

More than two dozen churches and synagogues have been repurposed for residential use since the 1980's. [NY Times]

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is reviewing a proposal to include the west side of West Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. [NY Times]

Your Home: Can a bargain rent have staying power? [NY Times]

Q&A: Can the sponsor vote for his ex-wife? [NY Times]

As they seek to offset the downturn in sales, real estate and mortgage brokers have recently started courting the newly engaged. [NY Times]

Owners of co-ops and condos lingering on the market have been trimming prices and considering unusual inducements to get a second look from buyers. [NY Times]

The Spence School signed a contract to buy a mansion on East 90th Street, which was formerly the home of an international socialite. [NY Times]

Three Southampton inns (40 percent of the hotel rooms in the area) go on sale today. [NY Post]

A state senator is accusing the Bloomberg administration of "extorting" $68,000 from the owner of a popular Russian restaurant and nightclub in exchange for her right to operate on Brooklyn's Brighton Beach boardwalk. [NY Post]

Foreclosures hit the Hamptons. [NY Post]

New Yorkers are on the hook to hand over $321 million to Goldman Sachs, because the Port Authority did not meet its deadline to rebuild the World Trade Center. [NYDN]

The Department of Buildngs crackdown is costing developers millions. [NYDN]

Speaking from London earlier today, Michael Bloomberg said the deal for the West Side rail yards was still alive, and called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to work out its differences with Tishman Speyer and come to an agreement. The M.T.A. said it reached an impasse with Tishman Speyer yesterday.

“These projects are phenomenally complex—they have lots of different layers of government involved,” Mr. Bloomberg said, speaking to reporters. “My hope is that the state government, really the M.T.A. in this case, can get together and solve the problems that they have and that Tishman Speyer has so that they can come together. But I don’t think it’s the least bit fair or accurate to say that anything’s dead.”

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