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Tech Bigs Buy Village's Bacchus House Where Napster Once Partied

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:32:32 -0500

So much for West Village townhouses lagging behind their uptown neighbors. The 24-foot-wide converted carriage house at 40 West 10th Street has finally sold after nearly five years on the market for the stupendous price of $20 million. "It's like you're outside a little palazzo in Tuscany," Brown Harris Steven super-broker Paula Del Nunzio told The Observer back when the 8,500-square-foot home first came on the market.

The Tuscan feel fits not only in terms of...

An Artist and Two Composers Sell; a Record Exec Buys The Sheffield Soars

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:46:33 -0500

-- Another buyer at 1140 Fifth Avenue! Last week week a financier moved in and it looks like another money man has followed him. Charles L. Atwood (perhaps the Chicagoan real estate investor and former Harrah's honcho) has bought a two-bedroom apartment on the forth floor for $1.775 million, according to city records. The seller is artist Cornelia Foss, who now lists an address at 1225 Park Avenue, a rental building.

-- Such sweet music!...

It's Free to Look: Elaine Kaufman's Penthouse Hits the Market

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:19:41 -0500

A couple of weeks ago, The Observer got wind that Upper East Side legend Elaine Kaufman's 86th Street co-op was going to be sold. Or was it?

In her will, Kaufman left the two-bedroom penthouse, where she lived for 25 years, to Elaine's restaurant manager, Diane Becker, sources confirmed. But co-executors Ms. Becker and her lawyer, Robert Tucker, wouldn't confirm the apartment's fate. With a few cool beads of sweat trickling down our forehead, we...

Elsewhere: Keeping Hope Alive

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:20:29 -0500

It got nasty in the State Senate today.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron is keeping hope alive for the Jets, and encourages the rest of the Green Army to do so as well. (h/t Daily Politics)

Schumer wrote to Def. Sec. Gates: support arsenal support.

Marist: SOTU not going to do much to restore American's confidence in government.

Chris Christie turned down a chance to give a SOTU response.

Jimmy McMillan and his legacy live on in NY politics.

NY election...

House Party: Scenes from the REBNY Gala

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:14:20 -0500

Who was ravishing in red? Who wore a velvet tux? Who's arm was around whom's?

Well, REBNY's 115th annual gala was no Golden Globes, but as far as the real estate biz is concerned, it was simply the biggest night of the year. All the big shots were there, at least briefly. (Can you spot Mayor Bloomberg?) Everyone was smiling, especially the award winners.

SLIDESHOW: The Best Shots of the Big Shot. >>

All photos courtesy...

Kate Middleton Quits Job to Prep for Gig as World's Greatest Palacewife

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:03:21 -0500

Smiling princess-to-be Kate Middleton is a working woman. When she's not busy dress-shopping or doing other things to plan for the bombastic 3D broadcast of her wedding to Prince William, she holds down a modest job as a website designer and photographer for Party Pieces. And her parents are her bosses! Nepotism can be so adorable.

But it looks like Kate won't be putting together Christmas catalogs for much longer. The Daily Mail reports that...

The Grueling Schedule of a Weekend Hackathon

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:52:25 -0500

Developer John Britton hosted about a dozen guests last weekend at his Brooklyn apartment, the site of the official Peer 2 Peer University hackathon, NYC edition. Guests traveled from New Orleans, Boston, Canada, South Africa and elsewhere to participate in a grueling schedule of coding, talking and planning the next iteration of P2PU.

P2PU is founded on the idea that the internet can provide educational opportunities that are more accessible and of even higher quality...

How Revenue Growth Can Justify Facebook's Big Price Tag

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:42:13 -0500

The rich premium attached to Facebook's recent $50 billion valuation -- a high price with respect to earnings that few companies can match -- may be justified if the company can grow revenue at a rapid clip, according to analysis by research firm Trefis published by DealBook:

Trefis currently puts Facebook's worth at a (relatively) modest $45 billion, but the firm says there are four likely developments that could push the social network's value to...

Did 50 Cent Kill World Star Hip Hop?

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:53:48 -0500

Rapper 50 Cent is taking credit for the mysterious shut down of hip hop news site WorldStarHipHop.com today on Twitter, and suggesting two more web sites might be coming down soon.

In November of 2009, 50 Cent filed a lawsuit against the site for using his image and content without his consent, according to All Hip Hop.

"I have lawyers on retainers and I have to pay them so much money anyway, so we'll go back...

SOTU Seating Buddies Finding Each Other

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:53:45 -0500

The State of the Union is tomorrow night, and added to the usual anticipation is a brand new drinking game, and a plan for legislators to sit amongst their colleagues from across the aisle.

Like the week before prom, this had led to a frantic search on the part of our federal officials to find a buddy to pair off with in order to display to the American people that Congress will never let an...