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The Bird and the Cross: How an Over-Budget PATH Station Helps Explain a Missing Church

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:13:52 -0500

Last week, the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved yet another increase in the budget for Santiago Calatrava's winged transit hub at the World Trade Center, bringing the price of the station up to a level once deemed untenable while also dipping into the Port's ground zero reserve funds for the first time.

The station will now cost a total of $3.44 billion, up from an initial $2.2 billion...

Debating Anthony Weiner

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:30:46 -0500

The New York Times' Roger Cohen bravely accepts the job of moderating Rep. Anthony Weiner and former Rep. Brian Baird, as they discuss Israel, the Middle East, the Goldstone Report and other light topics this Thursday.

Weiner is, of course, known for his verbal restraint.

The announcement, passed on by an interested reader:

The GOLDSTONE REPORT: It's Relevance to a Fast-Changing Middle East

Where: The New School, New York City

When: 7 pm

Join moderator Roger Cohen (The New...

Who's Criticizing Cuomo?

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:40:40 -0500

That's the somewhat dismissive message from the NYS Democratic Party's Executive Director Charlie King, responding to the "breathless" AP story about a letter circulating in Albany today. King:

“I read the breathless AP story about 40 local Democratic officials who disagree with Governor Cuomo’s budget. I looked at the list and recognize only some of the names and I am the Executive Director of the Democratic Party. The lack of state legislators...

Roundup: Cuomo Has a Strategy, Ravitch Has a Memoir

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:07:11 -0500

Unions: Rangel rallies for labor. [Youtube]

Governmental Shutdown: probably not happening in the next two weeks. [The Hill]

Governors' Meeting: "Obama didn’t just offer compromise to Republican governors. He challenged state chiefs over their treatment of unions." [AP]

Chris Christie: Lightening round answers; Obama's best pick is Arne Duncan. [Youtube]

Capping Salaries: Cuomo targets superintendents. [Capital Tonight]

Redesigning Medicaid: Cuomo's plan to cap malpractice lawsuits may lead to a lawsuit. [Cityroom]

Positioning Cuomo: Vielkind explains Cuomo's handling of labor. [Captial...

Life Without Gmail--'Everything Was Gone'

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:33:42 -0500

Google now says only 39,000 users were affected by a bug that wiped out data in some accounts completely yesterday. Brooklynite Julia West is one of them.

"I woke up pretty early yesterday morning, around 7 a.m.," Ms. West said. "I always check my email on my phone when I wake up. I saw I had no email in my inbox when I normally have a bunch--I thought it was a mobile glitch. But then...

Our Fav Retailer Pays $32.5 M. for Bronx Lot

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:26:40 -0500

The city's favorite discount chain has hit the mark in the Bronx.

Target has paid $32.25 million for the land at 815 Hutchinson Parkway, in Pelham Bay, a roughly 600,000-square-foot plot currently occupied by a postal distribution center.

The buyer on the deed is Lafayette Nominee Owner, registered to Target's corporate office at the Nicolett Mall in Minneapolis, according to PropertyShark.com. The seller is the U.S. Postal...

Icelandic Antic: Embattled Viking Sells Gramercy Penthouse for $22 M.

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:10:35 -0500

In Europe, Icelander Jon Asgeir Johannesson is best known for invading London and buying up some of its poshest stores before his Baugur empire collapsed amidst claims of fraud and embezzlement to the tune of $2 billion. In New York, his crimes are far worse: invading the penthouse of the Gramercy Park Hotel and outfitting it with drab IKEA fixtures.

Finally some good news for Mr. Johannesson and his stunning wife Ingibjorg Palmadottir, who have...

Bloomberg on CityTime

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:01:44 -0500

"CityTime, for example, is only doing 175,000 employees out of 300[,000], and we're ahead of schedule. We said it would be done by June, and last time I checked in two weeks ago, we're way ahead of schedule."

--Bloomberg, during a Q&A in Brooklyn today, paying rare compliment to an otherwise troubled...

Koch on Schumer: 'Dead Wrong'

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:24:56 -0500

When it comes to redistricting, Ed Koch doesn't agree with Chuck Schumer.

"Chuck Schumer's view is it should be partisan and redrawn to protect parties. He's dead wrong," Koch told me an interview this afternoon. "He says they would lose three [congressional] seats. I say redistricting is not intended to ensure the outcome of an election, but a fair election." The former mayor said Schumer's position on this issue is simply "not good government."

Koch--never one...

Surgeons Carve Long-Term Deal with ATCO

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:07:34 -0500

The Center for Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction is moving its office to Third Avenue and 41st Street.

The 4,228-square-foot office on the sixth floor of 630 Third Avenue will be dedicated to consultations with new and returning patients. Plastic surgeon Robert Allen leads the center, which also has locations in New Orleans and South Carolina. He signed a long-term lease and will move into the 22-story Emery Roth-designed building by late March, bidding farewell to ULM's...