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Surveying Property Taxes

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:24:25 -0500

A reader from the Upper West Side emails:

Yesterday I received 2 calls from Siena Research. The first looking for a man and since I wasn't a man, they didn't poll me. Second time they looked for a man of various ages then accepted me.

Lots of questions about how bad real estate was in NY state.

Then at the end, out of nowhere they asked if I was in favor of capping property taxes. There was...

Facial Recognition! New York's Lawmaker Look-alikes

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:00:16 -0500

Is it just us, or do many of our elected officials remind you of someone else? Yes, Tom DiNapoli, we're talking about you.

Seriously, New York's halls of power are starting to resemble an old episode of "Night of 1,000 Stars!"

Check out New York's Lawmaker Lookalikes >>

(By the way, one more resemblance of note—that of this very feature to Spy magazine's beloved "Separated at Birth" column. We know. We get that all the...

Alec Baldwin as Senator Dean Skelos

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:57:22 -0500

Emily Atkins finds famous people who look like New York politicians. If there's any good (awful?) celebrity-politician lookalike combos, stick it in the comments...

Insurance Law Firm Splits For Mack-Cali's 125 Broad

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:53:45 -0500

It's been lonely downtown for Sullivan & Cromwell, with nary another major law firm in sight. Finally, the stuffy concern will get some company through a deal at 125 Broad Street.

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker has signed a 17-year lease for 37,000 square feet in Mack-Cali's budding nonprofit hub, Studley's Howard Nottingham told The Observer. While most companies are consolidating their space these days, the firm is instead splitting its office in two, said the...

Brodsky Lands at N.Y.U.

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:07:31 -0500

Richard Brodsky, a long-time Assemblyman who never hesitated to tell reporters how to cover the state capital, gets to shape the discussion at N.Y.U., as a senior fellow.

Brodsky gave up his seat to run, unsuccessfully for attorney general last year. The notably anti-Albany sentiment on the campaign trail made his bid particularly challenging. But the fact that he lands a job outside any government office and fancy lobbying firm means his tendency to speak...

Russia's Gambling Man Belotserkovsky Loses Bet on Plaza

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:04:01 -0500

As Mikhail Prokhorov and a cadre of globetrotting countrymen continue to expand their presence in the city, one of their comrades is shedding some of his, and at a considerable loss. In the summer of 2007, Boris Belotserkovsky, the boss of Russia's one-armed bandits, bought a sizable one-bedroom on the 13th floor of the recently converted Plaza for $5.1 million. Now, the 1,100-square-foot jewelbox on the north side of the luxurious landmark has just...

Debating the Electoral College System

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:38:40 -0500

Tom Golisano continues his push for the elimination of the electoral college system.

Earlier today on Morning Joe, Golisano said, "the candidate who gets the most votes in a presidential race, should always win the White House."

Pat Buchanan countered, calling the electoral college system is an "insurance policy" against political machines that can steal elections. At the...

In Hines Sight: Morgan Stanley Hub Up for Sale

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:06:18 -0500

Hines Interests is selling its imposing 36-story, octagon-topped tower at Seventh Avenue and 48th Street, multiple sources told The Observer.

The Texas-based real estate investment firm, with $22.9 billion in assets worldwide, bought the 600,000-square-foot midtown prize in partnership with General Motors in 2000. The sale price was $150 million, or $260 a square foot.

The city's 74th-tallest building was completed in 1989 by Solomon Equities, featuring such dubious architectural features as a fake glass chimney, an...

It's Free to Look: One Prime Number in Tribeca

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:33:07 -0500

On the market for the first time since 1998, this landmarked townhouse in the federal style is so money it doesn't even know it! According to The AIA Guide to New York, the Tabak Is Tribeca listing once belonged to John McComb Jr., who designed City Hall with Joseph Mangin, and is located in a "Prime Tribeca Location" on a Cobblestone street to boot.

The four-story townhouse includes a number of unique and valuable features, a good thing considering the...

Developers of Cooper Square Hotel Check Out

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:14:33 -0500

One of the city's more... interesting... structures, the Cooper Square Hotel in the East Village is now property of Westport Capital Partners, a firm specializing in "opportunistic and distressed real estate investments" as part of a $70.9 million debt restructuring deal.

The Real Deal, who first reported the move, called it "amicable." Westport had been a mezz lender on the hotel, where rooms now average $300 a night and occupancy's at 85 percent.

The 21-story, 145-room...