In the News: Penis-Painting Revenge Plot

••• “A real-estate honcho and amateur painter—furious that this ex-girlfriend was dating someone else—allegedly slipped into her Tribeca apartment and drew penises on his own artwork, sources said Monday. Sean Ludwick, 41, managing partner at Manhattan-based Black House Development, also allegedly knifed the words ‘Studio Art’ onto two stools and splashed the rest of the paint on the floor at the home of Lana Trevisan, 40, in a drunken rage on Feb. 17.” It’s one of those New York Post stories that gets even better as you go along.

••• That post about fake restaurants on Seamless got picked up everywhere…. The company emailed this to Eater: “The named restaurants have been removed from our services while we continue investigating this matter.” I’m not sure I have much to say about any of it, except this: 1) Seamless’s saying that it “invites diners to report inaccuracies to our customer care team” was a pretty weak response; and 2) regardless of all this, it’s probably not a great idea to order from a restaurant you’ve never even seen.

••• “Telepan Local chef de cuisine Joel Javier created the fried watercress with chili oil and cashews as the result of a happy accident.” Best dish there, IMO. —Eater

••• “Alice Feiring, a wine writer [with] particular tastes, preferring uncommon selections, often natural, biodynamic and organic. Now she has a monthly wine club” at Frankly Wines. —New York Times

••• A looong article about Condé Nast and 1 World Trade Center in Capital New York.

••• The New York Times article from last weekend’s Real Estate section—I lagged—about Richard Tenguerian, who makes architectural models, included an image (#9 in the slideshow) of 93 Reade, currently undergoing a conversion by Knightsbridge Properties.

••• The “Seaport Working Group” notion might be imposed on other new developments. Of note: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer “would like the group to consider alternative plans by bidders other than Howard Hughes, which could potentially complicate the developer’s plans. Under a lease with the city, which owns the properties, Howard Hughes has the first right to develop the properties.” —Wall Street Journal

Then the list of who’s in the Working Group came out, and it’s hard not to feel some sympathy—or at least pity—for Howard Hughes Corp., because come on…. There’s just no way this will end up being useful. Plus: Every local politician and no New Amsterdam Market, which has done more to bring non-local New Yorkers to the area in recent years than anyone else?

• U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler
• NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
• Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer
• NYS Senator Daniel Squadron
• NYC City Council Member Margaret S. Chin
• Manhattan Community Board 1 Chair Catherine McVay Hughes
• CB1 Seaport/Civic Center Committee Chair John Fratta
• CB1 Landmarks Committee Chair Roger Byron
• CB1 Planning and Infrastructure Committee Chair Jeff Galloway
• The Howard Hughes Corporation
• Save Our Seaport
• Seaport Speaks
• Old Seaport Alliance
• The Downtown Alliance
• The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
• Allison Gaines Pell, Head of the Blue School
• Diane Harris Brown, downtown resident and  Director of Educational and Community Programming at the James Beard Foundation
• Charles Jaskel, downtown resident of 272 Water Street
• Jonathan O’Donnell, 95 John Street Board of Directors
• Paul Kefer, Southbridge Towers Board of Directors
• Residents, merchants, and business owners in the South Street Seaport
The following City Agencies will also provide technical support as needed to the Working Group:
• NYC Economic Development Corporation
• NYC Department of City Planning
• NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

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2 Comments

  1. Oh Eric, the list of members shows that it will be VERY USEFUL… to extract just the right amount of tribute from Howard Hughes Corp, spread throughout the political boundaries of NY’s 10th Congressional District, NYS Senate District 26, NYS Assembly District 65 and NYC Council District 1. Glad to see that Jerry Nadler (well, his staff, except when it’s time for a photo-op) is there to make sure the advances in crony capitalism that DC has made in recent years get applied here. (Not that Silver is a slouch, but since HHC is national, best to have a Congressman on board to alert them that there could be pain outside our state’s borders if they don’t play extra nice. Gee, how come Schumer’s not on this panel — is the expected photo-op too crowded for his taste?). I feel sorry for the outclassed CB1 and community members who will, no doubt, work very hard on this but not actually affect the outcome when all is said and done, just be useful as cover for the pols and window dressing for the back-room process.

  2. It seems sketchy that after all these years the small business division with $ from Hughes decided to start a BID even though they had some alleged BID run by . Meanwhile,Over the years we have connected the Downtown Alliance since we LIVE DOWNTOWN to assist with this cause and they have ignored all inquires. Now, that BP Brewer got involved all of a sudden they are on the panel. Meanwhile, where the heck is the state aid from Sandy and what about those slouches at NYCEDC and Empire State Development who are running around telling everyone that we are open for business. No assistance from either agency and NO outreach from either agency.