In the News: R.I.P. Zelda, the Battery Park Turkey

••• Thanks to mruptight for pointing out that Gothamist ran a rendering of the crowns atop of the Beekman Residences condo tower (“a seriously stupid PoMo reference to 5 Beekman’s rooftop,” in his words.)

••• Battery Park’s turkey, Zelda, has died. “The Battery Conservancy said that Zelda was tragically hit by a car near Pier 11 as she strolled along South Street.” —Curbed

••• Bit of a bait-and-switch regarding the city’s sale of 346 Broadway (108 Leonard): “C.B. 1 did not initially support the sale but eventually did with the promise of a 16,000 sq. ft. media center that would serve the community’s youth. But it turns out that 16,000 was really 15,713 sq. ft. of rental space, which actually is 10,000 sq. ft. of space that can be used.” But what’s important here is that the area is getting more luxury condos, right? Oh, and then there’s this: “Originally, the community space was to go to the east of the lobby. [Developer Don] Peebles showed diagrams of the proposed space and then another of the new community space, which will be divided between two floors. The second part of the community space will be in the basement.” By the way, Downtown Community Television Center is running the “media center.”Downtown Express

••• “in response to a Freedom of Information Law request […] the Empire State Development Corporation e-mailed the newspaper a copy of the so-called ‘secret M.O.U.’ which no one had seen—the memorandum of understanding between the Cuomo administration, the Hudson River Park Trust and Atlas Capital Group. The conditional agreement outlines a proposed scheme under which the Trust would sell unused development rights from Pier 40 to Atlas for its redevelopment of the St. John’s Center site on the other side of the West Side Highway.” Much of it was redacted, which seems hard to defend. —Downtown Express

••• Michael Stipe “has sold his Soho penthouse [533 Canal] to an undisclosed buyer for $9.6 million.” —The Real Deal

••• “Since 2004, the [North Cove] Marina has been managed by Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh, a longtime Battery Park City resident who oversees the Manhattan Yacht Club, the Manhattan Sailing School, and summer sailing camp programs for children and teenagers, as well as the New York Harbor Sailing Foundation, a non-profit that seeks to foster amateur sailing in the waters surrounding Manhattan. [But] bids to operate the Marina for the next ten years are due on October 24, and the contract will be awarded by the Battery Park City Authority at the end of December.” —Broadsheet

••• “A co-founder of Sketchers, Jeff Greenberg, and his wife Lori have bought a 32nd-floor duplex at 101 Warren St. in TriBeCa for $11.65 million in an off-market transaction.” Also in the New York Post roundup: Jennifer Lopez reportedly looked at a Warren Street penthouse, and “a charming 1830 red brick townhouse once rented by Channing Tatum is on the market again as a $20,000 a month rental.” It’s 155 Duane, if you want to put up a plaque or something.

••• Fashion designer Zac Posen is behind on the rent for his Laight Street studio. —New York Daily News

 

4 Comments

  1. Is that thing to scale? It seems SO much taller than the Lara.

  2. Yep! 115 Nassau (the Condo portion of 5 Beekman) will rise 600 feet (the equivalent of a 60 story building) so it is significantly taller than the Lara next door.

  3. I met Zelda a couple of times. She was sassy. RIP, Z.

  4. Maybe its the way they have it on par with the Gehry, which is almost 300 feet taller.