By Julie Shapiro (courtesy DNAinfo)

••• “Just two weeks into her new job, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black has already found a solution to the overcrowding problem that has plagued lower Manhattan for years. ‘Could we just have some birth control?’ Black joked during an otherwise somber meeting of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s school overcrowding task force Thursday afternoon.” (DNAinfo) Given how obsessed everyone is with Chinese-style parenting, she might have had better luck with a joke about restricting parents to one child, preferably male. Meanwhile, does Bloomberg know that Black drinks soda?!

••• “The owner of famed Grimaldi’s Pizza—already embroiled in a bitter and expensive legal battle with his Brooklyn landlord—was ordered to pay another building owner $2.3 million after an abortive attempt to open a Manhattan branch, The Post has learned. Frank Ciolli had signed a lease in 2008 for a store at 135 John St. near the South Street Seaport to open a ‘first-class pizzeria restaurant,’ according to court papers. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische ruled last month that Ciolli owes the Manhattan landlord $115,000 in back rent, as well as rent for the next 15 years—$2.3 million—because he defaulted on the lease.” (via Curbed)

••• “In one week, Related Cos. is expected to take over the unsold units at Rector Square, beleaguered developer Yair Levy’s failed Battery Park City condo conversion, according to sources. The developer will take over the residential tower’s 232 unsold units, parking garage and commercial space directly from Anglo Irish Bank, the project’s largest lender, for the bargain price of $82.8 million. That is the same price that the bank paid to take the property back at a foreclosure auction in November. Anglo, which was the only bidder at the auction, was owed roughly $135 million on the project, which is located at 225 Rector Pl.” (Crain’s)

••• “Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is reportedly reducing his role in [Park51].” (DNAinfo)

••• “Busted condominium developments are coming back to life in Manhattan’s Financial District, which saw its rebirth as a residential area stymied by the downturn. The recession hit just as about two dozen luxury developments were hitting the market or under way. Several boasted of high-end amenities like swimming pools or golf simulators, or sponsored marketing parties that featured entertainers like singer John Legend. Many projects have sat half-empty or unfinished for long stretches. In recent weeks, a number of lenders and developers have taken steps to get them rolling again. But as the neighborhood known as ‘FiDi’ emerges from the downturn, it’s showing less swagger than what developers once envisioned.” (Wall Street Journal)

••• “After years of casting off its maritime past, the city is making an a-boat face.” What does an a-boat look like? A u-boat but pointier? I don’t know either! “A fleet of historic vessels will have a permanent home at Hudson River Park, under a plan to turn newly shipshape Pier 25 into a kind of South Street Seaport west. The Hudson River Park Trust is seeking operators of historic ships, which can provide educational and recreational programs to visitors, according to a request for proposals released yesterday. Three permanent berths and a fourth for visiting ships were built on the North Moore Street pier in Tribeca, which also includes a skate park, volleyball court, children’s playground and miniature-golf course.” (New York Post)

••• Tribeca event planner Jennifer Gilbert, who is on “The Real Housewives of New York,” recommends her favorite spots in the neighborhood. (NearSay) For more Jennifer, see the nice article on party-planning tips she wrote for Tribeca Citizen back in 2009.