By Julie Shapiro (courtesy DNAinfo)

••• DNAinfo got a tour of the under-construction Fulton Street Transit Center*: “The $1.4 billion subway hub won’t open until 2014, but one of its most distinctive features is already in place: a yawning skylight, measuring 53 feet in diameter, which funnels natural light down into the station, brightening the darkest corners, even during the ongoing construction. Directly beneath the skylight, called an ‘oculus,’ a spiral staircase curves around the steel supports for a yet-to-be-installed elevator. The elevator will be made of glass, as will the staircase’s railing.” *Let’s come up with a new name. The FiDi Eye? The De Niro Oculus?

••• “If some members of Community Board 1 have their way, the building now housing the Syms store at 42 Trinity Pl. will one day help solve school overcrowding in Lower Manhattan.” —Tribeca Trib

••• Manhattan Loft Guy on 19 Beach (and apartments that “overlook St. John’s Park” in general).

••• “The sale of the iconic downtown skyscraper at 70 Pine St. closed yesterday for $205 million to Metro Loft Management. The company intends to convert the 1.1 million-square-foot landmark into luxury rentals and is negotiating to install [yet another FiDi] hotel in the lower portion.” —New York Post

••• New York Magazine critic Adam Platt’s list of the 101 best restaurants in New York City includes Corton (7), SHO Shaun Hergatt (36), Soto (up on Sixth Ave. in the Village but I’m including it because if you like Japanese food you really should go, and Platt’s right—the non-sushi dishes are what’s special), Locanda Verde (44),Brushstroke (59), Sushi Azabu (87). Dropped from the 2005 list because they closed: Bouley Upstairs, Chanterelle. Dropped because Platt no longer likes the cooking: Landmarc.

••• The Daily Mail wrote about Ninja as if it the restaurant were new. The photos are hilarious.