••• “Condé Nast Colonizes Lower Manhattan,” reads the headline in the New York Times. Thoughts!

1. Again? The paper ran a similar story in June. So I’ll say it again: At this point, only a newspaper would consider a magazine company glamorous.
2. Condé Nast is not the cultural arbiter it once was. Can you name an editor? I bet anyone you came up with—Anna? Graydon? And, um…—rose to prominence in the print era.
3. “Colonizes”? Yeah, Condé Nast employees have really put their mark on the area around the World Trade Center.
4. It’s not like the company moved to Queens! Or from somewhere nice! Times Square isn’t exactly the Emerald City.
5. On the other hand, the Styles section should be applauded for any article that’s not about the child of someone famous. If there’s a name for that condition—Nepomania?—the editors have it bad.

••• “A former vice president of the Battery Park City Authority has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit, claiming he was fired for exposing corruption in the awarding of contracts [….] Kirk Swanson, a former VP and chief contracts officer at the state agency, alleges he ‘discovered that high-level BPCA employees were making false statements in an effort to bypass the BPCA’s contract approval process.'” —New York Post

••• Michelin announced the recipients of its 2016 stars. Although anything that boosts good restaurants is a good thing, I’m not a fan of Michelin—because who are the reviewers? What are their credentials? Do they have taste? Is it the same people from year to year? I like a consistent critic so I can calibrate my taste to his/hers—then I can trust what he/she has to say. Anyway, Eater has the list; local winners include Atera, Ichimura at Brushstroke, and Jungsik (which got two stars); Bâtard, Rosanjin, and Sushi Azabu (one star each). How on earth did Racines NY, North End Grill, and Little Park get left off this list? Does anyone really think that Public or Minetta Tavern is better?

••• Artists Space Books & Talks has been hosting musical performances in its basement. The New York Times reviewed one by Yarn/Wire.

••• Artist Pamela Weadick “has more than 100 works—mostly abstract landscapes on canvas—that she must leave behind when she moves soon from the Warren Street loft where she has lived since 1979.” So she’s putting them up for adoption (i.e., free to good homes). —Tribeca Trib