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Robert Ripps book
History of Tribeca Buildings
Seen & Heard: New Spa Rumored
••• You know that big mansion planned for 11 Hubert? The one with five bedrooms and 11 bathrooms? An enterprising reader discovered who the owner is, and I’m of two minds about whether to spill the beans. On one hand, he’s not what I would call a public figure; he clearly would prefer to remain anonymous, even if he left a giveaway clue in a filing with the city; and last but not least, does the public have a right to know who owns land? Is there a right to privacy—and would you like me to post your address? On the other hand, he had the opportunity to keep it private and failed, and given that land is a limited resource in this neighborhood/city/world, perhaps the public does have a right to know who owns what. If you think you can push me off the fence—in either direction—please give it a try.
••• R. snapped a shot of 443 Greenwich’s lobby.
••• There’s an intriguing rumor that Asanda is opening a spa in Tribeca. Since the company already has one at Broadway and Houston, I’d think it more likely in south Tribeca. Anyone know anything?
••• Vegetables are finally back at the City Hall Greenmarket! Or at least there were some yesterday. These strawberries were from the same vendor at the Tribeca Greenmarket on Wednesday.
••• The Post-it war between two ad agencies on Canal Street is worth the look, if you’re nearby. It’s more impressive than this shot indicates, but this was the best I could do with my phone.
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From the NY Times’ 2015 series on growing obscurity of ownership in New York residential real estate:
“Public records, dating back to at least the 1800s in New York, set real estate apart as more transparent than bank accounts or stock portfolios. ‘There’s a whole Jeffersonian rhetoric about land ownership,’ said Hendrik Hartog, a professor of the history of American law at Princeton. ‘There was a goal to make land transparent, and it was justified by civic values and a whole range of moral judgments like not hiding ownership.'”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/nyregion/stream-of-foreign-wealth-flows-to-time-warner-condos.html
I thought that both the city and federal government now required the names behind shell corporations for real estate transactions over $3 million. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/us/us-will-track-secret-buyers-of-luxury-real-estate.html
Public records are public for a reason: access by and for the public. Publish the name. Tribeca is now affordable to bold face names anyway so it’s just a matter of who.
If you don’t tell, someone else will. C’mon! I am now intrigued…
Yes, Erik, please publish Jean Grillo’s home address for us. Thanks.
Given it’s in the public records, I did the ACRIS search myself, and I think anyone who really wants to know should just go through that effort. There’s no need to publicize the name directly to those who are nosy but lazy, and anyway I don’t think they going to get excited about the head of a recruiting firm that covers a subset of finance roles.
I agree with Leo. Why not let the owner maintain at least some semblance of privacy? If people are truly interested, they can easily find the name themselves. The name doesn’t add anything of particular value anyway. I understand that it’s a public record and as a journalist it would make sense to reveal it. But, as a member of the community, I think it would be nice to respect our neighbors and let them do their thing. When we bought our Tribeca apartment years ago, you published our names with random info from outdated LinkedIn/Facebook profiles. I am nobody anybody would care about, and I hate that that post now lives forever on the internet whenever anyone searches my name.
How about a hint? Or a “nosy neighbor” column that answers the question – who’s moving into the mansion on Hubert Street?!
I agree with Leo – the name is not newsworthy in and of itself, and it’s available via another searchable database.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…but what about Grillo’s address? The clock is ticking on this Edible Arrangement!