••• The Broadsheet has an article about the World Financial Center construction, including the detail that architect Rafael Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli is the son of César Pelli, who designed the original World Financial Center complex. Then Pelli figlio had this to say about the staircase: “The destruction of the second floor entrance meant that we had to reconfigure the space so that people could come up underneath and behind the stairs. […] We had to clear space underneath the stairs so that you could see through some retail to the Winter Garden and beyond. But it will remain intact while allowing the Winter Garden to feel natural, open and with clear views to the back.” We’ll have to take his word for it. As a reader emailed me this morning, “Isn’t Brookfield being tricky by talking about the new stairwell but not showing it? They’ve obviously completed the design if they have begun construction.” Rendering courtesy of Brookfield Office Properties.

••• “Congratulations to Shawn Gawle of Corton, who has been named among Food and Wine’s Best New Pastry Chefs.” —Grub Street

••• Curbed has a bit of a non-story about residents selling at 169 Hudson.

••• “Hundreds of 9/11 first responders could receive compensation for their cancer treatment after an advisory panel voted Thursday that the disease should be covered under the Zadroga Act. The 15-member panel, appointed by Congress to review research and decide which health conditions are linked to toxins at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attacks, believes research clearly shows a link between 9/11 exposure and cancer.” —DNAinfo

••• “A real estate company looking to build a 30-story housing tower on Spring Street [between Hudson and Varick] says it will tear up a parking lot and create paradise if the city makes zoning changes that would allow the construction of a building and park.” —DNAinfo