••• “Developer Jourdan Krauss has big penthouse plans for his impeccably restored 361 Broadway [at the southwest corner of Franklin], a six-story Italianate structure dubbed by preservationists ‘one of the handsomest’ cast-iron buildings in the city. His residential conversion plan calls for topping the 131-year-old landmark with a nearly 23-feet-high, two-story addition [by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban] easily seen from the street.” It bears mentioning: When you see a semi-structure like the one pictured (I believe there’s one on Reade now), it generally means that someone wants Landmarks approval—and this is how you test the visual effect. Also: 361 Broadway is indeed gorgeous, and an addition will only detract from it, but how bad can any addition be compared to the abortion across Franklin Street? —Tribeca Trib P.S. I dug up my photo of the Reade Street building I mentioned. See the end of the post.

••• “The city has spent a staggering $30 million on police overtime at the Occupy Wall Street protests, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Thursday. The total overtime cost has ballooned over the past two months from $17 million in March to nearly double that on Thursday, Kelly said at a City Council budget hearing. The spike in spending follows the massive May Day protests of Tuesday, May 1.” —DNAinfo (Speaking of DNAinfo, did you know that its owner is the rich guy who was considering running the Jeremiah Wright-based attacks on President Obama?)

••• “It seems like it’s been awhile since a lunch spot like French Cafe Gourmand has opened in the Financial District—as in a place that’s not a chain or a new branch of a chain. No, this cafe on Maiden Lane (btw. B’way & Nassau) is run by actual French people and they sell a small selection of items including coffee, soup, salads, sandwiches and some French pastries and baked goods.” I’m onboard with that sandwich. —Midtown Lunch

••• “Dozens of waitlisted Battery Park City kindergarteners could be bused to school in Chinatown this fall, Department of Education officials said at a meeting Wednesday night.” —DNAinfo

••• “A woman dressed in jogging clothes plunged into the East River at Wall Street Friday morning, authorities and a witness said. The woman, who was described as distressed, climbed over a fence at Pier 11 and jumped into the water.” —DNAinfo

••• “There’s a mild puzzle in the recent sale of the ‘1,872 sq ft’ Manhattan loft #3B at 366 Broadway (Collect Pond House) at $1.72mm, as it sounds like a beautiful loft that went for less than you’d think (well, than I’d think). But there is also a more emotional response, one of empathy, for a seller who tried to sell into The Peak but just could not get the deal done then.” —Manhattan Loft Guy

••• “More than 150 residents of Gateway Plaza gathered in the auditorium of P.S. 276 on Thursday evening, for a meeting of the Gateway Plaza Tenants’ Association. The event also drew a quorum of Downtown leaders and elected officials, among them State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City council member Margaret Chin, and Community Board 1 chair Julie Menin.” That’s five, if you’re counting. —Broadsheet

As mentioned in the first item: