••• Steven Alan Home Shop opens today at 158 Franklin. It was indeed the New York Times that got the exclusive. —T Magazine

••• “St. John’s announced that it is looking to sell its building at 101 Murray Street. […] The real prize is not the building, but the development rights available at the site. […] According to city records, the current building, erected in 1984, contains 145,000 square feet of space. By our calculations, the current C6-4 zoning means the site could accommodate a building of nearly half a million square feet with the public plaza density bonus, with both commercial and residential possible.” —New York Observer

••• “After several delays, the City Council’s zoning and franchises subcommittee unanimously passed the Hudson Square rezoning proposal this morning in a 9-0 vote.” —Curbed

••• All about the Clock Tower Office Building (346 Broadway): “The tower’s two top floors are particularly animated on Wednesdays, when the clock works are tended by Marvin Schneider, Clock Master of the City of New York by Mayoral Appointment since 1992. In 1979, Schneider, Eric Reiner and George Whaley, municipal workers with no previous clock-maintenance experience, convinced the city to let them restore and care for the clock. It had fallen into disrepair and was out of use. Initially worried about liability, the city finally agreed to the project once the New York Life Insurance Company, the building’s former occupants, offered to donate the insurance policies. Schneider has since paid thirty years’ worth of regular Wednesday house calls to the tower, to rewind the clock and tend the 5000 lb bell, which is two times the size of the Liberty Bell. The 70 pound clock hammer, driven by two 800 pound weights, strikes hourly. This is one of the last remaining, completely original, non-electric clocks in New York City.” —Place Matters (via Manhattan User’s Guide)

••• “The MTA published a slew of new photos showing progress on the Fulton Center, and while the views inside the oculus are stunning, we can’t stop staring at the beautifully restored Corbin Building. […] It’s like preservationist porn.” —Curbed

••• “A year and a half after the fences first went up around Chase Manhattan Plaza, new court filings show the fight over public access to the space is still heated.” —Village Voice (via Curbed)

••• “The collaborative workspace provider WeWork signed a 16-year, 120,537-square-foot lease at 222 Broadway.” Then there’s some hooey about how the area around Fulton and Broadway is “Downtown North.” —Commercial Observer

••• “Police are searching for a bald man with deformed hands who shoplifted a $3,150 forest-green blazer from Hermes.” That gets my vote for the best item in the Tribeca Trib‘s police blotter, although you might prefer the thief who groped her way into a young man’s pocket.

••• The Village Voice reviews Lotus Blue, and gets a bit caught in what I’ve always thought of as the authenticity trap.

••• Matt Abramcyk, “who opened Smith & Mills, Super Linda, and the high-octane, pre-Graydon Carter Beatrice Inn is reportedly working on a boutique hotel named Gowanus Inn & Yard, according to Capital New York.” —Grub Street