This seems awfully close to the Whole Foods under 101 Warren.... Especially when you look at how much farther apart the existing locations are from each other. Any rumors that the opening of the 1 Wall location will lead to the demise of the 101 Warren location? — Chase C. on Whole Foods Confirms FiDi Store

. . . and today there were five . . . . . . but they're getting bigger and not clinging to mom so much so maybe there was one in the reeds . . . — Hudson River on Seen & Heard: The Lifting of the Street Fair Ban

How wonderful! Thank you for the great info. — anne on Seen & Heard: 60 White Interior

Anyone know what kind of turtle? Likely doesn't belong there - maybe a red-eared slider that got too big and someone abandoned? Should probably be removed - might be accepted by the Wild Bird Fund on upper west side - they a have turtle tank there, if anyone willing to take the time and trouble. The ducks have been nesting there for years now - shame to lose them. — anne on Seen & Heard: The Lifting of the Street Fair Ban

6 feet wide is ridiculous but so is the blustery opposition. They are entitled to a ramp 44 inches wide by City law, irrespective of the ADA. "The Department [of Transportation] may grant a revocable consent for a ramp which extends more than 44 inches from the building line for buildings erected prior to December 6, 1969, including any additional steps attached or ancillary to the ramp structure made necessary by the creation of the ramp. (Section 27-308 of the Administrative Code [aka the 1968 NYC Building Code] permits ramps to extend up to 44 inches from the building line for such buildings.) (Buildings erected after December 6, 1969 must contain ramps within the property line.)" http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/revconsent.pdf — James on In the News: Apple Store Confirmed

Shigure has a great happy hour menu with a draft special. Their Japanese style fried chicken is a favorite. — EHS on 32 Happy Hour Deals in Greater Tribeca

Because I create this list by emailing my list of local restaurants, and I don't have a contact at American Cut. Feel free to send over the info and I'll add it. — Erik Torkells on 32 Happy Hour Deals in Greater Tribeca

How do you not have American Cut on here?? It has the BEST happy hour! — KK on 32 Happy Hour Deals in Greater Tribeca

Brookfield owns the entire complex, renaming it mainly as a way to attract office tenants who aren't financial (but instead media, tech, etc.). — Erik Torkells on In the News: Ferry Crash

I thought the whole complex was still called "The World Financial Center" and that it was just the mall that was "Brookfield Place." The Brookfield buy all the buildings and the land? FWIW, the plaque on the stairs of the Winter Garden says "World Financial Center". And also FWIW, that's what I call the complex. — KP on In the News: Ferry Crash

It's important to add context to the WTC story. The grand total square footage of the 4 stores that have pulled out are 6,000 out of a total of 365,000 sf of space; less than 2%. It is otherwise 100% leased. — Luis Vazquez (FiDi Fan Page) on In the News: Swiss Institute’s Temporary Gallery

"Is it fair to assume that so many renovated buildings are painted cream because that sells for a higher price?" No. These paint colors require the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. LPC typically requires an analysis of paint chips from the façade to determine the history of the layers of paint colors. These cream colors do resemble stone and cast-iron's popularity in part came from being a strong and easy- to-assemble substitute material for stone. The paint colors were originally selected to mimic stone. From a 2000 NY Times article about the restoration of the Cary Building (http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/16/realestate/streetscapes-1857-cast-iron-cary-building-105-chambers-street-facades-meant-be.html): ''The detail of this building is just astounding, how far they went to imitate stone,'' said Judith Saltzman, a principal of Li/Saltzman. She said her firm is examining options for replacing missing elements in cast iron, cast aluminum and fiberglass for an estimated cost of about $500,000. To determine the original paint color, a microscopic paint analysis was undertaken by the New Jersey firm Historic Preservation and Illumination. Cynthia Hinson, head of the company, said that the original color was a uniform yellowy white, with sand thrown or blown on the the wet paint to imitate the granular surface of stone. The techniques of paint analysis have advanced significantly in the last 15 years and it is now common even in routine preservation projects. Raymond Pepi, president of Building Conservation Associates in Manhattan, said that the earliest methods were often used to analyze interior paint finishes in residential buildings and were derived from the work of art restorers, who often had to strip away successive layers of paint. But since he began work in the 1970's, Mr. Pepi said that the discipline had advanced on its own, especially with color matching by colorimeter, instead of eyeball judgment, and staining and fluorescent microscopy, which can reveal layers invisible to the eye. — James on Seen & Heard: 60 White Interior

Thanks. Very nice trip down memory lane. But one couldn't see the strange zigzag table placement -- at least, that is how I remember it. — betty on In the News: Eataly Details

Did you notice also in today's Times: "In the five years since he closed Tabla, the chef Floyd Cardoz has cooked at North End Grill and opened Bombay Canteen in Mumbai, India." I'm sure we'd all like to forget White Street ever happened. — JJB on In the News: Eataly Details

They sure don't build them like they used to. The juxtaposition of the design highlights this and the execution flaws. — McGee on New Building Report Card: The Sterling Mason

btw, the bar scenes in the movie "a perfect murder" were shot at riverrun. — j on In the News: Eataly Details

joe never told any of us that riverrun was closing. one day it was just gone. the neighborhood has never been the same. — j on In the News: Eataly Details

Funny enough I went there for the first time a few weeks ago to meet some friends. Was just saying hi so I can't speak to anything about the restaurant. Although I did like the look of the raw bar. However, don't something like 80% of NYC restaurants fail? Someone confirm or correct please, but I know it's high. I think we can all agree, especially in Tribeca, rents are sky high, no doubt about it. But we never mention that sometimes business are also just poorly run. It may not be a problem with service or food or anything else we can see. Cash flow, credit terms, payroll, taxes ... it all factors in. Josephine was opened by a very sweet lady who had never been in the restaurant business, she spent way to much money building it out and just didn't have the experience to operate it. Not sure what her rent was, but rent today would not be her major problem, operations would be her problem. There are restaurants with high rents that do succeed. High rents don't make it easy. Again correct me if I am wrong but Almond opened when the rents were high, no? Anyway, I think the discussion, when it comes up, is great. Hope everyone is well. — David Steingard on Almond Is Closing

I "love" how Westfield is suing for $2.5 million (rent for the 9 year lease) AND seeking to terminate the lease . . . so they can get another 2.5 million. Maybe they think they can get more with a new tenant. In any event, they will have no trouble renting that space, but our courts are clogged with stupid caes and time and money in general is wasted. I am, however, looking forward to that area being in full swing. — David Steingard on In the News: Ferry Crash

Greedy landlords destroying neighborhood and economy. Impossible for any restaurant to cover rent and purchase quality ingredients and employ competent staff. Market will change when banks cut costs and all abandon expensive retail locations. Clothing companies will be the next to drop out of retail locations as people buy on-line. As the service business shrinks, this will lead to increased unemployment and a big depression. — Lewis Gross on Almond Is Closing

riverrun had the best jukebox in NYC (10¢!). The place had a much better vibe than anything in the Tribeca that followed, and there are probably fewer people in Tribeca now that actually went there than there are reader's (worldwide, all time) of the Joyce novel whose first sentence (or is it last?) gave the bar its name. — Hal on In the News: Eataly Details

Take it with a pound of salt, but the baristas at Fika said they saw a bar going into 27 Desbrosses. Seems strange that it wouldn't have come up in any public hearing yet. — Muscle Milk on Seen & Heard: Rainbow Over Tribeca

You didn't miss anything. Riverrun was an OK family restaurant, the food was hardly exceptional but generally good. — Makes you go "hmmm..." on In the News: Eataly Details

The bookstore at the old ICP location was a treasure. Wonderful postcards, gift items and an extensive collection of photography books. I hope they plan to revive it at the new location. — Huck's mom on Field Trip: ICP Museum

Just got invite for Williamsburg opening July 30 at 10 am, so we'll soon know if Tom is right. :-) Yesterday they replaced some of the black paper. — Hudson River on Back to the World Trade Center Mall