Daniel Patrick Moynihan before a press conference in 2002 outside the Farley Post Office building. In the background is former Empire State Development Chairman Charles Gargano.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Sometime around late 1991, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan caught wind of a plan being studied by Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service to expand Pennsylvania Station into the neighboring Farley Post Office. The two agencies envisioned an expanded rail station with a sense of grandeur, as Penn Station’s train platforms ran under the column-lined post office.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

More than any other major project in the city, the plan for Moynihan Station has been wholly immune to success, caught up in a shifting tangle of stakeholders. The plan has undergone a familiar, frustrating rhythm of fits and starts since the early 1990s, as any near-final agreement has proved to be a house of cards that collapses as plans change for any one actor.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Harlem Postal Worker goes “postal” on neighbors then turns gun on self [DailyNews]

Published by UPTOWNflavor on April 15, 2008.

Despite the efforts of organizations like The Coalition to Save Harlem, a subcommittee of the City Council has voted to approve the proposed 125th rezoning plan with some modifications. Thoughts, predictions or expressions of disgust are welcome in the comments section.

Published by UPTOWNflavor on April 15, 2008.

Council Approves 125th Street Rezoning

Published by UPTOWNflavor on April 15, 2008.

Harlem Vendors Protest 125th Street Rezoning

Published by UPTOWNflavor on April 15, 2008.

Just by chance, the same week that I go to Brooklyn, the students at NYU's Stern School of Business are staging a Vuitton-funded event with the lame name "Knowledge Is Change" that is part of something called the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition's College Initiative.

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

That rallying cry apparently worked: Late last week, the city's Parks Department gave in to Wade, the 58-year-old anarchist known for helping to organize the annual concert. After protests by Wade and his fellow East Village activists this month, the department reversed its original decision and approved the August concert.

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

Beah, the elusive author of a celebrated—and controversial—memoir about his experiences as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone, surfaced Thursday at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for a talk sponsored by the Department of African Studies.

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

The reporter replied that he had tried to obtain an interview with Beah repeatedly through his publisher over a period of nearly a month prior to publication of the Voice's recent cover story. Jeff Seroy, a spokesman with Farrar, Straus & Giroux, denied those requests. He also turned down a request to interview Beah's editor, Sarah Crichton.

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

Nevertheless, we are lucky to be able to sample the result at Agnanti, a new Bay Ridge restaurant that specializes in the Greek cooking of Turkey.

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

(There's an older branch of the restaurant in Astoria.) Folded and stapled like a wall calendar, the colorful menu shows typical scenes from Istanbul and Greece,

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

Agnanti7802 Fifth AvenueBay Ridge, Brooklyn718-833-7033

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

Famed Aquavit chef offers a kaleidoscope of African fare in the meatpacking district Lower East Side Fujianese Joints Becoming More

Published by Village Voice on April 15, 2008.

The Patsy’s brand name has been in the news a lot lately, what with the recent trademark lawsuit against Patsy’s Pizzeria on Long Island. If the term “Patsy’s” is so sacred to this specific site at 236 West 56th Street in Manhattan, does it undermine the brand to now stick one in New Jersey?

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The average Manhattan apartment by the end of March cost over $1.7 million. The borough’s rents have been stagnantly high for over five years; $1,500 monthly gets you a studio on the Upper West Side.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

A construction worker fell to his death from an East Side building on Monday when a safety strap system intended to secure him to the building failed, the authorities said.

Published by New York Times on April 15, 2008.

The Archdiocese of Washington predicts that the pope’s visit to the capital will cost at least $3 million, but the Archdiocese of New York has not ventured an estimate.

Published by New York Times on April 15, 2008.

In the most expensive restoration of stained glass ever undertaken in the United States, conservation is under way on the famous Whitefriars windows of St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Published by New York Times on April 15, 2008.

In the most expensive restoration of stained glass ever undertaken in the United States, conservation is under way on the famous Whitefriars windows of St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Published by New York Times on April 15, 2008.

Investigators believe that Carlos Cruz, 36, arranged with his cousin to meet him and his girlfriend, Chelsea M. Frazier, also of Massachusetts, in a secluded section of the Castle Hill neighborhood in the Bronx on Sunday afternoon to murder Ms. Frazier, as Mr. Cruz sat beside her in their car and the couple’s infant son sat in the back seat.

Published by New York Times on April 15, 2008.

But it’s impossible to begrudge Dan Lufkin, the well-liked investor and longtime environmental philanthropist, for putting his heavenly five-bedroom spread at 455 Central Park West on the market this week for $17.5 million, just about three times what he paid three years ago.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

With Boost in Affordable Housing, Harlem Rezoning Passes Council’s Smell Test

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Astor Heir Picks Georgia-Bred Broker to Sell Brooke's 778 Park (Avenue) Duplex

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

279 Central Park West.This is truly an exceptional home. It is comprised of two full floors in a... More details

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Brooke Astor’s duplex at 778 Park Avenue, a perfectly trimmed, scarlet-lacquered, canonical Upper East Side abode, officially has a broker, eight months after Astor’s death at age 105.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Ms. Candler happens to be the broker that brought hedge-fund star Scott Bommer and his wife to an uncombined duplex at 1060 Fifth, which sold in January for $46 million exactly, a co-op record. At the Bommers’ old building, 1040 Fifth, Ms. Candler sold Jackie Onassis’ old $30 million apartment for billionaire oilman David Koch in 2006.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Ms. Candler happens to be the broker that brought hedge-fund star Scott Bommer and his wife to an uncombined duplex at 1060 Fifth, which sold in January for $46 million exactly, a co-op record. At the Bommers’ old building, 1040 Fifth, Ms. Candler sold Jackie Onassis’ old $30 million apartment for billionaire oilman David Koch in 2006.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

On Monday morning, shortly after 7 a.m., Mark Sollars, a chatty teenager in a gray hooded sweatshirt, stood in a crowd at Rockefeller Center and glanced over a police barricade at the alfresco portion of NBC’s Today studio.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The couple met at the party for Lipstick Jungle, and the attraction appears to have been immediate. The next day, Mr. Vachon, 29, took Ms. Eaton, a longtime established New York writer and editor, for a stroll through the Museum of Natural History.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Mr. Vachon had been living in a small room at the Chelsea Hotel, whose aesthetic Ms. Eaton likened to a mix between a Piedmont villa and vomit, he said amusedly. They began spending more time at her place.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

When Council Speaker Christine Quinn showed up for work at City Hall on the afternoon of April 15, she was greeted by the sight of her colleague, Councilman Charles Barron, calling for her head.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Mr. Fidler grew up in East Flatbush, not far from where he lives now, in Sheepshead Bay. He represents a section of the borough that also includes Bergen Beach, Canarsie and Flatlands, and he is eager to talk about how the mortgage crisis affects his district.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Mr. Fidler grew up in East Flatbush, not far from where he lives now, in Sheepshead Bay. He represents a section of the borough that also includes Bergen Beach, Canarsie and Flatlands, and he is eager to talk about how the mortgage crisis affects his district.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Mr. Fidler grew up in East Flatbush, not far from where he lives now, in Sheepshead Bay. He represents a section of the borough that also includes Bergen Beach, Canarsie and Flatlands, and he is eager to talk about how the mortgage crisis affects his district.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

“I know that Canarsie and Flatbush in Brooklyn is really hard,” he said. “So, for me, that’s a third of my district—and I call it ground zero.”

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

He makes his living as the general counsel for LawCash, a company that advances money to people who are expected to win personal-injury settlement suits.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Those readying bids for the cloud-busters include many of the same developers who circled Mr. Macklowe’s General Motors Building earlier this year, eager to snatch the choicest jewel from his fallen empire, according to a well-placed source familiar with the bidding process.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Larry Silverstein, who withdrew from bidding on the GM Building, is considering a number of the other Macklowe skyscrapers, including 1301 Avenue of the Americas, the Credit Lyonnais Building, at the corner of 52nd Street.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The portfolio also includes Tower 56, 527 Madison Avenue, Park Avenue Tower, Worldwide Plaza, 1540 Broadway and 850 Third Avenue. It’s unclear who the other bidders are, but the pool of contenders should be a small one.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The portfolio also includes Tower 56, 527 Madison Avenue, Park Avenue Tower, Worldwide Plaza, 1540 Broadway and 850 Third Avenue. It’s unclear who the other bidders are, but the pool of contenders should be a small one.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The portfolio also includes Tower 56, 527 Madison Avenue, Park Avenue Tower, Worldwide Plaza, 1540 Broadway and 850 Third Avenue. It’s unclear who the other bidders are, but the pool of contenders should be a small one.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The reasons are many. The GM Building, at 767 Fifth Avenue, may be one of New York City’s great capitalist emblems, but its luster has been tarnished by its collection of locked-in, relatively low-rent leases;

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Silverstein to Start Ground Zero Construction as Port Authority Exits

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

374 West 11th Street Stunning Penthouse Triplex with sweeping views of the Hudson River from... More details

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

According to two people familiar with the committee, the names of those asked to participate include Mr. Weill; Mr. Roberti; Fred Wilpon, the Mets co-owner and chairman of Sterling Equities; Anne Mulcahy, CEO ofXerox; real estate titan Jerry Speyer of Tishman Speyer;

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Governor Paterson is tapping a host of top business executives for a search committee to find new leadership for New York’s development agency, the Empire State Development Corporation.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

On Tuesday evening, after The Observer went to press, REBNY presented its annual Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Awards at the 101 Club on Park Avenue. The Ingenies are, as one real estate insider put it, “something you’ll refer to probably for your entire career.”

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Moshe Sukenik and David Noonan of Newmark Knight Frank won second place for “The Land Swap that led to the new Lincoln Square Synagogue,” a sale and leaseback deal that REBNY described as “one of the most complex land assemblages in Manhattan.”

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Mary Ann Tighe and Gregory Tosko of CB Richard Ellis won first place for “Adding Color to Grey: The Winding Road to Grey Group’s 370,000-square-foot anchor lease at 200 Fifth Avenue.”

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

took third place for the finance deal “50 Murray Street.” REBNY said the deal “enables World-Wide Holdings, the ground lessor of 50 Murray Street, to arrange replacement permanent financing for the luxury rental housing development.”

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

With Boost in Affordable Housing, Harlem Rezoning Passes Council’s Smell Test

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Faith Hope Consolo, chairwoman of the retail leasing and sales division for Prudential Douglas Elliman

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Mr. Roseman, who leased the similarly tricky Bowery Savings Bank on East 42nd Street to Cipriani a decade ago, said the landmarking means that tenants can’t drill in the walls or otherwise alter the space without the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Mr. Roseman, who leased the similarly tricky Bowery Savings Bank on East 42nd Street to Cipriani a decade ago, said the landmarking means that tenants can’t drill in the walls or otherwise alter the space without the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Ricky Kenig is a dramatic man. In February 2006, the beauty and costume shop kingpin spent $1,375,000 on a nice little Park Slope brownstone at 409 Eighth Street, and then he obsessively, expensively, tremendously and fluorescently gut-renovated it.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Not all of Park Slope’s stroller-pushing renovators put in a three-story magnetized wall along the stairwell, or a video monitor system (“I just have a few hidden—one in the back, one in the front, and one on the roof—more like a mental relief”), or three Kohler Purist Hatbox toilets.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

164 East 72nd Street

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

“We felt we understood the terms one way, and they”—that would be HSBC Mortgage Corporation—“felt they understood it another way, and we, through pretty good advisers, got them to understand,” he said

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Five of ’em—3.1 Phillip Lim, Band of Outsiders, Michael Bastian, threeASFOUR and Philip Crangi—were feted by those unlikely bedfellows Vogue and the Gap over cocktails and risotto cakes in a whitewashed loft space off Rockefeller Center on Monday, April 14.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Don't expect those at the New York Theatre Workshop to see the humor in this sad coincidence: they're going to have a hard time paying rent because the Broadway run of Rent closed down.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The pope will be bunking with the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, who lives in a townhouse at 20 East 72nd Street—just a stone’s throw from the Ralph Lauren store and an Egyptian Shawarma vendor camped on Madison Avenue on most weekdays.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The 25th State Senate District includes Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. Squadron is running on a platform of changing Albany, and has refused contributions from PACs, corporations and lobbyists. He has been endorsed by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and the progressive Working Families Party.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Last night, City Councilman and candidate for Brooklyn borough president, Bill de Blasio, called for a moratorium on demolition at the Atlantic Yards footprint until developer Bruce Ratner outlines “what will be built when and confirms affordability,” Brownstoner and Gowanus Lounge reported this morning.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The New York Times announced that it's all but a done deal that the paper will have to layoff staffers in the newsroom.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The pope is scheduled make a number of appearances in the city, including a visit to a synagogue on Manhattan’s East Side. It's not clear yet which events Paterson will participate in.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

In the late 1800s, the painter built the restaurant’s namesake, a landmark mansion upstate with famously spectacular views overlooking the Hudson. Olana, the restaurant, sits on a less than spectacular stretch of lower Madison Avenue. The landscapes, on huge illuminated light boxes, are done in harsh computer-generated colors that cast a flat, eerie glow: Church on acid.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The artistic temperament extends to the kitchen: chef Al Di Meglio was a sometime artist himself before he turned to cooking. He has worked at Le Cirque 2000 with Sottha Khun, and was for three years the chef at the Maccioni family’s Osteria del Circo.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

The artistic temperament extends to the kitchen: chef Al Di Meglio was a sometime artist himself before he turned to cooking. He has worked at Le Cirque 2000 with Sottha Khun, and was for three years the chef at the Maccioni family’s Osteria del Circo.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Olana’s menu is modern American, with French and Italian influences. There are some wonderful touches, beginning with the little rolls—raisin, onion, olive and sour dough—from the Lower East Side bakery owned by Iacopo Falai, who used to be a pastry chef at Le Cirque.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

On Tuesday morning, at an upfront presentation to the media hosted at Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craft on East 19th Street, Bravo executives announced they will be expanding their Real Housewives franchise.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

In the back of the long, tubular space on Broome Street called GoldBar, behind parted curtains of gold chain, he stands at his turntables. He’s wearing clunky headphones around his neck, one akimbo DJ-style, and a T-shirt of his own design, black with a gold skull in the center, a pack of Marlboro Reds rolled into the left sleeve.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

9 a.m. NYU releases results of three-year study on NYPD peer support programs; NYU's Lipton Hall, D'Agostino Hall, 110 West 3rd St., at MacDougal Street.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

12:30 p.m. Students wear "chalk shoes" to create public street drawing to mark the future foot traffic paths to the High Line; beginning at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and 14th Street.

Published by The New York Observer on April 15, 2008.

Reader's Digest honored "RelightNY" - which gives fluorescent light bulbs to low-income families - started by students at Collegiate School.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

When Pope Benedict visits Yankee Stadium Sunday, he'll be greeted by hometown heroes - soldiers from New York's legendary Fighting 69th.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

By the end of the year, underwater turbines will produce about 50% of the energy used by the F train station on Roosevelt Island, said Gov. Paterson, accompanied by Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials, at a Grand Central Terminal news conference.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

In another pilot project, wind turbines would be placed at a Far Rockaway bus depot to produce some of the energy used on the site.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

A spelling-challenged city worker changed the name of SoHo's Mercer St. to Merser St.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

The accused detectives - Michael Oliver, Marc Cooper and Gescard Isnora - were doing an undercover prostitution sting at the Kalua Cabaret.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

What does it take to become Paris Hilton's new best friend? Judging by the people who turned up at Nikki Beach Midtown nightclub last week to audition for the role, attitude, chutzpah and a belief in one's own fabulousness rate high on the list.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

The New York Organic Fertilizer Co., which cooks sludge from all over the city into fertilizer pellets, has long been a source of odors and controversy in a part of the South Bronx that is no stranger to environmental problems.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

Twin Cafe Caterers in lower Manhattan posted a letter on its deli cooler: "Due to the huge increase of the gas, the electricity, the water and all the other utilities, we had to raise the prices a little bit."

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

Armed with tips, cartoons, interactive presentations and videos, Hynes' ADAs have already conducted workshops with students at four schools in Park Slope and Red Hook this month.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

Armed with tips, cartoons, interactive presentations and videos, Hynes' ADAs have already conducted workshops with students at four schools in Park Slope and Red Hook this month.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

Middle School 88 Assistant Principal Joseph Boromi said the workshop opened his students' eyes to the potential dangers of the Web.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

The police left in Clinton Hill are having to work harder with lowered staffing and a crime wave.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

The shocking violence erupted about 6:05 a.m. in the lobby of a building in the Manhattanville Houses on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 131 St., police said.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

A $14 billion project to rebuild Penn Station and develop Manhattan's Far West side appeared to die last month. The Madison Square Garden sports arena has backed out of the plan.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

A $14 billion project to rebuild Penn Station and develop Manhattan's Far West side appeared to die last month. The Madison Square Garden sports arena has backed out of the plan.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

Tarloff, who told police he has been in mental institutions at least 20 times, is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of Kathryn Faughey, 56, in her Upper East Side office on Feb. 12.

Published by New York Daily News on April 15, 2008.

Builders of the Freedom Tower poured a bad batch of concrete into the foundation of the skyscraper replacing the World Trade Center and spent the last few weeks removing it after tests showed it wasn't strong enough, officials said Tuesday.