Blog\capitalnewyork\nyc\nov17 By Azi Paybarah in Manhattan, Jimmy Vielkind in Albany and Mike Allen in D.C., with Daniel Lippman HAPPENING TODAY -- Diller launches Hudson River park, by Capital’s Dana Rubinstein -- “Media baron Barry Diller and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, have committed to spend more than $113 million to build and maintain a park and performance space on a pier in the Hudson River. … The commitment to create a new Hudson River Park pier west of 13th Street will be the single largest private donation to a public park in New York City history, exceeding even hedge fund manager John Paulson’s $100 million gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 2012. In modern U.S. history, it is second in size only to the George Kaiser Family Foundations contribution of $350 million for a park in Tulsa, Oklahoma.” capi.tl/11tnkvq --“With Bold Park Plan, Mogul Hopes to Leave Mark on New York’s West Side,” by NYT’s Charles V. Bagli and Robin Pogrebin: “It would be a bold addition to the Manhattan waterfront — a $170 million, futuristic park built atop an undulating platform 186 feet off the Hudson River shoreline with a series of wooded nooks and three performance venues, including an amphitheater. The offshore park near 14th Street might be considered fanciful were it not for its sponsor, the billionaire Barry Diller … “To oversee events, Mr. Diller has recruited powerful partners, including Scott Rudin, the film and theater producer. Mr. Diller, the chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp and former head of Paramount Pictures and Fox, has agreed to provide $130 million to build the park through a family foundation; an additional $39.5 million would come from the city, the state and the Hudson River Park Trust.” nyti.ms/1u0yIVw BILL CLINTON TELLS FORMER AIDES: ‘WE CAN DO THIS AGAIN’ -- Capital’s Dana Rubinstein: “The economic prosperity that the United States experienced under Bill Clinton can be experienced again, the former president argued on Saturday evening, during a speech in Little Rock. ‘We had 100 times as many people move from poverty into the middle class,’ he told an appreciative audience during a cocktail hour hosted by POLITICO, marking the 10th anniversary of the Clinton Presidential Center. ‘This shows the importance of policy … We can do this again.’” goo.gl/OL76IR TABS ... N.Y. Post Sports back shows Eli Manning with his knuckles to his face mask, as if he were wiping his eyes: “BLUE HOO! It’s a crying shame as Eli’s 5 INTs send Giants to fifth straight loss.” The G-men lost 16-10 to the 49ers at MetLife: “Manning was anything but elite in matching his career high with five interceptions.” CUOMO’S GOP DONORS—Capital’s Laura Nahmias and Bill Mahoney: Governor Cuomos top donors gave six times more money to help elect Republicans to the State Senate than they did to similar efforts to aid Democrats, a Capital New York analysis shows. The governors top 25 donors gave Cuomos campaign committee $5.1 million between December 1, 2010 and October 24, 2014. The same group of people and organizations spent only $444,604 contributing to Senate Democrats or independent expenditure committees that supported Democrats in this years election cycle, while they spent $2.7 million—over six times as much money—helping the campaigns of Senate Republicans. Cuomo was criticized by some Democrats for appearing to renege on a promise he made in May this year to help Democrats win control of the Senate. bit.ly/1xbtoEL ROAD WARRIOS – “Bono facing surgery after Central Park bike crash,” by Post’s Joe Tacopino: “A bicycle accident in Central Park has left rocker Bono injured and facing surgery — and forced U2 to cancel a week-long appearance on ‘The Tonight Show,’ the band revealed on its Web site Sunday night. ‘It looks like we will have to do our ‘Tonight Show’ residency another time — we’re one man down,’ read the statement. ‘Bono has injured his arm in a cycling spill ... We’re sure he’ll make a full recovery soon, so we’ll be back!” pge.sx/11cKsO3 “The deadliest road in the city costs both lives and money,” by Post’s Susan Edelman: “A section of the Bronx River Parkway near 177th Street has cost 16 lives and tens of millions in taxpayer money over the past few decades. ... The dangers at this “Bronx Bermuda Triangle,” as one called it, have been known since at least 1987, when a similar crossover head-on collision injured a 34-year-old man and killed his wife and two other women. A jury awarded $20.9 million, but the city wound up paying $891,181 after a drunk driver was found 75 percent responsible.” bit.ly/1qbw3O7 SIGN UP FOR CAPITAL EDUCATION, COMING NEXT MONTH—your daily guide to the latest news in New York education, from pre-kindergarten to higher ed, and from government to the for-profit sector. Written by Capital staff and filled with scoops, analysis and the most important news of the day on education leaders, institutions and the policies that affect them, Capital Education will be delivered to your inbox before 5:45 each weekday morning. Sign up here: capi.tl/1xtAQKd EBOLA REIMBURSEMENT -- Capital’s Dan Goldberg: Senator Chuck Schumer said on Sunday hed like to amend President Obamas $6 billion request for emergency funding to combat Ebola so that more of the money is spent in the U.S., particularly in New York City. New York City has already spent approximately $20 million on Ebola, Schumer said. Some of that went to treat Harlem resident, Dr. Craig Spencer, but much of the cost comes from actively monitoring the hundreds of people who have arrived from Ebola-infected countries. “I think Congress can afford to send $20 million plus future expenses to New York City and other localities that are on the front lines,” he said. bit.ly/1xMV7eS OPPOSING POLICE BILLS: Proof of Consent before searches, and chokehold ban -- News editorial page: “[NYPD Commissioner Bill] Bratton is standing foursquare in opposition to two misguided pieces of City Council legislation that would impede lawful action by police. He nailed the bills as ‘part of an ongoing effort to bridle the police and the city of New York.’ Meanwhile, the mayor, a study in mush, refuses to stand solidly with Bratton, apparently for fear of alienating the anti-stop-and-frisk constituencies that carried him into City Hall. … What more does the mayor need to hear? His police commissioner has spoken. Has the mayor so little confidence in Bratton’s judgment that he might actually sign laws vehemently opposed by his top cop?” goo.gl/QHlGgV -- Amsterdam News Publisher and Editor in Chief, Elinor Tatum, on NY1: “I question the direction they’re going in. To try to get someone’s permission to frisk them is not really going to go anywhere because why are they stopping them in the first place if they don’t have any probable cause? The whole thing doesn’t really make any sense to me.” goo.gl/KtWvxJ DIVESTMENT FRACAS -- “CUNY Pressured to Sell Investments in Foss-Fuel Companies,” by WSJ’s Michael Vilensky: “The board of trustees at the City University of New York is debating whether to sell millions of dollars in investments in fossil-fuel companies amid growing demands from students, faculty and lawmakers. The conversation has roiled CUNY’s 24 campuses across the city in which some 500,000 students are enrolled. It has also engaged some liberal state senators, who have recently lent support to pro-divestment students,” goo.gl/gtkiEE FACEOFF -- “At [Temple Emanu-El] Educational Event, a Modern Legal Interpretation of a Biblical Story,” by NYT’s Vivian Yee: “The facts were undeniable: The defendant, one Abraham (no known surname), had teetered on the brink of stabbing his son Isaac to death, only to be stopped by divine intervention. Luckily he had a lawyer with a thirst for tough cases, not to mention a jury pool consisting exclusively of people who proudly claim to be descended from the accused. ... For the prosecution: Eliot Spitzer, a former governor and attorney general of New York. For the defense: Alan M. Dershowitz, the Harvard Law School professor who was one of Mr. Spitzer’s former professors but is perhaps better known for defending O. J. Simpson and other notorious clients.” nyti.ms/1uDvpZi WEEKEND WEDDINGS – “Raine Katz and Michael Levoff” – N.Y. Times announcement: “Raine Halley Katz ... was married Friday evening to Michael Francis Levoff ... at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Ms. Katz, 28 ... is a marketing strategist in New York for Google, ... Mr. Levoff, also 28, is the vice president for corporate communications in New York for Genting Americas, a subsidiary of the Genting Group, a Malaysian hospitality and casino company. He served as a spokesman for the former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from April 2007 to August 2008 and again from March 2009 to December 2009. The groom was also a spokesman for Mitt Romney from June to December 2012. He graduated from Fordham.” nyti.ms/1vgXvM0 REAL ESTATE -- Capital’s Ryan Hutchins: “The deal reached last week to add affordable housing to Astoria Cove—an enormous project planned for the Queens waterfront—was hailed by City Council members and Mayor Bill de Blasio as a huge success that will set a precedent for the city’s ambitious housing plan. Indeed, the Council negotiated to have a record 27 percent of the 1,723-unit complex set aside for low- and middle-income households. What’s more, the developers—led by Alma Realty—agreed to employ union labor and building staff. On Friday, de Blasio called the land-use deal ‘a real game changer.’ “But there is concern in the New York real estate world that the terms of the deal could cut deeply into the profitability of Astoria Cove, making it possible the apartments are never built. Some fear Alma, which has never worked on a project of this scale and has no track record for this sort of work, may have agreed to far too much. The general consensus in the development and affordable housing communities is that Alma and its partners will likely sell the site. Already, someone in the group, known as 2030 Astoria L.L.C., has approached a major --New coalition formed to push Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning: Ahead of a public hearing tonight on the Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning in East Midtown, SL Green Realty Corp. is announcing the formation of a new group that will support its planned improvements to Grand Central Terminal. The Coalition for a Better Grand Central includes some big names, according to a press release going out this morning: Association for a Better New York, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, Grand Central Partnership, New York Building Congress, New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, Real Estate Board of New York and 32BJ SEIU, in addition to SL Green. --Times Square Landlords Cash In as LED Billboards Go Big, by WSJs Keiko Morris: “As Vornado Realty Trust prepares to throw the switch Tuesday on its mountainous electronic sign in the heart of Times Square, other landlords just outside the high-profile intersection of Seventh Avenue and Broadway are also betting on the digital-sign business. The sign along the front of the Marriott Marquis hotel will run the length of a football field and be six to eight stories high, according to a Vornado executive and company financial documents. Landlords often make their billboard income working with companies that manage the displays. But in recent years, those signs have become an attraction for potential retail tenants. Chains such as Aéropostale Inc. and Express Inc. opted for Times Square flagship stores where they control the electronic signage above, real estate executives and brokers said.” on.wsj/1sWHswu --Forest City seems ready to buy out Skanskas interest in closed modular factory, by Norman Oder: “Forest City Ratner seems ready to buy out former partner Skanska from its share of the troubled, shuttered factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard that was producing modules for the stalled B2 tower at the corner of Dean Street and Flatbush Avenue. That deal—between the companies modular subsidiaries—presumably would hasten the process to re-start the factory and resume construction, which has reached only ten of 32 floors… A letter dated Thursday... from Skanksa attorney Bruce Meller to Justice Saliann Scarpulla... indicates that closing on the deal was scheduled for… [Monday], though ‘there remains a lot of work to be done.’” bit.ly/1yLg8Vx NOERDLINGER’S SON ARRESTED -- News’ Jennifer Fermino, Kerry Burke, Rocco Parascandola and Thomas Tracy: “Noerdlinger’s 17-year-old son, Khari, was charged with criminal trespass on Friday — the same day she celebrated her 44th birthday, officials said. … Members of the NYPD’s Manhattan gang unit cuffed the teen inside a Washington Heights apartment building on W. 164th St. near Broadway at about 9 p.m. Friday, authorities said. He and three friends were allegedly smoking and drinking just beyond the vestibule when cops spotted them. … He was sentenced to one day of community service and sent home following a brief court hearing. A source close to the incident said the teen and his friends slipped into the building to get out of the cold.” goo.gl/lbZ0yW DESSERT -- “What a deal! $729 per night for a hotel room” -- Crain’s Lisa Fickensher: “The luxurious Baccarat Hotel New York, located across from the Museum of Modern Art, quietly opened its online reservation system, allowing guests to book rooms starting in February 2015. For a short window of time, the upscale property will be ‘discounting’ … In February, … guests can book a classic king room for $729 per night, compared with $1,299 in June. Similarly, a classic junior suite costs $1,279 per night in February, compared with $1,849 in June.… The 114-room property, which is 50 stories high and topped with 60 condos … describ[es] its amenities as worthy of six stars.” goo.gl/Rfacji
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:49:47 +0000
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