1) Chinatown: The latest development in the knock-off handbag and watch business is the mobile fake shop. Racked reports fake shops on wheels such as "a van parked on Baxter Street just north of Canal filled with faux designer bags." There isn't only one.
2) West Village: Over on a confusing stretch of Eighth Avenue, Steven Alan and Sergio Davila will return in August, Shoegasm is probably still alive but Coffee Sweet Heart's fate is very much unkown.
3) Chelsea: Do check out the pics of the Billion Dollar Babes' Vivienne Westwood Anglomania sale and there's still a few minutes left to hit it up before leaving town for the weekend.
A new 7-story mini-tower housing a mere 5 condos will soon rise at 56 Spring. This one is sited on a street which offers everything from assiette de fromages all the way to zeppole, with assorted other things in between. This wee tower shows some facade switcheroo, which appears to be inspired by a Gravitram or possibly a Space Warp and comes from the mind of architect Arpad Baksa. It will nestle up next to 225 Lafayette Street, home of the $100,000 closet. Both are just east of the always busy intersection of Lafayette and Spring, down where Soho meets Nolita meets Little Italy meets Chinatown. The back side of 56 Spring will butt up against some terrific little gardens, hidden behind two old brick walkups facing onto Cleveland Place, one of which was sadly mauled and decapitated last summer. That broken bit of brickage is piled just across from the forlorn Lieutenant Petrosino Square, where recently ground was broken for a much-needed makeover. All said, whoever ends up residing at 56 Spring won't be able to complain about a lack of options, food or otherwise.
· Portfolio > On the Boards > 56 Spring [Arpad Baksa Architect website]
· Celebrity Real Estate Wrap: The $100,000 Closet [Curbed]
· Cleveland Place Construction Chronicles: Razing the Roof [Curbed]
And now the latest from Racked, covering retail from the sidewalks up.
1) Soho: Another day, another shopping line. Today's action is at the Botkier sale. Up to 70 percent off bags, shoes and wallets. Line up in an orderly fashion to the left.
2) Red Hook: It's on, as of 9AM yesterday. But after the Ikea shopping is over, it's time to get the goods home. Assuming, of course, a resident tired of giving directions doesn't grab a blunderbuss.
3) Park Slope: The boutique Bird is leaving Seventh Ave. for the hipper environs of Fifth Avenue. Markdowns through closing on July 28.
4) Chinatown: Brooklyn-based bag and accessory label Ananas is bringing its BK goodness to a pop-up shop on Canal Street.
1)James Delayo, the Buildings Department crane inspector arrested on Friday for taking bribes and selling copies of a crane operators' exam, was released on his own recognizance after appearing in court. The charges against him include bribe-receiving and tampering with public records, both felonies that could carry seven year prison terms (and can we tack on some extra time for wearing a bandana as a belt?). The 26-year DOB veteran, who was promoted following the March 15 crane collapse that killed seven, allegedly took money in exchange for issuing licenses to Class C crane operators (smaller than the tower cranes that have been falling on the city) that worked for Nu-Way Crane Service in Copiague. Delayo has been suspended without pay. ['Top City Crane Inspector Accused of Taking Bribes'/NYT]
2) When the moneyed citizens of the Upper East Side aren't busy fighting churches, they turn their attention to those banners that the Department of Transportation hangs on lampposts to advertise things going on in New York. One staunch blue blood even refers to them as "dirty laundry." [The City/Gregory Beyer]
3) A graphic designer who grew up in Soho wants to move out of his parents' Broome Street loft, but his budget is $300,000. With not many places to turn, he opts for a studio on the Far West Side near the Lincoln Tunnel and West Side Rail Yards. It reminds him of the Soho of his youth, he says, and he digs the seediness and drug addicts. [The Hunt/Joyce Cohen]
4) Want to sell your apartment eventually? Then don't put any of your personality into it whatsoever. Yeesh, does anybody look at a home as a home anymore, and not just an investment? ['Start in Neutral'/Teri Karush Rogers]
As Saturday gets underway, check out a selection of some of the top stories on Curbed this week.
1) Upper East Side: The second deadly crane collapse since March woke us up in an unpleasant way at 333 E. 91st Street. The immediate cause was unclear, but the Azure Condo had built up a record with the Department of Buildings.
Look, 123 Baxter, we know you're trying to get our attention to create a stir for your still-on-the-market "Gem Collection" penthouses, but really, there are easier ways of generating publicity than having two razor blade-wielding psychos attack the staff. Unless the targeted buyer has gone from "trust-fund babies with ripped jeans" to people who get off on life-threatening ordeals. Our only question: Is it a diss that the assailants thought the building was a hotel?
· Officer Kills Man After Condo Lobby Attack [NYT]
· Reconsidering Jetsonville [Curbed]
With all the hubbub surrounding the reveal of Renzo Piano's new branch of the Whitney Museum at the southern end of the High Line, it got us thinking about our old friend, the soon-to-be park in the sky. Actually, that's a lie. We're always thinking about the High Line, but it was only now that the good people at the Park Department and Friends of the High Line let us up on the rails to get a closer look at construction progress. If you recall, Phase 1 of the High Line—the snaking chunk between Gansevoort and West 19th Streets—is nearly ready for soil and landscaping in anticipation of a fall/winter opening, but it's not until you're led up a rickety wooden staircase on 19th Street that you realize, whoa, Phase 1 is ready for soil and landscaping! We'll present our findings in three galleries, the first of which is above. Later today: a game of rendering/reality and a look at The Chair. What chair? Oh my, just wait.
· High Line Blog [blog.thehighline.org]
· Curbed's High Line coverage [Curbed]
Comments
1) James Delayo, the Buildings Department crane inspector 
