When Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel dropped in on the Landmarks Preservation Commission to explain in detail his proposed 75-story mixed-use tower at 53 West 53rd Street—called the Tower Verre—his ulterior motive was obvious: blind the commissioners with so much starchitect power that they wouldn't even notice the ornery locals gathered to argue against the skyscraper. It worked! Yesterday, the LPC approved the transfer of air rights from the nearby University Club and St. Thomas Church to the Tower Verre site, clearing at least one major hurdle for the apartment building/Museum of Modern Art gallery. The proposal still has to wind its way through the City Planning Commission and the City Council, which gives the opponents who condemn the building's lack of "harmony" time to regroup. Still, that's one down.
· Nouvel Tower Gets the Nod Of City’s Landmarks Panel [Sun]
· MoMA Mia! Starring Jean Nouvel, David Childs & the Peanut Gallery [Curbed]
· Nouvel's 53 West 53rd Street in Gorgeous Detail [Curbed]

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Sunday may be Mother's Day, but that's no excuse to take a day off from home huntin'. And if you really want to make the old lady happy, get her what she really wants: a chance to see her precious little darling more often. That's right, buy her a pied-a-terre! (You're still employed, right?) We went about finding the perfect candidates in a very scientific manner: searching for listings with "pied-a-terre" in their descriptions. Then we honed in on Midtownish locations, because she'll love the convenient location and proximity to, ugh, Times Square. From there, we narrowed it down to condos only, because do you really want the woman who birthed you to be put through a board approval? So, make your way to Midtown before or after brunch and bring that nag closer to her kiddie.
· Weekend Open House Tour archives [Curbed]

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NOLITA—A special Curbed correspondent sends in this shot of a sign outside BApple Realty on Prince Street in Soho. Desperate times? [CurbedWire Inbox]

TURTLE BAY—Over at 303 East 51st Street, the site of the tragic and fatal crane collapse that touched off a wave of overdevelopment criticism and a high-profile resignation or two, a reader has some questions: "I live near the crane collapse site and walk by it every day on my way to work. It’s been more than a month since the crane collapse, and now the site is quiet. No workers, just a security guard. I also noticed that Reliance Construction Group has vacated its storefront office on Second Avenue between 51 and 52 (they were using the former space of a restaurant called Fusia). What’s going to happen to the site? Will it basically remain in limbo for years? And is Reliance Construction Group out of the picture?" [CurbedWire Inbox]

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While we were snooping around the Jonathan Adler-designed model apartment in the Jumeirah Essex House (f/k/a Essex House) hotel/condo on Central Park South, we were invited to the under-renovation rooftop of the 40+ story building. In what had to be some sort of insurance policy violation, we accepted. While we were tempted to climb the metal step ladder up to the platform that holds the famed red Essex House sign, we felt the views from just beneath the historic signage were picturesque enough. Plus, we had our bladders to think of. So here, for no other reason than just being a nice little pick-me-up for a dreary Monday afternoon, is a bit of classic Central Park viewporn.
· Show Us Your Sales Office: The Residences at the Jumeirah Essex House [Curbed]
· Jumeirah Essex House [Official Site]

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The city's developers are on an all-out blitz to lure well-heeled buyers to their projects, and the first front in this high-stakes war is the sales office—the base of operations for the building's sales and marketing. Nowadays, sales offices are just as luxurious as the condo units they're meant to sell. Show Us Your Sales Office will be your guided tour of the most over-the-top of the bunch. Got a sales office you want to show off? Drop us a line at tips@curbed.com and tell us why!

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Following a two-year, $90 million renovation funded by its new owners—the Dubai-based Jumeirah hotel and hospitality investment firm—the Essex House at 160 Central Park South has reclaimed its Art Deco splendor. And it picked up some new tricks along the way. A chunk of the hotel's rooms have been combined and converted to 35 luxury condos, with quirky floorplans and interior details crafted by Costas Kondylis & Partners. The apartments are known as The Residences at the Jumeirah Essex House, and they are scattered amongst the hotel's 40 floors, sharing amenities with all those transient neighbors.

Because the Essex House is a fully functioning hotel, space is at a premium. So instead of the traditional sales office and showroom set up, the brokers working in-house decided to just set up shop in one of the model apartments. Up until about two seconds ago, it was #1720, a 2BR, 3BA unit tricked out by funky designer Jonathan Adler. Priced at $3.25 million, the 1,461-square-foot apartment faces south, east and west. Wait, they chose to sell multi-million dollar apartments out of a Central Park South office without Central Park views? Indeed they did, but here's the thing: the Midtown views are also kind of awesome. Gah, it took a lot of introspection and strength to type those words, but we're comfortable with it.
· The Residences at the Jumeirah Essex House [Official Site]
· Adventures in Real Estate Pronunciation: Jumeirah [Curbed]
· Show Us Your Sales Office archives [Curbed]

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What would a humongous $4 billion development plan with 3,000 apartments, a million square feet of commercial space and buildings up to 595 feet all along the East River be without a lawsuit? Absolutely nowhere, of course. And so, developer Sheldon Solow's recently-approved, scaled-down plan is facing a lawsuit from residents of Tudor City. Today's amNY has the rundown, noting that "Fearful that their urban Eden will be buried under darkness and dirt, residents of bucolic Tudor City" announced the suit Wednesday. The suit says the development was approved against the wishes of the local community board. Resident of Tudor City, which runs from 40th Street to 43rd Street and First and Second Avenues say the Planning Commission "arbitrarily and capriciously" disregarded the community's plan for the site. Specifically, the lawyer bringing the suit tells amNY that "The planning department pays lip service to community-based planning and then they spit in the face of community based planning." A Solow spokesperson says he's "confident" the development will go forward.
· Residents fight Tudor City development [amNY]
· Solow's East River Waterfront Gets a Pat on the Behind [Curbed]

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The death of congestion pricing did not mean the death of wacky transit proposals, that's for sure. Streetsblog has a complete rundown of the initiatives announced by New York City Transit and the Department of Transportation today, the boldest of which is the proposed future of 34th Street. First up is a repaving and restriping between Third and Ninth Avenues, which will result in three auto lanes at the center and two dedicated bus lanes on the north and side sides. This is called a "Bus Rapid Transit" (or BRT, in Streetsblog speak) system, and should result in speedier bus travel times on that clogged thoroughfare (the NYPD has committed to enforcing the buses-only lane). These changes are scheduled to happen by the end of the year.

Phase 2 is where things get interesting. The idea is to close 34th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues to cars, and install pedestrian plazas instead. The buses would still be allowed to travel between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in their new special lanes. A graphic of the proposal is above. Hard to imagine? Yes. Crazy? Kinda. Odds of success? Let's not hold our breath. The 34th Street BRT will eventually tie into the new East River Ferry Service, which is getting a full presentation next week. Hey, if it's half as fun as this bus thing, we can't wait!
· A Transit Miracle on 34th Street [Streetsblog]

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Our tipster's e-mail kind of says it all: "Guess Yitzhak Tshuva ran out of money on those custom door knobs." But oh, what door knobs!
· On the Market: $10M at The Plaza, With a Little Luck [Curbed]
· Lonely Plaza Hotel Now Proven to Be Harmful, Perhaps Deadly [Curbed]

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1) In a story that we're only 60% sure is not an April Fool's gag, the Times reports that many New Jersey garbage dumps are being redeveloped into hotels, mall and residential buildings. For example, the Hilton at right is going up in a Dover landfill. Reminds us of a joke we heard: Hey, what's the biggest dump in New Jersey? New Jersey. Hi-yo! [In the Region/Antoinette Martin]

2) The city's 59 community boards are bracing for budget cuts, which will probably total $9,995 to $15,690 and take effect July 1. Great, now they'll be even more cranky when David Bouley tries to open a restaurant! [The City/Alex Mindlin]

3) So, what are brokers doing to get that commission in these tense times? Painting, buying flowers, and in some cases, sticking addresses on trash cans. ['That 6% Is Getting Harder to Earn'/Hope Reeves]

4) This week's Living In gives the spotlight treatment to Turtle Bay, a topical choice given the complaints of overdevelopment that followed the fatal crane collapse in the neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. Not surprisingly, you have to compete with foreign governments to get your hands on the good stuff. [Living In/C.J. Hughes]

5) An adorable young couple wants to stay close to family but also needs space for their sick cats, so they look to upgrade in Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay or Midwood. In the end, it comes down to her ability to negotiate in Russian. Which neighborhood will win?! [The Hunt/Joyce Cohen]

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