When Sen. Chuck Schumer spoke out against Bloomberg's prioritizing of the Hudson Yards over Moynihan Station earlier this week—and even dared suggest that the Port Authority take over the Moynihan/Farley Post Office project—Mayor Mike's head nearly exploded. Now, Governor Patterson has joined with Schumer in suggesting that the Port Authority handle the new train terminal, and if Bloomberg hasn't turned green and ripped through his business suit already, we assume it's only a matter of time. Moynihan Station is still reeling from Madison Square Garden's sudden pull-out from the plan as well as budget concerns, but Bloomberg shot back that the whole thing has been slowed by turmoil upstate. The Post quotes him: "The chaos in Albany was not good for us. A new administration comes in. They want to study things. Then there's another new administration. They want to study things." OK, so Bloomberg isn't the studying type. Patterson, trying to smooth over some hurt feelings before brass knuckles come out, said: "This isn't a personal feud, or something like that. He just has a viewpoint on what was Schumer's proposal and one that I'll weigh as I make a decision." Whatever that means.
· Gov and Bloomberg on Opposite Tracks [NYP]
· Schumer Not Into Hudson Yards, Bloomberg Not Into Schumer [Curbed]

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We'd say the picture at right of Sen. Chuck Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg is of the two in happier times, but they don't really look that happy to be in each other's company back then, either. Yesterday, a verbal slap fight broke out between the two over the development, or lack thereof, of the West Side. Schumer got the feud started at a Crain's breakfast, in which he called Bloomberg's plan for a European-style mid-block boulevard running through the Hudson Yards the "goofiest thing I've ever seen," per the Sun. Schumer thinks the whole idea of the Hudson Yards as a new business district is totally ridic, especially when the focus should be on Moynihan Station. He also wants the Port Authority to take over Moynihan, because the agency supposedly has the money and skills to get it done (coughGroundZerocough). Two hours later Bloomberg responded, and he was especially perturbed about the Port Authority suggestion. His comeback, as reported in the Post: "I appreciate all the senator's views on Moynihan Station. His part of the job is to bring us the money." Burn! He also said, of the Hudson Yards: "We set the city's priorities. They don't come out of Washington, and the city's priorities are the West Side, getting it going and getting the rail line going there." Hopefully SchumBloom Round II is right around the corner, because two old guys fighting is funny.
· West Side War [NYP]
· Schumer on Mayor’s Plan: ‘Goofiest Thing’ He’s Seen [Sun]

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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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PROSPECT HEIGHTS—The jockeying for position continues. Today started with an avalanche of Atlantic Yards news and now the atlanticlots.com website, which is a production of the Municipal Art Society and Brooklyn Speaks has gone live. There are high quality renderings of a non-B1 future framing the opposition argument that Atlantic Yards needs to be put on hold while it's clarified. [CurbedWire Inbox]

MIDTOWN WEST—The Orion condo continues to dwell in the seventh circle of Flipper Hell and people continue to take note. A reader writes: "I don't know if anyone noticed, but a quick browse on the Corcoran website shows 22 Apts up for sale!...That's just on the Corcoran website! Where's everyone going??" Natefind is showing 29 listings, a few of them with PriceChops from the original asks. [CurbedWire Inbox]

MIDTOWN WEST—Sure, it's promotional, but an email notes that a summer concert series for residents is kicking off tonight on the roof of the Atlas, a 48-story rental building on West 38th Street and Sixth Avenue: "Live musical acts are to perform bi-weekly and will embody a whole new concept of 'home' entertainment." This is not the first music to grace the Atlas roof. [CurbedWire Inbox]

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In today's installment of the Moynihan Station saga, Vornado Realty Trust and the Related Companies ask the state for a loan to build a new Madison Square Garden in the Farley Post Office. Will Garden Chairman Jim Dolan be interested or play hard to get? The Real Estate reports that the option is one of several the state is considering for the on again, off again (etc.) project. In this case, the state and the city could end up footing the $900M-$1B cost of the arena if the bigger project doesn't happen. Of course, regular viewers of the Moynihan series will recall the deal pretty much fell apart already when the Garden announced a $500M renovation of the existing arena. So Vornado and Related are now proposing that the arena go first and the state and city assume the financial risk if the bigger plan stall. At last report, Dolan was said to be uninterested. Stay tuned for tomorrow's developments.
· Vornado, Related Try to Lure Garden Back to Moynihan Station Table [TRE]
· Moynihan Station Deathblow: MSG Pulls Out of Plan? [Curbed]

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A Vanishing New York retrospective is the real estate equivalent of being read the last rites, so it was only a matter of time before the Reaper came calling for Show World, or what's left of it. You see, Show World used to be the porn anchor of the Times Square of old—its neon lights serving as a siren call to sketchy guys streaming from the Port Authority who needed to get their circus-themed jollies. Show World survived Giuliani's anti-nudie zoning ordinances, but pieces were slowly stripped away, and now the Laugh Factory and a huge Duane Reade occupy old Show World space, with a sliver surviving a couple doors down. Today, Steve Cuozzo reports that 303 East 42nd Street, which includes a 12-story office/apartment building, some small theaters and Show World, is for sale. Owned by a trust that is controlled by Show World's boss, the property could go a variety of ways, including a ground lease or partnership. But it may just get sold outright, and the clock could be ticking on the old perv. With 11 Times Square on the rise nearby and a potential Port Authority skyscraper on the way, this formerly seedy corner of Eighth Avenue is suddenly a burgeoning office district—which is amazing news to some, and a travesty to others.
· Stripped Of His Crown [NYP]

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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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1) They won't let us in the building, but the Times' new development sizer-upper Suzanne Slesin had no trouble getting a look at 15 Union Square West. Everyone has been talking about what the designers did with the tall arched windows of the original Tiffany and Co. building, and now we finally see it. The dog-run views must be mesmerizing. And adorable! [Window Shopping/Suzanne Slesin]

2) Some may think that The Ludlow, the massive luxury rental building on the Lower East Side, is targeting "fratty douchebag investment bankers" with their marketing, but you'll be surprised to find out that the building's first ever tenant was a woman in her 40s. How she got around the snipers, we're not quite sure. [Habitats/Dan Shaw]

3) Corcoran Sunshine just spent $100,000 to produce 85,000 copies of a glorified sales brochure for Riverhouse that explains how eco-friendly the building is (look for it in a garbage can near you). Also, 15 units in the eco-madness Toren have sold this month. [Posting/C.J. Hughes]

4) Living in Midtown may seem like a nightmare to most people, but not to a computer geek and his wife who moved to New York from Boston to take a job at Google. Being a nerd, here's part of his hunting strategy: "Mr. Bolay listed each building’s walking time to work, assuming one minute per street block and three minutes per avenue block, and calculated the value of his travel time according to his salary." No wonder Long Island City didn't make the cut. [The Hunt/Joyce Cohen]

5) The Department of City Planning announced a rezoning plan for five neighborhoods on the Rockaway Peninsula, including Far Rockaway, the Hamptons of the '30s long since ruined by crappy development. No more high-rises casting shadows on the beach? It could be too little too late. [The City/James Angelos]

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The buildings at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 32nd Street are being fully prepped for demolition. They’ve been rat-baited and the stink of gutting wafts from their openings. They will soon fall to make room for Tower 111, a 47-story luxury glass shaft designed by Costas Kondylis that will cantilever over Jack’s 99-cent store with its unwieldy tumor. Until then, there is still time to enjoy the old signage of S&A Stores, renowned (sort of) for its vast selection of cheap linens. The sign promises, not so promisingly, “Money Refunded Within 25 Days.”
· Jack's Seals a Tumorous Deal [Curbed]

--Jeremiah Moss

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