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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Those darn gray boxes! They represent the portion of land left out of the 2005 rezoning of the Special Hudson Yards District—the western part of the rail yards that late yesterday led to the collapse of negotiations between Hudson Yards bid winner Tishman Speyer and land owner the MTA. A while back, the High Line Blog explained the rezoning, which is where we lifted the above image from (is that the Jets Stadium in there?!). But maybe the gray boxes are just an excuse. Maybe Tishman had buyer's remorse in light of the credit crunch and was just looking for a way out. Maybe, or maybe not. Charles Bagli reports in the Times that Jerry Speyer is flying from Milan to London today to meet with Mayor Bloomberg about the Hudson Yards. It was Speyer's son Rob who broke off the six-week-old talks with the MTA. Can the old men settle this over a hot cup of Earl Grey? The MTA probably hopes so. Writes Bagli, "But if the authority reopened negotiations with another bidder, it would almost certainly mean that it would get less money for the rights to the property, real estate executives said."
· Deal to Build at Railyards on West Side Collapses [NYT]
· Yardsmania: MTA Dumps Tishman Speyer, Chaos Ensues [Curbed]

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Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Take one last look at the Hudson Yards proposal designed for Tishman Speyer by Helmut Jahn and Peter Walker, folks, because the thing ain't happening. Late this evening, the MTA announced that it had hit an "impassé" with bid winner Tishman over the West Side rail yards, and the result is that the development rights are now back in play. The deal was supposed to be that Tishman would close on the eastern half of the property now, and the western half when it was rezoned to allow for the massive residential and commercial plans, which could take a while. Tishman balked at closing on anything until the western portion of the yards got rezoned, and the result is this doomsday mess we now find ourselves in. Look, in a city where a damn train station can't even get built, is it surprising that a multi-billion-dollar build-out of a plot of land bigger than the World Trade Center would have massive complications? A Tishman Speyer spokesman told Reuters, "We still hope to be able to complete this deal and reach an agreement that satisfies the needs of everyone." We'll see about that, but oh my, does this mean that Murdochville is suddenly alive? Will any promised megaproject get built? The world seems like a cold, dark place right about now.
· MTA, Hudson Yards developer at an impasse [Reuters]
· $1B Deal To Develop West Side Rail Yard Collapses [AP via WCBS]
· All Curbed Hudson Yards coverage [Curbed]

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We haven't broken out the GripeWire in a while, so real estate development must be humming along without a retaining wall collapse or misaligned kitchen counter left in its wake. Until today! A slew of complaints about some high-profile Chelsea projects have recently landed in the inbox. And so, to the GripeWire we go:

1) HL23: "This is what HL23, new Denari / Naman building, brings to the neighborhood: Lane closures on 23rd Street throughout the construction. Public: say hello to noise and single lane traffic on a major thoroughfare! Monster crane going right up against 519 West 23rd Street. Residents and their children: meet Mr. Steel Beam in your living rooms. Construction shed covering 150 feet of sidewalk under the DOB permit that states: Façade Restoration. Well, that's a true winner! We now have a façade restoration permit filed for a building that doesn't exist." Don't worry, soon Mr. Steel Beam will hop into his spaceship and take off to parts unknown.

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SOMEWHERE ABOVE YOUR HEAD—A delightful press release brings the news that the Building Department's safety inspection sweep of tower crains—like the one that demolished a swath of the East 50s last month—has been completed. Data: of the 29 tower cranes currently operational, eight were issued violations and shut down; as of today, only one such crain is still not in compliance. (Which one? Let us know, because the press release didn't.) Meantime, up next: an inspection of the appoximately 220 mobile cranes in operation. UPDATE: This Bloomberg story has the full list. Goldman Sachs' new HQ and—natch—Trump Soho were among the violators. [CurbedWire Inbox]

WEST VILLAGE—Remember the cool, pointy-looking new development called One 7th (right)? A tipster emails: "Looks like they dropped Douglas Elliman and hired Carrie Chiang at Corcoran. She changed the address to 67 Carmine, but the building name is still One 7th. Its been on the market for a year, and no sales." Corcoran confirms the news; note that Elliman did not previously have an exclusive on the building. [CurbedWire Inbox]

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Not long ago, Mayor Bloomberg called the redevelopment of the Far West Side "the single most important economic project that this city has undertaken in decades." He was talking about Moynihan Station, Hudson Yards, the Javits Center expansion and the extension of the 7-train. Now, most of those projects are in various stages of disarray (or in the case of Javits, death) and critics have been lining up to pound the rest into submission, citing factors like the credit crunch and poor planning. We've been rounding up these stories under the rubric West Side Doom & Gloom, and Charles Bagli's story on West Side redevelopment in the Times today is by far the gloomiest and doomiest. The argument is made that commercial development will be slow to creep west, especially if Moynihan Station doesn't get done.

That's why, some argue, all resources should be focused on Moynihan—even a smaller version if the Garden stays put—before work begins at Hudson Yards. Oh, and Hudson Yards should be completely rethought, too, because it sucks. Or at least David Childs thinks so. The situation on the West Side is now even more delicate with the addition of Brookfield Properties' Manhattan West. As we speculated, rejected Hudson Yards tenant Condé Nast has been negotiating with Brookfield for one of two office towers planned for the SOM Yards, but that too could be in jeopardy if Moynihan stalls. Ugh! Well, at least the High Line will make its way up there. Maybe.
· West Side Redevelopment Plans in Disarray [NYT]
· Moynihan Station Deathblow: MSG Pulls Out of Plan? [Curbed]
· Yardsmania: From 'Grim Referendum' to 'Damning Indictment' [Curbed]

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Jean Nouvel has been awarded this year's Pritzker Prize, architecture's equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, and the announcement could not have come at a better time for the French starchitect—at least in terms of his New York career. The effect is threefold: 1) Soho's 40 Mercer, where cabanas go for $350,000 and Harry Potter rents out apartments for $20 Gs, now somehow becomes even more exclusive. Dare we say, world-class? 2) The Pritzker will provide a nice marketing bump for Nouvel's pricey Vision Mashine, 100 Eleventh Avenue, and now West Chelsea's Starchitect Row has a couple of Pritzker-winners in Frank Gehry and Jean Boy. 3) Most importantly, the Pritzker Prize should bolster the chances of Nouvel's real vision mashine, the 75-story MoMA tower at 53 West 53rd Street. The backlash of the locals has given way to backlash to the backlash, and if a Pritzker winner can't get a gorgeous skyscraper built in midtown Manhattan of all places, then we will bow to our new Dubai overlords.
· French Architect Wins Pritzker Prize [NYT]
· So You Want to Live in 40 Mercer [Curbed]
· Nouvel's 53 West 53rd Street in Gorgeous Detail [Curbed]

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