Avi Schick, the prosecutor-turned-development official who has served as downstate president of the Empire State Development Corporation for the past two years, will leave his job this week. Mr. Schick emailed a letter on Monday evening to colleagues announcing his departure (a copy of the letter is below).

Mr. Schick's departure comes more than seven months after the Paterson administration announced he would resign his position; in May, the state announced he would leave in September.

At the ESDC, Mr. Schick, once a top prosecutor in the state attorney general's office under Eliot Spitzer, oversaw state involvement in projects such as Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, the development of Governors Island, and Columbia University's West Harlem expansion.

He was also known as Governor Spitzer's man downtown, running the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and attempting to attract and retain large financial firms including JPMorgan Chase. Mr. Schick was involved in getting the bank to agree to build a new tower by the World Trade Center site, a nonbinding commitment that seems highly unlikely to happen at this point. He pushed—ultimately successfully—for candor with dates and deadlines at the World Trade Center, and he also has overseen the deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank building by ground zero following a fatal fire in the summer of 2007, a demolition that has taken far longer than expected.

Particularly during the Spitzer administration, Mr. Schick showed a tendency to spar with other officials, bringing a prosecutorial style to skirmishes both within state government and outside of it. In turf battles and other fights, he routinely clashed with then-ESDC downstate chairman Pat Foye, then-Port Authority executive director Tony Shorris, then-Lower Manhattan Construction and Command Center director Charlie Maikish, and numerous city officials. He was also said to have clashed with Marisa Lago, the new chief executive of the ESDC, according to a person familiar with the dynamic.

Still, he forged important alliances in his time, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver—a powerful voice in Lower Manhattan—has repeatedly advocated for both Mr. Schick and the LMDC, which the mayor has attacked as an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.

Ms. Lago has been conducting interviews with candidates to oversee the agency's downstate operations, according to people familiar with the situation.

Mr. Schick’s e-mailed letter to colleagues, sent this evening:

Subject: Thank You

As most of you already know, this week will be my last at ESDC.

The past two years at ESDC have been a terrific adventure, and I am proud to have had the opportunity to work together with each and every one of you. Working together, we were able to keep employers large and small -- from IBM to the small industrial manufacturers from Brooklyn to Batavia -- committed to New York State. We were able to create a workable and equitable plan for Columbia University's Manhattanville expansion and shepherd it through the public approval process. We were able to get construction started at Brooklyn Bridge Park. We were able to begin the design of a world class park on Governors Island. And we were able to begin to restore the I Love NY campaign to its former prominence and glory and to make New York State -- the entire State -- the tourist destination it deserves to be.

It is the nature of the job that the credit and attention tends to flow to only a few. But the reality is that it was the contributions of each of you that made these (and other) accomplishments possible, and I'd like to publicly acknowledge the professionalism, hard work and dedication of the entire ESDC staff. Thank you.

Of course, there is much more to be done, especially in this challenging economic climate. I am leaving comfortable in the knowledge that under the executive leadership of Marisa and with the guidance of Chairman Wilmers you will meet those challenges.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank Bob and Marisa for their graciousness during the past few months.

I entered government nearly a decade ago with three small children, the oldest of whom was in third grade. I am leaving ESDC with five, the oldest now a senior in high school. And so fond memories and all, it is time to move on to the next chapter in my professional life.

I am looking forward to a few weeks without early morning meetings or late night conference calls, after which I suspect the cycle will begin anew.

Once again, thank you all.

Avi

ALBANY—The state teacher's union is sitting on the sidelines as other labor groups get involved in the fight for the State Senate leadership.

"Frankly, getting into a leadership fight makes one friend and lots of enemies - from our perspective, anyway," said Dick Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers. "From our perspective, the issue isn't who the leader is."

I pointed out that NYSUT withheld its endorsement of state senators who voted to impose a property tax cap, a move which influenced election in November and helped to lead Democrats to a majority in the chamber. So why hold back now?

"The decision as to who is their leader is not a decision as to particular legislation," Iannuzzi said.

The union is also not participating in a march outside the Capitol scheduled for Wednesday, when Paterson delivers his first State of the State address.

"The State of the State, from our perspective, is the governor's place to make his case, and the respectful and appropriate place for us to be is inside. I'll be inside," he said.

The head of a union representing 25,000 carpenters in New York City just issued a statement backing Caroline Kennedy for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat, saying she’s “intelligent, easy to communicate with and grasps our issues.”

Michael Forde, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of The New York City District Council of Carpenters went on to say, “We have found her to be qualified on the two aspects vital to being a Senator from New York: someone who can advocate for New Yorkers' needs and someone who will be a national player.”

It's an argument that echoes Kevin Sheekey's.

Barack Obama will choose Leon Panetta to run the C.I.A., delivering a surprise "even to some Obama insiders." 

The choice may be more about ideology than organization.

Michael Benjamin says he got a vetting call regarding Adolfo Carrion.

State officials are hoping for federal money to update aging and overworked sewage treatment plants.

An opponent of the NYRI power line wants to know exactly what "public need" is.

Liz ponders the seating implications of the State of the State.

Gale Brewer takes on helicopters.

"Sources familiar with" the workings of 1199 issue an anonymous denial of the union's reported behind-the-scenes activity on behalf of Dean Skelos.

According to the city Board of Elections, Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind got re-elected with more votes on the Republican line than on the Democratic.

John Riley refers to Michael Bloomberg’s recent trip as an “Israel Pander Trip.”

Vois iz Neias readers discuss Bloomberg and pot holes.

Betsy Gotbaum wants to debate Bloomberg on mayoral control of public schools, in Spanish.

Here's Ruben Diaz, Sr. at a Three Kings Day event in the Bronx.

Tom Wrobleski is following Michael McMahon all the way to Washington D.C.

Forign Policy wonders takes suggestions for Bill Clinton's title.

Paul Krugman mocks a stimulus skeptic. 

Obama continues to make a statement by making no statement about Gaza.
 
The Change We Need: Ted Leo and Tortoise.

Al Franken is certified; Norm Coleman will challenge.

According to Marc Ambinder, the Obama team didn't think Bill Richardson would want to be commerce secretary.

Jason Zengerle thinks this means he was pushed out.

There’s a Facebook group trying to get Fred Hochberg appointed to the cabinet post Bill Richardson is abandoning.

ALBANY—Sheldon Silver is displeased with a report today which said New York's legislature is "still broken."

While most of the Brennan Center's rhetoric was focused on the possibility of change in the State Senate, Dan Weiller, a spokesman for the assembly speaker, issued this statement in response:

The latest report by the Brennan Center is disappointing because it continues to misrepresent the substantive reforms that have been made in the Assembly, misunderstand the basics of the legislative process, and mislead the public as to what measures will actually lead to the formulation of better budgets and laws for all New Yorkers.
            In analyzing the work of the legislature, the Brennan Center report completely omits the state budget, as well as countless bills that pass either house every year.
            The Assembly has been and will remain committed to transparency and efficiency in state government. The rules changes we have adopted in recent years have improved the budget process, given greater authority to standing committees and increased participation by all members. Since enacting budget and committee reforms, the Assembly has passed three on-time budgets in a row. This year, these reforms will help New York tackle its greatest fiscal crisis in a generation. We are committed to ensuring that the Assembly continues to take the lead in reforming state government to better serve all New Yorkers.
            Among the other important reforms the Assembly has adopted over the years to create greater transparency include the passage of rules that:
·        End empty seat voting to ensure that Assembly members fully participate in the legislative process and are publicly accountable for their votes.

• Create an open and transparent budget process through joint Assembly - Senate conference committees that analyze and hear public testimony on every aspect of the state's fiscal plan.
• Mandate that all Assembly bills are approved by a standing committee other than the Committee on Rules, guaranteeing the participation of committees in the legislative process.
• Extend the time period for unlimited bill introduction from early March to the first Tuesday in May, allowing Assembly members more time to draft and submit legislation important to their constituents.
• Require the Committee on Rules to approve the acceptance of Messages of Necessity resulting in a decrease in the use of such messages.
• Ease the Motion to Discharge process by extending the period during which this process may be utilized.
• Create subcommittee structure to provide members with a greater role in researching, analyzing and debating legislative issues.
• Limit the number of standing committees on which a member can serve to no greater than six in order to ensure efficiency and greater participation by members.
• Require that each standing committee meet at least once a month in order to hasten consideration of bills.
• Create sanctions for members with unexcused absences from regular meetings where bills are considered in order to guarantee members participate fully.
  The Brennan Center's report is wrong to dismiss and not include in its analysis bills that have been vetoed as well as the Assembly's passage of major legislation that is not subsequently taken up by the Senate - bills that often set the stage for eventual enactment of critical legislation to protect New Yorkers. Before it was passed in the Senate and signed into law by the governor, for many years the Assembly passed a one-house measure to prevent hate crimes in New York State. The same is true for such landmark legislation as Timothy's Law, SONDA, providing orders of protection for victims of domestic violence and CFE. It was the Assembly's continued insistence on passing these critical bills that led to them becoming law.

            In June 2007, the Assembly passed legislation to ensure marriage equality in New York state - a vote that received support on both sides of the aisle. At the end of the last legislative session, the Assembly also passed legislation on the very issue for which the Brennan Center is a registered lobbyist - Campaign Finance Reform. Until now, the Senate has not acted on this legislation, but it is our hope and belief that these bills will find support in the new Senate and eventually be enacted into law. That is the legislative process and it is mystifying that the Brennan Center would diminish it.

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse is reportedly in talks with British fashion house Fred Perry to design her own clothing collection and has already begun sketching some of her ideas. [Vogue UK]

Gedalio Grinberg, chairman of the Movado Group (where he had worked since the '60s), died on Sunday in Manhattan at age 77. [WWD]

Women who have scored invitations to the inaugural balls have started "registering" their dresses on special websites to make sure no one else will be wearing their gown. [NY Daily News] 

Designer John Galliano has been appointed a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, previously bestowed upon Yves Saint Laurent and Azzedine Alaia. [WWD] 

Some obvious fashion casualties of the recession: young designers, celebrity lines, very expensive designer labels with limited distribution, and $20,000 handbags. [WWD] 

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse is reportedly in talks with British fashion house Fred Perry to design her own clothing collection and has already begun sketching some of her ideas. [Vogue UK]

Gedalio Grinberg, chairman of the Movado Group (where he had worked since the '60s), died on Sunday in Manhattan at age 77. [WWD]

Women who have scored invitations to the inaugural balls have started "registering" their dresses on special websites to make sure no one else will be wearing their gown. [NY Daily News] 

Designer John Galliano has been appointed a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, previously bestowed upon Yves Saint Laurent and Azzedine Alaia. [WWD] 

Some obvious fashion casualties of the recession: young designers, celebrity lines, very expensive designer labels with limited distribution, and $20,000 handbags. [WWD] 

Private equity firm sues Kent Swig, alleging $39 million in loan defaults and fraudulent claims about Sheffield57 stake. [TRD]

Sign of the times, big-time: Two Plaza condos listed for below purchase prices. [TRD]

Mmmm... Boulud. Daniel will host beer-pairing dinners later this month. [Eater]

The Four Seasons Restaurant turns 50, offers menus like it's 1959. [Eater]

A rundown of the slowdown on Rudin and St. Vincent's O'Toole building plans in the West Village. [Architect's Newspaper]

Bob Knakal on the "healthiest segment" of the investment sales market today and other early '09 realities. [Massey Knakal Reel]

Report: Of the 1.3 million city residents who earn $13 per hour or less, almost one in seven work in retail. [Gotham Gazette]

Heliport on far West 30th Street starting to really irk Upper West Siders. [CityRoom]

These guys will get you ripped tonight. [NY Times]

"Our so-called 'investment' has kept us house-poor and chronically overwhelmed for what we laughingly call the 'prime' of our lives. And unless someone gives us, oh, say, half a million dollars, it will never get any better. Needless to say, we love this pile of wretched wood and pipes with a passion so tender that to gaze upon it sometimes brings tears to our eyes, at least until a piece of woodwork or roofing falls off in plain sight." [Brownstoner]

Count it! Madison Square Park wins 2008 Curbed Cup. Carry on. [Curbed]

ALBANY—Representative Steve Israel's travels in the last few weeks have taken him to Baghdad, Germany and now: Hornell.

It's the first time the four-term congressman has been to the small upstate city, which he visited yesterday before visits today to Syracuse and Utica. His tour comes as those auditioning to be U.S. senator are making pilgrimages through the hinterland - first it was Caroline Kennedy, this weekend Carolyn Maloney, and now Israel. But he says his commitment to the region run deeper than his Senate hopes.

"For me this is not a sudden incursion into upstate New York," Israel said by phone. "The difference is that I have been doing this for the past two years. I have been traveling to Utica, to Rochester, to the Southern Tier and to the North Country helping Democratic congressional candidates. So I am quite familiar with this. The reception has always been very warm."

Israel met with Paterson one-on-one before they and Representative Anthony Weiner visited troops in Iraq and Afghanistan during the days before Christmas.

Israel made the case for himself as an ideal senator due to his experience as a congressman and town board member - which he said provided insight into the needs and desires of local governments - but would not attack Kennedy, who has been derided as inexperienced for the job.

A poll released today shows she has faded in support since she began campaigning for the seat.

At 9 a.m. this morning City Council candidate Ken Mitchell filed 2,000 signatures to get on the ballot for the February 24 special elections, his campaign announced in a public statement.

It means it's likely Mitchell will wind up on the first row of the ballot, since it's a nonpartisan election, and positions on the ballot are assigned by the order in which the City's Board of Elections receives the campaigns' petition signatures.

“Thanks to the army of volunteers asking their North Shore friends, neighbors and family to sign petitions, our campaign will be first on the ballot,” Mitchell said in a public statement. “I am grateful for the overwhelming show of support for my candidacy and look forward to this campaign.”

I'm waiting to hear back from the Board of Elections spokesperson to confirm the receipt of Mitchell's petitions.

Some bright news on an otherwise gray Monday afternoon: this coming weekend, Neil Patrick Harris will be hosting Saturday Night Live! We used to dream about Mr. Harris when he played Doogie (in fact, yours truly mentioned this in print a few years ago). We loved his speed-freak cameos in Harold and Kumar. These days we laugh so hard we cry at his portrayal of Barney Stinson, the over-the-top-but-still-believable womanizing scotch-swiller-catchphrase-maker on CBS's How I Met Your Mother. (And yes, yes, we know Mr. Harris plays for the other team.) Fingers crossed he drags HIMYM co-star Jason Segal on for a few sketches. The two are known to do duets now and then; we'd like to see what they'd whip up with Andy Samberg for a digital short. ‘Jizz In My Pants' part two?

Some bright news on an otherwise gray Monday afternoon: this coming weekend, Neil Patrick Harris will be hosting Saturday Night Live! We used to dream about Mr. Harris when he played Doogie (in fact, yours truly mentioned this in print a few years ago). We loved his speed-freak cameos in Harold and Kumar. These days we laugh so hard we cry at his portrayal of Barney Stinson, the over-the-top-but-still-believable womanizing scotch-swiller-catchphrase-maker on CBS's How I Met Your Mother. (And yes, yes, we know Mr. Harris plays for the other team.) Fingers crossed he drags HIMYM co-star Jason Segal on for a few sketches. The two are known to do duets now and then; we'd like to see what they'd whip up with Andy Samberg for a digital short. ‘Jizz In My Pants' part two?

9:30 a.m., the Landmarks Preservation Commission holds a public hearing on proposed changes for landmarked properties. 1 Centre Street, 9th floor. Agenda and info on attendance here (PDF).

10:30 a.m., the City Council's Finance Committee meets regarding, in part, the grace period for payment without interest of real property taxes. Committee room of City Hall. More info here.

6 to 8 p.m., the New York Association of Realty Managers' School of Property Management hosts a class on "Contract Law for Construction and Services." 500 Eighth Avenue. Fee: $240. Info and registration at www.nyarm.com.

Are you ready for all Lincoln all the time? Do you worry that you’ll need some help in cutting through the bicentennial blather? If you’re looking for a quick refresher (as opposed, say, to the two-part, six volume mythologizing biography Carl Sandburg completed in 1939), try The Best American History Essays on Lincoln (Palgrave Macmillan, $16.95), a selection of 11 essays from the past 60 years edited by Sean Wilentz for the Organization of American Historians. All the essays (with the exception of a chapter from Edmund Wilson’s Patriotic Gore) are by eminent professors of history, among them Richard Hofstadter, David Herbert Donald, John Hope Franklin and James M. McPherson. In addition to the impeccable scholarship and deliberate judgment on display throughout, there’s the fun of watching the professionals diss the amateurs.

The action begins in Mr. Wilentz’s introduction, where he sneers at the “picturesque costume dramas that commonly appear under the heading of popular history and biography.” Perhaps the sharpest put-down comes from Edmund Wilson, who deplores the “romantic and sentimental rubbish” written about the Great Emancipator and wonders whether “the cruelest thing that has happened to Lincoln since he was shot by Booth was to fall into the hands of Carl Sandburg.”

FRANK RICH BEGINS HIS most recent column (www.nytimes.com) with a literary allusion that’s very nearly a perfect fit. Mr. Rich compares George W. Bush to “the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan,” Daisy’s bad boy husband in The Great Gatsby. Tom and W. are both Yalies, true, and it’s also true that both are arrogant, narcissistic hypocrites, children of privilege and victims of arrested development with zero self-awareness and a supercilious manner. It might be a stretch to call Tom “the entitled scion of one of America’s aristocratic dynasties” (all we know about his pedigree is that his family were “enormously wealthy” Midwesterners), but we can surely agree that Tom and Mr. Bush share the carelessness that smashes up things and creatures and lets other people clean up the mess. Fitzgerald’s famous condemnation of the Buchanans must be the point of the comparison. So far, so good.

But here’s what Mr. Rich actually wrote: “He’s the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan, not Gatsby. He is smaller than life.” That last sentence spoils it. Tom may be stunted in a moral and intellectual sense (when Tom and Nick Carraway run into each other at the end of the novel, Nick feels as though he were “talking to a child”), but the image of Tom that sticks in every reader’s mind is of overpowering animal force. Fitzgerald insists on it from the first: “Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body—he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body.” Daisy complains that she has married “a brute of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen.” Tom protests that he hates “that word hulking,” but Daisy has nailed it. Physically, he’s larger than life, a hulk in every sense.

A QUICK GLANCE AT the contents page of Ali Smith’s disappointing new collection, The First Person (Pantheon, $23.95), is enough to confirm the suspicion aroused by the title that this is going to be a self-reflexive wallow. “True Short Story,” “The Third Person,” “The History of History,” The Second Person,” “Writ”—what are the chance of finding a good yarn in there? None.

Here’s proof, from the title story:

“You’re not the first person to spin me a yarn, I say.

“I’m pre-yarn, you say. I’m post-yarn. Yarn.

“You say the word yarn like you said the word yawn this morning. I try not to laugh.”

Yes—I think we can manage to repress our laughter.

A pity, because Ms. Smith truly is “a skilled, majestically confident writer”—that’s from a blurb on the back of The First Person attributed to The Observer. I confess that I wrote those words (about Ms. Smith’s prize-winning novel, The Accidental). Now that I’ve read her latest short stories, I’d like to amend my judgment: Ms. Smith is a skilled, majestically confident writer who must in the future work very hard to avoid solipsistic self-indulgence.

Are you ready for all Lincoln all the time? Do you worry that you’ll need some help in cutting through the bicentennial blather? If you’re looking for a quick refresher (as opposed, say, to the two-part, six volume mythologizing biography Carl Sandburg completed in 1939), try The Best American History Essays on Lincoln (Palgrave Macmillan, $16.95), a selection of 11 essays from the past 60 years edited by Sean Wilentz for the Organization of American Historians. All the essays (with the exception of a chapter from Edmund Wilson’s Patriotic Gore) are by eminent professors of history, among them Richard Hofstadter, David Herbert Donald, John Hope Franklin and James M. McPherson. In addition to the impeccable scholarship and deliberate judgment on display throughout, there’s the fun of watching the professionals diss the amateurs.

The action begins in Mr. Wilentz’s introduction, where he sneers at the “picturesque costume dramas that commonly appear under the heading of popular history and biography.” Perhaps the sharpest put-down comes from Edmund Wilson, who deplores the “romantic and sentimental rubbish” written about the Great Emancipator and wonders whether “the cruelest thing that has happened to Lincoln since he was shot by Booth was to fall into the hands of Carl Sandburg.”

FRANK RICH BEGINS HIS most recent column (www.nytimes.com) with a literary allusion that’s very nearly a perfect fit. Mr. Rich compares George W. Bush to “the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan,” Daisy’s bad boy husband in The Great Gatsby. Tom and W. are both Yalies, true, and it’s also true that both are arrogant, narcissistic hypocrites, children of privilege and victims of arrested development with zero self-awareness and a supercilious manner. It might be a stretch to call Tom “the entitled scion of one of America’s aristocratic dynasties” (all we know about his pedigree is that his family were “enormously wealthy” Midwesterners), but we can surely agree that Tom and Mr. Bush share the carelessness that smashes up things and creatures and lets other people clean up the mess. Fitzgerald’s famous condemnation of the Buchanans must be the point of the comparison. So far, so good.

But here’s what Mr. Rich actually wrote: “He’s the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan, not Gatsby. He is smaller than life.” That last sentence spoils it. Tom may be stunted in a moral and intellectual sense (when Tom and Nick Carraway run into each other at the end of the novel, Nick feels as though he were “talking to a child”), but the image of Tom that sticks in every reader’s mind is of overpowering animal force. Fitzgerald insists on it from the first: “Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body—he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body.” Daisy complains that she has married “a brute of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen.” Tom protests that he hates “that word hulking,” but Daisy has nailed it. Physically, he’s larger than life, a hulk in every sense.

A QUICK GLANCE AT the contents page of Ali Smith’s disappointing new collection, The First Person (Pantheon, $23.95), is enough to confirm the suspicion aroused by the title that this is going to be a self-reflexive wallow. “True Short Story,” “The Third Person,” “The History of History,” The Second Person,” “Writ”—what are the chance of finding a good yarn in there? None.

Here’s proof, from the title story:

“You’re not the first person to spin me a yarn, I say.

“I’m pre-yarn, you say. I’m post-yarn. Yarn.

“You say the word yarn like you said the word yawn this morning. I try not to laugh.”

Yes—I think we can manage to repress our laughter.

A pity, because Ms. Smith truly is “a skilled, majestically confident writer”—that’s from a blurb on the back of The First Person attributed to The Observer. I confess that I wrote those words (about Ms. Smith’s prize-winning novel, The Accidental). Now that I’ve read her latest short stories, I’d like to amend my judgment: Ms. Smith is a skilled, majestically confident writer who must in the future work very hard to avoid solipsistic self-indulgence.

ALBANY—A poll released today found that Caroline Kennedy's standing among New York voters has plummeted in relation to Andrew Cuomo's.

Public Policy Polling in North Carolina found that 54 percent of the 700 voters surveyed this weekend said they would prefer David Paterson appoint Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Twenty-seven percent would prefer Kennedy.

"When Caroline Kennedy was first mentioned as a possible Senate appointee there was a lot of enthusiasm among New York Democrats about her," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling in a press release. "Her reputation has taken a pretty clear hit over the last month, and if Governor Paterson does end up appointing her she's going to have some work to do to overcome this bad first impression she's made on New York voters."

An earlier poll by PPP found Kennedy a leading choice among Democrats surveyed, and a Quinnipiac poll late last year found she was the choice of 33 percent of voters, compared to 29 who opted for Cuomo.

The real question now is whether David Paterson cares what the polls say.

Author and social fixture Jay McInerney's new book, The Last Bachelor, is being released in the UK this month; it's a short-story collection about the morally complicated relationships of middle-class Manhattanites. In a piece in the Telegraph, Mr. McInerney comes off as certainly "the last" of something--perhaps the last author to establish a writing career based on the hedonistic lifestyles of New York yuppies--even though his new collection of stories takes a look at a decidedly more current, post-9/11 city.

Some of the article's highlights include Mr. McInerney on his first novel, which he still enjoys re-reading occasionally:

"I hadn't thought about it. I recently re-read it. It's sort of like reading a book by somebody else. I thought, 'Wow, that's pretty damn good. Where did I come up with that?'

"Sometimes it seems an albatross, because it remains not necessarily my best but definitely my most successful book. When I die the words Bright Lights, Big City will be in the headlines. Probably not The Good Life, probably not Brightness Falls, probably not Story of My Life."

The article's author on Mr. McInerney's faded looks (and talent):

I take the wood-lined lift up to McInerney's Greenwich Village penthouse. At 53, the trimly dressed, still boyish-looking, blue-eyed author nowadays packs around his midriff the evidence of all those midtown dinners, all those wines he has reviewed for House & Garden. 

Some say the work has also turned to fat. Several New Yorkers I have met thought McInerney was no longer a going concern in America, that his best books belonged to a sepia-tinted yesteryear when New York still exuded a brash, sickening confidence in itself. 

Mr. McInerney on his marriage to Anne Hearst: 

But these days the author is in "a very happy monogamous marriage". It's his fourth attempt at matrimonial bliss, "the same number of times as Hemingway and three less than Norman Mailer". 

And the contradictory relationship between his reputation as an author and his social status:

"There is certainly a critical consensus here that writers ought to be living in towers and wearing tweed jackets and certainly not getting their picture taken too much. And I thumbed my nose at all of that for a long time, deliberately so, and I took my lumps for it. I suppose I thought somebody ought to redress the balance." 

 Alas, no mention of his groundbreaking Gossip Girl appearances.

Author and social fixture Jay McInerney's new book, The Last Bachelor, is being released in the UK this month; it's a short-story collection about the morally complicated relationships of middle-class Manhattanites. In a piece in the Telegraph, Mr. McInerney comes off as certainly "the last" of something--perhaps the last author to establish a writing career based on the hedonistic lifestyles of New York yuppies--even though his new collection of stories takes a look at a decidedly more current, post-9/11 city.

Some of the article's highlights include Mr. McInerney on his first novel, which he still enjoys re-reading occasionally:

"I hadn't thought about it. I recently re-read it. It's sort of like reading a book by somebody else. I thought, 'Wow, that's pretty damn good. Where did I come up with that?'

"Sometimes it seems an albatross, because it remains not necessarily my best but definitely my most successful book. When I die the words Bright Lights, Big City will be in the headlines. Probably not The Good Life, probably not Brightness Falls, probably not Story of My Life."

The article's author on Mr. McInerney's faded looks (and talent):

I take the wood-lined lift up to McInerney's Greenwich Village penthouse. At 53, the trimly dressed, still boyish-looking, blue-eyed author nowadays packs around his midriff the evidence of all those midtown dinners, all those wines he has reviewed for House & Garden. 

Some say the work has also turned to fat. Several New Yorkers I have met thought McInerney was no longer a going concern in America, that his best books belonged to a sepia-tinted yesteryear when New York still exuded a brash, sickening confidence in itself. 

Mr. McInerney on his marriage to Anne Hearst: 

But these days the author is in "a very happy monogamous marriage". It's his fourth attempt at matrimonial bliss, "the same number of times as Hemingway and three less than Norman Mailer". 

And the contradictory relationship between his reputation as an author and his social status:

"There is certainly a critical consensus here that writers ought to be living in towers and wearing tweed jackets and certainly not getting their picture taken too much. And I thumbed my nose at all of that for a long time, deliberately so, and I took my lumps for it. I suppose I thought somebody ought to redress the balance." 

 Alas, no mention of his groundbreaking Gossip Girl appearances.

The late Araxia M. Buckhantz's two-bedroom sprawl at the massively proper 834 Fifth Avenue is the kind of perfect little chunk of New York real estate that can make a very important and normally staid uptown broker cackle with excitement. "I absolutely am wild about this apartment," one agent who auditioned for the listing told The Observer last month. “I’d do anything to handle it."

Back then, three sources had said the auditioned brokers included, "Brown Harris Stevens’ Ann Jeffery (once a Harper’s Bazaar editor); Corcoran’s Leighton Candler (who is listing the Brooke Astor duplex); Serena Boardman at Sotheby’s (listing Aby Rosen’s $75 million limestone mansion); Stribling’s bow-tied Kirk Henckels (listing a floor of the old Nelson Rockefeller triplex at 810 Fifth Avenue); and Caroline Guthrie (reported to be taking co-ownership of Edward Lee Cave’s boutique brokerage, where she’s president)."

Reached on the phone just now, Buckhantz's daughter told The Observer that the estate has found its broker: Ms. Jeffery. "I met with a lot of wonderful realtors. I don't want to comment negatively about anybody else," she said, when asked why she made the choice. "No, I don't want to get into this. I don't want to."

According to her Brown Harris Stevens profile, Ms. Jeffery lives on Park Avenue and has a house in Water Mill, and is "a member of the administrative board of the society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center," a member of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the Bathing Corporation of Southampton, and New York's Colony Club. In other words, she's proper enough to handle an apartment that until recently belonged to the 101-year-old Buckhantz, cousin to the monocled oil magnate Nubar Gulbenkian (pictured).

Buckhantz's daughter said a price, rumored to be around $30 million, has not yet been picked. Ms. Jeffery, who last year sold Patricia Kennedy Lawford's apartment at One Sutton Place South--which resulted in this writer receiving a mysterious letter--couldn't be reached for comment today.

The late Araxia M. Buckhantz's two-bedroom sprawl at the massively proper 834 Fifth Avenue is the kind of perfect little chunk of New York real estate that can make a very important and normally staid uptown broker cackle with excitement. "I absolutely am wild about this apartment," one agent who auditioned for the listing told The Observer last month. “I’d do anything to handle it."

Back then, three sources had said the auditioned brokers included, "Brown Harris Stevens’ Ann Jeffery (once a Harper’s Bazaar editor); Corcoran’s Leighton Candler (who is listing the Brooke Astor duplex); Serena Boardman at Sotheby’s (listing Aby Rosen’s $75 million limestone mansion); Stribling’s bow-tied Kirk Henckels (listing a floor of the old Nelson Rockefeller triplex at 810 Fifth Avenue); and Caroline Guthrie (reported to be taking co-ownership of Edward Lee Cave’s boutique brokerage, where she’s president)."

Reached on the phone just now, Buckhantz's daughter told The Observer that the estate has found its broker: Ms. Jeffery. "I met with a lot of wonderful realtors. I don't want to comment negatively about anybody else," she said, when asked why she made the choice. "No, I don't want to get into this. I don't want to."

According to her Brown Harris Stevens profile, Ms. Jeffery lives on Park Avenue and has a house in Water Mill, and is "a member of the administrative board of the society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center," a member of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the Bathing Corporation of Southampton, and New York's Colony Club. In other words, she's proper enough to handle an apartment that until recently belonged to the 101-year-old Buckhantz, cousin to the monocled oil magnate Nubar Gulbenkian (pictured).

Buckhantz's daughter said a price, rumored to be around $30 million, has not yet been picked. Ms. Jeffery, who last year sold Patricia Kennedy Lawford's apartment at One Sutton Place South--which resulted in this writer receiving a mysterious letter--couldn't be reached for comment today.

When Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on Jan. 20, all of this "change" we've been hearing so much about will be measurable by a number of factors: His race. His persona. His vast departure from the policies of George W. Bush and his superior ability to form a complete sentence. But perhaps more than anything, we'll be able to measure that change by the fact that seminal indie rockers Ted Leo and Tortoise (plus a handful of other performers who are not quite as hip) are headlining a big inauguration bash in Washington D.C. the prior evening, because let's face it—that SO would never have happened for the Bush Administration!

From Pitchfork: "Ted Leo and author and journalist Thomas Frank (The Baffler, What's the Matter With Kansas?) scribe [SIC] are the newest names added to the Big Shoulders Ball: Chicago Celebrates Change, which is brought to you by venerable Windy City venue the Hideout and arts-minded political activators Interchange. Frank will MC the event; Leo will presumably play rock music. Chi-town heroes Andrew Bird, Tortoise, and others will also celebrate at the January 19 gig at Washington, D.C.'s Black Cat, too." Of course this news comes as no surprise since all the cool kids, so to speak—ScarJo, The Decemberists, The Arcade Fire, Morrissey, The Boss, etc.—have been behind Mr. Obama for awhile now. But nonetheless, it does make us feel a little better about having lived through the past eight years! More info on The Black Cat's Web site. 

When Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on Jan. 20, all of this "change" we've been hearing so much about will be measurable by a number of factors: His race. His persona. His vast departure from the policies of George W. Bush and his superior ability to form a complete sentence. But perhaps more than anything, we'll be able to measure that change by the fact that seminal indie rockers Ted Leo and Tortoise (plus a handful of other performers who are not quite as hip) are headlining a big inauguration bash in Washington D.C. the prior evening, because let's face it—that SO would never have happened for the Bush Administration!

From Pitchfork: "Ted Leo and author and journalist Thomas Frank (The Baffler, What's the Matter With Kansas?) scribe [SIC] are the newest names added to the Big Shoulders Ball: Chicago Celebrates Change, which is brought to you by venerable Windy City venue the Hideout and arts-minded political activators Interchange. Frank will MC the event; Leo will presumably play rock music. Chi-town heroes Andrew Bird, Tortoise, and others will also celebrate at the January 19 gig at Washington, D.C.'s Black Cat, too." Of course this news comes as no surprise since all the cool kids, so to speak—ScarJo, The Decemberists, The Arcade Fire, Morrissey, The Boss, etc.—have been behind Mr. Obama for awhile now. But nonetheless, it does make us feel a little better about having lived through the past eight years! More info on The Black Cat's Web site. 

We have a well-documented love of Doctor Who here at the Observer, so we'd be remiss if we didn't comment on the announcement from this weekend that a replacement for beloved fop David Tennant, who will leave the show after filming a few specials this year, has finally been found. And the winner is.....26-year-old Matt Smith, a young man with a suitably angular face and slender frame to take over from Mr. Tennant (might he continue the pin-striped look?). No one seems to know too much about the guy—The Guardian reported on his slight on-screen history—though British folks seem to be up in arms anyway (apparently wishing that a woman or person of color were cast in the role). Anyway, we're not going to go after the guy because, who knows? Maybe he'll be swell. And you know, we aren't British. Though we worry that if Gina Bellman (she of Coupling and, currently, the TNT show Leverage) is cast as his companion, she'll be too much a cougar for our liking.

But let us take a moment to lament the fact that our third favorite BBC America regular (after Christopher Eccleston, who also played the Doctor, and Mr. Tennant) did not get the role. After his terrifying turn in the BBC miniseries Jekyll, James Nesbitt moved to first place in our hearts in the race for the next Doctor. (And yes, this despite the fact that, as a dear British friend told us, he's sort of a joke across the pond, doing commercials for telecom and bad sketch bits.) We don't care. Mr. Nesbitt, you were our pick. Perhaps when NBC does its inevitable rip off, you'll get the gig.

We have a well-documented love of Doctor Who here at the Observer, so we'd be remiss if we didn't comment on the announcement from this weekend that a replacement for beloved fop David Tennant, who will leave the show after filming a few specials this year, has finally been found. And the winner is.....26-year-old Matt Smith, a young man with a suitably angular face and slender frame to take over from Mr. Tennant (might he continue the pin-striped look?). No one seems to know too much about the guy—The Guardian reported on his slight on-screen history—though British folks seem to be up in arms anyway (apparently wishing that a woman or person of color were cast in the role). Anyway, we're not going to go after the guy because, who knows? Maybe he'll be swell. And you know, we aren't British. Though we worry that if Gina Bellman (she of Coupling and, currently, the TNT show Leverage) is cast as his companion, she'll be too much a cougar for our liking.

But let us take a moment to lament the fact that our third favorite BBC America regular (after Christopher Eccleston, who also played the Doctor, and Mr. Tennant) did not get the role. After his terrifying turn in the BBC miniseries Jekyll, James Nesbitt moved to first place in our hearts in the race for the next Doctor. (And yes, this despite the fact that, as a dear British friend told us, he's sort of a joke across the pond, doing commercials for telecom and bad sketch bits.) We don't care. Mr. Nesbitt, you were our pick. Perhaps when NBC does its inevitable rip off, you'll get the gig.

On Saturday, it was reported that the city granted Caroline Kennedy a waiver from disclosing her personal financial information during her two-year stint as the chief executive of the Office of Strategic Partnerships with the Department of Education.

Kennedy has declined to disclose any of that information unless she’s appointed to the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton.

Today, I asked Michael Bloomberg if he thought it would be helpful if Kennedy provided that information sooner.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to talk to Caroline Kennedy and David Paterson,” Bloomberg said.

Last week, Bloomberg was forceful in his defense of Kennedy after her “you know” interviews.

This morning, fans of The New-York Ghost, the weird and frequently wonderful little "Newsletter You Print Out at Work," were treated with a new issue, Vol. IV, No. 53.

But instead of calling itself a weekly, the digital-only paper of McSweeney's-like squibs, poetry, essays, and fiction (with occasional contributions from writers like The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones) is now calling itself "seasonal" due to its semi-erratic publishing schedule.

Started in 2006 by Believer co-editor and Personal Days author Ed Park, The New-York Ghost went from mini cult to the subject of a New York Times 'City' section profile by Sani Knafo in 2007, which dubbed Mr. Park The Wizard of Whimsy. (Disclosure: This writer worked with Mr. Park at another paper five years ago but has had no contact with him since.)

As a possible explanation for the newsletter's long absence (the last issue—topically re-dubbed The Wasilla Ghost—came out October 7, 2008 and consisted of a poem by Aimee Kelley that began, "Dick Cheney's home is only visible/in winter. Those months he sits/underground dreaming"), the new issue begins with a surprisingly confrontational imaginary dialogue with a reader:

So—

So...

What happened?

We got scared.

Why?

Too much attention.

PUBLICITY IS GOOD.

Yes but—

WHAT is your PROBLEM?

It's just that, well, let me begin by saying—

WE DON'T CARE... WE JUST WANT FRESH ISSUES OF THE GHOST DELIVERED TO OUR INBOXES ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

The thing is, I HAVE been putting together issues, I just, it's just, once I'm done I somehow don't have the heart to hit SEND, or more often I don't QUITE finish the issue and then it just taunts me in its unfinished state... It's torture, really...

HEAR THAT?

Um... what?

SHHH. THAT.

What?

IT'S THE SOUND OF ME CRYING OVER YOUR SITUATION.

Oh, I, I don't, I guess I don't hear anything and—

THAT'S BECAUSE I'M NOT REALLY CRYING.

This "prologue" is separated from the rest of the issue by a perforated line. Readers are advised to "Detach & Abandon" it.

Michael Bloomberg, fresh off his one-day trip to Israel, was in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn this morning filling in a pothole.

After one reporter at the event asked aloud if this meant the mayor's reelection campaign was officially underway, Bloomberg replied, sportingly, that the mayor’s job is “filling potholes and waving the flag.”

He said it’s “too early” for a mayoral campaign, but added, “I think it’s fair to say you know what we’ve been doing. You’ve had seven years to look and see whether or not we’ve been doing a good job and we’ll certainly have a campaign.”

Later, he was asked about the term-limits lawsuit – which will begin with opening arguments this afternoon – and whether he had any “second thoughts” or regrets about extending the term-limits law.

“I certainly haven’t thought about it and I have no regrets,” Bloomberg said. He went on to say he still thinks term limits serve a purpose, but that three terms are better than two “given just the realities of how long it takes to get certain things done.”

ALBANY—Will 2009 be the year of reform?

A coalition of good-government advocates are making the case for "yes," and today released an update to a 2004 report by N.Y.U.'s Brennan Center which details New York's legislative dysfunction. The new report lists concrete recommendations like evening out funding given to legislators--regardless of party--and empowering the chairs of legislative committees to hire their own staff and move bills to the floor. There is also a new recommendation for more substantive notes on the fiscal impacts of bills.

"While there isn't much to cheer about looking back in either chamber, there is the promise of substantial reform from the likely new incoming Senate majority," said Andrew Stengel, the director of national election advocacy at the Brennan Center. "We hope at least one chamber will reform the rules needed to remake the legislature."

State Senator Malcolm Smith, who currently leads the Democratic conference and is working to become the chamber's majority leader, has spoken of the need to reform the Senate rules, and cited differing visions of reform (after the fact) as the reason a previous leadership deal fell apart.

"Do I like that it's a political pawn? No. But it behooves everybody to have reform," Stengel said.

Against all odds, the first book out of the gate on the 2008 election comes not from The Washington Post’s Daniel Balz, Time’s Mark Halperin, or Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, but Niall Stanage of Ireland’s Sunday Business Post, whose account of Barack Obama’s fight for the nomination and his victory in the general election has been available in bookstores on the other side of the ocean since early December.

Mr. Stanage, who regularly filed pieces from the campaign trail for this paper in addition to the reporting he did for the Sunday Business Post, said his book—entitled Redemption Song: An Irish Reporter Inside the Obama Campaign—is being officially released in the United States today.

How did Mr. Stanage get it done so fast?

"Around February, I realized that there was something fairly special going on with Obama," he said, "but I knew that no publisher would take it on until he was the nominee, or at least the overwhelming favorite to be the nominee."

In May, he secured an agent, and flew to Ireland to meet with publishers the following month after the primaries ended. A few were interested, according to Mr. Stanage, but in the end a decision was made to go with a relatively young but well-established independent house called Liberties Press.

"I started actually writing the book on the weekend of July the 4th, and by election day I had everything but the final chapter and the preface written," Mr. Stanage said. "Those were submitted exactly a week after election day."

The bulk of the editing was already done at that point, so Liberties was able to send the finished book to the printer around November 18th and have it in stores less than two weeks later.

Finding an American publisher who could move as quickly proved difficult, Mr. Stanage said, so Liberties linked up with the distributor Dufour Editions and just shipped the Irish edition here instead. This explains the subtitle—"An Irish Reporter Inside the Obama Campaign"—which Mr. Stanage, who has been living in New York for five years, said he would have preferred to scrub from the American edition because it makes the book sound like more of a niche product than it is.

"The 'Irish' thing is slightly odd," he said. "There's only one chapter in the book that deals with Irish-related issues, and other than that it's a pretty straight account from the 2004 speech to the night he was elected president. The Irish thing is quite a small component."

The alternative, Mr. Stanage said, was to wait until April or May, which would mean giving up a big chunk of his advantage over competing projects from Newsweek's Evan Thomas (which according to Amazon.com is out this week from PublicAffairs), Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson (whom Viking has scheduled for the second half of 2009) and Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (whose account of the election is coming from HarperCollins in the fall).

"It's difficult for a book that is identified as being from an Irish writer from an independent publisher rather than one of the big corporations to make a big dent in terms of bestseller status," Mr. Stanage said, in response to a question about his expectations for the book. "That said, I don't think it's out of the question that it'll do reasonably well. It's a substantial enough book that’s out there early enough to do something."

Against all odds, the first book out of the gate on the 2008 election comes not from The Washington Post’s Daniel Balz, Time’s Mark Halperin, or Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, but Niall Stanage of Ireland’s Sunday Business Post, whose account of Barack Obama’s fight for the nomination and his victory in the general election has been available in bookstores on the other side of the ocean since early December.

Mr. Stanage, who regularly filed pieces from the campaign trail for this paper in addition to the reporting he did for the Sunday Business Post, said his book—entitled Redemption Song: An Irish Reporter Inside the Obama Campaign—is being officially released in the United States today.

How did Mr. Stanage get it done so fast?

"Around February, I realized that there was something fairly special going on with Obama," he said, "but I knew that no publisher would take it on until he was the nominee, or at least the overwhelming favorite to be the nominee."

In May, he secured an agent, and flew to Ireland to meet with publishers the following month after the primaries ended. A few were interested, according to Mr. Stanage, but in the end a decision was made to go with a relatively young but well-established independent house called Liberties Press.

"I started actually writing the book on the weekend of July the 4th, and by election day I had everything but the final chapter and the preface written," Mr. Stanage said. "Those were submitted exactly a week after election day."

The bulk of the editing was already done at that point, so Liberties was able to send the finished book to the printer around November 18th and have it in stores less than two weeks later.

Finding an American publisher who could move as quickly proved difficult, Mr. Stanage said, so Liberties linked up with the distributor Dufour Editions and just shipped the Irish edition here instead. This explains the subtitle—"An Irish Reporter Inside the Obama Campaign"—which Mr. Stanage, who has been living in New York for five years, said he would have preferred to scrub from the American edition because it makes the book sound like more of a niche product than it is.

"The 'Irish' thing is slightly odd," he said. "There's only one chapter in the book that deals with Irish-related issues, and other than that it's a pretty straight account from the 2004 speech to the night he was elected president. The Irish thing is quite a small component."

The alternative, Mr. Stanage said, was to wait until April or May, which would mean giving up a big chunk of his advantage over competing projects from Newsweek's Evan Thomas (which according to Amazon.com is out this week from PublicAffairs), Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson (whom Viking has scheduled for the second half of 2009) and Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (whose account of the election is coming from HarperCollins in the fall).

"It's difficult for a book that is identified as being from an Irish writer from an independent publisher rather than one of the big corporations to make a big dent in terms of bestseller status," Mr. Stanage said, in response to a question about his expectations for the book. "That said, I don't think it's out of the question that it'll do reasonably well. It's a substantial enough book that’s out there early enough to do something."

Against all odds, the first book out of the gate on the 2008 election comes not from The Washington Post’s Daniel Balz, Time’s Mark Halperin, or Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, but Niall Stanage of Ireland’s Sunday Business Post, whose account of Barack Obama’s fight for the nomination and his victory in the general election has been available in bookstores on the other side of the ocean since early December.

Mr. Stanage, who regularly filed pieces from the campaign trail for this paper in addition to the reporting he did for the Sunday Business Post, said his book—entitled Redemption Song: An Irish Reporter Inside the Obama Campaign—is being officially released in the United States today.

How did Mr. Stanage get it done so fast?

"Around February, I realized that there was something fairly special going on with Obama," he said, "but I knew that no publisher would take it on until he was the nominee, or at least the overwhelming favorite to be the nominee."

In May, he secured an agent, and flew to Ireland to meet with publishers the following month after the primaries ended. A few were interested, according to Mr. Stanage, but in the end a decision was made to go with a relatively young but well-established independent house called Liberties Press.

"I started actually writing the book on the weekend of July the 4th, and by election day I had everything but the final chapter and the preface written," Mr. Stanage said. "Those were submitted exactly a week after election day."

The bulk of the editing was already done at that point, so Liberties was able to send the finished book to the printer around November 18th and have it in stores less than two weeks later.

Finding an American publisher who could move as quickly proved difficult, Mr. Stanage said, so Liberties linked up with the distributor Dufour Editions and just shipped the Irish edition here instead. This explains the subtitle—"An Irish Reporter Inside the Obama Campaign"—which Mr. Stanage, who has been living in New York for five years, said he would have preferred to scrub from the American edition because it makes the book sound like more of a niche product than it is.

"The 'Irish' thing is slightly odd," he said. "There's only one chapter in the book that deals with Irish-related issues, and other than that it's a pretty straight account from the 2004 speech to the night he was elected president. The Irish thing is quite a small component."

The alternative, Mr. Stanage said, was to wait until April or May, which would mean giving up a big chunk of his advantage over competing projects from Newsweek's Evan Thomas (which according to Amazon.com is out this week from PublicAffairs), Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson (whom Viking has scheduled for the second half of 2009) and Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (whose account of the election is coming from HarperCollins in the fall).

"It's difficult for a book that is identified as being from an Irish writer from an independent publisher rather than one of the big corporations to make a big dent in terms of bestseller status," Mr. Stanage said, in response to a question about his expectations for the book. "That said, I don't think it's out of the question that it'll do reasonably well. It's a substantial enough book that’s out there early enough to do something."

Gramercy Park's only rental building to go condo. [TRD]

Contractor involved in last March's fatal East 51st Street crane collapse indicted on homicide charges. [CityRoom]

Brownsville New York's most murderous neighborhood. [Daily News]

Contractor charged with manslaughter in August 2007 Deutsche Bank fire continues to get public dollars through affiliates and consultant work. [Daily News]

Today, The Huffington Post's Media Vertical has a huge, attention-grabbing above-the-scroll headline about The New York Times' announcement that the paper is now selling ads on A1, which reads, FRONT PAGE FOR SALE.

It should be noted that the Huffington Post, which was the subject of Simon Dumenco's Ad Age column today in which he estimated the aggregator and blog network's true value is considerably less than the $200 million figure bandied about last year, featured ads for the Blackberry Bold ("The fastest device on the 3G network," apparently), Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, an appearance by Arianna Huffington "And Huffpost bloggers" at the 92nd Street Y, and a rotating placement that has featured Classmates.com, Encore Wynn Las Vegas, Nike, and others.

Well, Ms. Huffington did tell The Times' Brien Stelter in March 2008 that her site aimed to be an "Internet newspaper."

Here's The Times' Richard Pérez-Peña's more nuanced take on his paper's new ad placement:

In its latest concession to the worst revenue slide since the Depression, The New York Times has begun selling display advertising on its front page, a step that has become increasingly common across the newspaper industry.

The first such ad, appearing Monday in color, was bought by CBS. The ad, two-and-a-half inches high, lies horizontally across the bottom of the front page, below the news articles and a brief summary of some articles in the paper. In a statement, the paper said such ads would be placed 'below the fold' — that is, on the lower half of the page.

Everyone's favorite Upper East Side teenagers return from their holiday break tonight, as Gossip Girl gears up for the second half of its sophomore season. For those keeping score at home, our cable guide says the episode is titled "In the Realm of the Basses", a probable play on the controversial 1976 Franco-Japanese film In the Realm of the Senses that deals with death by erotic asphyxiation and castration. Yikes! We doubt any such shenanigans will take place at Constance Billard, but fans can expect to see Chuck's Uncle Jack show up to help the younger Bass in the wake of his father's death. (Here's guessing he's just as nefarious as every other Bass man that we've encountered thus far.) Meanwhile, Uncle Jack won't be the only person visiting the friendly confines of Manhattan in the upcoming months. Michael Ausiello over at Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Michelle Trachtenberg has signed on to return for multiple episodes as the duplicitous cokehead Georgina Sparks.

When we last saw Georgina she was headed off to reform school, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she'd be back again at some point to wreak havoc. We couldn't be more thrilled! The momentum that Ms. Trachtenberg's guest staring role helped generate last year sprung Gossip Girl into its breakneck second season. If ever there was an actress born to be a regular cast member on this teen soap, the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star is the one. The real joy will be in seeing how the writers tackle the Georgina/Serena battle royale this time around. Last season, Georgina kept trying to drag the newly reformed Serena back down to her level; this year, while Serena is far from the party girl of her "youth", she has slowly regained her status as Queen Bitch, meaning the current scenario is ripe for conflict.

In other Gossip Girl reportage, Mr. Ausiello also tells us that the crazy rumor about Georgina being the missing love child of Rufus and Lily is mostly bunk--no doubt good news for Dan, since he hooked up with her. In fact, if you believe the commenters who feel they've cracked Mr. Ausiello's military-ready code, the love child is actually going to be male. If we know Josh Schwartz, he'll have the guy come back into town and fall in love with Blair, just to give Chuck another reason to hate the Humphrey men. Hmmm. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? If Mr. Schwartz ever needs a backup writer, he is more than welcome to give us a call.

Everyone's favorite Upper East Side teenagers return from their holiday break tonight, as Gossip Girl gears up for the second half of its sophomore season. For those keeping score at home, our cable guide says the episode is titled "In the Realm of the Basses", a probable play on the controversial 1976 Franco-Japanese film In the Realm of the Senses that deals with death by erotic asphyxiation and castration. Yikes! We doubt any such shenanigans will take place at Constance Billard, but fans can expect to see Chuck's Uncle Jack show up to help the younger Bass in the wake of his father's death. (Here's guessing he's just as nefarious as every other Bass man that we've encountered thus far.) Meanwhile, Uncle Jack won't be the only person visiting the friendly confines of Manhattan in the upcoming months. Michael Ausiello over at Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Michelle Trachtenberg has signed on to return for multiple episodes as the duplicitous cokehead Georgina Sparks.

When we last saw Georgina she was headed off to reform school, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she'd be back again at some point to wreak havoc. We couldn't be more thrilled! The momentum that Ms. Trachtenberg's guest staring role helped generate last year sprung Gossip Girl into its breakneck second season. If ever there was an actress born to be a regular cast member on this teen soap, the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star is the one. The real joy will be in seeing how the writers tackle the Georgina/Serena battle royale this time around. Last season, Georgina kept trying to drag the newly reformed Serena back down to her level; this year, while Serena is far from the party girl of her "youth", she has slowly regained her status as Queen Bitch, meaning the current scenario is ripe for conflict.

In other Gossip Girl reportage, Mr. Ausiello also tells us that the crazy rumor about Georgina being the missing love child of Rufus and Lily is mostly bunk--no doubt good news for Dan, since he hooked up with her. In fact, if you believe the commenters who feel they've cracked Mr. Ausiello's military-ready code, the love child is actually going to be male. If we know Josh Schwartz, he'll have the guy come back into town and fall in love with Blair, just to give Chuck another reason to hate the Humphrey men. Hmmm. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? If Mr. Schwartz ever needs a backup writer, he is more than welcome to give us a call.

Ambitious twenty- and thirty-somethings in New York working in creative fields are living with their parents instead of getting a place of their own, reports Page Six Magazine. The magazine cites the celebrity examples of socialites Fabiola Beracasa, 32, and Charlotte Ronson, 31, who just this year left their respective parents' lush residences--socialite Veronica Hearst's on the Upper East Side and Ann Dexter-Jones's duplex in the West Village.

But since Ms. Ronson, a successful designer, and Ms. Beracasa, creative director of the jewelry company Circa, have in fact taken steps to establish their domestic independence, they seem to contradict the magazine's argument that this sort of thing is on the rise. Instead the two ladies may be examples of trends more having to do with who they are--nouveau socialites--than their age group. 

Old money families in New York tend to follow the Old World order of things--prestigious schooling, followed by coming out balls, followed by dedicated charity work, followed by marriage to a hedge fund manager or an investment banker. The first residence for which a real twentysomething socialite will likely leave her parents' home may very well be her (first) husband's, typically a few Upper East Side blocks away.

After all, if they did choose to move out in their early twenties, their parents would likely be paying the rent anyway, since these young women used to not have careers or incomes of their own. But today, young society women like Ms. Beracasa and Ms. Ronson pursue hobby-like careers (and incomes)--Lydia Hearst models, Zani Gugelmann makes jewelry, Dylan Lauren does candy, Arden Wohl is a filmmaker, and list goes on. And then there's Olivia Palermo, who as a (rejected) newcomer on the high society scene seemed to understand all of this better than anyone.

A few months ago, Ms. Palermo moved out of her parents' home into a Tribeca apartment, gave a tour of the place to Page Six Magazine, hired PR representation, announced she'd like to be an actress, and landed a role (playing herself) on The City. 

“I don’t have to work—my parents have always supported me in everything I’ve wanted to do—but I want to," she said. "I want to be an actress and a brand, and then I want to do some producing.”

Among young socialites, Ms. Palermo's route is becoming an all the more common one. And Ms. Ronson's or Ms. Beracasa's leaving the comfort of their family's homes is simply a nod to their income-producing careers. 

Ambitious twenty- and thirty-somethings in New York working in creative fields are living with their parents instead of getting a place of their own, reports Page Six Magazine. The magazine cites the celebrity examples of socialites Fabiola Beracasa, 32, and Charlotte Ronson, 31, who just this year left their respective parents' lush residences--socialite Veronica Hearst's on the Upper East Side and Ann Dexter-Jones's duplex in the West Village.

But since Ms. Ronson, a successful designer, and Ms. Beracasa, creative director of the jewelry company Circa, have in fact taken steps to establish their domestic independence, they seem to contradict the magazine's argument that this sort of thing is on the rise. Instead the two ladies may be examples of trends more having to do with who they are--nouveau socialites--than their age group. 

Old money families in New York tend to follow the Old World order of things--prestigious schooling, followed by coming out balls, followed by dedicated charity work, followed by marriage to a hedge fund manager or an investment banker. The first residence for which a real twentysomething socialite will likely leave her parents' home may very well be her (first) husband's, typically a few Upper East Side blocks away.

After all, if they did choose to move out in their early twenties, their parents would likely be paying the rent anyway, since these young women used to not have careers or incomes of their own. But today, young society women like Ms. Beracasa and Ms. Ronson pursue hobby-like careers (and incomes)--Lydia Hearst models, Zani Gugelmann makes jewelry, Dylan Lauren does candy, Arden Wohl is a filmmaker, and list goes on. And then there's Olivia Palermo, who as a (rejected) newcomer on the high society scene seemed to understand all of this better than anyone.

A few months ago, Ms. Palermo moved out of her parents' home into a Tribeca apartment, gave a tour of the place to Page Six Magazine, hired PR representation, announced she'd like to be an actress, and landed a role (playing herself) on The City. 

“I don’t have to work—my parents have always supported me in everything I’ve wanted to do—but I want to," she said. "I want to be an actress and a brand, and then I want to do some producing.”

Among young socialites, Ms. Palermo's route is becoming an all the more common one. And Ms. Ronson's or Ms. Beracasa's leaving the comfort of their family's homes is simply a nod to their income-producing careers. 

Zar Property has snapped up another diminutive and lovely Soho building, this one an eight-story commercial edifice at 64 Wooster Street for $12.65 million.

Zar acquired the deed from former landlord William Hahn on Dec. 11, according to recently available city records.

Zar Property’s Dario and David Zar are apparently among those who think the downmarket is the time to buy, and who have the means to do so.

According to their Web site:

Zar Property NY has not let the fears of a commercial meltdown or "credit crunch" slow them down. They began 2008 with securing the rights to purchase a 12,000sf retail condo in the heart of Tribeca, leased by one of Manhattans most well known restaurant tenants. "Megu", the trendy Japanese restaurant led by Koji Imai opened his flagship restaurant in Tribeca and has since become a well known destination for celebrities & Manhattan socialites. The space underwent a 6 million dollar renovation prior to its grand opening in 2004 and is distinctively known for its centerpiece, the ice Buddha. Zagat's recently published 2008 edition highly rated Megu Tribeca with "top decor" in New York City. "Megu is extremely well known and benefits from sales that are escalating annually. This was an excellent opportunity to acquire a prime asset with a tenant recognized for its spectacular food and attentive service, " noted Dario Zar.

Dario Zar could not be reached for immediate comment. But the building houses the Ohio Theater, which will soon show Target Margin's 10 Blocks on the Camino Real. Its artistic director, Robert Lyons, recently published a letter on its Web site in which he says that Zar Property is forcing the institution out:

Dear Ohio Theatre lovers,

The horrible rumors you've heard are true. The building has been sold. The future of our beloved Ohio Theatre is in jeopardy. I've been waiting for the sale to close before sending out information. The sale has now closed.

Read the entire letter here.

Zar Property has snapped up another diminutive and lovely Soho building, this one an eight-story commercial edifice at 64 Wooster Street for $12.65 million.

Zar acquired the deed from former landlord William Hahn on Dec. 11, according to recently available city records.

Zar Property’s Dario and David Zar are apparently among those who think the downmarket is the time to buy, and who have the means to do so.

According to their Web site:

Zar Property NY has not let the fears of a commercial meltdown or "credit crunch" slow them down. They began 2008 with securing the rights to purchase a 12,000sf retail condo in the heart of Tribeca, leased by one of Manhattans most well known restaurant tenants. "Megu", the trendy Japanese restaurant led by Koji Imai opened his flagship restaurant in Tribeca and has since become a well known destination for celebrities & Manhattan socialites. The space underwent a 6 million dollar renovation prior to its grand opening in 2004 and is distinctively known for its centerpiece, the ice Buddha. Zagat's recently published 2008 edition highly rated Megu Tribeca with "top decor" in New York City. "Megu is extremely well known and benefits from sales that are escalating annually. This was an excellent opportunity to acquire a prime asset with a tenant recognized for its spectacular food and attentive service, " noted Dario Zar.

Dario Zar could not be reached for immediate comment. But the building houses the Ohio Theater, which will soon show Target Margin's 10 Blocks on the Camino Real. Its artistic director, Robert Lyons, recently published a letter on its Web site in which he says that Zar Property is forcing the institution out:

Dear Ohio Theatre lovers,

The horrible rumors you've heard are true. The building has been sold. The future of our beloved Ohio Theatre is in jeopardy. I've been waiting for the sale to close before sending out information. The sale has now closed.

Read the entire letter here.

Republican Bruce Blakeman has announced that he is not running for mayor and is backing Michael Bloomberg. [Liz]

Eric Massa says he's been wearing an F.D.R. button for three years. [Corning Leader via Rochester Turning]

The contractor supervising the crane that collapsed last summer has been indicted on manslaughter charges. [DN]

Here's what Rudy Giuliani thinks New York needs in a senator. (Via Liz, who writes, "it kind of sounds like he's floating himself for the job.") [CNN]

Queens Crap says the mayor is trying to pull a "BIG fast one" by trying to shorten the ULURP process. [Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens Courier]

A Lost City blogger does not think less oversight of development is the right thing right now. [LCNY]