John S.W. MacDonald

Just a day after “Viva La Vida” scored Coldplay three Grammy nods, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani filed a plagiarism suit against the band, claiming the tune borrowed “substantial original portions” of his own “If I Could Fly.” Rollingstone.com reports that The Satch is seeking a jury trail and all profits stemming from Coldplay’s song. Given “Viva La Vida” landed on an iTunes commercial, not to mention millions of iPods across the world, that’s a lot of cash. Give a listen to the lead guitar riff beginning at the 50-second mark of Satriani’s tune, and it’s clear the guy knows what he’s talking about.  read more »

Area legislators’ response to Ravitch’s M.T.A. rescue plan reveals support for payroll taxes and staunch opposition to bridge tolls. [NY Times]

Bush moving ahead with plan to auction off landing slots at area airports despite the strenuous objections of airlines. [NY Times]

Three NYC schools who received D’s and F’s on their report card to be shuttered. [NY Times]

As a second-home destination, Salida offers all the sporting opportunities—skiing, fishing, boating—of other Colorado towns like Aspen or Telluride, without all the crowds. [NY Times]

When (and when not) to sell and buy a second home. [NY Times]

Floyd Norris on the "fascinating lawsuit" filed by Donald Trump over loan repayments for his Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. [NY Times]

Work at Atlantic Yards comes to a screeching halt as Ratner deals with a barrage of lawsuits. [NYDN]

Residents of Williamsburg’s Broadway Triangle call for more low-income housing—in towers, if necessary—as part of the city’s redevelopment of the area. [NYDN]

Hundreds of raucous seniors protest Bloomberg’s plan to modernize the city’s senior centers, which would force many to close. [NYDN]

FDNY cuts nighttime staff at a number of firehouses in order to save $9 million. [NY Post]

U.S. companies shed 533,000 jobs in November, pushing the nation’s unemployment rate to 6.7 percent—the highest in 15 years. [WSJ]

Even the Treasury’s plan to push mortgage rates to 4.5 percent, may not be enough to address the core issue affecting the housing market: consumer confidence. [WSJ]

Communities around the country struggling with foreclosures are frustrated with the measly sums they’ve received from the federal government to combat the problem. [WSJ]

DOB lifts a stop work order and the Hotel Chelsea gets to work renovating (i.e. demolishing) Bob Dylan’s former apartment. [Curbed]

A primo Park Slope brownstone goes condo. [Brownstoner via Curbed]

Since they work on commission, brokers often stand to lose the most cash when real estate deals for pricey properties fall through at the last moment. Just ask a broker who sold a condo at The Jasper—now slated to become a hotel. [TRD]

More on the work stoppage at Atlantic Yards. [Curbed]

On average, 769 mechanic’s liens have been filed over each of the last three months—that’s nearly double the monthly average two years ago. [TRD]

Reactions to Ravitch’s M.T.A. rescue plan roll in, and most are guardedly positive. [City Room]

How Helvetica became the standard typeface for NYC’s subway system. [City Room]

Seventeen East Village buildings bought by Westbrook last year for $97.5 million return to the market for $111 million. [BBB via BoweryBoogie]

Brooklyn party/performance venue House of Yes reopens at a new location in Bushwick after a fire closed its former home on Troutman Street last April. [BushwickBK via Free Williamsburg]

Sheepshead Bay might get a Starbucks. [Brownstoner]

4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Princeton University’s Integrated Design for Sustainable Structures program gathers together architects, engineers, and policy makers to forge a path toward sustainable development. This week’s seminar is entitled “Sustainable Design: Lessons from History” and is hosted by John Oschsendorf, assistant professor of building technology at MIT. Princeton University School of Architecture, Betts Auditorium, Princeton, N.J. Free.

7 p.m. to 12 a.m. Professional Women in Construction hosts its annual holiday dinner dance. The Yale Club Ballroom, 50 Vanderbilt Avenue. $375. Register online.

9:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. New York Real Estate Institute hosts an approved 7.5-hour continuing education course on Foreclosures and Investments. 139 West 35th Street, 2nd floor. To register or to find out more info, call 212-967-7508 or click on www.nyrei.com.

As this blog encompasses culture, I suppose we’re contractually obligated to mention this year’s Grammy nominations. So here goes… The lucky nominees were announced last night at LA's Nokia Theatre during a live televised event that CBS humbly called “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown to Music's Biggest Night.” (Guess they needed to remind folks how big the night actually is considering only 17.2 million tuned in last year, making it one of the least-watched Grammys of all time.) Taylor Swift and LL Cool J hosted, the Foo Fighters performed “You’re So Vain” (done the Faster Pussycat way), B.B. King and John Mayer traded solos on “Let the Good Times Roll,” Celine Dion sang Janis Joplin. They were good times all round. (See Idolator’s live-blog coverage for more details.)

And in between all the madness, CBS managed to announce a few top nominees for the February 8th awards show. Not surprisingly, Lil Wayne scores the most nods with eight (including Album of the Year for Tha Carter III), while Coldplay scored seven, including nods for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. Radiohead’s nomination for Album of the Year with In Rainbows was certainly warranted, but “House of Cards” as Best Rock Song? Really? What about “Reckoner” or “Nude.” Anyway… Without further ado, here’s the list of full list of last night’s nominees (courtesy of Idolator):  read more »

Lots of great bands give birth to the odd side project or two. And yet rarely are these ventures of much consequence. Of course, if the great band happens to be Grizzly Bear, and the side project, Department of Eagles, all bets are off. See, the Eagles aren’t technically a side project at all. The duo—composed of Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen—released their debut way back in 2003 after years of playing together as NYU roommates. Rossen didn’t team up with Ed Droste to release Grizzly Bear’s debut, Horn of Plenty—a record that’s largely considered a Droste solo effort, anyway—until the following year.  read more »

Man who attempted to parachute from the top of the Empire State Building in 2006 is charged with reckless endangerment. [NY Times]

Among those at last night’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center were Hurricane Katrina victims whose new homes were built with the wood from last year’s Christmas tree. [NY Times]

As the Treasury drives down mortgage rates, refinancing activity surges. [NY Times]

Lehman Brothers’ Neuberger Berman team wins bids for the former investment bank’s money management business at an auction held yesterday. [NY Times]

For the first time, Paterson voices support for a M.T.A. rescue plan that would include charging tolls over the East and Harlem River bridges and a tax on company payrolls. [NY Times]

Angry commuters respond to the M.T.A. rescue plan. [NYDN]

The Bronx’s Morrisania Library—one of the 39 city branches funded by Andrew Carnegie—celebrates its 100th anniversary. [NYDN]

Editorial: The new Yankee Stadium is far from the “home run” for Bronx residents that Seth Pinsky says it is. [NYDN]

As boom times end and industry projections get worse and worse, NYC real estate settles in for a long, cold winter. [NY Post]

Gimme Shelter: Natalie Portman ditches her parents’ place for a one-bedroom apartment at Philippe Starck’s Downtown; Matt Damon browsing UWS digs for $20 million and above; Josh Groban considering a two-bedroom Perry Street duplex; Edgar Bronfman’s son, Adam, snags a $7 million four-bedroom condo along East End Avenue. [NY Post]

JP Morgan Chase grabs millions in collateral from Guggenheim Partners’ commercial-property debt fund. [WSJ]

Though unemployment claims nationwide fell last week, the number of claims lasting more than a week rose to their highest levels in 26 years. [WSJ]

It’s official (sorta): New York is in a recession. [City Room]

More developments at Atlantic Yards: Subcontractors stop work on the Vanderbilt Railyard; Nets president Brett Yormark tells WFAN he’s convinced the team will “bounce a basketball” in Brooklyn by the 2011-12 season. [Curbed]

Park Slope’s J.J. Byrne Park is officially renamed after George Washington. But who was this mysterious J.J. Byrne character, anyway? [City Room]

At 16 million square feet, the amount of office space available in Manhattan has doubled from a year go, according to Colliers ABR. [NY Times via Curbed]

Now that the Internet has completely transformed the real estate industry, how will the relationship between the two change in the coming years? [TRD]

With the economy in turmoil, Helmut Jahn’s $600 million hotel/condo at 50 West Street may be delayed until 2012. [TRD]

Arker Cos. secures $24.4 million in financing to construct a 73,000-square-foot affordable housing development in the Longwood section of the Bronx. [GlobeSt. via BoogieDowner]

Bed-Stuy can rest easy. The Sumner Avenue Armory men’s shelter may not be getting hundreds of “dangerous felons” bussed over from Bellevue after all. [Brownstoner]

Brooklyn’s infamous IDT Energy scammers invade Queens. [Queens Crapper]

Isaac Yomtovian plans to donate his beloved Kreischer Mansion in Staten Island to a charitable organization instead of turning the 19th-century building into an active-adult community. [The Prodigal Borough]

8 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Networking breakfast hosted by the New York State Association for Affordable Housing. Guest speakers include the Honorable Deborah VanAmerongen, Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing & Community Renewal. The Yale Club, 50 Vanderbilt Avenue, 20th floor. $65 for NYSFAH members; $65 for government or non-profit employees; $165 for non-members. Register online.

9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Two hundred Manhattan real estate professionals come together to discuss the industry’s challenges as the economy heads into a long-term recession. Hosted by Eric Barron Live. Gotham Comedy Club, 208 West 23rd Street. Free. RSVP required. Email dec4@ericbarronlive.com.

6 p.m. Come out for the National Realty Club Holiday Party. Williams Club, 24 East 39th Street. $90 for members; $125 for non-members; $150 for non-members at the door. Members should register by calling 212-551-1013. Non-members can go to paypal.com to make payments to nationalrealtyclub@gmail.com.

8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The Association of Real Estate Women hosts a breakfast seminar entitled "Outwit the Competition, Outlast a Shrinking Market," presented by best-selling author Andrea Nierenberg, president of the Nierenberg Group, at the offices of Greenburg Traurig, 200 Park Avenue. Cost for AREW members $15, for non-members $20. Reservations at www.arew.org.

Advertising Age (via Idolator) is reporting that Pitchfork and local music-mag, Fader, have joined forces to create what it describes as a “new strategic content and ad sales partnership.” What the hell is that, you ask. Well, it’s not totally clear. “Fader and Pitchfork will be friends, maybe friends with benefits,” the article says enigmatically. “But definitely not together.”

From what we can gather, Pitchfork and Fader plan on sharing editorial and advertising content across a range of platforms—including print, online, and festivals—while keeping their ad and editorial teams fully intact at each publication. "The goal for us is to figure out the crossover where it makes perfect sense from a partnership standpoint,” says Pitchfork publisher Chris Kaskie.  read more »

Feud between the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Office of Management and Budget has delayed hundreds of housing developments for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. [NY Times]

City bus drivers speak of a long history dealing with violent fare-dodgers on their routes. [NY Times]

Twenty-year-old Crown Heights man charged with the stabbing of a M.T.A. bus driver. [NY Times]

Against the wishes of the DOB, a judge rules that an UES church can continue to lease part of its property to a catering company in order to raise money. [NY Times]

What $600,000 gets you. [NY Times]

The Daily News “steals” the Empire State Building, exposing a loophole in the city register’s office. [NYDN]

A tour through Citi Field. [NDYN]

Brooklyn has the lowest gas prices in the city. [NYDN]

Con Edison backs off a plan to sell 21 acres of Astoria waterfront to a developer who wants to build a Fed Ex distribution center. [NYDN]

Tenants of a historic Queens apartment building blame their landlord for electrical problems that forced them out of their homes this summer. [NYDN]

City shuts down treasured Bronx marina over safety concerns. [NYDN]

Councilman Vacca introduces bill that would consolidate property information maintained by multiple city agencies into a single online database. [NYDN]

Between the Bricks: There’s a new buzzword in town these days—“rescue equity”; Dubai slammed by worldwide recession as the royal family's development firm lays off 500 people. [NY Post]

Bloomberg to send out long-delayed property-tax rebates before Christmas. [NY Post]

Citi Field to remain Citi Field despite the bank’s massive problems. [NY Post]

Faced with a glut of foreclosed homes, banks are considering selling them in bulk to investors, rather than just one at a time. [WSJ]

General Motors pleads for $18 billion, saying it may crumble in weeks if federal assistance isn’t provided. [NY Times]

Whatever excitement originally greeted El-Ad’s plan to turn the Plaza into the most sought-after condo in the city has been drowned out in a sea of lawsuits and tenant complaints. [Vanity Fair]

Madonna and A-Rod looking “discreetly” for a place together on the UES. [NY Post via Curbed]

Is the architecture sprouting up around the High Line birthing imitators already? [Curbed]

The M.T.A. has been trying to crack down on bus-riders who refuse to pay, but with mixed results. [City Room]

Seeking rents as low as $10 per square foot, Manhattan businesses jump to the outer boroughs. [TRD]

LES landlord grabs tenants by splitting 3,300 square feet of retail space into two seperate leases. [Crain’s via TRD]

Forest City Ratner helped rescue the controversial advocacy group ACORN this summer with a $1.5 million loan. [AYR]

A look into Bushwick’s foreclosure “crisis.” [BushwickBK]

Wooden(!) phone booths sighted in the oldest pharmacy in Borough Park. [Lost City via City Room]

7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Learn how landlords can survive in today’s tenant’s market at “Tenant Retention in Trying Times,” hosted by the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. Eisenhower Corporate Campus, 209 West Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, N.J. $75 for members and employees of member firms; $105 for non-members. Register online.

9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate hosts a day-long course on the ins and outs of anti-discrimination law as it applies to the real estate industry. Midtown Center, 11 West 42nd Street, 4th floor. For more information, contact Sal Gulino at 212-992-3305 or sg7@nyu.edu.

It’s safe to say Alan McGee has a decent track record when it comes to naming the next big thing. As co-founder and long-time head of Creation Records, McGee was responsible for much of the early success of bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, and most notably, Oasis. In short, McGee jumpstarted the drug-addled mix of rave culture and post-punk that defined the frantic creativity of British pop during the late 80s and early 90s.

Which is why our interest was piqued when Mr. McGee went and named “the best unsigned band in the world” on his Guardian blog today. They’re called the Grants, they’re from Liverpool, and according to McGee, they could become “one of the few bands in the history of Liverpool - after Echo and the Bunnymen - to step out of the shadows of the Beatles.”  read more »

Schumer report says there are as many as 60,000 low-income apartments in NYC in danger of falling into ruin because of “predatory” real estate investors. [NY Times]

Long-time Statue of Liberty concessionaires fend off challenges from bigger companies to have their contract extended for another 10 years. [NY Times]

Facing a massive rent increase, the Theater District’s famous Ray’s Real Pizza decamps to Jersey. [NY Times]

The Landmarks Preservation Commission struggles to balance the needs of anxious developers and well-mobilized preservationists. [NY Times]

New report reveals the scope of the elevator malfunction behind Jacob Neuman’s death. [NY Times]

Alain Robert—the first man to scale the New York Times building last summer—gets a $250 fine and three days community service. [NY Times]

NYC fixing up the worst housing complexes and charging the landlords. [NYDN]

As the economy tanks and more workers are laid off, New Yorkers are turning to “co-workspaces” to save money as they change career paths. [NYDN]

DOT balks on signing off on a new firehouse for the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department. [NYDN]

The city’s budget problems stall a plan to replace the 110th Precinct building near Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. [NYDN]

As the Yankees get set to enjoy their second baseball stadium, the local Bronx community will have to go without the four regulation ballparks swept away by the construction. [NYDN]

Realty Check: Eighty-story Park Hyatt Hotel to rise from Extell’s West 57th Street hole. [NY Post]

Vintage M.T.A. buses from the 60s and 70s return to NYC streets for the holidays. [NY Post]

In today’s restrictive lending culture, self-employed professionals can’t secure mortgages like they used to. [WSJ]

As giant mortgage lenders are slain by the credit crisis, smaller lenders step up to the plate. [WSJ]

The National Bureau of Economic Research officially announces a U.S. recession; the Dow drops 680 points. [NY Times]

A bus driver is stabbed to death in Bed-Stuy after denying a passenger a transfer. [City Room]

Jersey City’s City Council votes against naming a street by the Trump Plaza after The Donald. [Jersey Journal via Curbed]

Greenpoint actually likes Dean Palin’s idea for a 40-story waterfront tower?! [Curbed]

New York retailers like Tiffany and Barnes & Noble pull back on expansion plans as the economy nosedives. [TRD]

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition files a civil rights suit against two Wall Street ratings agencies on behalf of minority subprime mortgage holders. [TRD]

The Edge is opening its lofty doors to low-income and middle-income New Yorkers—but act now! They shut again on Dec. 3. [Williamsburg is Dead]

Two Queens residents pushing to transform Flushing Airport from 26 acres of abandoned wasteland into a “light recreation facility” with baseball fields and a driving range. [Queens Crap]

The EDC bows to common sense and agrees to open the Essex Street Market on Sundays… but only for December. [Racked via BoweryBoogie]

Crain’s poll shows 40 percent of New Yorkers fear losing their jobs. [Crain’s via Gowanus Canal]

Once mighty 20 Pine renting units on the (relatively) cheap. [Streeteasy via Curbed]

6 p.m. to 8 p.m. How can New York and New Jersey take advantage of their ample waterfronts to better serve their communities and jumpstart a stalled economy? Find out at “On The Waterfront: Finding the Balance for Development and Communities” hosted by the Center for New York City Affairs and Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy. Opening remarks by Port Authority executive director Christopher Ward. Eugene Lang Building, 65 West 11th Street, Wollman Hall, 5th floor. Free. Reservations required. Call 212-229-5418 or email centernyc@newsschool.edu.

6 p.m. to 9 p.m. “The 4th Annual Latina Leadership Summit: Building Your Future in Uncertain Times,” hosted by the New York chapter of the National Society for Hispanic MBAs. American Express Headquarters - World Financial Center, 200 Vesey Street. Free for members; $15 for non-members. Register online or call 212-318-3296 or email vpmembership@newyork.nshmba.org.

As Madonna embarks on life sans Guy Ritche, she’ll have more than A-Rod to look forward to. NME.com is reporting that Madge’s Sticky and Sweet World Tour is set to become the highest grossing jaunt by a solo artist ever. According to Live Nation—the concert promoter who signed Madonna last year to a multi-platform deal worth a reported $120 million—the tour will have raked in $282 million by the time it winds down in Brazil later this month. (That figure breaks Madonna’s previous record of $194 million—the highest gross ever by a female artist—set by her 2006 Confessions tour.) Sticky and Sweet has already earned $208 million, much of which came from the 550,000 tickets Madonna sold across her 28 U.S. dates.  read more »

NYC owes local companies $800 million in tax refunds after many of them overpaid based on more optimistic performance forecasts. [NY Times]

After seven years of repairs and construction, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine is finally rededicated on Sunday. [NY Times]

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s landmarked former studio at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture is falling apart, but help is on the way. [NY Times]

Preservationists complain that too many of the city’s churches and synagogues are being lost to development. [NY Times]

In Fort Greene, a site once destined for more condos has become ground zero for a new residential experiment known as “cohousing.” [NY Times]

A River House duplex ensnared in a post-divorce custody battle finally hits the market for $15 million. [NY Times]

Newark’s director of community development finds a home in the first new luxury apartment complex built in the city in 40 years. [NY Times]

New state regulations have made it easier for organizations like New Jersey’s Our House—a non-profit that creates housing for the developmentally disabled—to find affordable homes for their clients. [NY Times]

The Murray Hill condo known as The Jasper to become a boutique hotel after a faltering economy put the kibosh on sales. [NY Times]

Months before its first section opens to the public, the High Line has already attracted $4 billion in private investment. [NY Times]

As head of the state commission created to rescue the MTA, Richard Ravitch goes looking for a savior while the state struggles with its own budget deficits. [NY Times]

Bloomberg bartered away parking spaces and billboard revenues in order to secure access to a luxury suite at the new Yankee Stadium. [NY Times]

In New York, an average street corner offers near-endless possibilities. [NY Times]

Sloane Crosley’s UWS apartment building undergoes the dreaded “major capital improvement.” [NY Times]

After construction on a Park Slope condo upended part of J. J. Byrne Park three years ago, the developer finally makes good on a promise to repair and reopen the park. [NY Times]

Cyclists push for a protected bike lane along the notoriously dangerous Queens Boulevard. [NY Times]

Activists unveil new memorial at Hudson River Park on the eve of the 20th annual World AIDS Day. [NYDN]

Councilman Gennaro introduces a bill that would require large retail stores to provide adequate security during a big sale. [NYDN]

Costs to construct a water filtration plant below Van Cortlandt Park—due to be completed by 2012—skyrocket to $3.1 billion. [NYDN]

City cuts part of its pledged $2 million in funding to support low-income Brooklynites displaced by waterfront development. [NYDN]

City considering using imminent domain to build Bay Ridge school. [NYDN]

Support grows from City Hall to split the 105th police precinct in eastern Queens. [NYDN]

Jamaica families concerned over the arrival of a shelter for recovering male addicts. [NYDN]

The number of New Yorkers unable to pay their property taxes to rise by one-third this year. [NYDN]

Late for work because of the subway? Just get a delay-verification notice from the MTA to show to your skeptical boss. [NY Post]

Even if fares rise to $2.50, the cost of a NYC subway ride will still compare favorably to rates worldwide. [NY Post]

Citigroup to sell small custody administration business in Japan for $420 million. [NY Post]

With more units lying vacant, active adult communities nationwide consider lowering age restrictions. [WSJ]

Deutsche Bank sues Donald Trump demanding a $40 million personal guarantee stemming from a 2005 construction loan for his Chicago tower. [WSJ]

As we trudged through Chinese Democracy’s dubious early sales reports and reactions to the record from various luminaries (Jimmy Iovine – likes it, Duff McKagan – sorta likes it; the Chinese government – not so much), we thought we’d check in with that other guy from Guns N’ Roses. With Velvet Revolver in limbo at the moment, Slash (known to his mother as Saul Hudson) is busy working on his solo record. And if his wife Perla Hudson (yes, they met back-stage at a GNR show) is to be believed, Slash’s latest endeavor will involve Ozzy Osborne, Fergie, “and everyone in the middle”—this according to an interview with rockerazzi.com (via nme.com). We’ll leave you to ponder who (or what) exactly falls “in the middle” of Ozzy and Fergie.

As for Slash’s feelings about the new GNR disc, Perla was less clear. “Well, our kids like it,” Ms. Husdon confided. “But they also like Elmo, so…”

With Citigroup healthy and competitive again, other banks may take more risks in the future with the assumption that Washington will always be there to back them up. [NY Times]

As Obama announces his new economic team, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve get set to unveil a major lending program to shore up hundreds of billions of dollars in commercial debt. [NY Times]

Representative Rangel accused of supporting a tax shelter for a company at the same time that its chief executive was writing million-dollar checks to a school named in the Congressman’s honor. [NY Times]

As Wall Street implodes, New Yorkers have increasingly come to rely on nonprofit jobs at hospitals and universities. [NY Times]

The Hunts Point produce market let customers in a few hours early last Sunday to prepare for the busy Thanksgiving week. [NY Times]

As it nears its third anniversary, the Shops at Atlas Park’s fancy retail has yet to click with Glendale residents. [NYDN]

Forest Hills dog owners are itching for a new dog run at Yellowstone Park, but Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski has other ideas. [NYDN]

Brooklyn grows hungrier every day, as a new study shows that 86 percent of the borough’s food pantries are serving more people this year than last. [NYDN]

In the Bronx—where the city’s poor are hit hardest by the economy—Thanksgiving dinners may be a little smaller this year. [NYDN]

Bronx organization offering a three-day vacation to anyone who hires or helps someone find a job. [NYDN]

Editorial: Citigroup’s board should quit. [NY Post]

Realty Check: Albany may be worried about the FDIC abandoning Lower Manhattan, but the United Jewish Congress and the global research firm IDC are already moving in to snatch up 130,000 square feet of office space; Gary Barnett moves on his 50-story hotel/condo along West 57th Street; TD Bank expands to Third Avenue and 53rd Street. [NY Post]

State inspector general launches probe into whether a Paterson aid “intimidated” SLA into approving liquor licenses for the Ciprianis. [NY Post]

Home sales fell nationwide last month, even as home prices dropped to their lowest levels since records began in 1983. [WSJ]

United Arab Emirates unveils plan to rescue Dubai’s souring real estate economy. [WSJ]

The Dow jumps 4.9 percent and the S&P 6.4 percent as Wall Street rejoices over Washington’s rescue plan for Citigroup. [NY Times]

New York magazine hosts a round-table with some of the best minds in the business—including Jonathan Miller and Dottie Herman—on NYC’s fragile real estate market. [NY Mag]

Editorial: Cynthia Nixon and Kara Walker on why the Community Education Council’s recent decision to remove an ethnically diverse middle school from PS 199—a largely-white and over-crowded UWS elementary school—should be reversed. [NYDN]

NYC’s retail community discovers the pleasures of energy efficiency with a little help from Con Edison. [City Room]

A look inside Calatrava’s 800,000-square-foot (and hugely over-budget) transportation hub as work begins. [Curbed]

A $64 million outdoor performing arts venue is coming to the Brighton Beach/Coney Island border, and many locals are far from pleased. [Curbed]

As luxury home prices fall 20 percent nationwide, experts predict NYC’s could fall by as much as 25 percent next year. [Barron’s via TRD]

New Jersey’s DMR Architects score an $8 million contract to design 18 NYC public schools. [TRD]

Brooklyn Heights has its Gristedes, Cobble Hill has its Trader Joe’s, now it’s Downtown’s turn for a better supermarket. [mcbrooklyn]

The U.S. Postal Service’s Bronx processing plant not moving to Manhattan after all. [West Bronx Blog]

9:30 a.m. The Landmarks Preservation Commission holds a daylong public hearing regarding the appropriateness of numerous applications requesting modifications to historic properties. Landmarks Preservation Commission, Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor, Conference Room. See here for the times at which specific properties will be discussed.

4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Seminar on “Capacity Building in Times of Financial Stress” hosted by Baruch College’s Center for Nonprofit Management and Strategy. 151 East 25th Street, 7th Floor, Room 750. Free. RSVP required. Email nonprofit.workshops@baruch.cuny.edu or call 646-660-6743.

6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Celebrate the season with Nationwide Equities Corp’s Thanksgiving Afterwork Business Network Mixer & Food Drive geared specifically for non-mortgage-related professionals. Social Bar & Lounge, 795 Eighth Avenue. Free. Canned food donations appreciated. Pre-registration required. Contact Evantz Saint-Gerard at evantz@yahoo.com or 917-975-5985.

So, in the interest of writing about something, anything, other than Chinese Democracy (which, by the way, landed on Best Buy’s shelves yesterday), we thought we’d fill you in on yet another musical event we thought would never come to pass. It involves the Beatles and that infamous little comment John Lennon made to the Evening Standard in 1966. “Christianity will go,” he told a reporter from the paper. “It will vanish and shrink. We’re more popular than Jesus now—I don’t know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity.” Predictably, Christians were outraged. Death-threats were made; records were burned; radio stations in the South refused to play the band’s singles.  read more »

Feds approve multi-billion-dollar bailout for Citigroup. [WSJ]

Obama hopes to have an aggressive $500 billion stimulus package ready to sign by Inauguration Day. [WSJ]

The X28 running from East 57th Street to Coney Island—just another bus slated for the chopping block should MTA’s budget be approved. [NY Times]

The galleria—or the east-west passageway between the World Trade Center Transportation Hub and Battery Park City—offers a stunning, sun-bathed preview of Calatrava’s transport hub. [NY Times]

Comptroller William Thompson proposes a new plan to significantly raise automobile registration fees in order to ease MTA’s budget troubles. [NY Times]

A life without an elevator nine stories above the Upper West Side. [NY Times]

At $65 million, Gerhard Andlinger’s Time Warner Center apartment is the priciest in a Manhattan real estate market battered by Wall Street. [NY Times]

A community coalition proposes that the entirety of West End Avenue, from 70th to 107th Street, be designated a historic district. [NY Times]

Hoping to avoid further losses, lenders are demanding more thorough home appraisals than ever before. [NY Times]

Manhattan sees major apartment sales declines, even as inventories rise. [NY Times]

For New Jersey developers unsure whether or not to go the rental route with a struggling building, 75 is the magic number, as in 75 percent of apartments sold. [NY Times]

With a stagnant economy, Long Island’s “teardown game” comes to an end… [NY Times]

…As do many residents’ home-renovation plans. [NY Times]

A crime-ridden Hampstead hotel to be razed to make way for apartments geared toward young commuters. [NY Times]

NYC is about to unveil its newly-redesigned Washington Square Park, but long-time opponents of the renovations are still bitter. [NY Times]

Williamsburg is transformed once again as more Western Europeans settle into a neighborhood that reminds them of home. [NY Times]

Tino Hernandez—the chairman of NYC’s Housing Authority since 2001—steps down. [NY Times]

The United Nations prepares for its five-year, $2 billion renovation. [NY Times]

A controversial Astoria shelter serving gay and transgender youth may be forced to shutter due to declining donations. [NYDN]

These are tough times for NYC’s day laborers, but Obama’s win is convincing some to stay in the U.S. [NYDN]

A new competitive process to decide which of the city’s 327 senior centers gets to “modernize,” may force others to close down. [NYDN]

One woman’s two-year journey to a $400,000 apartment. [NYDN]

The Closer: Two lucky beagles score a $6,000 doghouse designed to look like Greenwich Village’s One Jackson Square. [NYDN]

Roaches and rats infest East New York busses. [NYDN]

Queens man organizing a June 9 boycott of all MTA subways and busses. [NYDN]

Three-alarm fire ravages Astoria commercial building. [NYDN]

NYC celebrities including Ralph Lauren and Ira Rennert forced to pay back massive tax debts as Albany moves to close its budget deficit. [NY Post]

SLA chair Daniel Boyle accuses Paterson aide of trying to “intimidate” him into supporting renewed liquor licenses for restaurants owned by the Ciprianis after the family pleaded guilty to tax evasion. [NY Post]

Citigroup’s rapidly falling stock puts its $20 million naming-rights deal for the Mets’ new stadium in jeopardy. [NY Post]

What the hell is up with Billy Corgan? Reports from the Smashing Pumpkins’ 20th Anniversary Tour—the Pumpkins, of course, consisting only of Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain—have roused fans’ ire again and again with set-lists bereft of hits, endlessly wonky space jams (notably with their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Set Controls for the Heart of the Sun”), and Billy’s self-pitying, crowd-hectoring monologues.

During the second night of the Pumpkins’ hugely-disappointing two-night stand at Harlem’s United Palace earlier this month—the Pumpkins’ first time in the city in almost a decade—things got so bad, Billy actually invited a fan on-stage to vent his frustration.  read more »

6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Seminar on “Weathering the Financial Storm” hosted by Cowan Financial Group. Cowan Financial Group, 530 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor. Free. Pre-registration required. Call 212-642-4871.

6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Come out for some hors d’oeuvres, a couple cocktails, and some high-speed networking with Networking for Professionals. Public House, 140 East 41st Street. $20 for members; $30 for non-members; $35 at the door. Register online.

Pleas for government intervention rise again as the stock market continues to plunge and credit markets stay frozen. [NY Times]

In a 16th-century Mexican colonial town full of American ex-pats, old-time plazas sit in “almost exquisite equilibrium” with brand-new Starbucks. [NY Times]

A photographer builds his second-home in Vermont based on the principles he knows best—light. [NY Times]

Second-home buyers find “real country living” in Norris, Tenn.'s lake-side community. [NY Times]

Bloomberg steps back from his defiant stance against releasing homeowners’ rebate checks. [NY Times]

The new Meadowlands is on budget and on schedule, now it’s just a matter of getting New Yorkers to shell out a few thousand dollars to renew their season tickets. [NY Times]

Highlights from MTA’s long list of budget cuts. [NYDN]

Kimber VanRy—the Prospect Heights man fined for drinking a beer on his stoop—battles on. [NYDN]

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall calls for the destruction of the New York State Pavilion. [NYDN]

Pennsylvania developer hoping to build a Marriott in Dutch Kills asks for a waiver to get around new zoning laws that would nix the project. [NYDN]

Bronx pet shop owner losses 100 animals in a blaze Wednesday night. [NYDN]

Here’s some good news for these tough times: 99 cents for a slice of pizza. [NYDN]

The United Nations asks NYC to build anti-ramming barriers outside its building, yet the UN is refusing to conduct studies on the effects of terrorist attacks as a prerequisite for constructing these barriers. [NY Post]

Citigroup stocks tumble 25 percent, as investors call for the bank to break itself up into its constituent parts. [NY Post]

Hedge funds worldwide lost 9 percent of their value last month, bringing year-to-date losses for the industry to 16 percent. [NY Post]

Home price indexes are going increasingly local to address widespread national discrepancies. [WSJ]

Fear continues to grow on Wall Street, as the Dow tumbles another 437 points. [NY Times]

As the city rezones portions of an UWS school district, a battle brews over “de facto segregation"... and Cynthia Nixon is involved. [City Room]

Ismael Leyva’s plan for a 40-story tower in northern Greenpoint seems destined for serious opposition. [Curbed]

City Council approves the Sanitation Department’s hugely-controversial 12-story garbage truck garage and salt shed for Spring Street’s west end. Locals are furious, threaten lawsuits. [Curbed]

Though the latest quarterly reports aren’t available yet, one appraisal firm offers some data that paints a very bleak future for Manhattan residential real estate. According to Mitchell, Maxwell & Jackson, the number of signed contracts dropped 75 percent during the last two months from the same time last year. [TRD]

Judge issues temporary restraining order to halt the reopening of the Brooklyn House of Detention. [Gowanus Lounge via TRD]

Haute couture gallery and event space coming to ever-trendier Cooper Square. [Colonnade Row via BoweryBoogie]

Bronx’s Park South Condominiums offering free rides to and from the building for anyone with a pre-qualification letter. [BoogieDowner]

Manhattan’s CB 4 votes to extend the protected Eighth Avenue bike lane, already under construction, north to 23rd Street. [Streets Blog]

Own a piece of Williamsburg for only $13,499! [newyorkshitty]

10 a.m. Part two of the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committee's oversight hearing on the building of the “New World Trade Center.” Led by committee chair Alan Gerson. Committee Room, City Hall.

2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Learn how to attain financial stability in an unstable economy while still saving for your retirement at the Wi$eUp Teleconference on Economic Turbulence and Planning, hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. Free. Register online.

New Year’s Eve always seems to disappoint. Plans get left to the last minute, friends don’t show up, bars get too crowded, you don’t order those tequila shots in time for the ubiquitous midnight toast. And then it’s morning and you’ve got another 365 days to look forward to.

Well, not this year. In the interest of planning early—of not procrastinating—we’ve got a handful of New Year’s Eve shows for you, all courtesy of Bowery Presents. You already know about My Morning Jacket and we’ve already told you about Patti Smith, so here’s Blonde Redhead, Crystal Castles, and A Place to Bury Strangers.

Kazu Makino and identical twins Simone and Amedeo Pace are strikingly beautiful physical specimens—the prom king[s] and queen of indie rock.  read more »

By the time Chinese Democracy actually comes out, we’ll be sick of all this insanity. But for the moment, we’re pretty flabbergasted that we can simply head to MySpace—a little invention that saw daylight ten long years after Gun N’ Roses’ last record—and hear the entire album for free. All of Chinese Democracy, not just a handful of random tracks, leaked on Tuesday, but today you can hear the full record without risking a run-in with the FBI. Axl finally has what he’s always wanted: all eyes on him and his cornrows.

In related news, many of you may recall Chuck Klosterman’s “review” of Chinese Democracy two years ago—an April Fool’s Joke, and a good one at that. Well, yesterday, the AV Club published Klosterman’s real review, and it seems the guy likes the album even better the second time around.  read more »

Even though City Council informed Bloomberg that he is required to distribute homeowners’ rebate checks, the mayor continues to suggest they won’t be sent out, telling New Yorkers to “plan for the worst, and hope for the best.” [NY Times]

The partners behind the World Product Centre—a tower dedicated to the medical industry planned for Hudson Years—begin marketing 10-year leases for the building. [NY Times]

As the MTA struggles to close next year’s budget, a crucial five-year capital plan with its own budget constraints looms on the horizon. [NY Times]

New proposals by Related Companies, Youngwoo & Associates and the Durst Organization to develop the West Side’s 15th Street pier to be unveiled today. [NY Times]

NYPD and the FBI embroiled in a battle over terrorism surveillance. [NY Times]

With the Dow below 8,000 points, how much worse can things get? [NY Times]

Trains on the Lexington Avenue subway line—the city’s busiest—are so packed they often leave passengers stranded on the platform. [NYDN]

If MTA’s new budget (to be released today) is approved, downtown New Yorkers will lose a crucial bus running running between the East and West Village. [NYDN]

A Red Hook community center providing women’s health care services is evicted from its Clinton Street offices to make way for the Police Athletic League. [NYDN]

City finally approves a $12 million project to revitalize a stretch of Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica. [NYDN]

New city data shows a 24 percent jump in food stamp program participants since 2004. [NYDN]

Bronx Zoo nixes annual Holiday Lights Show to save money and the environment. [NDYN]

With the situation so precarious on Wall Street, co-op boards are vetting applicants with ever more veracity. [NY Post]

Gimme Shelter: The Plaza’s Astor Suite takes a $17 million price-cut and lands back on the market; Justin Timberlake closes on a $5.25 million Tribeca condo; a seventh-floor Dakota co-op hits the market for $14.5 million; writer and director James Toback offers up his Majestic digs for $3.75 million. [NY Post]

The Dow Jones drops below 8,000 points for the first time in five years, while consumer prices fall 1 percent, raising the threat of deflation. [NY Times]

Joe Ardizzone—Willets Point’s only homeowner—rallies local businesses to fight Bloomberg’s redevelopment plan. [City Room]

Hunter College study shows cyclists break traffic laws. Nah, really? [City Room]

The Gramercy 19 condo comes to the “Block Beautiful.” [Curbed]

Local group Williamsburg Independent People steps up to fight the $1.3 billion New Domino development. [Curbed]

In order to boost sagging sales, a Tribeca condo scores its very own sommelier. [TRD]

New board game created by real estate developer hopes to make real life decisions in the industry a little easier. [TRD]

Triborough Bridge officially renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. [NY1 via West Bronx Blog]

Instead of closing, the P&G Café may be moving to the site of the old Evelyn Lounge right across from the Museum of Natural History. [Lost City]

Betting that there are still companies out there with the means to expand, Prudential Douglas Elliman markets five new retail spaces at 177 Lafayette Street. [The Daily Transom]

Let the Atl