Citigroup Inc.

Despite her salacious scandal earlier this year, CNBC’s top anchor, Maria (the “Money Ho  read more »

Terry McAuliffe explains what 'in it to win it' has meant for fund-raising. There's more campaign cash going around this cycle than previous ones probably because of rising economic inequality, not the Internet, says Ben. Mitt Romney raised more money that Rudy Giuliani Gail Robinson thinks "one clear loser" in the state budget this year was "open government." Joe Bruno is gloating about how he fared. John Catsimatidis is registering as a Republican Howard Weitzman is raising money for something. Andrew Cuomo settled cases against Citibank and school lenders. Plans to build a new United Nations building on a playground has at least one critic. Conspiracy alert: The guy who convinced Rudy Giuliani to dress in drag - and may have introduced the former mayor to his current wife - is now helping John McCain. Giuliani leads 2008 contenders in Florida. And pictured above is a scene from the Assembly chambers shortly after the budget deadline on Saturday night. -- Azi Paybarah  read more »

Claire McCaskill recently got a chance to do something that millions of us have wanted to do.  read more »

The guy to complete the last big deal ordinarily gets to shout “King o’ the Mountain!&rd  read more »

The cute red umbrella in the Citigroup logo is no more, says Crain's. The bank cut a deal to sell the branding rights to St. Paul Travelers.

Citigroup will need to draft up a new logo now. File this under slightly irrelevant, but what's this mean for real estate? Well, when they create the new logo it will mean a new top for three distinguished city properties: 666 Fifth Avenue; Court Square Two in Long Island City; and the top of the new Mets stadium in Queens.

- John Koblin

Barack Obama is chasing another well-known New York fundraiser: James Rubin. (No, not that James Rubin -- this one.)

On Wednesday night at a steakhouse in Washington, Obama met with Rubin and a number of supporters including Michael Froman of Citigroup, Brian Mathis of Provident Group, Orin Kramer of Boston Provident Partners LP (who committed to Obama shortly afterwards) and Robert Wolf, the chairman of UBS Americas.

Rubin is the son of Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. For obvious reasons, he would be a nice get for the Obama campaign -- both a prominent name and a positive statement about Obama's generational appeal rolled into one.

Rubin's allegiance is still uncertain -- he did not return phone calls to his home and office -- but according to a supporter with knowledge of the meeting, he seemed inclined to commit to Obama.

--Jason Horowitz

And the last empty Lexington Avenue storefront in the Bloomberg Tower goes to—wait for it&mdas  read more »

The chief financial officer for Citigroup and the president of Rensselaer both turned down Eliot Spitzer's offer to go for the state comptroller position.

Post editors don't want a sitting Assemblyman for comptroller.

The Daily News opines that whomever makes it through the screening panel "will have weathered a screening process, eliminating the suggestion that he or she is not the best or the brightest."

Rudy Giuliani is staying mum on President Bush's call for more troops in Iraq.

Mike Bloomberg told Congress that Al Qaeda is laughing at us.

A building the was part of the "scandal-plagued program of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development," in Boerum Hill was approved for a 25-year tax break from the city.

Democrats are planning a vote against Bush's Iraq plan.

And Jon Corzine has gotten poetic about New Jersey's problems.

-- Azi paybarah

Robert Lyons and Kelly Moylan   Met: June 2005 Engaged: March 8, 2006  read more »

Robert Lyons and Kelly Moylan   Met: June 2005 Engaged: March 8, 2006  read more »

Robert Lyons and Kelly Moylan   Met: June 2005 Engaged: March 8, 2006  read more »

• Buyers examine falling home prices, mortgage rates.
[BusinessWeek]
• Realtors report nationwide single-family price drop.
[CNN/Money]
• Temporary Times Square restroom impresses.
[NY Times]
• Mayor announces Hunts Point development plan.
[NY Times]
• Neighbors sue suicidal East Side townhouse owner.
[NY Times]
• Montauk Lighthouse debate continues.
[NY Times]
• Equity Office defies skeptics in Blackstone deal.
[NY Times]
• Midtown law firm relocates to 140 Broadway.
[NY Post]
• Queens residents worry about hospital closings.
[NY Post]
• Equity, Blackstone deal bodes well for other landlords.
[NY Post]
• Nonunion jobs a cause of hardhat deaths, some say.
[Daily News]
• MTA talking to Citigroup about station name changes.
[Daily News]
• Silverstein in acquisition mode in Lower Manhattan.
[NY Sun]
• Wired magazine opens Soho pop-up store.
[NY Sun]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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Yesterday morning, Manhattan Borough Prez Scott Stringer stood in front of a petite crowd of protestors -- eight folks from the Municipal Art Society, plus many more cameramen and reporters.

Why were they there? "Black mail advertisement!" Mr. Stringer said. "Excuse me. Black market advertisement!" He gestured to the Citibank billboard behind him, a mammoth ad that wraps around the entire Flatiron Building on scaffolding.

"If you see it on a scaffold," he said, "it's not legal."

"This is a sophisticated operation yielding millions of dollars. The Munipal Art Society identified 44 of the worst spots, and close to 80% were never inspected or fined. 29% are on landmarked or historic buildings! If Philadelphia can register legal ads, so they can go after the illegal, why can't we?"

We can. The Department of Buildings just passed new regulations against outdoor advertising--which involve registration and $25,000 fines against "visual clutter." But that new law wasn't mentioned by Mr. Stringer.

Yet maybe this corporate graffiti is an implacable enemy: four trees blocking the view of a Chelsea cell phone billboard were recently cut down. No one seems to know why.

See also: NY1 (and Curbed/MAS)  read more »

Update: Citibank says it will "look into the matter" of its Flatiron eyesore. - Max Abelson

Here's the score: The Mets just sold $615 million worth of bonds (all but $65 nontaxable) issued by Citigroup today for its new ballpark. The issue, according to a statement from the team, was five times oversubscribed .  read more »

Hey, the Amazin's gotta remind people of their existence some way or other. Wednesday morning the Mayor and Governor are heading up to the Bronx to break ground on the new stadium for the Yankees.

-Matthew Schuerman

A fortnight ago, the Federal Reserve raised its base rate for the 17th time in two years, to 5.25 pe  read more »

Transfer pleas for the visionary use of the National City Bank of New York building at 415 Broadway, at Canal. The Art Moderne building was built in 1997 1927 [thanks Mark!] by Walker & Gillette; the bank eventually went on to become Citigroup, and its headquarters became "abused by Sbarros, Payless, and counterfit bag merchants," after being remodeled in 1998 by Joseph Pell Lombardi. -Matthew Grace  read more »

Crain's is reporting that Citigroup is negotiating a 370,000-square foot lease in Jersey City and may sell its office tower at 250 West Street in Tribeca that now houses the Smith Barney investment banking division. The Daily News notes that Citi CEO Charles Prince is co-chairman of the Partnership for New York City, one of Lower Manhattan's biggest boosters. -Matthew Schuerman

In the April 24 issue of The Observer, there appeared a letter of mine to Roger Altman with respect  read more »

The New York Times now requires freelancers to answer a questionnaire designed to suss out conflicts of interest and improprieties. So while Spencer Morgan was off in Iceland with hockey-playing, hard-drinking hedge funders and bankers, just for kicks The Transom took the Times' little quiz. Everyone else is doing it! The Transom hopes it is being graded pass/fail. And all answers are, of course, utterly true.  read more »

Slow progress toward standardizing the payment method for travel throughout the region on ferries, buses, subways and commuter rail hit a turning point with the introduction at PATH stations of special cards that allow you to wave your wallet at the turnstile to get through.

Eventually, of course, the banks will get involved:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, another member of the consortium, plans to test a different payment system in 25 subway stations this spring. In that test, Citigroup and MasterCard International will fit turnstiles with readers that will accept Citibank MasterCard PayPass cards for payment. Those cards, already used at gas stations and grocery stores, are linked to the user's credit card or bank accounts.

- Tom McGeveran

Domestic violence is an unfortunately common occurrence; so are bar fights.  read more »

Domestic violence is an unfortunately common occurrence; so are bar fights.  read more »

Kai Kûhne and Melissa Burns   Met: 1999 Engaged: June 2005  read more »

One likes to think of Asian restaurants as oases of almost Zen-like calm amid the sharp-elbowed caco  read more »

An hideously horribly overly long edition of Thursday Styles with Tom Scocca, a weekly recording of an IM conversation with Tom Scocca, the New York Observer's Off the Record columnist. Brought to you as a public service by your trusty Transom editor.

MediaTom: Well, have you read your Thursday Styles yet? TheTransom: You know, I've been really busy thinking, as a man, manly thoughts about what men want. MediaTom: Do tell. It seems to me, on first look, that men want George Clooney. TheTransom: Well, I think, yes. I like a man who earns over 100,000 a year, looks like George Clooney, and "is already living the life he wants rather than merely chasing it." Which, of course, is why I get aroused when I pass those RETARDED OFFENSIVE CITIBANK ADS on PHONE BOOTHS. So, as far as gay lifestyle porn goes?? i'm IN. MediaTom: Are those the Citibank ads that are like, hey, bank with us, we don't care about money? Like: McDonald's: You're Just Going To Shit It Out Eventually, Anyway? Yeah. It's like handing your checking account over to a fortune-cookie-writing company. TheTransom: YES. UGH. Goddam Citibank. But yes, really: Who is on the arm of Vogue readers? They're called HOMOS. We used to call them 'walkers.' But I digress. MediaTom: OK, the thing about Vogue for Men is this: the principal attractions that regular Vogue offers to the het male reader are (1) nipple photos, (2) the daft letters page, and (3) Jeffrey Steingarten. The Transom: Barbeque and hooters? That makes it sound like... Maxim, just much shorter! MediaTom: Surprisingly manly fare! Maxim with higher production values. Actually Maxim never contains nipple shots. Word to the wise, fellas! But Men's Vogue.. TheTransom: ...Has no women. Hence... no nipples? MediaTom: But they do have Jeffrey Steingarten. TheTransom: I know nothing about him. But I hear he's a right bastard. MediaTom: He's got a lovable writerly persona, though. Except the part of the persona that hangs out with Amanda Hesser's persona. TheTransom: That sounds like a horrible persona entanglement. So wait. I need to, need to, talk about Alex Kuzsnipski. Like, I might need to get my therapist in here too. MediaTom: "Call me the neurotic consumer." Neurotic? Can we call you the some other kind of consumer? TheTransom: She. Bought. A. Thank. You. Gift. For. A. Friend. That. Cost. 975. Dollars. HOW CRITICAL CAN THAT SHOPPING BE??? MediaTom: Hey, she put a hold on the $2,500 dress. Rather than buying it outright. The Transom: The problem is, I guess, I don't know, maybe I have Stockholm Syndrome with Alex Kuczwhatski because I start to admire her shopping by the end of the column. Wait, hold the phone. Suzy and I have to roam the streets for food. MediaTom: Thanks for the invitation. Bitch. Have fun, guys! TheTransom: YOU"RE INVITED! JESUS CHRIST. Were you a YOUNGEST CHILD? DON'T MAKE ME COME IN THERE AND BEAT YOU. MediaTom: I was 2nd of 2. Technically that makes me "younger."

Some Time Passes.

MediaTom: So anyway. Alex "Evita" Kuczynski declares "I hated 'Lost in Translation,' an admission that no doubt guarantees my exile from hipster America forever." Technically, to be in "exile" from a place, don't you have to have been there before? TheTransom: Well, we can't hold her good taste in husbands against her. BUT. This time I disagree with her shopping. The first daughter of Peru, set loose in Marc Jacobs, should at least come home with the servants bowed and stooped under her acquisitions. MediaTom: I was impressed when she denigrated a Marc Jacobs dress by imagining the smart-alecky comment that Us Weekly would get from a fashion panelist if a celebrity were ever to be photographed wearing it. TheTransom: See? Who says she's un-reflective?? MediaTom:"Don't blame me if this line isn't funny! I didn't say it! An imaginary person in a hypothetical scenario said it!" Maybe all her imaginary friends chipped in to buy the $975 satchel. TheTransom: No one ever bought me a thousand-dollar handbag to say "thank you." MediaTom: And Alex Kucznyski offends you EVERY THURSDAY! Where's your apology handbag? TheTransom: RIGHT? WHERE'S MY GODDAM APOLOGY HANDBAG, ALEX? More Time Passes.  read more »

MediaTom: Okay, I'm back. What about, "9/11: Light a Candle Or Party On?" Let me draw your attention to the "Or" in that headline in particular. Welcome to the down-to-earth world of reporters, Jodi Kantor! TheTransom: It's her first story on her new job! Of course she's being hazed by the headline writers. MediaTom: The best part is "But Dr. Eviatar Zerubavel, a professor of sociology at Rutgers, argues that as the years pass, the 9/11 commemoration will grow stronger." Because nothing makes a convincing take-the-temperature-of-society piece like a titled expert WILDLY SPECULATING ABOUT SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNKNOWABLE. The Transom: Oh, I liked the story. But you may be surprised to know that Dr. Zerubavel is the author of "The Seven-Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week." Which must be RIVETING. (Oh, God, actually? It probably is.) MediaTom: Jodi's Dr. Zerubavel (whom I nearly just abbreviated to "Dr. Z," which would have been a gross insult to the world's greatest football writer, Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman)--then goes on to point out that "it wasn't until 15 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. that his birthday became a holiday." Which would be a very clear precedent for future Sept. 11 commemorations--if we were CELEBRATING THE DAY DR. KING GOT SHOT. TheTransom: Well, there's the answer! We should celebrate the birthday of the World Trade Center! MediaTom: Exactly! Thank heavens we have degreed academic experts to explain to us how our society works. TheTransom: April 4, by the way. 1973. The World Trade Center ribbon-cutting ceremony. MediaTom: Wait . . . that's the date King got shot. April 4. The Transom: AGH MediaTom: Now I am very disturbed. TheTransom: Eeek. 1968. You're right. MediaTom: Huh. TheTransom: Herrm. MediaTom: Well. TheTransom: Anyway! MediaTom: Yes! But, you should join the Way We live Now staff! Man, they're like the Navy SEALs. A quick, mobile strike force. Ready to write a piece anywhere in the Times! TheTransom: Do they get to walk into people's offices and commando the front page of sections? I hope so. Do I get to do that too? MediaTom: Don't you? TheTransom: I dunno! I've never tried! Hold on, I'm going to march into the managing editor's office and seize some column inches. AHOY! THIS IS THE WAY WE LIVE NOW, BITCH! In fact, I'm anointing myself as the entire Way We Live Now elite cadre of the New York Observer. I'm going to get some olive-drab outfits! And a small handgun! MediaTom: Jumpsuits. Must have jumpsuits. TheTransom: Watch out, motherfucker. I'll seize your column, too. MediaTom: Be careful what you wish for. TheTransom: Why? Was Jodi Kantor careful what she wished for? Was Alex Kuzcrciplsky? WAS ANNA WINTOUR CAREFUL WHAT SHE WISHED FOR? MediaTom: Jodi tells us that at the U.S. Open on Sept. 11, "before the men's tennis final James Taylor will sing 'America the Beautiful.'" TheTransom: See? THAT'S THE WAY WE LIVE NOW! MediaTom: Can I ask you something? Who hasn't seen (1) fire and (2) rain? TheTransom: Well, until this winter, my 10-year-old cat had never seen fire. And only rain through a window. So maybe the song is about HOW CATS LIVE NOW. MediaTom: James Taylor: more profoundly experienced than a cat.

So the book business isn't all bad news for Hillary this week. Political Money Line just posted Clinton's most recent financial disclosure forms, and the latest chunk of royalties for her autobiography, Living History, is pretty impressive: $2,376,716.

Also, her "spouse," as the federal forms identify him, charged $125,000 for each of five North American speeches and $250,000 for one in Paris.  read more »

With a sum of $375,000 speaking fees to Bill from Citigroup and Goldman alone, it does strike us that New York's financial services companies have found a way to be, indirectly, quite generous to their state's junior Senator.

Something to think about while you trundle around the city looking like Nanook of the North: The Giu  read more »

Not that we’re suggesting you attempt it, but there are good ways and bad ways to rob banks, as tw  read more »

Dragging Alex Katz into a review of William Hudders is unfair. It’s unfair to Mr.  read more »

Around 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug.  read more »

Marauding Miscreants' Motto:'Bring Us Your Weak'  read more »

Perp Tries Dress for Success,But Lady Luck Isn't On His Side  read more »

Women have lots of ways of telling their boyfriends they've fallen out of love.  read more »

When the history of American capitalism is written, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett may get the lion's  read more »

Dear Parent:

Thank you for requesting an application to our preschool.  read more »

He Had the Phone in Hand When Nature Called If you're going to rob someone, common sense suggests yo  read more »

World's Laziest Thugs, and the Nookie Bandit!  read more »

Carnegie Hill: Is Citi Builder Trying to Wear Us Down?  read more »

There is a funny little ritual that senior Citigroup Inc.executives go through these days when they  read more »

Suddenly, it's as if all the talking heads and spoutingmouths have cottoned to the fact that the dol  read more »

For former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, life continues to be sweet.  read more »

Sanford I. Weill stood alone on the great Carnegie Hallballroom stage looking at his watch.  read more »

Give Citibank credit for its tenacity.  read more »

The rivets are rattling, steam is escaping from the boilers,and the arrows on the dials are jiggling  read more »

When word leaked in late January that the Citigroup Center,the blue-glass Lexington Avenue skyscrape  read more »

Wednesday 7thDo you really want to Hearst me?  read more »

The cover story in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, Aug.  read more »

For months, the building was the talk of Carnegie Hill: a 209-foot-tall, 17-story tower that would r  read more »

These are times when those with money at risk will do well to pay less attention to what the great m  read more »

Big is better; biggest is best.  read more »