[18 West 57th Street photo via Property Shark]
1) For some reason we can't begin to comprehend, socialite and gossip blog staple Tinsley Mortimer has been hired as a "lifestyle director" for a new 29-story condo building at 18 West 57th Street, near Fifth Avenue. Mortimer will consult on layout designs, amenities packages and décor, and will attend "strategizing, branding and marketing meetings." Allegedly. This is not the worst idea: hiring someone whose friends can buy up your project. Still, perhaps realizing that this could be a total disaster, the developers?a partnership that includes Elliman broker Ilan Bracha?are considering leasing the existing building to a new retail tenant. [Big Deal/Josh Barbanel]
2) Anyone who has walked along Prince Street on a weekend afternoon knows that the block is a total shitshow of tourists, vendors and Apple customers. A mall, if you will. But don't tell that to the Soho Alliance's Sean Sweeney, who is leading the opposition in the increasingly vicious battle to make Prince Street car-free on summer Sundays. He told the Times: "The first week, if you had no cars you’d have some room maybe. But after a couple of weeks or a couple of months, the word would go out in all the tourist guides: 'Oh, the Prince Street mall!'" [The City/Jake Mooney]
3) You've suspected it all along, and now someone has finally put the words in print: the gentrification of Clinton Hill is being carried out by people who moved there because they couldn't afford Park Slope. And those people want their groceries, damn it! [Living In/Gregory Beyer]
4) Christopher Gray looks at the architectural history of Great Jones Street, which may get protected (along with Bond Street) in the proposed Noho Historic District extension. The big story on the block, the demolition of 110-year-old 30 Great Jones Street, gets some attention here, but owner Edison Properties refuses to divulge any plans for the site. [Streetscapes/Christopher Gray]
5) A roommate program called Home Sharing matches up senior citizens with sometimes much younger roomies, who pay below market-rate rents in exchange for an extra set of hands around the household and some companionship. Set heartstrings to "tug." [Posting/Joyce Cohen]
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