1) A visit to Roosevelt Island as the imminent opening of the forgotten neighborhood's first luxury condo (a former Curbed Development Du Jour!) rapidly approaches. About 95% of the 220 units in that building, Riverwalk Place (right, have been sold, but how many of those people will accidentally head to Governors Island on what is sure to be a very confusing move-in day? We predict at least 60%.) [NYTimes]
2) We're not exactly sure that this week's Habitats column isn't just the screenplay to a warmly-received Rob Reiner movie or something. He's a well-paid ad exec, she's watching the kids. They all live together in their perfect Park Slope brownstone?the kind of people who talk endlessly about living in Brooklyn like it's a statement in itself. But something's not right. Dad is tired of the hustle and bustle, so they sell the brownstone and move to the country to ditch that fast-paced New York lifestyle. Mom starts an Internet business, Dad writes a column for the local paper about how leaving New York for the country to ski and drive a pick-up truck and watch the kids grow up is, like, the greatest thing ever! Except for one thing: Dad is sick of not being a big shot and not having to fake being cool. Oh my gosh, they need Brooklyn back! So they pack it up again and head to a $7,000/month Park Slope rental house, which Mom playfully chides for being way too fancy. In the end, they learn that it's not where the home is, but what you make of it. Isn't life grand?!?!?! [Dan Shaw/Habitats]
3) Now here's a New York couple we can get behind. When life hands you lemons, make sour lemonade! In this story about how the traditionally slow holiday season can both help and hurt home buyers, a newlywed still in search of her first place with her husband says, "We were married in the Catskills under a tent. We should've kept it up and lived there." Zing! [NYPost]
4) The developers of the Lower East Side's favorite new development, BLUE, actually paid to license Etta James' "At Last" for the BLUE website. Before you go and make fun, how about this bit of news re: the pretentious Sundari Lofts & Tower, which suddenly gets even more pretentious: "For the Web site for Sundari Lofts & Tower (sundarinyc.com), Buttonwood Real Estate commissioned a studio musician to write five songs based on the 'look and feel' of the Madison Avenue condo, according to a company spokesman." Seriously, is the world ending today? [NYPost]
5) A Bay Shore, Long Island lifer (and Food Network TV host) turns 30 and decides to ditch home for Manhattan. Her budget: around $300,000. And here we thought television people made actual money! Said her mom after seeing a less-than-spectacular studio: "I thought that was disrespectful for a real estate agent to show her that." Ah, mothers. [Joyce Cohen/The Hunt]
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