1) Ladies and gentlemen, once and for all, the history of Nolita's 11 Spring Street (above; photo from Flickr user niznoz). A history that includes, and you would have expected nothing less, "primitive but ingenious gadgets." And this, from the new owners: "We’re sensitive to the street-art issue.” Condo construction begins in a month; three units. [Steven Kurutz/"Ghosts Amid the Graffiti"]
2) Kent Swig knows how to get market-rate tenants out of his pricey condo conversions. It's not about physical harassment (looking at you, Benjamin Shaoul), it's about mental harassment. Over at the Sheffield on the Upper West Side, redubbed the Sheffield57 and switching over to condos, the 80 remaining tenants are switching floors, but not moving. That's because the building is being renumbered, skipping seven floors to magically make it 57 stories tall. Isn't cruel and unusual punishment outlawed by the Constitution? [Josh Barbanel/Big Deal]
3) What happens when one of the complexes in the Co-Op Village on the LES jacks up the monthly parking fee 50%? People call for blood, of course. Said a resident: “We’re not living on Park Avenue and we don’t want to pay Park Avenue prices.” Did we mention that, after the hike, parking still only costs $150? Apparently she hasn't been to Park Avenue since 1980. [Steven Kurutz/"The Proletariat and the Parking Lot"]
4) It's the kind of story written 10,000 times over in New York magazine: Writers/West Village lifers hit mid-30s, suddenly realize their Manhattan one-bedroom apartment isn't cutting it and head to Brooklyn to find something bigger. Add a dash of real estate naiveté, a pinch of renovation fears and boom: you've got yourself a Park Slope duplex. [Joyce Cohen/The Hunt]
5) Aging Upper East Side socialite Carolyn Roehm is not afraid to ask the probing questions: “How can you live on Fifth Avenue and have wire hangers?” For this and about a dozen more amazing quotes, including one great diss of 740 Park scribe Michael Gross, do read on. [Dan Shaw/Habitats]
6) CBGB & OMFUG: 1973-2006. [Ben Sisario/"CBGB Brings Down the Curtain..."]