Actual reader answers to Tuesday's actual reader questions below. If you've got more answers, questions, or sweet, sweet digital photographs, send 'em to tips@curbed.com?or drop a note in the comments below.
Rendering by Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams/ copyright Roman and Williams
1) Nolita: The scoop on the "huge swath of Plywood on Elizabeth @ Prince," courtesy our friends at Wired New York: "Brand new luxury condominium located on NoLita's most prominent corner" (rendering above; reality here) .Retail on the ground floor, possession in fall '07. (BONUS: Scorsese used to sniff the bakery, La Rosa, that occupied the space.)
2) Midtown West: First, a correction?Extell, not Ratner, bought the building encasing the former Hard Rock on 57th. The developer snapped up the property, its neighbor, and a handful of air rights for a reported $67 million last summer. Then, it crushed the dreams of a bunch of Broadway dancers. Next up, a 'a very tall, mid-block, condominium tower.'
3) Boerum Hill: Regarding the big windowless box on Smith and Wycoff, a commenter sums it up thusly: "The former Rent-a-Center site was taken over by NYC Transit to constuct a new signal tower for the F an G lines. The original plan, as I understood it, was for the work to be completed, with most the equipment placed underground, and then for the store front to be rerented. Really not sure what the plan is now, but that cinder-block monstrosity is horrific and a blight on the vibrant Smith Street corridor."
4) Astoria: Finally, on 32nd Street and 35th Ave, "[t]he permits say office space," says a local. "Not sure if anyone would want a residential unit up close to the train."
· Rumblings & Bumblings: Hard Rock and Plywood [Curbed]