1) According to their real estate broker Bill Butler, Chumley's owners are determined to reopen the historic restaurant and are close to signing a contract to buy the whole building, which was for sale before the building collapsed. But what of the regulars who will not be able to enjoy the historical bar for months during renovation? Village resident Greg Garcia has an idea, saying they probably went "back to New Jersey." [Street Level/Jake Mooney]
2) It's been one year since the Greenpoint Terminal Market mysteriously went up in flames. The fire was the City's biggest in 10 years, and since then there has been no development activity on the site. One time suspect Leszek Kuczera is currently completing a six month rehab stint for alcohol, but is no longer considered a suspect. [Jotham Sederstron/NY Daily News]
3) Ever wonder just who is responsible for creating the Best Places to Live list? Didn't think so. But if you have, the answer is Bert Sperling, a Brooklyn born former Navy brat who moved around so much that he became determined to find the greatest city to live. Various magazines hire Sperling to create a specific list (Most Romantic, Healthiest for Women) and his site gets 20,000 visitors a day. But a city may not want to wind up as Bert's #1; Charlottesville, Va made it to the top in 2004 and quickly saw its median housing price and cost of living double. [The Guy Who Picks the Best Places to Live/Alina Tugend]
4) A Jehovah's Witnesses consolidation plan has real estate developers salivating over 6 Brooklyn Heights buildings that are about to be put on the market. Included in the lot is the historic Standish Arms Hotel building, which had been used to house followers. [Brooklyn Heights Report/Jake Mooney]
5) Author Robert Caro offers a rebuttal to the new batch of Robert Moses revisionists who sponsored this years historical retrospective of New York's Master Builder. Caro, who believes his Pulitzer prize winning novel The Power Broker still speaks for itself and says, "we don't need a new Robert Moses because he ignored the values of New York." [A Tale of Two Cities/Michael Powell]