[Photo via 24gotham/Flickr]
1) As you've probably heard, a fire broke out at the Deutsche Bank building at ground zero, killing two Soho firefighters. The building, which was damaged on 9/11, is in the process of being demolished to make way for a new office tower. Back in May, a 15-foot section of steel pipe fell from the building and pierced the roof of a nearby fire station, injuring two. [NYT]
2) It's the question that financially-ruined developers from Miami to Malibu demand an answer to: If housing prices are crumbling everywhere else in the country, why are New York prices still going up? The Times' Teri Karush Rogers has a hypothesis: Wall Street bonus money and too many people moving to the city. Will the credit crunch put a stop to all this? We. Just. Don't. Know. [NYT]
3) Sex and the City devotees will tell you that 40 is the new 30, and Manhattan real estate brokers will swear up and down that 50 is the new 30. That's because it now takes $50 million to snare a trophy property, with the Harkness Mansion sale kicking off the madness and Bronfman cementing it. Alone, 40 takes a sip of merlot and silently weeps. [Josh Barbanel/Big Deal]
4) When two Spanish teachers from Milwaukee and The Onion's office manager team up to find a $3,000 three-bedroom Brooklyn rental, there's heartbreak and frustration along the way, including a meltdown over a broker fee (we've all been there). The end result, as always, is upping your budget to get something you truly want. For them, it's a 1,700-square-foot place in Clinton Hill. [Joyce Cohen/The Hunt]
5) Sign of the Apocalypse #2,341: An exclusive, trendy ping pong club is coming to Tribeca. Williamsburg, how did you drop the ball on this one? Ew, pun. [The City: Tribeca]