1) Price protection guarantees, or "PriceChopper insurance" as we like to call it, has replaced refrigerated lobby storage as the new development must-have. My, how times have changed! Williamsburg's SteelWorks Lofts and Cleremont Greene in Fort Greene were previously reported to be offering hesitant buyers protection if prices plunge before closing, but the list now includes projects such as One Sunset Park, Harlem's Fitzgerald, 80 Metropolitan in the Burg and West Chelsea's +Art, which never met a gimmick it didn't like. [Big Deal/'Balm for Nervous Buyers']
2) A wild scene inside the posh Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Saturday afternoon, when an armed robber was tackled by a security guard in the lobby's jewelry store. The guard was shot under his left armpit but is OK, and the robber was apprehended. Adding some craziness, Secret Service agents protecting the president of Pakistan (who was staying at a hotel nearby) responded when they heard the shots. ['Guard Shot During Robbery Attempt at Waldorf']
3) Why did mortgage rates rise after the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate? How the heck should we know? Just ask Bob Tedechi, who writes that while rates may seem like a roller coaster that dips and rises without rhyme or reason, there is a method to the madness. Of if you're shy, just read the guy's article. ['How Rates are Set']
4) A married couple relocates to New York from Prague with a rental budget of $2,000 per month, which they quickly realize won't get them very far in your Midtowns and your Chelseas. So they focus on Astoria, which they read about online ("Comments about the neighborhood seemed overwhelmingly positive"), and snag a top-floor 1BR apartment in a walk-up building on 35th Street. [The Hunt/'A Touch of Europe in Astoria, Queens']
5) The General Motors Building will probably be named something else soon enough, but reminders of the automotive industry persist in the area around the intersection of Broadway and 57th Street, which used to be the "crossroads of American internal combustion." [Streetscapes/57th Street and Broadway]
6) Some residents of City Island, the "Nantucket of New York," are protesting the city's design for the new bridge that will replace the decaying City Island Bridge, which connects the small nautical community to the Bronx mainland. Buildings on City Island can't be higher than three stories, but the new bridge has a 150-foot tower. Kinda has a Zakim Bridge thing going on, doesn't it? [The City/City Island]
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