1) The leading concrete testing company in the New York area, Testwell Laboratories, is under investigation for failing to perform some tests and falsifying others on some major construction projects, including the Freedom Tower and the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees and the Port Authority both say the concrete used for their projects is sound and poses no safety threat, but yikes! Investigators took 200 boxes of documents and computers from a pair of Testwell offices, as well as from a trailer at Yankee Stadium. ['Company Hired to Test Concrete Faces Scrutiny']
2) The condo conversion of the Apthorp is a go, and when the 163 apartments in the Astor-built complex at Broadway and West 79th Street (right) hit the market, they will average about $3,000/sqft, more than the initial offering at 15 Central Park West. The average apartment price will be about $6.5 million, and current Apthorp tenants are not getting any insider deals, though they do have an early crack at any apartment in the building they want. Sales open to the general public in the fall. It's Manhattan's second-most-expensive condo conversion, behind Manhattan House. [Big Deal/Condos at Pedigree Prices]
3) Rumors of Hoboken's demise have been greatly exaggerated: "Average sales prices are still increasing for downtown condominiums in Hoboken, although most asking prices are open to negotiation these days, as several developers acknowledged in interviews. Developers say that their new buildings are still selling out, if somewhat slower than in the past." Take that, supposed down market! ['Hoboken Weathers the Market']
4) If you want to know how the rest of the country lives, look to Staten Island, where income and homeownership figures are similar to those icky other places. And in Staten Island, foreclosures are a "grimly familiar tale." ['Fighting Foreclosure on Staten Island']
5) An old-fashioned bidding war in Morningside Heights? It happened at 54 Morningside Drive, when a broker listed a three-bedroom apartment at $799,000, not knowing that a similar apartment on the same floor had recently sold for $900,000. After a bajillion people showed up, the sellers went "best and final," and it sold for nearly $1 million. Why so much interest? Simple. "The building was one of only a few on Morningside Drive not owned by Columbia University." [Big Deal: A Fortunate Mistake]
6) As a way to thwart encroaching development, some Upper East Siders are trying to convince the Landmarks Preservation Commission extend the Carnegie Hill Historic District to East 93rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, because the Marx Brothers grew up on the bloc, at 179 East 93rd Street. Sneaky and smart, those UESers. [The City/Carnegie Hill]
7) All you Uptowners terrorized by the rock-breaking construction clatter at One Bennett Park are shit out of luck. "There’s no physical way of actually covering the site or soundproofing the site," says the superintendent at the site. So for a while longer, Overlook Terrace will still be Overshook Terrace, har. [The City/Washington Heights]
8) The latest quality-of-life complaint coming out of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village is kind of funny to picture: runaway golf carts!!! But one kid did get injured (though he may have just run into one), so we'll let the old-timers vent a little. [The City/PCVST]
9) Speaking of Hoboken?and we are always speaking of Hoboken?a young couple sets out to buy a condo in the 'hood for around $600,000, thinking there were bargains to be had. Not so much, so they hit up old reliable Jersey City, and eventually nabbed a 2BR, 2BA 1,200-square-foot apartment at 700 Grove for "just over $600,000." [The Hunt]
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