1) Now that he's set up nicely at 15 Central Park West, Sting is once again ready to try and unload his 2nd/3rd-floor duplex at the Brentmore a few blocks north (Billy Joel's old pad). It had been listed in 2006 for $24 million and then $20 million, and now, adjusted for the luxury market meltdown, it's asking...$26 million. Okey dokey. [Big Deal/'Sting Sheds Spare Duplex']
2) Though 25% fewer people took the real estate sales agent exam in December when compared to last year, there are still plenty of folks hitching their wagons to this real estate thing. The Times asks them what the hell they're thinking. Says one, "I can gain experience now, cut my teeth in this kind of market, and when there's an upswing, I can be an established agent." ['The Optimists' Club']
3) A faltering Icelandic businessman who bought an apartment at Ian Schrager's 50 Gramercy Park North for $10 million and then bought the duplex penthouse above it for $14 million in cash is ready to, um, "divest." He's listing the penthouse for $25 million. Why $25 million? Well: "The 4,235-square-foot penthouse had been priced to be competitive with a slightly smaller penthouse built by Julian Schnabel, the artist, in a pink extension atop a building known as the Palazzo Chupi at 360 West 11th Street in the Village." [Big Deal/'The Big Guns Unload']
4) What is with all the underground tunnels stories lately? Who cares! The photos are always cool. Check out what Brooklyn tunnel expert Bob Diamond wants to do now: "Behind a wall in the tunnel, near Atlantic Avenue and Hicks Street, he believes, there is a steam locomotive lying on its side like an abandoned toy train, in 'pristine condition, a virtual time capsule.' And he wants to dig it up." [The City/The Tunnel Rats of Atlantic Avenue]
5) Canco Lofts, the freaking huge Jersey City condo conversion located amidst a patchwork of industrial buildings, has snared another young couple willing to buy without seeing a finished product. But the amperage! "Though their apartment was supposed to include stackable washer and dryer units, at the walk-through they found a single combined unit, apparently because there was too little amperage for separate ones." Scandal. [The Hunt/'A New Marriage and a New Jersey City Condo for Apartment Hunters']
6) Are there traces of Hell's Kitchen's gritty past still visible today? Yes, if you take black-and-white photographs of the backyard as Rudy's during Fleet Week. [The City/'Hell's Kitchen, Still Open for Business']
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