Five Guys is coming to our area

Rumblings of a Shake Shack — but Five Guys is a Better Bet

Food, , , , ,
Five Guys is coming to our area
Rumblings of a Shake Shack, but Five Guys will be here first.

With the closing of Applebee’s this year, there has been a lot of speculation as to what new businesses will take over the newly and increasingly vacated spaces in the shadow of the new Goldman Sachs building.

Many have gone out on a limb to say that Danny Meyer of Shake Shack fame is setting his eyes on a downtown location. This would be great if confirmation of the move wasn’t veiled in so much secrecy. NY Eater has had it’s hand on the pulse of this alleged burger movement Downtown. Not to be overdone with the burgers, BLT is planning on opening their own Bar and Grill within The W this summer as well.

With all the hoopla surrounding the burger joint’s new arrival — I’m wondering why no one is touting another reputable burger institution, also setting it’s roots by our neighborhood.

Five Guys is set to open up on Fulton street shortly — which is a way more exciting newcomer for the following reasons:

1. Tourists + Lines for burgers = Hell.
Can you imagine the ruckus that the lines for Shake Shack would be like? For the fact that Shake Shack’s official website highlights waiting on line as part of the burger experience is sort of off putting. Why not show juicy burgers first?!

2. Five Guys has better fries.
Hands down. Plus the cost of a burger and fries from Five Guys would be half as much as a burger at PJ Clarke’s which requires us to BYOF* or else be left with a lonely hamburger.

3. Unlimited Toppings.
The topic choices at Five Guys is way more impressive than Shake Shack.

4.  Free peanuts.
Hey, in this crazy economy — if a burger joint is going to make you wait for a burger, being on a line won’t be the the only reward at Five Guys. Free peanuts for all who can ingest them.

To be fair — Shake Shack has ridiculously good custard, not sure I would welcome the lines, traffic and hoopla into our neighborhood for it. I was always glad to know that craziness existed far away from home. If the rumor becomes fact, we’ll just have to wait and see what the net effect will be.

Governors Island Concert Series

Free Governors Island Shows All Summer

Arts, , , , ,
Governors Island Concert Series
Free concerts? We're there! (photo courtesy of She&Him.com)

You know what’s awesome? Free concerts. What’s even better? Free concerts on Governors Island, in the middle of the beautiful (but let’s face it, unswimmable) Hudson River. And what’s even better than that? Free ferry transport to the shows so you don’t have to swim across the Hudson (you can if you want to, of course — that’s your prerogative).

You’ll get everything described above thanks to this summer’s Converse-sponsored Gone to Governors live music series — held, as always, on the Beach at Governors Island — and kicking off on June 5 with a performance by alt-rock darlings Yeasayer. Things get even better from there, with a lineup that features an array of musical talent, from the indie-rock awesomeness of She & Him (featuring actress Zooey Deschanel) to the psychedelic stylings of Dr. Dog.

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The Hudson

2010 House of the Year Comes to World Financial Plaza

What's Happening, , , ,
The Hudson
This pre-fab home is pretty fab.

The Hudson, an eco-friendly prefabricated home developed by Country Living Magazine in conjunction with design-building company New World Home, will be on display at the World Financial Center (quite appropriately, on the banks of the Hudson River) from June 4 through June 17… before moving on to its permanent address in Vernon, New Jersey.

Constructed in a factory in just 100 days, the two-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot country cottage boasts fireplaces, gargantuan windows, a 1,100-square-foot wraparound porch, and a stylish and “green” interior decoration courtesy of New York designer Katie Ridder. Comprised of six modular pieces, it’s also super easy to put together — assuming you own a 100-ton crane.

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Fed up with ineptitude, D.Patz will let heads roll this summer.

David Paterson Appoints Anthony Notaro to BPC Authority

Politics, , , ,
Governor give community leader the nod.
Governor gives community leader the nod.

The Battery Park City Authority board is getting some fresh blood. Gov. David Paterson has appointed community leader Anthony Notaro to the seven-member board that manages BPC’s 92 acres and its $29 million annual budget.

Because Notaro is a longtime resident with deep ties to Battery Park City — he helped found the Certified Emergency Response Team, is president of the First Precinct Community Council AND is a Community Board 1 member — his presence on the board will give BPC residents a stronger say in decisions that affect their neighborhood.

In a statement to the press, State Sen. Daniel Squadron, who championed Notaro for the role, said: “The Battery Park City community has advocated for years to add more residents to the BPCA board. Anthony will bring an important perspective to help the board better understand the particular needs and concerns of Battery Park City residents.”

Now let’s just hope Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t dissolve the Authority altogether, and everything will be just peachy.

World Trade Center PATH

World Trade Center PATH Station Has a Bad Case of Gas

News, , , ,
World Trade Center PATH
Whew! You do not want to go in there! (photo courtesy of hudsoncity.net)

To our knowledge, the PATH trains at World Trade Center are not capable of flatulence. But that certainly didn’t stop the station from reeking of gas this morning.

Four worker had to be treated for minor injuries when smoke from the welding they were doing triggered an automatic fire extinguisher in the station’s signal room, releasing halon gas into the station. The Fire Department of New York, which was on the scene to investigate, told The New York Times that none of the injuries were serious and may have occurred in the workers’ scramble to flee the scene.

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BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon Looking to Sell 1 Wall Street

Real Estate, , , , , ,
BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon wants to say bye-bye to Wall St. (photo courtesy of Associated Press)

Anyone in the market for a giant office building with the prestigious address of 1 Wall Street? If so, you may be in luck.

The Bank of New York Mellon is looking to sell its headquarters, a 52-story limestone edifice on the corner of Broadway and Wall Street, and head for greener pastures. Bank spokesman Jeep Bryant tells Bloomberg Businessweek that BNY Mellon sent a request to New York landlords for about 450,000 square feet of space, and is seeking an office that is more in line with the corporation’s needs. “We are looking for improved client meeting space and something that can accommodate state-of-the-art technology,” he says.

With the uncertainty of last year’s credit concerns in the rear-view, BNY Mellon joins fellow banks Morgan Stanley and UBS AG in the hunt for office-space upgrades. And it seems banks are not alone in their optimism that the economy is turning around. According to broker CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., tenants had signed leases for 6.75 million square feet of office space through the first four months of this year… almost double the amount for the same period in 2009. In addition, commercial property sales are picking up, having tripled in the first quarter alone.

So, yeah, BNY Mellon’s decision to move on from 1 Wall Street sounds like a solid one… and (hopefully) an omen that the economy is moving on as well.

Action Center to End World Hunger

NYC Students Get an Education in World Hunger

News, Schools, , , ,
Action Center to End World Hunger
Kids are hungry for knowledge about hunger epidemics.

In the battle against global hunger, it never hurts to have some young blood on your side… and the Action Center to End World Hunger, the educational and global engagement arm of Mercy Corps, is well aware of this fact.

Downtown Express reports that since opening offices in Lower Manhattan in 2008, the Center has forged strong partnerships with P.S. 89, the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Erwin High School, and Stuyvesant High School, holding educational workshops for the students and encouraging them to take a more active role in the ongoing quest to end crippling food shortages.

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Riverhouse

Condo Owners Seeing Red Over Building’s Alleged Lack of Green

Real Estate, ,
Riverhouse
Riverhouse tenants want a double serving of green.

Condo owners in Battery Park City’s high-end Riverhouse building have filed a lawsuit seeking a whole lot of green — $1.5 million worth, to be exact — because they contend their supposedly eco-friendly building isn’t environmentally friendly enough.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Steven Gidumal and Allison Keeley — who paid $4.2 million for their three-bedroom, three-bath condo in 2008 –  filed a complaint with the New York Supreme Court in May, claiming that the building was “marketed as being on the cutting edge of ‘green’ technology” but failed to deliver an acceptably eco-friendly air filtration system and heating unit.

The Sheldrake Organization, which oversaw development of the building until it was ousted in a power struggle in January, and Centurion Real Estate Partners, which currently controls Riverhouse, are named as defendants in the suit. However, Michael Abreu, a Sheldrake executive vice president, claims the suit is groundless. The “complaint about the lack of heat has no bearing on the green and sustainable features of the building,” he says.

Despite the lawsuit, Riverhouse is still seeking to obtain LEED gold certification, the second highest of four levels of eco-friendliness, from the U.S. Green Building Council. Winning such a stamp of approval requires meeting an array of environmental standards, including energy efficiency and air quality, and would certainly make the building more attractive to buyers. Not that it needs much help in that department: Leonard DiCaprio and Tyra Banks are already tenants.

James Webb Telescope

Battery Park Gets Its Own Space Telescope… for a Week

News, What's Happening, , ,
James Webb Telescope
Meet the James Webb Telescope, the successor to Hubble (photo courtesy of NASA).

Even if you weren’t one of those kids who grew up with a passion for assembling models, chances are you’ll appreciate the 80-foot-long, 40-foot-tall, 40-foot-wide, 12,000-pound model of the James Webb Telescope, on display in Battery Park now through June 6 as part of the World Science Festival.

According to FOX News, contractor Northrop Grumman designed the model, which is roughly the size of a tennis court and represents a full-scale rendering of the functional telescope/satellite that will be launched into space in 2014. To give you a sense of just how big this thing is, it took two trucks to ship the parts to New York and a team of 12 workers four days to assemble. So it requires just a bit more work than your average model-in-a-box.

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One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center Sparks Bidding War

Real Estate, , , ,
One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center is in the works (photo courtesy of Gothamist).

Things are heating up in the bid to buy into the as-yet-unfinished One World Trade Center, aka Freedom Tower, a 1,776-foot tower (by the way, didn’t something important in our nation’s history happen in 1776?) that will add 2.6 million square feet of office space to Ground Zero. When the current builder, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, opened up a bidding competition in January, six of the United States’ biggest developers threw their hats in the ring. But according to The Wall Street Journal, the recent dropout of Boston Properties Inc. means that only two finalists remain.

On one side of this epic face-off is the family-run Durst Organization, which has specialized in Midtown apartment and office buildings for the better part of a century and most recently completed the Bank of America Tower in Bryant Park. On the other side is Related Cos., a gargantuan international developer responsible for building such mammoth edifices as Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center.

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