Cash Still King at 740 Park (For Most)

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Elise Knutsen of the New York Observer reports that the paper has received a letter from Brown Harris Stevens,the management company for 740 Park Avenue, firmly denying a source’s contention last week that it or the building’s board had any knowledge that one of BHS’s owners, Kent Swig , had borrowed against his 740 apartment (now occuppied by his estranged wife, the former Elizabeth Macklowe ). “The suggestion that Brown Harris Stevens would somehow violate the rules of a building it manages, and thus its fiduciary duties, in order to accommodate a principal is absolutely untrue and very damaging to Brown Harris Stevens’ nearly 140 year old sterling reputation,” the firm wrote, leaving no doubt it feels itself innocent. As the loan document above from August 1997 indicates, the rules of the building were violated, however, quite long ago, when 845 shares of the co-op corporation stock and the Swigs’ proprietary lease were pledged as collateral Continue reading →

Guess Again at 740 Park

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Yesterday, The New York Observer named several 740 Park households that were hit by the headwinds of economic distress in recent years. Today, there’s the first new listing in a long time at the storied tower, and none of the Observered names are involved. Computer gaming mogul Gregory Fischbach and wife Linda , a former fashion magazine editrix, have listed the former Thelma Chrysler Foy jewelbox (above) on the 17th floor of the trophy building, according to the New York Post, which hints that it’s a so-called pocket listing–i.e. Continue reading →

Is it Arborcide?

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Gripepad has a certain nostalgia for its old home on the rim of Washington Square Park, so it often follows events there. Now, Washington Square Park Blog reports a mysterious rash of tree deaths there (the one above was photographed yesterday), even as the never-ending renovation of the park continues. What–or who–is killing the trees Continue reading →

“No House Too Big”

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Blairsden, the 62,000 square foot 38-room Peapack, New Jersey mansion built by C. Ledyard Blair, heir to the Union Pacific fortune and a former resident of 740 Park, is on the market. Built in about 1900 at a cost of $2 million, it’s also a relative bargain at $4.9 million , even if it now sits on 34 acres compared to its original 423 acres. Continue reading →

Hoarse for Horses

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The other day, an anti-carriage-horse protester tried to get me to sign a petition outside the Plaza. When I said I like the Central Park carriage horses, she followed me up the block screaming. In an editorial today , the New York Times reveals that the American Girl store was recently invaded by protesters decrying a carriage ride promotion; they caused it to be cancelled Continue reading →

American Tabloid

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Today’s New York Times Op-Ed page offers a surprising and compelling defense of tabloid journalism by Ryan Linkof , a history lecturer at USC, especially in view of the undisguised glee Times writers have revealed in most of its coverage of the Murdoch-News of the World Affair–and the newspaper’s schizophrenia about tabloid-type stories. Continue reading →

Christy: The West Coast “stripped bare” in new L.A. expose.

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Columnist George Christy of the Beverly Hills Courier dedicates most of his column today to a preview of Unreal Estate–even giving it top billing over the premiere of the last Harry Potter movie. “We’ve always appreciated and admired Michael’s literary oeuvre, and with Unreal Estate he’ll have a field day stripping bare the glamorous West Coast,” writes Christy, “from Beverly Hills to Bel-Air, Holmby Hills, Beverly Park, etc….Michael’s never been a lap dog of his subjects. Continue reading →