Results tagged “barrydiller”

What is it about Frank Gehry? When The Boston Globe reported this week that the architect (and a construction firm) is being sued by MIT, news organizations from Kansas City to Dublin reported the story. Does Gehry have a building in KC, too? Apparently, not, but he raised controversy there over an arena bid. Sound familiar?! The university filed a negligence and breach of contract suit, alleging design flaws in the $300 million Stata Center...

Mayor Bloomberg has been in Sun Valley, Idaho, for the annual Allen & Company conference (it's where media movers and shakers wheel and deal). And Governor Spitzer snarked, "I hear the congestion in Sun Valley is tougher than the congestion in Manhattan right now," referring to the critical juncture the Mayor's congestion pricing program faces in Albany.

This Memorial Day weekend offers the most 2007 weddings so far in the NY Times' Weddings & Celebrations section: A whopping 43 weddings! But, of all the announcements, our favorite is the one of Thea Spyer and Edith Windsor. Spyer, a 75-year-old psychologist in Manhattan, and Windsor, a 77-year-old retired computer systems analyst for IBM, were married in Toronto earlier this week, but actually met decades ago.

Dr. Spyer and Ms. Windsor met in 1965 in New York at Portofino, a restaurant in the West Village.

Continue reading "Times Weddings Highlights: 42 Years in the Making"

The NY Times has a glimmering review of Frank Gehry’s first New York structure to actually get built. Architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff calls the IAC building, the headquarters for Barry Diller's media empire, “elegant” and “a much-needed touch of lightness” to the city’s skyline. Gehry’s latest, writes Ouroussoff, reflects how developers are paying closer attention to design.

The NY Times is reporting that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner will cut the size of the project by 6-8%. How? By reducing the amount of market-rate housing. And also from the Times:

"[Ratner's company] Forest City is also considering reducing the height of the project’s tallest tower, which is known as Miss Brooklyn, to get it under the height of the borough’s tallest building, the nearby Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower, according to real estate executives."

Interesting, given that a lot of focus has been on what impact the project will have on the Brooklyn skyline. After the Atlantic Yards public hearing, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz had suggested the project could be scaled down. A revised plan is supposed to be announced later this month. The article notes that architect Frank Gehry has "objected to any changes in his design for Miss Brooklyn." Heh! Frank Gehry, welcome to building in the city (building for Barry Diller doesn't quite count) - you hand over your designs, they will get the city treatment.

Back in 2003 when the plans for Barry Diller's new headquarters on the West Side, designed by the over-exposed Frank Gehry, first appeared we were ambivalent. While we were relieved that it wasn't going to be clad in titanium á la Bilbao we were still a little apprehensive about the way the building would actually look. So many absurd curves just seemed like asking for trouble in an office building. But having walked by the quickly completing project a few times we're glad that Diller took the risk. At least as far as its exterior, it really is turning into an interesting and noteworthy building. Look at how nicely it reflects and compliments the sky! We still wonder how Gehry's buildings will age long-term though. What do you think of the new building?

Even though construction has been quietly progressing for the last month, today was the official groundbreaking for the High Line Park. Just about every local politician was there to make a little speech about the revitalization of the area, including Senators Clinton and Schumer, Mayor Bloomberg, and City Council Speaker Quinn. A requisite smatter of celebrities also showed up-- Barry Diller and his wife Diane Von Furstenberg, Kevin Bacon, and Ed Norton all stood on the dais during the speeches. Everyone was wearing green commemorative hard hats with the Michael Defeo flower on the front. The big moment was a ceremonial "rail lifting"-- although to tell the truth, the machine seemed to be doing most of the work while the politicos stood around for the cameras.

- A judge puts an injunction on a possible transit workers strike - not that it'll necessarily stop 'em

Just what the world was waiting for! The NY Times reports that Arianna Huffington is starting a celebrity group blog with people like "Walter Cronkite, David Mamet, Nora Ephron, Warren Beatty, James Fallows, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Diane Keaton, Norman Mailer and Mortimer B. Zuckerman." Huh. Did Huffington read the Businessweek article about blogs changing business and decide, "It's on"? It'll be called Huffington Post, the NY Times article positions it as a competitor to The Drudge Report, but it seems less that than a celebrity vanity project like, oh, we don't know...maybe like an episode of The Love Boat with more street cred and an ability for readers to comments. Huffington says it's "an affirmation of [blogs'/the blogosphere's] success and will only enrich and strengthen its impact on the national conversation," but Sure, it'll be cool to read what Walter Cronkite thinks, but we fear he'll get bogged down with despamming the system. And don't get us started on wondering if certain celebrities are actually posting or making a minion post for them.

The NY Times on the announcement and Curbed with the LMDC press release. Learn more about Gehry from this Guggenheim show. And Chicago has lots of Gehry in the heart of the city, with Millennium Park; Chicaogist on Frank Gehry

Check out our other Gothamist sections: Ask (for advice), Arts & Events, Sports, and Weather. And the week in full.

You know, even though the fall is our favorite month, Gothamist never looked forward to the end of summer, and thanks to the hell on wheels production of the Republican National Convention, we're hoping that construction on our time-machine keeps progressing. There was yesterday's Daily News report that some extreme/fringe protest groups were devising ways to divert police and bomb-sniffing dogs with "anarchist" tactics, like lacing things with ammonium nitrate and forcing the evacuation of Madison Square Garden. Police Commissioner Kelly freaked out, "Where is the legitimate protest in trying to endanger the public?" Mayor Bloomberg responded to the news by saying, "If people want to come here and protest, we also want to accommodate them, but nobody is going to take away the rights of our citizens to go about their business, go to school, go to work." Gothamist agrees, but we find it funny, because a lot of businesses near Madison Square Garden are going to be closed, because there's so much chaos expected. The management company of Penn South, a co-op near MSG, is telling residents to stock up on food and water, making the comparison of the convention to a hurricane apt. Even though we don't live near MSG, should we assume our landlord doesn't love us, since he doesn't give us memos like that one?

Deborah Schoeneman, New York Magazine

Pulling himself away from becoming a referee for NY's Funniest Home Videos, Choire Sicha gives a thorough look at the changing face of the West Chelsea in the Observer, as the High Line, the 1.5 mile elevated track that runs from Gansevoort to 34th Street along 10th Avenue, looks like it will be preserved as a park. The continuing the gentrification of the formerly gritty neighborhood into "A DESTINATION" is bolstered by the future Frank Gehry designed headquarters for Barry Diller. Gehry and Diller's outsize personality prompt Choire to suggest we run to our bookies and Gothamist will put our money on Barry - he's way more scary.

Robert DeNiro's future TriBeCa hotel will open in 2005. The six-story luxury hotel, at Greenwich and North Moore, is partially funded by the state's Liberty Bonds, which also funded Barry Diller's West Chelsea headquarters. The design was approved by the Landmarks Commission, but as if there was any doubt - it looks like everything else in that neighborhood. Ten, fifteen years ago, this would have been more exciting, but now it seems to be average in that typical upscale/downtown/new development way. Yes, it's supposed to fit in...but it could still have a little more oomph. Gothamist does like what we're hearing about the working wooden shutters and wraparound steel canopy but we can't help hoping David Rockwell is saving the magic for the interiors.

It turns out that Barry Diller's new $138 million West Chelsea headquarters will be partly funded by the city's Liberty Bonds, which were created to help the city recover from September 11. Diller's InterActiveCorp won approval for $80 million of bonds, aided by promises of job generation. The 30 year-bonds have lower interest rates than banks, saving millions in interest payments and other taxes. This does not surprise us, as, of course, the man behind the Movie of the Week would be smart enough to save some money on his new headquarters.

So 'Joe Millionaire' Is Fox's Biggest Hit. It always seems so shocking that the Fox Network is able to pull out wins, even almost 20 years of existence. The Married with Children reunion made me realize that I've grown up seeing Fox evolve. It was wild and crazy in the early days, with A Current Affair and Tracey Ullman Show and Married with Children. And it was shocking when Fox decided to pit The Simpsons against NBC's Cosby Show on Thursdays at 8PM - everyone thought The Simpsons would die, but it was actually a brilliant counter-programming move, people were reminded of when CBS decided to move Survivor opposite Friends. What it did was bring more viewers to network viewing overall, with less cannibalization than thought, and forced the shows' creators to make their shows smarter. That strange mix of gutsiness, moxie, and smarts are why Fox is the quintessential challenger brand. Sure, they have Celebrity Boxing but they also have 24. The show that followed The Cosby Show on Thursday was Family Ties. That wily media mogul Barry Diller was the one who led Fox in the early days. Barry's other innovation: basically inventing the movie of the week concept while at ABC.