The Port Authority and New York City are very excited that magazine publisher Condé Nast is moving to 1 World Trade Center in a 25-year lease worth $1.9 billion. But it turns out that the road to the deal was paved with obstacles...like a $1 million ventilation shaft. The Post reports, "It was said to be the source of contentious negotiations between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the publishing empire headed by the billionaire Chairman S.I. Newhouse, Jr. At one point, Newhouse and Chief Operating Officer John Bellando, who was handling the negotiations, threatened to walk away from the project." more ›

The publishing industry must be on the rise if Condé Nast can afford to move their offices to 1 World Trade Center. According to the Times, the new skyscraper will cost $1,300 per square foot to build, and they will need to charge $130 per square foot to break even on the building. For comparison, space in your average downtown high-rise goes for $55 per square foot. more ›

Yesterday, Condé Nast sent a memo to its employees alerting them that it was negotiating a move from Times Square to the World Trade Center in 2014. One "insider" told the Post, "I don't think they would have sent the memo if it wasn't a done deal," and many staffers were upset enough to say things like, "It's just depressing. Everybody is pretty bummed out about it. Nobody wants to move down there," and "If I'm still here by then, just shoot me." more ›

As rumored/speculated, the NY Times reports that Condé Nast signed a tentative deal to moves its magazines to Freedom Tower One World Trade Center: "The 1,776-foot-tall skyscraper will be the tallest building in New York when it is completed in 2013. If the deal goes through, employees of Condé Nast — publisher of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Vogue and 15 other magazines — would move in 2014 from their current home in Times Square." more ›

Last week, it was revealed that publisher Conde Nast was mulling moving to One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower). The Observer spoke to one Conde executive who pointed out that at their current building, 4 Times Square, "We're paying below market rent here, and at some point, it goes to market. That's a huge jump. When we moved to Times Square, market rent was nothing like what it will be when our lease expires." Still, other Conde veterans are down on a move to Ground Zero, offering, "The place is a cemetery. It's creepy," and "There's not one person from editors on down who wants to move down there. Even people who could walk there don't want to move there." more ›

Last month, a number of real estate developers were vying to buy a minority stake in One World Trade Center, also known to the patriotic as Freedom Tower, because, as one stated, it "has real international significance, and it’s important for New York." Now the NY Times reports that there may be enough international significance to prompt publisher Conde Nast to move its publications there. more ›

For nearly two months now pooch owners at a Park Slope dog run have lived in fear of the eggs that fall from the windows above. At least three eggings have occurred so far behind the newly-built Novo Condominiums, provoked by nighttime dog barking. The identity of the egg tosser remains secret, but probably not for long. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] An unidentified woman says she was fired from Brides Magazine after showing coworkers the results of her breast augmentation surgery. The woman would speak to the press only on condition of anonymity, and we don't have any photos, so this image is for reference only. She claims that last month, at the request of two female colleagues, she closed the door to her office and proceeded to unbutton her blouse. more ›

On Monday, Condé Nast trimmed the fat by folding four of their magazines: Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Cookie, and Gourmet. Jon Stewart promptly followed that news with a pragmatic solution, consolidating those four titles into Jon Stewart's Pregnant Gourmet Bride. Surely there's an audience who would eat that up! Stewart himself says, "what's going to happen to those modern and/or elegant brides who enjoy high-end cuisine and who have or are having children?" more ›

The Chrysler Building. The Seagram Building. The Apple Store Soho? The Center for Architecture's executive director Rick Bell made a list of 10 great buildings to see in New York City (presumably for tourists) and spoke to the AP about it. The list spans two boroughs, a classic skyscraper, a beloved transportation hub, and retail stores, and some landmarks are deliberately left off (like the Empire State Building which everyone knows about):
• Conde Nast Building, for its "environmentally correct" design by Fox & Fowle.
• Brooklyn Museum, for the modern entry pavilion and plaza, designed by James Polshek, against its Beaux Arts facade; the AP writes the addition makes makes the museum "inviting and accessible, a suitable centerpiece for Brooklyn's burgeoning hipster art scene."
• Prada New York in Soho, designed by Rem Koolhaas, for the way it "displays the merchandise, it doesn't sell it."

The MTA has apparently narrowed down the list of contenders to develop the West Side Rail Yards - and may even ask them to team up together. According to Crain's New York, the MTA favors the developers who have already lined up tenants. Which means the front runners are The Related Companies with News Corporation and Goldman Sachs, Durst & Vornado with Conde Nast, and Tishman-Speyer with Morgan Stanley. But front runners may need to be partners as well! more ›

George Steinbrenner's poor health isn't new news, but a September Conde Nast Portfolio article paints a picture as to how The Boss is really doing. Franz Lidz and former Tampa Tribune sports editor Tom McEwen, an old friend of Steinbrenner's, paid a visit to the Yankees principal owner at his home in Tampa. Once at the Steinbrenner residence, the two have what seems to be a rather quick conversation with Steinbrenner at the door. more ›

Harris Levinson, 34, a video production supervisor for Conde Nast, is paying his brother and two friends $150 each to stand in line at Apple stores in three different states to make sure he gets at least one. more ›

- And some of the most gorgeous New York City photograph we've seen are from Arnold Pouteau - here are his pictures on Flickr more ›

Last month, a young woman was killed by thieves in her boyfriend's Flatbush apartment, and it turned out her boyfriend was a pot dealer, making police wonder if the boyfriend had been the true target. The victim, Tiesha Sargeant, had grown up in Flatbush, went to a Manhattan private school on scholarship, graduated from Wesleyan, and worked at Conde Nast and most recently at CSFB, making her the pride of her family. Her father, Henry, spoke out about the murder to the Daily News, saying he believes that boyfriend Keeve Huggins has not been telling the truth. Sargeant is upset because Huggins was "vague" about the details of the day and Huggins' wavering on taking a plygraph test (the boyfriend had initially agreed to take a test and then backed out; his lawyer now says he will). The Sargeant family also refuses to let Huggins know where Tiesha is buried. Henry Sargeant expressed his family's sorrow:Her mother will never get over that he was dealing drugs out of a home he shared with our daughter. But [Tiesha] loved him, that was clear, and ironically seemed to feel safe with him. She always showed empathy for people who were on the so-called fringes of society. There was something good about her in that way, but it could have been her own undoing. She was the epitome of our life's work as parents, our gem, our yardstick for what we hoped would be the success of our family here. And now we are waiting for them to find who killed her.It's heartbreaking as is the the alleged account of what happened - that the robbers broke into the bedroom, threw Tiesha Sargeant and a sheet over Huggins, and then shot Sargeant. more ›

- And the Howard Beach hate crime victim will sue his attackers more ›

The imposingly slick Conde Nast Building at 4 Times Square has made sure it's ready in case of an emergency, as building management has installed radio repeater responders to allow firefighters communication throughout the building. amNewYork calls the system "rare," as many buildings do not wire their buildings, since firefighters can bring in their own systems. The World Trade Center did have a repeater system, but "on September 11, 2001 either failed, was damaged or was not completely turned on," as per the NY Times. Needless to say, the Fire Department was thrilled, as it hasn't asked buildings to be required to retrofit with new responders (the FDNY says their new, more powerful radios work fine). more ›

Pity the poor editors at Conde Nast, as well as the high-powered lawyers at Skadden Arps. The east-facing views from their offices at 4 Times Square are quickly being blocked by a new Bank of America building going up down the block. Only the last six stories of the building will be spared. While we're trying to sympathize, it's hard not to feel a little schadenfreude when reading quotes like this one in the New York Times: more ›

- A man tried to kidnap a five year old from her school's cafeteria! more ›

Andrew Krucoff, beloved former-Gothamist interviewer, media maven and dark-horse candidate for the Media Bistro editor's job, was just fired from his research job at Conde Nast. His crime? Conde's servers went down last week, and Kru leaked the tech email to Gawker. They report: more ›

-Like ordering fish, going out looking for a new, spectacular wine might not be the thing you want to do at a new bar right after the weekend. New bars are still gaging how much wine, and of what caliber, they will go through on a given week and Rouge ran out of several interesting choices over the weekend. more ›

Legendary Director Roman Polanski (Chinatown, The Pianist), who testified against a Vanity Fair article - via video, of course, to avoid extradition in the US where that sex with a minor issue is still hanging over his head, just won his libel case in a British court. The VF's article claimed Polanski seduced a woman at a NYC restaurant en route to the funeral of his wife Sharon Tate and their unborn child, who were viciously murdered by the Charles Manson clan in 1969. So, if Gothamist gets this right, you flee a country because you're too spineless to face justice, only to seek it once a magazine dares to run some gossip - good to know that Polanski’s inability to self-examine himself is almost laughable. more ›

: her stepfather was Alexander Liberman, the magazine genius who served as editorial director of Conde Nast for decades. Being pretty much devoid of panache ourselves, we are alternately intrigued and repulsed by people who devote significant time and energy to crafting fashionable, larger-than-life selves. What is it like to take style so seriously? Scarier, what are these people of the perfect haircuts and obsession with coverlines like in their downtime—say, with their children? more ›

The Hollywood Reporter says that Meryl Streep will be playing the Anna Wintour-inspired devilish boss in the movie of The Devil Wears Prada. Streep has already played another Conde Nast employee, New Yorker writer Susan Orlean, in Adaptation, so we can't wait until she plays Graydon Carter or Jeff Jarvis next (hey, she played a rabbi in Angels in America - she can probably do it!). We think that someone like Lara Flynn Boyle, with aging makeup, would be more physically like Wintour, but these are the movies and Streep can play insane well (see Manchurian Candidate, She-Devil, and Death Becomes Her). Streep does have experience playing people in journalism - she was a thinly veiled Nora Ephron (who wrote for Esquire) in Heartburn. more ›

Clear Channel said it was "happy to help to help Project Billobard get their message to the more than 1.5 million people who pass through Times Square each day." To see some of the 1.5 million, check out these Earth Cams of Times Square. more ›

The debate over the West Side stadium plan for the Jets is ongoing. If it gets built, there will most likely be a corporate name slapped onto it. With so many companies calling the New York Region home, and what's sure to be a high-profile stadium, the naming rights for it could be quite costly. A March article from Bloomberg had fees in range of $7-10 million per year. Over 30 years, the naming fees could amount to $300 while the stadium itself would cost $800 million. The money obviously isn't upfront, but it would certainly help the bottom line of Jets owner Woody Johnson and provide a nice stream of revenue, assuming the sponsor doesn't go bankrupt. more ›