After buying the old NY Times Building on West 43rd Street for $525 million in 2007, developer Lev Leviev hoped to renovate it and market it as a "first-class office building." But "Then the market collapsed. Layoffs prevailed." Now, the NY Times reports, "Now Mr. Leviev is back with a partner and a new plan to turn the 15-story building, where printing presses once churned out newspapers, into a glamorous three-decker sandwich, with a vertical mall that includes luxury shops on the lower floors, along with exhibition space and a stylish bowling alley and nightclub surrounded by seven restaurants. A high-end hotel with as many as 379 rooms would sit in the middle, and 26 penthouse condominiums on top." more ›

The NY Times announced it raised $225 million in cash from the "sale-leaseback of part of its headquarters building, one in a series of moves to pay down its debts and increase its cash cushion during a drastic slump for the newspaper industry." more ›

News of the troubled newspaper industry was the second story on The Daily Show last night (following Blago, natch). There's the Tribune declaring bankruptcy, the fate of papers all over the country in peril, and, of course, the "sodomy-loving" NY Times' worsening fiscal situation. Noting how the Times is taking out a $225 million mortgage on their new headquarters in Midtown, Jon Stewart said, "This after an earlier plan to lease the building as a jungle gym for French douchebags proved unprofitable. So, the NY Times response to a fiscal crisis brought on by irresponsible mortgages is...to take out another mortgage." more ›

Well, it's handy having a brand new trophy building: The NY Times reports, "The New York Times Company plans to borrow up to $225 million against its mid-Manhattan headquarters building, to ease a potential cash flow squeeze as the company grapples with tighter credit and shrinking profits." more ›

While climbers #2 and 3, Renaldo Clarke and David Malone, were indicted for scaling the New York Times building earlier this year and currently face up to a year in prison, climber #1, Alain Robert, has received a slap on the wrist. With a grand jury rejecting criminal charges this summer, he pleaded guilty yesterday to disorderly conduct (which has no criminal record attached), and was fined $250 and three days community service. more ›

A bit of red in a blue city: Amin Torres took this photograph last night outside the NY Times Building. While they seem to be less common than Obama supporters, McCain supporters do exist in NYC--some have been profiled recently and at least one has been a victim of this heated election. more ›

A little before noon, the police were called to investigate a "suspicious package" at the NY Times Building. Apparently a letter contained a white granular substance, and the lobby was closed as a precaution. CityRoom explains that a letter had been sent to Andrew Rosenthal, the Times' editorial page editor: "The 13th floor, where the envelope was opened, was evacuated for several hours, but around 2:15 p.m. employees on that floor were permitted to return to their offices... Mr. Rosenthal’s executive secretary opened the envelope, and she and two other Times employees, including a mailroom worker, were being decontaminated as a precaution. more ›

One of the climbers who scaled the NY Times building earlier this year is making headlines again. Although both Renaldo Clarke and Alain Robert climbed the same building unannounced on June 5th, their stunts are being treated differently, The NY Times reports. Robert is being viewed as a professional stuntman, while Clarke is not-- despite his attempts to convince the court otherwise (he says he previously climbed the Hearst building unnoticed). Clarke appeared in State Supreme Court in Manhattan yesterday and (just like the third climber) was indicted on criminal charges, something Robert avoided with his charges being dropped. He could now face up to a year in prison, something his lawyer says is "a little disappointing. I guess they bought the first guy’s claim that he’s Mr. Experienced Climber.” Mr. Unexperienced Climber will now be seeking a plea deal. more ›

A week ago, Alain Robert scaled the New York Times Building to make a statement about the lack of government action on environmental issues (here's his website). Naturally, a stunt like that got Robert arrested, but a grand jury has dismissed the misdemeanor charges of trespassing, graffiti, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. more ›

Currently, there's another climber scaling the side of the New York Times Building on Eighth Avenue at 41st Street, and as one commenter said earlier, "Wait a minute, they put up a building that looks like a giant ladder, and somebody climbed it? Shocker." He/She is somewhere between the 20th and 30th floors. more ›

Earlier today thrillseeker/activist Alain Robert scaled the NY Times Building in order to draw attention to the Global Warming threat. He reportedly climbed 52 floors, to the roof, before being detained by police around 12:30 p.m. He did so without the aid of any climbing instruments (except his shoes) and sans the safety of a parachute strapped to his back. more ›

At approximately 11:57 a.m. a news alert came in saying there was a large crowd gathered at 620 8th Avenue and West 40th Street. "LEVEL 1 CALLED FOR CROWD CONTROL, AND A POSSIBLE PERSON ATTEMPTING TO JUMP DOWN FROM A BLDG." A reader wrote in minutes later saying, "Someone is climbing the exterior of the NY Times building." more ›

Our warning about today's wicked winds was no joke; as you can see from the photo above our weather writer's vision of Christmas tree tumbleweeds has come to pass. There's so much dust and dirt whipping around on these 40 mph winds that protective goggles wouldn't be a bad idea. more ›

Yesterday's gusting winds caused quite a bit of damage besides providing more winter chill. Building scaffolding was knocked over in many places, a tree pinned a man in NJ to the ground, and windows and/or debris fell from two Manhattan skyscrapers, hitting pedestrians. Winds were reported to be at least 40MPH, with gusts at 50MPH, yesterday (wind advisory was in effect until this morning at 4AM). The Buildings Department had asked property owners and construction... more ›

How windy is it today? So windy that windows are popping out of the rather new New York Times building at West 41st Street and 8th Avenue. What's the over-under on windows falling out of other new construction? The wind advisory is in effect until 7AM tomorrow. The Department of Buildings has asked "property owners, builders and contractors to secure all materials that could come loose due to the high winds, such as scaffolding... more ›

Nicolai Ouroussoff, the architecture critic for the NY Times, enjoys working in his employer's new headquarters, he writes today, but the building designed by Renzo Piano falls short of the best skyscrapers in the city. For one, it allegedly harbors a streak of nostalgia, which in the world of architectural discourse amounts to an aesthetic identity crisis. The nostalgia in question is a longing not for neo-Gothic frills and cornices, but for the 1950s era... more ›

Yesterday, a housekeeper found a female body wrapped in garbage bags and stuffed under a bed in Room 608 of the Hotel Carter. The woman, described as a white woman in her 20s, was not carrying any identification and the ME's office is conducting an autopsy to determine her cause of death; WABC 7 says that the woman suffered a blunt trauma to the head, but it's unclear if it's the cause of death. more ›

• The city wants to do repair work to buildings that need it - and charge the landlords - in legislation proposed by the City Council and supported by the Mayor and other housing groups
• City Comptroller William Thompson thinks Wal-Mart is spying on its shareholders - is that better, worse, or the same as keeping employees locked up?

Recently, New Yorkers have been playing that ol' wintertime standard, "Avoid the Slush Puddle of Disgusting and Surprising Depth!" With the arrival of spring and the weather supposedly getting better this week, we hope it's the last time we have to play. We'd like to spend the snowless months contemplating why slushy water at street corners just stands and doesn't go into the catch basins. more ›

Develop Don't Destory Brooklyn will be protesting outside of the New York Times' offices at 1PM today to protest coverage of developer Bruce Ratner. DDDB's claim is that because the Times' coverage of Ratner's plans for downtown Brooklyn has been "misleading" and "inaccurate" because Ratner's company is building the Times' new skyscraper. DDDB wants consistent coverage about the Atlantic Yards project from the Times, and you can read the report here. Hmm, wonder if the Public Editor, Byron Calame, has filed his column for this week. Gothamist wonders if this will inspire a new wave of protests in front of the NY Times Building... perhaps residents of Hoboken or Jersey City will rise to protest Philadelphia being the "sixth borough" or restaurateurs to protest a review. more ›

Developer Bruce Ratner has tapped celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz to photograph the development of the new New York Times building on Eighth Avenue. Why? To attract other tenants for the building. The Post calls the 700,000 square feet available in the building "an entire speculative building," and says the photographs, which will be taken periodically, will be plastered in the area. Could photographs by Annie Leibovitz really attract new tenants? Maybe photographs of cash, but if this becomes a trend, is Larry Silverstein going to hire, oh, Bruce Weber to photograph the the World Trade Center's Freedom Tower? more ›

Clearly, the new kind of excitement and titillation in New York City is not downtown or in some underground sex trade - it's at MTA railyard auctions! The Extell Development Company made a surprise bid for the Atlantic Rail Yards where Bruce Ratner wants to build a Frank Gehry-designed Nets arena and skyscraper complex. Extell's bid promises to be a much smaller development: Skyscrapers would be 28 floors, versus the possible 60 floors in Ratner's plan; housing would be for 4,800 people, versus Ratner's housing for a projected 18,000; and there is room for a school, but no sports complex. And this bid doesn't require $200 million in state and city subsidies and would be completed in 2009, two years before the Ratner plan. Extell got involved when community groups opposed to Ratner's plans approached them and the Post notes that the firm is "positioning itself as a community-friendly alternative to Ratner, claiming its bid would not require the seizure of any private real estate, as Ratner's would." That is as community friendly as you can get: "We're not forcing you out of your homes." Neither Extell nor Ratner's Forest City Ratner group will reveal how much their bids were for. Let's say the Extell bid proves successful; what about all the buildings Ratner has purchased in the area? Would Extell need to buy them from him? MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow - you're in the catbird seat once again. more ›