Today's not a good day for Bank of America. In the Wall Street Journal, there was a report saying CEO Ken Lewis told investors that BoA will "shrink the company's 6,100-branch network by about 10%, a pullback from the two-decade expansion that took the bank from coast to coast. The driving force for the closings is changing customer preferences...as online and mobile banking take transactions away from traditional branches," according to sources. more ›

Waiting for the 1, by jschumacher on Flickr more ›

A crane at One Bryant Park, aka the Bank of America tower on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, reportedly lost some materials it was carrying. Curbed is reporting that the materials/debris/ garbage bin fell at least 35 floors - and it looks like a cab was hit. A Gothamist reader who works near the building writes:

Our windows look out at the construction site and it looks like some beams were dropped right onto Sixth avenue. No cars were crushed, but I couldn't tell if anyone was hurt or not (there were ambulances at the scene). Sixth ave is closed off north of 42nd and half of 42nd St is now closed, too. We've been told by our building management to stay away from the windows on the Sixth avenue side and the entrance to the building is closed - we're using a service entrance now.

When we arrived at the One Bryant Park construction site on 42nd between Sixth and Broadway, our guide seemed miffed. "I told you to wear tough shoes," he said, looking down at the pointy red flats we recently purchased at Beacon's Closet. "I'd hate to see what your dainty ones look like." The teasing didn't end there. He mocked our so-called small head (requiring hard hat adjustments) and our camera, but we won't continue to bore you with the details. 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 ›