The latest round of bids to take over the faded splendor that was the Tavern on the Green are due to the city on Friday, but guess which publicity-loving real estate personality won't be submitting a bid on the money pit? Donald Trump. The city's plans for the Central park restaurant are just too pedestrian for The Donald. more ›

It's been almost nine months since we last heard from Justin Massler, aka Cloud Starchaser, the man who has been accused of stalking Ivanka Trump in a number of colorful ways. After being captured by bounty hunters while on the lam and brought back to NYC, Massler was found unfit to stand trial, and spent much of the last year in a locked psychiatric ward. Now, he's pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor aggravated harassment charge (and a felony criminal contempt count for violating an order of protection to stay away from the Trumps), and has been set free by the court. more ›

Looks like the city is going to let Donald Trump build himself a PGA-regulation golf course in the Bronx. Cool, right? Our billionaire mayor loves golf. But, wait, there is a catch. The Parks Department if giving The Donald a 20-year deal to run the course at the $184 Ferry Point complex on the Throggs Neck waterfront...and is charging him nothing for the first four years. To paraphrase Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates, Trump will be paying less than a hotdog vendor in Manhattan to run a $125-per-weekend-game course (compared to $36-per-game at other city courses). more ›

As you may or may not have noticed, we write the occasional story or two about bike lanes here. But even we've never heard of "limo lanes." According to DNAInfo, the DOT announced a plan this week for a special zone for limousines and black cabs on Riverside Boulevard on the Upper West Side. But will our luxury motorcycle taxi service be able to use the limo lanes? more ›

As if The Donald didn't have enough on his hands with his reality show, his fake presidential campaign, and his efforts to be involved with every New York landmark he can, now he's getting litigious in the Holy Land. Last week his company filed an injunction to prevent an Israeli company from selling Trump Vodka without his consent or authorization. more ›

Charlie Sheen is inside the building. Or rather, he has arrived in New York City. According to the Daily News, the MaSheen checked in to Trump International Hotel this morning (he was banned from The Plaza, and several other establishments), which was surrounded by paparazzi. The Post reports that he booked 12 rooms at the hotel for four nights. He's all ours until Monday, New York! And TMZ will be helping us cherish every moment by documenting his every move. more ›

The Observer accompanied architect Frank Gehry on a visit to Beekman Tower, the luxury residential skyscraper at 8 Beekman Street. Apparently Gehry told developer Bruce Ratner to make the building shorter than the Trump World Tower, so they wouldn't have to deal with Donald Trump (Beekman Tower ended up being taller). And Gehry added that after he turned down a Trump project, they were once at the same function, "I tried to shake his hand and he said, 'I don't talk to people like you.' So he doesn't talk to me... I don't care... I don't like his hairdo anyway." Trump told the Observer, "Maybe I just don't find him interesting. It doesn't mean I don't like him." more ›

Is Donald Trump keen on making Rye Playland his next undertaking? According to LoHud, execs from his company dropped by this week to get briefed on Westchester County's bid to reinvent the 100-acre amusement park/landmark. more ›

Over 800 people showed up at Trump Tower yesterday, hoping to get cast on "The Apprentice," and maybe fare better than Sinbad. Instead of celebrities, the new season will feature 14 "normal" people looking for jobs. Many of the show's hopefuls had been recently laid off and saw this as an opportunity to get their careers back on track. One laid off software designer told the Daily News, "I wanted to make a statement and show Mr. Trump how important this is to me." more ›

Just one day after a man attempted to explode an airplane before landing, Ivana Trump blew up at passengers before take-off, launching obscenities at children aboard the flight to New York and police officers. Her outburst caused a two hour delay for other passengers headed from Palm Beach International Airport to LaGuardia. more ›

The tabloid circus surrounding Moammer Gadhafi's first visit to American soil goes on and on and on. Now the Huffington Post claims that Gadhafi is planning to pitch his tent at the Westchester estate of Donald Trump. We have to admit we find this a bit astonishing, but times are tough for real estate moguls. A Trump spokesperson called this "absolutely false," but then qualifed, "He is not there to my knowledge." The Huffpost claimed that the deal might get scrapped if there was "bad publicity." Uh-oh. more ›

Back in 2005, it was the biggest residential land deal in the history of the city—Hudson Waterfront Associates, the Hong Kong-based consortium that worked with Donald Trump to develop and market the massive Trump Place development on the West Side, sold a 77 acre parcel of land to Extell for $1.76 billion. Now the Manhattan DA's office revealed it just arrested the project director for tax evasion and are looking into whether Hudson Waterfront evaded taxes on a $17 million portion of deal. more ›

A capacious old attic on the third floor of Grand Central Terminal, located directly above Vanderbilt Hall, has since 1965 been home to two clay tennis courts. While open to the public for a fee of $170 an hour, the courts are one of the city's best-kept secrets, or, rather, they were—Metro-North administrators have decided to replace the courts with a rest area for conductors and train engineers. According to the Daily News, the new facility will include bunk beds, showers, lockers and a lounge. more ›

Last night was the star-studded, couture-clad Costume Institute Gala at the Met; the theme was "superheroes," to accompany the museum's latest Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibit. J. Lo commented on her own superhero ensemble, saying, "the only thing I could think of was Wonder Woman with my cuffs." more ›

State Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell 4th, Democrat and son of the trailblazing Harlem politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr., was arrested for drunk driving on the upper West Side at 2:30 a.m. this morning. According to the Daily News, an unidentified woman passed out in the back of the car was so intoxicated she had to be taken to a local hospital. Powell failed a breath test at the scene by a small margin and, while at the station house, refused to take a chemical sobriety test. He faces charges punishable by up to a year in jail. more ›

Yesterday Forbes magazine, in their annual ranking of the rich, declared New York City is no longer the billionaire capital of the world. Where have all the dollar signs gone? To Moscow, of course, who beat us out by 3 billionaires (they have 74 to our 71). more ›

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After a year of widely publicized construction site deaths, New York City's Buildings Dept. is working to tighten up some work rules that may have fallen by the wayside or are no longer sufficient. DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster wants new rules and a strengthening of the enforcement of work licenses for contractors and concrete operators. more ›

It's not just property values that are collapsing in New York; a construction crane collapsed in Tribeca and injured two workers who were working to repair the crane on the 300-unit residence building. The crane was 200 feet tall and buckled Friday under the strain of an overweighted payload of lumber. Initial reports said that there were no injuries and that several buildings surrounding the 450 Washington St. address had to be evacuated. more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/01/6_years_on_amne.php">Amnesty International bringing Guantanamo Bay to the American embassy to raise the profile of the continuing campaign to close the detention center.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap:a large crowd at 165th St. and Jamaica Ave. in Queens, a robbery on Fox Ave. on the Bronx, and a serious multi-vehicle accident in Manhattan at 36th St.
• Space for a supermarket at the new Booklyn Bridge Park/Condo development is an inviolable piece of public property.
• Was the Trump Soho's concrete not dry enough when the forms were taken away, causing the collapse?

The tragic death of a construction worker at the Trump Soho building has put the spotlight on the spotty history of a contractor on the project. On Monday afternoon, a worker, Yuriy Vanchytskyy (pictured below), fell 42 stories to his death when the molds he and other workers were pouring concrete into broke, causing a collapse into lower floors. more ›

Work has been stopped at the Trump Soho construction site, the day after an accident caused one worker to fall 42 stories to his death. The FDNY says the workers had been filling wooden forms (one was a 20-foot-square section) with wet concrete when molds broke. Assistant Chief Thomas Galvin explained that the molds collapsed from the 42nd floor to the 40th, leaving a hold in the corner of the building. Per the Daily News, Galvin said, "They were pouring it on the floor .. tamping out the air bubbles, and for some reasons the forms collapsed." Concrete and other debris fell from the area. more ›

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• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Boyland St. in Brooklyn, a person under a train at 116th St. and Douglass Blvd. in Manhattan, and a body found on West 91st St. in Manhattan.
• Martha Stewart is still mad over the public spat she had with Donald Trump in 2005 over her The Apprentice spin-off series. We bet she prepares a wonderful cold revenge dish.
• Police are searching for a man who attacked a 17-year-old woman in Jamaica, Queens, forcing her at knife point to a secluded area where he sexually assaulted her. The attacker may be the same man responsible for four other similar assaults recently.

We think NYC area hospitals should be on alert: TMZ reports that Britney Spears is headed to NYC. Well, if not NYC, something close:

"Spears left Van Nuys Airport at 4:00 PM PT this afternoon. We're told Brit Brit, Adnan and one other male passenger were on the plane. The plane is about to land at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Next stop ... unknown."

The new season of the Apprentice premiered on Thursday with its celebrity (or "celebrity" - if you consider Omarosa from the Apprentice's Season 1 a celebrity) twist. The show received its best ratings in two years, winning the 9PM timeslot for viewers ages 18-49. The Donald said, "I was really happy. I wasn't expecting this." more ›

When the weather outside is frightful, the risks are likely predictable--in high-wind weather anyway. Early yesterday evening, witnesses report that wooden planks broke free from a crane and crashed onto Spring St. at the new Trump SoHo building, reportedly crashing atop several cars. A collapse of steel from a crane at the WTC site early last week crushed a construction trailer where an architect was seriously injured when pieces of steel demolished his workspace after falling dozens of floors. more ›

On January 2, after seeing a young man have a seizure and fall into the 1 subway tracks at at the 137th Street station just as a train was entering the station, construction worker Wesley Autrey jumped in and covered the other man's body with his own. The train passed over them and a hero was born. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a scaffolding collapse on 5th Ave. and 115th St. in Manhattan, a stabbing on Franklin Ave. in Queens, and a homicide at 83rd St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn.
• The new Kaleidoscope Light Show is now on display at Grand Central Terminal's main hall.
• The Toshiba company returns to Times Square after being absent for several decades. The company signed a 10-year lease to capture the top sign spot at 1 Times Square.
• Marty Markowitz will be lighting the giant Brooklyn menorah tomorrow night at Court and Montague Sts. Mr. Met will do the honors flipping the switch on the menorah at Grand Army Plaza.
• A DHL cargo plane will depart from JFK tomorrow loaded with 500 Christmas trees to be delivered to troops in the Middle East.
• Donald Trump Jr. has been renamed the head of his condo board after being ousted without warning a year ago.
• Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte will hold off on retirement and return to the team for the 2008 season.
• The folks at WOXY radio will be streaming nothing but holiday music online between now and Christmas.