ARCHITECTURE > New Life for New York's High Line

After seemingly endless discussions, work has begun to transform an abandoned rail trestle into a public park -- and a building boom is born.

On April 10, workers began construction that will result in the conversion of Manhattan's High Line into a six-acre public park. Trains once used the abandoned rail trestle, which snakes 1.5 miles across city streets, to deliver freight to buildings on the city's far West Side. The park will occupy the trestle's elevated rail deck, which rises between 18 and 30 feet above street level. The first section of the park, by the team of Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, runs from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street, and is scheduled for completion in Spring 2008.

The High Line's redevelopment is spurring a construction boom in its surrounding neighborhoods, where prominent architects, including Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Richard Rogers, Annabelle Seldorf, Robert A.M. Stern, Polshek Partnership, and Gwathmey Siegel are designing new buildings.

In addition to the high profile architects, a June 2005 rezoning allowing residential buildings along the High Line from 16th Street to 30th Street is also shaping new buildings. Urban design controls for the area ensure that adequate light and air reach the new-elevated park. And in contrast to other parts of Manhattan, where current zoning generally mandates a continuous street-wall, in the rezoned area abutting the High Line new buildings will be arranged in a staggered fashion. On certain large lots, up to 40 percent of a building's surface area can rise up next to the High Line.

"Building around the High Line requires architects to be more innovative than in other parts of Manhattan," says Amanda Burden, Chair of the New York City Planning Commission. To preserve open space around the High Line, the new zoning rules permit property owners to sell their development rights to building sites anywhere within the rezoned district. In most areas of Manhattan development rights can be sold to only to adjacent property owners.

Although the High Line is a major impetus for the redevelopment of far West Chelsea, designers and planners say that the preservation and reinterpretation of the structure's special qualities is key to its success as a park. "We want to make sure that it doesn't turn into an elevated street," says James Corner, Director of Field Operations. "Part of the magic of the thing is its complete separation from the city. It is completely severed from everything around it, and that is what makes it an interesting thing to walk on."

Cultural Stimuli in NYC: Cinematic flavor

FLAVORPILL.NET: Bringing hundreds of feature films and shorts downtown, the Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off this week, is a true heavy on the current cultural agenda. But it's not the only game in town. Cinephiles can also dig into the African Film Festival's four days of selections, Jilted's assortment of overlooked comedic shorts, and a retrospective of films by Robert Altman — who landed an Oscar for lifetime achievement this year (an event that inspired a weekend-long blog-a-thon). The other 500-pound gorilla in the room is the PEN World Voices Festival, which imports a slew of international writers for discussions on topics ranging from AIDS to political freedom to the legacy of Allen Ginsberg — check our roundup of the highlights. For a less imposing outing, join in the festivities and pink-blossom appreciation at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday and Sunday. And May 1st isn't just for pagans and lefties, it's also the 75th anniversary of our beloved Empire State Building, so give a salute to the grand old icon, and spread it...

REAL ESTATE > Liquid Funds for a Penthouse

NYTIMES.COM: SMARTWATER will probably not make many people a lot smarter, but it certainly has made J. Darius Bikoff a lot richer. Rich enough, in fact, to pay $5.6 million for a 4,000-square-foot duplex penthouse in a new building at 330 East 72nd Street.

Mr. Bikoff is the founder of Glaceau, a company based in Whitestone, Queens, that makes a group of bottled water drinks called Smartwater, Vitaminwater and Fruitwater, which include added flavors, nutrients or electrolytes.

Mr. Bikoff's new apartment has four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a wood-burning fireplace and a 666-square-foot terrace. He closed on the apartment in February.

A representative for Mr. Bikoff, Jessica Wolff, said that even though the building is new, he plans a "robust renovation." Records from the Department of Buildings show that Mr. Bikoff has filed plans for work with an estimated cost of $554,000. Ms. Wolff said Mr. Bikoff would not discuss his plans for the apartment.

The water entrepreneur also owns a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom apartment with a terrace on the third floor of a condo building on East 77th Street. That apartment was bought by a relative for $1.5 million in 2002 and ownership was transferred to Mr. Bikoff in 2004, according to city records. Ms. Wolff said he had also done an extensive renovation of that apartment. The condo is listed for sale for $2.5 million, with Chris Poore, a broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Earthly View of Central Park

GREGORY H. OLSEN, an inventor and entrepreneur who went to outer space aboard a Russian rocket, sold an apartment at 1 Central Park West in February to Sara R. Bronfman, a daughter of the billionaire philanthropist Edgar Bronfman Sr., for $6.45 million, according to a deed filed with the city.

Mr. Olsen paid a reported $20 million to make a 10-day trip as a "space tourist" to the International Space Station last October. While orbiting the Earth, he was able to take a picture of Manhattan in which Central Park and some of the surrounding real estate can be seen.

Until the sale to Ms. Bronfman, Mr. Olsen owned two apartments with views of the park from Columbus Circle. He bought the apartment at 1 Central Park West, which is also known as Trump International Hotel and Tower, in October for $5.95 million, according to city records.

The other apartment, which he still owns, is near the top of the Time Warner Center, opposite the Trump building. He bought that apartment for $9.1 million in 2004. In showing his space photograph to an interviewer shortly after his return to Earth, Mr. Olsen indicated a tiny speck at the corner of the park, which he said was the Time Warner Center. Mr. Olsen made millions as founder of a company that produced infrared sensors.

Ms. Bronfman's father was ranked No. 224 this year on the Forbes list of the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $3 billion. The family's fortune came from the Seagram liquor company.

Ms. Bronfman did not respond to two telephone messages that were left requesting an interview.

But her broker, Leighton Candler, a senior vice president at the Corcoran Group, said her client chose the building because of the hotel amenities offered. "She needed to pop in and out and have full services," she said. "They put flowers in your room when you're coming in from out of town."

A New York Condo

LESLIE DIXON has written or co-written the screenplays for "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Freaky Friday," "The Thomas Crown Affair" and several other successful films. With her husband, Tom Ropelewski, she wrote the script for the 1993 movie "Look Who's Talking Now," which Mr. Ropelewski also directed. Mr. Ropelewski's other screenwriting credits include the 2000 Madonna film "The Next Best Thing."

All that work in Hollywood and now Ms. Dixon and Mr. Ropelewski have bought themselves a Manhattan apartment. The couple closed in March on a 1,350-square-foot condominium at 45 Christopher Street, which is one of several prewar buildings associated with the development company Bing & Bing. A deed filed with the city shows they paid $1.9 million.

Ms. Dixon became a hot property almost overnight in Hollywood when, as a neophyte screenwriter, she was picked to write the script for the 1987 Bette Midler film "Outrageous Fortune." She has been steadily employed writing screenplays ever since then, and has also produced several films. Three years after her first movie, she and Mr. Ropelewski worked together on a film called "Madhouse," which starred Kirstie Alley. Mr. Ropelewski wrote and directed the movie and Ms. Dixon produced it.

Duplex for Actors

THE actor Patrick Wilson and his wife, the actress Dagmara Dominczyk, bought a duplex apartment last month in a new condominium building near McCarren Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, according to documents filed with the city. The couple paid $972,428 for the apartment, which has about 1,600 square feet of interior space and a 400-square-foot terrace.

Mr. Wilson is currently starring in the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" at the Cort Theater. He has appeared in several Broadway shows since the late 1990's, including "The Full Monty" and the revival of "Oklahoma!" He has also had several movie roles and will star in "Little Children," a movie expected to be released later this year.

Ms. Dominczyk has appeared in television shows and films, including "Kinsey" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." The couple could not be reached.

ART > Warhols of Tomorrow Are Dealers' Quarry Today

NYTIMES.COM: Though the conventional image of an artist's mentor is not generally a venture capitalist, such a presence is not so surprising in an era when collectors from Wall Street are underwriting high prices for contemporary art. The art world is, in the end, a numbers game: as collectors, art fairs and galleries keep growing, while first-rate artworks for sale decrease, dealers and collectors are scouring the country's top graduate schools looking for the Warhols of the future.NYTIMES_ART.pdf

MUSIC > Cosmic Boogie @ APT

NYC: Cosmic Boogie@ APT

w/ resident DJs Alex of Tokyo & Manu welcome very special guest DJ Milo of Massive Attack (Wild Bunch)!

Event Information:
Thursday, April 14, 20069:00 PM - 2:00 AM21+cover: $6.00 music: Deep Disco, House & Broken Beat

Venue Information:
APT419 W. 13th StreetNew York, NY 10014212.414.4245

http://www.aptwebsite.com
view map

REAL ESTATE > Time Warner Center

NYTIMES.COM: The last apartment has been sold at the Time Warner Center, a half-floor penthouse on the 77th floor of the north building that went for $16,950,000.

THE Related Companies sold the last remaining apartment at Time Warner Center in the final week of March, logging total sales in the two-building complex of more than $1.1 billion, according to David J. Wine, the vice chairman of Related.

The last apartment to sell was a half-floor penthouse on the 77th floor of the north building, which contains the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

It sold for $16.95 million, Mr. Wine said, but he refused to identify the buyer. He said that all but three units in the complex have closed, and the final three, including the last to go to contract, are expected to close by the end of the month.

The average price per square foot in the building was about $2,500, Mr. Wine said. The buildings were designed with a total of 201 units, but a small number have since been combined to create larger apartments.

The buildings, overlooking Central Park at Columbus Circle, have attracted a handful of billionaires, including at least two who have snapped up full-floor penthouses in recent weeks.

Last month, J. Joe Ricketts, the founder of Ameritrade, the online stock brokerage company, paid $29.2 million for the 78th floor of the north tower. The deed for the apartment was filed with the city on March 31.

Mr. Ricketts, whose son Peter is running in the Republican primary for a United States Senate seat in Nebraska, is No. 292 on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires. The magazine estimated his family fortune at $2.5 billion. An Ameritrade spokeswoman said that Mr. Ricketts does not speak with reporters.

Thomas M. Siebel has bought the 79th floor of the south tower for about $28 million. Mr. Siebel is the founder of Siebel Systems, a software company, which was sold last year to Oracle for $5.8 billion.

Mr. Siebel is No. 486 on the Forbes list, with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. Mr. Siebel's broker, Dolly Lenz of Prudential Douglas Elliman, said she could not discuss the deal.

Other billionaires who have bought more modest apartments in the building include John W. Kluge, No. 52 on the Forbes list with an estimated net worth of $9 billion, and Jon L. Stryker, heir to a medical equipment fortune, ranked by Forbes at No. 428, with a net worth of $1.8 billion.

Condos at the Time Warner Center went on sale just before the terrorist attacks in 2001. The complex suffered through slow sales as the city recovered, but the condos began to move the next year, and about 85 percent had been sold by the end of 2004.

The complex still has the most expensive residence in Manhattan: two floors of raw space in the south building that David Martinez, the Mexican-born financier, bought for $54.7 million. Mr. Martinez is still fitting out that space, at a cost of millions more.

CRIME > The story of a food guru turned “subway perv”

NEWYORKMETRO.COM: As soon as the subway doors opened, Thao Nguyen could sense she was in trouble. A short blond man boarded the train and locked his eyes on her. She felt a jolt of panic as the uptown R accelerated into a tunnel and the man sat down across from her and started rubbing his crotch. Nguyen, 22, was wearing a blouse and long pants, having just come from a job interview in Soho. He unzipped his fly and grinned.

She looked away but could see the man’s increasingly agitated reflection in the pockmarked train window. To avoid eye contact, she reached in her bag and pulled out her camera-equipped cell phone. She turned it on. Turned it off. Thought about the Mace canister she was carrying as she fumbled the phone to the floor. When she sat up, the man had his penis out of his pants.

Bongorama New York City Promotion: Dope Pope

DOPEPOPE.COM: Joe Lucchese, also known as Dopepope, is a New York City artist specializing in bizarre character design and his own brand of illustrative graphics, which he calls "Experimental Aesthetics." An illustrator since childhood, he swerved his talents into the world of digital photo-retouching and effects, as well as graphic design. Dopepope lends his fantastic imagery to magazines, record companies, collaborations, and gallery shows as often as possible.

TRAVEL > Top of the Rock

WIREDNEWYORK.COM: The observation deck, which opened along with the rest of the building in 1933, was closed in 1986 to keep height-seeking tourists from tramping through the Rainbow Room. Two decades and $75 million later, the building's owner, Tishman Speyer, reopened the Top of the Rock on November 1st, 2005, as a three-floor panoramic experience.

Visitor Information
Location: The entrance to observation deck is located on West 50th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues.

TRAVEL > New York: Royalton Hotel

NYTIMES.COM: The Royalton, opened by Ian Schrager in 1988, still looks good and still attracts a crowd, even if it's not the everybody-who's-anybody crowd of a decade ago.

THE BASICS The fellow who brought breakfast to the door gave a good-morning grin - was chatty, even. At any other lodging, this would be a good thing. Parsing solicitude at the Royalton, however, is more complicated. Indifference by the runway-ready help was a hallmark of the 169-room Royalton after Ian Schrager and partners opened it in 1988. Seventeen years later, how is the country's first hotel-as-happening holding up? The verdict: This aging party girl still looks good in Mr. Schrager's dim mood lighting and still attracts a crowd, even if it's not the everybody-who's-anybody crowd of a decade ago.

THE LOBBY AND BAR The Royalton's centerpiece remains the Philippe Starck-designed lobby-cum-bar where those checking in still must walk that long, royal-blue carpet (runway?) where, in an earlier era, each entrant was sized up. Five years ago, most of the original white, chrome-legged chairs and sofas in the lobby were fitted with white slipcovers. That, plus the cranked techno music makes the place feels as if Miss Havisham had held a rave.

THE CROWD In the early 1990's, the hotel's restaurant, 44 at the Royalton, was known as Club Condé because the top of the Condé Nast masthead -Tina Brown, Graydon Carter, et al. - had regular power lunches there. That heyday may be past, but by midmorning on an autumn weekday the adjacent bar's sunken area was already filled: a fashion journalist in cowboy boots conducted an interview, a woman showed high-end cosmetics to buyers. By cocktail hour, the place filled again with young suits in recline - and every sofa remained occupied at 11 p.m. One thing that the Royalton can still do is make the terminally unhip feel a little queasy. A man (thin, bespectacled, tuxedoed) and his wife (large, draped in what appeared to be a sequined shower curtain) walked the blue carpet, looked nervously about. She took his hand. Still thirsty, they found the exit.

THE ROOMS Reaching the guest rooms via hallways of twilight blue-purple is like walking through a Coen brothers movie. But the rooms brighten - the dark wood and grays offset by white linens and walls - and are bigger than some New York apartments. The queen bed, covered with a feather duvet, was reasonably comfortable , if not particularly firm. Some pieces of furniture were a tad scuffed. The turndown service never materialized.

THE BATHROOMS The deep greenish slate that bordered the guest room filled the entire bathroom, including the glass-fronted shower stall, creating a roomy, handsome space of glass, stone and chrome. (Some rooms at the same price can have bathtubs, so if you would like one, ask.) Agua bath products stood next to a fresh orchid and a cup of fading lavender buds. The mediocre bath towels felt oddly incongruent, as if they belonged in a Days Inn that had run out of fabric softener.

AMENITIES A small gym - two treadmills, two bikes, an elliptical trainer, a StairMaster, some shiny barbells - is shoehorned into a room-size space on the fourth floor. In the rooms, Wi-Fi Internet service is available for $10. Rooms have CD players and a generously stocked minibar. A free morning paper is delivered.

ROOM SERVICE Breakfast arrived (with that unexpected smile) in the 15-minute period asked for - a Midtown Benedict of just-runny-enough eggs topped with shaved salmon and hollandaise, and a wickedly sticky bun from Balthazar. There's a $5 fee for room service, and an 18 percent tip is added.

THE BOTTOM LINE If the bleeding edge is where your black-and-red Louis Vuitton yearns to rest, there are hotter spots than the slightly scuffed Royalton. But a hotel with a gossip-pages pedigree, a good breakfast and a still-sexy bar? That never goes completely out of style. Rates range from $365 to $685 depending on the season. The Royalton is at 44 West 44th Street; 212-869-4400; www.royaltonhotel.com.

PHOTOGRAPHY > New York Photographer Liad Cohen Changes the Pace of Lomography

LOMO.BOX.SK: This 30-something New Yorker, who used to be a former professional musician and who graduated with an English and Philosophy degree from NYU and has been working on a novel for the past 5 years. He also worked as a children's book editor for Sesame Street for 4 years, and for the past 2 years has been managing a band called Ours who are making a new CD for Geffen Records. He also just happens to be a damn good lomographer and won the presitigious LWA-Rumble Champ award. When lomography is paced to the speed of a New York minute there is no one better behind the lens than Liad Cohen.

ARCHITECTURE > At Home in a Crystal Palace

BUSINESSWEEK.COM: For years New Yorkers were much more likely to work in glass towers than live in them. As Paul Goldberger explains, no more.

ARCHITECTURE > Richard Meier: Maximizing Minimalism

BUSINESSWEEK.COM: An insider's look at the residences of 165 Charles St., designed by the "starchitect" and decked out in 20th century modernist furnishings.

Swanky new residential buildings by marquee-name architects -- from the late Philip Johnson to Robert A.M. Stern -- are taking over Manhattan's skyline. Richard Meier, the "starchitect" best known for his design of the $1 billion Getty Center in Los Angeles, has not one but three new residential towers to his name.

REAL ESTATE > Union Square Studio

$575,000

MANHATTAN : 31 East 12th Street (at University Place), #11B

A studio co-op. Shema Bryan, Bellmarc Realty (212) 627-3000, ext. 240; www.bellmarc.com.

MAINTENANCE: $833 a month

PROS: This prewar studio has attractive and useful space-saving features like built-in speakers, window seats and custom wood and sand-blasted glass closets and cabinets. The apartment has four large windows, high ceilings and good closet space. The dark brown wood floor matches the wood on the built-in furniture and adds a touch of sleekness to the small space.

CONS: The kitchen is not ideal: there is no oven, the cooktop has only two burners, and the refrigerator is compact.

REAL ESTATE > NoHo Loft

$2,150,000

MANHATTAN : 200 Mercer Street (near Bleecker Street), #2D

A 2,400-square-foot, one-bedroom, two-bath loft. Anna Shagalov, Halstead Property(212) 381-4216, www.halstead.com.

MAINTENANCE: $1,874.63 a month

PROS: A long foyer suddenly opens into this airy prewar loft, which has four 10-foot-high windows facing east that provide an ideal vantage point from which to watch the bustling streets below. There are hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, an enclosed den and chic, modern bathrooms. The master bedroom has three windows facing west.

CONS: A substantial mezzanine area that provides extra sleeping and storage space is not tall enough to stand up in.

REAL ESTATE > Williamsburg Loft Condo

$1,200,000

BROOKLYN : 60 Broadway, #3F

A two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,500-square-foot condo in the Gretsch Building, which was converted in 2004. The building has 24-hour doormen, a concierge, a media room and a roof deck. Stefan Hiller, Prudential Douglas Elliman (212) 321-7154; www.elliman.com. Open house Sunday, noon-2 p.m.

COMMON CHARGES: $364 a month, plus monthly taxes of $75

PROS: One of 45 different layouts designed by Andres Escobar, this unit, with 13-foot ceilings and oversize windows with partial river views, is flooded with light from two exposures, and has a flexible floor plan.

CONS: Although a two-story garage is being built adjacent to the building, at present there are no on-site parking spaces.

Bongorama New York City Promotion: the apartment