| It's a good thing our publisher snapped those sunny day pics up top a few weeks ago because we were supposed to go on a tour of the High Line with NYCREW last night, but the rain derailed us. Undeterred, the group instead met for cocktails at the Half King on W. 23rd, where we were surprised to hear that many in attendance didn't know much about the High Line. So we'll give you a brief Bisnow armchair tour courtesy of the High Line's official history. Here, we look south toward the 14th Street entrance, where you can see the High Line Building under construction. Section One, which stretches from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, broke ground in '06, and opened a year ago. |
| Above the tracks is the Standard Hotel, which opened in '08 to some controversial media coverage, or rather controversial guests who used the floor-to-ceiling windows to expose themselves to the crowd below. Why an elevated rail in NYC? The tracks used to be street level, earning 10th Avenue the nickname “Death Avenue” for accidents between freight trains and traffic. The High Line opened in '34, but then lost traffic to interstate trucking. The southernmost section was demolished in the '60s, and the last train (carrying frozen turkeys) ran in the '80s. Friends of the High Line was founded in '99 to advocate for the preservation and reuse of the space. City support was gained in '02, and then James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro were chosen to design the new public space. The second portion, which will stretch to 30th Street, is expected to open next year. |
| Back at the Half King, we snapped Hartman & Craven's Caryn Keppler, Stark's Gretchen Auer, GuardHill Financial Corp.'s Valerie Feder, and Studley's Allyson Bowen. Gretchen is heading to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair this weekend at the Javits. That's Fashion Week for her industry, she says, complete with hot trends and after-parties. Caryn, who's a trusts and estates attorney, says there's lots of interest coming from her European clients to invest and live in NYC. Meanwhile Valerie is seeing some momentum in mortgage and purchasing activity. Clients who were sitting on the fence are now buying, and even getting outbid. |
| It'll be a busy few months for NYCREW as well, kicking off with its joint golf outing with AREW next week. The board, including Fidelity National Title's Isabelle Pullis, Ferzan, Robbins and Associates' Liz Muskat, NYCREW prez Sharon Khurdan, and the Wall Street Journal's Deborah Falcone, has lined up its annual Leading Ladies breakfast series with SBLI USA Mutual Life Insurance Co., CEO Vikki Pryor and GE Real Estate Chief Risk Officer Jayne Day. At the same time in Vegas, members Faith Hope Consolo of Prudential Douglas Elliman and Barbara Champoux of Crowell & Moring will lead roundtables geared toward women in retail real estate at ICSC's RECon on May 23. |
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