LAST NIGHT AT THE MoMA

At MoMA last night, we snapped the remarkable Elghanayanbrothers Fred and Tom (co-founders of Rockrose, and now the “TF” in TF Cornerstone) with the real star of the night, Fred’s wife Diana, who co-chaired a fundraiser for 1,000 to raise $1M for the Citizens Committee for Children. Diana’s been involved in the cause over a decade, going to hospitals, foster care agencies, and schools to find out what underprivileged kids and families need. Talking with moms and grandmas in Harlem, she discovered that they lacked local healthy and affordable food options, so she and CCC helped push through 1,000 licenses citywide for vendors with carts selling fresh fruits and vegetables.
Retail leasing agents Bruce Spiegel and Bill Bergman of Rose Associates are on the hunt to lease about 10k SF of retail space atPeter Cooper Village and Stuy Town, where Rose manages the residential and retail. So if you have a hankering to open some F&B like Panera Bread or a home furnishings store, you’ll have a built-in clientele of 11,200 apartments worth of young professionals at your door (not to mention some great Japanese, Mexican, and Belgian restaurant neighbors already at the property, the latter with a really good beer list).
That helicopter looks a little too close for comfort, but we believe it was safely tethered to MoMA's ceiling last night as we ran into Fred Leffel of the Kaufman Organization that in its 102 years of owning about 34 buildings has probably seen it all. Fred tells us that the firm hopes to upgrade the 260k SF 100 Fifth Ave (which it recently purchased for $93.5M) from Class-B to at least an A minus. They have Apple and some hedge funds there already as tenants, and he thinks its proximity to Silicon Alley would make it perfect for social media. Maybe he should ask his daughter Caitlin for advice; she’s written a couple bestsellers on what do in the city, including NYC: An Owners Manual, and The Best Things to Do in New York: 1,001 Ideas. Oh, and working on a third that everyone will need: On Being in Love in New York.

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