NY Times October 24, 2013 Palaces-in-the-Making By JULIE SATOW A run-down parking garage is for sale on the corner of Perry and Greenwich Streets in the West Village, and at least one of the bidders wants to tear it down to its bones and replace it with a 40,000-square-foot mansion — creating what would be the largest single-family home in New York City.
Just down the road, at 145 Perry Street, the hedge-fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen paid nearly $39 million for a small commercial building that he is reportedly converting into a single-family home. And in the same neighborhood, the Texas oil heiress and novelist Hyatt Bass and her husband, Josh Klausner, a screenwriter, are transforming a former film studio where Martin Scorsese and Sandra Bullock once shot scenes. The new home will have nearly 12,000 square feet and is being designed by the architect Annabelle Selldorf. Welcome to the new Gilded Age. (clip) --- NY Times October 26, 2013 Fatal Bronx Blaze Was Caused by Candles By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ and ALEX VADUKUL A fire in the Bronx on Friday evening that killed three children was caused by candles that were apparently being used for light after power to the apartment was cut off because of unpaid bills, the authorities said on Saturday. Three brothers, Elijah Artis, 5, Jeremiah Artis, 2, and Michael Turner, 4 months, were killed in the blaze, according to the police. Two other siblings, ages 4 and 4 months, and their mother, 25, were treated for smoke inhalation, the police added. The two surviving children, both girls, were listed in stable condition on Saturday at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Nydia Negron, a hospital spokeswoman, said. The children’s mother, who was not immediately identified, was treated and released. Six other people were injured but did not seek treatment at the hospital, the Fire Department said. The fire erupted inside the family’s apartment on the third floor at 64 West 165th Street just before 8 p.m. on Friday. A Fire Department spokesman said candles placed in the kitchen caused the blaze, but he was unable to provide more specific information. Allan Drury, a spokesman for Consolidated Edison, said power to the apartment had been cut off on Thursday over delinquent payments. Neighbors said the family had been using candles for light. Mr. Drury added that Con Edison typically tries to avoid turning off power, instead putting customers on payment plans. This particular family, it seemed, simply fell too far behind. “There was significant amount of arrears on the account — well into the thousands of dollars,” Mr. Drury said. At the apartment building on Saturday, workers boarded up windows and vacuumed shattered glass. The street below was blocked with yellow police tape. A Red Cross volunteer at the scene said 19 residents had been moved to emergency housing. Outside the six-story building, neighbors had erected a small memorial with a brown teddy bear and candles. Valerie Frazier, 47, a resident of the building who returned with her husband to gather some belongings on Saturday, said the conditions inside were “gruesome.” “It just looked like a horror movie,” she said. Ms. Frazier and others said the mother doted on her children. “She made sure they laughed, they played,” Ms. Frazier said. “She did everything a mother should do. But it must have got overwhelming.” A man who neighbors said was the father of the children arrived on Friday evening while rescue operations were under way. After learning that his family was inside, he tried to run into the building but was blocked by police officers, Ms. Frazier said. The man’s brother, Omar Artis, identified him as Tyrone Artis, 40, and said he was the father of all five children in the home. Mr. Artis said his brother and the children’s mother also had a sixth child, who was staying with the woman’s mother at the time of the fire. Mr. Artis said he was unsure of the mother’s name. She and Tyrone Artis had been living together for years, but never married, he said. Neighbors said they were alerted to the blaze by the mother’s screams as she stood on the fire escape cradling one of the children. Two men pulled down the fire-escape ladder, neighbors said, and helped the woman and child down. Another person helped rescue a second child, but the flames and smoke grew too intense for anyone to attempt to save the remaining children, witnesses said. Charlotte Amakye, 38, who lives across the street from the building, rushed outside and helped one of the girls who she said was “full of smoke.” Ms. Amakye brought the girl, who was covered in soot, to a bodega on the ground floor and wiped her face with a paper towel. “Then she coughed and I knew she was alive,” she said. Ms. Frazier said she wished she had known about the family’s troubles. “Maybe if they would have asked, we could have helped,” she said. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
