WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN: A RENT-STABILIZED GOLD MINE, GOAT PAGEANTS, NO MERCY FOR NAUGHTY BOOKKEEPER

Photo by Barry Langer near 57th street.

Here are some of the stories we read in other media outlets this week, but didn’t cover. That doesn’t mean they weren’t important.

Investors are very keen on buying property that houses rent stabilized tenants on the Upper West Side now, and waiting for the current tenants to leave, or die. They are willing to make very little for years in order to jump on this opportunity, because it’s clear that they’ll eventually be able to charge very high rents. “In terms of commercial real-estate investment sales activity, the Upper West Side is far outpacing the East Village, Chelsea and Williamsburg, according to a report by Eastern Consolidated, a brokerage and research firm….’These apartments have very, very low rents but can go for $5,000 to $7,000 a month,’ said Amit Doshi, executive director of Besen & Associates. “‘In the short term you’re making 1%, but this building will have a higher cap rate than other buildings being sold at higher rates now within the next five years.'” (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)

In the 1930’s there were regular “goat pageants” in Central Park. “Goats were hardly strangers to the park. In the early 1900s, as the photo below demonstrates, goats pulled children in miniature versions of horse-drawn carriages. Even today a statue of a dancing goat stands near the south end of the Central Park Zoo, adjacent to the cafe.” (NY Times)

Masa’s former bookkeeper is going to prison. But not before the New York Post writes an understated story about him. “A sex-crazed former bookkeeper for a pricey Time Warner Center sushi joint is going to prison for a year for admittedly embezzling almost $100,000 — and blowing half the money on online sex sites.” (NY Post)

The parks department said it will fix the PS 166 playground this summer, after pressure from public officials. (DNAinfo)

Gale Brewer raised $42,000 in her first three days after announcing she will run for Borough President. (NY Press)

Is Big Nick’s “potato and pot roast melt on a hero” New York’s strangest sandwich? (Village Voice)

Upper West Sider Skip Reiss died last month. “Besides being known for his nickname, before he died at the age of 82 on February 23rd, Mr. Reiss was also known and admired by many for his active presence in the Upper West Side community, and the long list of accomplishments achieved during his lifetime. He was a founding member of the 83rd Street Block Association, one of the oldest block associations in the city.” (NY Press)

Watch a video about a guy who makes $1 creating massive bubbles in Central Park near the Bandshell. (Narratively)