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16 Stories

November 2008
- Rangel Saved Loophole that Aided $1M Donor
  
  New York Times | Nov 25, 08 11:27 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - As questions swirl over the methods Charles Rangel used to raise funds for a school in his name, a New York Times investigation finds that the New York representative and chair of the House Ways and Means committee fought to save a tax loophole that benefited one of the school's donors. The loophole enabled Nabors Industries, an oil-drilling firm whose CEO pledged $1 million to the project, to maintain an offshore tax shelter. More »
September 2008
- Vertical Farming Puts Pigs High in the Sky
  
  Scientific American | Sep 30, 08 4:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - They're not the most traditional tenants, but pigs, poultry, and crops might be reared in city skyscrapers of the future, drastically reducing environmental damage caused by traditional farms, Scientific American reports. Engineering airflow inside glass towers remains tricky, but the potential for a year-round growing season in the face of a booming world population has some urban developers looking to integrate skyscraper farms. More »
- Woody Allen: Audience Tastes Are a Matter of Coarse
  
  New York | Sep 30, 08 9:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Mention Woody Allen and people think of the Big Apple. In an interview with Adam Moss in New York , the 72-year-old filmmaker talks about movies, psychoanalysis and, most of all, the city for which he's "always had an irrational love." Allen, who's made 39 films, grew up with a romanticized view of Manhattan. "I got my idea of New York from Hollywood," he says. More »
- Coney Island Rides Hit Auction Block
  
  New York Post | Sep 7, 08 6:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Ever dreamed of owning your own theme-park ride? With 10 of Coney Island’s famed Astroland Park rides now for sale online, your chance has arrived, the New York Post reports. The Astrotower will set you back $99,000, while the Top Spin will leave your wallet $499,000 lighter. Altogether, the 10 are on offer for the bargain-basement price of $2.7 million. More »
- Coney Island's Astroland to Shut Down
  
  New York Post | Sep 4, 08 4:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The iconic Astroland, one of two theme parks on New York’s Coney Island, will close for good on Sunday, the New York Post reports. Owner Carol Albert said she couldn't strike a lease deal with the 46-year-old site's developer and landlord. The park’s historic (and bruising) Cyclone rollercoaster will survive, a bitter victory for summer fun enthusiasts. The developer promises that a new park will be in place by next year. More »
July 2008
- Be Bold, Baltimore: We Need a Downtown Arena
  
  Baltimore Sun | Jul 25, 08 3:17 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Baltimore is big enough—and its future bright enough—to build a new sports arena downtown, and all those "nattering negativists" who think otherwise need to get out of their basements more, writes Dan Rodricks in the Baltimore Sun . Plans to tear down First Mariner Arena and put up a new facility for hockey and basketball should move ahead quickly—with the result being a re-energized downtown. More »
- Rat's Nest of Urban Politics Behind Philly's 'Big Stall'
  
  Philadelphia Inquirer | Jul 17, 08 3:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Lamenting the lack of progress in another urban redevelopment project, Karen Heller takes aim at the Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion in the Philadelphia Inquirer . The Center expansion has been in the works since 1993, spurring numerous building demolitions, but few new constructions: in short, North Broad Street, advertised as a coming “avenue of the arts” is closer to “the Boulevard of Parking.” More »
- US Embassy Returns to Berlin's Heart
  
  New York Times | Jul 4, 08 3:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With the July 4 backdrop, the US opened its new embassy in Berlin today, bringing to a close a project planned since reunification. The new facility stands near the historic Brandenburg Gate, the same location as its pre-World War II predecessor. But, the New York Times reports, the building has attracted severe criticism from everyone from local officials to architecture critics. More »
April 2008
- Get Me Rewrite: A New Monument to Press Freedom (Architecture Review)
  
  New York Times | Apr 11, 08
  
  WASHINGTON — How many mediocre buildings can one city absorb? And what if these buildings are meant to affirm our highest values? -- Those questions come to mind as I ponder the Newseum, the latest reason to lament the state of contemporary architecture in this city. Rising on a prominent site along Pennsylvania Avenue, it joins a spate of new memorials and museums that have been reshaping the historic center of Washington during the current Bush administration.
December 2007
- Commercial Properties Squeezed
  
  Wall Street Journal | Dec 26, 07 8:05 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Add the once-solid commercial real estate market to the list of sectors felled by the subprime mortgage contagion, as owners of malls, apartment complexes and office buildings have seen financing disappear, prices plunge and the pace of sales dwindle 50%, reports the Wall Street Journal. Lenders, burned by the residential debacle, have become reluctant to risk commercial exposure. More »
September 2007
- Downtown LA Finally 'Happens'
  
  Washington Post | Sep 30, 07 3:08 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The clutter of buildings known as "downtown LA" is morphing from a nightly ghost town into a hip 'hood, the Washington Post reports. Recent laws have turned offices into lofts, and attracted hipsters to enjoy the high ceilings and roof parties. Artists are hightailing out as six-figure professionals come looking for what one expert calls "the flip side of the suburbs." More »
August 2007
- Condo Crash Is Just Beginning
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 25, 07 11:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Mortgage lenders are about to be hit with another wave of foreclosures and bankruptcies, the Journal reports, as the crisis kicks in in condo market. Because buildings take years to complete, even after buyers have signed contracts, the effect of declining property values and tight credit are slower to talk effect than in single-family homes. More »
October 1994
- CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; Ah, Chicago: Build New Landmarks, Bash Old Ones
  
  New York Times | Oct 19, 94
  
  It has long been a given that the nation's first city of architecture cares about its past. With an array of buildings by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Daniel Burnham and Mies van der Rohe unmatched by any city in the world, how could it not? -- But the reality of historic preservation in Chica