1) Architect Elliott Glass, the God of co-op renovations, has no partners, secretary, website, e-mail address or computer. His entire practice is cataloged in 60 black metal file cabinets. Elliott Glass may lack a lot of things, but there is one thing he has in spades: a little sumthin' sumthin' we like to call The Pose. He will be portrayed by Paul Giamatti in the Charlie Kaufman-penned move about his life. ['This Man Could Ruin Your Renovation Plans']
2) Moneymen at financial institutions both troubled and healthy are shedding trophy apartments like they're going out of style. Because they are! Or at least, trying to shed is a more apt description, because price cuts are coming fast and furious. And as for Oscar Schafer, the guy listing his Plaza apartment at a loss, his broker says he just changed his mind about living there: "Oscar Schafer has the most beautiful duplex penthouse at the Hampshire House and has recently bought the contiguous apartment." [Big Deal/'Trophies Losing Their Luster']
3) The couple in this week's Hunt only looked at two neighborhoods: Williamsburg and the Upper West Side. Oddly, their $600,000 budget doesn't afford them much in the Burg, but they snagged a two-bedroom FSBO co-op on West 80th Street they saw on Craigslist. And for those who can't get enough of this story, Joyce Cohen has before-and-after floorplans and photos. [The Hunt/'The Apartment, for the Price']
4) Adding fuel to the fire of those who love dissing "bitter renters," Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts aren't going to do much for those without a mortgage, which comes out to two-thirds of New York City's households. If you've got a mortgage, however, you're totally set. [Big Deal/'The Invisible Renter']
5) Had Curbed been around at the turn of the century (19th into 20th, that is), we might have had to slap Stanford White's Gramercy Park townhouse with a That's Rather Hideous. Now, the Gramercy Park Hotel sits on the spot. [Streetscapes/'On the Trail of Stanford White']For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.
