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Witches Coven Holding Fest To Raise Money For Permanent Manhattan Home

Cole Perkins — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:17:06 +0000

A coven of witches is headed to Union Square with the hopes of raising enough dough to build a permanent home right in Manhattan. According to DNA Info , the members of the Wiccan Family Temple , who are based out of the Lower East Side, are planning the WitchsFest on July 8th, which will include 50 vendors selling items like those found in The Magic Box . Probably. [ more › ]

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Witches Coven Holding Fest To Raise Money For Permanent Manhattan Home

City May Rezone Upper West Side To Drive Chain Stores Away (Or Underground)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:05:46 +0000

The preponderance of big chain stores on the Upper West Side could be severely reversed under a plan introduced by the Department of City Planning . Acting on concerns from the Upper West Side community and elected officials, the city is considering rezoning part of the neighborhood to create two Special Enhanced Commercial Districts. Each of these zones would limit the frontage of new and expanding banks and residential lobbies along Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. Overall store size would not be restricted, so big chains could still burrow underground, but city planners argue that “over time the general multi-store character of Amsterdam and Columbus avenues would be maintained, while promoting a more varied and active retail environment on Broadway.” [ more › ]

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City May Rezone Upper West Side To Drive Chain Stores Away (Or Underground)

Females Only: We’ve Got Your V-Day Date Right Here

Cole Perkins — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:55:32 +0000

As everyone already knows about the rules of dating , people just tell each other lies on the first date, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. But what if you haven’t gotten that first date with a rent-a-gent yet? Fear not single ladies ! The above flyer was spotted taped to the filthy tiled wall of the C line in Clinton Hill—and you know that in this case, the “C” stands for Carnal . [ more › ]

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Females Only: We’ve Got Your V-Day Date Right Here

Seinfeld And Sesame Street Hot Spots Get Twisted Treatment

Cole Perkins — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:15:29 +0000

Ever find Sesame Street to be a little too happy? Well artist Tim Doyle has recreated it, and other television show landscapes, with a dark twist. Click through for some of his “Unreal Estate” pieces, where you’ll see Hooper’s Store, Seinfeld , and even All in the Family spots like you’ve never seen them before. More of his work can be seen right here , and hopefully he’ll bring his show (currently in San Francisco) to New York, along with some more NYC-based pieces . [via Buzzfeed ] [ more › ]

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Seinfeld And Sesame Street Hot Spots Get Twisted Treatment

Celebrity Real Estate: NFL Stars Hope for Hail Mary Sale with Over-The-Top Digs

Cole Perkins — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:15:00 +0000

Click here to view the full photogallery. Known best for their domination on the field, the following NFL stars also attempted to master the world of real estate, building elaborate personal palaces that match their stardom. Then, of course, as the contracts and salaries run dry—or they leave to build another luxurious spread—the opulent houses are tossed onto the market with some jaw-dropping price tags. This one, the extravagant Texas home of former NFL cornerback and current NFL commentator Deion Sanders, sits on 109 acres and includes a private football field and a lake. Sanders first listed it for $21M in 2009, but pulled it off the market following some extreme water damage in the media room last February. Perhaps he’s fixing it up, or maybe he’s just waiting for the photos of the carnage to work their way down his Twitter feed. ↑ Not to be outdone by his younger brethren, legendary Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman has listed Texas’s most expensive house, a $24M mansion in Dallas that measures 10,500 square feet and includes five bedrooms, eight total bathrooms, a swimming pool, and tennis court. Rumor has it he’s got his sights set on a smaller house next door. Click here to view the full photogallery. ↑ Another Cowboy, this one the currently active, highest-paid-ever DeMarcus Ware, lives in a much more modestly priced house near Dallas in Coreyville, Texas. Then again, he might be looking to trade up soon, as he’s got the decked-out 9,300-square-foot mansion listed for $2.2M. It’ll be hard to top these amenities though: “seven fireplaces, a trophy-stocked billiards room, and a wine porch, not to mention a dedicated turf practice area, a putting green, a pool/spa, pavilion, and a trampoline on the grounds.” Click here to view the full photogallery. ↑ Out in Calistoga, Calif., near the city that gained him so much fame, iconic San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana has built an absurdly over-the-top estate for himself and his family. Set on 500 acres of Napa Valley, the 9,700-square-foot main house with “full equestrian facilities, a skeet shooting station, an olive farm, a swimming pool and spa, a private pond, a basketball court, and a bocce ball court” was previously listed for $49M, but was recently chopped down to a much more reasonable $35M. ↑ New England Patriots QB Tom Brady might not yet be retired, but he’s certainly planning ahead for cushy twilight years. He and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen—who reportedly pulls down more moolah each year than he does—decided to build a $20M megamanse in the hills of Los Angeles, despite making no public plans to leave New England any time soon. To help pay for the SoCal boondoggle Brady and Bundchen have their three-bed Boston duplex penthouse up for sale for the locally-almost-unheard-of price of $10.5M. The listing is lacking in interior photos, but at this price point, who needs ‘em. · Deion Sanders Takes $21 Million, 29,000 Square Foot Mansion OFF Market [Candy's Dirt] · Troy Aikman Punts on His Palatial Digs, Now Texas’s Priciest [Curbed National] · Inside Cowboy DeMarcus Ware’s Over-the-Top Texan Manse [Curbed National] · 49ers Legend Joe Montana’s Outlandish Napa Estate Chopped [Curbed National] · Will Tom Brady’s L.A. Plans Spur Back Bay PH Sale? [Curbed Boston]

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Celebrity Real Estate: NFL Stars Hope for Hail Mary Sale with Over-The-Top Digs

‘Til Death Do Us Part: Woman Marries Warehouse to Protest New Apartment Complex

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:44:00 +0000

Photo via the Los Angeles Times Protests against gentrification and pleas of “there-goes-the-neighborhood” can take many forms, but here’s one not oft seen—OK, never seen: a Seattle woman has wed herself to a warehouse as a show of support for the abandoned building, which will be demolished and soon replaced with a new housing complex. At the wedding ceremony, the song “Lean on Me” played in the background and Baylonia Aivaz remarked, “I’m doing this to show the building how much I love it, how much I love community space and how much I love this neighborhood. And I want to stop it from gentrification.” Some ceremony details: “The wedding was held outdoors in the rain, in front of the old warehouse’s fenced-off entrance with a small crowd—and idled demolition machinery—looking on. There was a minister present, and a few Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were there to bless the ceremony. The minister read a few passages and orchestrated the exchange of vows between Babylonia and the warehouse.” Later, in an interview with local station KOMO-TV, Aivaz elaborated: “If corporations can have the [same] rights as people, so can buildings.” In recent weeks, Occupy Seattle protesters have set up shop in the warehouse, which is more than a century old, claiming that the space might have more valuable purposes than fancy new residences (a community or art center, for instance). Despite the effort—Aivaz’s insistence that “[t]he moment we entered the warehouse we became a true community. We became self-motivated. We worked co-operatively”—the building will be razed. If nothing else, gotta give her an A for effort. · A vow against gentrification: Seattle woman ‘marries’ a warehouse [Los Angeles Times via NBC Bay Area ] · CHS *Wedding* Pics | To have and to hold until the backhoes knock her down [Capitol Hill Seattle]

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‘Til Death Do Us Part: Woman Marries Warehouse to Protest New Apartment Complex

Feds Bust Five Bonanno Family Mobsters, Including ‘Donnie Brasco’ Underboss

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:20:04 +0000

A joint investigation between the DEA and FBI culminated this morning with the arrest of five high-ranking members of the Bonanno crime family, officials announced . The five alleged gangsters include “made” Bonanno member Vincent Badalamenti, a.k.a. “Vinny TV, and Nicholas “Nicky Mouth” Santora, who previously did 15 years in prison after undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone—dubbed “Donnie Brasco”—infiltrated the family by posing as a gangster in the late 1970s. In the movie about that investigation, Santora ( played by Bruno Kirby ) was killed; in real life he was released from prison in 2009, and now it looks like he’s going back. [ more › ]

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Feds Bust Five Bonanno Family Mobsters, Including ‘Donnie Brasco’ Underboss

House of the Day: Tennis Champ Mats Wilander’s Sun Valley Mountain Escape

Cole Perkins — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Have a nomination for a jaw-dropping listing that would make a mighty fine House of the Day? Get thee to the tipline and send us your suggestions. We’d love to see what you’ve got. Click here to view the full photogallery. Location: Sun Valley, Idaho Price: $5,900,000 The Skinny: When Swedish tennis champ Mats Wilander and his wife discovered that Idaho’s mountain air would help assuage their son’s skin condition, the couple purchased an 81-acre ranch and moved the family from Greenwich, Conn. to one of the country’s oldest ski areas, Sun Valley. Wilander, who gained notoriety as a commentator after saying Federer had “no balls” in a 2006 defeat to Nadal, built this 10,000-square-foot, seven-bed, 8.5-bath mansion on the property, along with a two-bed guest house and a caretaker’s residence. Remarkably, there doesn’t seem to be a tennis court on the property, though a sauna, billiards room, gym, sound proof music room, wine cellar, hot tub, and lap pool are all included in the $6M price. That’s quite a hike from the $1.7M the tennis star paid for the property, but that was 15 years ago. · 104 Cove Creek [Coldwell Banker] · Tim Headington Asks $25 Million in South Beach [WSJ]

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House of the Day: Tennis Champ Mats Wilander’s Sun Valley Mountain Escape

Inspiring LI Teen Goes To State Of Union, But Doesn’t Make Intel Finals

Cole Perkins — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:44:35 +0000

Samantha Garvey, the Long Island teen whose academic success in the face of her family’s financial difficulty inspired the country , attended President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, at the invitation of Rep. Steve Israel. Israel shared photos of Garvey’s trip on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, noting things like, “Samantha Garvey just arrived in DC for State of Union. A bite of pizza @ hotel before mtg with WH Science Advisor.” [ more › ]

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Inspiring LI Teen Goes To State Of Union, But Doesn’t Make Intel Finals

Joe Paterno Isn’t Dead, Family Upset At Incorrect Reports

Cole Perkins — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:40:32 +0000

After a CBS Sports college football blog reported that Penn State coaching legend was dead, many believed that the 85-year-old, who is battling lung cancer from a hospital room, had passed. But his family said, actually, no, JoePa is alive. His son Scott Paterno Tweeted , “CBS report is wrong – Dad is alive but in serious condition. We continue to ask for your prayers and privacy during this time.” [ more › ]

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Joe Paterno Isn’t Dead, Family Upset At Incorrect Reports