The Feb/March cover of HGTV Magazine NATIONAL —The second test issue of HGTV Magazine hits stands Jan. 17; in it, a story about the family who lives in the pristine white house featured in the 1991 Steve Martin comedy Father of the Bride. Apparently tourists flock to the Pasadena, Calif., Colonial so much that the owner consciously tries to keep it looking sharp. “I feel guilty on trash day,” she says. [CurbedWire Inbox] NATIONAL —According to new data released by RealityTrac, the 10 states faring the worst in terms of number of foreclosed properties are: Ohio, Utah, Delaware, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, California, and Nevada, where 1 in 177 homes is foreclosed. [Business Insider] LONDON —UK architecture and urbanism nonprofit The Architecture Foundation is playing around with the way “sound is used to transform the physical environment, creating a temporary, invisible, yet penetrating architecture.” The installation, entitled “Olduvai Theory,” will take place for only one night: “on the day statistically noted to be the most depressing of the year, ‘Blue Monday.’” Oh, architecture and urbanism nonprofits. [The Architecture Foundation]

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CurbedWire: HGTV Magazine’s Second Issue; Foreclosures; More!

Police and the family members of a missing Virginia man are searching for him after he last made contact with a roommate on December 30. Ian Burnet, a 22-year-old engineering student, traveled to New York City to stay with two friends at their Hamilton Heights apartment on December 26. He sent a text message to his parents on December 28, and sent a text message to his roommate on December 30th before his disappearance that afternoon. [ more › ]

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Family Seeks 22-Yr-Old Tourist Missing In NYC Since December 30

Just as New Jersey is getting ready to put gay marriage back on the table an unsurprising voice of opposition has reared its head. Pope Benedict XVI in an annual address to the diplomatic corps yesterday said that married homosexuals were one of the major threats facing the family, threats that could undermine “the future of humanity itself. ” Because the Catholic Church has a perfect record there , right? [ more › ]

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Pope Says Gay Nups Threaten "Humanity Itself" As NJ Vote Looms Again

Fed up with being stonewalled by the NYPD, the family of Mathieu Lefevre —an artist who was killed by a flatbed truck driver while riding his bike in Williamsburg in October—has filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court. At the beginning of December, the NYPD rejected the family’s request for information under the Freedom of Information Law [FOIL], informing their lawyer that the investigation into Lefevre’s death was ongoing, and therefore the NYPD would not share any documents related to said “investigation.” You can read the lawsuit in full below. [ more › ]

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Family Of Killed Cyclist Mathieu Lefevre Sues NYPD For Withholding Information

Because you can’t move forward without looking back, here now is The Year That Was, wherein Curbed briefly and by no means exhaustively recaps important things that happened in the realms of real estate, interior design and decor, architecture, and shelter media. Month by month, here it goes: sayonara, 2011! · Announced: America’s first Hello Kitty house, which is currently underway in the Hamptons. · Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s love nest hits the market. · Architect Norman Forst buys President Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard getaway. · For charity, Tory Burch offers to redecorate a room in your house to resemble a Tory Burch store. · Architectural Digest releases an updated version of the AD100. · First feature film about Frank Lloyd Wright is announced and underway. · Woman trades in Diana Ross’ former house for a minivan. · Rapper Ice Cube tours the Eames House and drops some high praise for it. · Vogue puts a $110K chair in its gift guide. · A Rotterdam-based architecture firm unveils plans for a Seoul tower that looks questionably familiar. · Holly Golighty’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s house hits the market in NYC. · Brad Pitt sells off his Malibu manse to Ellen and Portia. · The NYC pad of George and Ira Gershwin hits the market. · Landlord defends her “White Only” pool sign. · The Novogratz releases their family holiday card; pays tribute to The Brady Bunch. · Ryan Gosling and architecture collide in new Tumblr. · Rumors swirl that Lady Gaga is looking at some Amish Country real estate. · The New York Times publishes an epic profile of the homes of this year’s GOP hopefuls.

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The Year That Was 2011: December: Norman Foster; Holly Golightly; Gosling; More!

It’s a Christmas miracle! The Brooklyn family that had to begrudgingly give up their beloved family cat, Sumi , for human health reasons, have found her a new home. If she wasn’t adopted by December 26th she was likely going to be euthanized by the shelter she’s been staying at, but the owner has delivered some good news, saying: “I am happy to report that Sumi has found a new home. She will be staying in Western Massachusetts with a friend of the family. Thank you to everyone that reached out to offer help and advice.” [ more › ]

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Sumi The Cat Is Saved From Boxing Day Execution

                Though some have issues with the way it has changed the neighborhood around it , you’d have a hard time arguing that the High Line has been anything but a wild success story. So naturally there are now a bunch of similar park reclamations being proposed around the city . One that seems like it might go somewhere though is on the abandoned LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch, where a proposed park has recently been dubbed The QueensWay. They even have a Twitter account ! [ more › ]

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Queens’ "High Line," The QueensWay, Inching Towards Reality

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are beginning their investigation of the fatal small plane crash that claimed the lives of five people yesterday. Investment banker Jeffrey Buckalew was flying a single-engine turboprop plane, with his wife Corinne, their young children Jackson and Meriwether and the family dog, plus his business colleague Rakesh Chawla, from Teterboro Airport in NJ to Atlanta when their plane suddenly made an “uncontrolled descent,” apparently exploding, and eventually hit part of Interstate 287 in Harding, NJ. A nearby homeowner said to the NY Times, “This plane was very loud because it was so close, and its engines would stop and start. And the pilot was trying to rev it to keep the engines going.” [ more › ]

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NTSB: Plane Made "Uncontrolled Descent" Before Crashing Onto 287

Vegetarian bar owner Johnny Barounis, who owns Revision Lounge and Gallery in the East Village, the Back Room on the Lower East Side, and Auction House and Fetch on the Upper East Side, does not take kindly to customers who come in draped in furs. In fact, as DNAinfo reports , he straight-up refuses to serve them. [ more › ]

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Vegetarian Bar Owner Bans Customers With Fur Coats

An attorney representing the family of killed cyclist Mathieu Lefevre has sent a scathing letter to the NYPD’s Accident Investigation Squad, blasting the department’s handling of the investigation. Lefevre, a Canadian artist living in Brooklyn, was killed in October by a flatbed truck driver who left the scene of the Williamsburg accident. When the NYPD finally tracked him down, he said he didn’t know he ran anybody over, and investigators took his word for it. Gothamist has obtained a copy of the letter, sent today to the NYPD Highway Patrol, in which attorney Steve Vaccaro raises serious concerns about detectives handling of the investigation, such as: [ more › ]

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Lost Evidence, "Biased" Investigation Cited In NYPD’s Probe Of Killed Cyclist Mathieu Lefevre