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Daffodils blooming in North Cove. April 16, 2014. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Bits & Bytes  

WATER ST. BUILDING TO BE RAZED FOR HOTEL; DEAD WHALE; BATTERY PARK CITY REAL ESTATE; TRIBECA SHIPS' CHANDLER; COURTROOM ART

Liz Williams, sketching at a Battery Park City block party. Her book, "Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art," has just been released. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

"Water Street Building to Be Razed for Long-Awaited Hotel," Curbed.com, (4/16/14) "Plans for a hotel at 6 Water Street have been in the works since prolific developer Sam Chang purchased the property back in 2008, and it looks like they are finally moving forward-but Chang is no longer involved," says Curbed.com. "No progress on a hotel was made until last year when Chang's company finally filed plans for a 29-story, Gene Kaufman-designed hotel. Construction permits were approved in February, but then in March, Chang decided to give up the project and sold the site to the Magna Hospitality Group for $44 million." For the complete article, click here.

"Experts probing dead whale found in NY harbor," Wall Street Journal, 4/16/14. "Mammal researchers are trying to determine the cause of death for a 60-foot-long whale that was found dead in New York harbor over the weekend," says the Wall Street Journal. The whale was towed to an Army Corps of Engineers station near Liberty State Park. The Journal says that, "Representatives from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine on the New Jersey shore are in Jersey City Wednesday examining the finback that weighs 55 to 60 tons." For the complete article, click here.

Battery Park City real estate: Lois Weiss of the New York Post is reporting that "Another of the gorgeous Battery Park City rental buildings is being offered for sale, and, with a condo conversion in mind, could fetch more than $300 million." She says the 396-apartment rental Tribeca Park at 400 Chambers St. and River Terrace is right next to the Hudson River. It was designed by Robert A.M. Stern and developed by the Related Companies. "The 325,365-square-foot dark red building has 1,786 square feet of retail and a 123-car garage in its 27 stories," she says. Tribeca Park is an 80/20 building, meaning that only 80 percent of it could be converted to condominiums. Weiss also says that, as she previously reported, 42-story Tribeca Pointe, an 80/20 rental with 340 apartments in 285,000 square feet, is being sold by Rockrose through Studley. This is also an 80/20 building. Finally, says Weiss, in the southern end of Battery Park City, the Ritz-Carlton New York-Battery Park hotel is being sold through Eastdil. "It was part of a portfolio but is such a unique asset it has been carved out," she say. For the complete article, click here.

Last ships' chandler stays in Tribeca: There are only 108 companies in the world supplying nautical charts. One of these stores is New York Nautical in Tribeca. For more than 100 years, the store has been in Lower Manhattan, moving from one location to another. Recently, because of rising rents, it moved again, from 158 Duane St. to 200 Church St. New York Nautical was originally called Kelvin-White, a ships' chandler, selling specialized marine supplies including compasses and binnacles needed for navigation. Since Erik Zibilich bought the company in 2002, it has become almost exclusively a nautical chart agent with 70 percent of its business devoted to supplying charts to commercial shipping customers around the world. Although computerized navigation was expected to eliminate the need for paper charts on ships long ago, the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency that sets safety standards for commercial ships, requires that ships over a certain size carry a set of paper charts and a paper logbook. Not all of New York Nautical's customers are in the market for charts, however. Zibilich's reasons for wanting to stay in Lower Manhattan included the fact that some of his customers come from Wall Street. They like to buy brass barometers and ship's clocks and travel books, he said. For more information about New York Nautical, click here.

"Capturing on Canvas the Downfall of Wall Street's Criminals," New York Times, 4/14/14. Wherever she is, Liz Williams is likely to start sketching what's happening. That's what she's been doing for three decades as a courtroom artist, whose work is needed because, until recently, cameras were forbidden in federal courtrooms. "Bernard L. Madoff was handcuffed and whisked into a cell. Michael R. Milken, head in palm, wept. Martha Stewart simply stared straight ahead," says The New York Times in an article describing Williams' work and her new book, "Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Courtroom Art," that she wrote with Sue Russell. According to The Times, "Ms. Williams has covered the trials of terrorists and murderers, but she finds white-collar criminals the most fascinating." Some of the work from the book will be on display at the World Trade Center Art Gallery from April 22 to April 29. For the complete article, click here.

The Tribeca Film Festival always includes a free outdoor "Drive In" on the plaza overlooking North Cove Marina in Battery Park City. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)