REAL ESTATE • The penthouse atop Robert De Niro's new Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca is bigger than was approved, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission has the right to tear it down. The actor himself — along with a gaggle of supporters, including Ed Burns — appeared in front of the commission yesterday to plead the case for letting the structure stand. [NYT] • The owners of the South Street Seaport pier agree that it's not going to take off as a "festival marketplace," so they plan to replace it with a 42-story, 495-foot apartment and hotel tower. [NYT] • Budget hotels are cropping up in the garment district. Can we thank Simon from the Real Housewives of New York (whose "boutique hotel" is located around that area) for this phenomenon? [NYT]

FINANCE
• Things are getting really rough over at Goldman Sachs: Junior and mid-tier executives now have to fly coach instead of business class on flights shorter than four or five hours, and staffers now have to hold out until 7:30 p.m. to order dinner. Plus, executives are also encouraged to share car services home. [NYP]
• Morgan Stanley reported a $1.02 billion second-quarter profit. Although that's a 57 percent drop from the same time last year, the firm fared better than Lehman Brothers, which confirmed a $2.8 billion loss. [DealBook/NYT]
• Um … red flag: The Royal Bank of Scotland has advised clients to brace for a full-fledged crash in global stock and credit markets over the next three months as inflation paralyzes the major central banks. [Telegraph]

MEDIA
• Now that the Tonys are over, New York Times reporter Campbell Robertson wants to move from the chorus line to the front lines and head to Iraq. [NYO]
• Former Jessica Simpson flack Rob Shuter has been promoted to executive editor of OK! magazine. [NYP]
• Hachette Fillipacci CEO Jack Kliger is stepping down; he will be replaced by an executive from the French company's Paris office. [Mixed Media/Portfolio]

LAW
• The Milberg case is really rocking the legal community. The latest report from the trenches: The lawyer who defended the firm for more than four years says if Milberg was to survive, it had to reach a deal with Los Angeles prosecutors to avoid a guilty plea or conviction. [Law.com]
• Law firms have been preparing for the next wave of corporate bankruptcies for the past two years, but attorneys are starting to think that the surge may be more of a swell than a tsunami. [Law.com]
• The AP's new rules for bloggers raise legal questions. [Legal Blog Watch]