company town

It’s Soon Going to Be Even Harder to Get a Seat in Bryant Park for Lunch

Bryant Park

Photo: Getty Images

REAL ESTATE

• Lunchtime at Bryant Park is going to get even more crowded when two gigantic new neighboring office towers, which will add an estimated 13,600 new workers to midtown, are completed. [ href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/nyregion/05bryant.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin”>NYT]

• In response to the fatal construction accidents that are plaguing New York, the city is proposing a new, thirteen-point legislative package that will broaden oversight of building sites, increase fines for violations, and suspend or revoke permits if a company has a troubled safety record. [ href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/nyregion/05safety.html?ref=nyregion”>NYT]

• Webster Hall is officially a landmark. [ href=”http://www.nypost.com/seven/06052008/news/regionalnews/webster_hall_landmarked_114076.htm”>NYP]

FINANCE
• Lehman Brothers’ stock gained a little bit of ground yesterday as the firm fended off rumors that it needs to raise cash. “We believe concerns of a Bear [Stearns]–like event at Lehman are unfounded,” said Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski. [NYP]
• Finally, something goes Bear Stearns’s way: The private-equity arm of the fallen firm is likely to spin off into a private company. [WSJ]
• Is JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon going to go on a shopping spree? He’s certainly poised to increase his firm’s market share. [Business Week]

MEDIA
• Slate’s editor, Jacob Weisberg, will become the chair of the Slate Group, which will oversee current publications and new ventures. David Plotz, Weisberg’s deputy, will take over the helm of the Website. [NYT]
• Journalist Thomas Johnson, who was the first black reporter at Newsday and, later, at the New York Times, has passed away at the age of 79. [NYT]
• David Carr, Keith Kelly, Michael Wolff, and other journalists took shots at the print world, the online world, and each other during an Internet Week panel discussion. “If Newsweek is still around in five years, I’ll buy you dinner,” Wolff said to a Newsweek writer. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]

LAW
• The 2008 law-firm bonus-watch begins. [Above the Law]
• Thompson Wigdor & Gilly is being sued for failing to bring defamation claims on behalf of a client in a high-profile sexual-harassment and discrimination case. [Law.com]
• Mergers and acquisitions are 23 percent more likely to happen when details of the deals aren’t leaked. “There’s always been this concern that information leaks result in longer time frames and more work, which is something you’ll hear from deal lawyers.” [Law.com]

It’s Soon Going to Be Even Harder to Get a Seat in Bryant Park for Lunch