REAL ESTATE
•Three architecture firms submitted designs for the on-again, off-again office-tower project being envisioned for above the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Should plans move forward, construction may begin in 2010. But don’t worry, rent has already been set at $265 per square foot. [NYT]
• There were 234 foreclosure filings in Manhattan during the second quarter, 796 on Staten Island, and 677 in the Bronx. [NYDN]
• Park Slope’s Seventh Avenue Tea Lounge has forever shuttered its doors. Where will stroller gridlock move to now? [FINANCE
• Washington Mutual’s stocks have plummeted over the last two days, after a Gimme Credit analyst suggested that creditors have been pulling funds from the bank. This assessment didn’t thrill WaMu’s treasurer, Robert Williams. He said the researcher’s report reflects a “failure to understand basic balance sheet management.” [NYP]
•Who should police Wall Street banks, the Fed or the SEC.? Stay tuned as government leaders duke it out in Washington, D.C, trying to decide. [NYP]
• Blackstone is drooling over the toxic subprime market. [DealBook/NYT]
MEDIA
• Sirius and XM Radio are officially married. The government approved the merger yesterday. Meanwhile, Clear Channel Communications shareholders approved a $17.9 billion buyout deal. [NYP, DealBook/NYT]
• Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller wants Congress to enact a federal shield law that would protect journalists from being forced to disclose their sources. “No country that calls itself free should jail journalists for doing their job,” she said. [AFP]
• That Barack Obama New Yorker? Yeah, it sold 75,000 copies on the newsstand, which is 80 percent more than usual. [NYP]
• Harvey Weinstein is blogging for Portfolio. [Portfolio]
LAW
• Attorney general Andrew Cuomo accused UBS of fraud. He says the banking giant misrepresented the $330 billion auction-rate securities market by tricking its customers into buying securities that were billed as safe, when it was clear that they were risky. [NYP]
• General Electric is suing one of its former in-house attorneys for allegedly leaking company documents to the press. [WSJ]
