Why Does Peter Kalikow Have a $1 Million Ferrari?Billionaire financiers Stephen Schwarzman and Henry Kravis don’t like each other, and refuse to socialize at billionaire financier-type events. Speaking of billionaire financiers, Jeffrey Epstein hired former Whitewater special prosecutor Ken Starr to help defend him against charges that he solicited prostitutes. Tim Gunn claims that he wasn’t allowed to reference Project Runway in his book for fear of being sued by publisher (and Runway co-producer) Weinstein & Co. MTA chairman Peter Kalikow’s $1 million Ferrari sustained $32,000 in damage in transit from Zurich to New York last may. James Gandolfini says we should “shit or get off the pot” regarding Iraq, and wants to reinstate the draft. Some designers are angry that Ralph Lauren is hoarding models for his Saturday show.
the morning line
Real-Estate Developers to Middle Class: Drop Dead
• The NYPD has made six arrests in its hunt for “the fourth man” from the scene of the Queens shooting that killed Sean Bell. The dragnet, which involved cops raiding houses in the middle of the night and picking people up on unrelated gun charges, infuriated the already jittery community; the surviving victims’ attorney says the fourth man doesn’t exist. [NYDN]
• First Stuy Town and now Starrett City. The subsidized Brooklyn megacomplex (140 acres, 46 towers, 5,881 apartments, 14,000 residents) is up for sale. The enclave, which has its own schools and even its own newspaper, is expected to fetch over $1 billion. [NYT]
• The populist Post sides squarely with the riders on the cab-fare issue, insisting the new hike boosts fares up to 27 percent instead of the promised average of 11 percent. Which is not to say the paper wasn’t indignant about the 11 percent, too. [NYP]
• MTA head honcho Peter Kalikow is making noises about stepping down from his post in mid-2007, despite having five more years left in the term. (Spitzer wants him out.) The always-gracious Roger Toussaint responds by saying “even six months is too long.” [amNY]
• Oh, and you don’t cross Kalikow and not pay for it. Here you go, NYC — no subway cell service for you! [amNY]
in other news
MTA Won’t Raise Fares, Thanks, Somehow, to Stuy TownThe benevolent overlords of MTA are now promising no fare hikes for 2007, honestly. For real. Not for subways, not for LIRR, not for Metro-North or bridge-and-tunnel tolls — not even for lightning-fast, camera-equipped Space Age ultrabuses. The news comes as a backtracking, after Peter Kalikow & Co. had already put a $240 million hike on the books, not to mention scared the bejesus out of everyone by floating a bizarre service-cut proposal. Now Kalikow says enough money has appeared to make that hike unnecessary, which raises the question: Where did the money come from all of the sudden, and who’s the secret Santa?
It comes from, says Kalikow, the city’s booming economy — and particularly its real-estate market. “The agency gets revenues from real estate transactions,” the News says, adding later that “it will get some assistance from the megasale of Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town.” All of which is well and good, if it keeps our subway fares down. But also: Huh? Is there a MTA tax on real-estate transfers? Is Tishman Speyer throwing a few MetroCards at Stuy Town residents to keep them happy? We don’t quite get this bit and would appreciate anyone who could explain.
On the other hand, it’s not like it so much matters. The MTA is predicting “huge deficits” for 2008.
MTA Plays Fare and Holds It for ‘07 [NYDN]
