The hot news from Curbed NY...
1) Tribeca: Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson listed his pair of Franklin Street penthouses for $21.5 million. The movie mogul purchases the pads back in 2008, and while we hoped for an epic megapenthouse to rule them all, Jackson left the units separate. Bor-ing.
2) Staten Island: New York's oft-neglected borough, Staten Island, is set to get the world's largest observation wheel. The jumbo ride will rise 630 feet into the air, and give 1,400 people per hour unobstructed views of all of New York. Click through for the mindboggling reveal. Oh, and this Wheel will be neighbors with a massive new outlet mall.
3) Midtown East: The black and gold palatial pad of convicted fraudster Alberto Vilar is back on the market. Only one half of the duplex is listed, but the gilded United Nations home?it's filled with black marble floor, gold-lead mouldings, sculpted pillars, and more?is still quite impressive. And it's only asking $4.95 million. Not too bad for 14 rooms.
4) Chelsea: Water towers are a ubiquitous feature of the New York City skyline, and recently, a stealthy group of designers turned one such wooden tower into an illicit, invite-only speakeasy. Sadly, the secret watering hole is no more, but here's hoping they recreated it?and we're invited.
· Curbed NY [ny.curbed]