–The mayor says the firing of Ricardo Morales had nothing to do with the fact that Morales had become a “hostile witness” in a federal investigation of the city administration. Morales, a former city official linked to the Rivington House scandal, is now suing the city. [Daily News]
–Gary Barnett is bringing an infrared schvitz to One Manhattan Square. [The Real Deal]
–A look at the new South Street Seaport, the “$785 million curated neighborhood that the (Howard Highes Corp.) hopes will appeal to actual New Yorkers, particularly the high-earning millennials who have been swarming to the downtown area to live and work in the last decade.” [New York Times]
–Here’s the latest on the closure of the Great Jones Cafe. [EV Grieve]
–Two new books look at the death of New York City as we know it. [New Republic]
–Video: “A love letter to the Lower East Side.” The artists involved in Hanksy’s “Market Surplus” show in the old Essex Street Market builing talk about their involvement in the project. [Esquire]
–A dramatic gunpoint robbery at The Forward building… in 1924! [The Forward]