–The city has announced a new school choice system on the Lower East Side “aimed at increasing the racial and socioeconomic diversity” of District 1. [New York Times]
–The “education department has finally won over some critical parent advocates” in its quest to implement a school diversity program on the LES. [Chalkbeat]
–Here’s an interview with the victim of a possible “knock out game” attack on Essex Street. [Channel 4]
–A Chinatown bus operator is using another bus company’s permit. The city’s Department of Transportation says the company, EC-2, is operating illegally. [Channel 7]
–The broker seeking to lease 350,000 square feet of office space at Essex Crossing says, “We’re looking for high-profile tenants; think IBM Watson at 54 Astor Place.” [Real Estate Weekly]
–Followup: “Donald Trump’s personal attorney said Thursday there’s no mystery to his cash sale of four New York apartment buildings: The buyers were a family fund that put the proceeds from an earlier real estate transaction into his properties to defer paying taxes, as permitted by federal law.” [McClatchy News Service]
–HUD’s new regional administrator vows to close “loopholes” that allow some NYCHA residents to take advantage of the system. [Daily News]
–Five years after Hurricane Sandy, a look at why the “Build It Back” program failed. The case of Knickerbocker Village on the Lower East Side, “highlights the level of complexity of rebuilding New York, post-Sandy, on a micro level.” [Curbed]
–Former Rivington House owner, the Allure Group, scores a big loan to refinance its Crown Heights nursing home. [The Real Deal]
