Flashback: Fiddling away those financial blues!

In honor of every media outlet revisiting Wall Street nearly COLLAPSING last Sept. 15, 2008, here's a look back at arguably one of my personal favorite posts hereabouts. From Sept. 15, 2008!:


About 90 minutes after the Dow closed yesterday, the big doings began at Wall and Water Streets. As Curbed reported yesterday, the Moinian Group, in some unfortunate timing, had scheduled the launch party for their Philippe Starck-designed luxury rental conversion at 95 Wall St. last night. Uh, oops? No matter! Despite a 500-point tumble (collapse?) on the NYSE, the mood was festive at the location known as Dwell95! A tux-clad musician with an electronic fiddle was on the red carpet delighting all who walked by, mostly confused tourists at the onset.

To hold space for the incoming town cars, Dwell95 planners implemented those festive "do not slip" signs indigenous to maintenance crews.

Meanwhile, here's a snippet of the energetic fiddle player's performance. (Oh, yes -- it's "La Bamba.")



I didn't stick around long enough to hear if he did "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

200 Water Street now leasing

Following up on my post a few weeks back...when I noted that NYU had packed up and left the Water Street dorm in the Financial District.





And Rockrose has a new Web site for the property — luxury rentals...but no details. But hey — the rooms are good enough for NYU students! And a commenter noticed the following:

Taking a closer look at that poster, I'm thinking she almost looks like she's preparing to fellate that bridge. What makes no sense whatsoever, though, is that it's the Manhattan Bridge. Where do they think 200 Water Street is ... Chinatown? DUMBO?

Meanwhile, RR is changing all the lightbulbs...

NYU de-dorms 200 Water St.; preps the 12th Street residence hall

As we noted yesterday, NYU plans on expanding into parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Well, there are plans for developing up to 6 million square feet of additional space by 2031 in the area around Washington Square Park.

Meanwhile, what else is happening in the NYU dorm world? First, 200 Water St. in the the Financial District is getting de-dormed. Since 1998, NYU has housed some 1,200 students in these 32 floors. As the Times reported on April 3, 1998, the building went up in 1971 as an office tower for the securities and insurance industry. It was converted from office space to residential space for NYU by the Rockrose Development Corporation.

The decision to lease the Water Street building comes as part of the university's drive to provide housing for a student body that includes fewer New York residents than ever before.

"Ten years ago, half of a typical freshman class was from New York," said John Beckman, a spokesman for NYU. "Now that is about 20 percent."

According to the Water Street home page, "Our theme for the 2008 – 2009 year is "Leave your Watermark" inspired by Water Street’s last year as an NYU residence hall." What's going in this space? Not sure! (According to a commenter here, Rockrose is converting the units to rentals.) But at least they have that new Duane Reade anchoring Fulton and Water. So the students will be moved to other dorms closer to campus.




In recent weeks, all the old dorm mattresses -- hope the students didn't leave their watermarks here! -- were stacked up in the lobby at 200 Water St. and carted off to...




... I don't know, perhaps the new eyesore called the 12th Street dorm that sort of, but not really incorporated the façade of St. Ann's into the residence hall's entrance. This 26-floor dorm between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue will house 700 freshman starting this August.



Here are a few of the articles The Villager has done on the 12th Street dorm in recent years.

See you at the Village Pourhouse in August kids!

All the Fulton Street Duane Reade news that's fit to post

The Big new Duane Reade opens at the former Staples site on Water Street and Fulton on Saturday...



...which means the old Duane Reade a few hundred feet away on Fulton is closing...



Meanwhile, someone artfully arranged these bricks on Water Street outside the new Duane Reade.

Is the recession over? Tiffany & Co. is advertising on bus shelters

On Water and Fulton in the Financial District.

AIG issues new vehicles for executives

At the AIG HQ yesterday on Water Street in the Financial District. Not sure if the truck was making a pick up or drop off...

Someone in the Financial District is actually hiring

A new T-Mobile store is opening soon at 175 Water Street at Maiden Lane (the former site of the Gabes House of Flowers.)

Staples pulls out of the South Street Seaport gateway: That was easy

The big Staples store (they're actually all big, huh?) that anchored the corner of Water Street and Fulton Street at the gateway to the South Street Seaport rather quietly packed up its ink and toner, binders and desk organizers, and closed up shop last month. Maybe the Staples brass figured business would fall because NYU's lease on the Rockrose-owned Water Street dorm adjacent to the store will not be renewed after this academic year.



There has been activity here of late, though it mostly seems to be workers clearing out the remaining Staples stuff.



Apparently they don't want you to know a Staples was here.



With the departure of the Strand Annex at 95 Fulton in September, there is some nice, fat storefrontage available on the east-end of the street. Maybe that construction will be completed in the next 10 years or so.