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How’s the market in Battery Park City faring right now?

It’s affected by the overall increase in vacancy rate as the rest of Manhattan and much of New York City is. Downtown has gone through such a dramatic revival with a conversion of many buildings from offices to condominiums in the last couple years that we have perhaps more inventory than other neighborhoods at the moment. So whether we’re in a good market or a softened market, we simply have more units down here than we’ve ever had.

No matter where you are in the world, if you spot a W Hotel, you know you are in the right place. Fashion, music, entertainment, design — the brand is famous for its innovative use of a variety of elements, creating stylish experiences for every guest that chooses to stay. As Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader for W Hotels Worldwide, describes, “W Hotels is an industry innovator and has redefined the meaning of hotels. It is not a functional, transactional or conventional and traditional approach to the hotel business, but a contemporary, leading-edge lifestyle branding one. We offer our guests unprecedented insider access to design, fashion, nightlife, celebrities, and entertainment in a contemporary cool environment.”

You might know Curtis Stone as the charming host of Take Home Chef on TLC, where he “preys on the innocent,” finding clueless cooks at the supermarket and then heading home with them to help create delicious meals. The summer, the Aussie import has a new cookbook called Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone, that’s sure to have you smiling in the kitchen in no time. - Heather Corcoran

Have a tough time keeping your little ones entertained on vacation? Head to the Grand Canyon, where the exquisite landscape and high-adrenaline activities leave no shortage of things to do.
—Alysha Brown

Center Cut at the Empire Hotel is a dining experience that should not be missed



Contemporary meets classic at Center Cut, the latest restaurant from Jeffrey Chodorow’s China Grill Management. Right next to Lincoln Center at the Empire Hotel, the restaurant is the perfect spot for a pre-theater, pre-concert or pre-entertainment bite to eat. And yes, to a New Yorker, location is everything, but what makes Center Cut really stand out is simple: the food is actually good.

Whitney Port is a hard girl to reach. Filming is running late. She needs to get to the airport. Her cell phone doesn’t have reception. She’s working.
The fact is, she’s always working. The 23-year-old Port stars on MTV’s newest “reality soap opera,” The City, playing herself. The series is a spin-off of the wildly popular docusoap, The Hills, itself a spin-off of another heightened-reality show, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County.

The ICP debuts a year-long tribute to fashion photography
By Rachel Bowie

Magazine-lovers who’ve ever tear-sheeted their way through a fashion periodical only to pin their favorite pages up on the wall, take note — the International Center of Photography has an exhibit just for you. This January marks the launch of the museum’s first-ever “Year of Fashion,” a series of six different exhibitions that feature the fashion photograph as art. The images on display emphasize the historical and cultural relevance of each piece, taken from the late 1800s through today. Edward Steichen, Richard Avedon, Martin Munkacsi — some of the biggest names in photography are showcased in the collection. Perfect for anyone that ever questioned the significance of the print publication, this collection at the ICP is a visual reminder of the long-lasting impact and power that a fashion photograph can have, regardless of its original intention. Here’s a look at the first four exhibitions on display now through May 3.

By Jeanine Zelkas


Within the lovely space that houses Toloache — a contemporary Mexican bistro in Midtown’s Theater District — chef/owner Julian Medina, who was born and raised in Mexico City, combines experiences from his homeland with his training at the French Culinary Institute and in the kitchens of such restaurants as Maya and Zocalo to create an individual style that elevates Mexican cuisine in a modern way. By incorporating new ingredients and healthier preparation techniques, Chef Medina reduces the heaviness of traditional Mexican cooking with his reinventions of classic home-style dishes.

When he’s red-faced and screaming and calling someone a donkey, it’s easy to forget that Gordon Ramsay, TV’s most feared chef, is also among the world’s greatest. His empire includes 25 restaurants around the world. He’s written nearly 20 books and has one of the most recognizable scowls on TV. (In case you’ve lost count, he hosts three programs in the U.K., two in the U.S. and another, Man Camp, on the way.) His telegenic temper has made him the world’s third highest-earning chef, but unlike other celebrity cooks, Ramsay is a force in the kitchen. He currently holds a staggering 10 Michelin Stars, three of them at New York’s own Gordon Ramsay at The London NYC hotel. With a new restaurant open in London and new seasons of Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen just begun, Ramsay continues to take over the world — one four-letter word at a time. —Heather Corcoran

Lipstick Jungle’s Kim Raver proves it is possible to have it all.

By Rachel Bowie

Kim Raver hearts New York. In fact, she loves it so much that she’s embraced the city’s most efficient way of getting around — taking the subway. But as Raver’s career reaches new heights, going incognito underground is becoming more and more difficult for the native New Yorker. “People come up to me on the subway and ask, ‘Do you know Kim Raver?’” she laughs. “This one guy was so persistent and kept saying, ‘But you look so much like her!’ Maybe they know and they’re just trying to get me to say, ‘It’s me!’ It’s really very funny.”