kimblr.com

Above an ornate iron staircase, marble busts of past presidents and members watch over the reading room of the Mercantile Library, with its molded fireplace and grand piano. It is an elegant space befitting one of the three private libraries remaining in New York City.
Founded in 1820 by merchants and their clerks before “the advent of public libraries,” as the library’s Web site says, the Mercantile last month shut the doors of its eight-story white marble neoclassical building at 17 East 47th Street, which has been its home since 1932.
The library had sought to renovate its headquarters, but the cost is beyond its means, and so the Mercantile is selling the building and looking for new home. Noreen Tomassi, the library’s executive director, declined to divulge the price or the name of the buyer, but said the new owner intends the preserve the building.
In the meantime, plans for the library’s reinvention are under way, including a new name — the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction — to emphasize its focus on fiction. Since becoming the library’s executive director in 2004, Ms. Tomassi has been steering the Mercantile toward becoming more of a literary arts center that can play a part in keeping the narrative book form alive. Besides better serving its some 800 dues-paying members, she wants the library to be more of a destination for established authors and emerging writers.
The decision to sell the building has caused concern among some members, particularly because a new home has yet to be found. “To shut the building down without another one bought and waiting is simply foolish,” Michele Slung, an editor and a member, said in an e-mail message.
In a post on the library’s Web site, Ms. Tomassi said, “I understand that this all sounds a bit scary, but it’s also very exciting. When this transition is complete, we’ll christen the new building as the home of the only literary organization in the United States solely devoted to the art of fiction.”

nytimes.com

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Wine, cheese — and police?
An East Hampton art gallery owner was led away in handcuffs Saturday after she refused to stop serving drinks at an opening bash for a celebrity photo exhibit. As about 200 startled guests looked on, Ruth Kalb — generally known as Ruth Vered, after her gallery’s name — was arrested on a charge of selling alcohol without a liquor license.
“I told them I’ve been doing this since before they were born,” said Vered, 67, whose gallery has been a fixture of the Hamptons art scene for more than 30 years. “They have some nerve.”
She said the wine and Champagne were free.
Mayor Paul Rickenbach said police were just doing their job.
“It’s not something that’s new and out of the blue at all,” he said.
Vered was throwing the party — during the traditional Memorial Day weekend start of the resort’s summer season — to celebrate an exhibit of photographs of Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Angelina Jolie and other stars.
Vered is due to be arraigned June 25 in East Hampton Town Court.

ap.google.com

May 19 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The New York Times business pages on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Two weeks after walking away from takeover talks with Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) made clear that it still needed to create an Internet powerhouse that could rival Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research). Microsoft said it approached Yahoo with a narrow aim: a collaboration on Internet advertising. But it hinted that it could still seek a takeover down the road.
* The $51.8 billion takeover of Bell Canada, the largest leveraged buyout ever proposed, appeared to be in trouble over the weekend as the Wall Street banks that committed to finance the deal sought to renegotiate the lending terms, people on both sides of the transaction said. Bell Canada is a unit of Canada’s largest telecommunications company BCE Inc (BCE.TO: Quote, Profile, Research).
* A would-be filmmaker is left in the lurch by nervous lenders, and his tale is becoming a common one as private money has become harder to obtain in Hollywood.
* While search advertising remains strong, there are signs that the growth in online advertising, particularly in more elaborate display ads, is slowing.
* Retailers are turning to data mining software to find links between customers’ interests and their online buying behavior.
* The English-language offshoot of Al Jazeera, the Arabic television news network, is pushing for a “breakthrough” that would make the channel available to American TV viewers and help it move beyond a turbulent start-up phase, according to its new managing director, Tony Burman.
* Not only does the White House expect a new leader by next year, but so does The Washington Post. Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. will almost certainly be gone by the time a new president is inaugurated next January, and the new publisher, Katharine Weymouth, has been talking about — and talking to — potential successors to Downie, people familiar with the matter said.

reuters.com

HARRISONBURG - Avoiding Thursday’s rain by ducking inside the modest green shed that houses his team’s equipment, James Madison archery coach Bob Ryder pointed to all of the things the squad has purchased throughout the years without using a dime of university money.
The bows hanging from the ceiling? Owned by the individual archers. The target mats and target stands along the walls? All paid for either by Ryder himself or donated by the Shenandoah Valley Target Archers Association. The arrows and bow cases in the back? Half are owned by the athletes themselves, half were paid for by the SVTA.
“The broken tri-pods belong to JMU,” said Ryder, who was at the shed near the team’s hillside field to prepare for the Adam Wheatcroft Memorial Tournament at JMU, which begins Saturday. “That chair is mine. That wheel is mine. That tri-pod’s mine. These boxes are mine. The stools are mine. The grill? Shenandoah Valley Target Archers Association. If you ever came to the U.S. Indoor and saw the 40 mats and stands up there, JMU has not paid a dollar for a mat or a stand since about 1976.”
The comparative independence of the men’s and women’s archery teams is one reason they are the least affected of the 10 programs James Madison eliminated as varsity sports in a Title IX-generated overhaul last September, a move that officially took effect this school year.
In fact, JMU’s archery squad - even though it now is a club sport rather than part of the university’s athletics department — can still defend the national collegiate championship it won in 2007.
That’s because archery enjoys varsity status at very few schools, so the NCAA doesn’t sponsor a championship tournament. The de facto national tournament, the United States Intercollegiate Archery Championships, is open to both club and varsity squads.

dailynews-record.com

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fitch Ratings assigns an ‘AA-’ rating to New York City, New York’s (the city) $525,000,000 general obligation (GO) bonds, fiscal 2008 series L, consisting of $475,000,000 subseries L-1 tax-exempt bonds and $50,000,000 subseries L-2 taxable bonds. The bonds are scheduled to be sold on or about April 15 via negotiation, and will mature Apr. 1, 2010-2028. Early redemption provisions will be determined upon pricing. In addition, Fitch has affirmed approximately $34 billion in outstanding New York City GO bonds at ‘AA-’. The Rating Outlook is Stable.
The city’s credit strength is based on the breadth of the economy, high income levels, strong economic performance and financial operations, and exceptional budget management and controls, including a consistently demonstrated ability and resolve to close budget gaps. Offsetting factors include high and rising levels of debt and economic and revenue vulnerability to the cyclical securities industry, now under pressure, and to the real estate market.
With the continuation of several years of strong financial performance, primarily attributable to the robust performance of Wall Street and real estate, the city adopted a budget and financial plan in June 2007 that was characterized by prudent fiscal management and conservative revenue forecasting. The city used a large fiscal 2007 surplus to offset gaps in the three subsequent years of the financial plan and assumed softening in the securities industry and real estate.
The city has subsequently modified the June financial plan, most recently in January, to reflect negative financial market developments. While property taxes are projected to show relatively steady base growth, personal income tax growth is now expected to slow from 12.8% in fiscal 2007 to 1% in fiscal 2008 before dropping 5.6% in fiscal 2009. Sales tax base growth of 4.3% in fiscal 2008 is followed by a projected decline of 1% in fiscal 2009. Business tax growth has been revised downward significantly this year. Projections now show declines in both fiscal 2008 and 2009. Drops in real estate transaction taxes continue through fiscal 2011. Wall Street profits are estimated to have dropped from $20.9 billion in calendar 2006 to $2.8 billion in 2007, and are expected to rise to $9.2 billion in 2008. The bonus pool is estimated to have declined from $34.9 billion in 2006 to $31.2 billion in 2007, and is expected to fall further to $23.1 billion in 2008. Fitch believes that these forecasts are prudent given recent events, although the extent of actual securities industry losses and projected real estate declines remain an uncertainty.

businesswire.com

A large construction crane has ripped free from its moorings in New York, falling across an apartment block, killing four people and injuring ten.
The crane stood at least 19 stories high and had been attached to the side of a half-built high rise building when it toppled from its base onto the pavement, with part of the crane demolishing a four-story residence.
The four people who died were all believed to be construction workers at the site.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "It is a tragic event. Our hearts go out to all the victims and their families."
The accident occurred at 2:20pm local time (18:20 GMT) in Manhattan’s affluent East side. A rescue operation was launched, with one man discovered after being trapped for three hours in the rubble.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said the hunt for survivors would continue all night if necessary.
According to Stephen Kaplan, the owner of Reliance Construction Group, which manages construction at the site, a piece of steel fell and sheared off one of the ties holding it to the building.
Work was due to be stopped before the accident, as bad weather was approaching.
Several other buildings were hit, and cars were crushed. According to Reuters, residents who lived near the site, on 51st Street near 2nd Avenue, said they had complained repeatedly in recent months that the crane appeared precarious.

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