The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has put its Madison Avenue headquarters and two adjacent buildings on the market in an attempt to close its massive budget gap and expects to bring in upwards of $150 million in a sale. According to the New York Times, the three, 20-story buildings, at 341, 345 and 347 Madison Avenue could fetch at least that much thanks to the opportunity to purchase air rights from Grand Central. A buyer could opt to demolish the existing structures and use those air rights to erect a taller-than-usual skyscraper on the site. The MTA purchased 347 Madison for $11.9 million in 1979 and acquired the other two properties in 1991 for a combined $36 million. [more]

The Corn Exchange Bank Building, a 125-year-old Harlem landmark at 81 East 125th Street, will soon lose its top two floors after the city’s Department of Buildings found that it was too dangerous to stand as is. The building, which overlooks Metro North Railroad station at Harlem-125th Street, was purchased from the city by Ethel Bates, a community activist who promised to renovate the building and open a non-profit culinary school at the site, in 2003. When her developer backed out of the project, Bates found that she couldn’t finance the repairs and never followed through with her plans. The city repossessed the property in January, but it was too late to salvage the top stories because the masonry is at risk of falling.