The global recession and the credit crisis are having an effect on new
hotel construction throughout the U.S., especially in New York City.
Total projects under construction in the U.S. have fallen 20.1 percent
since last year, with a corresponding 27.2 percent drop in the number
of rooms, according to the June 2009 STR/TWR/Dodge Construction
Pipeline Report released exclusively to HotelNewsNow.com, a division of Smith Travel Research. [more]

According to the Post, actress Jessica Alba checked out a few
penthouses in the Fairchild, a 21-unit condominium on Vestry Street in
Tribeca, which recently partnered with Robert DeNiro’s Greenwich Hotel to use its amenities. The homes Alba and her family looked at had price tags of between $6
million and $9 million, and came with private balconies, terraces and
river views. Model Adriana Lima and her husband also recently looked at
a few penthouses in the Fairchild, where actor James Gandolfini already
bought a unit. The building is expected to be completed by the end of
the summer. [more]