Zar inks $39M deal for Wooster Street retail, President Obama declines to refinance his above-market mortgage … and more

1. Zar Properties in contract to by $39M Wooster Street retail condo [Post, 2nd item]
2. Opening of Museum of African Art, at base of Harlem condo, is delayed — again [NYT]
3. President Obama didn’t refinace his own home loan despite 5.63 percent interest rate [Bloomberg]
4. After six-month upgrade, will the Algonquin hotel recapture its former glory? [Post]
5. GDC Properties co-Chairman Adam Ginsburg dishes on what he found inside 220 Water Street during the gut renovation [NYT]
6. After racetrack operator NYRA was found to overcharge bettors, Cuomo freezes subsidies [Post]
7. Meanwhile, officials slam appointment of the chief financial officer during NYRA scandal to CEO [NYDN]
8. Four years after bailout, AIG ups exposure to subprime mortgage market [Bloomberg]
9. Inside the the $250 million renovation of Westchester’s Cross Country Shopping Center [NYT]
10. North Shore-LIJ and NY Presbyterian take combined 17,500 square feet at Rudin’s 641 Lexington Ave [Post, 4th item]
11. FHFA Director Ed DeMarco says mortgage servicing industry is too concentrated [WSJ]
12. Co-op City is fined $85,000 for barring residents from keeping emotional support dogs [NYDN]
13. Durst nixes plan for 1 WTC spire to spell out “New York” in Morse code [Post]
14. Fannie and Freddie may let servicers forgive debt on some government-insured mortgages [Bloomberg]
15. Owner of historic Fresh Meadows burial grounds makes case for developing site [NYDN]
16. LI-based Community National Bank to open first Manhattan location at 12 East 52nd Street [Post, 5th item]