NYC’s real estate stars give thanks, mapping Manhattan’s ‘starchitecture’ … and more

1. What Anthony Malkin, Faith Hope Consolo, Adam Mermelstein and other real estate leaders are thankful for this holiday season [NYO]
2. A bevy of $2 million-plus Park Slope and Prospect Heights homes are in contract [Brownstoner]
3. CBRE video explains the implications of the “fiscal cliff” for the commercial real estate market [CBRE]
4. Mapping NYC’s “starcitecture” [Curbed]
5. A tax policy professor argues against a crackdown on mortgage-backed securities [NYT]
6. Classic Watch Company renews its 14,300-square-foot Garment District lease [Crain’s]
7. After Sandy, the Independent Budget Office is  critical of New York City’s push to develop the waterfront. [NYO]
8. CIFG Assurance sues Bank of America, says the banking giant engaged in  “financial engineering” to market risky residential mortgage-backed securities. [Bloomberg]
9. Artist Richard Prince appears to have scooped up a five-story Upper East Side townhouse [NYO]
10. Next Step Realty, a real estate brokerage targeting recent college graduates, acquires a competitor [Press Release]
11. American entrepreneur plans an underwater hotel [Curbed]
12. Apple is nothing if not creative: The tech firm has come up with a new name for a swath of the Lower East Side. [Bowery Boogie]
13. The best places to retire … abroad [Forbes]
14. Worldwide Plaza looks to recapitalize [NYO]
15. After 12 years, Fort Greene’s famed “Cake Man Raven” is closing up shop [DNA Info]
16. W magazine editor Stefano Tonchi’s Bridgehampton home trades hands [Curbed]