Goldman Sachs Nearly Caused 5/1

It turns out that the would-be car bomber’s home was in foreclosure:

Court records show that the suspect in the failed Times Square bombing defaulted on a $200,000 mortgage on his Connecticut home and that the property is in foreclosure.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that Chase Home Finance LLC sued Shahzad in September to foreclose on the home in Shelton.

The foreclosure records show Shahzad took out the mortgage on the property in 2004, and he co-owned the home with a woman named Huma Mian. The foreclosure case is pending in Milford Superior Court.

A message was left Tuesday with an attorney for Chase’s law firm. The records show Shahzad and Mian didn’t have lawyers for the case.

What Can $46 Million Get You These Days?

An interest payment on the forward-thinking 7 train extension, for one:

The city will spend $46 million next year on a subway to nowhere — the first time taxpayers have put cash toward Mayor Bloomberg’s dream of extending the 7 train to the far West Side.

Bloomberg budgeted $300 million for the subway project over the past five years but never spent any of it. Developer fees and investment income had paid the interest on bonds financing the $2.1 billion extension.

Next year, however, Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp. President Alan Anders expects the city will cover half the $97.5 million interest cost.

. . .

Bloomberg committed the city to pay for the 7 train extension because he believes it will spur new growth. The MTA does not consider it a priority and is not funding the project.

Savor This, Because It Will Probably Never Ever Happen Again In Your Lifetime

A subway project will be completed years before it is actually necessary:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Related Companies, the real estate concern, appear to be weeks away from a final agreement on the long-delayed $15 billion redevelopment of the railyards on the Far West Side of Manhattan.

Under a deal unveiled Monday, Related would commit to the project with a $21.7 million down payment. But the company would not have to close on the project — and therefore start paying the 99-year lease — until after the city’s real estate market improves.

Here are some more details about what benchmarks constitute an “improving” real estate market (“Assuming Related signs its contract with the M.T.A., it will not have to close on the deal and thus be on the hook to start paying rent worth about $1 billion until the three triggers are hit. That kicks the can down the road some on the question of whether or not Related will indeed go ahead with the deal, which seems quite risky right now.”).

Remember, Bloomberg put everyone in debt for the $2 billion subway extension — something to think about if (when?) services are cut in the coming FY2011 budget. The argument for the bonds went that by developing the railyards, the City would recoup the costs of the extension through higher property taxes. Revenue-raising tax base-based developments may have worked in the 19th century (think Central Park), but today’s regional economy seems more like a zero-sum game (unless you really think New York City will have 1 million new residents by 2030 — perhaps the 2010 census will shed some light about where they are in that bold prediction).

Back to the 7 extension though — would it have been so bad to try out Bus Rapid Transit in a part of the city that doesn’t even have the infrastructure to support an expensive subway project? Or is the dirty secret about BRT that everyone knows in their heart of hearts that it’s kind of lame? Think about what a $2 billion bond could have done for other transportation projects — even current transportation projects — even current transportation projects in Manhattan (East Harlem seems like a good candidate for some wealth creation — and people actually live there already!).

When Was The Last Time You Saw The Mayor Riding In A Golf Cart Down Your Street?

Do you think it’s possible that the mayor is in Bermuda more frequently than, say, Staten Island or the Bronx? Consider:

At Greg’s Steakhouse, the power lunch spot on this sun-soaked island, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is such a regular that he has his own booth, with a view of the Parliament building. The waiters have memorized his order: coffee-rubbed New York strip steak.

The cabdrivers in Bermuda know Mr. Bloomberg by sight and jockey for a chance to drive him around town. (The billionaire mayor, they say, tips well.)

. . .

Mr. Bloomberg, who owns a waterfront estate here, has walled off his life in Bermuda from voters in New York, arguing it is none of their business. He steadfastly refuses to say when he is on the island, and to blindfold prying eyes, he has blocked aviation Web sites from making public the movements of his private planes.

Yet residents here view him as one of their own — as much a Bermudan as a New Yorker. They follow his battles against term limits and New York City crime, and argue that their island plays a key role in restoring his energy and helping him succeed in office.

“We provide him with a place to unwind for a day or two, and then go back to a very important job, not just to New York, but to the world,” said John Swan, Bermuda’s former premier and a frequent Bloomberg lunch guest.

In dozens of interviews, residents described Mr. Bloomberg, 68, as a fixture on the island, dining out with lawmakers, cruising its streets in his golf cart and hosting small parties at his house.

It is difficult to say exactly how often he stays on the island; neighbors and friends say he is here about twice a month, depending on the weather in Bermuda (no sun, no Bloomberg) and the political climate in New York.

. . .

The Bermudan jaunts do pose political risks. New York City mayors have historically prided themselves on working seven days a week and racing to the scene of an emergency even on the weekends.

Mr. Bloomberg does not. His aides know better than to schedule public events after Friday mornings, allowing the mayor to make his getaways to Bermuda on Friday afternoon and be back in New York by Sunday evening. (Of the 17 Fridays since Dec. 31, the mayor had no public events scheduled after 10 a.m. on 13 of them.)

And even if he makes it out to somwhere in the Bronx or Staten Island more frequently, there are islands closer to home he probably doesn’t get to as much — City Island, Broad Channel. Even Governor’s Island (assuming it has enough drinking water). And Bill Thompson missed an opening — what if he had gone to, say, Flatbush and quipped that Bloomberg goes to the Caribbean more often than he visits with actual Caribbean constituents? But that was then . . .

Leading Economic Indicators: Wal-Mart, Again

I’m forgetting what Wal–Mart interest in New York City means anymore economy-wise, but it’s back again:

The retail giant is scoping out the Gateway II shopping center near Jamaica Bay. Even though the proposal isn’t official yet, community groups already are planning protests.