Fashion’s Harlem Address

There’s a lot of great Harlem businesses that people don’t know about,” said Ms. Gittens, who had worked for Lehman Brothers in real estate finance for five years before enrolling at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Ms. Gittens, in a belted vintage gray dress, and Ms. Owunwanne, wearing jeans she had altered with an orange tie at the back, organized the market to draw attention to what is happening in Harlem, as well as to spotlight designers from Brooklyn and New Jersey. They are planning another market in July. (For updates, visit uptownedm.com.)

Manhattan continues humming along

Bidding wars still happen. Toni Haber, an executive vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman, a New York City real-estate firm, says 60 people waited in line recently at an open house to view a three-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. The owner had four competing offers within the week, and agreed to sell for about $2.5 million -- $300,000 over the asking price.

Part of the city's strength comes from the fact that few buyers were investing in properties to flip them. Moreover, many apartment buildings in New York aren't condominiums but co-ops, which impose financial demands on potential buyers far more rigorous than banks do -- which helps keep the number of foreclosures down. In addition, foreign investors have been exploiting the weak dollar by grabbing Manhattan real estate.

Apple Taking Another Bite Of NYC: Looking For Office Space

We hear Apple is looking for 10,000 to 15,000 square feet of Manhattan real estate -- for office space, not another retail outlet. And they're not looking to go cheap: The company is looking in the heart of midtown, near their flagship 5th Avenue store at the GM building.

Unlike other Apple NYC real estate stories we've seen in the past, we're pretty confident about this one: It's from a plugged-in real estate source, who tells us Apple (AAPL) is about to submit offers. What we can't tell you: What Apple plans to do with the space once it gets it.

NYC real estate revenue down

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Revenues from two New York City real estate taxes fell sharply in the first nine months of the budget year, the city comptroller said on Tuesday, offering fresh evidence of the impact of Wall Street's troubles on the local economy.

But the city's total tax collections still are running about $800 million more than Mayor Michael Bloomberg projected in January, according to a source familiar with the data.

This surplus makes it tougher for the independent mayor to clamp spending.