REVNY

Taken from the High Line, two sculptures on a balcony of Shigeru Ban's Chelsea Metal Shutter House, 524 West 19th Street, New York. Metal Shutter House is a condominium located next to Ghery's IAC Headquarters completed in 2007.  http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBA_WORKS/SBA_HOUSES/SBA_HOUSES_41/SBA_HOUSES_41.html

MATERIAL curated by Duro Olowu London-based fashion designer Duro Olowu opened a show and pop-up shop of fashion and art at Salon 94’s Freeman Alley Gallery February 8. The show presents a group of limited edition fashion and accessory designs from Duro's Spring 2012 collection as well as a selection of vintage and contemporary photography, textiles, contemporary art, furniture, music, books and objets trouvés. Duro has long curated, in his London store in Masons Yard Saint James, a diverse assemblage of "things" that have captivated and inspired him and his work. Clothing created by Duro for the exhibition includes intricately draped bias dresses with ruffle details, guipure lace jackets and paneled tail coats, collage bib sheaths and gilets, corseted and full skirted print dresses, billowing chiffon gowns and skirts, and hand made footwear. Alongside commissioned pieces by Paris-based jeweler Taher Chemirik, are paintings by Katherine Bernhardt and mirrors by renowned architecht David Adjaye. Installed in a mise-en-scène featuring works by Juergen Teller, including images from collaborations with Duro, vintage photography by Malian photographer Hamidou Maiga and designer Carlo Mollino, a large photograph by Laurie Simmons, illustrations by Bella Foster, woven canvases by New York artist Tony Cox, prints by Suzanne Wenger, drawings by Lorna Simpson, furniture and objects by Martino Gamper and Maria Pergay, sculptures by Ghanaian artist Paa Joe and London based Francis Upritchard, ceramics by Matthias Merkel Hess, vintage West African textiles and rare fabrics from couture fabric makers including Abraham of Switzerland, a selection of rare essential vinyl of Miss Lily’s Variety along with work by Kara Hamilton, Jackie Nickerson, Ludovica Gioscia, and Philip Kwame Apagya.

This fantastic Prewar Loft in an historic Nolita Condominium Loft Building will win your heart with its sprawling space, flooding light, and classic charm one would expect from a traditional downtown loft. Offering 10'10" ceilings, walls of windows showcasing eastern, northern and western exposures, and a versatile 3595-square-foot layout that can be configured to your needs, this massive Mulberry Street apartment is a unique and rare must-have for the discerning and visionary loft seeker. Its present arrangement as two separate loft spaces, each with a grandly-scaled living area, invites creativity and presents incredible potential, so bring your architect. 205 Mulberry Street is a special gem that was built circa 1871 to house the New York City Police Department's 14th Precinct, and later became a workshop for the department. Today it is not only a priceless piece of history, but an exclusive 8-unit Boutique Prewar Condominium Loft building that's unrivaled in the area. Pets are welcomed too! Don't miss this amazing opportunity to customize your home in one of the city's most sought-after downtown neighborhoods.

Price: $5,300,000 Common Chgs: $1,995/month  |  RET: $1,546/month Bedrooms: 3  |  Baths: 2 SqFt: 3,595 (aprx)

BUILDING SPECIFICS Pre-war  |  Pets allowed

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SPOT PAINTINGS BY DAMIEN HIRST

In this economy it is essential to get all the facts about credit and scoring systems. Balances should be no more than 10 percent of limits. The higher the balance, the lower the score. Here are some tips for improving your credit, along with some little known facts about credit.

It is better to pay down the majority of accounts as low as possible, preferably below 10 percent of the limit, rather than reducing one large account substantially.

Make sure cards are used at least once every year for a period of 1–6 months. Inactivity of credit for a 6–12 month period reduces the credit scores. Paying your bills immediately (10–12 days early) will boost the scores within 6 months. (Applies to all credit.)

New late payments can be worse than a bankruptcy 3 years ago. The score can decrease 70–100 points depending on your original score.

All negative information can be removed prior to the 7-year rule

Having as many varieties of open credit as possible will help your credit dramatically, but do not exceed 30.

Opening and closing credit will hurt your credit for a year!

Seasoned credit (over 2 years old) is excellent for scores. The older the credit, the better it is for the score.

Different Scoring Systems

Fico Score—used by mortgage banks. Fico stands for Fair Isaac Company

Plus Score—40 points higher than Fico

Vantage Score—a new score created by Experian, using numbered and lettered grades, and can be up to 200 points higher than Fico.

Some Important Points to Know

Opening new credit and closing credit will hurt your credit for 1–2 years

Having many mortgages will decrease the score even if they are on time or closed. New mortgages decrease the score 50–60 points for one year.

Many banks are now requiring aged credit. Speak with your banker early for information about requirements.

Federal law gives us all the right to correct, update, and dispute the validity of any account on our credit reports. It is our job as consumers to make sure our reports are valid, accurate, and have the best possible status.

For consumer assistance in restoring your credit, contact North Shore Advisory Service a Credit Education and Restoration Company 914-524-8300 www.northshoreadvisory.com

Nine of the nation's 10 most heavily taxed neighborhoods are in the New York City area. The $16.5 billion paid by these ZIP codes matches the combined economies of the Bahamas, Fiji and Tajikistan.

Bloomberg) - New York is where the 1% live—and they have the tax returns to prove it. Nine of the 10 most heavily taxed neighborhoods in the U.S. are in the city's metropolitan area, Internal Revenue Service data show.

The nine neighborhoods, which range from Manhattan to Fairfield County, Conn., accounted for 0.2% of all federal income-tax filers in 2008, the latest year for which data are available, according to IRS statistics compiled by Bloomberg. They paid 1.6% of all individual income taxes, eight times their proportionate share of the filing population.

The $16.5 billion paid in the nine ZIP codes would be enough to buy a controlling interest in General Motors Co. or match the combined economies of the Bahamas, Fiji and Tajikistan. The disproportionate amount also counters arguments by anti-Wall Street protesters who claim to represent “99%” of Americans and say the rich should be taxed more, said Mitchell Moss, an urban policy professor at New York University's Wagner School.

“We're subsidizing the slackers in the rest of the country,” Mr. Moss said. “This is the most productive part of the United States of America, in terms of taxes paid.”

The only ZIP code outside the New York area to make the Top 10 was a west Houston suburb that accounted for $1.5 billion in federal individual income taxes. The neighborhood includes the Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, which George H.W. Bush listed as his primary residence during his presidency.

Nationally, the IRS showed, 137.7 million U.S. households paid $987.4 billion in federal taxes in 2008. The nine New York-area ZIP codes reported $70.1 billion, or 0.9%, of the nation's total adjusted gross income of $7.98 trillion.

Individual income taxes are the federal government's largest source of tax revenue, accounting for 45 cents of every $1 raised. Payroll taxes, which are more regressive, make up 36 cents; corporate taxes another 12 cents; and other taxes account for 7 cents of every tax dollar raised by the government.

There's no doubt that income inequality is growing. The Congressional Budget Office reported last month that after-tax income for the richest 1% of U.S. households grew 275% between 1979 and 2007. For the lowest 20%, after-tax income grew 18% over the same period. And the Occupy Wall Street protesters in Manhattan and elsewhere are pressing for more taxes on the highest earners, or the “1%,” as one way to curb the growing income disparity.

The share of taxes paid in the New York neighborhoods “is irrelevant and a distortion of the fact that, as a percentage, wealthy people pay far less as a portion of their earnings,” said an Occupy Wall Street spokesman who identifies himself as a former Deutsche Bank AG analyst.

The largest amount of individual tax collections came from the 10021 ZIP code on New York's Upper East Side. The IRS data show 29,820 individual returns were filed from residents there, with total income taxes of $2.85 billion, or an average tax bill of $95,489. More than 93% of taxes in the ZIP code came from households with adjusted gross income greater than $200,000, the IRS records show.

The ZIP code extends from the East River into Central Park, between East 69th and 77th streets. Property owners include Stephen Schwarzman, founder and chairman of Blackstone Group; David Koch, co-owner of Koch Industries Inc., one of the largest privately held U.S. companies; and John Thain, chairman and chief executive officer of CIT Group Inc.

Households in the 10021, 10023, 10128, 10022, 10024 and 10028 ZIP codes, which represent the most heavily taxed neighborhoods in the nation, paid $12.3 billion in individual income taxes during 2008. Residents of the suburban Scarsdale ZIP code of 10583 paid another $1.5 billion in taxes, and households in two Fairfield County ZIP codes, 06830 and 06831, handed over $2.65 billion to the federal government.

General Electric Co. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt owns a condominium in the 10022 ZIP code, which covers the East 50s in Manhattan. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein lives in ZIP code 10023, which covers part of the Upper West Side. Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit owns an apartment across from the Museum of Natural History in ZIP code 10024.

Jeff Blau, president of real estate developer Related Cos., owns a residence in 10028, which also was the residence of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The $1.4 trillion economy of the New York metropolitan area is a “huge contributor” to the national treasury, said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit coalition that includes more than 100 chief executives.

“Clearly, New York City is paying a disproportionate share of the tax burden,” Ms. Wylde said. “It's the country's economic engine.”

The average tax burden—or the average amount paid per filer in each ZIP code—also was highest in New York ZIP codes.

The IRS reported 527 individual income tax returns were filed from the 10274 ZIP code, which corresponds to a downtown post office. It's about a three-minute walk from the Charging Bull sculpture near Wall Street and less than half a mile from Zuccotti Park, the scene of anti-Wall Street protests for the past two months. The average filer in the ZIP code paid $1.48 million in income taxes, for a total of $778.5 million.