BY WILLIAM SHERMAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Daily News reporter William Sherman in front of the Empire State Building.
In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News “stole” the $2 billion Empire State Building.
And it wasn’t that hard.
The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property.
Some of the information was laughable: Original “King Kong” star Fay Wray is listed as a witness and the notary shared a name with bank robber Willie Sutton.
The massive ripoff illustrates a gaping loophole in the city’s system for recording deeds, mortgages and other transactions.
The loophole: The system - run by the office of the city register - doesn’t require clerks to verify the information.
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by Tara Darby
Is the “bigger is better” mentality fading in terms of real estate? Are the days of McMansions coming to an end? Well, it seems for some homeowners it is. There’s a new movement out there that’s creating quite a buzz among environmentalist and folks seeking a simpler life. It’s called the Small House Movement and it might just be the next small thing.
These homes bring a whole new meaning to up close and personal since most are less than 1000 square feet, some are even less than 100 square feet.
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Story by Kathleen McFadden
Earlier this month, Boone voters overwhelmingly approved a $25 million bond referendum for a new water intake facility on the South Fork of the New River in the Brownwood area near Todd. Town staff has now turned the focus to an environmental assessment currently underway.
According to Town Manager Greg Young, engineering firm WK Dickson mailed a “scoping” letter to the 18 agencies and departments who will review the assessment, including U.S. Fish & Wildlife, in mid-October. The document outlines the scope of the project—hence the term “scoping” letter—and provides a number of specific project parameters. Read More from High Country Press »
Say goodbye to the folks, pack as many Thanksgiving leftovers as possible into your car and get back to Boone this Saturday—you’ve got a football game to watch. No. 2-seeded ASU will host the South Carolina State Bulldogs at 12:00 p.m. Saturday in a first-round playoff game at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
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Tree Story by Anna Oakes
With literally thousands to choose from, you and your family can find the perfect Christmas tree this year. Families from across the state and Southeast travel hundreds of miles to our mountains for their tannenbaums, but High Country residents enjoy the privilege of living right in the center of North Carolina’s Choose and Cut Capital.
If you’ve never experienced the joy of selecting your own real Christmas tree, make this the year you start a new tradition. Chopping down your own tree is an excuse to spend a little time with your family, roommates or friends, a reason to bundle up and feel the cool air sweep against your cheeks, and a chance to set foot on something other than asphalt and concrete. Plus, you’ll meet hardworking farmers and put money into the local economy at a time when it’s sorely needed.
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Ski story by Sam Calhoun
Not once, but twice before Thanksgiving the High Country has woken up to a blanket of fresh snow on the ground, including this week when Sugar Mountain Resort took the cue from Old Man Winter and opened for the season on Monday, November 17. For all the people who are in denial about the start of winter, there’s no weather report left to dispute—it’s cold, it has been snowing, and if the opening of all four of the High Country’s ski slopes tells us anything, winter is definitely here.
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Story by Kathleen McFadden
Two rezoning cases were on the agenda for Boone’s Quarterly Public Hearing on November 13. ASU requested a change in the zoning of the rock building on the corner of Rivers and Depot streets from B-1, Central Business District, to U-1, University District. Boone Five, LLC requested rezoning a tract on Highway 105 from a split B-3, General Business, and R-1, Single-Family Residential, to CDB-3, Conditional District General Business.
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By Ronald Grover Ronald Grover
To the 1 million viewers of Bravo’s reality show Flipping Out, Jeff Lewis is the acerbic, demanding, and sometimes petulant face of real estate speculation. In the program’s first two seasons (already in reruns), Lewis turned a hefty profit buying and updating homes to sell in Los Angeles’ toniest neighborhoods. At the start of the year he sold a 1,900-square-foot house to Lost star Dominic Monaghan for $1.6 million.
But as the cameras stopped shooting seven months ago, the housing market went from slowed to stalled, leaving the 38-year-old speculator, as he says, “paralyzed.” Lewis has been mired for months in a dispute over the boundaries of a $2.5 million property. A deal to buy a house fell apart when Countrywide Financial (CFC.) foreclosed on the seller. Until recently, Lewis lived in a 700-square-foot home, tight quarters for an entourage that includes two cats, three dogs, and, during working hours, a housekeeper and two assistants. “These are not great times, and people are suffering,” says Lewis, a self-professed “working millionaire” who has flipped more than 40 homes.
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By Frank Ruggiero
Appalachian State University is hoping to hit the airwaves with a new broadcasting center, though it will need a green light from the Boone Town Council.
University officials appeared before the council and Boone Area Planning Commission Thursday, Nov. 13, at the town’s quarterly public hearing, requesting a zoning change for property in the central business district.
The university requested to change the zoning classification of the former Alliance Bible Fellowship building, located at the corner of Depot and Rivers streets, from B-1 (central business) to U-1 (university) to establish the George G. Beasley Broadcasting Complex.
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