NEW YORK CITY-At a meeting yesterday the New York Industrial Development Agency voted to issue $114M in Liberty Bonds, marking the first commercial development approval under the federal program. The bonds will aid Forest City Ratner's FC Hanson Office Associates, which will begin construction by the end of this year on a 10-story office tower in Downtown Brooklyn.

NEW YORK CITY-Building owners tell GlobeSt.com that it will be "business as usual" tomorrow, and that trophy property managers will not increase security staff for that day. Many will craft their Sept. 11 plans in accordance with a recent Real Estate Board of New York memo on the subject.

NEW YORK CITY-At the commercial arm of the Liberty Bond Program's board of directors meeting today, the city and state will recommend that an issuance be approved for development of a 396,000-sf office tower. The asset will be located above the Atlantic Terminal Transit hub in Downtown Brooklyn. The Bank of New York has already committed to bring 1,400 employees to the space.

NEW YORK CITY-Empire Restaurant Supply picks up the 50-foot wide, three story building, located at 180-182 Bowery between Spring and Kenmare streets. The company, a New York institution, recently sold its former building at 114 Bowery.

NEW YORK CITY-After sustaining substantial damage following the World Trade Center towers collapse last September, Brookfield Properties' World Financial Center Winter Garden will reopen to the public on Sept. 17, following a 12-month, $50-million renovation.

NEW YORK CITY-The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board of directors, under chairman John C. Whitehead, today approved a bill to allocate $220 mil in federal funding through rent breaks and subsidies, designed to bring tenants back to Lower Manhattan.

NEW YORK CITY-Across all sectors of commercial real estate, the markets appear to have finally hit bedrock and are primed for a slow but steady rebound over the next 12 months, according to new research published on GlobeSt.com.

NEW YORK CITY-Following the recent enactment of the largest corporate disclosure law revision since the SEC Securities Act of 1933, real estate experts tell GlobeSt.com that the industry welcomes new legislation aimed at backstopping the public outcry for executive accountability. Some warn, however, of damaging effects the well-meaning mandate may wreak on corporate flexibility.