By Daniel Geiger

The city’s biggest painters union has reached an agreement with the contractors that employ its members to cut labor costs and make their services more competitive against encroaching non-union labor at a time when the construction business has dramatically slowed down. The Association of Master Painters of New York, a trade group that represents commercial painting contractors, and District Council No. 9, the painters union, reached a deal on Wednesday. Read more...

By Roland Li

The Trump World Tower rises like a column of black ice on the east side of Manhattan, surpassing even the venerable United Nations Secretariat in height. Clad in glass and dark bronze, the tower has been called a “black obelisk.” The sleek building serves as an exclamation mark for the most prolific architect in the city, Costas Kondylis. His is a quintessential New York tale: the triumph of an immigrant with a vision and, crucially, the will to transform the skyline, with 86 local projects to date. Read more...

By Roland Li

An eight-room penthouse of 43 West 64th Street has been sold for $11 million, according to city records. The buyer was Maggie Bear LLC, an entity formed in Westchester County, N.Y in February. Attorney Seth Weitz, who represented the buyer, declined to elaborate on its identity. The Corcoran Group’s Deborah Grubman and David Dubin were the listing brokers. Read more...