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The Downtown office market is in even worse shape than widely reported data indicate, according to several major dealmakers.

One of them, an industry legend not given to doom-and-gloom scenarios, told us that huge amounts of space are quietly up for sublease even at the World Trade Center and Brookfield Place Lower Manhattans best-performing properties.

Most brokerage firms cite FiDi-area availability including space currently vacant or soon to be — at between 20% and 23%, compared with around 16% uptown. But so-called shadow space cited by the market insider could raise the total much higher.

Not every building is in trouble. The districts grim overall data are skewed by two particular enormous properties Paramount Groups transitioning 60 Wall Street, where most of 1.6 million square feet are yet to be leased, and 111 Wall Street, an entirely empty 1 million square-foot address thats now in foreclosure.

But other struggling buildings are also on the downbound train, such as 40 Wall Street. The landmark tower is about 30% empty and its plight will likely worsen as the Trump Organization skyscraper is at risk of seizure by state attorney general Letitia James.

Even more vulnerable are Downtowns large number of pre-war, Class B-minus buildings that few tenants want at any rent and which cant easily convert to residential use.

Yet hope might be on the way. According to VTS, the national real estate technology platform that uses AI to monitor and interpret market office-space tours — look-sees by companies eyeing a move or expansion have recently been higher Downtown than in Midtown or Midtown South.

Lower Manhattan saw 40% more so-called tire-kicking visits in the months of December 2023 through February 2024 than it did between September and November 2023.

A 43% increase in tours month over month easily beat Midtowns 25% and Midtown Souths 11%, according to VTS. Much of the tenant interest Downtown was by companies seeking 50,000 square feet or more.

VTS chief strategy officer Ryan Masiello said, I think generally, companies are starting to realize were at the bottom of the market right now. More companies are exploring to try to take advantage of lower rents, especially downtown, he said.

But one highly accomplished downtown market-watcher was skeptical of VTS findings.

They can only be true if theyre including the smallest users. It definitely is not true of tenants looking for more than 20,000 square feet, the insider said.

Manhattan leasing in all submarkets hit the mute button in the first quarter, according to Savills which cited a dearth of large deals.

The first quarters 6.8 million sf of transactions was 6.6% lower than in the first three months of 2023, Savills said.

Interestingly, three of the largest office deals were renewals and/or expansions by major retailers — including for Michael Kors, Burlington Stores and David Yurman, which tallied a total of nearly a half-million square feet.

At least one major landlord saw some positive news. At SL Greens 485 Lexington Ave., four recent new leases and one renewal totalled 64,303 square feet.

Leasing director Steven Durels said, Our recent success at 485 Lexington confirms that well-located buildings are experiencing increased tenant demand.

In the two largest new leases, RSC Insurance Brokerage took 27,964 square feet on the entire 17th floor and Exponent, Inc., an engineering and scientific consulting firm, took 14,383-square feet on the 22nd floor.

Smaller deals include capital markets company William ONeil & Co. for 4,797 square feet and Graham Holdings Company signed for 3,006 square feet.

In addition, Tegna, Inc., a broadcast, digital media and marketing services company, renewed its 14,078-square-foot lease on the 27th floor.

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Entertainment

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

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Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

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The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

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Politics

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

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Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.

A party spokesperson confirmed the decision to Sky News but did not give a reason why.

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It comes after the veteran MP defended previous comments about racism which sparked an antisemitism row and led to a year-long suspension.

She apologised at the time and was readmitted back into the party before the 2024 general election.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Sky News understands that the suspension is not related to the four rebels who lost the whip on Wednesday for “repeated breaches” of party discipline, including voting against the government’s welfare cuts.

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The action has been taken because of an interview in which she doubled down on her claim Jewish people experience racism differently to black people, which previously sparked a huge controversy.

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Diane Abbott

In a letter to The Observer in 2023, Ms Abbott argued that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and said that was different to the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Shortly after it was published, she issued a statement in which she said she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”.

However in a new interview with BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme this week, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

Ms Abbott said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.

“But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism.”

She added: “I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: “It’s obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”

The clip of the interview was re-posted by Brian Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: “Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.”

Bell Riberio-Addy, who lost her role as trade envoy in yesterday’s purge, also came to Ms Abbott’s defence, saying: “Before condemning her based on headlines, I would listen to her clip and note she discussed the different forms that racism takes and condemned all forms of racism.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell made similar comments, saying that in the interview his colleague “forthrightly condemns antisemitism & discusses the different forms of racism”.

But Labour MP David Taylor told Sky News he has “long thought Diane Abbott shouldn’t be a member of our party due to her appalling positions on everything from Bosnia to Syria”.

He added: “As the Jewish Labour Movement have said, antisemitism targets Jews regardless of how they look, and many in the community are visibly Jewish and suffer racism for it.”

In the interview, Ms Abbott said she “of course” condemns antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would condemn racist behaviour because of the colour of someone’s skin, adding: “I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I spent a lifetime facing racism of all kinds.”

Ms Abbott made history when she was elected as Britain’s first black female MP for Labour in 1987.

She is the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, giving her the title “Mother of the House”.

As an MP on the left of the party she has often clashed with the leadership throughout her career – bar her time serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

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Many MPs rallied in support of Ms Abbott last year when it was not clear if she would be reinstated in time for the general election, or allowed to stand.

She went on to retain her seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a majority of over 15,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner hinted action could be taken against Ms Abbott when she told The Guardian earlier on Thursday that she was “disappointed” in her colleague’s remarks.

“There’s no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,” she said.

A source close to the decision to suspend her told Sky News there is a “very slim chance” she will be allowed back in, given she did antisemitism training and apologised last time.

It raises questions about whether Ms Abbott could join the new party being formed by Mr Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

For the time being, Ms Abbott will sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Adnan Hussain, who was elected as the independent MP for Blackburn last year, said on X: “We’d be honoured to have a giant like Diane join us, she [should] come to the side that would really appreciate her for the legend she is.”

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Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

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Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.

A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.

Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.

There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.

The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.

Flowers outside school
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Pic: PA

Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.

Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.

“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.

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Tearful MP reacts to coach crash

It comes after a teacher at Minehead Middle School praised the “incredibly brave” pupils for supporting each other after the coach crash.

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“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.

“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”

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