Renovating a rental on $200k(??); murder in downtown "party building" prompts security hangover, and more!

(Weekend Edition!) A daily tour around the web through the eyes of a NYC vertical dweller:

• Since the drug-related murder that occurred in their luxury rental building, some residents at 2 Gold Street have been posting their concerns on CurbedNY, and now CurbedNY has received a copy of the memo from landlord TF Cornerstone outlining new security procedures:  Even the pad thai delivery guy will need to show ID from now on in the "notorious party building.”  A tipster wonders if the new measures will be enforced and "how many people threatened to leave. Agree with all those commenters that the building culture has changed drastically in the 2+ years I've lived there. I had a conversation in August with my (luckily quiet and respectful) neighbor about all the obnoxious tenants who trash the place.’”  (CurbedNY)
• $200,000 to renovate a rental?  According to the Wall Street Journal that’s the amount one 40-year-old jewelry reseller spent to renovate his Fifth Avenue pad. “Despite his investment, Mr. Del Gatto doesn't spend much time awake at home. He even keeps his watch collection, all purchased used, at work (there are 11 now, including Rolexes, Patek Philippes and Breguets). On weekends, Mr. Del Gatto decamps to his other rental, a four-bedroom house in the Hamptons, right near the rented stables for his nine horses.” (WSJ)
• Disenchanted with your search for a New York City home? Maybe a second home in the country is your answer.  The New York Times asks the question: “[G]iven the lingering uncertainty in the economy, is now a smart time to buy a second home?”  And answers: “A look at some of the second-home markets near New York suggests that it might be a very promising moment.”  (NYT)
• Rent collection takes a violent turn, the New York Post reports. “A Queens man smashed his landlady in the head with a pipe and held her captive after he shorted her on the rent, authorities charged yesterday.”  (NYP)
• Yesterday’s Manhattan real estate market reports showed healthy price gains for the third quarter, with the general theme being that things are back to “normal.”  Perhaps not so, according to The Real Deal, who talks with some brokers to evaluate the potential effects of a weakening Wall Street.  Jonathan Miller, who prepares the market report for Prudential Douglas Elliman, warns: "'Since the financial services sector is one of New York City's key economic engines and if we see layoffs and the hiring freezes persist, you could see fewer property sale and rental transactions in the first half of 2011.'" (TRD)