Inqlings: Tom Knox to live atop 2 Liberty
Tom Knox is really moving up from the East Falls public housing whence he came. The self-made insurance gazillionaire, who spent an estimated $8 million of his own dough on his mayoral campaign last year, is about to pay about $7.5 million for a 5,500-square-foot aerie high up in Two Liberty Place, on the 46th floor - a shade under Billy Penn's hat.
Tom Knox
is
really
moving up from the East Falls public housing whence he came.
The self-made insurance gazillionaire, who spent an estimated $8 million of his own dough on his mayoral campaign last year, is about to pay about $7.5 million for a 5,500-square-foot aerie high up in Two Liberty Place, on the 46th floor - a shade under
Billy Penn's
hat.
Knox is just one of several Rittenhouse Squarers making the move to the top 20 floors of the 57-story landmark, now being renovated into swank condos. Notice the construction outside the building on 16th Street: a valet zone to allow residents and guests to hop in without setting foot outside.
Knox could use the condo's 10-year tax abatement to help fund that gubernatorial run he's been heard talking about.
Speaking of politically connected real estate, State Sen.
Vince Fumo
has shaved a million bucks from the asking price on his Green Street mansion. The listing shows it at $5,995,000.
Foie-gras foes, commonplace in Center City, have turned up in quaint West Chester. Passive protesters have shown up on Friday nights outside of Gilmore's restaurant on East Gay Street, setting up after the evening's first seating and leaving before the second. You hardly know they're there. But Saturday, Compassion for Animals and Respect for the Environment (CARE) is backing a larger rally from 6 to 8 p.m. Protesters want chef-owner
Peter Gilmore
to stop serving the liver dish, which some consider cruelly produced. Echoing the comment made by Center City restaurateurs who've been picketed, Gilmore says protests have helped his business. "We've had vegetarians come in and order foie gras just because of the controversy," he said. Protesters also soon may target Spence Cafe, whose owner
Andrew Patton
said he would remove it from his spring menu because he considers it too rich.
Change in the weather
Michelle Transue
grew up in Buckingham Township (Central Bucks East, 1994), graduated from Penn State, married
Spencer Grossman
and got a job in sales. All the while, she dreamed of being a weathercaster, "to do something to make my day a little bit fuller." She enrolled in Mississippi State U's distance-learning course in meteorology. At age 30, she quit sales and took an unpaid job with NBC Weather Plus in Secaucus, N.J. By the time hurricane season rolled around, she was on the payroll as a producer; less than a year ago, she got herself on camera.
Not only does Michelle Grossman debut on air Saturday as NBC10's weekend morning meteorologist - she is due in early July with the couple's first child. "The station has been so supportive," she says. And she'll have help at home. Her sister,
Megan
, who lives with the couple, works at a day-care center.
'Lost'? Hardly
The actor's life is just fine for
Blake Bashoff
(George Washington High, 1999). Last year, he shot his recurring role as Karl for the new season of ABC's
Lost
, premiering tonight at 8. He says producers got eight episodes in the can - ending in a cliff-hanger - before the writers strike. But while "all of my friends in L.A. are miserable, I'm doing something I love." He's on Broadway as the intense Moritz in the musical
Spring Awakening
: "I love this role. It has physical humor, comedy, heartbreak, and song and dance."
And a regular paycheck.