Bloomberg LP Leases Posh Penthouse As Mayor Fumes Over Reporting Scandal
By Al Barbarino May 21, 2013 1:11 pm
reprintsHave you ever splurged when you’re pissed off, or when someone’s pissed off at you? That’s kind of what Bloomberg LP just did.
The global media company has leased 68,000 additional square feet of pristine space at Global Holdings‘ 120 Park Avenue on the heels of a client data breach that has reportedly infuriated its high-profile owner: Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The three-floor expansion includes a 22nd floor wraparound penthouse with views of the Empire State Building, according to the New York Post, which over the weekend reported that the Mayor is “fuming” over the alleged scandal.
The company came under scrutiny after allegations that reporters within its news division used client subscriber data accessed through database terminals to break stories.
The mayor was apparently unaware that the news-gathering side of the business “still had access to business-side functions two decades after the company was launched,” according to the Post – though it was unclear why such a crossover of business lines ever existed.
Among the allegations, JP Morgan Chase has suggested that its log-in information was used by Bloomberg reporters, giving them insight into employee firings and travel, and helping break news stories, including the London Whale, which reported on the flubbed trades that cost JP Morgan billions of dollars last year.
While Wall Street banks and global central banks wait for answers, The Commercial Observer’s calls to Jones Lang LaSalle’s Paul Glickman and Diana Biasotti, the building agents at 120 Park Avenue, were not returned, making it unclear whether the move was at all related to the scandal, or if the new views would provide any solace for the situation.
Bloomberg first took 400,000 square feet at the 600,000-square-foot tower in 2011 and the new lease brings the 26-story office tower to 100 percent occupancy, the Post said.
The company is headquartered at the 55-story, 1.4-million-square-foot Bloomberg Tower at 731 Lexington Avenue, which is among the top 20 tallest buildings in the city.
Bloomberg LP was co-founded in 1981 by Mayor Bloomberg and makes up roughly one third of the $16 billion global financial data market.
