(Wall Street Journal)
The battle over Manhattan's giant Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town apartment complex intensified as the banks overseeing the $3 billion first-mortgage debt on the property moved to foreclose.  The banks, including Bank of America Corp. and U.S. Bancorp, have set a public auction for the 56-building complex for Oct. 4. The move comes after the banks sued in New York State Supreme Court last month to block a group led by activist investor William Ackman from foreclosing on the property.   Mr. Ackman's firm, Pershing Square Capital Management, made a move for control of the complex earlier last month by teaming up with Winthrop Realty Trust. Together they snapped up $300 million of the complex's junior debt and launched a foreclosure proceeding.  Justice Richard B. Lowe III said he would make a decision before Sept. 30.