NEW YORK CITY-In the midst of the turmoil, there must be some sort of enjoyment Michael Fascitelli, the erstwhile CEO of Vornado, must be getting about the media's buzzing over the reasons behind his departure and the succession plan to follow.

Last week, JP Morgan released an analysis that floated such likely names as SL Green chief Marc Holliday or president Andrew Mathias. Sources we spoke to consider Holliday the most likely choice, but Morgan also offered Vornado insiders David Greenbaum, who heads the New York division, and Mitchell Schear, who manages DC.

But in a follow up interview, Anthony Paolone, executive director of Americas Equity Research for JP Morgan, indicated that Steve Roth himself could be the guy.

Enigmatically, on the announcement of Fascitelli's retirement, Roth stated that while he would fill the vacant chair it wasn't a job he wanted to hold forever. That could be read a number of ways. Neither did he say he would serve in the post only on an interim basis. “Steve Roth is the CEO,” says Paolone. “We're all presuming that a search will take place.”

If it does, Holliday's response was equally enigmatic. “He just rolled his eyes,” says one source. Talk that Holliday also has a “multiyear contract” with SLG would seem a relatively small hurdle for Vornado.

Forbes poo-pooed the company line that Fascitelli was stepping down for personal reasons, laying the driving force beyond his departure at the doorstep of JC Penney's poor performance:

“It is plain to see that Vornado's bet on the struggling JC Penney chain has been a flawed strategy as the company has moved away from discount prices when bargain stores appear to be thriving in tough economic times,” the report stated. “Vornado's latest earnings results reported that the company had lost $224.9 million on its J.C. Penney stake that contributed to the REIT's weak fourth-quarter earnings in which funds from operations dropped to $55.9 million (30 cents per share) from $280.4 million ($1.46 per share) in the 2011 quarter.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the REIT sold off 10 million shares of JCP stock to Deutsche Bank.

Of course, the guesswork about successors continues. A long-shot among rumor mongers is Tim Callahan, formerly of EOP and now heading up Callahan Capital Partners. But this out-of-towner will most likely be bested by Manhattan players who bring more local-market savvy to the table. “It's the complexities and deep understanding of New York that would be important,” says Paolone, “things like retail understanding—particularly street retail.”

The speculation, of course, is sure to continue until the Board of Vornado comes to a decision, whatever the cause of the departure and whoever the winning candidate, including Roth, may be.