Natalia Vodianova’s Hips Do LieSo as you’ve probably guessed, we’re all in a tizzy getting ready for Fashion Week. We’ve started getting our invitations, we’re assigning photographers, and we’re going through the schedule and castings. As we looked at agency DNA’s list of models who are up for gigs starting next week, we spotted a familiar name: 25-year-old Natalia Vodianova. The beauty from a destitute Russian village turned British aristocrat’s wife is among the lovelies. It got us thinking about how Vodianova never seems to age. After nearly ten years of modeling, she still has the same baby face and baby hips. Like, not the kind that are made for the having of babies (even though she’s popped out three), but ones that a model for babyGap would take one look at and stop breast-feeding for a week out of sheer envy for them. Nothing she can do seems to shake that girlish figure. Vodianova gave birth to son Viktor on September 13, and while she sat out the New York shows in the fall, she hit the Paris runways less than three weeks later. This made us wonder about Vodianova’s other model-cum-mommy powers, so we went back and did the math on her past postpartum runway returns.
in other news
Eliot Spitzer Wants Your DNAOne of the more interesting ideas coming out of the Spitzer-era Albany is the former A.G.’s keen interest in a massive DNA database as the tool for fighting crime. Right now, New York State has DNA info from 250,000 criminals on file; the first part of Spitzer’s proposal would increase that total by 20 percent by giving the ol’ cotton swab to every prisoner, parolee, and probationer. Phase Two would involve harvesting DNA from just about anyone convicted of anything, including misdemeanors. Much like Bloomberg and his congestion-pricing initiative, the governor seems to be looking to London for inspiration. Great Britain, which swabs all arrestees, has the world’s most extensive DNA database with over four million samples on hand (that’s 6 percent of the Isles’ population, including some children under 16). It seems to be working there, too — Gotham Gazette has collared some impressive stats on DNA-related convictions and exonerations. But, still, if Alberto Gonzales were behind this plan, wouldn’t we all be a little terrified right about now?
The Move to Expand DNA Testing [Gotham Gazette]
the morning line
Mike, Trumps, Rudy
• No particular surprise here, but it’s still pleasant to report: Despite not actually running, Bloomberg handily topped Giuliani in a Daily News presidential poll. Some 46 percent of New Yorkers pick Mike over Rudy, who gets 29 percent. [NYDN]
• Not fans of Bloomberg: the Virginia Citizens Defense League. It’s planning to hold a gun giveaway — in a government building — to raise money for two dealers sued by Bloomie. [WNBC]
• New York may start collecting DNA from just about all convicts in all crimes: Eliot Spitzer’s proposing mandatory sampling of all prisoners, parolees, registered sex offenders, and future cons. The program’s also supposed to make exonerating the wrongly jailed a snap. [NYT]
• The Post trumpets the “return of the Mafia.” An exclusive story claims that Sicilian mobsters are making a major comeback across the organized-crime landscape, especially with the Gambino brothers out of jail. About 28 Godfather references follow. [NYP]
• And, more Trumps! Donald Jr. and his wife Vanessa had a baby girl over the weekend, Kai “It’s Danish” Madison Trump; the Donald, who may not even be done siring his own progeny, thus becomes a grandfather. That is all. [amNY]
the morning line
Free at Last, Free at Last
• What were we doing in the days before DNA testing? Well, apparently jailing busloads of innocent people, for one thing. The eighth — eighth! — New York State convict in thirteen months to be exonerated by DNA evidence was released yesterday after fifteen years in jail. [NYT]
• Both tabloids look at the State of the Union address through the eyes of Ceasar Borja Jr., the son of a WTC cop whom Hillary Clinton had flown to Washington. His father died of lung disease hours before Bush’s speech. [NYP, NYDN]
• It’s not exactly the Oscars, but a consortium of community activists got to nominate the city’s worst landlords last night. The runaway winner: Adam Mermelstein of TreeTop Development, who used fake inspectors with prop badges and invalid eviction papers to harass his tenants. [NYDN]
• Now this is a divorce case. Four children, $55 million in assets, $5 million in legal bills, and the heaviest dueling allegations in recent memory (kiddie porn and spousal rape versus drug addiction and mental disease). Welcome to Westport. [NYP]
• And you know you love the Mets a little too much when they have to take out a restraining order against you. An 18-year-old Piazza fan was barred from Shea for three years after faking a press pass to get closer to his idol. [amNY]
