Scandalous Obama Pic: Where’s His Hand?You know, it’s nice to see something finally get Obama’s goat. After taking the high road on just about every occasion, including a recent pileup on Hillary during the last Democratic debate, he was on the verge of making the John Kerry mistake — refusing to engage his critics and coming off aloof. (Compare this to Giuliani, who, at a recent campaign event, sternly lectured a 9-year-old girl on Democratic spinelessness.) The “compromising evidence” that has Barack crying dirty tricks is so monumentally idiotic there’s barely a joke to be made about it: It’s a widely e-mailed photo of the candidate not holding his hand over his heart during a recitation of the pledge of allegiance.
party lines
Kravitz Family Might Annoy Crosby Street Neighbors With More Than Just Leaky ToiletsAt the launch party for DKNY’s fragrance Delicious Night, Lenny Kravitz’s 18-year-old daughter, Zoe, was wise beyond her years when we asked about her wildest night in New York. “I don’t think I can tell you that!” she said, laughing. The SUNY Purchase student was equally mum on what a typically crazy night with her rock-star dad entails. “We make pancakes late, late at night sometimes, and we sing Sly and the Family Stone while we do it.” Lenny, she says, makes great pancakes. “Lots of cinnamon” is his secret. So, we wondered, is it in that giant loft on Crosby — on the market forever, and once occupied by Nicole Kidman — where the late-night pancakes and singing occurs? “Oh, yeah, that’s where the pancakes are made.”—Bennett Marcus
in other news
Heather Mills Flip-flops Her Stance on McCartney-Shevell AllianceWhat a difference a day makes. As much as we’re loath to give Heather Mills more attention, the Daily News and Post are so obsessed with the Paul McCartney–Nancy Shevell fling that it’s impossible to ignore. And we couldn’t help but notice the difference in Mills’s take on the issue from yesterday to today. Yesterday, her rep told us that Mills said, “Paul is a free man now. He can do what he wants!” But today, we learn from the Post that Mills is “seething with rage over her soon-to-be-ex-hubby’s lip-locking love affair.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mills allegedly shouted at the beloved Beatle during a phone call she made after spying paparazzi pictures of him spending last weekend romantically paling around with their old family friend, Nancy Shevell. “There was a huge row,” a source told London’s The Mirror newspaper. “Heather asked what the hell he thought he was up to.”
Now that’s more like it! Don’t let a moment go by where you can seem like the victim, Heather. Rampage, rampage, rampage!
HEATHER IS AP’PAUL’LED: ‘BEATLE MANIAC’ LOSES IT ON PHONE [NYP]
gossipmonger
Bill Clinton Made Rosie O’Donnell CryRosie O’Donnell burst into tears after Bill Clinton called her and apologized for being unfaithful to his wife. The guy who won the marathon said he did so by refraining from sex and eating pasta. Katie Holmes said her marathon run was “hard, but good.” (She also wore a velvet Hermès gown to a Museum of the Moving Image event honoring her husband.) Damien Hirst installed a bunch of dead sheep carcasses in formaldehyde tanks at Lever House. Ousted Citigroup chief Chuck Prince didn’t say hi to Sandy Weill at the Four Seasons. Annie Lennox gave a bunch of fans the finger. Governor Spitzer, Governor Corzine, and Nora Ephron went on a triple date to Cafe Boulud.
white men with money
Meet David Karp, Small Wonder We don’t know about you, but to us there’s nothing worse that starting our day off reading about some wunderkind who’s accomplished more by the age of 21 than we have in our adult lives thus far. Seriously, do teenagers not even smoke pot anymore? Today the Sun profiles David Karp, an Upper West Sider who left behind a “normal childhood” and quit Bronx Science as a sophomore to work on UrbanBaby. Since cashing in on that company’s sale, Karp has founded several successful tech start-ups, including a new social-networking Website called Tumblr. It’s pretty cool, a combination of a blog and Facebook, which is perfect if you are a chronic exhibitionist like Karp’s investor Jacob Lodwick. “The VCs were ready to throw millions at us,” Karp tells the Sun, but of course, he’s all about the users. “Our focus is not selling it to Google in two years or flipping it,” Mr. Karp said. Hm. Yes, but David, are you happy on the inside? Oh really? Are you sure?
The 21-Year-Old Behind a ‘Darling’ New York Web Startup [NYS]
in other news
Conan’s Stalker Loves Fellini, JesusWe learn today that Conan O’Brien has a stalker, which is no big news. David Letterman had one before Conan was even a twinkle in NBC’s eye. But what’s interesting here is that Conan’s stalker is a Catholic priest. A totally scary Catholic priest, in the awesomest way. In Father David Ajemian’s letters to Conan, some written on parish letterhead, he comes out with quotes like this:
“I’m told by some of those officious little usher people that you’re overbooked. Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans? You owe me big-time, pal. I want a public confession before I even consider giving you absolution.”
Wow, we never before thought of confession and absolution in such a terrifying/erotic way. (There are other letters where he issues veiled threats at Conan’s life, which are, you know, less funny, like when he compares himself to the Virginia Tech killer.) Other fun facts about Ajemian? Well, when he was ordained, the Boston Herald said he was a “turned on to religion partly by Federicio Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita.” Oh, yeah, and he went to college with Conan. Yeah, that’s right. Harvard: just as unscrupulous with admission as the Catholic clergy.
Priest Jailed in Stalking of Conan O’Brien [NYT]
in other news
Marc Jacobs and John Galliano Are the Blair and Serena of FashionWe didn’t notice that Times Styles section writer Eric Wilson had left us an extra-special present inside the Runway blog last week until just now. Apparently he was having lunch at the Mercer last week when he witnessed a dramatic exchange between John Galliano, who was wearing a “fabulously grommeted” beret and his fellow LMVH designer Marc Jacobs, whose hair is (fabulously?) blue. It was recently reported that Jacobs was overheard trash-talking Galliano at his gym, but he wasn’t mean to him at all!
“Hi, John!” Mr. Jacobs exclaimed. “How are you doing?”
“Good, nice to see you,” Mr. Galliano said. “Oh, you’ve gone a little darker, I see.”
“Navy!” Mr. Jacobs said. “Na-vy.”
“Oh, that would be a little chicer,” Mr. Galliano said. “Indigo!”
“Well, if you ever feel like having tea or coffee, I’m sort of bedridden for a few days, so I can’t move far,” Mr. Jacobs said. “I had an operation.”
“Oh really?”
“Sex change.”
This totally makes up for last week’s Gossip Girl being a rerun.
If Nothing Else, There’s Applause [Runway]
in other news
Sticks And Stones May Break SJP’s Bones (Okay, Just Sticks, Even), But Words…Sarah Jessica Parker claims that she wasn’t hurt when Maxim named her the Unsexiest Woman Alive, but we detect a certain amount of defensiveness in her response, which came out in the London Sunday Express. “I believe in the old ‘sticks and stones’ philosophy, so frankly their words don’t come close to hurting,” the Sex and the City star said, but couldn’t help adding: “How many women wouldn’t want to step into the Manolos that are waiting for me in the wardrobe department every morning?” Not many, we bet! But it doesn’t matter. “What they don’t know is that one day I’ll wake up fat,” SJP explained. “But I’ll still be happy, just like I am now.” Hmmm. Two things: One, the idea that you could suddenly wake up obese, having gone to bed a toothpick, is really awesome. (Can we make a ray gun that does that to people? Can we test it out on Ann Coulter?) And two, Sarah Jessica Parker barely gained weight when she had an entire other human inside her. Remember all those skimpy outfits she wore in the dreaded pregnancy season of SatC? She’s too much of a workaholic — there’s no way that lady is ever going to wake up fat. Until, you know, we get our hands on that ray gun.
The Sexiest Put-Down [British Vogue]
party lines
Kristian Laliberte Loves to Have Sex With JesusJust kidding! He doesn’t really. See, when we caught up with the stylist and ‘mocialite at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Fashion Forward party, we immediately asked him if the news outlets that enjoy teasing him ever mix up his quotes. “The New York Observer, always, always,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I literally could be like ‘I love Jesus.’ And they’d be like ‘I love, dot dot dot, to have sex with, dot dot dot, Jesus’ and I’m like, Where did that come from?” We don’t know why anyone would ever want to doctor his quotes, because that was his answer to our first question, and as far as we’re concerned, he hit it out of the park. —Amy Preiser
intel
Linda Stein’s Funeral Reveals Fondness, AngerHundreds turned out at the Riverside Memorial Chapel on the Upper West Side this afternoon for the funeral of murdered real-estate icon Linda Stein. Fellow brokers, longtime friends, and even celebrities like Trudie Styler and Brett Ratner showed up to pay their respects. There were so many attendees, the chapel had to open another room for overflow, though many chose to stand in the main chapel. While the funeral was in parts a celebration, Stein’s daughter, Samantha, didn’t let the gruesomeness of her death go unmentioned. She said the family would not rest until “the bastard” responsible for her death is found and justice is served. As friends voiced fond and complex remembrances, someone recounted one of Stein’s favorite quotes, which captured her aggressive outlook on life. It was Rosalind Russell’s famous line from Auntie Mame: “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” —S. Jhoanna Robledo
ink-stained wretches
Jann Wenner Has No Contingency PlanAs Rolling Stone celebrates its 40th anniversary (and celebrates, and celebrates), Business Week’s Jon Fine discovers that 62-year-old founder Jann Wenner has no plans for succession. “I haven’t thought about it all,” Wenner told Fine. Selling the company is “not inconceivable,” he says. But “it’s not on the table now.” In his column, what Fine finds inconceivable is the Rolling Stone’s own staying power. It “astounds” the media critic that a magazine with no emphasis on the Web and a baby-boomer focus manages to have such a cache with advertisers. But as Wenner ages, who will his mini-empire of RS, Men’s Journal, and Us Weekly pass to? A sale would sock Wenner and his estranged wife, Jane, with massive capital-gains taxes, Fine argues, so they’re unlikely to want to sell. In other words, what we expected all along will probably come to pass. Wenner will never let go of Rolling Stone until he is 90 years old and the magazine has to run shots of Bruce Springsteen’s grave to keep up its annual Boss cover quota.
The Last Tycoon of Print [Business Week]
Related: The Odd Couple [NYM]
in other news
Parsing the Catsimatidis Dis in the ‘Times’Today’s Times profiles mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, who just switched parties to try for a Republican nomination. If you read very closely, you can catch subtle signs that writer Robin Finn is not taking his candidacy entirely seriously. See if you can spot some!
• Headline: “Another Billionaire Who Wants to Be a Mayor” [We’re already cracking up.]
• Lede: “Those black plastic eyeglasses – reminiscent of the magnate Aristotle Onassis ” [Because he is, you know, GREEK. In the real world, Catsimatidis’s glasses look equally like Henry Kissinger’s or Alan Greenspan’s.]
• “But how the heck does their wearer see a blessed thing? In focus, that is.” [Wow, what?]
company town
Stephen Colbert Doesn’t Make the BallotMEDIA
• Hollywood and television writers have decided to strike and will announce a walk-out deadline by noon today. Late night will be most immediately effected — guess we’ll find out just how funny Jon Stewart and David Letterman really are. [NYT]
• The South Carolina Democratic executive committee rejected self-proclaimed “favorite son” Stephen Colbert’s attempt to get on the ballot. Colbert now has to accumulate 10,000 signatures to make the ballot as an independent or pay the Republicans $35,000. Tough decision. [HuffPo]
• Don Imus signed a deal with Citadel to return to radio, broadcasting on WABC in New York and syndicated nationally on ABC Radio. The I-Man had to settle for $5 million a year, half of what he made with CBS. [WSJ]
white men with money
Jimmy Cayne Just Wishes Everyone Would Chill Out Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne has sent out a company-wide e-mail, defending his conduct personally and professionally against yesterday’s Wall Street Journal profile that portrayed him as a stoner and kind of a dick (But in an awesome way.) DealBook got ahold of the e-mail: “I remain, as I have been for many years, intensely focused on our business,” Cayne wrote. “Don’t be distracted by the noise. I am certainly not.” Soon after the memo was sent, Bear Stearns employees heard strains of Pink Floyd’s “Hey You” emanating from the corner office.
developing
Giant Residential Complex to Hit the Lower East SideUnless you live on the Lower East Side near the river, you may not have known there was a Pathmark down there on Cherry Street. It’s a large, low building among housing projects and residential towers. Now, Curbed.com reports that the supermarket is about to turn into a giant development. The lot is for sale for $250 million and the sellers are suggesting it could be used to build one or two large residential towers (which would have a fabulous view of Brooklyn and the East River, though not necessarily the best view on the street) of about 50 stories. That’s big news for the neighborhood, especially since it’s rumored Donald Trump is interested. With the city’s planned revamp of East River Park, could this become a hot new area? Could it provide a much-needed hipster shunt from the hemorrhaging Ludlow and Essex area? Could Manhattan actually have found a new neighborhood to create? We can’t wait for all the real-estate blogs to begin inevitable naming contests!
LES Pathmark Site: $250 Million, 50+ Stories of Fun [Curbed]
intel
Imaginary Eavesdropping on Lance and Ashley’s DateOkay, so we know it’s totally possible that “Page Six” has been exaggerating the crap out of this Lance Armstrong and Ashley Olsen relationship. Like, we heard from an eyewitness that they weren’t actually making out at Rose Bar the other night, they were just whispering. But anyway, they were spotted again at Waverly Inn on Tuesday, so maybe there’s something to it. For our own amusement, we tried to imagine the conversation they had over delicious chicken pot pie at the trendy restaurant:
Lance: You know, I’ve been a fan of yours since Full House.
Ashley: Aw, thanks. That’s so sweet. I was so fat then!
Lance: I thought you were adorable. I watch the reruns with my kids. You really pulled off all of those matching baby jumpers! I never dreamed I’d get to actually make out with you.
Ashley: I get that a lot. I really admire what you did with, you know, your ball cancer. You took lemons and made them into lemonade..
in other news
Brandon Davis Haunts New York … Permanently?As if the violence in Union Square and excess of exposed, mottled flesh on the streets didn’t make this Halloween scary enough, Brandon Davis was apparently also haunting New York. The Daily News knew for sure it was the Oilcrotch, and not someone wearing what would have been a mind-bogglingly brilliant costume, because they saw the dude terrorizing an employee at the New York Costume shop.
After one of the bimbos with bratty Brandon told him the feathery, glittery mask he was trying on looked bad, we personally saw him throw it across the counter, hitting the cashier.
The News hopefully suggests that Davis won’t be in town for long, but didn’t he just say he was moving here to start an art dealership? Which means maybe he wasn’t visiting at all, maybe he has already moved in. Mwahahahhahahaha. Now that’s spooky.
Rush and Molloy [NYDN]
gossipmonger
Kelly Klein Finally Nabs That BabyGisele Bündchen showed up at the haunted house on Suffolk Street sans costume and cut the line. Hunter S. Thompson’s widow is pissed at Jann Wenner because he portrayed Hunter in his book as an “awful beast of a man” after he left Rolling Stone . Calvin Klein’s ex, Kelly, finally has a daughter, via surrogate mother. David Brooks, a.k.a. the guy who was recently busted for using company cash to fund his daughter’s $10 million bat mitzvah, also used his employees’ pension funds to pay for his son’s bar mitzvah. Hillary Clinton backed out of a Vogue photo shoot being shot by Annie Leibovitz because she felt it would be “too glamorous.” Sting and some buddies went to Scores. Bono and Damien Hirst dined at Lever House. Law & Order’s Richard Belzer had to get his driver to walk his poodle during a screening at Core Club because he wasn’t allowed to bring it in.
new york fugging city
The Fug Girls: Taking a Peek Inside Karl Lagerfeld’s Mind of SteelEven in an industry full of eccentrics, Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld is an icon: those omnipresent shades, the man-jewelry, and, of course, the leather glove, which lends his style that special “ringmaster at a Michael Jackson–themed circus” feel. So when filmmaker Rodolphe Marconi touted his new documentary Lagerfeld Confidential as a profound peek behind The Kaiser’s sunglasses, we had to investigate — after all, this is the man who once told Elle, “It’s too easy to forgive. I love revenge.” What could be better than an hour and a half of that?
party lines
Al Roker Always Thought Dumbledore Was a Bit SwishyAl Roker sees everything coming, not just storm clouds. When we caught up with him at the Quills Literary Awards last night, we asked him what he thought of J.K. Rowling’s revelation that Harry Potter character Albus Dumbledore was gay. “I was not surprised because I always got the sense there was actually something between him and Hagrid,” said Roker, who is a fan of the books. “Either that or it was Hagrid and the hippogriff. One or the other.” Oh, Al, you kidder. A hippogriff couldn’t mate with a giant! (For the record, Joan Allen told us, “It never entered my mind to think about [Dumbledore’s] sexuality.” Some people just don’t have dirty minds.) What we really wanted to know from Roker, though, was obviously how his new friend at the Today show was doing. You know, the only other guy on the show who is bald? Yeah, Tiki Barber. We kind of wonder how he’s fitting in, you know, learning how to baste things instead of score touchdowns. “He’s funny, he’s great, he’s on his game. And he’s been a heck of an addition to the touch-football team,” Roker assures us. Only “I wish he would wear some sweaters for men.” —Amy Odell
Find out about Gay Talese’s guilty pleasures and where Steve Schirripa is partying these days at our complete coverage of The Quills Awards.
gossipmonger
Scores Stripper Not So Sure About Drag De La HoyaThe Scores stripper who had the photos of Oscar De La Hoya in drag is now saying she cannot “personally verify the authenticity of the images,” likely because she was threatened by De La Hoya’s lawyer. Lever House owner and real-estate mogul Abe Rosen is forcing tenants (including art collector Robert Wilson) out of his nine-story building on 67 Vestry Street to turn it into a luxury condo building. Miss USA Rachel Smith says she wants to be taken seriously as a TV reporter and not “end up like Katie Couric.” Donald Trump denied having once punched his second-grade music teacher, despite having written about the story in a book. Bruce Willis and his eight-person entourage were denied entry to Socialista at 3 a.m. Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line predictably does not include diamond grills. Dates with some hot firefighters are being auctioned off for charity at Turtle Bay Lounge tonight.
in other news
Ahmadinemania!This morning, the Post couldn’t decide whether “MADMAN” or “GUEST OF DISHONOR” best expressed its sentiments about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia this afternoon, so they went with both. Uncharacteristically, the tab got its ass kicked by the Daily News whose cover blared “THE EVIL HAS LANDED” (ooh, bet they exchanged high fives in the bullpen over that one). Inside, the News went with the slightly more subdued “Iranian Mad Man Walks Among Us.”
in other news
Bill-Rudy Letters Show Just How Anti-Gun Giuliani Used to Be
Today the Post tells us about the “love notes” between Rudy Giuliani and Bill Clinton that the pair exchanged while Clinton was president and Giuliani was mayor of New York City. The missives were sent after Giuliani supported national legislation that was also backed by Clinton, and boy are they steamy. “You can be proud of your efforts to promote this bill,” cooed Clinton, who send Giuliani a signed photograph. “Thank you for the signing pen,” gushed Giuliani. “I greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness.” It’s practically pornographic! The Post dug up the correspondence after Giuliani hinted that he had flattering letters from Clinton that he might use against Hillary if the race got tight. It was a good, funny piece of investigative work on their part, but we can’t help but wonder why they failed to make the obvious point.
party lines
Models, Breasts, and a ‘Marie Claire’ Charity AuctionMarie Claire threw a party at Milk Gallery in Chelsea last night in honor of supermodel- cum-photographer Helena Christensen’s photo spread in the mag’s August issue. Christensen’s photographs of “Super Role Models” (supermodels who are role models, get it? Ha!) were silently auctioned for charity to the hipper-than-thou crowd, which seemed more into the free booze and their accessories than the art. Oh, and breasts. They were also into breasts: Christensen’s shot of a breast-baring Naomi Campbell (you could see her nipple!) was the night’s star attraction. How does a model feel when her nip slips out? Naomi wasn’t there for us to ask — and we might not have asked her such a probing question, either, at least not without taking away her cell phone first — but up-and-coming young model Chanel Iman was, and she recalled her own breast’s inadvertent runway debut. “I saw the video,” she recalled of a fashion show two years ago, “and I saw my nipple just jiggling, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ And at the time I was really young, you know, so I wasn’t that mature.” Now a worldly 16-year-old, she got over such petty humiliations long ago. “It’s just a breast,” she said, sagely. We hope Campbell feels likewise. —Haven Thompson
Find out what Helena Christensen, Amy Sacco, Rachel Roy, and others had to say in our Interactive Party Lines.
it just happened
Dow Jones, Murdoch Reach Deal (Sort of, Probably)
Dow Jones and News Corporation have reached a deal on editorial independence! Huzzah! Now the deal can go forward, and the Bancrofts can get their money, and Murdoch can get his newspaper, and the august traditions of the Wall Street Journal can be protected! So how did it all happen? Um, dunno. It’s the top story on the Journal’s site and one of the top stories on Times’ site, but, actually, no one knows what the deal was — Murdoch dismissed the last Bancroft proposal — whether it’s got more teeth than Murdoch’s London Times deal, whether the Bancrofts will actually accept it, whether Murdoch will sweeten his bid, or, well, just about anything else. But, hey, let’s not get caught up in such trivialities. Congrats, Rupert.
Dow Jones, News Corp. Agree on Set of Editorial Protections [WSJ]
Tentative Accord Reached on Dow Jones Control [NYT]
gossipmonger
Blowin’ in the WindBobby Kennedy Jr. says he and his uncle Ted aren’t as opposed to the proposed Cape Cod wind farm as a book says they are. Liza Minnelli and Isle Werther are fighting over a dress. Barneys creative director Simon Doonan is happy to be a “card-carrying fag.” Boxing will go upscale when three Ford models replace the traditional ring girls at the upcoming welterweight championship at MSG. Former Justin Timberlake flame Cameron Diaz and current Justin Timberlake flame Jessica Biel will both be at the MTV Movie Awards, which may be awkward. Adam Carolla noted that Rosie O’Donnell is a fat female lesbian, and thus has “triple coverage as a minority.” President Bush’s chief domestic policy adviser, Karl Zinzmeister, reportedly said he’d never hire another woman because they “just get pregnant and leave.” Dean McDermott broke up with girlfriend Mary Jo Eustace via “Page Six.”
the follow-up
The Very Models of a Modern Iraq Protester
It wasn’t just little kids and aging hippies at the Iraq protest in Union Square last night. We even saw our favorite male models, Video Look Book veterans and childhood pals John Jones (left) and Khale Unger. Entering further into the realm of life imitating Zoolander, Jones and Unger wore coordinated outfits to the event. Who knew political demonstrations could be so fashionable?
John Jones and Khale Unger [Video Look Book]
Earlier: All They Are Saying
party lines
Partying Liberally With Living Liberally
Living Liberally threw itself a launch party Saturday night in a wonderfully eccentric West Village event space, complete with a gilded “Porn Palace” room and a spacious deck. A hundred people or so showed up to celebrate — and raise money for — an organization dedicated to getting right-thinking people out and about, having a good time, and maybe discussing liberal politics. Living Liberally is the newly organized umbrella for several more activity-specific groups: Drinking Liberally, Laughing Liberally, Blogging Liberally. There’s even Eating Liberally, tied to the progressive food movement, which set up a grill on the deck and also served, according to a pamphlet, “ABC Chocolate Cake: ‘A’ for applesauce, ‘B’ for beets, and ‘C’ for carrots.” (G for gross!) In other words, though this party was a fund-raiser for the organization’s work, usually Living Liberally’s parties are its work.
in the magazine
Inside Norwood, New York’s Forthcoming New Faux London Club
Another London-style for-profit club is coming to the lower West Side, and, as Geoffrey Gray reports in this week’s New York, the new entry will be Norwood, located in an 1845 townhouse on West 14th Street. According to the prospectus, there will be a “buzzing and spacious Grand Hotel-like bar” on the parlor floor, a private dining area and reception space on the garden floor, dining rooms on the second floor, “a less formal salon with lounging areas of decadent grandeur” on the third floor, and up on the fourth floor a “penthouse” space for meetings, screenings, and special events. What will it all look like? As yet unknown. But the brochure provides photos of what the townhouse looked like as the previous owner had furnished it. Above, the front entrance and main stairs. More pix after the jump.
obit
Boris Yeltsin Is Dead
Boris Yeltsin, post-Soviet Russia’s first president, died today at 76 from a heart-related illness. He has, of course, little to nothing to do with New York, or with New York, except that he’s a world-historical figure and the city, and the magazine, are both affected by world history. So a few quick words, then.
grub street
Some Models, Apparently, Eat As Much As You Do
Think models don’t eat? If Missy Rayder — currently featured in Gap’s khakis campaign — is any indication, that’s hardly the case. Missy runs down her week of noshes in the new New York Diet, and we count mentions of “really greasy” French fries, lobster rolls, “the best brisket ever,” and Heath bar ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. That’s not all. Find out what else she scarfed down this week on Grub Street.
Model Missy Rayder Drinks Garlic and Eats ‘Dragon Bowls’ [Grub Street]
company town
Speak, Models!FASHION
• Turns out models can speak — at least in Ridley Scott’s new Prada movie. [Fashionista]
• Bottega Veneta has designed the interior of a penthouse suite at the St. Regis. [British Vogue]
• Model Paulina Porizkova has joined the cast of Dancing With the Stars. [Flypaper]
• Naomi Campbell left Premier Models, where she’s spent most of her career, for IMG. [All Company News]
neighborhood watch
Last Call at NorthsixClinton Hill: Lots of abandoned homes up for sale—for first-time homebuyers, that is, not folks looking to trade their tiny co-op for a spacious fixer-upper. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Coney Island: Developing Coney Island isn’t “financially feasible” without high-rise housing on Stillwell Avenue, says Thor Equities. [Kinetic Carnival]
Harlem: That empty lot at 1405 Fifth Avenue will soon be low- and middle-income housing. [What About the Plastic Animals?]
Prospect Heights: Turns out there are still five privately owned acres smack in the path of Atlantic Yards. [Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn]
Prospect Lefferts Gardens: Would expanding the historic district help prevent new development eyesores? [Across the Park]
West Village: Which fashion label will grace the N.J. Turnpike–size billboard being affixed to the Gansevoort Hotel? [Curbed]
Williamsburg: Catch the last show at Northsix before the space closes to magically transform into the Music Hall of Williamsburg. [FREEwilliamsburg]
early and often
Spitzer, Announcing Budget, Looks to Steamroll Long Island, TooAs Eliot Spitzer was onstage in Albany today running through the billion-dollar pie charts of his first budget proposal, the governor’s cyber-self was sending an e-mail titled “Our Dialogue” to a 40,000-person mailing list compiled during his campaign. It’s the debut of spitzer2010.org, a domain name Spitzer registered back in November, six days after winning the election. The e-mail spends several paragraphs reviewing administrative appointments and bureaucratic changes before getting to its point.
gossipmonger
Tom Freston Gets Burned, AgainTom Freston, apparently insufficiently charred by Sumner Redstone, got further roasted by his friends. A Met security guard once slashed a Rembrandt with a key. Howard Stern pissed off Pete Townshend; Towshend stormed out on Howard. Clint Eastwood had a drink, then went to a rock show. Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson are a couple. Petra Nemcova and Russell Simmons might be a couple. Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt used to be a couple, but she still likes his new movie. Sacha Baron Cohen (a.k.a. Borat) will play his Austrian fashionista character (a.k.a. Bruno) in his next movie. George Jones will play Carnegie Hall on Halloween. Debbie Rochon wants more recognition for her contribution to the horror genre. Cindy Adams discovered that London is expensive. Liz Smith discovered that Annette Bening had lunch. An Italian restaurant will stay open.
intel
Of Course, They Can’t Find the Moon-Landing Film, EitherThis has almost nothing to do with New York, or with New York, except that we happened across it while looking for more information about the biblical floods scheduled to hit our city in 2050. Still, it’s one of the more amusing editor’s notes we’ve seen in quite some time. From NASA’s media-relations Website:
Hey, it’s not like they’re rocket scientists.
Press Release Archive [NASA.gov]
the morning line
Cabs, Gays, and Celeb Car Thefts
• The tabs are aghast at yesterday’s taxicab rate hike, with the Post using words like “adding insult to injury” and the Daily News predicting a ruined Christmas. Completely buried in populist outrage: The TLC will also cease requiring cabbies to be legal U.S. residents. [NYDN, NYP]
• The Times gets a take on New Jersey’s new gay-rights situation from the Gay American himself, the state’s former governor, Jim McGreevey. Would he tie the knot with his partner Mark O’Donnell? Yes! [NYT]
• In celebrity-crime-victim news, Jesse L. Martin’s SUV was broken into and burgled in his hometown of Buffalo — just as the police made a second arrest in the violent theft of Mayor Bloomberg’s car in New Jersey. [WNBC]
• The MTA says that free hand-distributed newspapers are a major cause of flooding on subways. (They clog the drains.) Earlier in the year, the same papers were blamed for the uptick of underground fires. amNew York to add twelve extra pages for the story’s comprehensive coverage. [amNY]
• Speaking of flooding: NASA has rigged a computer model to demonstrate how a 2050s New York City would deal with a major storm. Not very well, it turns out. Flooded areas include “the Rockaways, Coney Island, much of southern Brooklyn and Queens, lower Manhattan, and eastern Staten Island from Great Kills Harbor north to the Verrazano Bridge.” Oh, no! Even Williamsburg, too! [Mongabay]
party town
Nathan Lane or Baby JaneTonight’s boldfaced parties:
• Butley premiere party. Cipriani 23rd Street, 200 Fifth Ave., 9:15 p.m. Butley, opening on Broadway tonight, is a comedy about a professor distraught when his gay lover leaves him on the same day that an academic rival publishes a masterpiece. In other words, it’s a Little Miss Sunshine prequel. Promised party guests include Butley star Nathan Lane, Hope Davis, Ivana Trump, Brian Grazer, Rocco DiSpirito, and Lasse Hallstrom.
it just happened
New Jersey Okays Gay Marriage
New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled today that gay and lesbian couples in the state must be afforded “the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes.” That could mean same-sex marriage, or it could mean Vermont-style civil unions, and the Court gave the state legislature 180 days to decide which. Only three months ago, New York’s highest court punted in a similar case, refusing to give similar instructions to our legislature. We checked in with Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, to ask whether it’s time for New York’s gays — well, more of New York’s gays — to start house-hunting in Montclair.
So who’d have thought that side of the Hudson would go first?
I haven’t read the decision in full yet, but it’s not just New Jersey going in the right direction. Every state that borders New York, with the exception of Pennsylvania, has passed a comprehensive regulation or law that protects gay and lesbian couples. New Jersey will soon have probably marriage, Connecticut and Vermont have civil unions, Massachusetts has marriage, and Quebec and Ontario have marriage. We’re surrounded by jurisdictions that understand that gay and lesbian couples need protections, and we’re alone.
cultural capital
24-Hour Party People, on BroadwayAt The 24-Hour Plays Monday night, a starry group of actors, playwrights, and other show people — Jennifer Aniston, David Cross, Adam Rapp, Elizabeth Berkeley, Wallace Shawn — got together to write, direct, rehearse, and perform six plays in just one day’s time. It was a benefit for Working Playground, which brings arts programs to underserved New York City schools, and in addition to raising money, it gave its audience a night of unpolished but riveting entertainment. Some highlights …
21 questions
Superflack Howard Rubenstein Doesn’t Drive, Lusts for Good Deli
Name: Howard J. Rubenstein
Age: 74
Job: President, Rubenstein Associates; PR man and spokesman for everyone from the Post to the Yankees
Neighborhood: Upper East Side
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Lewis Rudin, the founder of the Association for a Better New York.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Steak at Peter Luger, of course — it’s my wife’s family business.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I’m on the phone soothing ruffled feathers.