All in the FamilyBee Shaffer and Austin Bryan, the offspring of Anna Wintour and her boyfriend, Shelby Bryan, held hands at Marquee. Harlem congressman Charles Rangel is likely getting a divorce and may be dating other women. The typewriter that disabled author Christy Brown used to bang out his best-selling autobiography (with his left foot, no less) will be auctioned off tomorrow. New York Yankee Jason Giambi took shots at a club. Sophie Dahl and longtime boyfriend Dan Baker Jr. broke up, and Mick Jagger may be to blame. Lindsay Lohan ex Harry Morton is now dating Friday Night Lights star Minka Kelly. Mark Wahlberg and the real-life “E” acted like Vinnie Chase and the fictional “E.” Ronald and Nancy Reagan were once funneled money by a Hollywood studio through an illegitimate real-estate transaction.
photo op
Call Me
So the iPhone went on sale Friday afternoon; America rejoiced, God smiled, and people who’d been waiting on line for three days could finally go take a shower. (We must say our favorite touch is the line of what seem to be Apple employees at left, applauding the dude for, you know, shopping.) Funny thing: After all the hysteria and lines and waiting and so forth, our friend walked into an AT&T store Saturday afternoon, bought an iPhone, and left in about a half-hour.
UPDATE: Aforementioned friend IMs: “Errata! I was in and out of Apple Store in 5 minutes.” Apparently reporting over drinks late on Saturday night doesn’t always yield complete accuracy. Who knew?
Earlier: Daily Intel’s we’re-giving-Steve-Jobs-exactly- what-he-wants iPhone coverage.
photo op
Tired, Poor, Huddled
Welcome to July 4 week. We suspect it’ll be a slow one in these parts. Nice weather today, at least.
the morning line
Safe
• Crime is drastically down so far this year, with the city on track to set a record in 2007: the fewest murders since the police began keeping track in the sixties. An NYU prof credits an NYPD program that sends crowds of rookie cops to bad neighborhoods — and those rookie cops would be the ones they’re now paying $25k. [NYDN]
• Is Joe Bruno the Alan Hevesi of the sky? The state’s top Republican is under investigation for allegedly steering state contracts to associates; now Spitzer is threatening to look into Bruno’s use of state aircraft — and police escorts — to fly to fund-raisers in New York City. [NYP]
• Those new New York City condoms hit 100 of New York’s 325 senior centers last week. The remaining 225 centers — save for seven apparently run by prudes — will get their rubbers this week, along with pamphlets on HIV prevention. [NYP]
• Bloomberg’s new noise code went into effect yesterday. See, isn’t the city nice and quiet now? [NYT]
• And A-Rod’s wife wore a tank top to yesterday’s game bearing the words “Fuck You” on the back. Perhaps it would have been better to convey this message at home? [NYP]
gossipmonger
Odd CouplingsTwo men bought a date with New York Giant Michael Strahan at an auction. Denise Richards and Richie Sambora finally split. Bruce Willis is dating a 23-year-old Playmate. Former HBO exec Chris Albrecht went out on the town with the girl he allegedly assaulted. The Office stars Rashida Jones and John Krasinski may be dating again.
in other news
Did Judy Use ‘Journal’ to Settle a Score?
Leonard Levitt writes a weekly muckraking column about life and issues within the NYPD. In this week’s offering, he connects some interesting dots about Judith Miller’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed defending police brass after revelations that the department spied on peaceful protesters before and during the 2004 Republican convention. The spying program was revealed in March by New York Times reporter Jim Dwyer. Miller’s piece mentioned Dwyer by name and questioned his reporting: “The material this reporter read,” Miller wrote, “does not show that the police monitored such peaceful groups and individuals because they opposed their political views.” What Levitt is the first to note: “Defectors’ Reports on Iraq Arms Were Embellished, Exile Asserts,” one of the numerous stories to eventually debunk Miller’s prewar WMD work, was written by Jim Dwyer. Merely a coincidence, right? —Ben Mathis-Lilley
The NYPD and Judith Miller [NYPD Confidential]
the morning line
Lifestyles of the Rich
• The Sabhnanis, a “perfume mogul” couple, have allegedly kept two Indonesian women as slaves in their Long Island mansion. Both prisoners appear to have been subjected to systematic torture. And now, this photo of Mrs. Sabhnani will haunt our dreams. [NYP]
• The perpetrator of last week’s unusually intense clothing-store shoplift, which involved a getaway van and left a security guard near death, is an ex-preppie with Exeter and Yale in his past. The immediate moral falls along the lines of “kids, don’t do drugs.” [NYDN]
• Rudy Giuliani juggled a bunch of softball questions in the second Republican debate, somehow managing to clarify his tortured stand on abortion. Best of all, he got to let loose with the I’ve-been-there indignation when a rival suggested a modicum of U.S. culpability for 9/11. [amNY]
• Finally, a co-op dispute starring Bono! The board at San Remo, his CPW abode, has banned the use of fireplaces, yet chimney smoke keeps drifting into the Hewsons’ duplex. Somehow, Bono strikes us as a guy who sits in on every co-op board meeting. [NYT]
• And, XM Radio suspended its “shock jocks” Opie and Anthony for 30 days for their Laura Bush rape bit. What a pity; we were counting on them for a measured and nuanced Jerry Falwell eulogy. [WNBC]
