Heather Mills Is Moving to the West VillagePaul McCartney’s ex drops some of his dime on a New York pad, well-meaning yuppie scum set up shop in the East Village, Enrique Norten gets a second chance in downtown Brooklyn, and more, in this week’s kickoff to our daily boroughs wrap-up!
party lines
Chris Cooper Does Not Regret Leaving Ranching BehindWhile Married Life is Ira Sachs’s first full-length feature film that doesn’t take place in his hometown of Memphis, he says that he and fellow Southerner Patricia Clarkson bonded on the set. “She tells me I have very good manners,” Sachs told us at a Cinema Society screening of the film yesterday. “And you know Chris Cooper is from Kansas City, so we’re all from the river towns.” “He’s such a nice southern boy,” Clarkson said about Sachs, turning to the director. “Ah! You have shoes!” she cried, pointing at his feet. To us, she explained, “Do you know Ira called me to tell me, he’s such a gentleman, ‘Patty, I might have tennis shoes on with my suit’? I was like, ‘Ira, it’s okay — you’re the director!’” Sachs chimed in: “Then I realized I live on 8th Street, so I just went across the street and bought some shoes.”
As for Chris Cooper, he says he’s left his Missouri cattle-ranching days behind for good. “You know, when I was younger, it was a very physical job, and you were called on at any time of the day or night to tend to the cattle and help deliver and castrate and tattoo and wean and all that business,” Cooper told us. “It was a great way of life, but now that I’m a little bit older, realizing how physical it is, I’m glad I stuck with the acting biz.” —Bennett Marcus
intel
Happy Martin Luther King Day!In honor of MLK, we will not be posting today. If you don’t have the day off, we hope work isn’t too tough without our mildly amusing banter and pictures. We also hope you get a new job soon.
the sports section
Eli Manning Wins One for the GeeksThe main story line going into the Giants-Packers NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field revolved around Eli Manning: Had he really turned the corner during the final game of the regular season against the Patriots, or was his solid — even superlative — postseason play thus far merely a tease?Lost in all that was the fact that Manning’s opponent under center had also turned his own corner this year. After breaking the all-time interception record last year, Brett Favre led the Packers to their best season in years by finally learning how to not be a hero — that is, play within himself and resist the moon-shot interceptions that have plagued his whole career.
early and often
Heilemann: Bill Clinton Wades Into Nevada’s Democratic Muck FestThere’s no way that a post of modest length can convey the scale, depth, and texture of the weirdness that was the Nevada Democratic caucuses. But let me just say this: In the course of covering Bill Clinton for nearly two decades, I have been in his presence when he has held forth at great length and in mind-numbing detail on topics ranging from Arkansan watermelons to the political lessons of sumo wrestling. But never have his discursive skills been employed to more surreal effect than they were late Saturday night, in the wake of his wife’s 51-45 victory over Barack Obama, when he was overheard riffing on the turnout at Caesar’s Palace, the thrill of winning the Mirage, and the voter demographics at the Mandalay Bay.
early and often
Bloomberg Meets With Perot’s Ballot Expert, Also Lance ArmstrongNow, we don’t know Elizabeth Benjamin from the Daily News’ Daily Politics blog, and we have never met Azi Paybarah from the Observer’s Politicker. But sometimes we want to give them a standing ovation. On days when Mayor Bloomberg’s maddening presidential flirtations make us want to pull our hair out, rip at our fingernails, and start talking really loudly on the subway to nobody in particular, they maintain a cool composure. Every hint, tease, and come-on that the mayor makes toward entering the 2008 presidential race they report with grace and ease. Like, today, for example, when Bloomberg sat down with Texas ballot-access expert Clay Mulford, the guy who put Ross Perot’s name in voting booths in 1992 and 1996. This is yet another strong signal that the mayor is setting up plans to make an independent run, but he once again made an exasperated denial of any such plans to reporters today. “Read into that what you will,” Benjamin reported coolly. “Another sign that he’s running for President or another well-placed tip that keeps the buzz alive.” Paybarah doesn’t even offer up an analysis, other than explaining the ballot logistics. We don’t know how you do it, people. We literally don’t have eyebrows anymore.
Bloomberg Meets With Ballot Expert [AP]
photo op
Gwyneth Alive and Ingesting!CHRISTAL: Look! Gwyneth Paltrow is out and about after the hospital and her husband attacking a guy!
JPRESS: And she must be healthy, because she’s carrying a fifteen-pound Balenciaga Moon bag with just one arm.
CHRISTAL: Good for her. Though, she looks a little Kirsten Dunst–y here.
JPRESS: Yeah. Women of 35 just can’t be wearing pigtails.
CHRISTAL: Dude, she’s Gwyneth Paltrow. The lady doesn’t have to eat, let alone conform to hair norms.
Get Better, Gwyneth! [PageSix.com]
Earlier: Did a Fast Make Gwyneth Sicketh?
Update: Man, Us Weekly is on this story like brown on organic rice. They talked to Gwyneth’s PBS-cooking-show co-star Mario Batali, who came to the rescue, as always. The problem that brought her to Mt. Sinai was just “a little gastrointestinal situation,” he explains. Um, Mario? Now you’ve made everyone think about Gwyneth Paltrow pooping. Not cool, dude.
neighborhood watch
Historic Brooklyn Navy Yard Houses Get a Stay of ExecutionBrooklyn Navy Yard: The Feds have indefinitely delayed plans to tear down ten nineteenth-century houses here in order to build a supermarket. Patina before potatoes! [Brownstoner]
Dumbo: The waterfront Empire Stores warehouse is so decrepit that the park surrounding it has been closed for safety, and everyone’s pointing fingers over who let the Civil War–era pile languish for so long. [Brooklyn Paper via Curbed]
Elmhurst: This no-frills Queens hood isn’t slated to do so well in the real-estate boom, but maybe it’ll fare better than expected with loving testimonials like this: “At sunset, the dirty black bricks of the six-story apartment buildings turn deep red and almost dark pink. At night, it’s peaceful.” Ahhh… [NYDN via Queens Crap]
party lines
‘Gossip Girl’ May Be Over, But Serena and Dan Go OnThere were socialites and movie stars galore at Chanel’s “Night of Diamonds” at the Plaza Hotel last night, but to us, there were only two souls in the sumptuous ballroom: Gossip Girl deities Blake Lively and Penn Badgley, or, as we prefer to call them, Serena and Dan. It’s been rumored that the onscreen couple has been dating in real life, and we were relieved to see this seemed to be true, as we try our best to maintain the illusion that characters on Gossip Girl are real. We positioned ourselves uncomfortably close to their table and watched as Serena pirouetted for Dan, her blonde ponytail slapping his face; Dan drummed his fingers while Serena chatted about fashion; and Serena close-talked to Dan between courses. Finally, we got up the nerve to approach them. We mentioned that, you know, some people have commented on whether the show portrayed Manhattan realistically and asked what they thought. “From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty accurate,” Serena said. Upper East Side teenagers “really do hang out in the lounges of bars after school.” But Dan wasn’t so sure. “I would say definitely, um, when my little sister, Jenny, swings from our Brooklyn apartment to an Upper East Side palace in five minutes top — that’s really absurd,” Dan admitted. (He actually said, “My little sister, Jenny!” We died.) He must have noticed the crazed fandom in our eyes, because right then he started talking about what the network is planning for the hiatus in order to keep people like us off the streets, or at least from turning to Cashmere Mafia. Starting January 28, he said, they’ll be airing the reruns with “extra tidbits” called Gossip Girl Revealed. “It will entertain people who have seen it,” he said. “And for those who haven’t seen it, it will be illuminating.” —Justin Ravitz
Get scandalous hotel memories from Helena Christensen, MisShapes, Julia Stiles, and others at our complete coverage of Chanel’s “Night of Diamonds” at the Plaza’s Grand Ballroom.
intel
Chris From ‘Project Runway’ Gives Good (Lettuce) Head
Okay, okay, so Chris March and Christian Siriano’s couture dress on Project Runway last night was positively delicious. But you know how they’re always talking about Chris’s costume-designing experience, and you never really get to see it in action? Well, here’s a genuinely tasty blast-from-the-past video from the nohib.com archives featuring Chris’s work on a “Salad Fashion Show” for Wishbone Salad Dressings last May (click above to view). Witness as Chris chops a head of lettuce off its stalk moments before shoving it on a model’s hat. This guy was ready for Project Runway the day he was born.
Salad Fashion Show [NYM Video]
neighborhood watch
The Left Bank Moves to the Right VillageBedford-Stuyvesant: Can’t tell a hanging corner turret from a hanging corner bay from a tripartite bay? Read this post and you’ll never walk illiterately through brownstone Bed-Stuy again. [Bed-Stuy Blog]
Cobble Hill: Council member David Yassky didn’t want a middle school going in a Dumbo apartment tower (’cause it could block views of the Brooklyn Bridge), but he might support selfsame school sharing space with the jail here on Atlantic Avenue. Way to put the kids first, Yaz. [Brooklyn Paper]
East Village: The alley behind the new Avalon condo on 1st Street is supposed to become a boutique-filled “slice of the Left Bank,” but right now it’s just a dump. [Vanishing New York]
in other news
Morning Shows Go Nuts for Iowan Family, Cause Them to Hightail It Back to IowaYou can imagine Jane Hambleton was pissed when she found booze under the front seat of her son Steven’s car, and grounding did not seem like enough of a punishment. “I’ll show that little bugger who’s boss,” she said to herself. And she put an ad in the local paper, the Iowa Register:
OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet.
Well! She thought she would get a response but didn’t think it would be from all the way in New York! First, Good Morning America flew the family out to appear on the show. Then Jane got a call from Today — apparently they were so charmed by the Hambletons, they were going to break their hard and fast don’t–touch–it–if–it’s–been–breathed–on–by–Diane Sawyer rule. But then Oprah called, and she wanted exclusivity. Then Ellen called, and she wanted exclusivity. Everyone wanted a piece of the Hambletons! What would they do? They threw up their hands. “These people are crazy!” they said to themselves. “Let’s go back to Iowa to figure it out. Things are simpler there.”
‘Meanest Mom’ Sells Son’s Car, Family Gets Quite a Ride [WP]
in other news
Hillary Clinton’s Secret Is in the Stars
Last night, Vanity Fair astrologer Michael Lutin did something that nobody has yet been able to do sufficiently: He explained Hillary Clinton. The secret to Clinton’s murky, buttoned-up, hypercompetitive personality is centered upon one simple thing: She’s a Scorpio. Wait, wait, wait, take this seriously for a minute. We’re not usually into astrology or anything like that. Normally when we talk to someone about their zodiac sign, the person always ends up talking about the spiritual lives of animals or reincarnation or something cringe-worthy like that. But this guy Lutin is talking some sense! He explains:
• “The whole Congress-health care fiasco was a disaster, partly because Scorpios do lack subtlety when they have a goal.”
• “Scorpios always have not only Plan B, but they usually have it figured out all the way up to Plan Z.” [Ed: From now on, your Plan C is “Cry.”]
• “In the end, foreign or domestic policies notwithstanding, Scorpio always turns out to be an issue of gender. ”
• “When situations are dire, enterprises failing, businesses stalling, empires falling and extinction is right around the corner, Scorpios get turned on. Only they can walk right down into the Valley of the Lepers with bagels and cream cheese and think nothing of it.”
• “It should come as no surprise that Hillary Clinton came out swinging after her defeat in Iowa. After all, it was in the stars: she is a Scorpio and Scorpio rules the instinct for survival. Scorpio also rules cockroaches. Did you ever try to spray or drown them? They can hold their breath and play dead until you walk out of the kitchen and turn out the light.”
• “Hillary has a higher agenda to help her survive the worst bites, kicks, slaps and cuts. She knows she would rise up again in a brand new incarnation to make her betrayer serve her needs.”
Oh. Well, never mind. This conversation about astrology ended like all the other ones, it seems.
Hillary’s Horoscope: Her Comeback Was in the Stars [HuffPo]
it just happened
Marion Jones Gets Jail Time, ProbationMarion Jones, the five-time Olympic-medal-winning track-and-field star, was sentenced this morning to six months in prison, followed by two years of probation for perjury. Back in October, Jones pleaded guilty to lying to a federal investigator in 2003 about using performance-enhancing drugs to help her win three gold and two bronze medals in the Sydney Olympics, and to lying about knowledge of her ex-boyfriend’s scheme check-forging scheme. She returned her Olympic medals and made a tearful plea to the press: “I have been dishonest, and you have the right to be angry with me. I have let [my family] down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down.” Her lawyers had tried to keep her out of prison, arguing that she had been punished enough, but instead, White Plains judge Kenneth Karas gave her the maximum sentence recommended by prosecutors. We bet she’ll take the sentence better than Paris did.
Jones’s Soaring Career Now a Cautionary Tale [NYT]
company town
Steve Schwarzman Takes the Fun Out of BuybacksFINANCE
• Steve Schwarzman found yet another way to stiff his investors, using the GSO deal as an elaborate cover to buyback shares of Blackstone without the typical benefit a buyback program gives to other shareholders. No wonder the Chinese, who have lost $1 billion on Blackstone, hate him. [DealBook/NYT]
• Bank of America bought Countrywide Financial, the huge mortgage company teetering at the edge of bankruptcy, for $4 billion in stock. Some observers worry the deal will take the bank down, but considering Countrywide was worth $30 billion before the mortgage meltdown, it may yet make B of A CEO Ken Lewis a king. [Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Merrill Lynch will likely take a $15 billion write-down next week, far in excess of the $12 billion some already bearish analysts had predicted. John Thain is looking to rescue the bank with still more foreign investment capital, but with the Senate getting anxious, that stream dry up. [NYT, NYP]
intel
Some Necessary Advice for Sam ZellToday Business Week’s Jon Fine has a bunch of advice for new Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell. It’s all about how to make the most of his recent acquisition and includes counsel like “Outsource all printing,” “Don’t fall for the mirage of synergy,” and “Don’t be afraid of price hikes.” Very technical stuff, and probably very useful. But come on. Zell is a new media baron. He has much more important changes to worry about, like how to change his personal life and habits in order to fit the role! Not just anybody can be a press lord. It takes a specific breed of crotchety old men with unique sexual proclivities and horrendous progeny to fit the bill. So we’ve come up with some advice for Zell that has actual practical applications. Without further ado:
• Dump your wife of many years and immediately marry a much younger, much more Asian version.
• Pit your children against one another in a battle to become your heir apparent, in which none have any hope of winning.
• Start getting mad about Israel.
• Get to work on that gin-blossom look.
• Begin hanging around with Tom Wolfe or an equivalent writer who will fictionalize you and talk appropriately about your masculinity.
• Get anointed as a member of the Order of Letters or Knights of the Garter from a foreign nation. Then insist upon being called “Lord.”
• Pick a nemesis, preferably one whose company is already weakening. Then attack!
• Sleep with Jane Fonda. If possible, make her feel bad about herself.
Come on, Sammy! Get started! Those kids won’t disinherit themselves!
You’ve Got Tribune. Now Do Something [Business Week]
in other news
‘Times,’ Toilet Meet CuteWhen we heard about futuristic new self-cleaning public toilets that the city unveiled, we went right to our favorite sources for this type of coverage. “WHAT A RELIEF,” the Daily News said, under a headline that read: “AND A-WEE WE GO” The Post led with “Helle-LOO-jah,” and a headline of “TOILET IS GOOD TO ‘GO.’” But imagine our surprise when we found that the best write-up of all was in the New York Times. They go through the experience of using the toilet in detail, in a style that can only be described as architectural-review-meets-anthropological-study:
There are two architectural flourishes, both on the roof: a small pyramid of glass, like a little model of the Louvre, and an anachronistic metal stovepipe, reminiscent of a cozy shanty or an old outhouse with a crescent moon carved into the door…
Sadly, these little surprises are forgotten with the first look at the toilet itself, an imposing, metal, cold-looking receptacle in the corner. There is no little stall around it, and so it looks exposed, like the facilities available in many prisons. It, too, is quite damp, for perfectly good reasons explained later, but the image first evokes a dungeon or a scene from one of the Saw pictures.
intel
Hey, MSNBC, Stop Trying to Make ‘Tsunami Tuesday’ Happen
Has anyone else noticed that since the December 2004 tsunami that killed over 200,000 people, most networks have shied away from using the sometimes-mentioned Super Tuesday nickname “Tsunami Tuesday”? It has been used to describe February 5, the day when a crazy amount of states will be holding their primaries. But since the word “tsunami” is sort of synonymous with, um, mass death, it’s hasn’t really built up much steam. Except for on MSNBC. They’ve really been trying to make “Tsunami Tuesday” into a buzz term. It’s on all their ads, in their Web editorial language, and used on the air. We have to say, we’re not quite ready to bring the term back into common parlance. What’s next, an election countdown to “Nagasaki November”?
Will Tsunami Tuesday be an afterthought? [MSNBC]
intel
It’s New Year’s Eve. Run for Your Life.Well, folks, we were back for a moment, and now we’re gone again. But never fear, Daily Intel will return with a vengeance on Wednesday (and for good. We have no vacation written into our contracts — we just had to stop last week because our fingers, and souls, were bleeding). Since we know you’ve probably already left work and are going on to whatever horror you’ve got planned for this evening, we’re going to leave you with a bunch of heartfelt wishes for New Year’s Eve. While we would normally recommend getting the hell out of the city on this wretched night, we know you all, like us, are still here, and that you, like us, still allow yourself at your age to be bullied by some latent high-school-era belief that tonight should be the most fun night you have this year, and not only that, but the most fun night of your entire life thus far! We sure hope you won’t be disappointed! Here’s to that! And along with that we’d like to bestow upon you the following well-intentioned toasts…
May you
• Know more than eight other people at the giant open-bar party that you paid $200 to get into.
• Be so entertained by friends and merriment that you don’t have to watch any New Year’s Eve special on any major network, including MTV because God help you if you do.
• Not have to give a midnight kiss to that only semi-cute person you were sandbagging at the beginning of the evening in case no one hotter came around.
sex diaries
The Solo Filmmaker Looking for HarmonyOnce a week, Daily Intel takes a peek at what your friends and neighbors are doing behind doors left slightly ajar. Today, the Solo Filmmaker Looking for Harmony: 26, Astoria, female, single.
DAY ONE
8:30 a.m.: Woken up by vibration somewhere in my sheets.
8:31 a.m.: It’s my phone. I just started dating again after a two-year hiatus. I don’t answer in fear that it’s one of my dates.
8:40 a.m.: Can’t get back to sleep. Go pee. Sore from masturbating last night. Haven’t had sex in 23 months.
8:45 a.m.: Check e-mail. Received eight matches from eHarmony. Just signed up last night, so I’m super-excited. One guy is holding a little puppy. Begin to figure out how eHarmony works. Send “1st Questions” to the puppy guy.
ByArianne Cohen
neighborhood watch
People in Dumbo Still Read BooksDumbo: Local, too-cool-for-school publisher powerHouse Books better watch out! Another indie publisher, Melville House, plans to open offices plus a bookstore and event space, just like pH did! [DumboNYC]East Harlem: Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito, who fights for affordable housing here, is “vivacious enough to play herself in any television biopic.” Shouldn’t that be a requirement for the whole City Council? [NYDN]East Village: Hygienic bohos, rejoice! Soap dispensers are returning to the women’s restroom at Tompkins Square Park! [Suzannah B. Troy Artist]
video look book
New Woman Thrilled With Jacket, Anatomy
Jasmine Catt describes herself as someone who decided that “at 46, he’s going to chuck it all including gender and become happy.” Now, sporting a jacket that was a gift from her ex-wife, Catt is thrilled with her new life. But other ladies may not be so down with her. Watch the video to learn why.
Video Look Book: Jasmine Catt
in other news
Hillary’s Press Guru Is More Hipster Than Thou
When we saw today’s Observer headline about Clinton traveling press secretary Jay Carson, we couldn’t help but smile. “Hillary’s Hard-Hitting Hipster” was the title of the story, which featured a picture of Carson wearing jeans and a blazer. We well know how the press is quick to stereotype people as hipsters. But once we read the story (burdened by the overwhelming feeling of reverse Schadenfreude we had at young Carson’s meteoric success), we realized, it’s pretty hard to argue with his hipster cred. Quoth the Observer:
• Mr. Carson wore slim jeans, a fitted striped sweater, a trim beard and black high-top Converse All Stars that, according to his close friend Beau Willimon, he spent 30 minutes scuffing in the first after purchasing to achieve a more authentically “punkified” look.
gossipmonger
Ben Gazzara Will Have a Doggie BagBen Gazzara and his wife used to sneak their dog into restaurants in a bag,
until they got busted at a French bistro. Google co-founder Larry
Page is getting married this Saturday on a Caribbean island owned by
Richard Branson.
ink-stained wretches
Can’t We All Just Gay Along?Today’s “Gatecrasher” column in the Daily News includes a truly excellent story that also appears in the Village Voice. Turns out News gossip Ben Widdicombe and Voice scribe Michael Musto were sharing a table at Bowery Bar last Tuesday during the weekly gay party, Beige. With them was former Village People cowboy Randy Jones, who had a delightful tale to tell. From “Gatecrasher”:
In 1977, [Jones] found himself sharing a table at Studio 54 with two people he recalls as being Paris’ parents, Rick and Kathy Hilton. “There was one rock of cocaine left, and it rolled off the table,” he said. “They just didn’t even bother bringing it back up to a hard surface — they just crushed it into the carpet and snorted it off that.”
Jones explained, “Whatever Paris Hilton is, she came by it honestly!” (Not the adverb we would necessarily use.) Now Rick Hilton denies this story ever happened, and it may be too good to be true. But it is a lovely little example of the gay media mafia at work. Widdicombe needs to fill a column every day, but he nonetheless waited an entire week to run this item so that he and Musto could run it at the same time. Thus, nobody was unduly scooped. See? Gay gossip columns will help you out! Unlike straight gossip columns, which threaten to rape you.
Violence is Golden [VV]
Hilton Story Doesn’t Seem to Check Out [NYDN]
real estate porn
Hedge-Funder and Newsbabe Buy City’s Most Expensive Co-opFinancial crisis? What financial crisis? The moment Scott Bommer, CEO of SAB Capital and his wife, Donya, laid eyes on 1060 Fifth Avenue, they knew it had to be the one! Or, rather, the two! Today’s Observer tells us that the couple recently purchased two units in the J. E. R. Carpenter–designed building for $48 million, topping the record for the most money ever paid for a New York City co-op. And, they still have to construct a staircase connecting the two places. But who cares! They’re worth it! And so, says Georgia Shreve, the New Yorker contributor and seller, is the apartment. “It is a beautiful apartment,” she told the paper (Georgia is married to a banker, too, duh!). “Putting in a staircase is no big deal.” Once the staircase is completed, the Bonners will have a sprawling, seventeen-room, seven-bedroom duplex, one block from the Guggenheim and within spitting distance of Central Park. But why go outside when you can simply regard it from your fabulous digs? This place has outdoor space on all four sides of it, including a greenhouse and a south-facing, 114.5-foot-long terrace overlooking the Central Park reservoir. The views notwithstanding, 1060 is a little more modest than some of the other luxury homes on the market — for instance, there’s no gym, room service, or in-house catering by Daniel Boulud — but the building does have a doorman and a concierge, and naturally Scott and Donya will be bringing in their own help. Floor plans for their renovation include a servant’s room, a “formal bar” that the Observer tells us is bigger than their servant’s room — what would they need all that space for, anyway? Brooms? — plus two libraries, two kitchens, and four wood-burning fireplaces, which will be perfect for staying warm in front of when the recession hits.
City’s Most Expensive Co-op Deal Ever [NYO]
party town
Gandolfini, Falco, Turturro Reunited!• Romance & Cigarettes American premiere. Chelsea West Cinemas, 333 W. 23rd St., nr. Eighth Ave., 6:30 p.m. Writer-director John Turturro will be there; so will stars James Gandolfini and Bobby Cannavale, plus Edie Falco, Bebe Neuwirth, Aida Turturro, and others. Romance, a musical comedy set in working-class New York City, was finished a few years ago and is finally being released, just in time for our joke about how foolish it is to make a musical about working-class types to be ruined by the $100 million-grossing Hairspray.
in other news
Angela Lindvall Proves Americans Still PrettyModel Angela Lindvall, who has been lying a bit low in the past year or so, has re-signed with IMG Models just in time for Fashion Week. Fashionista reports that the former Victoria’s Secret catwalker (now the face of Zara) will be walking in the shows, and, knowing her star power, you can expect to see her a lot. A couple of things of note about Lindvall: She’s 27, which is like being 74 in model years. She also has two kids. And she’s an environmental activist. But perhaps the most refreshing thing about her is that she’s American. Since nearly every other major model is Brazilian, Russian, or Canadian, we were beginning to think we were declining as a nationality! But it seems, the Yanks are back. Check out Lindvall’s stats and pics in New York’s new Model Manual, where you can learn everything you need to know about more than 200 models who will be stomping down the runway in Bryant Park next week.
Angela Lindvall: Back to IMG [Fashionista]
The Model Manual
Reno 911: New York!Reno 911: Miami!, the new movie based on the Comedy Central hit about an incompetent police force, screened last night as part of the Tribeca Cinema Series. The cast — um, we mean the Reno Police Department — was there, and afterward they sat for a Q&A with the audience. New York’s intrepid party reporter had a few questions of her own.
Do you have any advice for the NYPD?
“Lt. Jim Dangle”: My advice for anyone out there who wants to get into law enforcement is learn a trade.
“Deputy Travis Junior”: Learn a skill.
Dangle: Do something valuable.
Junior: Go into like …
Dangle: Soft-core porno.
Junior: Get a Webcam video. Do something that matters and makes a difference …
Dangle: Because crime doesn’t pay, but you get to make your own hours.
Junior: Crime pays better than law enforcement.
party town
Museum Movies, Home Technologies, Musical Tributes• Sleepwalkers premiere. MoMA, 11 W. 53rd St., nr. Sixth Ave., 5 p.m. Director Doug Aitken will be there to see his short films projected on the side of the museum. Bjork, David Byrne, and Laurie Anderson will be among those commiserating about sore necks at the 7 p.m. cocktail reception.
cultural capital
Now, New York Rappers Beef Via Photoshop
It’s a bit off topic for us, but the ongoing beef between New York rappers Tru-Life and Dipset seems worth mentioning. This weekend, in retaliation for the cover of Tru Life’s latest mix tape (above left), which depicts Dipset’s Jim Jones wearing Borat’s overly revealing yellow bikini, Dipset affiliates hacked Tru-Life’s MySpace page and put up photos of Tru Life in the bikini (above right). And with that, ladies and gentleman, we have reached the obvious end point of the evolution of rap beef; Jim Jones, who once threatened to slap the kufi off Nas’s head, is resorting to Photoshop geekery. At least no one’s getting shot. —Amos Barshad
Tru Life & J-Love — Tru York Mixtape Cover [Nahright.com]
Capo Strikes Back, Hacks Tru Life’d MySpace [Nahright.com]
buy low
When No Views Are No Problem Near Columbus CircleSay you want three bedrooms and three baths on the Upper West Side. And say you’ll pay $1,000 per square foot but not much more. Seem impossible? Not entirely. At 10 West End Avenue, the Sunshine Group is offering 7H and 7J — a total of 1,974 square feet — for just over $2 million. That’s a deal in a new 33-story building, with occupancy scheduled for this spring, where average active prices run $1,146 a foot. “It’s a very easy combination and a functional layout,” says sales director Loretta Bradbury. And it includes unlimited dips into the building’s pool, gym, and Children’s Museum of Manhattan–designed playroom. But you’ll need to spend lots of time in the common space or outdoors (gasp!) to enjoy the surroundings. You get no terraces on the seventh floor, and your windows offer, um, “city views.” On one side you face the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. And across West End Avenue, you’re looking at a vacant lot that won’t stay vacant. Bradbury won’t comment on when a new building will cast its shadow. But, hey, you might be able to afford boarding school by then. —Alec Appelbaum
in other news
More U.S. Women Are Single Than Married: Discuss
A record-setting 51 percent of U.S. women are now living without a spouse, according to a report in today’s Times — up from 35 percent in 1950. How do New York women feel about that spike? We asked them in front of that temple of matrimony, the Kleinfeld bridal megashop in Chelsea. —Tim Murphy
company town
Lindsay Lohan, DumbstruckThe big news today in the city’s big businesses.
FASHION
• Lindsay Lohan’s Miu Miu ads keep coming — now she’s a vibrant, dumbstruck dolly. [Fashionologie]
• There’s a bimbo logjam at the top of Mr. Blackwell’s annual worst-dressed list. [Downtown Darling]
• A Paris court dismissed Karl Lagerfeld’s claim against journalist Alicia Drake. He sued her for invasion of privacy — but really, people say, because she called him middle class. [WWD]
A New Restaurant for Old Grange Hall Space?Grub Street has news today that there may finally be a new tenant for the West Village restaurant space best known for housing Grange Hall (and, more recently, Blue Mill) — and it’s not highfalutin mixologist Sasha Petraske, who’d previously said he was interested. Nope, the new guy is Harold Moore, a chef who’s worked for some of New York’s top French toques. Josh Ozersky explains at Grub Street.
Harold Moore of March to Take Over Grange Hall-Blue Mill Space [Grub Street]
in other news
Nerve Kids’ Site Encourages Dads to Bend Over and Enjoy ItExciting news for gruppy parents today on Nerve-offshoot baby-site Babble.com. The site’s Stroller Derby blog has word of a new product called the Daddle, a saddlelike contraption that allows Pops, once he straps it on, to get down on all fours and have Junior ride him like, well, a horse. Only Nerve, of course, would find the one children’s product that is impossible to describe without sounding absolutely filthy. There’s no word on whether riding crop and backless chaps are included. Or whether it can be used for, uh, off-label purposes.
The Daddle? Now I’ve Seen Everything [Stroller Derby/Babble]
The Daddle [Official site]
