Levi Johnston Lawyers UpPlus, Gwyneth Paltrow offers Mario Batali a free gym membership that may be either a kind gesture or a really catty move. In our gossip roundup!
ByChris Rovzar
vu.
Tribeca: Go for the Movies, Stay for the LoftsLet the cinéastes take over the Tribeca Film Festival. It means less crowded open houses for you this weekend. Not that there won’t be enough competition: Tribeca, after all, is one of Manhattan’s best-loved and most expensive neighborhoods. The quiet remove, great restaurants, stellar public schools, surprisingly family-friendly vibe, and charming local shops are all good reasons to move here. But what attracts buyers most is the housing stock row upon row of warehouses refashioned into condos and co-ops filled with high-ceilinged lofts. (There’s new construction, too.) No wonder Tribeca’s the neighborhood of choice for the glitterati (James Gandolfini, Meryl Streep, and, of course, its biggest booster, Robert De Niro, call it home). There’s plenty of room for plebes, too, though the good life doesn’t come cheap. After the jump, a list of properties to view this weekend. S. Jhoanna Robledo
vulture
Vulture Goes to TribecaVoraciously hungry for Tribeca Film Festival news and information? Get thee to Vulture, then, when the good people behind New York’s culture blog spend their days circling New York’s arts for all the entertaining nuggets, newsbreaks, and criticism you need. As the festival heated up yesterday, Vulture was all over it, discussing Tribeca entrant Planet B-Boy, a doc about break-dancers around the world; filing from the “star-speckled” screening of SOS, a series of environmental short films; and introducing you to Tribeca’s shorts. There’ll be lots more today, no doubt.
First They Came for the Hot-Dog Eaters, and We Did Not Speak Out Because We Are Not Gluttonous. Then They Came for the Break-dancers [Vulture]
Pay No Attention to the VIPs Behind the Curtain [Vulture]
Watch Tribeca’s Short Films. Laugh. Cry. Eat Milk Duds. [Vulture]
gossipmonger
De Niro and Bowie, Kushner and Trump, Wenner and Nye Make NiceRobert De Niro and David Bowie were cordial at Vanity Fair’s party for the Tribeca Film Festival, despite reports that De Niro is mad that Bowie’s High Line Festival comes right after Tribeca. Also at the party: “Friends” Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump (as we told you yesterday). And Jann Wenner, with cuckolded boyfriend Matt Nye. Amy Sacco will open a hotel in the financial district. CBS’s Bob Schieffer and Lesley Stahl may have been behind a hit piece on Katie Couric in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Speaking of Couric, her cell phone ringtone is the Pussycat Dolls’s “Don’t Cha.” Bill Clinton is going to a party at Gabriel Byrne’s house to fundraise for Hillary. Les Moonves went to go see his son’s rock band play at the Plumm.
the morning line
How Now Dow Jones?
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 13,089 yesterday, leaping past the 13K mark on a 136-point rally — and, no doubt, giving yet another batch of small investors the tragic impression that they, too, can be Jim Cramer. [NYP]
• With all the money floating around City Hall (the surplus is now even larger than estimated — $4.4 billion), Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants a tax credit for renters to match Bloomberg’s proposed property-tax rebate. The mayor’s not sold. [amNY]
• Al Gore (“the world’s hottest leading man,” per Bloomberg’s press-conference remarks) is in town to open the Tribeca Film Festival. If he were running for office, last night’s gala would sure feel a lot like a Dem fund-raiser. But he’s not, so it didn’t. [WNBC]
• Corzine walks! New Jersey’s governor took a few steps for the first time since the car crash that broke half the bones in his body. He also felt up to taking a phone call from … President Bush. [NYT]
• And Condi Rice apparently wields major power over New Yorkers’ consumer habits. After she endorsed a beef stew at Brooklyn’s Sea Tide Gourmet Fish Store (huh?), it’s supposedly been flying off the shelves. The story feels planted, but by whom? The store or Condi? [NYDN]
party lines
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Are Still Just FriendsEmphatically hot emphatic non-couple Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump made the second public declaration in a week of their non-relationship at Vanity Fair’s annual opening party for the Tribeca Film Festival last night. Milling among actual power couples David Bowie and Iman and Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, J-vanka stood a safe two inches apart from each other at all times, looking as though they were trying very hard to maintain that “just friends” appearance. But, then, the setting — the State Supreme Court building — made PDAs seem inappropriate, anyway. “I had my divorce here,” noted former Viacom chief Tom Freston, happily. “So did I,” said entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman, Lizzie’s dad. They clinked glasses, laughed, and headed inside. —Jada Yuan
Earlier: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Are Just Friends. Really.
gossipmonger
Cautious CooperAnderson Cooper showers in his underwear at the gym to ward off camera-phone-wielding fans. Tyra Banks and Russell Simmons dined-and-dashed at the Brooklyn Diner. Robert De Niro may be mad at David Bowie because the rock star is kicking off his High Line Festival three days after Tribeca ends. (As New York’s Vulture reported yesterday.) LL Cool J may star in a revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Taki Theodoroacpulos won the U.S. National Judo Championship in 70-to-75 age bracket. In his upcoming tell-all, Michael Strahan compares playing pro football to being stabbed repeatedly. Former O.C. stars Adam Brody and Benjamin McKenzie witnessed a fight at Gold Bar. Susan Sarandon’s daughter, Eva Amuri, is pleased with her two sex scenes in Fred Durst’s directorial debut, The Education of Charlie Banks.
vulture
This Town Is Not Big Enough for Two Arts Festivals, SurprisinglyIs there trouble a-brewin’ among the city’s springtime arts festivals? Off-and-running Vulture has word today that Robert De Niro is miffed that the newfangled and aggressively edgy High Line Festival, which starts in two weeks, is stealing some thunder from his Tribeca Film Festival, the established (if not yet old enough to be called stalwart) downtown movie extravaganza that begins tomorrow. What are they fighting over? For starters, who gets the services of Stephen Rubenstein as their press rep. (Second prize? Two weeks with Rubenstein. Hey-oh!) The whole story awaits at Vulture.
De Niro vs. Bowie. Fight! [Vulture]
cultural capital
Tribeca Film Festival: Pricey
Our little Tribeca Film Festival is all grown up — and about to start charging some very grown-up prices to prove it. The fest’s 2007 edition will see a 50 percent ticket-price hike, to $18 per screening, from last year’s $12. This brings it more or less in league with the heavyweights like Sundance ($15) and way past uptown’s picky New York Film Festival ($10 for regular screenings) — which, compared to the Tribeca glitz blitz, is slowly beginning to look like a night out at the Anthology Film Archives. The difference, of course, is that Tribeca overbooks wildly — this year’s roster is some 200 movies — and most of its picks end up in regular release within minutes of the red-carpet premiere. So, while the price hike makes the fest feel like more of a big-ticket event, it also makes it just a teeny bit of a nuisance.
Tribeca Ticket Prices Jump 50% for Upcoming Fest [Indiewire]
