‘Gossip Girl’ Star Connor Paolo Has Lunch at 10:30 A.M.Name: Connor PaoloAge: 17Job: Plays Eric van der Woodsen on the hit CW show Gossip Girl.Neighborhood: Manhattan
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
This changes on a weekly basis. After seeing Raging Bull it was Jake La Motta. Every time I hear “Imagine,” it’s John Lennon. Currently, it’s George Morfogen who played Rebadow on Oz. I legitimately bumped into the man twice this week, and despite my screaming his character’s name both times, he remained gracious and appreciative.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Anything served past 3 a.m. qualifies as great.
white men with money
Jeff Epstein’s Lawyers Try to Massage His SentenceNow that Jeffrey Epstein is expected to plead guilty to soliciting underage prosties, the gagillionaire’s legal team is hoping they can somehow get him out of having to register as a sex offender. According to a letter from Epstein’s lawyer to the U.S. attorney, unsent but obtained by Page Six, “Doing so will have a profound impact [on Epstein] both immediately and forever after.” Um, yeah. Isn’t that kind of the point?
intel
NYU’s Bob Shrum Be-Labours Politics Once AgainBritish Prime Minister Gordon Brown has sacrificed the popularity with which he arrived in office by choosing not to hold a fall election, writes London political strategist Rupert Darwall in today’s Wall Street Journal. Darwall can’t figure out quite why the confident and methodical Labour leader would skip this obvious and inevitable next step. It seems like it might be part of a new tack for Brown, which to our minds, actually makes sense. Of late, Brown has been advised by New York’s very own Bob Shrum, the legendary speechwriter and campaign manager most recently famous for advising John Kerry and Al Gore on their logic-defying losing presidential runs against George Bush.
gossipmonger
Judd Apatow Gets the Last LaughRight before Undeclared was canceled in 2002, creator Judd Apatow sent a Fox executive a note saying, “I don’t understand how you can [bleep] me in the [bleep] when your [bleep] is still in me from last time.” Christian media-watchdog group Renaissance complained that the female anchors on Fox News wear really short skirts. While taping 30 Rock recently, Tracy Morgan didn’t know his lines, didn’t listen to the director, and got into arguments with cast members on set. Stifler from American Pie and Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite sent out an invitation for their joint birthday party at Room Service to a bunch of modeling agencies. Famed British chef Fergus Henderson is cooking at the Spotted Pig tomorrow. Penélope Cruz and new man Javier Bardem acted “touchy-feely” at the New York Film Festival.
company town
Goldman Shrugs Off ThreatFINANCE
• “Goldman Sachs. Hundreds will die. We are inside. You cannot stop us,” say nine letters mailed from Queens to newspapers across the country. The letters were signed “A.Q.U.S.A.,” but law enforcement isn’t too concerned. [CNN/Money]
• UBS CEO Peter Wuffli takes the fall for Dillon Read Capital Management by leaving the bank. Marcel Rohner is the new chief. [NYT]
• Lehman wants to hire as many summer analysts as possible in order to avoid those dreadful college-recruiting visits. [Bankers Ball via DealBreaker]
company town
Shamed Analyst Sues Fox Over ‘Borat’FINANCE
• A former JPMorgan analyst is suing Twentieth Century Fox for Borat-related “public ridicule, degradation, and humiliation.” [DealBreaker]
• Wachtell, Lipton sent around a memo to clients explaining a tax loophole that makes CFO salaries over $1 million tax deductible. Thus was the first rule of the tax-loophole club broken. [DealBook/NYT]
• In a study of hours worked in developed nations, the U.S. only ranks sixth. Somehow, we got beat by Australia and New Zealand. [CNNMoney]
company town
Is Naked Brooklyn Law Student a Natural Blonde?LAW
• The Brooklyn Law School student who appeared naked in a Playboy video is neither blonde nor brainy. Discuss. [Above the Law]
• Is David Lat at Above the Law siding with Aaron Charney over Sullivan & Cromwell? Disclosures aside, the site’s commenters are suspicious. [Above the Law]
• Claims from victims of one fraudulent attorney could put the New York Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection in fiscal jeopardy. [New York Law Journal]
21 questions
New Uniqlo Model Jessica Joffe Doesn’t Read the PaperName: Jessica Joffe
Age: 25
Job: “I write, mostly.” Also: Girl about town, model, new face of Uniqlo jeans.
Neighborhood: West Village
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Patrick Bateman.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Any afternoon at Economy Candy.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Worry and make tea. In reverse order.
company town
Uniqlo’s Success Brings More Japanese RetailFASHION
• Following the ultrasuccessful debut of Uniqlo, Japanese store Muji to open two stores in NYC. [WWD]
• Libertine settled its copyright-infringement suit against knockoff king Allen Schwartz. [Downtown Darling]
• Tyra Banks gains weight, laments fashion’s unreasonable expectations. [People]
FINANCE
• Merrill’s top brass gave themselves a big ($172 million) pat on the back for a job well done in 2006. [WSJ ]
• Venture capitalists invested $2 billion in 249 companies in the New York area last year, up 18 percent from 2005. It was the highest level of funding since 2001, when the Internet broke. [Crain’s]
• If increasing the size of the biggest leverage buyout bid in history doesn’t make Stephen Schwarzman sweat, the Blackstone Group should be just fine. [DealBook]
