August 13, 2007 Issue
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Cover Story
The Near-Fame Experience
Bravo shows like Project Runway and Top Chef are supposed to elevate the reality genre by putting a spotlight on those who actually deserve it. But the programs’ alumni say that meritocratic ideal is just another televised illusion.
Features
The Resurrection of Don Imus
How the ghost of Lenny Bruce strong-armed Les Moonves and CBS on behalf of America’s most infamous ex�radio host.
The Deliverymen’s Uprising
Reckless drivers, bad weather, unconscionable tippers: For New York’s takeout-delivery fleet, some problems are intractable. The radical bicyclists currently striking and filing lawsuits hope that criminal exploitation by employers isn’t one of them.
Intelligencer
Can the Fonz Make Everything Cool?
Tries to get Spitzer and Bruno to get along again. Ayyyy!
Tan, Trim & Rehabbed Marc Mark II
Doesn’t blame ex-boyfriend.
Rudy Not Afraid of Snowman
YouTubers, NYers similar.
Don’t Come On Down, Donny Osmond!
Wrong for Price Is Right.
44 No More: Lure Guy Lands It
Nineties time capsule gutted.
It Happened Last Week
Citizens left the city in droves as August began, apparently fleeing the cloud of uncertainty that seemed to have settled over the city.
Cuomo Sapiens
Not so long ago, it all looked over for Andrew Cuomo. The evolution of a comeback.
Heard on the Street
A speculative guide to whose stock is up and whose is down at a Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal.
All Fall Down?
The perils of our bridge-knit metropolis.
Columns
The National Interest
Why does Hillary, seemingly the most stoic Democratic candidate, have the most personally devoted staff?
Strategist
Best Bets
A stoutly starchy dress and other hot buys for hot days.
Tested: Bodum Canteen Glass
Noting a triumph of beverage engineering.
Shop News
San Francisco�based surf shop Mollusk has washed up on Metropolitan Avenue, at River Street, in Williamsburg.
Look Book
An avowedly bald receptionist.
Restaurant Review
The East Village’s latest Cuban joint gets the food and the charm.
In Season
Slice raw artichokes and toss with lemon, olive oil, and plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano, as in this recipe from Morandi chef Jody Williams.
Insatiable Critic
It wouldn’t be disappointing if Oceana’s newest chef, Ben Pollinger, were a recognizable disciple of his mentor, the driven and passionate Christian Delouvrier.
Restaurant Openings
Week of August 13, 2007: Caminito and Il Torchio.
Innovation: May I Borrow the Code to the Men’s Room, Please?
Posting a sign that says RESTROOMS FOR CUSTOMERS ONLY might get the point across, but it’s not the most subtle method of communication.
No, Just Me
Jenni Ferrari-Adler submitted herself to a self-conscious New Yorker’s nightmare: a week of tables for one in some of the city’s most bustling restaurants.
Real Estate
Worst. Rental market. Ever.
House of Seagram Heir Sells House
Word is he’s found a buyer willing to pay more than $50 million for his Upper East Side townhouse, and Warner Music CEO and Seagram scion Edgar Bronfman Jr. has already found a new home.
Fame Slept Here
The Access Hollywood apartment.
Ten Little Cities
City guides for all city dwellers, from hedonists to cheapskates to 8-year-olds.
CULTURE
Awkward Phase
Michael Cera brings the comedy of dry wit and vacant staring back to the multiplex.
The Movie Review
Matt Damon is thrilling but soulless as Jason Bourne; considering the worldviews of the late Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni.
A Viral Victim on the Undulating Curve of Shifting Expectations!
There’s already a backlash against the J.J. Abrams�produced horror film, Monstrous, which is weird, because not only has the movie not yet come out, but it’s currently still filming on the streets of New York.
Dirty Mind: Julie Delpy
With the title 2 Days in Paris, Julie Delpy’s film sounds like another lovely romance. Instead, it’s an acerbic, often-crude comedy that’s so harsh on France, senators may toast it with freedom fries.
The TV Review
Why does Hollywood think that artistic corruption occurs only in Hollywood?
Royal Flush
The city’s most spectacular new building is a sewage-treatment plant.
The Book Review
J. K. Rowling knew what her franchise needed�but she didn’t have the courage to do it.
The Incomplete Sayings of Albus Dumbledore
In Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling enacts her late-breaking cop-out via a very long, wise talk between Harry and Dumbledore, whose wisdom has always been a wee bit fortune-cookieish.
SimCity ’07
William Gibson comes out of cyberspace and starts scanning Union Square.
The Approval Matrix
Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.
The Week
Summer Must-Sees
Two fantastic reasons to visit the Chelsea Art Museum (besides air-conditioning and the lack of crowds in summer, that is).
It’s Just a Stage
Fringe Festival, preteen division.
Continental Drift
Both of the city’s big summer festivals head to Africa for the evening.
Toe Hold
New places to eat and drink on 8th Street’s formerly footwear-fetishizing block.
Little Italy West
If you’re heading to the West Village for dinner, think Italian.
Fringe-tastic
August means the Fringe Festival�this time with more than 200 shows debuting all over downtown. Here, five of the most promising.
Departments
Comments: August 13, 2007
Readers sound off on Fred Thompson, cheap eats, and more.
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