Letter from the Editor
Barely a month on the job, the New York Times’ newly appointed public editor, Daniel Okrent, has already managed to annoy his colleagues. It seems Okrent failed to check with the “Business Day” staff before agreeing, rather too eagerly, with a reader’s complaint about a recent story by reporter Sherri Day headlined RESTAURANT HIRING MAY LEAD THE WAY TO WIDER JOB GAINS. Okrent earnestly fired off a conciliatory e-mail to the reader, CC’ing the editors without first giving them a chance to defend the story. And so, we’re told, a very un-Timesian ruckus ensued. “We asked him, when accusations are made about the reporting or editing process, that we be consulted,” sniffs the business editor, Glenn Kramon. “What struck me about this story—and we reviewed it carefully after we learned about the complaint—is that … it was accurate!” With admirable aplomb, Okrent says hastily: “I think Sherri Day’s story was very good. I had a couple of small problems with it, and I’m more than happy to query the editors of the business section before I respond to letters from readers.” That’s a relief. But now we’re anxiously awaiting his response to our own letter.
Shock Jocks
Connecticut preppies, Jersey guys, and assorted jocks smacked little white balls across Madison Square Garden Astroturf at the Eric Lindros Celebrity Mini-Golf Classic last Tuesday. Chloe; Sevigny and Lindros himself solemnly discussed the merits of Knicks newbie Stephon Marbury versus Sevigny’s personal fave, backup point guard Moochie Norris. “How can you hate a guy named Moochie?” And when we approached Steve Schirripa, Bobby Bacala on The Sopranos, he—somewhat disturbingly—positioned his club between our legs and vowed to “golf our balls.” (Evidently, his being typecast is not a major concern.)
“It has an odd ring to it, and I don’t think ofNew Yorkers as diminutive.”
Garrison Keillor, on the movement to make pit bulls cuter by renaming them “New Yorkies.”
Gotti to Edit!
American Media, perhaps fearing that Bonnie Fuller has taken things a little too upmarket, has hired Star columnist Victoria Gotti as editor-in-chief of Red Carpet, its newest celeb-obsessed publication. The magazine will debut as an insert in Star’s February issue and will have its own March issue. “The pressure is on and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God!’ ” says Gotti, adding, “I’ve got a million ideas in my head.” (She declined to enumerate them, but we’d like to preemptively point out that “leopard print” is not a color available in most magazine-layout programs.)
90210 Thompson
Hoteliers appear to be the hottest new accessory for single female celebs. If Andre Balazs and Uma Thurman’s pairing off weren’t strange enough, we hear 60 Thompson owner Jason Pomeranc is dating Shannen (Paris who?) Doherty. Doherty’s also been apartment-hunting in Tribeca. Landlords, beware: In 1993, her L.A. landlord sued over $14,000 in back rent and $136,300 worth of damage.
Boulud’s Class System: You, A PXX? Ha!
Foodies, take note: A spy reports that Daniel Boulud’s Upper East Side restaurant Daniel has a supersecret code for its reservation book: NBD (No Big Deal), PX (Person Extraordinaire), or PXX (Person Extra Extraordinaire). PXXs include regulars Bill Clinton, Woody Allen, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, and Bill Cosby, who, we’re told, once attempted to prank the staff by throwing open the kitchen door and yelling, “Immigration!”
Miramaxed: Bob Weinstein cashes out; Ann Godoff moves into the Dakota.
After shelling out $12.75 million on his new apartment in the Beresford, a relieved Bob Weinstein has finally unloaded his duplex on East 66th Street for $5.5 million. We also hear Penguin’s Ann “Midnight in the Garden” Godoff is moving into the Dakota (where she’ll share an elevator with Yoko Ono, Lauren Bacall, and, of course, her longtime companion, Annik La Farge). We assume that the severance from her Random House firing (which was up there with some Third World GDPs) covered the down payment.