Red Hook Vendors Aren’t Out of It Yet
Eat for Victory’s Nina Lalli spoke to Red Hook vendors rep Cesar Fuentes yesterday and posted an admirably easy-to-understand summary of the current bureaucratic boondoggle that is currently holding the vendors’ fate in limbo. To sum up the summary: All isn’t lost, but the future doesn’t look rosy, either. We’ll let Nina explain.
The State of the Ball-Field Vendors, Plus a Ceviche Exclusive [Eat for Victory/VV]
Related: Red Hook Vendors Bid for Ball Fields
Earlier: Grub Street’s Complete Coverage of the Red Hook Ball Fields
party lines
A Real Housewife of New York City Speaks!Now, just because we’ve been all excited about the return of Gossip Girl doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about another important television occurrence next month: the debut of The Real Housewives of New York City. When we ran into one of the stars of the show, Bethenny Frankel, at Gotham’s Black & White Ball, she was all too eager to talk to us about it. Frankel, you’ll recall, was on Martha Stewart’s version of The Apprentice. “We were supposed to do six episodes, and they extended it to seven, maybe eight,” the pretty health-food chef told us. Seven episodes! They’re really betting the farm on this one, people. “Most of [the other stars] are just women who are letting their lives be a fishbowl,” Frankel explains. “But I have a brand, and I wanted to be careful about that.” So before she went on the show, Frankel talked to her agents. “All my agents said, ‘Reality-TV shows are a train wreck, and they want you to come off a train wreck,’” she explained, adding that she didn’t listen. Frankel is confident that she can come off in the ways that she wants to. “I’m the Sex and the City character. I have a career. I have a life, but I want to have kids,” she says. “I’m the Carrie Bradshaw meets Martha Stewart. I cook and speak French, but I dress fashionably when I need to and run the circuit.” Oh, yes, Bethenny, you’ll come off exactly the way that you are trying to. We can’t wait.
Related: The Ladies of ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’: A Social Examination
Marc Jacobs: Now Appearing in Comments Sections!In the wake of last week’s madness, Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn had a moment to catch her breath just long enough to nurse her flu and reflect on the direction of New York fashion. On her blog, she mentioned that illness had kept her from the Temple of Marc — an admission, it seems, that was enough to garner a response from the man himself.
news reel
Lou Reed Knows the ‘Sound and Fury’ Speech From ‘Macbeth’ by Heart“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, / To the last syllable of recorded time; / And all our yesterdays have lighted fools / The way to dusty death,” said Lou Reed.
Best and Worst Dressed From Roberta Armani’s Book PartyLast night, Roberta Armani (niece of Giorgio) oh-so-appropriately hosted a party for the release of Inheriting Beauty, a book of the world’s most stunning heiresses as photographed by Roger Moenks. Paris Hilton was automatically nixed from the book, leaving us to believe there is a God — an idea which we immediately gave up on when it snowed on party night. The weather did not make selecting a chic party outfit very easy, especially for those of us who don’t have a black car in which to hide our unseemly snow boots. We suppose one could have brought a shopping bag and — gasp — changed shoes, then opting to check them with one’s coat (double gasp), but that would be so tacky.
Fashion Week Exhausting Even to ‘Teen Vogue’ EditorToward the end of Fashion Week, Amy Larocca crossed paths with Mary Kate Steinmiller, an editor at Teen Vogue. A Fashion Week veteran, Steinmiller claims that “you don’t even realize you’re going from show to show because there’s so much adrenaline.” However, she did concede that wearing heels for days at a time was rough: “Tomorrow, it might be a flat day.” See whom Steinmiller spotted at Miss Sixty by watching the Video Look Book.
in other news
Botox: What Does Not Kill You Makes You PrettierOn Friday afternoon, the FDA issued a health warning about Botox. Seems the cosmetic wonder drug can cause muscles to droop or spasm and also difficulty breathing — and even death. Alarming reports followed: “Anti-Wrinkle Drugs Linked to Deaths”! We wondered if the hysteria was raising any eyebrows among the city’s smooth-faced — metaphorically, we mean, since when botulinum is injected into the face, it often paralyzes the muscles one uses to lift one’s eyebrows. Apparently, not so much. “Absolutely no one” has expressed any concern to him, says Park Avenue dermatologist Dr. Neil Sadick, who says he has a “very high-profile clientele — Wall Street, Hollywood.” Do they not care because they would die to be pretty? Or because once you get past the headlines, you see that only a “handful” of cases are from non-cosmetic patients. FDA scientist Russell Katz tells us that most of the serious side effects and all of the deaths the FDA is investigating so far involve children who have gotten large doses for cerebral-palsy treatments. “There are some — very few — reports of these effects with cosmetic use,” Katz said. Still, Katz adds, “I think people should be aware that there’s a potential for something like this to happen.” Sadick, on the other hand, says that people who want to try Botox should worry more about avoiding out-of-the-country and on-the-cheap sessions that are becoming more popular. His practice charges $500 to $600 a pop, if you want to try it. We hear flawless is always in fashion. —Drew Armstrong
London Fashion Week’s Front Rows Are Way Different, Grungier Than New York’sToday marks the third day of London Fashion Week, and we’re already envious of the front rows there. The celebrities look like they came from the “They’re just like us” section of Us Weekly rather than the centerfolds of Vogue. Somehow, it just felt awkward to see celebrities in full-on red-carpet attire at 11 a.m in New York. (Think how you’d feel if your cubicle neighbor showed up dressed for Socialista rather than work.) But London is different, according to the Times.
loose threads
Front-Row Life, and How You Can Fake Your Way Into It• Perks of being Elle’s editor-in-chief at Fashion Week include sitting next to celebrities like Courtney Love; perks for the 7-year-old daughter of Elle’s editor-in-chief include reviewing shows for Fashion Week Daily.
NewsFeed
Secret Supper Club Adds Death & Co. Cocktail ManWe got a note from everyone’s favorite secret-supper-club chef, the mysterious “D” of Bite Club NY. (Bite Club, like the Ghetto Gourmet and other secret-dinner societies, serves invitation-only meals by trained chefs at private homes around town.) Bite Club is pretty much the French Laundry of the dinner clubs, and now the cocktail program is of equal stature, thanks to the addition of Joaquin Simo from Death & Co. The next dinner, with such Simo-created pairings as foie gras–infused bourbon, is on December 22. Bite Club is accepting new members.
Bite Club NY [Official site]
Bite Club menu
company town
Howard Stern Is Quietly Gay-LovingMEDIA
• Howard Stern, good for the gays? A longtime lesbian listener calls Stern “one of the most pro-gay media personalities in the country.” [Gay.com]
• Murdoch finally gets his giant puffy hands on the Journal today at 10 a.m. The only question is just how much of the Bancroft family will try to show their noble intentions, however laughably inept, by registering a protest vote against the deal. [WSJ]
• A great new/old debate: Should Democrats go on Fox News? [Mixed Media/Portfolio, NYO]
the week in beef
‘WSJ’ Reporter Gets Bitten by Michael WolffSo, last week, Wall Street Journal media reporter Sarah Ellison scored a deal to write a book for Houghton Mifflin about the News Corp. acquisition of The Wall Street Journal. Michael Wolff, who has been working on such a book, scheduled to come out next fall, is not amused. “The problem with someone from The Wall Street Journal writing a book is that they are inevitably conflicted,” he told the Post today. When we e-mailed him this morning, he was a little more snarly. “Doesn’t Sara Ellison work for the guy and for the company she’s proposing to write a book about?” said Wolff, whose own book, a big-picture title about Rupert Murdoch and his career, is based on extensive interviews with Murdoch. Unlike Ellison, he said, who is taking a year off to write the book, but not actually leaving the Journal, his reporting won’t be compromised by worrying about his next paycheck. “How exactly [will she] do that?” he said. Ellison did not respond to requests for comment, though presumably she’d say something like, “The same way I’ve been covering the Dow Jones takeover for the Journal since July.” There is one other thing that is potentially awkward: Ellison’s editor at Houghton Mifflin told the Observer some months ago that the book would have “new reporting,” which seems odd, in the same way that it was kind of odd when Washington Post editor Bob Woodward kept the fact that he had known all about Valerie Plame quiet until State of Denial came out. Anyway, let’s face it: These are not the most important questions. The most important question is this: Which one of these books is going to give us a reconstructed Rupert–Wendi sex scene? Yeah. Fight over that one.
Dueling Journal-ists [NYP]
Back of the House
Is Crack Back in the Kitchen?Everyone knows that kitchen workers, and cooks in particular, lead an unwholesome lifestyle. But crack? From what we’re hearing, the rock is coming back to the junior toque set. “Guys are doing it all over the place,” a source told us the other night. “They use the glass pipe and everything.” We’ve heard similar stories elsewhere around town. Maybe it’s just our Reagan-era brainwashing, but aren’t you supposed to become a urine-stained beggar at the Port Authority the minute you try this drug? Or is it just a more concentrated, addictive form of cocaine, as reported by the sober verdict of science? Either way, crack could be the party drug of choice among tastemaking degenerates, at least until they start pilfering capons to feed the habit. So is coke just too pricey on a line cook’s wages? We’re relying on rumor for now, so please narc in the comments.
apropos of nothing
R. Kelly’s Detractors Fighting an Uphill BattleAmy Winehouse’s nutritionist. Ben Silverman’s publicist. The head of the Iraqi Tourism Bureau. What do these three people have in common? They all have easier jobs than activist Jasmyne Cannick who’s trying to organize a protest outside of R. Kelly’s concert at the Forum in Los Angeles on Friday.
in other news
Another Downtown Party Meets the Big Glow Stick in the SkyThe legendary Motherfucker party is over. (Have you ever noticed that every promoted party is “legendary” these days? It’s like how every model is “super.”) We’re not quite sure how Observer Prepmaster General David Foxley got on their list, but he’s reprinted the farewell e-mail from founder Michael T. “For the last year or so, relations between the 4 partners has been strained and finally it reached it’s inevitable breaking point,” the club kid wrote. “We did not anticipate our exit to be so abrupt but alas, life throws curve balls at all of us when least expected.” This is truly a sad moment for the city’s remaining downtown kids who like to get dressed up and dance before major holidays. Also, more importantly, for Thomas Onorato, the St. Peter of gritty clubland. Now that Motherfucker and MisShapes are over, how will he give us our fix of rejection and revenge fantasies?
Lewd Underground Party Bids a Final Farewell [NYO]
VideoFeed
Video: Winter Cocktails From LeNell’s, Death & Co., and Flatiron LoungeSince this is a big weekend for holiday parties, we thought you could use some new drink ideas. Why serve your guests the same old Syrah when you could make them a Mae West Royal Diamond Fizz or whip up some spiced butter to go with that hot rum or mulled cider? We sent a camera to LeNell’s, Flatiron Lounge, and Death & Co. to learn winter secrets from some of the city’s booze experts. They even shared the recipes with us. So watch, prepare, drink, and repeat.
office-party patrol
Getting ‘Lucky’ at Pop BurgerThe week of office holiday parties continues on, and we are fully into magazine territory. Last night saw fêtes for Allure at Socialista, Portfolio at Runway, and both Lucky and (maybe) Star at Pop Burger Midtown. We stopped by the last two, so you didn’t have to. Though, really, shouldn’t you be investing in your co-workers this holiday season? A little face time at the company bash might just make those quietly awkward office urinal moments a little more cheery for the rest of next year!
Lucky Magazine. We weren’t sure what to expect when we went to midtown to crash the Lucky holiday party. For one, it was on the second floor at Pop Burger (yeah, that’s right, it’s a three-story club) and we weren’t sure we’d get in. And for another, we weren’t sure that sending a six-foot-three man to blend in with a bunch of tiny fashionistas was the best plan.
company town
Hillary Tries to Have It Both Ways With RupertMEDIA
• Today’s negotiations between the Hollywood writers and producers, who some say have already struck a deal, reportedly will be held in an “undisclosed location.” We always knew Cheney would come to the rescue! [HR]
• German Vanity Fair is being sued for an interview with an infamous neo-Nazi who denied the Holocaust. [Jerusalem Post via HuffPo]
• Rift in the house of Murdoch? Rupe complains that his son James can’t dumb down the news to his father’s tough standards. Meanwhile, a savvy voter in Iowa pressed Clinton on her Murdoch connections, and the senator, no surprise, tried to have it both ways. [FT via Mixed Media/Portfolio, The Caucus/NYT]
white men with money
Bank of America’s Friends: One Is Silver and the Other’s GoldEmbattled CEOs like Citigroup’s Chuck Prince, whose departure has been rumored and longed for since he announced profits were down by 60 percent last month, and Merrill Lynch’s Stan O’Neal, who the other day announced they’d be taking $8.4 billion — that bears repeating: $8.4 billion — in write-downs, ought to take a cue from Bank of America’s Kenneth Lewis, who after reporting a 32 percent drop in third-quarter results decided to do like a smart despot and start executing his cronies before the people start marching him to the gallows. Last night, Lewis announced a restructuring of the bank, which includes the “early retirement” of B of A head of investment banking R. Eugene Taylor, above, a trader for some 38 years and a longtime tennis buddy of the CEO’s. He’ll be replaced by Brian Moynihan, a bright young thing who will move from Boston to New York to take over the division. But Moynihan has never run a capital markets unit before now, and honestly, with the Red Sox in the World Series, how popular will he be in New York?
BofA’s Wall Street Retreat [WSJ]
Related: The Hanger-on [NYM]
company town
Topshop Signs a Lease in NYC?FASHION
• Breaking rumor alert: After months of hinting, Topshop has possibly, maybe signed a New York lease. Anglophiles and Kate Moss–ophiles, rejoice! [Fashionista]
• First he’s out as the designer of Dior Homme. Now, Hedi Slimane’s been replaced by none other than BFF Karl Lagerfeld as the photographer of the ad campaigns. Oh, cruel fashion world! [WWD]
• Giorgio Armani’s raking in the dough. The designer sold back a 5 percent stake in his company to Giorgio Armani SpA for about $110 million. [British Vogue]
The Death of Paid Reservations?As Eater reported, Weekend Epicure seems to be a scam (we’ve heard the same), and now both Danny Meyer and Keith McNally are on to PrimeTime Tables and the telltale ways in which they call in for the spots they then sell. Is this it for the reservation biz? PTT will surely change up their methods, and we’re guessing that other restaurateurs won’t be quite so aggressive as long as their tables are filled. But blame it on karma or the plain hard realities of business, just know that a seat you buy might not be a seat you actually get.
Commence Resy Scalper Retreat: McNally, Meyer onto Primetime Tables [Eater]
Earlier: Soon You Will Have to Pay for All Your Reservations
grub street
Sam Mason’s Floor Won’t Weather Itself
Former wd-50 pastry chef Sam Mason may have run into some speed bumps on the road to opening his Tailor, on Broome Street, but he’s still chugging along, and he’s still chronicling said chugging for Grub Street. In the latest installment, Mason sees his restaurant taking shape — literally: They’re framing the kitchen and laying floors — and wonders how he’ll make those floors look as weathered as he wants them to be. Stiletto-heeled dancing, anyone?
Sam Mason Needs Fifteen Women in Stilettos to Complete Construction [Grub Street]
Neighborhood Watch
So Much for Eating Year-Round in Union SquareClinton Hill: A brewery on Waverly Avenue hopes to start bottling Kelso beer. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Coney Island: The Slice pizza club convenes on April 15 at Totonno’s. Catch: You have to ride the Cyclone before you chow. [Slice]
Lower East Side: A sneak preview inspires Whole Foods envy: The new one on Houston puts the original Chelsea location in the shade. [Snack]
Prospect Lefferts Gardens: The deli on Washington Avenue is getting renovated; neighbors hope that more than just sugar and water will be for sale. [across the park]
Sheepshead Bay: Grillin’ by the Bay, the city’s only Kansas City Barbecue Society–sanctioned BBQ contest, to be held Saturday. And this year, you’ll actually be able to eat the stuff. [NYDN]
Tribeca: Brunch plans rocked as the Department of Health shutters Kitchenette; also, Bubby’s on its way out. [Eater] Jacques Torres making dark-chocolate-covered peeps for those who didn’t already find them conducive to throwing up in church. [DailyCandy]
Union Square: Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe says there’s no chance of a year-round restaurant when the park’s north end gets overhauled. [Daily Intel]
Upper West Side: Ollie’s Noodle Shop workers take their protest to the next level with a hot-shot lawyer. [Daily Intel]
Williamsburg: A sign spotted earlier this week in the window of Brick Oven Gallery said they would reopen today after renovations — but a disconnected phone seems to tell a different story. [Grub Street]
neighborhood watch
Greenpoint DIY Just Got EasierAstoria: Some days, it just smells like crap around here. [Astorians]
Clinton Hill: Forgot your Seder supplies? Catholic St. Joseph’s College is offering $1 Seders-in-a-box, with the necessary prayers and ritual items. Also good for Holy Thursday celebrations. Coming soon: kosher communion wafers. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Coney Island: No matter how nice the design, Thor’s proposed 40-story towers will look ridiculous on Coney Island. [Gowanus Lounge]
Dumbo: It’s up to you to decide what will happen to the Pearl Street Triangle. Or you can at least take a survey about it. [Dumbo Improvement District via Dumbo NYC]
Greenpoint: It’ll be easier than ever to make your own merch with the new Staples on Morgan and Meeker. [Racked]
Prospect Heights: There are naked men jogging or roller-skating through the hood, apparently. Very seventies. [Daily Heights]
Washington Heights: Drug agents bust an apartment cultivating 700 marijuana plants with stolen electricity. [WNBC via Gothamist]
show and talk
Will Dior Homme Designer Hedi Slimane Head Out on His Own?Hedi Slimane, the hollow-eyed waif designer for whom Karl Lagerfeld lost 90 pounds, is out at Dior Homme, according to WWD’s redoubtable Paris bureau chief, Miles Socha. Even though Slimane is an international superstar who single-handedly made a moribund label into the hottest thing on the planet his ultraskinny black suits changed the way men dress he’s reportedly getting tossed from the LVMH-owned company for diva-ish behavior and protracted contract negotiations. (His contract was left unsigned for nearly a year, as reported yesterday.)
in other news
Good News: A Murder a Day!You can be forgiven for catching a whiff of Dinkins-era New York around the city lately: cops shooting civilians; psychos shooting cops; homelessness hitting record numbers, with more guaranteed to come as banks move in on the overmortgaged lower middle class. It may come as a surprise, then, that the most gruesome barometer of a big city’s health — the murder rate — keeps dropping. The NYPD is reporting a mere 84 homicides from the beginning of the year through last Sunday, which makes for exactly one murder a day. The same period in 2006 claimed 117 victims, or 28 percent more.
Back of the House
Varietal Finds Its Man: Wayne NishWayne Nish, who already has a namesake venue with Nish, will now take over the kitchen at Varietal, too, replacing Ed Witt. Varietal owner Greg Hockenberry implied earlier that he’d fired Witt; Witt informs us that he left of his own accord — because the restaurant was going more “mainstream.” (Avant-garde dessert chef Jordan Kahn also quit, presumably under similar pressure. He declined to comment when we spoke with him.) Restaurant Girl, who broke news of the hire, reports that Nish will implement a $48 prix fixe menu — and serve as his own dessert maker. That sounds more mainstream to us, but the imaginative Nish no doubt has his own ambitions. Find out April 6, when he steps up to the plates.
Varietal - Bruni Aftershocks [Restaurant Girl]
new york fugging city
Free Heather Mills’s Leg!
We’ve been gripped lately with a harrowing fascination that shames us to the core. Someone we love to hate has given us something we love to love, and the resulting struggle to reconcile the contradiction has left us feeling a little, well, dirty.
We’re referring, of course, to our dark obsession with Heather Mills’s fake leg.
company town
Law-School Rankings LeakedLAW
• The U.S. News 2008 law-school rankings were somehow leaked. Yale’s still No. 1, but Harvard and Stanford swapped this year to be two and three, respectively. [Law School Discussion via Legal Blog Watch]
• If you’re looking for a good M&A lawyer, wait till they all come back from the Corporate Law Institute at Tulane. [DealBook/NYT via WSJ]
• Seyfarth Shaw finally ups associate pay to match other New York firms. As one partner said back in February, “We don’t follow all the other firms over the cliff like lemmings. We wait, think about it, discuss, and then jump off the cliff.” [Above the Law and Above the Law]
Openings
Haute Japanese Puts Delivery Cart Before Restaurant Horse
It’s no great hardship living in Tribeca and points south, but the quality of life just inched up even further thanks to a new high-end Japanese delivery service, Rosanjin, which debuted this month (call 212-346-7999). In a novel marketing twist, the service presages a restaurant set to open at 141 Duane Street in a few weeks, and the food is in fact excellent. The Kyoto-style dishes are very good — notably a sushi roll wrapped in a diaphanous egg crêpe, and a standout piece of braised freshwater eel. And the vessels, made from folded oribe paper and Japanese cedar, are a cut above. The sales patter on the Website, though, is a little over the top:
“Rosanjin is a Japanese food service that encompasses all that is beautiful and pristine about Japanese cuisine … Our Authentic menu caters to those who desire a traditional Japanese dining experience that is served in ceremonial splendor … Rosanjin delivers each meal wrapped like a gift to reflect the beauty of the food. It is a wonder to taste and see.”
Okay, Rosanjin, we get it! We’re peeling off 100 dollar bills now. But even Tribeca millionaires don’t want to be leaned on that hard.
Rosanjin, 151 Duane St., nr. W. Broadway, 212-346-7999.
gossipmonger
Rev. Al Crusades for Chris Rock’s MomAl Sharpton is demonstrating against Cracker Barrel on behalf of Chris Rock’s mom. Or maybe Sharpton is funding her lawsuit. Lydia Hearst had her hair colored. Ryan Phillippe really likes Flags of Our Fathers, which he’s in. Ice-T and his stripper wife appear mostly naked on his new album cover, prudish retailers object. Leo DiCaprio plans to turn a town ecofriendly for a reality show. Sheryl Crow is glad she didn’t have to have a mastectomy, she told a luncheon at the Waldorf. Megarestaurateur Stephen Starr wins Zagat honors, gets snubbed by local press, plans two more NYC spots. Assemblyman Mike Gianaris had a Vegas bachelor party. A lunch guest wanted to know if Tiger Woods had accepted Christ as his personal savior. Director Vadim Perelman got out of sex-harassment charges, holds “no grudge against the people of Connecticut.” Teen singer Teddy Geiger got a fake phone number from a DeGrassi: The Next Generation star. Eddie Murphy knocked up his girlfriend, a former Spice Girl. Some rich banker bought adman Martin Puris’s apartment without using a broker. Danielle Steel has a new perfume, which she’s doing just for the money, which she doesn’t need. Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey are not gay, and George Bush won’t help Lance fight cancer.
new york fugging city
The Fug Girls Play Bookie, Make ‘Project Runway’ OddsWe’re not really betting women — well, except for all those days at the track, and those weekends in Vegas, and that football pool. Oh! And March Madness. Okay, so we are really betting women. With the finale of Project Runway mere hours away, here’s a highly unreliable, knee-jerk handicapping of the four designers left.
Our incredibly unscientific odds-making methods include weighing the snippets of finished outfits and works-in-progress that we saw in last week’s episode; combing through the photo galleries of Laura, Michael, Jeffrey, and Uli’s respective runway shows; and using our finely honed psychic abilities to read Michael Kors’s mind. (Oh, he’s not going to send us any dresses, but he does like your hair like that. So good job, you).
So what odds are we giving?
cultural capital
Moby Goes Raw!
The invitation to last night’s Hennessy shindig at Capitale listed the ubiquitous Moby as one of the “confirmed celebrities.” This was odd, because although Moby might be ubiquitous at Manhattan events, he is not actually omnipresent — and he was in fact ten blocks away, rocking out in the dingy confines of Tonic.
Moby, you ask? Rocking out? Indeed. Perhaps it was the critical yawning that greeted Hotel, his ultraslick double album that sounded like it was commissioned for hotel lobbies. Maybe it was something else. But the fact remains that Mr. Melville, the world’s leading purveyor of feathery melodic techno, has been stealthily refashioning himself into a guitar-wielding post-punk front man. And that persona was on full display last night.
the sports section
Seeking the Mets’ A-Rod
If you’ve lost track of where we are in the playoffs, this is the part where the Mets lose — as they did last night in St. Louis, 4-2 — because they don’t have any pitchers. So let’s fast-forward directly to the scapegoating. Word on the street suggests that we’re going to need an A-Rod soon — by which we mean, of course, not another MVP third-baseman but a mildly underachieving great player on whom we can beat out all of our repressed collective aggression. And, fortunately for Schadenfreude connoisseurs, a possible successor has already stepped up: Mets third-baseman David Wright.
the morning line
Like Candy From a Little Leaguer
• Yesterday we told you that Queens assemblyman Bruce McLaughlin was about to surrender on some corruption charges. That was, it turns out, an understatement. The Feds cuffed McLaughlin for stealing a cool $2.2 million in awesome ways and from awesome sources — including Little League teams. [NYDN]
• A report by the state comptroller (yes, our chauffeurless pal Alan Hevesi) says Wall Streeters earn an average of $289,664 — more than five times the city’s average. Even more spectacular, the financial industry’s pay rates grow faster — a shocking 36 percent over the last two years. Of course, someone has to pay for bottle service. [NYP]
• The battle is on for the title of the 300 millionth American (Manhattan’s splendidly named Zoë Emille Hudson is but one contender). The Times raises a great and uncharacteristically naughty point: Why does everyone assume that yesterday’s arrival was born yesterday? And not, say, smuggled across the border? [NYT]
• LIRR is shifting 2,000 feet of track to fix the dangerous gap between the train and the platform at Shea and plans to do the same at other stations. Each year about 60 people fall in; we recall that last month one such victim was a former state senator. Coincidence? [amNY]
• And the Village Voice’s “Best of NYC” issue is out, complete with the ailing weekly’s trademark mix of picks offbeat (Best Aroma Inside an ATM), earnest (Best Bus), and unfortunate (Best Performance Art Space for Dinner and a Movie goes to Monkeytown, which announced its closing weeks ago). [VV]
intel
300 Millionth American Born in New York! (Except Not Necessarily)The Census Bureau, as you no doubt read, announced that the nation’s population would officially hit 300 million at 7:46 this morning. It’s an exciting milestone for the country, no doubt, but it became ever more exciting for us as New Yorkers when a press release arrived with word the magic 300 millionth had been born right here in New York. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center — and, boy, wasn’t life easier back when it was just Columbia Presbyterian? — scheduled a news conference this afternoon to introduce this 300 millionth baby, Zoë Emille Hudson, delivered on the Upper East Side. We wondered how Presbyterian got so lucky to get this milestone baby, so we called up the PR contact listed on the press release to ask. A few hours later, someone called back.
Daily Intel: So how do you know you have the 300 millionth?
Hospital flack: Of course we don’t know. We just know we had a baby born at 7:46, and that was the time the census had set for the 300 millionth American.
Daily Intel: So was it all a PR event?
Hospital flack: I know that Elmhurst Hospital did something today. I heard Maimonides did something. So that’s three in the New York area that all had babies at 7:46. We got some national coverage. CNN was here, ABC evening news was here. I know Good Morning America was going to go down and do something in Atlanta. So there’s got to be places all over that had their babies and did stories locally.
Daily Intel: You know, the the Times article today said demographers think the 300 millionth probably happened months ago. Do you have a rival candidate?
Hospital flack: No clue.