Schumer Takes On Fee-Happy AirlinesThe senator is trying to get the Treasury Department to close a tax loophole that makes the fees especially profitable.
Richman Lambastes Landmarc; Has Sietsema Lost His Mind?Robert Sietsema reviews what might be the most un-Sietsema-like place imaginable, a twee Williamsburg bistro called Juliette. “The snails in anise butter are fab, and so is the whole steamed artichoke flaunting a festive champagne vinaigrette.” Okay, call the FBI. The real Robert Sietsema has obviously been kidnapped. [VV]
“Think too much and you’ll find the place hard to like”: Alan Richman sees the new Landmarc for what it is – a stark, expensive, underachieving restaurant with few niceties of service or cooking – but still manages to find something nice to say about the steaks. [Bloomberg]
Related: Will Landmarc’s Downtown Cool Play Alongside Its Ritzy New Neighbors? [Grub Street]
Frank Bruni had a high old time at Resto, so much so that he gave the place a shocking two stars. Expect all future reviews to react to this hyperbole by taking pains to note the place’s shortcomings.[NYT]
Related: Brussels Sprout [NYM]
party lines
At Gen Art Fashion Show, New Stars Are Born (and Old Stars Confess What They Wear at Home)
Long before there was Project Runway there was Gen Art, which has been scouting and showcasing new talent in art and fashion for nearly fifteen years. Gen Art’s ninth annual International Design Awards and Runway Show was at Hammerstein Ballroom last night, and it featured young talent you’ll likely see at the Bryant Park tents in a year or two. (Gen Art has nurtured famous stitchers like Zac Posen, Rebecca Taylor, and Vena Cava.) The names to watch out for from last night’s show? We have no idea, but Kim Friday, the nice WWD editor we were sitting next to, suggests these: ardistia, T-County, Julianna Bass, and especially the design collective Form, which everyone was buzzing about. We, meanwhile, hunted down the more familiar names.
It’s Fleet Week
One problem with announcing Fleet Week is that it’s nearly impossible to say “Welcome, sailors” without sounding at least a bit like Mae West. So far today, only a New York Sun editorial made it work, by going off on a ridiculous tangent about Iraq and how, despite “a variety of views about the war,” we’re not going to call the guests babykillers. (Um, yes. Agreed.) Well, the boysships are coming in right about now. Starting tomorrow, there’ll be the usual assortment of slightly quaint official events (a Navy band at the Times Square recruitment station! Camouflage face-painting in Riverside Park!) and the less official, though no less sanctified, nighttime revelry. Mostly, though, we were intrigued by the bizarre names of the ships set to arrive here, which just reminded us how little we know of the naval life. On parade today will be the USS Wasp, the USS Winston Churchill (we hope the Royal Navy has an HMS Dwight Eisenhower), and the USS Hue City. We hope that last one gets along with the USS Wasp.
Navy Week Events Schedule [PDF]
Welcome, Sailors [NYS]
Mediavore
Jay-Z Now Has 100 Problems; Beef Prices Through the RoofJay-Z now has 100 problems: He’s being sued by the staff of the 40/40 Club for withholding tips and paying less than the minimum wage. [NYP]
Beef prices are getting higher, and the supply of the best stuff getting shorter. Guess what that means for your next steakhouse bill. [NYT]
There is a slew of new restaurants opening in the Hamptons, although none are what you would call world-shaking. [Newsday]
gossipmonger
Paul Wolfowitz, Meet KarmaPaul Wolfowitz and his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, broke up. Harvey Weinstein and Luc Besson argued over Weinstein’s treatment of Besson’s film. AA member Lindsay Lohan is having a vodka company sponsor her 21st-birthday party. Gwyneth Paltrow covered her daughter’s head with a black veil to ward off paparazzi. Kevin Spacey snapped at an audience member whose cell phone went off during a play. Tom Ford and Anderson Cooper had lunch at the Four Seasons. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is giving Danny Glover $18 million to make a movie about Haiti, and Haitians aren’t happy. Britney Spears was jeered at an impromptu performance at a Miami club. Paris Hilton was photographed at her local bookseller purchasing a Bible and self-help book The Power of Now. Oprah’s dad’s book is now on hold.
Takin’ Care of Business
We can’t decide if this dude — photographed by dedicated Daily Intel reader Simon Curtis last night at Broadway and West 55th Street — is actually, really, legitimately working from his car (which would be kind of cool), making some sort of statement on America’s automobile culture or the high rents in midtown Manhattan (which would be less cool but still sort of interesting), or simply engaging in a PR stunt (in which case we’ve been suckered). It was a nice night for it, at least.
[Snap a Photo Op–worthy shot? Send it to us at [email protected].]
party lines
Busy Tim Gunn Moves, Guides, Films
After sixteen years in his West Village apartment, Project Runway host Tim Gunn finally found time to move this weekend to his new Chelsea digs. He’d rescheduled the move four times to make it “as stress-free as possible” between filming the first two episodes of his new show, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, based on his book of the same name. “I’d say I’m not a fashion Svengali,” Gunn told us at Project Ruffway the other night of his role on the show. “I’m not going to throw clothes at you and say, ‘If you wear these, all of your fashion woes will be fixed.’ I’m much more of a fashion therapist.” While Gunn films Project in June, producers will look at “tons and tons” of tape for the first two episodes and figure out how to structure the show. “When we go back and do it in July, it should be smoother and better worked out,” said Gunn, who’s taping episode two this week. It’s doubtful he’ll have time soon to install shelves for his 75 boxes of books he moved, but he plans to unpack everything himself, rejecting the idea of a personal assistant. “I couldn’t stand it,” he said. “I’ll wash my own underwear, thank you.” —Amy Odell
the morning line
Purge?
• The Times spots an interesting pattern in the turnover pattern at a Brooklyn community board: Each of the five members tossed out this week by Borough President Marty Markowitz was a vocal opponent of Atlantic Yards. [NYT]
• A fire broke out at a stable in Chestnut Ridge, about 30 miles north of the city, killing two horses and eight ponies. Yes, eight dead ponies. Good morning to you too. [amNY]
• Closing arguments have sounded in the Braunstein case, which went to the jury last night. The defense memorably insisted the hapless kidnapper’s “brain broke,” and the prosecution, well, didn’t really disagree — but still found intent in his actions. [NYDN]
• The latest restaurant added to the lawsuit over minimum-wage violations: Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club, which joins the allegedly ultrastingy B.B. King Bar and Grill (wait, are they now just targeting musician-owned places?) and others. [Metro NY]
• And five young Long Islanders had to be Tasered at Disney World; after getting caught spitting at patrons, the four teenage siblings and a friend had apparently decided on “jumping a cop” as the optimal next-step strategy. [NYP]
the morning line
Après le Deluge
• Nor’easter weekend scorecard: 400 flights canceled, 1,500 homes left without power on Long Island, and 3,200 National Guard troops dispatched to the flooded areas. [amNY]
• New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, injured in a car crash Thursday, remains under sedation at Cooper University Hospital. Corzine broke his left femur, collarbone, sternum, many ribs, and a vertebra. His prospects are good, however, after additional surgery yesterday. [NYT]
• Terrible rain and wind didn’t stop 200 anti-Ratner activists from making it to a rally protesting planned demolitions at the Atlantic Yards site. The developer is taking out several buildings to create a seven-acre, 1,600-car “temporary” parking lot. [MetroNY]
• It’s creepy enough that the New York socialite Toni Grossi-Abrams was murdered in Panama and her charred body found in a suitcase. Now the prime suspect in the case is a thrill-seeking Pennsylvania mother whose ex-husband “wouldn’t put nothing past her.” [NYDN]
• And in more Americans-abroad mischief, a Beacon School teacher is in trouble after taking his history class to Cuba for a spring-break trip. Cuba is still illegal for Americans to travel to, of course, and students face a $65,000 fine each. The principal claims, unconvincingly, that she hasn’t heard about the trip. [NYP]
grub street
Eating on a Jet Plane
Think there are no new ways left to demonstrate that you have much, much too much money? Think again. As Grub Street’s Daniel Maurer reports, there’s now a service — Jet Dining, it’s called — that will pick you up, fly you across the country in a private jet, get you a dinner reservation at the restaurant of your choice, and drop you back home in time to wake the kids up for school the next morning. And it’s only a mere $30,000 to try the new Batali restaurant in Los Angeles tomorrow night. The cost of the meal is included in the tab, but there’s no word on whether the Jet Dining can score you a last-minute table at Per Se. Curious about other trips? It’s all at Grub Street.
Got $25,000? A Learjet and a Table at Mozza Await [Grub Street]
A St. Barts Guide for First-TimersA guide to St. Barts — where to stay, how to score budget-friendly deals, and a breakdown of the beaches.
ByShayla Martin
Take a Luxe Beach Vacation in West Oahu, HawaiiKo Olina, the western-Oahu resort, boasts great weather, little traffic, and natural beauty — plus plenty of high-end seaside accommodations.
