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We never quite bought Keith Kelly's claim that rich guy, investment banker, Carl Icahn ally, and New York owner Bruce Wasserstein was seriously considering buying the New York Observer. (If you already owned one publication that covers media and politics and business and Manhattan society, we wondered, why would you buy a second one?) But now it's moot: Today Kelly is reporting that Wasserstein is no longer interested — if he ever was.

An Observer-alum pal tried out a theory on us the other night. It's not so much that Arthur Carter wants to sell the paper any more these days than he always has, Observer-Alum Pal theorized; it's that editor Peter Kaplan has realized that Carter is only getting older and less interested, and it might be a good idea to find a new, committed owner sooner rather than later. (OAP also insisted that Kaplan was never talking to Wasserstein but rather to some other rich guy who's in business with Wasserstein. It would have been Other Rich Guy's business, OAP said, totally unrelated to Wasserstein's publishing interests. Of course, OAP could have been entirely wrong.)

So if Kaplan is trying to find a new patron, who could it be? Who's got money to throw around and enough appreciation for the Observer's quirky, writerly wonderfulness (and, OK, enough vanity) to want the $2M/year writeoff? Kelly today considers — and rules out — such media-interested rich guys as Mort Zuckerman, Michael Steinhart, and the Weinsteins. But he doesn't consider the person we recently realized is the ideal Observer savior.

Who's got money to burn? Who likes buying things? Who has a deep appreciation for the Observer's role in New York life? Who'd hate to see it disappear? It suddenly became as obvious to us as the flaws in a malfunctioning iPod.

Observer alumna Alex Kuczynski.

Imagine that Critical Shopper column.

Bruce Loses Juice [NYP]
Earlier:
 The 'Observer' to Seek Shelter in Wasserstein's Wealthy Embrace?
Hey, So Did You Hear? Arthur Carter Wants to Sell the 'Observer'