Speaking of idiotic uproars over cartoons, at colleges: The guy who drew the Danish Muhammad cartoon that set off worldwide riots is coming to Yale—the provincial little school whose University Press allows religious psychos to dictate what it publishes.

Olivia Palermo holding hands with boyfriend Johannes Huebl in the West Village ... Liev Schreiber carrying son Sasha on his shoulders downtown ... Andrew McCarthy on the 86th Street crosstown bus ... Hilary Duff shooting scenes for Gossip Girl with Penn Badgley and Jessica Szhor in Chelsea ... Matthew Broderick walking son James to school in the Village ... Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard eating lunch outside at Cafe Gitane on Mott Street ... Matt Damon walking to the set of The Adjustment Bureau ... Wyclef Jean standing outside Vento Trattoria on Hudson Street ... Vanessa Williams and Michael Urie shooting scenes for Ugly Betty ... and Naomi Watts leaving the Schoenfeld Theatre.

[Some ladies on skates threaten to beat the shit out of Quentin Tarantino for wearing a NSFW blazer to the Whip It premiere in L.A. last night. Image via Getty]

Mob princess Victoria Gotti ran into a bit of financial trouble a few months ago and almost lost control of her gaudy mansion on Long Island, as you may recall. We're guessing it was the stack of bills piling up on her white marble coffee table that led her to sign a deal earlier this year to pen a book about her, uh, rather interesting life, especially since she'd backed out of a deal to write a similar "tell-all memoir" a couple of years earlier in order "protect" her family's "reputation." But the financial crisis changed all that and Gotti's book, This Family of Mine, arrived in bookstores this week.

Tar magazine was an experiment to answer the timeless question: If you put some celebrities' kids together with a bunch of random art world names, will you make a super successful magazine? No, you won't. Live and learn.

What is our billionaire Mayor-for-life up to, today? Oh, he has some great ideas for parking! He will make it so easy to park in New York, if you just give him one more term. Parking will be his legacy.

Usually we bitch about stars doing too many drugs, but this one is battling serious depression and isn't getting the pills she needs. If only there were a pill to cure bad fashion sense. There's one star who needs it!

Heir to the New York Times throne A "To the Muthafuckin G" Sulzberger, The Younger, has been sent out into a virtual urban war zone! People are being shot (with BBs) all over Alphabet City. To the projects, AG!

Were you aware that Bob Dylan is releasing a Christmas album next month? The story gets even stranger today. It seems Dylan has now inked a deal with the America's most troubled financial institution to help market it:

Today is the annual "State of the Times" meeting for NYT employees. Send us details.

• Andrei Vavilov has officially exited the Plaza. The Russian financier, who sued the Plaza last year to get out of buying a $53.5 million penthouse spread—and ended up paying $11 million for a smaller apartment as part of a legal settlement—has taken a loss on the sale. Vavilov sold the apartment to an heir to the Goya Foods fortune for $8.4 million. [NYO]
• Investor Paul Cejas has dropped the price of his apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue, five months after he listed it for $18.5 million. The fifth-floor co-op is now on the market for $16.5 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• Leona Helmsley's former Greenwich mansion has gotten another price chop. The 40-acre estate known as Dunnellen Hall is now $60 million, which is a whole lot less than its original listing price of $125 million. [Luxist, DO&A]
• Brandon Fradd, founder of the hedge fund Apollo Medical Partners, has sold his apartment at 68 Jane Street. The three-bedroom that Fradd listed for $4.45 million back in February sold for $3.7 million. [Cityfile]

Queens' very own Fran Drescher turns 52 today. Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard is turning 34. Jenna Elfman is 38. Monica Bellucci is turning 45. Phish's Trey Anastasio turns 45. Elie Wiesel, the Nobel-winning author and Holocaust survivor, is 81. PR veteran Bobby Zarem is turning 73. Money manager Marty Whitman turns 85. Hedge fund manager Israel Englander is 61. Actor Eric Stoltz is 48. Lacey Chabert (Party of Five, Mean Girls) is 27. And former professional tennis player, Martina Hingis, turns 29 today.

Only about three people turned up to vote yesterday, but New Yorkers did pick Democratic nominees for public advocate and comptroller (both of whom are virtually guaranteed to win the general election come November): Bill de Blasio won the race for public advocate; and John Liu is the nominee for comptroller. [NYT]

• Things are heating up between Justin Timberlake and Rihanna. "Hot grinding sessions," "steamy private after-parties," "impromptu lap dances," and non-stop texting sessions have all been on the agenda in recent days, at least if you're buying what the Star's "sources" are selling. [Star]
• Madonna will do anything for the young Brazilian man in her life, Jesus Luz. And if that means taking him to the downtown gay bar Easternbloc so he can "get some DJ experience in her old hood," well, then so be it. [P6]
• Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman's play, A Steady Rain, has set a record for the "highest weekly sales of a non-musical play." We're guessing their good looks, not just their acting talent, may have something to do with that. [Reuters]

A U.S. envoy held unpublicized meetings with Cuban leaders. It's obviously socialism, not overdue diplomacy.

Some ignorant folk don't think "public speaker" Sarah Palin deserves her outlandishly steep paycheck. Eddie Furlong's hitting the coke pipe. And Penelope Cruz enjoys kissing both Charlize Theron and Scarlett Johansson. It's your Wednesday morning gossip roundup!

The government has a lot going on right now, but that doesn't mean it's too busy for matters of the heart. That's why one of its virtual offspring set up a scheme to get you a ring, or die trying.

Yeesh! Former singer and current train wreck Amy Winehouse recently spent a screechy, ear-splitting night rapping. It's on video. And it's just awful.

Messaging has always been important in war time. It can also be deadly. For example, a young Afghanistan girl was killed when a box of Royal Air Force leaflets fell from the sky and struck her. Awful. [Times Online]

To increasingly impoverished Main Street, U.S.A., Britney Spears recently spent $3,000 on candy. Riot!