If you haven't had a chance to take the full tour of Bernie Madoff's East 64th Street penthouse with U.S. Marshall Roland Ubaldo as your official guide, you can do so below.
The Way We Live Now: Waving goodbye to Mr. Nice Guy. In the good old days, we were free to shoplift without being beaten to death, and to live in the suburbs without being eaten by coyotes. No more.
Thanks to the relentless appeal of cheap and formulaic reality shows, no one wants to make expensive high quality scripted dramas anymore, so goes the frequent lament. Hold on, though, what's this? Candace Bushnell strikes again with The Broadroom (d'you see what they did there?), about, you guessed it, a group of wisecracking chicks in fashionable outfits.
Goldman Sachs partners were supposed to be keeping low profiles these days, as per instructions from the bank's CEO, Lloyd Blankfein. And Lord knows anyone related to NYC Prep's PC Peterson—even by marriage—would be well advised to avoid the limelight for a spell. But that didn't stop Richard Kimball Jr., a Goldman partner and the ex-husband of Manny author Holly Peterson, from hosting a series of "rowdy" parties in Southampton over the summer, at least one of which featuring topless women:
Are you Trad? Totally tradded? Traddin' it up? Doesn't the very term "Trad" sound like the first name of some prep school prick? Trad Rockefeller III, the inventor of the "Look at my blazer" look? It's all the rage!
It might have tasted like cherry Chap Stick, but these ladies didn't like kissing a girl, so now they're just friends. Not kissing anytime soon are two rival costars and a lonely celeb. Pucker up, everyone!
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban holding hands outside their apartment building ... Lindsay Lohan arriving at JFK, checking in to her hotel, and later shopping with her mom Dina in SoHo ... Martha Stewart talking on her phone outside Bergdorf Goodman ... AnnaLynne McCord getting out of an SUV in front of MTV Studios in Times Square ... Alex Rodriguez leaving a restaurant with friends ... Regis Philbin crossing the street on the Upper West Side ... Taylor Momsen leaving a hotel with a friend ... Gavin Rossdale watching Roger Federer play at the US Open ... Chris Robinson walking with girlfriend Allison Bridges in SoHo ... Taraji P. Henson getting in an SUV outside her hotel in Midtown ... Chris Noth standing on the Sex and the City set in the West Village ... and Miranda Kerr leaving her hotel downtown.
• Tiki Barber and his wife Ginny have finally closed on the purchase of a 22nd-floor apartment at the Miraval at 515 East 72nd Street, nearly two years after word first spread that they were buying the 3,500-square-foot pad. The Barbers paid $4.8 million for the new apartment, according to city property records published late last week. [Cityfile]
• Porn magnate Carl Ruderman has put his two 43rd-floor apartments at 200 East 65th Street on the market for $13.25 million. [NYO, BHS]
• Embattled real estate investor Aharon Vaknin has put his brownstone at 9 West 70th Street on the market. The six-story home, which is divided into a triplex and five rental units, is listed for $12 million. [NYO, Vandenberg]
Chef and Food Network fixture Mario Batali turns 48 today. Adam Sandler is turning 43. Hugh Grant is 49. Michelle Williams is turning 29. Retired football great Joe Theismann is 60. Singer Michael Bublé is turning 34. Actor Tom Wopat is 58. And '90s model Rachel Hunter celebrates her 40th birthday today.
• Are Kate Hudson and Alex Rodriguez engaged? The actress was spotted wearing a big diamond on her ring finger this week, which means "either A-Rod is making it official, or Ms. Hudson made some very careless jewelry choices." [NYDN]
• It's the battle of the Bravo reality TV stars on Twitter: Bethenny Frankel says Rachel Zoe is "self-important." Zoe claims Frankel is "insane" and "desperate for attention." Of course, you may find it hard to take sides here, since both of them seem to be making perfectly valid points about one another. [NYDN, Jezebel]
• Poor Gwyneth Paltrow suffered a little wardrobe malfunction while going through security at the Barcelona airport yesterday. [Sun]
Remember the Brooke Astor trial? As soon as the posh witnesses stopped turning up, the affair seemed to fade a bit from public view, but the case continues and the court is now back in session after a two-week vacation. But the end may now be near: Lawyers for Anthony Marshall have indicated that they may rest their case in the next few days—and they may not even bother calling a single witness. Will jurors, who have been forced to sit through the testimony of hundreds of witnesses over the past 18 weeks, reward Marshall's speedy defense with an acquittal? Guess we'll find out sooner rather than later. [NYDN]
Gwyneth needs a better bra. The gays need not beg to kiss George Clooney. And Megan Fox knows she doesn't need a sex tape. All that and more in your Wednesday morning Gossip Roundup!
If you thought Mark Sanford's love letters were embarrassing, check out this footage of Republican CA. Assemblyman Michael D. Duvall discussing his sexual trysts with a lobbyist. He actually uses the word "dripping." It's sick.
