Today we have an actor who likes to fuck with ladies before he fucks them, and an actress who really, really, like, really, wants a part that she'll never get.
Most people were pretty pleased when Andre Balazs's Standard hotel opened in the meatpacking district late last year. One person who reportedly wasn't: designer Diane von Furstenberg, who, it's said, was a little miffed that hotel guests would now be able to look out of their windows and down into her glassy penthouse apartment atop the DVF store around the corner. Balazs downplayed any reports of tension. (They'd "share views of each other," the hotelier explained.) But we can now see why she may not have been so thrilled by her new neighbor. Judging by these hi-res photos taken by a random hotel guest who uploaded them to Flickr—and didn't know what he was taking pictures of—the view isn't half bad.
• Frank Cassou—the general counsel and executive VP of NextWave Wireless who found himself in the hot seat when shares of the company plummeted and a wave of shareholder lawsuits followed—has gone into contract to sell his 18-foot-wide townhouse at 57 East 78th Street. The 4,600-square-foot manse, which he and his wife Gabrielle bought for $5.45 million in 2003, has been on the market for $15 million since February. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]
• A 2,890-square-foot penthouse at 285 Lafayette Street, which was acquired in 1999 by a trust in the names of Johnson & Johnson heirs Joyce Johnson and John Johnson III, has taken a $2 million haircut. The three-bedroom apartment, which is located next door to a larger penthouse that Ian Schrager is currently selling, is now priced at $10 million. [Cityfile, Real Deal, BHS]
Things haven't been this good since last fall! According to the U.S. Labor Department, employers "only" cut 325,000 jobs during the month of May, well below the 525,000 cuts that Wall Street analysts had been predicting and the smallest drop since September 2008. This is great news, sure—"the tide seems to be turning," says one economist—although it's not like these companies are actually hiring anyone yet. The unemployment rate climbed to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in more than 25 years. But if you're someone who has been desperately seeking a rationale for returning to the way things were before the downturn, consider this is your lucky day! [WSJ, AP]
Developer Bruce Ratner's plans to erect a $1 billion, Frank Gehry-designed Nets arena in the middle of Brooklyn isn't happening. Ratner is planning to move ahead with a new, cheaper design, one that will end up costing $200 million less. Don't expect to look as pretty, though: "Officials who have seen the design say that while it resembles Conseco Fieldhouse it also bears a likeness to an 'airplane hangar.' [NYT]
Suze Orman turns 58 today. Billionaire financier Pete Peterson is turning 83. Teen Vogue editor Amy Astley is 42. Post columnist Andrea Peyser is turning 50. Journalist Bill Moyers is 75. Mark Wahlberg is turning 38. Pete Wentz is 30. Author Chuck Klosterman is 37. Comedian Jeff Garlin is 46. Laurie Anderson, the musician and wife of Lou Reed, is 62. Actor Ron Livingston is turning 42. Art advisor Kim Heirston turns 46. Housing Works president Charles King is 50. Kristin Gore, the author and daughter of Al Gore, turns 32. Movie producer Kathleen Kennedy is 56. And Kenny G celebrates his 53rd birthday today. Weekend birthdays below:
• Madonna's backup dancers haven't been making friends at the Bryant Park Hotel. Reports a staffer: "They are presumptuous and cheap. Nearly every one of them have stiffed their bellman and servers, and what's worse is they have tons of stuff." [P6]
• The situations continues to deteriorate for Lindsay Lohan: She's rumored to be pawning jewelry to pay the bills. [Star via Popcrunch]
• Britney intends to "drop by Buckingham Palace" and say hi to the Queen when she's in London, which is awfully generous of her, isn't it? [Mirror]
• The circumstances surrounding David Carradine's death are still a little murky. Suicide? Sex-related accidental death? The investigation is still underway. [People, Us, TMZ]
Did you see Gwyneth Paltrow on the Tonight Show tonight? We just watched it and can't figure out what the hell was going on with her legs in the first segment!
The night before Barack Obama's Cairo speech, Max Blumenthal took to the streets of Jerusalem to ask young Israelis and American Jews what they thought of Obama. Blumenthal calls the results "the most shocking footage I have ever filmed."
The developer of a luxury building in Brooklyn was having difficulty selling off his condos in an economic downturn, so he's partnered with the city to turn his vacancies into homeless shelters, leaving residents who actually bought their units livid.
