Things to Be Thankful For: Tourists in Midtown

cityfile · 06/02/09 01:22PM

And you thought Manhattan's retail market was struggling. Fifth Avenue in the 50s is doing just fine thanks to tourists with foreign currency to blow on discounted American goods. The former Brooks Brothers store at 666 Fifth Avenue is now up for grabs and five major chains are currently vying to take over the space (which costs $30 million a year to rent): Uniqlo, Topshop, Zara, Century 21, and Forever 21. So instead of sneering at the next camera-toting German couple who bumps into you on Fifth, thank them for their patronage and move along, okay? [NYP]

The Battle Royale Over Japonais

cityfile · 06/02/09 12:53PM

The big-box Japanese fusion restaurant Japonais currently has three locations around the country—Chicago, Las Vegas, and on East 18th Street in New York. One restaurant that is not part of the chain: the Japonais allegedly located in Westbury, Long Island. But if Roy Tuccillo, the owner of the new Long Island outpost gets his way, the three mega-restaurants around the U.S. will have to come up with a new name in the near future.

Labor Relations Expert Mickey Kaus on GM

Pareene · 06/02/09 12:25PM

On Friday, noted blogger Mickey Kaus decried the Obama administration's attempts to prolong the inevitable death of shitty car company GM. No one even wants their depressing cars, he noted! On Sunday, it's the fault of "unskilled workers making $28 an hour who have bankrupted their employers."

Floyd Abrams' Spurious First Amendment Excuse for S&P

John Cook · 06/02/09 11:50AM

Floyd Abrams is a lion and the First Amendment is his precious cub. If you come near it, he will maul you. Which is usually a good thing, but now he's shilling for the great unsung villains of the economic collapse: credit rating agencies. He thinks they have rights!

New York Rich Kids' Reality Show to Make the Case for Being Old and Poor

Richard Lawson · 06/02/09 11:13AM

Growing up in New York and turning out to be a complete dickwad is a hallowed city tradition. Teen fictions like Gossip Girl have shed some fake-ish light on the plight/privilege, but now a reality series (on Bravo, of course) is poised to blow the story wide open.

Conan's Debut, Salinger's Suit, Paris's New Show

cityfile · 06/02/09 11:13AM

• Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show debuted last night. The reviews were mixed, although he did very well in the ratings, not surprisingly. [Variety, THR]
• Playboy Enterprises named Scott Flanders as its CEO yesterday. [NYP]
• Lawyers for author J.D. Salinger have filed suit against an author who is publishing a book billed as a sequel to The Catcher in the Rye. [NYT]
• Five magazines—Popular Photography, Flying, Boating, Sound & Vision and American Photo—have been sold to Bonnier Corp. by Hachette. [Crain's]
• Paris Hilton and producer Michael Hirschorn have teamed up to bring a version of Paris Hilton's My New BFF to Dubai. Yes, Dubai. No joke. [Variety]

Spencer on Quitting I'm a Celebrity...: 'I'm Not a Reality Star. I'm on The Hills.'

Richard Lawson · 06/02/09 10:35AM

Well, that didn't go well at all. One episode and several crying jags/smacking-water-bottles-out-of-Frangela's-hands later, Heidi and Spencer from The Hills have quit the disastrous reality series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Outta Here!. Mostly because it's "not a nice show." Plus Heidi got bug bites.

The Baby Daddy Diet

cityfile · 06/02/09 10:19AM

"A British research firm is reporting that the average weight gained during pregnancy is 14 pounds—and that's by the babies' fathers." The men involved in the study reported they added two inches, on average, to their waistlines and a quarter indicated that they gained the weight out of a "desire to make their partner feel better about her own weight gain." And yet only 30 percent joined their partner in a diet after the baby arrived. Typical. [NYT]