• John Legend has picked up a new apartment in the East Village. The Grammy-winning singer—who is still looking to unload his former pad on East 3rd Street—has reportedly gone into contract to buy a one-bedroom condo at 52 East 4th Street, where Moby owns an apartment, too. [WSJ]
• SNL's Kristen Wiig has paid $1.5 million for a director Alan Taylor's SoHo apartment. The loft at 476 Broadway had been listed for $1.75 million. [NYO]
• Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore suffered a big scare when the plane they were on was forced to make an emergency landing in Las Vegas shortly after take-off. Fortunately, neither actor was injured and they could return to tweeting within minutes of the incident. [People]
• Leonardo DiCaprio appears to be moving on now that he's no longer with Bar Refaeli: He was seen with SI model Anne Vyalitsyna in Ibiza. [P6]
• Bethenny Frankel was seen in the bathroom of a restaurant with a pregnancy test, so it appears she's looking to reproduce. You've been warned. [P6]
• The September 2009 issue of Vogue looks nothing like the issue from 2007, the making of which is detailed in R.J. Cutler's new period picture, The September Issue. Take a sec to let the image of the 840-page behemoth from two years ago—the largest issue ever—burn itself into your memory. Given the way things are going, you may not see anything like it ever again. [NYT]
• Allen & Delancey has filed for bankruptcy, but will remain open. [Eater, GS]
• A peek inside the new Oceana opening near Rockefeller Center. [Eater]
• Le Souk is reopening on Ave B and now plans to open a second location. [GS]
• New NYT dining critic Sam Sifton on having his photo all over the web: "I look different now... I'm using a comb for the first time since the 1990s." [WWD]
• Which chain has better coffee: Starbucks, Mickey D's, or Dunkin'? [Slate]
• How does Padma Lakshmi keep thin? Exercise, believe it or not. [NYT]
Last week, we pointed your attention to a story in the Post about the very unusual Jeff Koons sculpture that hedge fund mogul Richard Perry and his wife Lisa put out on their penthouse terrace. We mentioned that Vogue had published a set of photos inside the Perry pad a few years ago. Now the magazine tells us they've posted the entire shoot from back in 2002 on the web. Do enjoy. [Vogue]
Good news, Harvard graduates! Your esteemed university has handed over its vaunted name to Wearwolf Group, a garment maker that plans to "take advantage of a taste for seersucker, khakis, loafers and other 'preppy' attire" with a line of clothing called "Harvard Yard." According to Wearwolf, which has done work for other prestigious brands in the past like Jos. A. Bank, trousers will start at $195, shirts will retail for $160 and up, and sportcoats will go for $495, and they will all "reflect Harvard's quality, heritage and excellence." Even better: It shouldn't be long before the university is able to begin serving hot meals to students once again. [Bloomberg via Dealbreaker]
Who's had a crappier year: fallen real estate mogul Harry Macklowe or his son-in-law, developer Kent Swig? It's looking more and more like a toss up. Not only is Swig's condo project at 25 Broad Street blowing up, and his hotel venture at 45 Broad Street now in foreclosure, but Sheffield57—the drama-plagued apartment building Swig purchased with two partners in 2005 for $418 million—was sold off at auction today. The price? $20 million. [Crain's]
A New York lawmaker has introduced a bill that would charge rich criminals $90 a day for room and board at state prisons. That means a stay at Rikers Island (left) would only cost a dollar more than a night at the Hotel Carter (right)—otherwise known as the worst hotel in America—where rooms are currently going for $89 a night. The extra dollar is probably well worth it. We're willing to bet that Rikers is both cleaner and safer. [Daily Finance]
• News Corp. posted a hefty loss for the most recent quarter, reporting that profits were down by 30 percent, although things would have been worse if weren't for Roger Ailes's cash machine, Fox News. In related news, Rupert Murdoch seems to think he can get people to pay for content on the Internet and plans to give it a shot over the next year. [NYT, BN, NYT, Guardian]
• Not to be outdone by Keith Olbermann's anti-Fox News rant on Monday night, Bill O'Reilly took aim at NBC's parent company, GE, on his show last night. This truce thing sure is working out beautifully, isn't it? [Gawker]
• Time Inc. is shutting down Southern Accents, a luxury lifestyle title. [NYP]
• Twitter was crippled by a big denial-of-service attack today, which you know full well if you happened to try and log into Twitter today. [CNET]
• If you don't watch Charlie Rose's self-indulgent talk show on PBS, now you can not watch it on Bloomberg TV, too. How convenient. [NYT]
• The Post's Page Six may be hiring Emily Smith, formerly Britain's Sun and Life & Style, to replace the recently-departed Paula Froelich. [Gawker]
Thanks to the economy, coffee shops around town have been growing increasingly annoyed about customers who come in and order a single cup, and then spend the next five hours hunched in front of their laptops. Now they're taking action: "In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked." So don't be surprised when you hear how the next great American novel was written by someone sitting on a stoop, mooching Wi-Fi from a unsuspecting neighbor. [WSJ]
We're deeply, deeply sorry. Early this morning, we were reminded that Beverly Hills 90210's Jennie Garth would be appearing at the TJMaxx on Sixth Avenue from 12-2 to kick off "'back-to-school season," but we completely forgot to mention it, and now the opportunity has been lost forever. That said, we promise to notify you well in advance should Tiffani-Amber Thiessen decide to make any appearances at a nearby Forever 21. Can you forgive us? We do hope so.
Annie Leibovitz has been facing serious financial problems for a number of months now. But things took a turn for the worse last week when Leibovitz was served with a suit by the financial firm that lent her $24 million earlier this year, and she now faces the grim prospect she'll eventually have to relinquish control of her real estate holdings and the rights to her archive of photographs. The big, unanswered question, though, is where, exactly, all the money went. On top of the $24 million she borrowed from Art Capital Group, she takes home an estimated $2 million-a-year salary from Condé Nast, and collects millions for her advertising work. Is she just really bad at managing her money? Or is it something else? Bloomberg News' Katya Kazakina, who suggests Leibovitz might be better off filing for bankruptcy rather than fight her creditors in court, looks into another possible money pit.
AIG has been a big disaster the last few months, hasn't it? Not if you happen to work for Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, or BlackRock, or any of the other dozen or so banks and law firms expected to rake in as much as $1 billion breaking apart the insurance giant. But at least one firm involved in the process is making it clear that they see this as a civic mission—not just a convenient way to generate fat fees. The law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell has generously offered up a 10 percent discount on its services, so it's only billing the federal government $950 an hour for legal advice. Thanks, guys! [WSJ]
The indignity! The Daily News has a list of ways you can go out and have fun without spending more $100—and the recommendations are inspired by Ruth Madoff since, "It's time for Ruth to join the rest of us in the real world." Among the suggestions: knocking back a few at Billy's Sports Bar in the Bronx and watching free movies at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City. [NYDN]
Whitney Port eating lunch at Felix on West Broadway ... Ivanka Trump talking on her cell phone ... Mary J. Blige heading into Da Silvano, and later picking up frozen yogurt in SoHo ... Ed Westwick talking on his phone ... Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos shopping in SoHo ... Jennifer Aniston leaning on a taxi on the set of The Bounty downtown ... James Franco playing a guitar on the set of Eat, Pray, Love ... Channing Tatum leaving the Gramercy Park hotel ... Hilary Duff exiting her trailer on the Gossip Girl set with rollers in her hair, and later getting a visit from boyfriend Mike Comrie ... Wynonna Judd leaving the Trump International Hotel ... and the rapper Mase chatting on a payphone.
• Julianne Moore's West Village townhouse is up for sale. Moore picked up the five-story, six-bedroom home on West 11th Street for $3.5 million in 2003. It can now be yours for $11.95 million. [NYO, Sotheby's, Curbed]
• Emeril Lagasse has closed on the purchase of developer Penny Bradley's 6,900-square-foot townhouse at 158 East 61st Street for "around" its most recent asking price of $11.5 million. Now that he's found a new place to store his pots and pans, the chef and Food Network fixture has put his condo at the Beekman Regent up for sale for $5.995 million. [NYP, BHS]
• Chris Burch, the entrepreneur and ex-husband of Tory Burch, has picked up a new Hamptons home. Burch paid "around $9 million" for the Southampton estate of disgraced Bear Stearns exec Ralph Cioffi. The property had been listed at $10.7 million when it went into contract last month. [NYP]
Sheila Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, wasn't sufficiently "glamorous" to earn herself coverage in Vogue recently. But she's making progress! Business Insider's Moe Tkacik reports Bair unveiled a new haircut and color this week when she appeared on Bloomberg TV. Maybe Anna Wintour was watching and has since reconsidered? Let's hope so. [Business Insider, previously]
Josh Schwartz, the man responsible for bringing you The OC and Gossip Girl, turns 33 today. Jim McGreevey, the man responsible for bringing New Jersey its most embarrassing political scandal—up until two weeks ago, that is—turns 52. Director M. Night Shyamalan is turning 39. Karenna Gore Schiff, the novelist daughter of Al and Tipper Gore, is turning 36. Publishing exec Jamie Raab is 56. American Express' marketing chief, John Hayes, is turning 55. Victoria's Secret model Marisa Miller is 31. Actress Melissa George is turning 33. Reality TV star Adrianne Curry is 27. Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is turning 37. And Soleil Moon Frye, who will always be Punky Brewster to you and me, celebrates her 33rd birthday today.
