Mayor Bloomberg's pick to be the city's new finance commissioner is David Frankel, "a former managing director at Morgan Stanley" and former "senior vice president at a unit of American International Group." Now there's a confidence builder! [NYT/Dealbook]

The Post's Keith Kelly reported today that Elle's parent company has been in discussions to turn over a stake in the magazine to Hearst. Could to be true? For what it's worth, a Hachette spokeswoman tells the Observer there's "no truth" to the report. And while we were hoping that Joe Zee might be able to shed some light on the situation, he seems to be preoccupied with whether or not he has swine flu. Only time will tell if a deal for Elle is in the works. In the meantime, though, feel free to a little prayer for Zee. Catching swine flu five weeks before Fashion Week? That could be tragic. [NYP, NYO]

Remember back in January when we posted amusing little ringtones of Vogue's Anna Wintour and André Leon Talley? It was a resounding success, we must admit: something like 30,000 people downloaded the clips thanks to the flurry of press that followed, including a shout-out in French Vogue. Well, one of those people must have been R.J. Cutler, the director of The September Issue, the documentary about Vogue opening next month. Because as part of the promotional campaign for the movie, Cutler just released ringtones of—you guessed it—Anna Wintour and André Leon Talley.

It's been a rough few weeks for Goldman Sachs as critics have assailed the firm over its massive profits, the role it may have played in creating the current economic mess and, last but not least, the firm's decision to stand by silently as the Bronx's cookie industry is decimated. How could it possibly get any worse? Having child molesters on the payroll, for one thing:

Mischa Barton arriving at JFK, and walking into the Mercer Kitchen in SoHo a few hours later ... Emile Hirsch getting out of an SUV in Times Square ... Leighton Meester walking to the Gossip Girl set in Central Park ... Katy Perry going shopping in the meatpacking district ... Ashley Tisdale arriving at JFK with her dog in tow ... Hugh Jackman walking with his kids Oscar and Ava in the West Village ... Drew Barrymore and Christina Applegate shooting scenes for Going the Distance ... Russell Brand getting out of a taxi in the meatpacking district ... and Rihanna going to dinner at Cipriani Wall Street.

Lou Dobbs, CNN's resident immigrant-hating xenophobe, has provoked a good deal of controversy in recent days for indulging those wacko conspiracy theorists who seem to believe that Barack Obama was not actually born in the United States, but instead came into this word at a fanatical madrassa in Indonesia or wherever. But is President Obama the black man that Dobbs should be most concerned about these days? We think not.

Interested in trading New York City for, say, Paris, but don't have the cash to buy a plane ticket? No problem! Pretend you're homeless and the City of New York will gladly pay for it:

• Arlene Farkas, the ex-wife of real estate heir Bruce Farkas, has dropped the price of her 14-room duplex at the River House, which she first put on the market in November for $15 million after a state appeals court turned down her ex-husband's appeal to retain ownership of the apartment. The co-op is now listed for $13.5 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• The apartment where Josh Hartnett had been living until recently is up for sale (or rent). The 2,200-square-foot pad at 237 Lafayette Street, which is owned by music execs James Dowdall and Rose Noone, is available for $2.1 million. Or you can rent it for $7,995 a month. [NYO, Citi Habitats]

Project Runway host and all-around fashion guru Tim Gunn turns 56 today. Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley is turning 51. Publishing heiress Anne Hearst is 54. ABC News president David Westin is turning 57. Artist Jenny Holzer is 59. Choreographer Paul Taylor turns 79. IBM chairman Sam Palmisano is turning 58. Hotel owner Sam Chang turns 49. Patti Scialfa, the singer, songwriter, and wife of Bruce Springsteen, is 56. Filmmaker Ken Burns is turning 56, too. Actor Josh Radnor turns 35. Stephen Dorff is 36. And Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Gualtieri on HBO's the Sopranos, celebrates his 67th birthday today.

• The love affair that the media once had with Megan Fox is clearly waning. Now that she's promoted the Transformers movie in every possible venue on the planet, a bunch of editors have picked Aug. 4 as "Megan Fox media blackout day." [NYDN]
• Investigators looking into Michael Jackson's untimely death searched Dr. Conrad Murray's house yesterday and left with cell phones and a hard drive. [People]
• Bar Refaeli was seen getting hot and heavy with her new boyfriend, Brazilian playboy Ricardo Mansur, in St. Tropez. [P6]
• Hulk Hogan and his wife have (finally!) reached a settlement in their divorce case. He'll get to keep his collection of bandanas; the couple's collection of blonde hair dye will be divided between the two sides. [Us]

How long as Bernie Madoff been in a North Carolina prison now? A couple of weeks? Well, it sounds like he's settling in nicely. According to the lawyer who visited him behind bars today—and spent four and half hours in his company—Madoff is "buff-looking" and "seems to be working out." And you were worried he'd have trouble fitting in. [ABC News]

• Madonna's "secret weapon" to looking good, at least according to her longtime makeup artist? Her eyelids are dusted with "a mixture of white shadow and flawless, crushed rose-cut diamonds." Certainly sounds expensive! [SW]
• Is Vogue about to undergo a makeover with "a new circle of models" and "an influx of fresh, young photographers"? One blogger says yes; the magazine, however, says no. [Cut]
• Rachel Roy is partnering with Estelle to create a jewelry line. [WWD]
• Coach president Reed Krakoff has confirmed plans to launch an eponymous "lifestyle brand" for the company, as rumored. [FWD]

• Is the restaurant business rebounding? That's what some are saying, even though the summer isn't typically a busy time: "Restaurants are fuller than they have been since the recession touched down last October." [Crain's]
• Da Silvano's sister spot, Scuderia, has moved on to its third chef. [GS]
• Guss' Pickles is leaving the Lower East Side for Brooklyn. [Lo-Down]
• A report from Permanent Brunch's first day in business. [Zagat]
• Commerce in the West Village is only accepting credit cards from now on, either for environmental reasons or to prevent robberies. You decide. [GS]
• The second annual NY Craft Beer Week arrives this September. [NYCBW]
• Tracy Westmoreland, owner of the late dive bar Siberia and current owner of Manhattans in Prospect Heights, is on the hunt for investors. [VV]
• FreshDirect is cutting back on cardboard boxes, just so you're aware. [NYT]
• Were you looking to dine on yak meat? You're in luck. [NYT]

Need further evidence that America's banking system could use a little fixing? Four NYU college buddies figured out that if you claim your ATM card has been stolen, you're not responsible for the charges, and the bank has 10 days to reimburse you for the loss. So the four opened account after account and pretended their cards had been stolen, over and over again, racking up about half a million bucks in phony refunds over the course of, oh, five years or so, before the banks finally figured out that there might just be a pattern here. Not that lawyer (and chick magnet) Eric Manganelli wasn't already a bit suspicious, of course. It's never a good sign when you count Al D'Amato and Bernie Kerik as friends on Facebook. [NYDN]

Fallen publicist Ali Wise is tweeting again. But now things have taken a turn for the worse. Judging by her latest message, she seems to be taking spiritual guidance from Rabbi Yehuda Berg, the director of the cult known as the Kabbalah Centre. But, hey, you never know. Maybe she'll get lucky and her $26 investment will put an end to those "unfriendly stares and unkind glances" she's been getting. It's worth a shot! [Twitter]

• Ben Silverman didn't have much success during his two-year stint at NBC, but that didn't stop him from scoring a super-sweet deal with Barry Diller's IAC. His new venture will reportedly give him $100 million to play with. [NYP]
• Viacom, the media conglomerate controlled by batty billionaire Sumner Redstone, reported that profits plunged 32% in the second quarter. [NYT]
• Struggling McGraw-Hill reports quarterly profits dropped 22.7%. [PC]
• The Daily News and sportswriter Adam Rubin are refuting the claims of Mets management that Rubin tried to get himself a job on the team. [E&P]
• Amanda Hearst has landed a job at Hearst's Marie Claire. It's a miracle! [P6]

Given it's practically impossible to go five minutes without hearing someone talk about Twitter, Americans are probably getting sick and tired of hearing about the "revolutionary" micro-blogging service, right? Not so much. A new survey of 2,025 adults found that 69 percent didn't even know what Twitter was. [LAT]

It's been an incredibly turbulent year for the Manhattan real estate market, to say the least. Are things looking up? Is there more pain still to come? For a little insight, we interrupted a very busy Howard Lorber, the chairman and co-owner of the real estate giant Prudential Douglas Elliman and the chairman of the board of Nathan's Famous. We didn't pester Lorber with any questions about hot dogs, though. Just real estate.

A big wad of cash doesn't just enable you to go shopping. It's also a non-prescription form of Vicodin. According to a new research study, just touching money will make you feel better. "Next time you're hurting, try opening your wallet and counting your cash. Research shows that handling and thinking about money can actually lessen pain and ease the sting brought on by social rejection." And what are you supposed to do if your wallet is empty and you have no cash to fondle? That question wasn't addressed by the researchers. But "fall even further into a bottomless pit of depression" sounds about right. [NYDN, MSNBC]

You know who is really suffering these days? The investment bankers and corporate lawyers who had been accustomed to getting their action at the office during the boom years, but who have been forced to endure a dramatic downturn in workplace sex now that going to work every day is, well, more work-like: