• An official listing has surfaced for pharmaceutical executive Richard Ullman's duplex penthouse at 15 CPW. The 18-19th floor apartment, which was rumored to be up for sale for as much as $90 million last year and $75 million last November, can now be yours for $55 million. [NYT, PDE]
• Jeff Urwin, the former co-head of investment banking at Bear Stearns, has taken $6.75 million off the price of his townhouse at 15 East 80th Street. The 21-foot-wide house is now listed for $26 million with Corcoran's Carrie Chiang. [NYO, Corcoran]
• Peter Rockefeller, a Rockefeller heir and managing director at Berkshire Capital, and his wife Allison have picked up a duplex apartment at 130 East 67th Street for $3.5 million. That's 56 percent less than what the 10-room co-op was first listed for in June 2008. [NYT]

A-Rod turns 34 today. Billionaire investor Eddie Lampert turns 47. Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers is 32. Musician Pete Yorn is turning 35. Maya Rudolph is turning 37. Legendary TV producer Norman Lear is 87. Comedian Jerry Van Dyke turns 78. Former Olympic figure skater Peggy Fleming is turning 61. Taxi & Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus is 41. And Nick Hogan, the scandal-prone (and recently imprisoned) son of Hulk and Linda Hogan, turns 19 today.

• Poor J. Lo. She threw a big 40th birthday party for herself over the weekend and some guests actually had the nerve to show up late! [NYDN]
• It's been a rough ride for Kate Major, the former Star reporter who said she was Jon Gosselin were in love. On Saturday, Gosselin said he was single; on Sunday, the tabloids suggested Major was a former escort. So now she's supposedly planning to get revenge by writing a tell-all. [People, NYDN, NYDN]
• In other Gosselin news, he was seen buying himself $950 wingtips over the weekend, or "two pairs of shoes for each of his kids." [P6]
• Although they've been dating for months now (and haven't exactly been doing a very good job of keeping their relationship a secret), Kate Hudson and A-Rod went public with their romance on Saturday. [NYDN]

• QVC has tapped Isaac Mizrahi to host a show that's "part pitch, part reality show." The shopping network will air eight hours of "Isaac Mizrahi Live!" a month beginning in December. [WSJ]
• Rachel Roy is opening a pop-up shop in Soho in September. [NL]
• Tory Burch has sold a stake in her company to a Mexico City-based private equity firm. [NYT]
• Marc Jacobs' latest collection of t-shirts take a stand on gay marriage. "I pay my taxes, I want my RIGHTS!" is stamped on the front. [Cut]

Jon Stewart pokes fun at politicians who don't tell it like it is and fudge the truth almost every night. Now it looks like the tables have turned. Slate's Ron Rosenbaum has penned an open letter to Stewart. And he's asking the comedian to stop living a lie:

• According to Epicurious, the best burger in NYC is at DuMont's. [Epicurious]
• Mike Satsky and Brian Gefter, owners of the now-shuttered Stereo, plan to open a new spot called Provocateur in the Gansevoort Hotel this fall. [P6]
• The long-delayed, brunch-only spot Permanent Brunch opens Monday. [GS]
• A roundup of recent restaurant closings around town. [Eater]
• A roundup of where various celebs supposedly dined this week. [GS]
• That video of Gwyneth Paltrow cooking roast chicken? Until recently, she claimed she was a vegan and hadn't eaten meat in 15 years. [NYDN]

CityFile seems to think so! They ran a story saying that Jim Dolan, whose Cablevision runs Radio City Music Hall, is considering shutting down the long-running Christmas variety spectacular. But now the Rockettes have said that CityFile's got it wrong.

Earlier this week, Condé Nast announced that it had hired McKinsey & Co. to help it "rethink" how it does business and "develop new perspectives on optimizing our approach to business [and] growing revenues." Is it a coincidence that Condé's parent company filed a lawsuit against the British West Indies today?

• How's the New York Times Co. planning to lift itself out of the financial mess it's been in? Times Co. chief Janet Robinson says more cuts are on the way and the company is planning to sell off more assets. Also, there's some sort of paid membership model in the works, apparently. [WSJ, Gawker]
• Related: The paper says it will sell its stake in the Red Sox by January. [BG]
• What you missed at Walter Cronkite's funeral yesterday. [NYT, WaPo]
• Best-selling author E. Lynn Harris has died. He was 54. [NYT]
• More magazine is teaming up with Candace Bushnell on a new Web series starring 90210's Jennie Garth and Talia Balsam from Mad Men. [MW]
• After a ten-year run, today is Paula Froelich's last day at Page Six. [NYM]

Damien Hirst thrives on creating controversy. (One of his first works to garner attention was that dead shark suspended in formaldehyde, which is now part of hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen's collection.) So it's hardly a surprise that he's stirring the pot once again. But this time Lance Armstrong gets to go along for the ride.

There's a reason why you haven't heard much about the Brooke Astor trial in recent weeks, according to the New York Times' A.G. Sulzberger: "[T]he parade of celebrity witnesses has come and gone, and as the testimony has narrowed to the observations of her hired help, the gallery has mostly thinned out to the usual suspects: reporters, lawyers and court employees." Celebrity witnesses may have left the building, but celebrity newspaper reporters are still on the scene, apparently. [NYT]

You have to feel a little sympathy for Diana Taylor today. As one of three new boardmembers of beleaguered Citigroup, the former banking regulator will now have to spend part of her days with Citi chief Vikram Pandit and then her evenings curled up in bed with Michael Bloomberg. [NYT/Dealbook]

Idle-gate appears to have reached its conclusion. Earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg was totally busted for allowing the SUVs that ferry him around town to idle for hours while waiting for him. Now comes word the mayor has informed his staff that he plans to set a better example in the future. Let's hope so! [NYDN, previously]

On July 24, 2009, Cityfile published an article entitled "Jim Dolan To Kill Christmas In July?" which contained speculation on the fate of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes. On July 27, 2009, Cablevision, Madison Square Garden, and Cablevision chief executive James Dolan filed a defamation lawsuit against Cityfile in New York State Supreme Court. We now realize that we could have done more to ensure that all relevant facts were included in the article. We have retracted the article and removed it from our website, and regret any negative and/or mistaken impressions that resulted from its publication. Cityfile and Madison Square Garden have since resolved all legal claims. And like all New Yorkers we're extremely pleased to hear that the legendary show will remain an institution in this city for many years to come.

• Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman has paid $2.65 million for a 2,681-square-foot apartment on the second floor of 79 East 2nd Street. The best part: He'll be a ten minute walk from bandmate Jonny Buckland, who picked up an Astor Place condo last November. [Cityfile]
• Artist Richard Prince has paid $11.5 million for a townhouse located at 57 East 78th Street. The six-bedroom manse had been listed for $15 million earlier this year. [NYO]
• Mediabistro founder Laurel Touby has paid $3.905 million for a 4,100-square-foot penthouse at 43 East 19th Street. [NYO]

Jerry Oppenheimer, the author famous for his gossipy, unauthorized biographies of people Anna Wintour (excellent), Martha Stewart (also good) and Jerry Seinfeld (boring), is publishing a new book about Bernie Madoff. Some of it sounds pretty juicy: Oppenheimer delves into possible ties between Madoff and members of the Mob, his serial unfaithfulness to wife Ruthie, and the book report that he may have fudged in a high school English class. Then again, some of it sounds like total nonsense. Like Oppenheimer's claim that Madoff didn't know how to tell time:

Cityfile has partnered with Dr. Helen Fisher to bring you the latest insight into love and romantic attraction. A renowned biological anthropologist, Dr. Fisher has conducted extensive research in the fields of human sexuality, love and marriage. She serves as Chief Scientific Advisor for the internet dating site Chemistry.com.

• This may look like a still from a new Angelina Jolie movie. But it's not. It's the real Angelina Jolie, who made her third trip to Iraq this week and also stopped off in Jordan. What's she doing? She's saving the world, don't you know that? [NYDN]
• Kate Major, the ex-Star reporter who's been seen in the company of Jon Gosselin, might be out to be famous. Unbelievable! [NYDN]
• The Jackson family is out of money. That sure was quick, huh? [NYDN]

Pervy money manager Jeffrey Epstein got out of prison yesterday, which means he can finally begin to put the last couple of years behind him and move on with his life, right? Not really. Since Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting underage prostitutes, he had to register as a sex offender yesterday, a status that will be with him for the rest of his life. (That could explain the not-so-happy look on his face in this photo.) Florida's sex offender registry helpfully allows you to sign up for alerts so you're notified if someone moves to a new location. Naturally, if Epstein ever decides to leave his Palm Beach mansion and return home to his 45,000-square-foot, eight-story townhouse on East 71st Street, we'll be sure to notify you immediately. Epstein's full "predator flyer" is below.

• It's official: designer Esteban Cortazar and Emanuel Ungaro are parting ways. [WWD]
• The 20 biggest scandals in fashionland. [Pipeline]
• Amy Winehouse is planning to launch a perfume? Really? Please say this isn't so. [Grazia]
• What t-shirt you decide to wear in the Hamptons makes all the difference, apparently. [NYT]
• Manhattan is far thinner than the rest of the country. Simon Doonan (5-foot-4, 135 lbs.) on what it's like to travel to other parts of the country: "I'm appalled by people my age who can't get through the airport without a wheelchair." [NYT]