If you have some free time this afternoon and you've always been curious about where it is that Richie Rich hails from (California, it turns out, not outer space); what his childhood years were like (football wasn't his thing, not surprisingly, but he did excel at figure skating); and what's going in personal life (he got married to his boyfriend recently inside a gingerbread house in Vienna), Richie sits down with ObsessedTV today to talk about all that and more. [ObsessedTV]

The Treasury Department has given to go-ahead to ten big banks to begin repaying the billions provided to them by U.S. taxpayers. And for what may be the first time in history, they're expressing delight at the prospect of writing checks instead of collecting them. The Treasury Department didn't release a list this morning of the ten financial institutions that made the cut. But the joyous public statements by their CEOs has helped assemble a list, which is believed to include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon, the State Street Corporation, American Express, the BB&T Corporation, Capital One, and US Bancorp. [Dealbook]

• Richard Gere and Carey Lowell have sliced $1.6 million off the asking price of their seven-bedroom farmhouse in Water Mill. Priced at $8.8 million when it first went on the market in February, the 1.2-acre estate is now listed for $7.2 million. The pricecutting isn't restricted to the Hamptons, however. Gere slashed $3 million off the price of his spread at Palazzo Chupi in 2008 before taking it off the market entirely earlier this year. [Newsday, Stribling]
• David Sidwell, who retired as Morgan Stanley's CFO at the end of 2007, has sold his 26th-floor apartment at 25 CPW for $7.65 million. [Cityfile]
• An art world power couple is bidding goodbye to the Upper West Side. Brett Gorvy, co-head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie's and Amy Gold, who is Christie's director of business development, have sold their three-bedroom apartment at 470 West End Avenue for $2.175 million. [Cityfile]

Hedge fund mogul Phil Falcone hasn't had the easiest stretch as of late. The $500 million he plunked down for a 19 percent stake in the New York Times? The value of his shares have plummeted by nearly two-thirds over the past few months as the paper has struggled to remain solvent. And his recent efforts to dominate the charity circuit haven't worked out as well as he might have liked either. Last week, in what was either a very bold act of generosity or an effort to steal the limelight, Falcone and his wife Lisa announced plans to donate $10 million to the High Line, just days before the railway-turned-park was officially unveiled to the public. Unfortunately for Phil, his sizeable check still didn't entitle him to a front-row spot at the yesterday's official ribbon-cutting ceremony. So Phil did what he had to do to insure his pair of scissors was put to use (and his $10 million didn't go to waste). Evidence of Phil's brash power move below.

Natalie Portman turns 28 today. Johnny Depp turns 46. Michael J. Fox is 48. Embattled restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani is 44. Writer/producer Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing) turns 48. Comedian Jackie Mason is 73. Crime writer Patricia Cornwell is turning 53. Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara turns 93. Screenwriter/director David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible) is turning 46. Guitar legend Les Paul is 94. And longtime basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale is celebrating his 70th today.

• The feud between Stephanie Seymour and Peter Brant has gone from bad to worse. After tussling with Brant's bodyguards last week, Seymour was issued a summons on Saturday after she "yanked the keys out of a Brant-hired security guard's car, threw them in the bushes, and then used her Range Rover to block the driveway of the couple's Greenwich estate." Just imagine what's going to happen when the two actually face one another in court. [NYP]
• Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson appear to have reunited. Enjoy it while it lasts! If history is any guide, by this time next week, the couple will have had another messy brawl, LiLo will be melting down on Twitter, and Sam will be running off to another foreign country to get away from her. [Sun, People]
• Madonna has managed to "convinced" three appeal judges in Malawi to let her appeal baby Mercy, or so says the Telegraph of London. [Telegraph]

• The Treasury is expected to announce this morning that 10 banks have been given the go-ahead to repay their Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. [BN]
• The Supreme Court put the acquisition of Chrysler by Fiat on hold yesterday pending objections from three state pension funds and consumer groups. Fiat, however, says it has no plans to abandon the deal. [WSJ, NYT, DB]
• The Obama administration appears to be backing away from plans to reduce the number of three-letter agencies that oversee U.S. financial markets. [WSJ]
• Citigroup isn't paying out big bonuses in the U.S. But that isn't the case in London, where the bank has been luring traders with fat pay packages. [DB]
• Don't expect to see former Tyco chief Dennis Kozlowski walking the streets in the near future. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal yesterday. [NYP]

• Here's a sign that people are shopping again (or else Victoria Beckham has gone on another shopping spree): Hermès says it's experiencing such "massive over-demand" for its handbags, it's been forced to set up its own crocodile breeding operation in Australia just to keep up. [Reuters via Cut]
• Esteban Cortazar appears to be parting ways with Emanuel Ungaro. It appears he plans to sue Ungaro, too. [WWD]
• Do you control a major luxury brand? Are you a fan of Chloe Sevigny? If you answered yes to both questions, give her a ring. She's willing to talk. [SF]
• A "couture" tattoo shop has opened in the Flatiron district. [W]
• The DKNY mural at Houston and Broadway is officially gone. [BB]

• Kogi, the Korean taco truck that LA residents have been buzzing about for months, opened in midtown today for an hour with Top Chef contestant Lee Anne Wong dishing out the food. Don't feel too bad if you missed out. New York should get a Kogi truck of its own by the end of the summer. [ML, GS, ML]
• A roundup of restaurants scheduled to open this week. [Eater]
• The UWS branch of Fatty Crab will start serving lunch next Monday. [GS]
• Adam Platt gives one star to Table 8 in this week's issue of New York. [NYM]
• Citysearch's guide to the best barbecue joints in NYC is online. [Citysearch]
• Have you heard about the 14-year-old chef from East Hampton who opened a catering company at 11? You will! The kid's getting a reality show. [THR]

The High Line was technically scheduled to open to the public tomorrow. But it opened today, just after this morning's official ribbon-cutting. Curbed has a set of pics of New York's newest (and most expensive) park, which, as you can see, already appears to be already attracting joggers. We'll have to hope that illegal nude sunbathing isn't far behind. The people who look out on the railway-turned-park—and who've had to cope with years of messy construction work—deserve nothing less. [Curbed]

The real estate market in hedge fund-heavy Greenwich continues to disappoint: Sales were down nearly 70 percent during the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same time period a year earlier, and the average sale price plummeted 23 percent. The good news? Greenwich-based hedge funds like Steve Cohen's SAC Capital and Paul Tudor Jones's Tudor Investment Corporation scored big gains last month as May "turned into one of the best performing months in history." Does that mean that some newly optimistic financial titan will find the cojones to pay $75 million for Leona Helmsley's former estate, which has been languishing on the market for months now? Let's hope so. It sure would be a pity if the 75-foot outdoor pool and industrial ice cream machine didn't get any use this summer. [Greenwich Time, NYT/Dealbook]

Katherine Farley, an senior managing director at the real estate giant Tishman Speyer—and the wife Tishman Speyer chief Jerry Speyer—has been named the new chairwoman of Lincoln Center. [NYT]

Just in case you were looking for further evidence that Albany is a useless, dysfunctional mess, now you have it: Five months after Democrats took control of the State Senate, it appears Republicans are back in charge after two scandal-plagued Democrats—Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens (left)—suddenly decided to cross the aisle this afternoon. Monserrate, as you may recall, is under indictment for allegedly slashing his girlfriend's face with broken glass last December. If he's eventually convicted of assault, Monserrate will lose his seat, which will mean the chamber will be evenly split between Democrats and Republicans—and will be without a tie-breaking vote—until the 2010 elections. [NYT, NYDN, NYP]

Planning a wedding can be terribly expensive, and many brides and grooms-to-be are now trimming expenses in light of the economic downturn, not surprisingly. A couple of years ago, the average cost of a wedding was $26,450; these days, it's just $19,212, according to a recent survey conducted by a market research company. Cutting back on your wedding budget has its advantages, though. Initially, you were worried it would be really rude to not invite your freshman year roommate, especially since she invited you to her wedding, not that you gave any serious thought to spending a Saturday night at a Ramada in Wichita. But now you have a perfect excuse for keeping her off the invite list. You just can't afford it! Planning a destination wedding achieves much the same effect. Since many people are now resistant to the idea of spending thousands of dollars to attend weddings in far-flung places, holding the event elsewhere will ensure that people you don't know/like will stay home, particularly if the "destination" you have in mind is a remote island in the Indian Ocean.

• Is Harvey and Bob Weinstein's film company headed for bankruptcy? That remains unclear, although the Weinstein Co's decision to hire Miller Buckfire to restructure its finances isn't a good sign, that's for sure. [NYT]
• Members of the Boston Newspaper Guild are voting today whether to accept the package of pay cuts proposed by the New York Times Co. [PC]
• Stephen Colbert is broadcasting from Iraq this week. In addition to an interview with the president, Colbert will get a military-style makeover. [NYT]
• Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by a North Korean court late last night. The Obama administration has vowed to keep up its lobbying effort. And in the meantime, employees at Current TV—where both women work—continue to keep quiet about the matter, per instructions from network management. [NYT, AP, NYT]

Kelly Bensimon won't have to serve any time for punching her former boyfriend in the face back in March. This morning she accepted a deal that will put the charges to bed (and allow her to eventually purge her record), provided she complete two days of community service and stay out of trouble. The plea puts the humiliating episode behind her, although a little bit more humilation ended up following her out of the courtroom: As reporters and photographers followed her down Centre Street, one "puzzled passerby" was overheard on her cell phone telling a friend that she'd spotted Countess LuAnn de Lesseps. Poor thing. Nevertheless, Kelly seems to be pleased with the outcome. She says "justice was served," and the ordeal even appears to have provided her with a new cause to focus her attention on:

Mayor Bloomberg cut the ribbon at the opening of the High Line this morning. It officially opens to the public tomorrow, although if you plan to pay a visit, keep in mind that access will be limited during peak hours and visitors "will flow from south to north," which means you'll need to enter the park at the Gansevoort Street access point. Oh, and keep your dog at home. They're not welcome, at least for the time being. [HighLine.org, NY1, previously]

Is Chelsea Clinton getting married this summer? Rumors that former first daughter plans to tie the knot with longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky in the near future first surfaced in late March, and although the Clinton family has steadfastly denied the reports since then, "well-connected residents" of Martha's Vineyard" now say the wedding is planned for late August at the home of Vernon Jordan, the Democratic power broker and top exec at Lazard. (Previously, it had been reported that the wedding might take place at the Martha's Vineyard home of Ted Danson.) The Clintons still maintain it's not happening, although if you have plans to be on Martha's Vineyard at the end of August—which is when the Obamas are expected to be on the island—you'd be well advised to take precautions and make alternate vacation arrangements as soon as possible. [NYM]

Reese Witherspoon shopping with Jake Gyllenhaal at Marni on Mercer Street, and later leaving lunch at Bar Pitti ... Dave Matthews picking up breakfast from Peace and Love Cafe in Tribeca ... Will Ferrell watching a game at Yankees Stadium ... Nicole Kidman leaving her building downtown ... Jeff Goldblum and Rachel McAdams filming scenes for Morning Glory ... Whitney Port shopping with a friend downtown ... Djimon Hounsou walking by himself ... Denise Richards eating dessert at Fresco on East 52nd Street ... Robert Pattinson walking downtown with actor Tom Sturridge ... and Kate Hudson and Alex Rodriguez leaving 40/40 separately.

• Rupert Murdoch's Centre Island estate is back on the market. The 11-bedroom Rosehearty mansion, which Murdoch and wife Wendi Deng pulled off the market last October, has been re-listed with Dolly Lenz for $12.8 million. The five-acre estate isn't sitting empty while the couple wait for a buyer, though: As Newsday first reported back in April—and as this week's New York confirms—Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are renting it for more than $100,000 a month. [NYM, PDE]
• Norman Reedus—the actor, model, and father of Helena Christensen's son Mingus—has paid $1.75 million for a two-bedroom loft in the Machinery Exchange building at 136 Baxter St. [Cityfile]
• Julia Roberts is renting two apartments at 1 Morton Square this summer while she's in NYC to film Eat, Pray, Love. She's reportedly paying a combined $50,000-a-month for the two pads, one of which is for her nanny and staff. [P6]