Remember when The Fashion Show debuted on Bravo a few weeks ago and everyone was all like, "It's a total ripoff of Project Runway!" and Bravo was all like "It is not! It's totally original," but nobody was buying it? Yea, well, since that argument hasn't worked out too well, the show hasn't exactly soared in the ratings, and Project Runway's debut is fast approaching, it looks like it's time to take a different approach.
Just a few weeks ago, the city was supposedly experiencing an unprecedented crime wave. Apparently the NYPD turned things around in no time, since newly released FBI stats show that New York has the lowest crime rate of the 25 largest cities in the country. Of the 261 cities with more than 100,000 residents, New York ranked 246th; violent crime dropped four percent last year and murders were down 21.1 percent. So, you know, enjoy not getting murdered when you go out this evening. [NYP]
• Stephen Colbert will be Newsweek's guest editor next week. [NYO]
• Conan O'Brien's second Tonight Show dropped 30 percent from Monday's record-setting premiere, although that was probably to be expected. [THR]
• For the third straight month, MSNBC bested CNN in the cable news ratings. Fox News remained in first place, as usual. [Daily Finance]
• More bad news for CNN: Campbell Brown returned from maternity leave this week and immediately returned to fourth-place in the ratings. [THR]
• A new Harvard Business Review study reveals that 10 percent of Twitter users account for more than 90 percent of Twitter messages sent. [AdAge]
• Jon & Kate Plus 8 is still generating obscene ratings, sadly. [AP]
Do your fingers ever begin to feel numb after spending, oh, two or three hours talking on your cell phone non-stop? You may have a new medical condition! "Orthopedic specialists are reporting cases of "cell phone elbow," in which patients damage an essential nerve in their arm by bending their elbows too tightly for too long." Unfortunately for these same specialists, the cure is not particularly complicated (or give them an opportunity to bill your insurance company for thousands): "The advice is simple: Switch hands—before it gets worse." [CNN]
The new issue of Vanity Fair features a piece on Bernie Madoff's two sons, Andrew and Mark, how much they knew about their dad's vast Ponzi scheme, and what life is like for members of the Madoff family these days. Among the revelations: Neither son has spoken to their father since he was arrested in December, nor have they had any contact with their mother; Andrew's estranged wife uses her maiden name when ordering groceries from FreshDirect; and the parents of classmates of Andrew's daughters at Dalton—"apparently fearful of assassins crouching in vestibules"—aren't too keen on letting their children attend parties at the Madoff home. So in case you were wondering, it still does really suck to be related to the biggest scam artist that has ever lived. [Vanity Fair, Page Six]
Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman got married back in 2007. But the couple only went on a honeymoon very recently. After badgering him for more than two years, Georgina says Harvey finally gave in and the two jetted off to Asia for a 10-day vacation. It didn't turn out to be much of a vacation, unfortunately:
Sure, you could undermine that colleague you despise by spreading lies about them around the company. If you're the more direct type, though, you can now buy a pen that doubles as "tactical defense implement." It was originally designed for "Marines hunting terrorists in burning deserts," reports the company. But there's no reason why it wouldn't work just as well at Condé Nast or Goldman Sachs! [Tuffwriter via BoingBoing]
• Edgar Bronfman Jr. and wife Clarissa are putting down roots in London. The couple has picked up a "posh house" in Kensington and plan to relocate with their four kids by the end of the summer, although the Warner Music chairman/billionaire heir says he plans to divide his time between London and NYC. [NYP]
• Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has taken $60,000 off the price of his Westchester home. The five-bedroom Tudor in Larchmont, which went on the market for $1.635 in March, has been reduced to $1.575 million. He's since rented out the house for $7,500 a month so he can "wait until the real estate market rebounds a bit." [Luxist, HL]
• Russian communications mogul Timur Artemiev, who co-founded the country's largest mobile phone retailer, has picked up a New York pied-à-terre. Artemiev paid $1.39 million for a two-bedroom condo at the Chelsea Stratus on West 24th Street. [Cityfile]
Good news from AIG headquarters: The scandal-ridden insurance company is close to ironing out a deal to sell its two buildings downtown, 70 Pine and 72 Wall Street. The buyer, which is expected to pay around $100 million for the property, is an overseas company with plans to turn the towers into a residential/retail development. [NYP]
CNN's Anderson Cooper turns 42 today. Tennis star Rafael Nadal is turning 23. Humorist/Apple pitchman John Hodgman is 38. Stanford law professor and Internet pioneer Lawrence Lessig is 48. Raul Castro, the president of Cuba, is turning 78. Actor Tony Curtis is turning 84. John Barlow, the Broadway publicist and partner of producer Scott Rudin, is 41. High Line advocate Josh David turns 46. Phish bassist Mike Gordon is 44. Melissa Mathison, the ET screenwriter and ex-wife of Harrison Ford, is 59. And former game show host and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind author Chuck Barris turns 80 today.
• The romance between Kate Hudson and Alex Rodriguez is heating up. How does People know this? Well, A-Rod supposedly introduced Kate to some of his friends and Kate has been telling people she's a baseball fan, so it's pretty obvious, no? [People]
• Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou have come up with a name for their new baby: He's Kenzo Lee Hounsou, in honor of the Japanese designer by the same name. [P6]
• A woman is claiming she was attacked and left "crippled" by Sacha Baron Cohen (playing the role of Bruno) in 2007. [TMZ]
• Eminem had thousands of dollars worth of items stolen from his L.A. hotel room on Sunday night, including his diamond necklace and laptop. [NYDN]
If you were a little disturbed when you heard that America's largest automaker had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week, you really need not have worried so much. General Motors didn't really "go out of business," the car company's new commercial explains. It was "about getting down to business." And don't pay any attention to all the negative press the past few months: "The only chapter we're focused on is the first chapter."
• Tonight's waiter may be yesterday's trader: "Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch." [WSJ]
• Somewhat related: Swiss bankers depressed about the downturn are finding comfort in Italian food because of its "soothing factor." Go figure. [NYT]
• It's not all bad news: Some 28 new restaurants opened in May. [Eater]
• Time Out has issued a list of the best new pizza places in NYC. [TONY]
• Momofuku Noodle Bar has applied for a full liquor license. [DBTH]
• The East Village yakitori spot Mr. Jones is now closed. [Eater]
The High Line, the elevated railway turned public promenade, opened last night to a select group of donors and supporters. Before the gala kicked off, Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller issued a challenge grant, promising to donate $10 million to the walkway if someone else came along and matched it. Hedge fund mogul Phil Falcone and his wife Lisa delivered, and while it's still unclear when the public park will actually be public—rumor has it that it may just be a matter of days now—in the meantime, venture capitalist Fred Wilson was good enough to bring a camera along to last night's event so we can all get a little peek at what's in store.
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 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.
• 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]
"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]
As if the Dale Hemmerdinger, the chairman of the MTA, didn't have enough on his plate on the moment given the state of the city's transit system, two of his half-brothers are now suing him for allegedly siphoning off $2.2 million from 555 Fifth Avenue, a building that's part of the family's real estate conglomerate. [NYDN]
