cityfile

Does Lloyd Blankfein Have a Death Wish?

cityfile · 02/01/10 11:44AM

Over the weekend, the Times of London reported that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein could walk away with a bonus of as much as $100 million, at least according to unnamed bankers the paper talked to at last week's World Economic Forum in Davos.

Andrew Breitbart Is Mad About Something

Hamilton Nolan · 02/01/10 10:03AM

Finally, Andrew Breitbart is speaking out on the liberal media's railroading of phone tap pimp James O'Keefe. Bonus: Lloyd Grove also gets Breitbart to reveal when he's being cantankerous, and when he's merely being jocular. Invaluable perspective! [Daily Beast]

Morgan Stanley Exec Buys; Annie Leibovitz Looks to Sell

cityfile · 02/01/10 09:17AM

• Guy Metcalfe sold his apartment at 15 Central Park West last May for $11 million. Now the co-head of Morgan Stanley's real estate investment banking group and his wife, Lisa, have picked up a new, slightly more modest abode. The couple has paid $6.125 million for a 12th-floor, four-bedroom apartment at 90 Riverside Drive. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Iris Marden, the ex-wife of retail heir James Marden and a broker at Stribling, has sold her penthouse at 7 Hubert Street. The three-bedroom apartment, which once appeared on the cover of Architectural Digest and first went on the market for $14.5 million in January 2009, sold for $11.5 million. [Cityfile]

More Bad News for David Paterson

cityfile · 02/01/10 09:04AM

Things aren't exactly looking up for Gov. David Paterson. Over the weekend, the Post reported that a state trooper discovered Paterson "snuggling" with a woman in a utility closet at the governor's mansion a couple of months ago. ("The trooper opened the door and the first thing he saw was the governor and a woman inside and the two of them snuggling together, embracing. There was nothing more than that, snuggling, and they had their clothes on.") Today comes word that Paterson only has $620,000 remaining in his campaign coffers, which is about 20 times less than what his presumed opponent, Andrew Cuomo, has amassed in contributions thus far. Don't count Paterson out just yet, though. He huddled with some of his supporters yesterday to hash out his "winning strategy" against Cuomo, so expect Paterson to turn everything around over the next few weeks. [NYP, NYDN]

The Return of Jersey Shore; The 2010 Grammys

cityfile · 02/01/10 08:20AM

• The cast of MTV's Jersey Shore officially signed on for season two over the weekend. (Although MTV may now be forced to rename the show, since the cast could be spending next season in the Hamptons.) If you need something to tide you over until the summer, you could always go out and pick up Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino's new cologne, which is appropriately named "The Sitch" and smells like a mix of self-tanner, Axe body spray, and some random girl's perfume. [Us, NYP, P6]
• So much for those rumors about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie splitting up. At the Director's Guild of America Awards in LA on Saturday night, the couple looked "as happy as can be," Pitt pulled a chair out for his wife (what a gentleman!), and he spent the evening gently caressing her back. [Us, People]
• Did you miss the Grammys last night? Lady Gaga wore a dress that looked like a fifth-grade solar system science project before descending into a fire pit and then playing piano opposite a crystal-encrusted Elton John; Pink did a Cirque de Soleil-esque performance in a nude bodysuit, twirling on a trapeze and singing upside down; Beyonce won a record-breaking six Grammys; Taylor Swift walked away with four, including album of the year; and the crowd was treated to a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson as well as brief speeches by two of his kids, Prince and Paris. Click through for the list of winners and the fashion highlights/lowlights. [People, NYP, NYDN, MTV, People]

Happy Birthday

cityfile · 02/01/10 06:23AM

Lauren Conrad, the former star of The Hills and the person to blame for introducing Heidi Montag to the world, turns 24 today. Michael C. Hall, the star of Showtime's Dexter, is turning 39. Outkast's Big Boi is 35. Lisa Marie Presley, the singer and spawn of Elvis, is turning 42. Princess Stéphanie of Monaco is 45. Pat Wilson of Weezer is turning 41. Poker champion Phil Ivey is 34. And Mr. Pauly Shore celebrates his 42nd birthday today.

cityfile · 01/29/10 05:01PM

[Photo via Flickr]

Tinsley Mortimer, Meet Your Dream Dates

Richard Lawson · 01/29/10 03:40PM

Flirt Alert! Tinsley Mortimer, the bubbly blonde socialite of our dreams, is single and ready to mingle. She was spotted at Sundance looking for a man, which is pretty desperate. So we thought we'd help her find The One.

cityfile · 01/29/10 03:36PM

• Sundance was a lower-key affair this year thanks to the economy. [WWD]
• Layoffs: Rumor has it The Weinstein Co. cut as many as 30 staffers today. And a big round of layoffs could come to CBS next week. [Gawker, LAT]
• The Vancouver Olympics could cost NBC as much as $250 million. [THR]
Keith Olbermann's ratings are down. Guess there are only so many times you can call Bill O'Reilly the worst person in the world before it gets old. [DF]
BusinessWeek continues to staff up. Eric Pooley (formerly of Fortune) and New York's Hugo Lindgren are joining the Bloomberg-owned mag. [TW, TBM]
• Could a Catcher in the Rye be coming soon? Don't hold your breath. [LAT]
• Does Rudy Giuliani make stuff up every time he appears on TV? Yes. [NYT]
Mort Zuckerman says Rupert Murdoch's plan to launch a local edition of the Journal is a "brilliant move." Translation: Extra competition for the New York Times is a good thing, especially when someone else is paying for it. [Forbes]
• The Grammy Awards go down on CBS on Sunday night. [NYT]
George Stephanopoulos and Hillary Clinton are related? Apparently so. [AP]

Shia LaBeouf Knows What It Takes to Land a Job at Goldman

cityfile · 01/29/10 02:06PM

Shia LaBeouf did tons of research in preparation for his role in Wall Street 2. He opened up a brokerage account with $20,000 and has seen his portfolio grow tenfold since then, thanks to the expert trading skills he's picked up along the way. And he's learned the secret to getting a job at Goldman Sachs, which he's now prepared to share with the world: "I talked to a lot of Goldman Sachs people, and one of the requirements of getting a job takes place in the first five minutes of an interview. They take you out to eat. The minute the menu hits the table, if you can't order within 30 seconds, you don't have the job." [DB]

Jay Leno's Natural Successor Has Emerged

cityfile · 01/29/10 12:36PM

Tom Green—bet you haven't heard that name in a long, long time!—says he'd be more than happy to wait in the wings for the next 10 years to take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno. Good to know! [VF]

Another Paterson Proposal Fails to Impress

cityfile · 01/29/10 11:54AM

Gov. David Paterson could probably save $2.1 million a year by not having 200 state troopers assigned to protect him. Instead, he recently proposed that New York legalize "mixed martial arts" (or ultimate fighting, the "sport" that features two people beating each other to a pulp inside a cage)—a move Paterson says would generate $2.1 million a year in additional tax revenue. It turns out that most New Yorkers aren't ultimate fighting fans: According to a new poll, 68% of state voters say they're opposed to the idea. Too bad the pollsters didn't ask if people would be more inclined to support the proposal if the matches involved politicians in Albany. That could be a real moneymaker! [NYDN]

TrumpTown?

cityfile · 01/29/10 11:02AM

On Monday, the owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village gave up control of the sprawling apartment complex after defaulting on its loans. (Tishman Speyer and BlackRock paid $5.4 billion for the property at the height of the housing bubble; it's now worth less than half of that.) Now the Post reports a bidding war is breaking out as various real estate companies look to take over control of the complex, and—as if Stuy Town residents haven't suffered enough the past few months—one of the contenders is none other than Donald Trump. [NYP]

Spotted

cityfile · 01/29/10 10:24AM

Naomi Watts handing over some spare change to a panhandler ... Mischa Barton walking her dog ... America Ferrera walking to her trailer on the set of Ugly Betty ... Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott leaving ABC studios in Times Square ... Sarah Jessica Parker walking in the Village ... Mariska Hargitay filming scenes for Law & Order: SVU ... Pete Wentz eating pizza with son Bronx ... Jessica Szohr on the set of Gossip Girl ... Star Trek's Zachary Quinto talking on his cell phone in the West Village ... and Julianne Moore walking downtown.

David Byrne Buys Chelsea Penthouse

cityfile · 01/29/10 09:18AM

• Musician David Byrne has picked up a new condo in Chelsea. The former frontman of the Talking Heads paid $3.875 million for a four-bedroom penthouse at 231 Tenth Avenue, which first went on the market for $5.2 million back in 2008. [Cityfile]
• After more than a year and a half of price cuts, Karen and David Fleiss have finally unloaded their apartment at 1030 Fifth Avenue. Part of it, at least. The couple first listed the duplex for $47.5 million in June of 2008 before deciding to list the lower floor on its own for $15 million. The price was reduced to $9.95 million back in June. Now they've managed to find a buyer for it. The third-floor apartment was sold for $8.898 million to Richard Duke Buchan III and his wife, Hannah. [NYC Co-op]

Tinsley Moves On; Will Smith Talks Politics

cityfile · 01/29/10 08:34AM

Tinsley Mortimer's upcoming reality show has finished shooting. So, naturally, her "relationship" with former American Idol contestant Constantine Maroulis has come to an end, too. She's reportedly on the hunt for a new boyfriend, though, so if you know someone who'd a good match for the fame-obsessed socialite, do get in touch. [P6]
• Is it possible that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie planted those breakup rumors because it's Oscar season, they haven't been nominated for anything, and they wanted to make sure they remained in the spotlight? Anything's possible, right? [E!, NYDN]
Padma Lakshmi is due to give birth next month, but she's still isn't revealing who the baby daddy is. Could it be on-again, off-again boyfriend and billionaire financier Teddy Forstmann? Or on-again, off-again boyfriend and venture capitalist Adam Dell, the younger brother of computer mogul Michael Dell? The mystery continues! [P6]
• Here's a sign of the apocalypse: Will Smith is thinking about running for president. (Yes, President of the United States.) [Popeater]