• That was quick. On Tuesday, it was reported that former Lehman chief Dick Fuld and his wife Kathy had unofficially put their 6,200-square-foot pied-à-terre at 640 Park on the market for $32 million. But now it seems the Fulds have changed their minds and decided against selling it. Better luck in 2010? [WSJ]
• Bella Sapir, the ex-wife of billionaire (and endangered animal skin fan) Tamir Sapir has sold the penthouse at 250 East 53rd Street that she bought for $8.895 million in November 2008 and re-listed for $13.5 million a few days later. Sapir sold the 4,511-square-foot apartment for $10.5 million. [Cityfile]
• Columbia Law professor Hans Smit has lowered the price of his 12,000-square-foot townhouse at 351 Riverside Drive, which first went on the market for $31 million back in 2006. The mansion, which Smit bought for just $325,000 back in 1979, is now listed for $25 million. [Cityfile, BHS]

Naomi Campbell turns 39 today. Actress Ginnifer Goodwin is turning 31. Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is 81. Real estate developer Joseph Sitt is 45. Society dermatologist Lisa Airan is turning 44. Artist Ghada Amer turns 46. Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw is 69. Alison Eastwood, the actress and daughter of Clint, is turning 37. British tabloid staple, Katie Price, is turning 31. And America's Next Top Model: Cycle 7 winner Caridee English is 24 today. Weekend birthdays after the jump.

Ezra Merkin, the money manager who invested more than $2.4 billion in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme and has since been sued by both Andrew Cuomo and his disgruntled investors, is not having a good week. His hedge fund was turned over to liquidators the other day. Now he's caved to pressure and stepped aside as president of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue. What could be next? If you hear about an emergency co-op board meeting at 740 Park, you may have your answer. [NYT]

• Presumably this is what happens when you spend time hanging out with John Mayer: Dick Parsons (right), the former chairman and CEO of Time Warner and currently the chairman of the board of Citigroup, not only cheated on his wife of three decades with a "model-philanthropist" 29 years his junior, he fathered a child with her, too. [NYDN]
• Sean Penn and wife Robin Wright Penn may not be getting divorced after all. Weeks after filing for legal separation, Penn has withdrawn the motion, either because he only did it in a fit of anger, or because he got jealous after seeing Robin flirting with a handful of men at the Cannes Film Festival. [NYDN, P6]
• The "Real Housewives of New York" have all reportedly signed on for a third season and are expected to make upwards of $30,000 per episode. [MSNBC]

• Don't feel too bad if you're staying in the city for the long weekend. Take advantage of the big Memorial Day sales instead. [NYDN]
• Burberry's new Madison Avenue HQ opens on May 28; the building's sign will get switched on then, too. [Hint]
• Today in C-list celebrity fashion news: Alyssa Milano has debuted a baseball-inspired collection; and Heidi Montag is releasing a line of bikinis. [SW, SW]

• A summer bar preview and a roundup of happy-hour specials. [AMNY, NYP]
• The restaurant at the Andre Balazs's Standard Hotel doesn't debut until June, but the outdoor patio—which serves food—has opened. [GS]
• More photos of Locanda Verde, which is now in the hands of Andrew Carmellini, NYC's "best young Italian chef," according to David Chang. [GS, P6]
• The price of beer and wine may go up if Washington gets its way. [NYP]
• Speaking of wine, now isn't such a bad time to be investing in it, FYI. [NYT]
• A recap (and photos) from last night's Taste of the Nation event. [Metromix]

The townhouse belonging to Marisa Noel Brown has officially hit the market. The youngest daughter of disgraced hedge funder Walter Noel (who had $7.5 billion invested with Bernie Madoff), and the wife of Matt Brown (who worked for her father at Fairfield Greenwich), Marisa's been contemplating a sale for quite some time now. But now it's official and 12 East 78th Street has been listed with Stribling for $12 million. Keep in mind, though, that "it's well-known the couple is willing to take much less." [NYO]

Digital Advertising On NYC Buses at Night [Public Ad Campaign]

Yesterday it was revealed that former Lehman chief Dick Fuld had stepped down as the bankrupt firm's chairman. Now another symbol of the economic collapse is heading off into the sunset. Ed Liddy, the chairman and CEO of AIG, has announced plans to step down from the scandal-plagued insurance giant, although he may be there for a while considering he plans to remain here until the company comes up with a suitable replacement. The good news? There is now a little bit of light at the end of Liddy's dark tunnel, and he should have a chance to trade the self-tanning mist in his office for some real sun in the near future. [NYT]

Your baby daughter is wailing. You'd really like to quiet her down, but you don't want to have to actually interact with her to make it happen. What to do? Let your cell phone do the work, naturally! As one dad tells it, when his infant daughter starts to get "fussy" in the car or during a walk, he simply turns on the free iPhone app "White Noise Lite" and drops it into her carrier. "It immediately relaxes her," he explains, which is nice since that makes two of them.

Reports surfaced recently that media mogul David Geffen had expressed an interest in buying a piece of the New York Times. As the story goes, Geffen had offered to buy Harbinger Capital Partners' 20 percent stake in the paper; but Harbinger, the hedge fund operated by Phil Falcone, had rejected the overture because it had been hoping for a higher price. Much was made of Geffen's attempt to snag a piece of the esteemed paper, what his true intentions were, and whether the DreamWorks co-founder had been hoping to shape the paper's coverage of Washington and Hollywood. It doesn't matter much now, since the deal doesn't appear to be moving ahead. In the meantime, though, let's all be thankful that Falcone's wife, Lisa, hasn't been making any efforts to influence the Times's fashion coverage. Click on the photo above to see Lisa at the NYCB spring gala the other night in all her glittery glory.

• American Idol's finale scored its lowest ratings ever for the 18-49 demo. Not that there's a chance Ryan Seacrest will be disappearing anytime soon. [THR]
• The CW has unveiled its fall lineup. As expected, the Gossip Girl spin-off isn't happening. A social media-centric ad campaign, however, is. [Variety, NYT]
• New York magazine is raising subscription rates. [Folio]
• Google is reorganizing its ad sales team and cutting a few jobs. [WSJ]
• Thanks to the $75K speaking fee Tom Friedman accepted (and returned), Times staffers have been reminded about the paper's ethics guidelines. [LAT]
• Paste Magazine hopes to survive by asking readers for donations. [Gawker]
• Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich wasn't permitted to appear on NBC's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, so his wife will do it instead. [THR]

Cannes has been buzzing for several days now, and you've probably seen dozens of photos of the same celebrities walking up the same red carpet, all doing their very best to seem interested in the hoopla around them. But what are the stars seeing as they move from premiere to premiere? A very different view of the Cannes Film Festival—from the vantage point of, say, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt—below.

In case driving a bus wasn't your thing and you're still looking for a job, please note that Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus is hiring. And you don't even need to wear makeup, put on a silly wig, or taunt tigers either. A job fair is scheduled for next week and the circus is looking to fill 200 ticketing, ushers and maintenance positions for its Coney Island summer run. Applications available for download! [CIDC]

Lawyer Marc Dreier pleaded guilty to charges he bilked investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars a couple of weeks ago, and he remains under house arrest until his sentencing next month. (He may end up with a life sentence if prosecutors get their way.) He's been having trouble paying his bills since he was first indicted several months ago. According to his lawyer, Dreier even had to dip into his son's bar mitzvah fund recently to cover his living expenses. Perhaps that's why his yacht, which is one of a bunch of Dreier's assets now up for sale, was just discounted? Dreier's "Escape" (or "Seascape"), which was originally listed at $13.5 million, was just reduced to $12.5 million. After the jump, a few photos of the boat where Dreier probably spent many hours plotting and scheming.

John Turturro giving an autograph to Mario Batali's sons Leo and Benno outside Bar Pitti ... Elle Macpherson leaving lunch at Le Bilboquet on the UES... Ed Westwick walking in Soho ... Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds entering his hotel in Midtown ... Tracy Morgan leaving an event at Town Hall ... Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong walking with wife Adrienne in Soho ... Matthew Broderick riding a scooter with son James in the Village ... Shawn Johnson arriving at the Gramercy Park Hotel ... Jenna Elfman posing for pictures outside an SUV ... and Lindsay Price leaving the London Hotel on West 54th Street.

If Giorgio Armani hasn't been returning your calls lately, he has a perfectly valid excuse. It seems the designer is recovering from a bout with hepatitis. But he's "on the road to recovery," you'll be happy to hear, so he should get back to you shortly. [My Fashion Life]

So, the trial of the dastardly family member accused of swindling old NYC high society queen Brooke Astor is underway, and guess who took the stand yesterday? Our old friend, Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter! He had a sad tale to tell (with a silver lining!):

Graydon Carter appeared as a witness yesterday at the trial of Anthony Marshall, the son of Brooke Astor who stands accused of swindling his mother when she was suffering from Alzheimer's. The Vanity Fair editor recalled the three articles he asked her to write for the magazine in the late '90s (she was paid $1,000 for her efforts). And he described their regular lunches at the Knickerbocker Club and the Four Seasons, and the time when he even managed to convince her to travel downtown to dine at Da Silvano.

• Carlos Alejandro Pérez Dávila, an heir to one of the richest families in Latin America (his cousin is Andrès Santo Domingo, husband of Lauren) has sold his four-story townhouse at 176 East 75th Street. The 5,800-square-foot mansion, which had been listed for $10.9 million, was purchased by Keith Meister, the son of tycoon Robert Meister, for $8.6 million. (Keith's brother is Todd Meister, Nicky Hilton's ex.) As for Dávila, he's already found a new home. He paid $19 million for 47 East 68th Street in 2007. [Cityfile]
• Ian Schrager has put his 3,630-square-foot penthouse duplex at 285 Lafayette Street up for sale for $12.5 million. Neighbors in the building include Iman, David Bowie, and Janice Min. [NYP, BHS]
• Lee Neibart, CEO of Apollo's AREA Property Partners, has gone into contract to sell his 16th-floor condo at 15 Central Park West. The three-bedroom apartment, which Neibart and his wife Joyce bought for $7 million in January and re-listed a few weeks later, had been priced at $8.2 million. [Cityfile, BHS]