• Tense negotiations over proposed budget cuts continue between the New York Times Co. and unions that represent workers at the Boston Globe; in the meantime, the Times has postponed plans to shut down the paper. [NYT, WSJ]
• Another way the Times is planning to rake in some much needed cash: It may raise newsstand prices as early as this week. [FT]
• NBC announced several shows that it plans to add to primetime. One show noticeably missing from the lineup: Law and Order. [Variety, NYT]
• Ex-Portfolio publisher William Li has landed at Condé Nast Traveler. [NYO]
• A positive aspect to the cuts at Conde Nast? Media buyers "say that publishers and salespeople are becoming easier to work with. [Crain's]
• Wolverine grossed a whopping $87 million at the box office. [Variety]

Derek Blasberg celebrated his birthday on Friday night with a "White Trash Black Tie" party, a theme the socials in attendance—like Fabiola Beracasa and Julia Restoin Roitfeld, above—clearly took to heart. Another photo of Fabiola with Byrdie Bell after the jump.

Just when you thought Gov. David Paterson couldn't be any less popular than he already is, he goes and surprises us yet again! A new Marist poll finds that just 19 percent of voters approve of the job the governor has been doing, a seven-point drop compared to his approval numbers last month. Even worse: Andrew Cuomo, who may go up against Paterson in the Democratic gubernatorial primary next year, is the state's most popular politician with 70 percent of the public saying he's doing a "good" or "excellent" job as attorney general. To Paterson's credit, about half the people polled said he was performing nicely when it came to combating the whole swine flu thing. But since few people could actually explain what he was doing to prevent the epidemic from spreading, we're guessing it may not be the most comforting consolation prize. [NYDN]

If you're looking for an entry-level job in fashion or PR, you have nerves of steel, and you know how to use a computer (and you can use it to print out labels), note that Kelly Cutrone is looking for a new assistant at her Manhattan office. Interested parties can make contact via this address; people not interested in being abused on an upcoming reality TV show need not apply.

Madonna and son David arriving at the Kabbalah Center on Saturday ... Jessica Biel leaving a nail salon ... Russell Simmons sitting on a bench with girlfriend Julie Henderson on Main Street in East Hampton ... Victoria Beckham arriving at JFK ... Rachel Bilson shopping in Soho ... Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr hailing a cab ... Harvey Keitel playing around with son Roman ... Ciara getting out of an SUV in Times Square ... Jessica Alba taking part in Revlon's Run/Walk event in Central Park, and later pushing baby Honor in a stroller downtown ... Ryan Gosling shooting scenes for his new movie, Blue Valentine ... ... Karen Duffy standing in Times Square ... Lady Gaga arriving in NYC last Friday ... and Liv Tyler leaving a party at the Gramercy Park Hotel.

A Bernie Madoff game for mobile phones is in the works. "Made Off" will allow gamers to operate their own Ponzi scheme on the go, and is sure to be a big hit in Palm Beach. [BI]

• J.R. "Pitt" Hyde III, the founder of the auto parts chain AutoZone, has paid $11.75 million for an eighth-floor, three-bedroom apartment at the Majestic on Central Park West. [Cityfile]
• Robert Meers, the former CEO of Reebok who has gone on to start the apparel company Lululemon Athletica and who runs Taryn Rose International, has purchased a 16th-floor condo at 15 Madison Square North with his wife Miriam Kelly for $3.8 million. [Cityfile]
• The Cove Neck mansion that used to belong to Grammy-winning producer Ric Wake has gone into contract. It was listed for $4.99 million. [Newsday]

If the economic downturn has you thinking about leaving New York, you may be a little bummed by some of your "recession-proof" alternatives. According to a new survey, the locales at the top of the list of best places to live in a recession include Jacksonville, NC; Rochester, Minn; and Kennewich, Wash., which is doing just fine thanks to the numerous jobs available at its nuclear waste disposal facility. [MSNBC]

Kimora Lee Simmons has good reason to munch on some cupcakes today. It's her 34th birthday. Given the events of the past year, former AIG chief Hank Greenberg probably isn't in the mood to celebrate, but it's his 84th birthday all the same. Others turning a year older today: Comedian Will Arnett is 39. Lance Bass is turning 30. Columnist George Will is turning 68. Actor Richard Jenkins is 62. Former SNL castmember Ana Gasteyer is turning 42. ESPN reporter Erin Andrews turns 31. Pia Zadora is 55. Gallerist Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn is 42. And two of the city's top lawyers, Ed Herlihy and Paul Roth are turning 62 and 70, respectively.

• President Obama will propose new laws today to crack down on companies and wealthy individuals who use a variety of tax loopholes to move their assets offshore and avoid paying taxes. [WSJ, BN]
• Citigroup and Bank of America are both rumored to be working on plans to raise more than $10 billion in fresh capital a piece, although Bank of America is now denying that such a plan is underway. [FT, DB, BI]
• Questions are being raised about New York Fed chairman Stephen Friedman's ties to Goldman Sachs and possible conflicts of interest. [WSJ]

• Mayor Bloomberg has proposed raising the sales tax by half a percentage point. That's certainly not going to do much to help struggling retailers, now is it? [NYDN]
• With a fresh batch of stores and restaurants closing each day, life on the UES has gotten pretty depressing. [NYT]
• A few weeks ago, Thom Browne denied that his fashion company was in trouble. The fact both his CEO and CFO departed the company today certainly doesn't bode well. [WWD]
• A few notables not expected at the Costume Institute Gala on Monday: Karl Lagerfeld, Carine Roitfeld, Matthew Williamson, and Bernard Arnault. [FWD]

• Sasha Petraske's Dutch Kills opens tonight. [Eater]
• The Sant Ambroeus team is taking over the lease at Lever House. [GS]
• Sumile Sushi, Josh DeChellis's former haunt, has closed its doors. [Eater]
• Hotelier Jason Pomeranc, who recently parted ways with chef Todd English, is now starting his own restaurant management company. [HC, NYO]
• The restaurants that opened—and closed—during the month of April. [Eater]
• A roundup of restaurants and bars slated to open by May 13. [TONY]
• Can people tell the difference between pâté and dog food? Not usually! [LAT]

Alexander Maryasin has a rather active imagination. The Queens man says he used his American Express Black Card to book a vacation to Sardinia with his son, but was taken hostage for two weeks at the hotel Amex recommended, so he's now suing American Express and the hotel for the horrific treatment they were forced to endure. Maryasin says he used the exclusive card to book a trip to Hotel Cala di Volpe, one of Italy's most expensive resorts. But when he and his son arrived to check in, their passports were confiscated and they were forced by hotel staffers—at gunpoint—to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars shopping at boutiques around town, charges that were conveniently placed on his Amex card. Even more disturbing? To add insult to injury, Maryasin says the hotel staff pushed him into the pool, too.

Just in case you want to know what you'll be reading in the September or October issue of Vanity Fair, two writers from the magazine are supposedly in Palm Beach today working on a story about the mysterious deaths of 21 polo horses a couple of weeks ago. [Page2Live]

Dealbreaker reports that Andy Madoff was out and about recently when he bumped into a former employee of his dad's firm. The encounter was not a friendly one—presumably having "Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC" on your resume in this job market is not all that much fun—and lots of shoving and punching ensued, according to witnesses. Hopefully the next time something like this happens—such as, say, when Alexandra Penney runs into Ruth Madoff while they're both shopping at Neiman Marcus—someone has a camera handy. [Dealbreaker]

If you recently lost your job in advertising—or you're still employed but have lots of free time on your hands—you can still make sure that you're putting your creative talents to good use. Ad copywrighter Todd Norem recently helped a homeless man in Minneapolis come up with new signs to use when he hits the streets to pandhandle. The result? His "client," Ed, reported "at least a 800 percent increase in gross income on days his media ran." Now we'll just have to hope copywrighters in NYC rise to the occasion and do their part, too. A couple of other clever signs Norem created for Ed after the jump.

Andrew Cuomo revealed this morning that his office has issued more than 100 subpoenas as he ramps up the investigation into possible kickbacks paid to political figures to obtain pension fund business. Unfortunately, he's still playing coy when it comes to giving up any specifics. He refused to list any of the firms that received subpoenas today. Yesterday, when a reporter asked him if car czar Steve Rattner would eventually be charged for his role in the unfolding scandal—five other people have been indicted thus far—he said to "stay tuned." In other words, put a new bag of popcorn in the microwave and get comfy. He's going to be here for awhile. [NYT, AP]

• Esquire, The New Yorker, Backpacker, and Wired were all big winners at last night's National Magazine Awards, although the mood was much more subdued this year, not surprisingly. [ NYT, WWD, NYP]
• Portfolio's Joanne Lipman reflects on what went wrong. [Newsweek]
• Hollywood might be on track for its best year ever at the box office. [WSJ]
• A roundup of the winners at the Tribeca Film Festival. [NYT, THR]
• White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers appears on the cover of the new issue of WSJ. The idea of having her pose in an Oscar de la Renta gown in the First Lady's garden was vetoed by the powers-that-be, wisely. [WWD]

Talk about terrible timing: Just as bikini season is almost upon us, the nation's most popular over-the-counter diet pill, Hydroxycut, is being pulled from shelves today after the FDA announced that it carries serious health risks, something the agency discovery after a teenage boy died and several others required a liver transplant. A million bottles are sold of the "effective" weight-loss supplement each year, but it turns out that its "natural" ingredients can damage the liver, with symptoms including jaundice, vomiting, and excessive fatigue.

New York has never had the same car chase culture of LA. But if you were hoping the day would come when you'd be able turn on the TV at any moment of the day and watch felons flee the scene of a crime from a news helicopter overhead, don't get your hopes up. After dumping many of its human assets over the past few months, WNBC has announced it plans to save cash by getting rid of NewsChopper 4. [NYDN]