cityfile

Spotted

cityfile · 05/01/09 08:29AM

Tina Brown hailing a cab ... Sarah Jessica Parker walking son James to school ... Star Jones getting in a cab outside the Trump International ... Rachel Bilson carrying a bag from Whole Foods in Soho ... Justin Timberlake hitting balls at the driving range at Chelsea Piers, and later jogging along the West Side Highway with Jessica Biel ... Rachel McAdams and Josh Lucas riding bikes in Soho ... Kate Winslet walking in the West Village ... Jennifer Aniston getting out of an SUV ... Christina Milian arriving at her hotel in Midtown ... and Katt Williams getting in a green Lamborghini outside his hotel.

The Fashion Show Aims to Fill Runway's Shiny Shoes

cityfile · 05/01/09 08:08AM

Unless you've been sequestered at a religious retreat/padded cell/otherwise media-free zone for the past month, you'll know that The Fashion Show, Bravo's knockoff of Lifetime-bound Project Runway, is debuting next week. And like a replacement child born after the tragic loss of its sibling, Bravo's new baby will struggle to escape comparisons to its beloved predecessor, especially since it's been molded so faithfully in the other's image.

Art World Pain Goes On

cityfile · 05/01/09 08:00AM

Auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's are gearing up for their semi-annual sales of Impressionist and contemporary art. So how bad is it going to be this time around? Sotheby's says it expects the sales to bring in between $179 million and $256 million, down from $411 million last fall and $742 million last spring. So pretty bad, basically. [WSJ]

Three Dreier Properties Will Soon Be For Sale

cityfile · 05/01/09 07:38AM

• Three of disgraced lawyer Marc Dreier's Hamptons homes—including two neighboring mansions on Dune Road in East Quogue and a rundown Westhampton house—are about to hit the market. The East Quogue estates are expected to be listed together for around $12.5 million. [NYP]
• Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, the ex-wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, has gone into contract to sell her Bridgehampton mansion. Originally listed for $16.3 million, the 10,000-square-foot manse is reportedly selling for under its most recent asking price of $7.9 million. [P6, Corcoran]
• Hedge funder Jason Capello paid $15.45 million for a four-bedroom condo at 40 East 66th Street. In January, he sold his 72nd floor apartment at the Time Warner Center for $16.25 million. [Real Deal]
• Former Yankee Bobby Abreu has put his 37th-floor condo at One Beacon Court on the market $7.9 million, which happens to be the same price he listed it for just last year. [Curbed, PDE]

Wall Street: Friday Morning

cityfile · 05/01/09 06:54AM

• Who said the good times are over? On the list of the 10 highest-paid CEOs of 2008: Vikram Pandit, Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, and Ken Chenault. [AP]
• Bank of America's board continues to stand by CEO Ken Lewis and has no plans to oust him, says "a person familiar with the deliberations." [WSJ]
• Citigroup is raising some desperately needed cash by selling off its Japanese brokerage and investment units for $5.56 billion. [DB]

Happy Birthday

cityfile · 05/01/09 06:38AM

Filmmaker Wes Anderson turns 40 today. Country singer Tim McGraw is turning 42. Jewelry designer Elsa Peretti is 69. Former Random House CEO Peter Olson is 59. Folk signer Judy Collins is 70. Director John Woo is 63. People's Court judge Marilyn Milian is 48. And Kelly Bensimon is 41. Weekend birthdays below.

Kelly's Lies, Kelis Files For Divorce

cityfile · 05/01/09 06:13AM

• "Real Housewife" Kelly Killoren Bensimon has deceived us all once again. All the talk about her Ivy League education? Turns out she took classes at Columbia's extension school and anyone can do that. In related news, Jill Zarin supposedly tried to return a dress at Intermix with a big stain on it. [P6]
Kelis—who is seven months pregnant—has filed for divorce from Nas. [NYDN, People]
Marc Jacobs admits Madonna did ask him to help Jesus Luz get a work visa, but says it's "no big deal" since he'd "do anything to help a friend." [NYDN]
• An Austrian radio station now says it was responsible for hiring a Beyonce lookalike to fool a Vienna museum. [Us]
• Rachel Zoe flew first-class from LA to NYC. Her husband, however, was forced to fly coach. The indignity! [NYDN]

Bendel's Retreat, Port Authority Pop-Up

cityfile · 04/30/09 07:46PM

• Sign of the times: Henri Bendel plans to stop selling clothing this summer and will focus instead on accessories and beauty products. The Fifth Avenue flagship is giving up one of its three floors, and the company is cutting 8 percent of its staff, too. [NYT]
• More cheerful news: Save Fashion, the pop-up shop at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, makes its big debut tomorrow. [Save Fashion]
• The Jimmy Choo sample sale today was kind of crazy. [Racked]
• Beauty treatments you can do at home for cheaper. [NYDN]
Padma Lakshmi talks jewelry as she gets set to debut her own line. [WSJ]
• A preview of Matthew Williamson's second shipment of clothes for women and his first batch of clothing for men. [NYM]

Sky Nannies

cityfile · 04/30/09 06:13PM

Remember Madlyn Primoff, the lawyer who abandoned her two daughters on the side of the road because she couldn't deal with them fighting in the backseat of the car? If she takes a plane trip in the near future, she might want to consider flying Gulf Air, if possible. The airline has introduced sky nannies, who will keep your kids occupied while you doze off or guzzle miniature bottles of vodka. [Transracial]

Eating & Drinking: Thursday Edition

cityfile · 04/30/09 03:30PM

• The scandal-ridden State Liquor Authority has a new chairman. [NYO]
• Atria, which opened four months ago in the ex-Grayz space, is gone. [Eater]
• More Marea buzz: A peek at some of the dishes Chris Cannon and chef Michael White plans to have on the menu when it opens. [WSJ]
Amy Sacco, Ivan Bart, Julia Restoin Roitfeld and Sophia Hesketh are hosting tonight's grand opening of the Griffin in the old P.M. space. [P6]
• Baja Fresh isn't opening May 11. More like May 19. [Eater]

Michael Bloomberg Will Not Be Intimidated

cityfile · 04/30/09 01:59PM

Joe Biden warned the public to avoid "confined spaces" like the subway when he appeared on the Today show this morning. So what did our fearless leader, Michael Rubens Bloomberg, do? He took the subway and went as far as to ask reporters to film him arriving at City Hall by train. Message communicated! But to make his arrival even more special, he also made sure he had a crisp copy of El Diario tucked under his arm, so not only did he reassure us all that we'll be fine amid the swine flu epidemic, he also demonstrated that he's still working on his Spanish. Multitasking in action, clearly.

Botox Loses Its Precious Monopoly

cityfile · 04/30/09 01:14PM

Botox won't be the only option on the menu the next time you head off to see your cosmetic surgeon or dermatologist. A drug called Dysport just won approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Just like Botox, Dysport uses pure poison (botulinum toxin) to relax your muscles and smooth out the wrinkles you'd really rather not have for your upcoming class reunion. But it's more expensive than Botox—and research suggests it's less effective and riskier compared to the competition—so feel free to ignore everything you just read and stick to the lethal poison you already know and love. [Bloomberg]

Dan Loeb Puts On a Brave Face

cityfile · 04/30/09 12:59PM

It's a good thing hedge fund manager Dan Loeb sold off his carriage house a couple of months ago and is now renting out his jet on an hourly basis. Despite some peppiness on his part, these are clearly tough times for the notoriously temperamental hedge funder. According to his most recent letter to investors, Loeb's firm, Third Point, is currently managing just $1.8 billion, down from more than $5 billion a year ago. And he's been forced to cut staff, too, although the people he kicked to the curb were accountants, techies, and admins, so it's not like it's a big deal or anything. Of course, if he gets really desperate, there are other ways to cut the fat. He could vow to never give fameseeker Julia Allison another free trip on his plane, starters. See? Scaling back in a recession isn't that hard, after all. [Zero Hedge]

Pay Cuts, Quarterly Losses & Other Happy News

cityfile · 04/30/09 12:07PM

• The New York Times Co. has reached a "tentative agreement" with its union to impose a 5 percent pay cut on employees through the end of the year. [NYP]
• Disney's ABC is joining Fox and NBC and taking a stake in Hulu. [AdAge]
• As expected, Time Warner said it may spin off AOL. But it may end up selling it, too. Either way, Gerald Levin, Dick Parsons and Steve Case will still be responsible for the worst merger in American corporate history. [NYT]
• Viacom reported that first quarter profit dropped 34 percent amid falling revenue at both its film and TV networks businesses. [AP]
• Related: Viacom boss Sumner Redstone is as senile as ever. At the Milken conference in Beverly Hills, he said he wouldn't comment on his competitors before lashing out at Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch, and Jay Leno. [THR]

Bonnie Fuller, Gentle Mentor

cityfile · 04/30/09 11:32AM

Bonnie Fuller, the former Star and Us Weekly editor who now spends her days blogging for the Huffington Post, has always had a rep for being a horrible boss. Writers and editors who had the misfortune to work with her never lasted long; the stories recounted by the people who worked for her over the years are legion. So kudos to Samantha Ettus, the host of ObsessedTV, for broaching the subject in a chat with the editrix a couple of weeks ago.

Vegetarian Celebuspawn: Fashion's Only Influencer

cityfile · 04/30/09 11:12AM

Those who toil in the fashion industry may not shape our lives to quite the same extent as some of the luminaries who make it on to Time's "Most Influential" list, like Oprah Winfrey, or Zac Ephron, or the evil doers who invented Twitter. But the fact that the list includes just one fashion world figure is still a bit of a surprise. So who is it? Anna Wintour? Tom Ford? Gisele, Naomi, or Kate perhaps? Nope. The people at Time have named Stella McCartney as one of the world's most influential people. But don't worry, they asked Gwyneth Paltrow to account for their controversial decision. Enlighten us, Gwynnie!

The MTA Means Business

cityfile · 04/30/09 10:54AM

Were you aware that if you bend your Metrocard just the right way, you can use it twice but you'll only be charged for one ride? This might strike you as rather useful information what with the economy the way it is and fares about to go up. But you probably should just shell out the $2 and not bother taking any chances. A man who tampered with his Metrocard, and who was later convicted of felony forgery, learned today that he'll be spending the next two years in prison. [NYP]

Hope You Stocked Up on Tamiflu!

cityfile · 04/30/09 10:19AM

Better hope some Mexican tourist doesn't cough on you while you're walking in Midtown this afternoon. Pharmacists report that that there's been a run on Tamiflu this week (along with face masks, hand sanitizers, and pretty much everything else you could possibly use to stop from getting the virus). And despite assurances from public health officials that large supplies of the drug are available, we hear from one doctor that pharmacies can't even place orders for the quantities of Tamiflu that they need to fulfill their customers' orders.

Spotted

cityfile · 04/30/09 09:41AM

Olivia Palermo carrying a Marc Jacobs shopping bag in Soho ... Sarah Jessica Parker shopping at Kidding Around on West 15th Street ... Edie Falco standing on the sidewalk holding a cup of coffee in Soho ... Hugh Jackman arriving at JFK ... Robert De Niro peering into the tinted window of an SUV ... Bar Refaeli hailing a cab ... Juliette Lewis carrying an iced coffee ... Brad Pitt shooting a Japanese commercial with a Sumo wrestler ... Elizabeth Hurley leaving a hotel with Arun Nayar ... Samantha Ronson walking ... Tilda Swinton shopping with a friend ... Kelly Ripa leaving a building with an Oscar Blandi bag ... and Mary-Kate Olsen getting breakfast in Tribeca with Nate Lowman.

Tyra Stalker Convicted

cityfile · 04/30/09 09:18AM

The man accused of getting a little too close to Tyra Banks was found guilty of stalking, attempted aggravated harassment, harassment and criminal trespassing today. [NYT, NYDN]