Body armor isn't just for rappers and security-obsessed paranoiacs. Thanks to the trend in all things militaristic, more and more people are picking up bulletproof vests, or jackets, shirts, and coats lined with bullet resistant kevlar. Even faux bulletproof vests are in, apparently:
Donald Trump and Barbara Walters are Lady Gaga fans? If they were, they may not be after attending last night's concert at Radio City: "When Gaga told the crowd that she wouldn't "go all the way" but would "suck [dick]," Donald and Melania Trump's weirdly smooth faces flashed on the huge screens looking shocked, strained and horrified. Equally not into Gaga's frequent X-rated banter? Barbara Walters who got up and split mid-show, right before Gaga sang her ballad 'Speechless.' Wawa no likey Gaga." [Paper]
Uma Thurman and son Levon Roan eating pizza on the street ... Hugh Jackman heading home after a trip to the gym ... Diana Ross leaving a building on Fifth Avenue ... JoJo walking into her hotel in Tribeca ... Taylor Momsen hanging out with her mom on the set of Gossip Girl in Queens ... Matthew Broderick walking son James to school ... Catherine Zeta-Jones leaving her apartment on the Upper West Side ... and Lady Gaga arriving at Radio City Music Hall last night.
Goldman Sachs blew away estimates today and "delivered its richest quarterly profit in the investment bank's 140-year history," reporting that it netted $4.95 billion in the fourth quarter and $13.4 billion in 2009. The bank also reported that it paid out $13.5 billion in bonuses and salaries last year, which is more than what it handed out in 2008, but down from 2007 when it awarded its employees $20 billion in compensation. Not that Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein really expects anyone to pay any attention to his talk of the "lowest ever compensation to net revenues ratio." Per the firm's request, the NYPD set up barricades outside Goldman HQ this morning and a bomb-sniffing dog has been on the scene as well. [WSJ, NYT]
• Glenn Close has put her two-bedroom co-op at the Beresford up for sale. The 2,000-square-foot apartment on the building's 19th floor, which comes with two terraces, private elevator landing, and neighbors like Jerry Seinfeld and John McEnroe, is listed with Corcoran's Robby Browne and can be yours for $11.8 million. [NYP, Corcoran]
• Blackstone Group co-founder Steve Schwarzman and his wife Christine have unloaded their old East Hampton home. The 2.1-acre property, which the billionaire financier bought for $2.3 million in 1996 and put on the market for $7.2 million in August 2009, has been sold to "power couple" Thomas Gallagher and Alice Jarcho-Gallagher for $6.25 million. [NYP]
• John Cleese's two-bedroom apartment at 196 East 75th Street is now in the possession of his ex-wife, Alyce Faye Eichelberger. Cleese sold the apartment, which the couple purchased together in 2007 for $1.7 million, back to her for $1.492 million. [NYO]
• Mischa Barton didn't do so hot while filming scenes for Law & Order: SVU earlier this week. She reportedly forgot her lines repeatedly and some people suspect it's because the troubled actress has been partying a bit too hard recently. Then again, after playing a strung-out hooker on L&O, her career has nowhere to go but up, right? [NYDN]
• Publishing heiress Lydia Hearst has posed for Playboy and had a guest appearance on Gossip Girl. What's next? She's leaving NYC for Los Angeles to launch an acting career, naturally. Unfortunately, she's taking her boyfriend, spiky-haired pop rocker Ryan Cabrera, along for the ride, so she may not be getting off to the best start. [P6]
• Speaking of people who have built a career based on their willingness to take off their clothes, remember Amy Fisher? She'll be getting naked at a restaurant on Long Island this week and is setting aside a portion of the proceeds to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Your turn, Buttafuoco. [P6]
• John Edwards has finally come clean and admitted that he's the father of Rielle Hunter's two-year-old daughter. Better late than never? [People]
The battle between Conan O'Brien and NBC is over. The two sides "finally put pen to paper on a $40 million-plus breakup agreement" late last night, his final show airs tomorrow night, and he'll head off on vacation until at least September, since the deal prevents him from returning to TV before then. Although if last night was any guide, Conan may end up costing NBC a few million before he steps off the stage once and for all. [Wrap]
Artist Jeff Koons turns 55 today. Cindi Leive, the editor-in-chief of Glamour, is turning 43. Opera great Placido Domingo is 69. Reclusive Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is turning 57. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is 59. Federal judge Kimba Wood is turning 66. Geena Davis is 54. Film heavyweight Mike Medavoy is turning 69. Singer-songwriter Chan Marshall turns 38. Singer Billy Ocean is 60. And golf legend Jack Nicklaus celebrates his 70th birthday today.
• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times gives Danny Meyer's Maialino two stars; Steve Cuozzo of the Post heads to Maialino, too, giving it three stars; Gael Greene also covers Mayer's latest creation; Time Out's Jay Cheshes hits the Breslin; Alan Richman of GQ shares his passion for César Ramirez's work at Brooklyn Kitchen; and Danyelle Freeman reviews Rye in Williamsburg.
• New/upcoming: Soho tapas spot Ñ has opened a second location in Dumbo; Scott Conant is turning the Cooper Square Hotel bar into a casual cafe and plans to open it next month; and a Hooters may be coming to Brooklyn.
• Offal is all the rage right now, in case you weren't aware. [NYO]
• There were lots of leftovers following last week's Tavern on the Green auction, so a "last-chance bargain sale" is now scheduled for next week. [NYT]
• Some Valentine's Day dining suggestions if you're planning ahead. [Zagat]
• Pizzeria Uno has filed for chapter undici bankruptcy protection. [Eater]
• Can you picture Daniel Boulud and Alain Ducasse serving eats out of a food truck? The opportunity to see them slum it together arrives on Feb. 8. [GS]
You've heard about the George Clooney telethon for Haiti, which airs on Friday. And you may have seen Larry King's celebrity fundraiser on CNN the other night. But how would you like to watch a bunch of models—along with former Fugee and dubious fundraiser Wyclef Jean—play ping pong for Haiti? Because you can if you want to:
• As rumored, the New York Times plans to begin charging readers to access stories on the NYT website. It will be a metered system (so only "frequent readers" will be affected), and it doesn't start until 2011. And faithful subscribers to the print edition won't be forced to pay anything extra. [NYT]
• What are the chances Conan lands at Fox? It could happen, but there are plenty of reasons why Fox might decide to back away from a deal. [WSJ]
• The news biz: Talks to bring Ted Koppel back to ABC News appear to have fallen through; Megyn Kelly is getting her own show on Fox News; and CNN has announced it's partnering with hipster mag Vice, oddly enough. [NYO]
• Condé Nast's Fairchild unit has a new chief. Gina Sanders, Lucky's publisher (and Si Newhouse's niece) will now be running the show. [WWD]
• The Sundance Film Festival kicks off in Park City, Utah tomorrow. And it's shaping up to be fest's "most important" year ever, supposedly. [NYT, WSJ]
Just when you think there isn't anything left for Chanel to stamp its brand on—maybe you'd be interested in buying a temporary tattoo for $75?—and Karl Lagerfeld comes through with another surprise. Yes, Chanel-branded footballs can now be purchased for $175. Don't forget to share the good news with all the fashion-forward football fanatics in your life! [FWD]
Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack was gracious enough to forego a bonus for 2009. But pretty much everyone else did just fine. Despite the fact the bank reported its first annual loss in its 74-year history this morning, the firm said it set aside $14.4 billion to pay employee bonuses and salaries, "an astonishing figure, even by the gilded standards of Wall Street" and one that's up 30 percent from 2008. Of course, it's always possible the windfall led a magnanimous banker to toss a couple of coins in the direction of the poor guy assigned to polish the Morgan Stanley logo this afternoon. Feel free to consider that the upside if you'd like! [NYT, FT]
It's only been a couple of weeks since the TSA announced plans to install 300 full-body scanners at airports around the country. Which is more than enough time for an ad agency to figure out a way to exploit the subject and suggest in a new ad campaign that women will now need to pay more attention to the lingerie they wear. [Copyranter]
Despite its name, MTV's Jersey Shore isn't really a reflection on New Jersey, says Slate's Jonah Weiner. It's more a comment on where half of the cast is originally from: Staten Island, "prime summer-rental feeder community," longtime haven to members of the Mafia, the site of one of the city's biggest landfills, and "home to the largest per-capita Italian-American population in New York state." [Slate]
You could have stayed at home to watch horrific, bloody scenes of human misery unfold on TV. Or you could have jetted over to Milan, where the espresso is better and this week's menswear shows have been all about death and violence. Before you go and ask whether some members of the fashion industry are a little out of touch with what's going on in the world—is it really appropriate to send models down the runway covered in fake blood when every news network is broadcasting images of bloody survivors of the earthquake in Haiti?—keep in mind that war and other forms of human tragedy are actually good for the fashion biz. After all, they stimulate creativity! As Guy Trebay of the Times explains it:
It isn't just conservative lawmakers who are worried about New Jersey's new medical marijuana law, which gives people with debilitating diseases the right to purchase up to two ounces of marijuana each month. Pot dealers are concerned, too! "It's going to cut a lot of the bridge-and-tunnel customers," one dealer tells the Daily News, adding that if he tried to compete with the legal stuff based on price, he'd lose "hundreds of thousands of dollars a year." If you're out of work and were thinking about dealing a bit on the side to pay the bills—not such a bad idea, at least up until now!—you make want to think about some other way to make quick cash. [NYDN]
Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau retired at the end of 2009 at the tender age of 90. Did you expect him to move to some sunny retirement community and play golf for the rest of his days? Pen a memoir and reflect on his 35-year career as DA? That isn't his plan. Morgenthau reports he's joining Wachtell Lipton, the notoriously aggressive corporate law firm that represents some of the biggest banks in America. [BW]
