The Times follows up on the news last week that Ivanka Trump is planning to introduce a line of lunch foods in partnership with ConAgra. So what is it that the real estate heiress is planning to offer up to busy office workers? Microwave meals called "Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers," which can be stored in a desk for up to a year with no refrigeration required. [NYT, previously]
♦ The Madonna-Guy Ritchie messiness continues: The biological father of Madonna's adopted son says he might be better off in his native country of Malawi, Ritchie supposedly told friends that having sex with Madge was like "cuddling up to a piece of gristle," Madonna has described Ritchie as a gold-digger, and the two sides aren't even close to finalizing a divorce settlement, which means this is going to continue for a long, long time. [NYDN, Mirror, NYP, SS]
♦ Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen may get married at Tavern on the Green, of all places. [P6]
♦ Sam Ronson and Lindsay Lohan got into a little fight aboard the Acela. [P6]
♦ John Thain says he expects "thousands" of job cuts will follow Merrill Lynch's merger with Bank of America. [Bloomberg]
♦ Another day, another bailout: The Netherlands will inject $13.4 billion into ING. [WSJ]
♦ GM is having difficulty acquiring Chrysler because it can't come up with the financing. [WSJ]
As is our custom, we gave Dick Fuld a call this afternoon to see how his brave assistant was holding up. And what do you know? The disgraced chief executive of Lehman Brothers wasn't in the office when we called at two o'clock, nor was his assistant. She was picking up the phone yesterday. Today? Voicemail! Good night and good luck, Dick. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to see you again soon (in Foley Square, quite likely) in the near future.
♦ Aspen Social Club opens in Vikram Chatwal's Stay Hotel on Oct. 28th. [Eater]
♦ The UWS Shake Shack officially opens on Monday. [GS]
♦ Sasha Petraske says he's turning Milk & Honey into a private club because too many bloggers were giving out the unlisted number. [Eater]
♦ The East Village's Sunburnt Cow is marking its fifth anniversary this weekend by "spit-roasting an entire cow in a trailer outside the restaurant." [Zagat]
♦ WWD offers a sneak peak at the ads for Charlotte Ronson's Sebastian haircare campaign that debuts in January, and let's just say the Photoshopping was not skimped on. [Fashionista]
♦ Planning to dress up as Rachel Zoe for Halloween? Of course you are. Here's a handy guide. [HuffPo via The Pipeline]
♦ Julie Gilhart of Barneys says that Rodarte's Laura and Kate Mulleavy "are two of the best designers right now." [WWD]
Lenny Kravitz's 6,000-square-foot penthouse at 30 Crosby Street has been languishing on the market for more than a year now. But it looks like Kravitz's resolve is melting ever so slightly: The price of the loft was just lowered from $19.5 million to $18.75 million. This isn't the first time Kravitz's longtime broker, Corcoran's Andrea Wohl Lucas, has toyed with the price of the lavish spread that's been home to Nicole Kidman and Denzel Washington in the past: After picking up the apartment in 2001 for $8.5 million, Kravitz put it on the market for $13.25 million in 2004, then dropped the price to $12.95 million later that year before finally pulling it off the market altogether in 2006. Kravitz then spent 18 months renovating the place (and addressing his longstanding plumbing issues) before putting it back on the market in the spring of 2007 with a $19.5 million price tag. Now it seems Kravitz is willing to cut prospective buyers a 750K break. How generous! A few photos of the newly-discounted pad after the jump.
Yes, Bobby, we're talking to you. When are you going to get things straightened out at the Greenwich Hotel already? Fine, it's a new place and it takes some time to work out the kinks. But it's been more than six months since you opened, and it's been four months since Frank Bruni ripped Ago to shreds. Plenty of time to figure out how get the food to the table on time, especially when you're asking people to pay $57 for a breakfast of juice, coffee, cereal and fruit. Oh, also: When a reporter from a major newspaper shows up to look around, we'd recommend that your general manager not scold her for taking a photo of the lobby with her digital camera. Especially when he explains that the hotel doesn't permit photography on the premises and there happens to be a photo shoot taking place on the other end of said lobby. [WSJ]
The most tragic casualty of the economic crisis yet: the weekend! Wall Streeters who still have jobs are working a panic-stricken 24-7 schedule, reports Reuters, as are goverment employees working on the bailout plans and public officials dealing with the fallout. Instead of spending Saturday and Sunday shopping and hanging out with family and friends, people are either going into the office or obsessively following the news to stay abreast of every detail that might impact their jobs.
♦ It's confirmed: Sarah Palin will appear on Saturday Night Live tomorrow. [NYDN]
♦ Yet another tragic consequence of the economic meltdown: Suze Orman is making money off the crisis with big-money endorsement deals. [WSJ]
♦ Playboy is cutting costs. How? With energy-efficient lightbulbs, naturally. [WWD]
♦ The Grammy nominations—not the actual awards, mind you—will be a TV special. [NYT]
♦ A hiring freeze is now in place at Condé Nast. [NYP]
Is the tumbling real estate market making people snap? Earlier this week, Mathias Guerrand-Hermès, an heir to the French fashion company and a real estate investor, went nuts on an Air France flight, allegedly attacking the crew and grabbing the pilot's crotch. Today we learn that real estate mogul Kent Swig (left) was assaulted last month by business partner Yair Levy, who now stands accused of beating Swig with a metal ice bucket over an Upper West Side real estate deal gone sour.
Every author knows that seeing your work adapted for the screen is a mixed blessing: The money and exposure is fantastic, but there's always a risk that those Hollywood philistines will fail to capture the essence of your storytelling or, worse, change your carefully-drawn characters. And why should Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar, who created her series at bastion of artistic integrity Alloy Entertainment, be any exception?
Lindsay Lohan leaving the Bowery Hotel ... Michelle Williams walking in Brooklyn with daughter Matilda ... Jada Pinkett Smith arriving at her hotel in Midtown ... Gretchen Mol shooting scenes for her new show, Life on Mars, on Roosevelt Island ... Agyness Deyn walking with a coffee in hand ... George Hamilton arriving at NBC studios ... Zoe Kravitz flipping off photographers while walking with her mom Lisa Bonet and her mom's boyfriend Jason Momoa ... Christie Brinkley and daughter Alexa showing up to an Obama benefit concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom ... Katie Holmes leaving her apartment building en route to the opening night of her show, and later heading to the after-party with Tom Cruise ... and Clay Aiken signing autographs outside the Shubert Theatre.
Did you miss Katie Holmes' debut last night in the revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons? Wondering if she can act? "No! Well, at least not very well," says amNewYork. Not surprisingly, critic John Simon pays more attention to Katie's pretty little face and offers up a much more complimentary assessment: "Her appealing presence in several movies translates seamlessly to the stage."
Sales are, no surprise, slow at the Frieze art fair in London, where all the art world people—Charles Saatchi, Dasha Zhukova, Dakis Joannou, Gavin Brown, Thelma Golden—have been circulating among celebrities—Gwyneth Paltrow, Sienna Miller, Sofia Coppola, Kate Bosworth, Emma Watson—for whom being seen at an art event is a nice way of distancing themselves from the contents of In Touch. "I come to Frieze every year," Gwyneth told reporters. "It's something I really look forward to." (Of course, she didn't actually buy anything, deciding instead to pose for the cameras and talk about the election.)
♦ Jimmy Breslin and his wife, former City Councilmember Ronnie Eldridge, have sold their condo at 2000 Broadway for $3.3 million. The 1,745-square-foot penthouse has two bedrooms, three baths, and, according to the listing, a terrace with "movie-set views." [Cityfile]
♦ Casino mogul Richard Fields has knocked 10 percent off the price of his 38th floor apartment at 15 CPW. The three-bedroom condo is now listed at $31.5 million. [Curbed, Sotheby's]
♦ Retired oil exec Victor Grijalva has sold his four-bedroom spread at 525 Park Avenue for $9.2 million. The buyer is financier Habib Kairouz and his wife Lara. [NYO]
