This isn't shaping up to be an especially good year for New York's ultra-rich. According to Forbes, Moscow recently overtook NYC as the city with the most billionaires per square mile: Moscow had 74 people worth ten figures compared to New York, which had just 71. But those smarmy bazillionaires aren't staying put in Moscow or even in the de-facto Russian mogul ghetto of London. Many of them are spending time right here in New York: Real estate, oil, and metals scions from Russia and other former Soviet republics have been busy snatching up some of the most expensive apartments the city has to offer. Last month, a 42-year-old fertilizer kingpin named Dmitry Rybolovlev agreed to pay $100 million for Donald Trump's Palm Beach mansion, Maison de l'Amitié. The 59th richest man in the world, worth some $12.8 billion, his purchase includes a 33,000-square-foot home and 6.5 acres of land. But he isn't the only one. After the jump, a list of the novi Russki who spend time in New York—just who these Soviet oligarchs are, how they made their money, and what exactly they're up to in town.

• The controversy over the Obama New Yorker cover rages on. The mag says it's received a flood of angry letters, although we're pretty sure David Remnick is the happiest he's been in months. [WWD]

The voicemail recording on Andre Balazs's cell phone.

Wondering why there's a humongous red carpet running down the middle of Sixth Avenue? You can thank/blame Major League Baseball, which installed 95,000 square feet of the stuff for the All-Star game tonight at Yankee stadium. [Curbed]

Did you catch Anderson Cooper's stint as guest host on Live! with Kelly Ripa yesterday? Well, then, you missed Kelly rather awkwardly try to pair him off with a former model-turned-stylist named Lawrence Zarian. (You can check out Zarian on MySpace here.) Not surprisingly, poor Andy looked a little uncomfortable by the set-up and took five steps back from the former JC Penney model. Maybe next time he should stick to guest hosting Larry King instead? Much less risky—just ask Ryan Seacrest!

Good news for the beleaguered New York Times and op-ed columnist Nick Kristof! A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a ruling by a lower court dismissing a defamation lawsuit by Steven J. Hatfill, the former government scientist who the Times had suggested, has been involved in those anthrax mailings of 2001. (It's not all bad news for Hatfill: He collected $4.6 million to settle the case with the Justice Department.) Below, the entire decision by the court for all you legal types.

Fifty-eight years ago today, a baby named Arianna Stassinopoulos was born in Athens, Greece; these days you know the liberal-turned-conservative-turned-liberal as Arianna Huffington, the founder of The Huffington Post. Also celebrating on this 15th day of July: Paul Sevigny is 37. Actor Forest Whitaker is 47. The future Mrs. Howard Stern, "model" Beth Ostrosky turns 36. Don Hill is turning 64. Real estate scion Dan Tishman is 53. Interior designer David Easton is turning 72. And adman Mitch Oscar is 56. Most importantly, it's Brian Austin Green's birthday today, too. Be a little extra generous with your loose change if he's your barista today.

That was quick: Four days after the Times revealed that Charlie Rangel occupies four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem—including one which he uses as a home office—the Congressman has decided to evict himself. Just from the one that functions as his office, though! The other three he's keeping! [NYP]

• Cynthia Rodriguez thinks her husband hired private investigators to spy on her and tap her phones, and now she wants his lawyers to hand over whatever they found. [NYP]

• Lehman Brothers is said to be weighing a plan to take the firm private. [NYP]

It took 82 years, but New York City may finally get its groove back: The Daily News reports today that the Bloomberg administration is in talks to repeal the city's cabaret license laws, or at least make the licenses a little less rigid. As it stands now—and as you know full well if you've spent any time out since the beginning of the Giuliani adminstration—a club needs the license to allow dancing on the premises, and it's both hard to obtain a permit and easy to lose it for the smallest infractions. Over the years, a long list of venues have battled the Prohibition-era ban, although they've rarely prevailed in their legal bouts with the city. A brief (and select) history of the cabaret wars after the jump.

• The East 64th Street townhouse that Jocelyne Wildenstein and her ex-husband, Alec, lived in for years, has been sold for $42.5 million. The buyer of the 29-foot-wide manse, which features a ballroom and a pool in the basement, remains a mystery, although the prime suspect is Leonard Blavatnik. [NYO]

• Café Socialista, the downstairs cafe at Armin Amiri's Socialista, is no longer; investors such as Sting, Harvey Weinstein and Ben Silverman will likely reopen it in September as a lounge. [Grub St]

Anne Hathaway carrying a bouquet of flowers and an iced coffee ... Maggie Gyllenhaal and daughter Ramona going for a walk in Brooklyn ... Lourdes Leon with dad Carlos leaving Madonna's Central Park West apartment ... Madonna and Guy Ritchie walking in the street instead of the sidewalk in Midtown ... Lauren Conrad and crew boarding a sea plane, en route to the Hamptons ... Jennifer Lopez on the set of an Elle photo shoot with Oscar de la Renta ... Newlyweds Ethan Hawke and Ryan Shawhughes walking their dog through the Village.

• Naomi Campbell is so misunderstood! The reason she continues to model? Not for the cash, but so she can help younger black models in an industry full of racism: "I worry for the girls after me for the opportunities they get—the way they get treated. And this is one of the reasons I still do what I do." Which clearly explains why she used to get Tyra Banks thrown off fashion shows. [Reuters]

Ever wonder why the CEO at your company has a $10,000 telescope parked in the corner of his office? It's not to admire the birds. Or even to peek at the woman in the neighboring office building who changes her blouse at precisely half past five. It's to look in the offices of other CEOs, obviously.

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In a horribly acrimonious split that threatens to tear high society asunder, Page Six reports that zaftig socialite Marjorie Gubelmann and ubiquitous party presence Daniel Benedict have fallen out over what she alleges is her former GBF's mismanagement of their scented candle, bath products and home fragrance company, Vie Luxe—and she's suing him, both for mismanagement and to stop him from setting up a competing company. "This was the most painful decision she ever had to make," said a friend. "Daniel was like family." How traumatic! But since Vie Luxe's fragrances were inspired by Marjorie and Daniel's favorite destinations—thanks to VL, bathrooms can be drenched in St Moritz, and bedrooms infused with the Maldives!—perhaps Marjorie could pick up the pieces of this tragedy by collaborating in the same vein with some of her other friends? She could team up with Lauren and Andres Santo Domingo and bottle eau de Cartegena, Colombia. Or hook up with Zani Gugelmann to capture the scent of Peru! The possibilities are endless!

Andre Balazs has rolled out his latest ploy to sell condos at his downtown Beaver House: The "Beaver Butler" will allows owners to check up on their apartments via "in-residence cameras" while they're away. Unfortunately, the scenes featured in Balazs' promo videos—sexy, scantily-clad models engaged in pillow fights—aren't included with the feature. [NYO]

Don't bother waiting outside Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker's townhouse in the West Village for an autograph. The couple (along with little James Wilke!) will spend the next few weeks at their house in Amagansett before heading off to their home in Ireland. Hopefully they'll play it safer than last year when Matthew broke his collar bone during a riding accident! [People]