cityfile

Goldman's Latest Mishap

cityfile · 11/30/09 09:55AM

Goldman Sachs just can't catch a break. The embattled bank faced another round of construction trouble over the weekend when glass panes atop of Goldman's new 43-story HQ on Vesey Street—the one Mayor Bloomberg described as one of the safest buildings in the city—rained down on the street below. No one was injured in the incident, but the shattered glass did disrupt traffic for two hours, quite possibly adding several thousand motorists to the list of people who now despise Goldman Sachs. [NYP]

Michael Strahan Lists Tribeca Apartment

cityfile · 11/30/09 08:50AM

• Former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan has put his 2,000-square-foot loft at 25 Murray Street on the market. The one-bedroom pad, which Strahan bought for $1.635 million in 2008 but has barely used since he spends most of his time in LA these days, is currently listed for $1.85 million. [WSJ, PDE]
• The lower half of George Gershwin's former duplex at 132 East 72nd Street has gone into contract after more than nine months on the market. The two-bedroom co-op had most recently been listed for $3.05 million. Meanwhile, socialite Debbie Bancroft's apartment, which is located one floor up and comprises the second half of Gershwin's former home, is still on the market for a reduced price of $1.5 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran, BHS]
• African telecom mogul Yerim Sow has re-listed his three-bedroom pad at 15 CPW. Sow bought the 36th-floor condo in 2008 for $10.3 million and put it up for sale in May for $21 million, pulling down the listing a month later. Now it's up for sale again and listed for $21 million once more. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Real estate mogul Elie Hirschfeld has put his East Hampton estate up for sale. The 12,000-square-foot manse is listed for $25 million. [Real Deal, Sotheby's]

Bloomberg Reelection Tab Rises Higher

cityfile · 11/30/09 08:23AM

Mike Bloomberg spent a fortune on his campaign for a third term and still only managed to prevail by less than five percentage points, so it's probably to be expected that the mayor's staff dropped this piece of news on the day after Thanksgiving. According to data released on Friday, Bloomberg spent a record $102 million on his reelection campaign (or $174 per vote), a figure that is expected to go up once the mayor hands out a big bunch of thank-you bonuses to senior members of his staff. [NYT, NYDN, NYP]

Chelsea Engaged

cityfile · 11/30/09 08:00AM

Remember all those rumors that Chelsea Clinton was going to marry her longtime boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky, in Martha's Vineyard this past summer? That never happened, of course, but the couple is now officially one step closer to tying the knot. Clinton and Mezvinsky sent out an email on Friday to announce they're engaged. [ABC News]

Happy Birthday

cityfile · 11/30/09 07:33AM

"Real Housewife" Jill Zarin turns 46 today. Ben Stiller is turning 44. Actor Gael García Bernal is 31. Writer/director David Mamet is 62. Model Chanel Iman is turning 20. Director Ridley Scott is turning 72. TV legend Dick Clark turns 80 today. Billy Idol is 54. Elisha Cuthbert, the actress and ex-girlfriend of Sean Avery, is 27. Actress Amy Ryan turns 40. Performance artist Marina Abramovic is 63. Retired NFL and MLB star Bo Jackson turns 47. Watergate burglar-turned-radio host G. Gordon Liddy is 79. Clay Aiken is turning 31. And Joan Ganz Cooney, the Sesame Street creator, wife of billionaire financier Pete Peterson, and step-grandmother to PC Peterson, is 80.

Happy Thanksgiving

cityfile · 11/26/09 06:00AM

We'll be back on Monday. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

cityfile · 11/25/09 02:48PM

• Sarah Palin's memoir is officially No. 1 on the US bestseller list, alas. [NYT]
• A Swiss court has granted bail to director Roman Polanski. [Times UK]
• Oprah will sit down with the president as part of a Christmas special. [THR]
• All that drama at the AMAs is boosting sales of Glambert's new album. [LAT]
• Related: Is there a double-standard when it comes to gay performers on network television? CBS's Early Show asks the question, then answers it. [HP]
• Fox is looking forward to the return of Idol and 24 in a few weeks. [NYT]
New Moon has a lock on the long weekend box office, not surprisingly. [LAT]
• Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on her decision to appear in Woody Allen's next film: "Maybe I will be terrible. But, in my life, I cannot let such a chance go." [BN]

The Bizarro World of Thanksgiving

cityfile · 11/25/09 12:30PM

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the spending-time-with-family anxiety has likely already set in. What better way to take your mind off of the impending holiday drama—you know, Grandma pre-gaming at 9am with a handle of scotch, Uncle Bob's off-color jokes—than by looking into all the crazy Thanksgiving accoutrements you can pick up this Turkey Day? A few favorites after the jump.

Lou Dobbs: ¡Vota por Mi !

cityfile · 11/25/09 11:20AM

Former CNN anchor and immigrant hater Lou Dobbs is thinking about running for elected office. (He may mount a campaign for Senate from New Jersey, but he hasn't ruled out a run for president.) So now it's time to backtrack to try and woo that all-important Latino demographic! Dobbs now says he supports plans to legalize undocumented workers, an idea he ripped apart nightly for, oh, years when he was sitting in the anchor chair at CNN. And he's now "trying to wipe away his image as an enemy of Latino immigrants by positioning himself as a champion of that fast-growing ethnic bloc." As a champion, no less! Buena suerte with that, Lou. [WSJ]

Ali Wise Tells a Different Tale

cityfile · 11/25/09 10:57AM

So much for that report in the Daily News yesterday that fallen publicist/socialite Ali Wise has signed on to appear in Tinsley Mortimer's upcoming reality show, Empire State. A publicist for Wise—yes, even publicists have their own publicists from time to time—says that Wise has not (yet?) agreed to appear on the CW show.

Spotted

cityfile · 11/25/09 09:44AM

Jude Law walking downtown with his personal assistant ... Tobey Maguire leaving the Four Seasons Hotel via the back door... Katharine McPhee hailing a cab ... Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas eating lunch on the set of Wall Street 2 ... Famke Janssen walking in the West Village ... Katie Holmes carrying Suri on the set of The Romantics on Long Island ... Adam Lambert leaving his hotel in Midtown and later arriving at MTV studios in Times Square ... Amber Rose arriving at a Cinema Society after-party at the Gramercy Park Hotel ... Catherine Zeta-Jones walking in Midtown ... and Robin Williams leaving the Trump International Hotel.

Lloyd Blankfein's Park Avenue Price Cut!

cityfile · 11/25/09 08:53AM

• It's been six months since Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his wife Laura put their old duplex on the market for $15 million. And yet, sadly, there have been no takers. The Blankfeins just cut $1.5 million off the price of the apartment, though, so perhaps their luck is about to turn around? The five-bedroom co-op at 941 Park Avenue—which comes with 30-foot living room with wood-burning fireplace, paneled library, formal dining room, and two maid's rooms—can now be yours for $13.5 million. [Cityfile, Stribling]

Where's Rudy?

cityfile · 11/25/09 08:26AM

Remember last week when Rudy Giuliani insiders hinted that the ex-mayor would announce a run for Senate "in the next 48 hours"? Well, it's been five days since then and there hasn't been a peep from Team Rudy. "This is not how candidacies are launched," says Steve Kornacki. No, indeed, it is not. But let's all hope any potential Rudy campaign in the future goes this smoothly. [NYO]

Happy Birthday

cityfile · 11/25/09 07:54AM

Former First Twins Barbara and Jenna Bush turn 28 today. Actor/economist/ex-game show host Ben Stein is turning 65. New York Times columnist Gail Collins is turning 64. Jill Hennessy is 41. Christina Applegate is turning 38. Actor John Larroquette is 62. Pop/gospel singer Amy Grant is 49. Philadelphia Eagles star Donovan McNabb turns 33. Famed choreographer Trisha Brown is turning 73. Soul legend Percy Sledge is 69. And competitive eater (and hot dog eating champion) Joey Chestnut turns 26 today.

The Scene in Washington; Jolie vs. Obama?

cityfile · 11/25/09 07:20AM

• Last night's state dinner drew quite a crowd. On hand of the occasion: Katie Couric (accompanied by beau Brooks Perlin), Gayle King (sans Oprah), Brian Williams, Mayor Bloomberg (with Diana Taylor), Ari Emanuel, M. Night Shyamalan, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen (accompanied by his youthful boyfriend). Jennifer Hudson provided the entertainment; Naeem Khan was responsible for Michelle Obama's gold dress. [Politico, Reuters, NYP]
• She may not be in rehab (yet), but Lindsay Lohan is supposedly now in counseling and seeing someone a few times a week. It's a start, isn't it? [MSNBC]
• In what may be the most dubious story ever published by Us, a source tells the tabloid that Angelina Jolie "hates" President Obama because he's "all about welfare and handouts" and is really "a socialist in disguise." Naturally, the source goes on to say that Brad Pitt is still a fan of Obama, which means the two "get in nasty arguments" about politics "all the time." [Us]

cityfile · 11/24/09 05:50PM

• The Breslin at the Ace Hotel has started serving dinner. [TONY]
Marcus Samuelsson is cooking up the state dinner in DC tonight. The mostly vegetarian menu features curry, herbs from the White House garden. [AP]
• A few recommendations on where to eat out on Thanksgiving Day. [TONY]
• Murray's Cheese is expanding thanks a deal with a grocery chain. [NYT]
• There's a bit more Tavern on the Green drama today. [NYT]
• Alan Richman dragged Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert to Costco to go shopping. Ripert was horrified by the store, but pleasantly surprised with the food. [GQ]
• The tuna your local sushi spot is serving you may not be tuna. [Gothamist]

Farewell, Diners Club

cityfile · 11/24/09 04:43PM

Who knew Diners Club still existed? It turns out it does and today Citigroup announced that it's selling off the near-dead credit card franchise to a Canadian bank for "an undisclosed sum" (read: not much) as it looks to shed "noncore assets and streamline operations." A look back at the glory days of America's first credit card below.

cityfile · 11/24/09 02:53PM

• France's first lady, Carla Bruni, will star in Woody Allen's next movie. [AFP]
• Time Inc. is shutting down InStyle Weddings and laying off nine people in the process. The company also let 15 staffers go at Fortune today. [Gawker, NYP]
• Adam Lambert's racy performance at the AMAs has stirred up some drama, in case you haven't heard; ABC says it's been flooded with complaints. [NYT]
• In related news, Lambert will not be appearing on GMA due to the fallout, but he will be on the Early Show and the Late Show with David Letterman. [HL]
• The Washington Post is closing its NYC, LA, Chicago bureaus. [WaPo]
• Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst are setting up a company to "allow them to take the digital future into their own hands." Better late than never! [NYO]
• Sarah Palin's Going Rogue sold 700,000 copies in its first week, sadly. [AP]