Good news for senior execs at bailed-out banks and auto companies. While Treasury Department "pay czar" Ken Feinberg announced last week that he was slashing overall compensation at the companies under his control, he's since decided to raise base salaries. Why? Because the banks complained, of course, which prompted Feinberg to re-review the matter.
Remember when Donald was tricked into renting his Bedford estate to Libya during last month's opening session of the UN General Assembly? Consider the score settled, even if Donald didn't have anything to do with it. To promote its new line of chicken sandwiches, an actor dressed as Colonel Sanders managed to sneak his way into the UN yesterday and ended up scoring a photo op with a Libyan diplomat. Not that the official should have been expected to recognize the colonel. Libyais one of the few countries that remains KFC-free (and may very well remain that way after this little international incident). [NYDN]
Billy Joel leaving his building and heading to Nello's (!) for lunch ... Michelle Williams walking daughter Matilda to school ... Blake Lively shopping downtown ... Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos attending a Rangers game with their kids ... Courteney Cox arriving at her hotel after an appearance on Regis & Kelly ... David Arquette leaving his hotel ... Kelly Rutherford on the set of Gossip Girl in Queens ... America Ferrera filming scenes for Ugly Betty ... Andy Samberg walking with girlfriend Joanna Newsom in SoHo ... Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen leaving ABC after an appearance on GMA ... and Alex Rodriguez walking with Kate Hudson to Serafina to have lunch.
• Clive Davis is spreading out at the Ritz Tower. The legendary music exec, who already lives in a duplex on the 36th and 37th floors, paid $1.125 million for a two-bedroom apartment in the Park Avenue building. [Cityfile]
• Richard Bressler, Viacom's former CFO and a now a partner at Thomas H. Lee Partners, has unloaded his duplex at 850 Park. The five-bedroom co-op, which Bressler purchased for $9.75 million in 2005 and put on the market for $13.5 million in March, sold for $11.4 million. [Cityfile]
• Two months after Bruce Ratner sold his Montauk estate for $10 million, the real estate developer has picked up a more modest weekend retreat in Long Beach. Ratner paid $2 million for the three-bedroom oceanfront home. [NYO]
If you skipped the debate between Mike Bloomberg and Bill Thompson, you probably made the right choice. For better or worse, nothing that happened last night is going to change what happens next week. And if you just wanted to watch two politicians verbally pummel each other for an hour, you could turn on a cable news channel at any time of the day or night. Then again you did miss opportunity to see the bilingual mayor casually break into Spanish for no apparent reason!
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad turns 53 today. The richest man on the planet, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is turning 54. Julia Roberts celebrates her 42nd birthday today. Conan sidekick Andy Richter is turning 43. Joaquin Phoenix is 35. Bruce Jenner, the former athlete and current stepdad to the Kardashian clan, is turning 60. The CEO of Pepsi, Indra Nooyi, is turning 54. Singer/songwriter Ben Harper is 40. Actress Lauren Holly is 46. Actor Dennis Franz is turning 65. And former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres turns 35 today.
• Rosie O'Donnell told Howard Stern yesterday that she "had a chance to romance" Angelina Jolie back when they were both single and they talked on the phone a few times, but they never ended going out for dinner as planned, alas. She also says Petra Nemcova once sent her "love signals" when the model was a guest on Rosie's talk show, but she didn't capitalize on that opportunity either. Rosie has a new satellite radio show launching next week, so don't be surprised if more of these missed love connections surface in the coming days. [NYDN, CM]
• In other creepy celebrity sex news, a new book by controversial biographer Andrew Morton claims that Angelina Jolie slept with her mother's live-in boyfriend when she was 16 years old. And a second Jolie tell-all, to be published on December 1, claims Angie once contemplated suicide, has a history of heroin use, and, when it comes to her relationship with Brad Pitt, has "successfully manipulated the public into believing a glamorous fairytale that bears little resemblance to the reality of the pair's life together." [DM, Us]
• Ashley Dupre popped by Scores last Saturday night. She didn't strip, but she did make out with her new boyfriend PJ all night, so patrons of the strip club didn't go home totally empty-handed. [P6]
• The much-hyped Breslin opens for lunch on Thursday, but co-owner Ken Friedman already has a detractor: the mosque across the street. [NYO]
• Closings: Centro Vinoteca in the West Village has been shuttered by the city. And the Bread Bar at Tabla is closing as of tonight. [Eater, GS]
• François Payard's eponymous patisserie closed four months ago, but he'll make a mini-comeback next month when he opens a chocolate bar. [NYT]
• How busy is restaurateur Michael "Bao" Huynh? He's opening one restaurant a week during the month of November. So he's pretty busy. [GS]
• Greenhouse is facing more legal trouble: A couple of weeks after the club was sued for $1 billion comes another discrimination suit for $1.5 billion. [NYDN]
• A roundup of restaurants offering various Halloween specials. [Zagat]
• Nell Scovell, a writer on Dave Letterman's show in the late '80s, has stepped forward to detail the show's "hostile, sexually charged atmosphere." [VF]
• Layoffs: Yesterday's cuts at Forbes claimed 30-40 people; reality TV-focused Teen Vogue laid off half a dozen staffers today; the cuts continue this week at W; and a big round of cuts could go down at Time Inc. sometime next week.
• Sarah Palin's memoir, which comes out next month, had already earned her $1.25 million even before she stepped down as Alaska's governor. [AP]
• Michael Jackson's This Is It debuts in theaters tonight. [NYDN]
• How's Jay Leno's new show doing more than a month in? Not so good. [NYT]
The city's Department of Education wants kids to eat healthier meals. As part of her Yum-o! foundation, Rachael Ray has been looking for ways to "give back." Yesterday the two came together when Ray appeared at a press conference at PS 89 in Tribeca to unveil the "sizzling soft tacos" that the school system is force-feeding to some 600,000 kids this week. Unfortunately, however, the PR spectacle didn't go off as planned.
"Urbanwear" designer Marc Ecko has been on the brink of ruin for many months now. He had to sell off parts of his company to stay afloat, he put his ridiculously over-the-top office/gymnasium in Chelsea up for lease, and his 30,000-square-foot castle in New Jersey was hit with several liens after he had trouble coming up with the cash to finish $21 million worth of renovations. But Ecko has been tossed a life preserver. The apparel company Iconix has announced it's taking a majority stake in Ecko's company. He won't have to worry about going bust any longer, and his line of streetwear will finally be united with its spiritual cousin, Rocawear. Everyone wins! [Crain's]
Many have criticized Wall Street firms for not doing more to manage risk in the lead up to the financial crisis and many have wondered just how much has changed over the past year. Let it be known that JPMorgan Chase is no longer playing by the old rules when banks were handing out loans to anyone who asked. If you're an accused murderer? Well, then, the new JPMorgan Chase wants nothing to do with you.
Bill Thompson doesn't stand much of a chance at winning next week's mayoral election. But the two will face off once again this evening for their second and final debate. (Thompson will have to deliver "the political equivalent of an Oscar-performance" if he has any hope of turning things around, says Michael Barbaro of the Times.) Don't think the mayor is coasting on his lead, or on the $85 million he's spent on his campaign thus far. He's taking tonight's debate seriously: "Mr. Bloomberg seems to be taking no chances on Tuesday: there are no events other than the debate on his schedule, allowing him to spend the day preparing for the confrontation." Either that or he's figured out that it's an excellent excuse to take the day off and chill out at home, which it is. [NYT]
Gisele Bundchen walking down the street just after having lunch at Blue Ribbon yesterday ... Matt Damon heading to the set of The Adjustment Bureau with his wife and daughters ... Naomi Watts carrying a bag of groceries from Whole Foods ... Gerard Butler riding a bike in SoHo ... Samuel L. Jackson shooting scenes for The Other Guys ... Courteney Cox and David Arquette shopping in SoHo and later going to dinner ... America Ferrera filming scenes for Ugly Betty downtown ... Beyoncé and Jay-Z eating at Nello's on Madison Avenue ... Chace Crawford and Blake Lively walking on the set of Gossip Girl ... and Jude Law playing soccer in the West Village with sons Rudy and Rafferty.
The Surrey Hotel on 76th Street and Madison officially opens its doors on November 1 following a stunning re-creation by interior designer Lauren Rottet. Featuring 190 "salons," including 30 suites, in-room dining by Café Boulud, a new lobby-level bar, a private rooftop English garden, spa, and an impressive collection of contemporary art, the Upper East Side will once again be home to one of New York's most luxurious and exclusive hotel properties. The Surrey now invites you to celebrate the reopening with a very special Introductory Offer, featuring a complimentary room upgrade, breakfast for two at Café Boulud, two complimentary cocktails at Bar Pleiades, two VIP passes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a special gift from the spa when you purchase a spa treatment. Rates start at $629 per night. Click here to make reservations. Or call 212-465-3632 and mention the code INTRO.
• Israeli-born entrepreneur Beny Alagem has closed on the sale of his three-bedroom apartment at 15 Central Park West. The 15th-floor condo, which Alagem and his wife Adele bought for $15.4 million in April 2008 and listed for $24 million last June, ended up selling for $19.9 million. The buyer is Stuart Peterson, the president of Silicon Valley's Artis Capital Management. Peterson, who made a fortune as an early investor in YouTube, set the record for purchasing the most expensive home in Bay area in 2006. [Cityfile]
• Armon Bar-Tur, a managing director at SafeHarbor Capital Partners, and his wife Rebecca, have put their townhouse at 92 Charles Street on the market. The four-bedroom home, which the couple picked up for $6 million in 2006, is now listed for $14.5 million. [Curbed, Corcoran]
• Renowned Broadway costume designer William Ivey Long has sold his Chelsea townhouse. The restored home at 349 West 20th Street, which Ivey bought back in 1994, sold for $4.75 million. [Cityfile]
