Did you watch the debate between Mike Bloomberg and Bill Thompson last night? Or did you conclude it would be a big waste of time since the election was predetermined before the campaigning even began and you figured that if you did tune in and you happened to find yourself enamored with Thompson, it would only lead to heartbreak next month when he's clobbered at the polls?
• Whoopi Goldberg has gone into contract to sell her two-bedroom loft at 101 Wooster Street. The comedian, actress, and View co-host put the apartment on the market for $3.99 million back in June and closed on the purchase of a home in West Orange, NJ just last week. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]
• After going into contract (and falling out of contract) multiple times, the triplex penthouse at 895 Park that belonged to the late movie producer and clothing entrepreneur Charles Evans has finally found a buyer. The four-bedroom apartment, which was first offered for $29.5 million in 2007, was purchased for $15 million by Robert Weisz, the CEO of the commercial real estate company the RPW Group, and his wife Cristina. [Cityfile]
It's a big day for Jewish fashion designers from the outer boroughs, clearly: Brooklyn native Isaac Mizrahi turns 48 today; meanwhile, the Bronx's very own Ralph Lauren is turning 70. Others celebrating today: Usher is turning 31. Yankees manager Joe Girardi turns 45. Actor Roger Moore is 82. Marc Jacobs' longtime business partner, Robert Duffy, is turning 55. Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks is 35. Czech model Daniela Pestova is 39. Sports radio host Jim Rome is turning 45. Writer Katha Pollitt turns 60. Wrestler/actress Stacy Keibler is 30. And Madonna's daughter, Lourdes Leon, who looks like she's turning 21, is actually turning 13 today.
• After another wild day in court, Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook settled their latest round of legal issues yesterday. But not before Brinkley called her ex an "extreme narcissist," and Cook returned the favor by telling reporters she was an "angry, bitter, vindictive woman." At least it's nice to know they still have feelings for each other, though! [NYP, NYDN]
• As easy as it is to picture Courtney Love sitting in front of her computer punching numbers into an Excel spreadsheet, it turns out she may not be the best financial planner in the world. Love owes $300K in back taxes, according to the government. [TMZ]
• Michael Lohan says he knows who Lindsay's drug dealer is and he plans to reveal all in an effort to "save" his daughter. So who is he? "He has no job. He does nothing. All he does is supply everyone in LA." Call us crazy, but supplying "everyone" in LA sounds like a pretty good job to us. [Radar, NYDN]
• Get ready to see a lot more of Megan Fox dressed in, well, not much: Giorgio Armani has tapped her to star in his new underwear ad campaign. [WWD]
Struggling movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob are selling off their controlling stake in the struggling social network aSmallWorld, according to the LA Times. (The buyer is Patrick Liotard-Vogt, an heir to the family that founded Nestle.) Clearly the site and Weinstein boys have both seen better days, and with the Weinstein Co. now focused on getting out from under a mountain of debt, presumably even a hundred-dollar bill for a site that hasn't been relevant in half a decade is better than nothing. But the saddest footnote to the story? In the three years that Harv owned part of the social networking site, he never found time to set up a profile, it seems:
Those fish pedicures that no one was actually getting, but which managed to generate loads of press nonetheless? State Senator Jeffrey Klein of the Bronx announced yesterday that he plans to introduce legislation to ban the "treatment," since "you can't sanitize fish" and it's "dangerous and clearly unsanitary."
• There may be other suitors for NBC in addition to Comcast. Like News Corp. And Liberty Media. And Time Warner. Or maybe not. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, for one, says he isn't interested. [THR, DHD, Gawker, AdAge]
• More on the sale of BusinessWeek: "Knowledgeable sources" say Bloomberg is paying $2-$5 million in cash for the mag. And another source reports the mag will be changing its name to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Naturally. [BW, NYT]
• The war between the White House and Fox News goes on. [NYDN, ABC, CJR]
• If you notice TV commercials seem more upbeat than usual, it's because the advertising world has decided to be cheerful and optimistic again. [NYT]
• The Atlantic has determined that NBC CEO Jeff Zucker and New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. are "Brave Thinkers," for some reason. [NYO]
A 2001 Mercedes-Benz E320 that used to be the property of Bernie Madoff (before the US Marshals Service came along and confiscated the keys, naturally) is going up for auction on October 23. It's a Ponzi scheme double-header, actually. Also on the block will be the RV that once belonged to imprisoned hedge fund manager/scam artist Samuel Israel and served as his escape vehicle, no less. [Dealbreaker]
Bloomberg is now reporting that Bloomberg, the media company founded by a man with the last name Bloomberg, has reached a deal to buy BusinessWeek from McGraw-Hill. "BusinessWeek, with its extraordinary context and perspective on the economy and companies, presents a giant opportunity for Bloomberg News to reach decision makers in the most important industries," said Bloomberg's editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler. Added bonus? Although terms of the deal weren't disclosed, it probably wasn't all that expensive either. [Bloomberg]
Proving once again that the fashion industry and France are bastions of racial tolerance and acceptance, the new issue of French Vogue features a photoshoot featuring model Lara Stone in blackface. While we're on the subject of tolerance and acceptance, please note that if you happen to be overweight, Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld (seen here awkwardly clasping the hand of a black man) most assuredly will not tolerate or accept you. In an interview with the German magazine Focus, the 95-pound former fattie (and notorious rabble-rouser) says that women who criticize runway models for being too thin are just jealous fat-asses who sit on the couch all day eating potato chips. Really. Not that these women should get up off the couch and go outside, mind you. "Nobody wants to see a round woman," he says. [Jezebel, NYDN, Telegraph]
No need to worry about dressing up for Halloween and running the risk that your dog's costume will clash with your own. You can coordinate! Now when you shed your Upper East Side-living, lawyerly image and put on that same slutty French maid costume you always wear one night a year, you can make sure your dog looks just as slutty. Awesome! Between you, your dog, and your investment banker boyfriend wearing the very popular Bernie Madoff mask, you'll be the hit of the party, no doubt. [Buzzfeed]
You thought seeing the occasional white Hummer limo (with blue LED lights on the outside and teenagers from New Jersey on the inside) was an eyesore? Just be thankful that this Russian-made grenade-proof SUV adorned with white gold, diamonds and rubies and upholstered with "whale penis leather" (?) hasn't hit the streets of NYC yet. Although if someone is actually producing such a vehicle—and actually expects to find buyers for it—we're going to look on the bright side and take this as further evidence that the economy really has rebounded. [Luxist]
You know that Mike Bloomberg is running for a third term next month, of course. And you may even be familiar with the Democrat running against him, Bill Thompson. (If you haven't had a chance to familiarize yourself with Thompson's platform, you can watch him go up against Bloomberg in a debate this evening.) But are you familiar with the seven other people who will be on the ballot this November?
Having some difficulty landing a job? Maybe you should consider starting your very own hedge fund! Contrary to conventional wisdom, it's a pretty good time to get started. And Business Insider has assembled a step-by-step guide to make the process that much easier. Just be sure to pick an appropriate name for your new fund—try to avoid words or historical events ("Ground Zero," "Auschwitz") that might conjure up negative thoughts, if at all possible—and you'll be good to go. [Business Insider]
This may come as something of a surprise to you, but four days after he was convicted of ripping off his mother, Brooke Astor, Anthony Marshall has been "keeping a low profile," the Daily News reports today. (And you'd been under the assumption he was spending late nights in the meatpacking district with a gaggle of models and a never-ending flow of champagne. Apparently not!) So if he hasn't been out and about, what has he been doing? "He's spent most of his time since [the verdict] sleeping," reports a childhood friend. [NYDN]
Penelope Cruz leaving her hotel ... Sarah Jessica Parker walking to the set of Sex and the City 2 ... Hugh Jackman getting out of an SUV in front of his apartment building ... Alicia Silverstone leaving the CW studios in Midtown ... Tyra Banks posing for a photo shoot on Fifth Avenue ... Elizabeth Hurley walking out of her hotel ... Mark Wahlberg hanging out on the set of The Other Guys ... Glee's Cory Monteith and Lea Michele leaving the Brooks Aktinson Theater ... Paris Hilton and Doug Reinhardt getting out of an car ... and Sienna Miller leaving the American Airlines Theater in Times Square after a performance of After Miss Julie.
• Kimora Lee Simmons is looking to unload a decidedly modest home she owns in East Hampton. The 2,300-square-foot home, which Kimora picked up for $690,000 in 2003, is currently listed for $800,000. Don't expect to find any evidence that the Queen of Bling has spent much time there: In addition to the much larger estate she owns nearby, she also has a $20 million mansion in Saddle River, NJ, which has been on the market since 2007. [Real Estalker, PDE]
• Retired tech exec Lawrence Mueller and his wife Mary Kay have dropped the price of their three-bedroom condo at 15 Central Park West five months after first listing it for $16.5 million. The 25th-floor condo, which the couple bought for $5.99 million in late '07, is now priced at $15.5 million. [Curbed, PDE]
Sacha Baron Cohen turns 38 today. Ashanti is turning 29. Paul Simon is 68. Kelly Preston is turning 47. Kate Walsh of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice is 42. Model Beverly Johnson is 57. Ivan Bart, the head of IMG Models, is turning 46. Billionaire Tom Tisch turns 55. Mega art dealer William Acquavella is 72. Sammy Hagar of Van Halen is 62. Access Hollywood's Billy Bush is turning 38. George Bush's former spokesman, Ari Fleischer, is 49. Marie Osmond is 50. Retired NFL star Jerry Rice is 47. Serena Altschul, the former MTV VJ and CBS News correspondent, is 39. Margaret Thatcher is 84. And Donald Trump's least famous child, Tiffany Trump, celebrates her 16th birthday today.
According to the Post, Bernie Madoff got into a "prison-yard tussle" last week. It wasn't over whose turn it was to use the weights in the prison yard, though, or who would be getting the last serving of jello in the prison cafeteria. The two supposedly faced off over "the state of the market," and Madoff ended up winning the battle, shoving the guy and forcing him to stumble, which allowed "Madoff to collect some 'cred' among his fellow prisoners." You may want to note that this is the same paper (and reporter) who informed us a few weeks ago that Madoff was dying of cancer. So perhaps in addition to beating down his rivals, Madoff's health is improving, too? Let's hope so! [NYP]
Penn Badgley and Blake Lively hailing a cab outside Billy's Bakery in Chelsea ... Drew Barrymore walking downtown ... Mickey Rourke smoking a cigarette on the street ... Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber pushing son Alexander in a stroller ... Hugh Jackman hanging out in the West Village with wife Deborah Lee and daughter Ava ... Julianne Moore walking downtown ... Matt Damon shooting scenes for The Adjustment Bureau outside the courthouses on Centre Street ... Susan Sarandon leaving Pastis ... Anderson Cooper leaving ABC studios after an appearance on Live with Regis and Kelly ... Penelope Cruz leaving her hotel ... reality TV star Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley kissing in the meatpacking district ... Chris Pine leaving the Bowery Hotel ... Hilary Duff going to see A Steady Rain on Broadway with a friend ... and Salma Hayek attempting to get past some paparazzi on the Upper West Side.
