• Software titan Peter Norton has gone into contract to sell his 45th-floor apartment at Trump International for the second time. Norton originally found a buyer for the 4,415-square-foot apartment back in February when it was listed for $17.9 million. The deal fell through, however, and Norton later tried listing it together with pharma mogul Richard Ullman's spread for a combined $34.7 million. But the apartment was also available on its own—for the reduced price of $16.25 million—and now Norton has managed to find a second buyer to step up. Ullman's apartment, for the record, still hasn't been spoken for. It's currently listed at $18.45 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Warren Spector, the former co-president at Bear Stearns who was dismissed by ex-CEO Jimmy Cayne back in 2007, has sold his penthouse at 40 Fifth Avenue. The buyer, retired Goldman Sachs executive Scott Pinkus, paid $8 million for the two-bedroom apartment. [Cityfile]
• Famed architect Philip Johnson's oceanfront estate in Sagaponack, known as Farney House, has gone on the market. The 5,000-square-foot home is listed for $35 million. [Curbed Hamptons, BHS]

Eight of the 13 entries on Forbes's new list of "America's most troubled luxury neighborhoods" are located in the tri-state area. The worst of the worst: New Vernon, New Jersey, which ranks No. 2 on the list, just ahead of Alpine, NJ. The East End makes a strong showing as well, naturally: Sagaponack and Amagansett come in at No. 4 and 5, respectively. [WSJ, Forbes]

• Kevin Wendle, the serial entrepreneur who co-founded CNET and iFILM, among other companies, has lowered the price of his apartment at 812 Fifth Avenue for the second time since listing it for $14.85 million in January. The 17th-floor apartment, which Wendle purchased for $6.4 million in 2006, is now listed for $9.95 million with Corcoran's Deborah Grubman and Carol Cohen. [Cityfile, Curbed, Corcoran]
• Steve Wynn is about to put his apartment at 817 Fifth Avenue back on the market for $25 million, six years after he failed to sell it for $15 million. The 3,900-square-foot spread, which suffered water damage a few years back, now comes with onyx floors and a leather-lined private elevator vestibule. [NYO]
• Two weeks after it was reported that he was "quietly" shopping his Beresford apartment, Bob Weinstein's 6,500-square-foot duplex has officially hit the market. The six-bedroom apartment with grand stairway, paneled library, two terraces, and three fireplaces is listed with Brown Harris Stevens broker Ileen Schoenfeld for $29.75 million. [NYO, BHS, previously]

• Attorney Bruce Kaye and his wife Deborah have found a buyer for their two-bedroom condo at 15 CPW. The 32nd-floor apartment, which the Kayes bought for $7.8 million last July and put back on the market for $11.9 million in April, went into contract last week. [Cityfile, MRP]
• More moves at the Plaza: Oscar Schafer, managing partner of OSS Capital Management, has gone into contract to sell his 17th-floor apartment, which had been listed most recently at $12.5 million. And Guy Wildenstein has taken $3 million off the price of his Frank Lloyd Wright Suite, which is now listed with Corcoran's Carrie Chiang for $18.5 million. [NYT, Warburg, Corcoran]
• Bruce Lisman, the former co-head of global equities at Bear Stearns, has gone into contract to sell his apartment at 923 Fifth Avenue, nearly two-and-a-half years after he first put it on the market. The four-bedroom condo had most recently been listed at $16.75 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• Marc Dreier's two Hamptons properties sold for a combined $10.4 million at auction last week, which is about $2 million less than they were expected to fetch. [Law.com via Curbed]

Looks like the party may be ending soon at Southampton's Pink Elephant. David Sarner's nightlife company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, listing more than $2 million in debts, including $776,000 in back taxes. The crisis in clubland continues, clearly. You can peruse the bankruptcy papers—and long list of creditors—for yourself after the jump.

East Hampton may be home to some of the richest people around, but the town itself is on the verge of bankruptcy. It's now facing an $18 million deficit by the end of the year, partly because most of the officials responsible for managing the town's finances over the past few years have turned out to be crooks. (In what is becoming a tradition of sorts, another local official was arrested this week—he served as budget officer until recently—and was charged with seven felonies.)

• Billionaire financier John Paulson has finally unloaded his house in Southampton, albeit for about $10 million less than he'd hoped to sell it for. The 7,000-square-foot home, which Paulson picked up for $12.75 million in 2006 and put up for sale for $19.5 million in 2008 before later dropping the price twice, just sold to an anonymous buyer for $9.99 million. [NYP]
• Karen and David Fleiss are cutting prices again at 1030 Fifth Avenue. The couple, who have tried just about everything to sell the 16-room duplex they first listed for $47.5 million last June (including dividing the apartment in two), have reduced the price of the bottom-floor unit from $11 million to $9.95 million. [Cityfile, PDE, previously]
• Now that she's no longer with the Count, "Real Housewife" LuAnn de Lesseps has moved out of the couple's rented townhouse on East 62nd Street. She's currently staying at her Bridgehampton place where she's supposedly "contemplating her next real estate move." [NYP]

• Richard Gere and Carey Lowell have sliced $1.6 million off the asking price of their seven-bedroom farmhouse in Water Mill. Priced at $8.8 million when it first went on the market in February, the 1.2-acre estate is now listed for $7.2 million. The pricecutting isn't restricted to the Hamptons, however. Gere slashed $3 million off the price of his spread at Palazzo Chupi in 2008 before taking it off the market entirely earlier this year. [Newsday, Stribling]
• David Sidwell, who retired as Morgan Stanley's CFO at the end of 2007, has sold his 26th-floor apartment at 25 CPW for $7.65 million. [Cityfile]
• An art world power couple is bidding goodbye to the Upper West Side. Brett Gorvy, co-head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie's and Amy Gold, who is Christie's director of business development, have sold their three-bedroom apartment at 470 West End Avenue for $2.175 million. [Cityfile]

We thought it sounded like a crock when certain people said the Hamptons this summer was going to be all about "the beach." Just two weekends in, a single social report convinces us the rich are as smug as ever.

Summer is here, which means Plum TV is back in action, filming the sorts of hard-hitting interviews you just can't find anywhere else. This week, the host of "The Juice," Nick Leighton, files a two-part interview with none other than Lizzie Grubman.

• State tax agents shut down H&H on the UWS for three hours today over an outstanding tax bill, but it's now back in business. [NYT]
• Zoë in Soho has filed for bankruptcy protection. [Crain's]
• Sad: A roundup of recent closings around town. [Eater]
• Happy: A roundup of places opening in the Hamptons this weekend. [Curbed]

• A peek inside Avenue, the new "gastrolounge" by Noah Tepperberg. [GS]
• Brooklyn is not getting a Shake Shack for the time being, alas. [Gothamist]
• Nightlife impresario Mike Satsky on Lily Pond: "My waitresses are hands-down the most beautiful waitress staff in the Hamptons." [NYO]
• Terrance Brennan's Bar Artisanal is now serving lunch. [TONY]
• Tim Zagat lists his favorite restaurants in NYC. [Urbanite]
• The husband and wife behind Sfoglia open Civetta in Nolita next week. [NYM]
• Park Avenue Spring is now Park Avenue Summer. [GS]
• End times! Wine consumption in France was down 10% last year. [AP]

Good news, gambling addicts with houses in the Hamptons! The Shinnecock Indian Nation is one step closer towards gaining official recognition from the federal government, a designation that would permit the tribe to open a casino. In Southampton. And they've already reached out to Gov. David Paterson to get the ball rolling!

Given Social Life is "one of the most popular magazines in Manhattan and the Hamptons" and only covers "the hottest celebrity parties," it's a bit of a mystery why the mag's season opener at the "Social Life estate"—hosted by botorious editor-in-chief Devorah Rose—didn't attract any actual celebrities. Fortunately, "Real Housewife" Alex McCord and her hotel manager husband, Simon van Kempen, didn't have anything else to do and kindly turned up to add a little C-list glam, so the event wasn't a complete disaster. Devorah's big get after the jump.

There's a new Hamptons venue you'll want to add to the list of places to stay miles away from this summer. Actually, it's not new. It Dune in Southampton, which is sporting a new name this season—"The Axe Lounge"—as part of a silly marketing scheme concocted by, yes, Axe. The stunt is the brainchild of Mike Heller, the nightlife promoter-turned-entertainment marketer whose stellar resume includes putting a smoke-free tobacco product called Ariva in the hands of Lindsay Lohan and connecting America's Next Top Model's CariDee English with Raptiva, which is apparently a psoriasis medication of some sort. (He's the one crouching down in the photo, by the way.)

What do party fixtures Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict have planned this weekend? Glad you asked! "Memorial Day weekend we divide our time between the South of France for the fin of the Cannes Film Festival and the fin of an all-American East Hampton holiday weekend. While I'd like to say we will be going to an endless array of barbecues, clambakes and Summer kick-off parties, we're more likely to be asleep on the beach nursing our exhaustion from eleven consecutive 3 a.m. nights of rosé and Bellini-soaked parties and trop de Croisette carrousing." [FWD]

• That was quick. On Tuesday, it was reported that former Lehman chief Dick Fuld and his wife Kathy had unofficially put their 6,200-square-foot pied-à-terre at 640 Park on the market for $32 million. But now it seems the Fulds have changed their minds and decided against selling it. Better luck in 2010? [WSJ]
• Bella Sapir, the ex-wife of billionaire (and endangered animal skin fan) Tamir Sapir has sold the penthouse at 250 East 53rd Street that she bought for $8.895 million in November 2008 and re-listed for $13.5 million a few days later. Sapir sold the 4,511-square-foot apartment for $10.5 million. [Cityfile]
• Columbia Law professor Hans Smit has lowered the price of his 12,000-square-foot townhouse at 351 Riverside Drive, which first went on the market for $31 million back in 2006. The mansion, which Smit bought for just $325,000 back in 1979, is now listed for $25 million. [Cityfile, BHS]

• Carlos Alejandro Pérez Dávila, an heir to one of the richest families in Latin America (his cousin is Andrès Santo Domingo, husband of Lauren) has sold his four-story townhouse at 176 East 75th Street. The 5,800-square-foot mansion, which had been listed for $10.9 million, was purchased by Keith Meister, the son of tycoon Robert Meister, for $8.6 million. (Keith's brother is Todd Meister, Nicky Hilton's ex.) As for Dávila, he's already found a new home. He paid $19 million for 47 East 68th Street in 2007. [Cityfile]
• Ian Schrager has put his 3,630-square-foot penthouse duplex at 285 Lafayette Street up for sale for $12.5 million. Neighbors in the building include Iman, David Bowie, and Janice Min. [NYP, BHS]
• Lee Neibart, CEO of Apollo's AREA Property Partners, has gone into contract to sell his 16th-floor condo at 15 Central Park West. The three-bedroom apartment, which Neibart and his wife Joyce bought for $7 million in January and re-listed a few weeks later, had been priced at $8.2 million. [Cityfile, BHS]

There's been lots of depressing news about the state of the Hamptons real estate market in recent weeks. Today, however, there's a bit of good news to report: Calvin Klein has finally started demolishing Dragon's Head, the tacky 50,000-square-foot castle in Southampton that he bought a few years ago. A smaller—but much trendier—minimalist mansion will soon rise from the rubble. And if Calvin remains bullish about the future, shouldn't you be, too? Of course you should. [Newsday, previously]

The Hamptons real estate market really sucks at the moment, as you may have heard. According to stats guru Jonathan Miller, the number of unsold homes on the East End rose 15 percent during the first quarter while the median price of a house dropped 23.5 percent compared to a year earlier. One brokerage firm reports that sales of Hamptons homes have plunged by 67 percent during the first three months of 2009. But Michael Daly, the founder of North Haven's True North Realty, is keeping it all in perspective: