Jared Kushner has a new apartment where he'll soon be spending quiet evenings in the company of Ivanka Trump: The real estate scion and Observer publisher has paid $3.225 million for a two-bedroom, seventh-floor condo at 21 Astor Place. Described by the listing agent as a "sexy apartment," the duplex condo loft comes with two bedrooms, a home office, 2.5 baths, and "elaborate designer staircase." It looks like Kushner got a discount, too. The apartment had been listed at $3.5 million. Floorplan after the jump!

Remember last year's Fashion Week party for Anne Wojcicki (Mrs. Sergey Brin) and Linda Avey's gene-testing site 23andme.com, where the likes of Ivanka Trump touted their newly-discovered genetic blessedness while other attendees spit into test tubes to enjoy the scientific equivalent of a palm reading? While spending money to find out that your shortness is hereditary, or that you'll go bald at 35 then succumb to heart disease at 50, isn't likely to be high on people's priority list during a recession, the company, which is backed by Wendi Deng and Harvey Weinstein, is still going. It is, however, employing some ingenious/desperate new marketing tactics.

Jessica Szohr walking her dog downtown ... Hugh Jackman getting coffee in the West Village ... Ivanka Trump walking on Madison Avenue ... Agyness Deyn carrying a Barneys shopping bag down Fifth Avenue ... Missy Elliott getting out of an SUV ... Spike Lee walking on Central Park South ... Kelly Rutherford filming scenes for Gossip Girl outside the Pierre Hotel ... Diane Kruger walking in Midtown ... Jennifer Aniston heading to the set of The Baster in Chelsea ... and Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri leaving dinner at the Waverly Inn.

Notice to all investors who lost their money in Donald Trump's failed condo project in Mexico: You may be broke right now, but you can take heart in the fact that Ivanka Trump is no better off. Or at least that's what she claims in an interview with CBS in which she says she's "in the same boat" with investors who saw their down payments vanish when the project went belly up. Lame excuse? A Freudian slip that suggests the Trump family is worse off than anyone imagined? You decide! [CBS News]

• Guess John Mayer didn't buy Jennifer Aniston an engagement ring after all. It's now rumored Mayer ended the relationship right around the time Aniston got back from her world promotional tour for Marley & Me. [E!, Us]
• Tim Gunn supposedly has a "secret crush" on Anderson Cooper. He says he's been trying to set up a lunch date with the CNN anchor for more than a year now, but it hasn't happened. Yet! [OK!]
• Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams got married on Tuesday in Savannah. [Us]
• Breaking! Katie Holmes has long hair again! [DM]

Donald Trump can't seem to go a day without running into a financial crisis of some sort. His Chicago condo project has been in trouble for months now; a few weeks ago, his Atlantic City casino empire filed for bankruptcy; and just last week a Trump-branded apartment building in Mexico went bust, leaving buyers who put down deposits out in the cold. Today's news: The Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas is in trouble, according to the Journal, which says that three-fourths of the buyers in the condo-hotel have failed to close contracts. And there's bad news closer to home today, too: He's now in arrears for failing to pay rent on the site of his planned "catering hall-restaurant" at Jones Beach. Guess we'll have to just hope that Ivanka's jewelry line is doing a bit better so she can support her dad in his old age. [WSJ, Newsday]

Business blowhard Donald Trump has created an indelible meaning for his world-famous brand: failed real-estate ventures. The latest event to cement the Trump reputation: a failed condo project in Mexico which cost buyers $32 million.

That White House summit of young business leaders actually happened. We know because our new economic saviors are posting their cameraphone pics on Twitter. Here's noted thought leader Ivanka Trump and Twitter founder Ev Williams.

If you're looking to invest some money in real estate but you're not sure where exactly to place your bets, Ivanka Trump has some advice for you: Invest in Panama! "I have projects all over the world [and] have a unique sense of the global real estate climate and submarkets," she tells Latin Business Chronicle today. "With great conviction, Panama is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, real estate market." Who knew? Naturally, there's a reason for her extreme bullishness on the Central American nation: A 70-story Trump development is scheduled to open there next year. But she may be also thinking ahead in the event her dad's well-publicized financial troubles get even worse: She also tells the paper that she now sees the country as a great "escape." [Latin Business Chronicle via CS]

A recap of the last few days in benefits and parties—including the Frick Collection's Young Fellows Ball, above—is after the jump.

There have been very few moments in his life when Donald Trump has not been willing to go on cable television to pontificate on the state of the real estate market. But it's only been a week since Trump's casino empire went bankrupt, so this might just be one of those moments (although given the new season of The Apprentice debuts next week, it's safe to say the shilling will begin again soon enough). But what do you do if Donald won't come on and Don Jr. isn't available and Ivanka Trump can't even be bothered to throw on a cocktail dress and grace Fox Business's classy barroom set with her presence? You turn to Eric Trump, naturally! Sure, he graduated college about 15 minutes ago and wasn't even around for the boom market much less understand the causes of the current real estate crisis. But he's been very well trained, clearly. Take a long, hard look, folks. We have a sinking feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of him over the next, oh, four decades or so.

• Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and his new girlfriend, Helen May, first met during an Outward Bound trip to Machu Picchu in 2005, according to May's husband, Kevin Ward. "I'm just sorry my wife didn't find someone more substantial. There's way less there than meets the eye." [P6]
• Etta James says she "didn't really mean" the stuff about Beyonce; she's still "miffed" at Obama for not inviting her to the inauguration. [NYDN]
• Kelly Cutrone inked a deal with Bravo for a new reality show. [P6]
• Russell Simmons is reportedly dating model Julie Henderson. [NYDN]

A bevy of models turned out on Wednesday night to celebrate Australian photographer Russell James' new book at the Stephan Weiss studio. Host Donna Karan and guests like Alan Cumming, Desiree Gruber, Ally Hilfiger, Douglas Hannant, Veronica Webb, and Josh Bernstein mingled with models like Alessandra Ambrosio (left), Angela Lindvall, Erin Wasson, Doutzen Kroes, Brooklyn Decker, Noemie Lenoir, Julie Henderson, Zuzana Gregorova, and Oluchi. [PMc, Wireimage, FWD]

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner mixed well with the gay former mayor of New Jersey, while a Variety movie reviewer had a much harder time stomaching interaction with the real-life "Dude" from The Big Lebowski.

• Hope you're ready to go through it all over again: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis have all agreed to participate in a Sex and the City movie sequel. [Us]
• Graydon Carter should really consider writing a nutrition cookbook: It seems Madonna's secret to eternal youth is the salmon with lentils at the Waverly Inn. [L&S]
• Still more drama from the inaugural festivities in DC earlier this week: Chris Matthews got pissed about having to wait on line, Sharon Stone was annoyed she had to co-host a segment on CNN with D.L. Hughley, and Halle Berry went into panic mode after her dress got caught in an escalator. [P6]
• Gwyneth Paltrow was spotted on a flight doing yoga in the aisle recently. Is this becoming a trend? [Star]
• Charges against Mathias Guerrand-Hermès have been dropped. [NYDN]

Cinema Society, Nextbook and Grey Goose hosted a screening of Defiance last night with an after-party at Shang inside the Thompson LES. Host Andrew Saffir and the film's stars, Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, and director, Edward Zwick, were joined by Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone, Naomi Watts, Olivia Palermo (left), Jason Pomeranc, Agyness Deyn, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Donna Karan, Martha Stewart, Jay McInerney, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Eric Villency, Amy Sacco, Russell Simmons, Zani Gugelmann, Ivanka Trump, Andre Balazs, Steve and Christine Schwarzman, Ann Dexter-Jones, Ellen Barkin, Paula Froelich, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richthofen, Larry Gagosian, Bettina Zilkha, Carson Kressley, Jennifer Creel, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Rachel Roy, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Douglas Hannant, Rosanna Scotto, Heather Matarazzo, Joshua Bell, Leelee Sobieski, Jill Hennessy, Debbie Bancroft, Marina Rust Connor, Nina Griscom, Caroline Murphy, Judah Friedlander, Patrick McMullan, Liam McMullan, Mary Alice Stephenson, Dan Abrams, and Dave Zinczenko. [PMc, Wireimage, The Daily]

Ivanka Trump (left) shopping on Madison Avenue with a friend ... Chloe Sevigny walking around in a red hat and red boots ... Kate Hudson leaving her West Village apartment with two friends ... Hugh Jackman hanging out with his kids in the Village ... Maggie Gyllenhaal crossing the street ... Heather Mills heading into the Avalon Day Spa on Christopher Street ... Kate Winslet on a stroll ... Julianna Margulies and husband Keith Lieberthal showing up at Nobu for dinner ... and Jon Stewart watching a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden with his son.

These are difficult times for hedge fund king Paul Tudor Jones but he was all smiles as the guest of honor at last night's 11th annual NYU Child Study Center Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street. Joining Jones and his wife Sonia (left) was the center's director, Harold Koplewicz, co-chairs (and fellow finance big wigs) Gary Cohn and Lisa Pevaroff, David and Danielle Ganek, and Michael Novogratz and wife Sukey, and a crowd of nearly 600, including Vera Wang and Arthur Becker, Jon Corzine, Elie Wiesel, Jane and Jimmy Buffett, Ellen Barkin, Erica Jong, Jane Rosenthal, Christiane Celle, Faith Popcorn, Al D'Amato, Larry Silverstein and wife Klara, Neal Shapiro and Juju Chang, Julie and Ed Minskoff, Elaine and Ken Langone, Susan and Martin Lipton, Claude Wasserstein, Linda and Arthur Carter, Alice and Tom Tisch, Vicki and Stuart Match Suna, and Brooke and Dan Neidich. [PMc, NYSD]

A crowd of nearly 400 made their annual trip to the Bronx last Friday night for the New York Botanical Garden's 10th annual Winter Wonderland Ball. The black-and-white dinner, sponsored by Chanel, featured appearances by the likes of Cristina and Chris Cuomo, Nina Garcia, Marjorie Gubelmann, Byrdie Bell, Poppy Delevingne, Minnie Mortimer Gaghan, Steve and Christine Schwarzman, Dalia Oberlander, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Alex Kramer, Alexandra Lebenthal, Molly Sims, Holly Dunlap, Erin Fetherston, Margherita Missoni, Zani Gugelmann, Coco Rocha, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Bronson Van Wyck, Patrick McDonald, Stephen Knoll, Jessica Joffe, Jill Kargman, Lauren Remington Platt, Coralie Charriol Paul, Joe and Nazee Moinian, Kate Schelter, James and Whitney Fairchild, Lydia Fenet, Maggie Betts, Meredith Melling Burke, and Pamela Fiori. [PMc, Style.com, NYSD, The Daily]

Have we mentioned that Ivanka Trump is converting to Judaism, presumably so she will be a better marriage match for Jared Kushner, the equally young owner of the New York Observer? We have. Ivanka is only 27, but she recently auctioned off an internship with her for Chabad, the Hasidic organization her boyfriend supports. This donation and the visibility that comes with sounds like a good way to get in with Kushner's family, because we hear that they don't like the idea of Jared marrying outside the tribe. But Ivanka just made another move in the chess game to ingratiate herself with the Kushner family. Oh, UPDATE: apparently nobody wanted to bid on the "internship," and the person who finally did won't be sending the kid to the internship anyway.Park Avenue Peerage reported that she auctioned off for the Habad charity fundraiser "a one-month internship with Ivanka in New York, with the highest bidder choosing between working with her in the acquisitions arm of the Trump Organization or at the Ivanka Trump Collection, her diamond jewelry line." Looks like she has learned a few "how to win friends and influence people" business tricks from Dad! The Kushners have long been good friends with Chabad groups. Jared was the head of the Chabad House at Harvard. And dad Charles got a rabbi from Chabad's Living Legacy organization to write a letter on his behalf when he got into all that prostitute-blackmail trouble. Donating to a Chabad effort, a favored charity of the Kushner family, was the kind of smart move she might want to mention in her upcoming "motivational" book. Update:"I have a friend that went last night and from what I hear no one wanted to buy that internship with her. It eventually sold for $9,000 but the person supposedly felt bad BUT won't be sending their kids to intern with her."