Yesterday, the Daily News reported that mega-developer Larry Silverstein has collected more than $21 million from the Port Authority since 2006 to "develop" the Freedom Tower—even though he no longer has any role in constructing the 1,776-foot tower. Today, an unrelated Wall Street Journal article fills us in on what he's been doing with the big gift from taxpayers: He's trading in his old yacht (above) and building himself a bigger, better one:

It's still unclear how many of the people on the "Madoff List" were truly victims of the Ponzi scheme. The trustee liquidating Madoff's financial firm has said that some of the people listed may have served as trustees or agents for other people who lost money, which may explain why some of the people who have stated publicly in recent weeks that they'd lost a fortune to the scheme don't appear at all. (Case in point: Ira Rennert has said he lost $200 million to Madoff's scheme, but his name does not appear in the 163-page document.) But it's interesting to go through the names anyway, and you don't even need to bother with the tedious task of scanning the PDF document: There's a Madoff victim search engine that has made the process much easier. Just point your browser here and you can look people up by address or name. After the jump, a long list of people who have turned up as possible victims in the last day or two.

Some surprising finds from the massive list of Madoff victims released last night: John Malkovich, Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, the estate of John Denver, CNN's Larry King, former public advocate Mark Green, real estate developer Larry Silverstein, and Madoff's own lawyer, Ira Lee Sorkin. (Not everyone listed is necessarily a victim—it includes anyone who responded to advertisements placed by the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of the firm.) But there's one name that is curiously missing from the list. Zsa Zsa Gabor! The 91-year-old actress and her publicity-loving ninth husband, "Prince" Frederic von Anhalt, made a big production a couple weeks ago about how they lost $10 million to Madoff's scheme. Neither Gabor nor von Anhalt, however, are listed in the 163-page document.

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]

Is it possible to turn on the news and not hear about another ship that's been hijacked by a bunch of Somali pirates looking to collect some extortion money? Piracy at sea hasn't generated this much public attention since the 16th century! Naturally, we don't condone these violent, criminal acts, nor do we recommend taking up a career as a pirate, even if you were just canned by a media company or investment bank and you're wondering how you're going to pay your rent next month. But if you've already made up your mind and you're planning to take the LIRR out to the Hamptons, rent a Zodiac, and take over the boat of a local billionaire—or you're just planning to pay a friendly visit and drop off your resume in person—we've put together a colorful chart of yachts owned by a bunch of notable New Yorkers, just so you make sure you're climbing aboard the right ship. Just don't blame us if you're subjected to a treatise on the economy by Steve Forbes, a lecture on Scientology by Greta Van Susteren, or a tongue-lashing by Judge Judy. The larger chart is here.

The new World Trade Center "won't be completed until the middle of the next decade" and "will cost $1 billion to $3 billion more than the current estimate of $15 billion." [WSJ]

Larry Silverstein

This weekend's Financial Times contained an absolutely mammoth article about Larry Silverstein, and the developer, who took over a 99-year lease on the Twin Towers a scant two months before they were brought down, could not have hoped for a more glowing profile.

Huzzah, huzzah! There is a deal to develop the World Trade Center site! Larry Silverstein, George Pataki, Jon Corzine, the Port Authority, and Mike Bloomberg have finally ironed out a plan to enable the rebuilding of the 16-acre plot. This is really showing the terrorists, diving right into rebuilding what they destroyed — only four and a half years after they destroyed it.

Well that's not very nice, Yahoo. Yes, well all know he looks like a decomposing corpse, but he isn't technically "remains" yet. (On the other hand, though, it's generous of you to consider him human.)

Larry Silverstein, who holds the lease for the World Trade Center claims that none of the proposed design plans are "viable and safe." He also says that the occupied parts of the buildings should be no more than "65 to 70 stories" high.
WTC plans slammed [Post]