Exciting news! For the ninth year in a row, Travel & Leisure has named New York the "Best City in America." It's the magazine's readers—not its editors—who determine the rankings. And clearly we have a ways to go if we have any chance of winning the title of "World's Best City." NYC came out just eighth on that list. The winner? Udaipur, India. Naturally. [NYDN]
The New York Observer's annual list of the 100 most powerful people in New York real estate is now online for your viewing pleasure. President Obama comes in as No. 1., although to go through the rest of the names, you'll have to scroll through the most interminable slideshow ever created. Provided you don't have anything better to do this evening, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. [Observer]
Mother's Day is right around the corner, and to honor those who have sacrificed so much only to watch in horror at the rotten people we've since become, Adecco Group—"the largest staffing agency in the world"—asked a bunch of people about the moms they admire most. (Do note that just because it's a temp agency that did the survey, that should not suggest that motherhood is a temporary occupation. It isn't. Well, not usually.) In any event, the survey asked working moms, working dads and working non-parents to answer this question of great importance, and unsurprisingly, all three groups picked Michelle Obama as the most admired mom in America. But then the results get a little screwy! Apparently, Sarah Palin—yes, really—came up No. 2 for two of the three groups. And Jenny McCarthy (above), who has always gone out of her way to set a good example, is the fourth most admired mom in America. The list/press release that will instantly undermine your faith in the future of this country is below.
For reasons only the editors of People can explain, the magazine's new list of the "100 Most Beautiful" includes a section called "Barack's Beauties," which, in turn, includes "sexy" chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Possible evidence to the contrary: A search for "Rahm Emanuel nude" on Google brings up precisely zero results. (Try it; we did!) But keep this up, People, and he'll be taking off the shirt along with the suit jacket soon enough. [Politico]
Forbes's somewhat suspicious list of the world's billionaires is now online. You can look through the complete list here, but as you can probably imagine, it wasn't a very good year for members of the ten-figure club. The 2009 list includes 793 people—it's down 30 percent from last year—and a handful of notable New Yorkers (like Sandy Weill and Hank Greenberg) saw their names vanish. NYC's richest man, according to the mag? That would be Michael Bloomberg, who saw his net worth jump 39 percent from $11.5 billion to $16 billion. So did the mayor have such a fantastic year? No, Forbes had just been underestimating his stake in Bloomberg LP in years past, although they didn't bother to mention that. [Forbes, NYP]
It's a fun new game and you can play along at home! Just place our president-elect's name in a list of names of shady characters. Then get rich on the teevee!
Obviously we live in a cruel and absurd universe of well-rewarded idiocy and undeserved second chances, but if we didn't, these are the ten people you'd meet in the nu-depression's breadlines.
Everyone's doing Top 10 Lists this time of year! About movies and TV and stuff! So I figured I should too. But just one list, that encompasses everything. Everything bad. Enjoy!
Who's going to profiit from the recession? Here's a start: Layoff consultants, discount department stores, fast food chains, restructuring experts, the financial news media, and meth dealers: "All the big swinging dicks on Wall Street were cokeheads, because coke is a money drug. Now that people are poor, it's all about the Tina, baby. It's the perfect drug for this new American era: cheap, powerful, and terrifying." [Gawker]
Ooh, the city of Chicago is seedy and corrupt again! The Chicago Tribune has gone ruined and bankrupt, giving the city a sense of anarchic lawlessness. And now the governor of Illinois (who, yes, I know, actually holds office down south in Springfield) was just arrested for some shady Chicago-style political dealings. It's like a new Depressiony gangster era all over again! And hey, a big new movie that depicts that depraved Chicago of the past (and present!) is already filming (plus a movie about Al Capone foe Eliot Ness once he moves to Cleveland). It certainly won't be the first film of its kind, though. After the jump take a look at clips of some past films that illustrate the gritty Windy City of yesteryear, and offer us a vision of the city's downward spiral that's begun anew.
If you're hunting for a cheapo apartment to purchase in Manhattan, this isn't a bad time to be looking: Prices are falling, the number of buyers is declining, and as long as you have very good credit (or don't need a mortgage), there's never been more inventory to choose from. Below you'll find a list of the 20 cheapest apartments in Manhattan on the market at the moment. A few quick caveats, though: The list only includes apartments in Manhattan below 96th Street, so if you're looking for a deal in Brooklyn, you're on your own for the time being. Also, we've only included proper apartments on the list, which means "fractional-ownership" condos, apartments with tenants living in them or, say, rooftop cabanas, have all been excluded. But don't worry: There's still plenty of sub-$300K apartments to choose from, just as long as you're not too worried about having an actual bedroom and you have no objection to bathing in the kitchen sink.
A group of Oxford researchers have compiled a list of the "Top 10 Most Irritating Expressions in the English language." Awesome! Now we know what we need to stop saying so we don't alienate everyone we know. The number one offender? "At the end of the day." Click through for the rest of the list is below, although we must admit we were a little disappointed to see that "for all intents and purposes" didn't make the cut.
Misery Loves Companies has an amusing list of "things we look forward to imploding" amid the economic downtown. A few items mentioned: "15 Central Park West, Masa, the Robin Hood Foundation Annual Benefit (The Foundation can stay), Birthday parties with AAA singers who don't know the birthday boy/girl, birthday or anniversary parties you fly to, Tom Ford's Men's Store..." [Misery Loves Companies]
Two weeks ago the news surfaced that Viacom chief Sumner Redstone and his second wife, Paula Fortunato, were divorcing after five years of marriage. Much was made of Redstone and Fortunato's 39-year age gap and the couple's pre-nup, which will provide Fortunato with a $5 million fortuno for the five years she spent by the not-so-healthy billionaire's side. But she's hardly the only one who has been married to someone who could easily pass for her father or granddad. After the jump, a list of famous New York couples and their equally famous age gaps.
