The first-ever "Unemployment Olympics" took place yesterday in Tompkins Square Park. So how'd that go? Given only about 20 contestants turned up, we're going to venture to guess it didn't go as planned. But those who did turn up were treated to events like Pin the Blame on the Boss, Office Phone Skee-Ball, Office Phone Pinata, and the "You're Fired!" race to the cardboard unemployment office. [Gothamist]
• Coach president Reed Krakoff has "quietly" placed his 30-foot-wide townhouse at 115 East 70th Street on the market for $52 million. Krakoff bought the home in 2006 for $17 million and completely renovated it following a fire in 2007. [NYO]
• Art dealer W. Graham Arader III has cut $10 million off the price of his 12,000-square-foot manse at 1016 Madison Avenue. It's now available for $65 million, making it the second most-expensive listing in the city behind Aby Rosen's townhouse on East 71st Street. [NYO, Sotheby's]
• Nicole Eddy and her husband paid $7.3 million for a penthouse at the Chelsea Modern on West 18th Street. [Cityfile]
• Bear Stearns' ex-COO Alvin Einbender has taken $4 million off the price of his four-bedroom apartment in the Police Building at 240 Centre Street. It's now listed for $26 million. [NYO, PDE]
Massachusetts securities regulators charged Walter Noel's Fairfield Greenwich Group with fraud this morning. The complaint isn't short on potentially incriminating detail. In one 2005 email, for example, Bernie Madoff informs a Fairfield exec that "the less you know about how we execute, and so on and so forth, the better you are." [NYT, WSJ]
Costco is planning to take up residence in Manhattan by the end of the year. The store will be part of East River Plaza, the 500,000-square-foot mall opening just off the FDR Drive, between 116th to 119th streets. Not quite close enough to permit penny-pinching Park Avenue wives to walk there, but gallon drums of mayonnaise will now be a much quicker (albeit slightly more expensive) cab ride away. [NYO]
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is turning 36 today. A man Maddow probably isn't very fond of, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, is turning 59. Movie director Barry Sonnenfeld is 56. Actress/scenester Bijou Phillips is turning 29. Debbie Reynolds is 77. Actress Ali MacGraw is 71. Method Man is 38. And everyone's favorite sleazy porn king, Mr. Joe Francis, will get to celebrate his 36th birthday on of prison this year.
• It's been a bumpy stretch for the cast of the Real Housewives of NYC, hasn't it? In today's dose of bad news, it seems Ramona Singer's TV antics have made her "persona non grata" at her daughter's UES school (nor is she making any friends in Palm Beach); and it appears both Kelly Killoren Bensimon and Luann de Lesseps are now being forced to sell their Hamptons houses. [P6, Page2Live]
• Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel are expecting their first baby. [Insider]
• Whitney Port says she breaks down "a couple of times a week" due to the stress of reality TV fame. She also says she and Olivia Palermo "never hang out off-screen," which you could have probably guessed. [P6]
• It looks like Luke and Julie Janklow have reconciled. Following their breakup —and brief flings with Jessica Joffe and Scott Murphy—they appear to be back together, and were spotted kissing at Sweetiepie over the weekend. [P6]
• The private sector lost 742,000 jobs during the month of March, substantially more than analysts had been predicting. [WSJ, CNN]
• President Obama has indicated that he believes a "quick, negotiated bankruptcy" will be the most likely path for General Motors. [BN]
• The not-so-optimistic employment figures and increased concern about the future of GM may lead to a rough day in the markets. [BN]
• Mark Carhart and Raymond Iwanowski of Goldman's Alpha hedge fund are retiring. Rumor now has it they may end up at KKR. [Clusterstock]
• A dozen criminal investigations into bailout fraud are now underway. [FT]
• Remember when Cerberus founder Steve Feinberg was "hailed as a hero" who "might save the American car industry"? So much for that idea. [NYT]
• UBS is closing its "art banking" department, not surprisingly. [AP]
• This is a particularly dangerous time to be a CEO, clearly. [NYP]
This is not a good day for wealthy New Yorkers who smoke and who also happen to rely exclusively on taxis to get around town. Gov. David Paterson is proposing temporarily raising tax rates on the state's highest earners, part of a plan to fill in a $18 billion budget gap; the single largest federal tobacco tax increase ever goes into effect today, raising the price of a pack to $10 in some places; and now state lawmakers are weighing a 50-cent surcharge on cab rides to prevent the MTA from having to raise fares. Enjoy! [NYP, Newsday, WSJ]
• The Obamas headed over to London today on their first trip overseas since Barack took office and the big topic of discussion is Michelle's wardrobe, of course: She was wearing Thakoon as she boarded the plane, but she emerged in a Jason Wu dress when she got off. But tomorrow she meets the Queen, so expect things to really get crazy. [NYM, SW, Style.com]
• Kate Moss will cut the ribbon at the Topshop opening on Thursday, naturally. [WWD]
• Tips on surviving the big opening from your pals across the pond. [Guardian]
• Richard Chai may be the new creative director at Bill Blass. [FWD]
• Agent Provocateur just launched its new swimwear collection. [Pipeline]
Bad news today for everyone connected to Bernie Madoff. An appeals court judge denied a motion by Peter Madoff, Bernie's brother, to overturn a freeze on his assets. And in a separate ruling, a Connecticut judge temporarily froze the assets of Bernie's two sons, as well as execs at several Madoff feeder funds, including Walter Noel and several of his flunkies at Fairfield Greenwich Group. Yes, for Andrés Piedrahita, not only is the party long over, but the club was switched on the lights and blocked off the exits, too. [Bloomberg, Reuters]
Chuck Scarborough has yet to be given a pink slip by WNBC, as per the rumors making the rounds yesterday, but the same can't be said for sports anchor Len Berman. The 20-year veteran of Ch. 4 will stick around for the next 30 to 60 days before bidding goodbye to his $1-million-a-year salary. Whether his "Spanning the World" bit lives on without him is unclear, although on a positive note, he'll no longer have to commute home to Long Island at 11:30pm every night. [Newsday]
• The Mets put on a "showcase" today of the "award-winning roster of dining options" available at Citi Field, one which "scintillated the senses" and "is sure to be one of the biggest hits of the year." Had enough yet? [Mets]
• Rumor has it that David Graziano and David Cabo, two of the dudes behind Pink Elephant and Bagatelle, are taking over the old R&L/Florent space. [GS]
• What's the appropriate tip on a drink, $1 or 20? Frank Bruni explains. [NYT]
• If you walk by Monkey Bar tonight, you may find it open for business. [Eater]
• Terrance Brennan's Artisanal is hosting a grilled cheese contest. [TFB]
• A roundup of some Easter and Passover dining options. [Zagat]
• '21' is extending its Restaurant Week prix fixe through Labor Day. [Eater]
• What does every product claim it contains antioxidants these days? Because gullible people buy them based solely on the label, of course. [Atlantic]
• A Brooklyn fast food joint has renamed itself "Obama Fried Chicken." [TSG]
Politico.com has concluded a groundbreaking investigation into the cars owned President Obama's cabinet members and top aides. And what did they find? A very sorry state of affairs, that's what. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is the proud owner of a 2008 entry-level Acura TSX, and he previously owned a 1999 Honda Accord, none of which is entirely surprising considering he's worked government jobs his whole life, has an atrociously designed home, and has lousy taste in ties, too. Larry Summers, however, will have a harder time excusing his 1995 Mazda Protégé (or his previous car, a 1996 Ford Taurus GL), since he worked for David Shaw's hedge fund for long enough to invest in a 3-series BMW (at least one that was manufactured at a plant in the U.S.) Naturally, the one person noticeably absent from Politico's list is the one that matters most: Steve Rattner, the man appointed by President Obama to redeem the American auto industry. But it's not all that complicated to determine at least one of the cars in Rattner's fleet. The couple's 2006 black Mercedes-Benz 350 (New York license plate #CSL1498!) was entered into the public record when his wife, Maureen White, was arrested for drunk driving last October.
The always reliable National Enquirer is reporting that Chelsea Clinton plans to tie the knot with boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky "in a lavish $1 million dream wedding" this summer. Of course, she hasn't even announced she's engaged yet, so you may want to take this news with a grain of salt. But you'll be happy to hear that the timing is "perfect" now that Chelsea's mom is "settling into her position as secretary of state," and Marc's father, former Iowa congressman Ed Mezvinsky, "has been released from a halfway house after serving time for investment fraud." Sounds ideal, actually. [NE]
What do Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Ja Rule, and Plaxico Burress all have in common? All three made appearances at the courthouse at 100 Centre Street this morning, which would have been a very convenient coincidence for waiting news photographers if they managed to catch them all. A "caramel-skinned" Kelly turned up with lawyer Ed Hayes to face charges she assaulted her boyfriend. (Her case was adjourned to June 8.)
Forbes has busy been laying off staff today. But the magazine is facing other problems, too. Billionaire Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev now says he plans to sue the mag for reducing his net worth on its recent list of the world's richest people. "Forbes magazine claimed that I lost $2.5 billion in the global financial crisis," he told the Russian news agency, Interfax. "That's absurd. I will demand compensation of material and moral damage caused by this defamation." [Guardian]
• The Chicago Sun-Times filed for bankruptcy protection today. [BN, NYT]
• Nielson is planning to cut 1,600 jobs, or 5% of its workforce. [AdAge]
• NBC is keeping the lights on at Friday Night Lights, after all. [NYT]
• Because it has precious other good news to report as it sits in fourth place, NBC says it saved $2 million last year by "going green." Congrats. [AP]
• MTV has ordered up four more seasons of The Real World. [THR]
• Sad news, soap fans: CBS is thinking about pulling the plug on Guiding Light, the longest-running daytime drama on television. [NYM]
• The MPAA reports global box office revenues were up 5.2% in 2008. [THR]
• Disney's TV unit has inked a distribution deal with YouTube. [NYT]
• How bad is the situation at CNN? "It's gotten so bad that Fox's Bill O'Reilly has actually taken to saying kind things about CNN, possibly out of pity." [MM]
If you come up short in a review by Times dining critic Frank Bruni, consider the bright side: You just may save yourself from a messy, three-year legal battle. In 2006, Tina Michelle Braunstein, a former bartender at David Barber's three-star Blue Hill at Stone Barns, filed suit against the restaurant, claiming she'd been the victim of sexual harassment and discrimination. The workplace unpleasantness increased considerably, she says, after her name was mentioned three times in Bruni's review of the restaurant, since the praise was none too appreciated by Philippe Gouze, Blue Hill's general manager. Braunstein's suit was filed three years ago, but Blue Hill tried to have the case dismissed, a motion that was denied by a judge late last week. Here's hoping the matter goes to court: There's always the off-chance Frank Bruni is forced reveal himself and take the witness stand. The judge's order is below.
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.
A member of the "golden" Noel family is finally speaking out. Andrés Piedrahita, the party-loving Colombian-born son-in-law/employee of Walter Noel, tells the Wall Street Journal that since Fairfield Greenwich lost more than $7 billion to Bernie Madoff, "life has changed a lot." But that's not because he did anything wrong! He was just as shocked by the news as everyone else, which is why he remains blissfully free of any regret: "I and look at myself in the morning, and I'm very proud of what I've done, and so are my partners." Isn't that comforting to hear? [WSJ]
