ink-stained wretches

Manhattan Madam Called New York Post Editor a ‘Very, Very Good Friend’ [Updated]

The story of Anna Gristina, the accused Upper East Side millionaire madam and mother of four, was seemingly sent from heaven for the New York City tabloids. In actuality, it’s been a bit of a bust, and when it has gotten juicy, local-news website DNAinfo has been leading the way, both breaking the news and naming John Edwards as an alleged customer. One possible explanation for the local papers not flooding the zone as aggressively as expected comes out today via the New York Observer: Gristina reportedly bragged on tape that Post editor Col Allan is a “very, very good friend.”

The connection might explain the Post’s best story on the case, an exclusive interview with Gristina from jail. According to the Observer, she also reportedly said “that she had personally been responsible for tips leading to more than a few of the Post’s most memorable cover stories,” and that’s before she gave them her own.

The tip about Allan and Gristina’s friendship comes to the Observer only from anonymous sources, but Allan was supposedly among Gristina’s connections, which she said in recorded conversations also included “the NYPD, the DEA, the FBI and ICE,” according to the Daily News.

And why wouldn’t the News include the name of their rival’s editor in connection with a criminal case? Maybe because the new editor of the Daily News, Colin Myler, used to be Allan’s deputy at the Rupert Murdoch–owned Post. Strange bedfellows all around.

Update: In a statement, Allan says, “This story is outrageous. I have never met Anna Gristina, I have no relationship with her and I have no relationship with her business. Had the reporter from the NY Observer called me, I would have told him as much.” The Observer reported “repeated requests for comment from Col Allan and a New York Post spokesperson were not returned.”

Manhattan Madam Good Friends With Post Editor?