June 14, 2004

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY GREG SARGENT

Glass Houses
Martha Stewart has left the building. And Phil Suarez, a.k.a. Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s money man, has also unloaded his loft in Richard Meier’s Perry Street towers for about $6.5 million with broker Dolly Lenz of Douglas Elliman. But Vongerichten himself, having sold his $3.5 million apartment on Leonard Street, will move into a Meier loft shortly. Suarez, also one of the building’s developers, says the towers’ restaurant, which may become a members-only dining room, should be ready by spring. Meanwhile, contrary to widespread reports, Natalie Portman never bought a loft in the Meier tower on Charles Street; she’s hunting for a prewar apartment in the Gramercy Park area.

First Fashions
For the past two months, the Bush twins have been preparing for at least one very important aspect of the Republican National Convention: their wardrobes. Family friend and designer Lela Rose will be dressing the First Twins. According to the designer’s rep, Jenna selected an olive tweed jacket over a tea-dyed tulle dress, and a red-white- and-blue jacket with navy trousers. Barbara picked an ivory meringue crochet capele with a red-and-blue camisole to go with a striped tulip skirt and a “buttercream” tulle dress with sequins.

Better Homes
Socialite Jamee Gregory has put together a book, to be published next month by Rizzoli, about the fabulous apartments of her fabulous friends, including Georgette Mosbacher, Charles Gwathmey, and Marty Richards. “The only people who couldn’t be convinced to use their names were in financial services and didn’t want everyone to see how well they live,” says Gregory. The book includes the uptown abode of Joan Rivers, which she had exorcised after she became convinced that a ghost was haunting the former home of J. P. Morgan’s daughter. Robert Wilson painstakingly explains the provenance of the 6,000 objects in his loft, and Carol Petrie’s renovated drawing room, decorated with horns from animals she shot herself in Mongolia, is featured for the first time.

Stress Management
Laura Bush’s bet that the Citigroup building wouldn’t collapse on top of her may not have been enough to ease the strain of last week’s terror alert on Citigroup employees. Last Friday, a team of masseuses from Graceful Services, a midtown spa, were hired to give fifteen-minute massages to employees at the company’s Lexington Avenue location.

Democratic Party
John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry will be hitting up the Hamptons for over $3 million on Saturday, August 21. First is a fund-raiser co-hosted by Alan and Susan Patricof and big donor Stan Shuman and his wife, Sydney. The $1,000-per-head event is expected to haul in over $500,000 and will feature a performance by Jimmy Buffett. Later that evening, the Kerrys will head for a $25,000-per-guest dinner, expected to net up to $2.5 million, at the Hamptons home of Sex and the City creator Darren Star.

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Deborah Schoeneman
• Table of Contents: Aug 16, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!