iGreedySony chairman Howard Stringer called Steve Jobs “greedy” at the Allen & Co. conference. The main character of Doug Stumpf’s Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy may be based on pervy billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise went to the Biography Bookstore in the West Village and then to Magnolia. Joe DiMaggio’s brother Dom is not pleased the Yankee Clipper’s diaries are for sale. Stone Phillips is leaving Dateline, and he bought his longtime assistant an Audi as a parting gift. Matt Damon wants Al Gore to run for president. Ashlee Simpson helped beau Pete Wentz conquer his fear of flying so Wentz could get to the Hamptons via seaplane. Democratic Leadership Council Chairman Harold Ford Jr. hung out with Jay-Z, Nas, and Kid Rock in Southampton. Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany brought their 4-year-old to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.
the morning line
Hell No, He Won’t Go
• A Bronx soldier and his wife have been charged with conspiracy, among other things, for allegedly getting a hit man to shoot him in the leg so he’d avoid another tour in Iraq. The wife did the actual hiring. [NYDN]
• Miss New Jersey is off the hook after her blackmail pictures, an utterly innocuous batch of clothed party posing, came out; the same hypocritical prudes that judged her swimsuit have “closely examined and debated the photos during a tension-filled meeting” and deemed them okay. [NYP]
• Ballsy PR gimmicks, part one: Piaggio, the U.S. importer of Vespa scooters, paid for two months of free Vespa parking at 48 spaces throughout Manhattan. Until September 30, scooter owners are the most privileged drivers in the city. [NYT]
• Ballsy PR gimmicks, part two: Producers of My First Time, an Off Broadway play, are letting virgins in free. Should you decide to take advantage, a hypnotist working the line determines if you’re telling the truth — although a Broadway-show T-shirt should probably suffice. [AP via Newsday]
• And, the “beloved” Magnolia Bakery has reopened after a brief closure — or, as West Villagers who remember life before their neighborhood became a Sex and the City candy land would call it, respite. [amNY]
