Vanity CareLimos parked outside Graydon Carter’s Waverly Inn delayed an ambulance en route to nearby St. Vincent’s Hospital. Former Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill cut down his use of the company’s corporate jets right before 17,000 people were laid off. Michael Chabon is proud to have been branded an anti-Semite by the Post. Ellen Barkin is writing a novel based on her marriage to Ron Perelman. Bonnie Fuller is branching into TV. Barbara and Lauren Bush sang karaoke. The famous hawks living at 927 Fifth Avenue will soon be in a kids’ book. Jay Leno confused two Mexican comedians. Joe Francis says his Girls Gone Wild videos don’t feature black girls because they ask for money, not because he’s racist.
the know-it-all
What Ails Mrs. Hevesi?Early and Often brings the exciting news that state comptroller Alan Hevesi’s name has received the greatest of honors. It has been verbed. To “hevesi” apparently means “to illegally convert governmental assets or resources to one’s personal use; and, when caught, to offer to make full restitution and public apology.”
It also reminded us of another issue we’ve had about Hevesi’s whole hevesi-ing episode. Namely, that he claimed he’d used the state employee to chauffeur his wife both due to security concerns and also because his wife is — as all the papers say — “ailing.” Why is the comptroller so concerned for his wife’s safety? And, more intriguingly, what ails Carol Hevesi?
gossipmonger
Bill, Hill, and BarbraBill and Hillary went to see Babs on their 31st anniversary. Alec Baldwin yelled at a cop near the plane-crash site, later needed a phone at a restaurant. Dixie Chick Natalie Maines still thinks Bush is dumb. Jennifer Aniston says she’s still dating Vince Vaughn and never had breast enhancement. Suzanne Somers’s new book could be harmful to women, doctors say. Christopher Hitchens doesn’t like Bob Woodward and doesn’t like his new book — but does like dry white wine. Jack Nicholson has a sore throat. Usher is sick, too, so he’s leaving Chicago. Gray Kunz won’t be opening a restaurant in the old Aquavit space. Felicity Huffman prefers to vote in the morning. Bonnie Fuller won a Woman of Valor award, brought her mom to the ceremony. DMX says his kid’s mother raped him; she says he defamed her. There’ll be a book party for The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB: A Secret History of Jewish Punk at CB’s Gallery. Some Dems thought Bill Clinton was sleeping around again last year, according to a new book; he said he wasn’t. Carson Kressley went to L.A., carried Louis Vuitton suitcases. A former Chanel model named Jackie Rogers apparently makes custom clothes. Someone posting on a message board doesn’t like Whoopi Goldberg’s radio show. John Mark Karr gave a drunken interview that will appear on Today. Prince William is reading Alien Rock: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Extraterrestrial Connection. Christina Aguilera wants to move back to New York. Tracy Morgan acted stupid at Bungalow 8.
the sports section
And You Shall Name Your Children ‘Carlos’
For a very long time at Shea Stadium last night, nothing happened. Pitchers Tom Glavine and Jeff Weaver defied age and mediocrity, respectively, and went back and forth like Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson. Albert Pujols, the world’s best hitter (and, according to scientists, the fastest finger-tapper since Babe Ruth), struck out and lined out. The Mets took turns politely grounding out to second base. It started raining. Ugly Betty pulled at the remote from two channels up. You could feel the crowd getting more and more nervous the longer Glavine pitched — it was like watching the makeout scene in a horror movie.
Then, finally, something did happen, the first potentially defining moment of the Mets’ playoffs.
the morning line
‘Suicide in Buffalo Would Be Redundant’
• Blackouts, school closings, downed trees and power lines — and that’s just on the first day of snow! Bewildered Buffalo registers two feet of the white stuff, making for the snowiest October day on record. An auspicious beginning, that. [AP via NYT]
• Hey, you know what hasn’t happened on the Upper East Side in a while, if by “a while” you mean 48 hours? Raging flames and mass evacuations. Behold, then, a three-alarm fire in a historic — and thankfully unoccupied — townhouse on 70th and Park, six blocks from the Lidle crash and eight blocks from the Bartha place. Does God not like UES anymore? [AP via amNY]
• Istithmar, a Dubai-based investment firm, buys the W Hotel in Union Square, paying a per-room rate that beats the prices paid for the Plaza and the Essex House. The company already owns the Knickerbocker and Helmsley hotels and could well be the final bidders for Stuy Town. Cue the eighties-style the-foreigners-are-taking-over-New York hysteria. [NYS]
• Some Muslims are reportedly offended by the new Apple store on Fifth Avenue, finding its architecture too similar to the Ka’ba, the sacred edifice in Mecca. They should see the Rubik’s Cube. [ZDNet via Curbed]
• And Con Ed has released a “definitive,” 600-page report on the July blackout in Queens. We’ll only need six words to capture the gist. It was all someone else’s fault. The cited number of affected customers (6,800) also differs wildly from the city estimates (over 100,000). Damage control? On it. [WNBC]
party town
Directors! Horses! LES Hipsters!We’re not saying they’re open to the public, and we’re not saying you’ll necessarily be able to get in if you show up. But here are the big-name parties on tap for tonight. Expect to hear about them in the next few days’ gossip columns.
Only a few days in, we’ve already figured out that the New York party scene seems to support three distinct boldface events a night. There’s one for Hollywood types, moguls, and Lou Reed; there’s one for socialites, fashionistas, and their patrons; and there’s one for people who surreptitiously scan Us Weekly looking for their own names. Events in this last category typically seem to be planned by people who didn’t quite “get” Zoolander. Beyond these, it’s all desperate gimmicks swimming in search of party reporters. Without further comment, then, tonight’s events:
• 2006 Directors Guild of America Honors. DGA Theatre, 110 W. 57th St., nr. Sixth Ave., 6 p.m. Promised guests: Don Cheadle, Danny Glover, Helen Mirren, Taylor Hackford, Jack Valenti, Michael Apted, Julie Taymor, and, sadly, not Lou Reed.
in other news
Bloomberg Bets Cheapo St. Louis MayorMayor Bloomberg and his St. Louis counterpart, Francis Slay, have made the traditional my-sports-team-is- taking-on-your-sports-team-so-let’s-show-off-our-local- delicacies bet, dependent on the fate of the Mets-Cardinals series (finally) kicking off tonight, as Gothamist notes this afternoon.
So what are the local delicacies in question? Should the Cards win, Bloomberg will send over a tasty — if not quite healthy — Big Apple cornucopia: Italian subs from Leo’s Latticini and Mama’s of Corona, ice cream from Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, a pizza alla vodka and the Smokin’ Goodfella pizza from Goodfella’s Pizzeria on Staten Island, a case of Brooklyn Lager, and a tub of lemon ice from the Lemon Ice King in Corona. Generous, right? Now consider what Mayor Slay is promising Bloomberg in the event of a Mets win: “two Imo’s thin-style pizzas, toasted ravioli from the Pasta House Company, and a gift basket from Bissinger’s Chocolate.” Is it our imagination, or is that obviously stingy? And, more than that, does it have anything to do with the Gateway to the West? Come on, St. Louis, throw in some barbecue or custard or something.
A Nelly CD, at least?
Mayor Bloomberg and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay Announce Friendly Wager on National League Championship Series [NYC.gov]
Mr. Met Wants A Better Bet Friendly Wager [Gothamist]
intel
Gail Collins Out as ‘Times’ Edit-Page EditorHuh. If you’d told us someone in a prominent position at the Times was about to leave it, this so wouldn’t have been the one we’d have guessed: Gail Collins is stepping down as editorial-page editor. She’ll be replaced by Andrew Rosenthal, former foreign editor, onetime loyal Howell Raines sidekick, and perpetually Abe’s son.
(Oh, and don’t worry: She’ll be back soon enough, returning to her old op-ed column next July.)
Andrew Rosenthal Named Editorial Page Editor of The New York Times [NYTCo.]
The United States of America vs. Bill Keller [NYM]
