The Daily Transom | The New York Observer

A-Rod Slides Into Home at Barnett's Rushmore, West Side's Newest Clubhouse

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:37:50 -0500

Once upon a time, people could not wait to break their contracts at the Rushmore and flee Gary Barnett's ultra-luxury twin tower complex in Riverside South. Was it a typo or just bubble-era buyers' remorse? Whatever the case of the case, The Observer suspects people will be fighting to get into the building now that Robin Williams is a Rushmore resident and, as of this morning, Alex Rodriguez is rumored to be ready to...

You Must Remember This: Was the Sarah on Long Island a Palin or a Jessica-Parker?

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:11:20 -0500

Plenty of news happens each day--and plenty slips through the cracks. Readers, let's test your collective memory!

Does Sarah Palin, based on her togs on a Long Island stop, believe in a woman's right to shoes?

...And on the other side of the political aisle, what wristwear indicates that all's well with Chelsea Clinton's marriage?

Which perpetually-comeback-ing Oscar winner is performing on Jimmy Fallon's show?

Whom does Whitney Port blame for exiling her from the city--or, at least...

Gwen Stefani Concludes Fashion Week With A Commando-Themed L.A.M.B. Show

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:14:44 -0500

The gridlock that seized the runway before the L.A.M.B. show last night had its heart near a cluster of seats in the front row -- one seat, one empty seat, had pulled in a growing orb of press and PR flacks. When The Observer finally shouldered through the crescent of photographers and video crews ready to pounce on the expected celebrity, we snatched a glace at the name: Matt Damon.

"I heard it was actually...

Martin Scorsese Sells Out--the Film Forum, At Least!

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:30:26 -0500

It'll be sitting room only for 180 lucky fans of GoodFellas (or, just maybe, Shutter Island) at the Film Forum next week, as the Manhattan auteur not named Woody Allen addresses the Film Forum audience at a Feb. 23 screening of last year's Fran Lebowitz documentary Public Speaking. Wait, everyone loves Martin Scorsese, but hadn't that already come and gone--in 2010--and on HBO, no less?

A Film Forum rep explained to the Observer: "When Rialto...

Deneuve Hits BAM at Francophilia Fest

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:54:52 -0500

BAM is to host a near-month-long retrospective of Catherine Deneuve's films, from March 4 to March 31. The season will be a high-water mark in New York's interest in French cinema--March 3 to 13 will see the "Rendez-Vous with French Cinema" series at Walter Reade, which opens with a Deneuve performance in the new film Potiche and includes appearances by French director Catherine Breillat and actor Gaspard Ulliel. Can a city so transfixed by...

Stanford Prez--a New Yorker!--Hot on NYC for New Campus

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:50:26 -0500

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's latest scheme to foster tech talent in New York City called for a world-class university to establish a significant presence here, and he's gotten a few nibbles. One is from a big fish: Stanford University is seriously considering a research and engineering campus in New York and announced some specifics as to what one might look like.

Recall: "A new, state-of-the-art applied sciences research school would be a major asset for New...

Bill Simmons Drafts Katie Baker, Chuck Klosterman and Lane Brown For New Sports Blog

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:38:16 -0500

ESPN's star columnist Bill Simmons is launching his own site, reports AllThingsD. The as of yet unnamed blog will be owned by ESPN, but not ESPN branded. The coverage will be 70% sports and 30% pop culture, or, as his site designer described it, "sports/literary." And he's staffing it accordingly.

According to Twitter, the lineup so far is: Chuck Klosterman, who, though first known for his music writing, has worked extensively with Simmons and ESPN;...

Their Name Is Rio and They've Surpassed Us as the Hemisphere's Priciest Office Market

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:29:54 -0500

Not only did we just fall behind D.C. in commercial real estate pricing recovery, but now we're behind Rio as the second most expensive office market in the Americas.

An annual report, released by Cushman & Wakefield today, revealed that while South America, and Brazil in general, has skyrocketing office occupancy costs (rent, insurance, et al), the U.S. saw a 2 percent decline. All in all, Rio had a 47 percent increase in costs, the most...

Piers Morgan--No Longer Just on TV Screens!--Joins VYou

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:22:39 -0500

Piers Morgan joined New York social-media startup VYou yesterday--the service allows users to communicate with friends, fans, and followers by recording short videos answering questions of varying degrees of pertinence. Piers's default video, running on a loop, shows him sitting in front of a picture of Kim Kardashian, covering his mouth with a closed fist then straining to smile. Morgan hasn't yet mastered VYou--he has 23 followers, and follows no one. (VYou investor Rex...

Fashion Week Maybe Not All That Ready for the Country

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:22:08 -0500

Fashion Week may have ended yesterday, but the final word, as it were, for The Observer was at the Adam Kimmel party at Don Hill's the night before. Hank Williams III, grandson of country legend Hank Sr., stood on a stage with a five-piece band: upright bass, fiddle, banjo, drums, and pedal steel. Everyone wore cowboy hats except for the fiddler who wore a trucker's cap. Mr. Williams' hair was braided into a long...

It's Free to Look: Crazy, Crazy Condo at Nouvel's 40 Mercer

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:08:09 -0500

Town calls it "New York's sexiest lobby" in "downtown's best building." Beyond 40 Mercer's full-time doorman, live-in super and art installation lies unit 3D, a $4.3 million condo with 12-foot ceilings and views to spare. Crazy.

Designed by premier architect Jean Nouvel, the building features spacious floorplans with a "progressive" feel. The 1,843-square footer has two bedrooms, two bathrooms plus a powder room, and access to a common roofdeck. Each room is fitted with floor-to-ceiling...

Rangel Hints That He May Not Run For Re-election After All [VIDEO]

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:49:56 -0500

Charle Rangel raised some eyebrows earlier this week when he announced that he would seek a 22nd term in Congress. Yesterday on "Good Day New York" he seemed less certain.

"This is an intention I have at this time," he said. "You recognize that even though I get over 80% of the voters vote, that was a couple of months ago. I don't know what the voters will think or what the economy will dictate...

Huffington Post Responds to Colbert by Repurposing Colbert's Site

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:59:25 -0500

As a response to Stephen Colbert's joking on The Colbert Report about "The Colbuffington Re-Post"--a site, identical in all particulars but name to the Huffington Post, that he planned to sell for $316 million--the Huffington Post announced its own new initiative, The Huffbert Nation. As one might guess, the site, though on a huffingtonpost.com URL, is precisely the same one as Colbert's "Colbert Nation." Again, all that's changed is the name--and the face at...

When Elephants Fly: Dumbo Gets Two Macho Sports Tenants

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:50:49 -0500

The day Dumbo gets an extreme sports tenant will be the day elephants fly, or so we once thought.

Tough Mudder ("not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing 'endurance' road race," says its Web site) has signed a one-year lease for 2,214 square feet of office space at 55 Washington Street. Trilogy Lacrosse has taken 1,072 square feet in the building for three years.

"We typically get creative tenants," said Two Trees' Caroline Pardo on the...

You Must Remember This: Piers Morgan Made Who Wait?

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:25:56 -0500

Who will finally be on Piers Morgan Tonight--if he doesn't get bumped, again?

What's Martin Scorsese's next collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio?

What highly ironic situation befell the author of The Help?

How is The Social Network's studio trying to get you to read more?

And how did the real social network get with the times today?

What media-savvy pop stars are the impetus for Vogue's new app?

What basketball stars are soon to be immortalized on the Broadway stage?

ddaddario@observer.com ::...