By Tom McGeveran

April 22, 2009 | 8:28 a.m.

Daily News: Having spent yesterday's cover heralding the arrest of Philip Markoff in the "Craigslist Murder," the News today has to up the ante on its cover. The tabloids had reason to expect some developments: Mr. Markoff's arraignment would involve a certain amount of public testimony about what evidence police had of Mr. Markoff's guilt, and a plea could be expected from the defense. What's more, this investigation started out pretty leaky; it's a question of your crime reporting staff having more or less juice with Boston police and the Suffolk County, Mass. district attorney's office. Let's take a look at the total universe of "new" developments in the case the Daily News had at its disposal: There are interviews with people who knew him. These famously yield questionable results though. Somewhat predictably, some were shocked, and this is good because it advances the peculiarity of the story: Such a preppy, successful young man! And also very tech-savvy: he set up a new email account to contact his victim, Julia Brisman, a masseuse who advertised on Craigslist. But then there is the other side: He was a creep, who had "problems" with the unwhite people and with women, and maybe even didn't so much seek out real girlfriends. But he is engaged to be married to a very pretty New Jersey girl, and also his electronic trail played a big part in his apprehension. What to do with all of this paradoxical information? The News finds its way out with a big picture of the cute-looking kid in his rumpled button-down blue and some pretty small type that reads: "CRAIGSLIST SUSPECT'S VIOLENT TRAIL." What the reader is given to expect is a police procedural that follows the narrative of the suspect's alleged crime spree, which included not just the "Craigslist murder" but at least one other count of armed robbery with more possibly to come. Fair enough!

 

But most of the front page of the News this morning is devoted to a "JUAN GONZALEZ EXCLUSIVE." Much has been said in the past about what constitutes an exclusive. For instance, this morning I can exclusively reveal that my allergies are acting up. You could make an entire failing newspaper out of things you are the only news source to have bothered with. And while Juan Gonzalez, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his crusading investigative reporting about the bad air and illnesses that resulted from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has solid credentials as an investigative reporter, this "exclusive" seems like it was mostly a case of being tipped off to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court last week. That said, it's a great story: "FUROR OVER 600G PASTOR: Riverside Church group sues to halt rev's huge salary & perks." If anything the story is undersold slightly: you may remember the case of Friar Tuck, the Staten Island minister who embezzled money from his congregation to get cosmetic surgery. This is much, much bigger. First of all, Riverside Church is a huge, influential pulpit, and a huge Gothic church built with Rockefeller money. If the church's influence in politics is less famous than that of, say, the Abyssinian Baptist Church, it's probably just because the left-of-center politics of the congregation (and its racial diversity) make it less of an obvious choice for politicians putting themselves explicitly before African American voters. But make no mistake: this is a huge church, and the man they've chosen as pastor, Brad Braxton, is about to enjoy one of the most influential Protestant positions in the country. It seems that while the congregation approved of his installation as pastor, though, the list of perks that make up his rather lavish compensation package were available only to a select few. This congregation has also seen turmoil in recent days; it's partly a Baptist denomination, and the struggles within the Baptist church to reconcile a "peace-and-justice" package with the increasingly conservative religious mores of much of the Baptist flock are documented. Mr. Gonzalez may have stumbled onto just another internecine battle among constituents of the congregation, but it's hard to judge. At any rate, to return to Friar Tuck: Unlike his parish on Staten Island, this congregation matters as a city institution. And in contrast to his rather meager and pathetic grift, this "executive compensation" struggle involves a real number, and comes at a time when high salaries and lavish compensation (he gets an $11,500 monthly housing stipend, and a maid!) are not popular with the working and middle classes of any political persuasion.

The New York Post: All is quiet, for now, on the developing story of the "SPITE WEDDING" the Post brought us yesterday. Will Sandrina bear Harold's child after all? Did Harold sleep with his old pool-installation boss? The Post no doubt will stay on top of this important story, but in the meantime there are all the incremental developments in the Craigslist Murder which today, suddenly, demand front-page treatment. "KILLER'S SECRET LIFE: Chilling new portrait of Craigslist suspect" is what we've got. A bit of the teaser text is helpful: "... preppy med student by day, prostitute stalker and gambler by night, authorities have revealed." And more: "his stunned fiancée stood by her man." A "double life" trope is a great way to get past the paradoxes of a personality we haven't had much time to analyze, but the "chilling new portrait" will not be new—or even complete— to anybody who has been following this story on the Internet. Mr. Markoff's "electronic trail" includes a wedding web site with possibly more page inventory than this site, a facebook account, and more. But the Post takes an old-fashioned reporting approach, talking to people who knew him, setting up a stringer outside his fiancées house to describe a few hours of comings and goings there. Perhaps most fascinating in all of this is the e-mail his fiancée, Megan McAllister, sent to the Boston Herald: "'He is intelligent, loyal and the best fiancé a woman could ask for,' McAllister said in an e-mail to the Boston Herald. 'Unfortunately, the Boston police try to make money out of these things.'"

Now, this fiancée angle is pretty fascinating actually. Because it's not actually clear how much of a secret Mr. Markoff's gambling ways were—evidence marshaled by the Post and others for his gambling predilections included reference to his high-school yearbook—we're more interested in the fact that his fiancée was caught with him in a car on the way to Foxwoods than we are in the fact that Foxwoods was their destination. How serious can this double life have been if, once exploded, his fiancée appears to be planning to go forward with the wedding? The Post is edifying on these details on the inside pages, moreso than the News, but in going for a Day 2 angle, what about a picture of the killer and his fiancée, with an inset mugshot, with a "Stand By Your Man" declaration of some type on the front?

This is normally something the Post does handily, as in the refer at the top of the page to the story of Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, complete with courtroom sketch (shorthand: Courtroom Drama inside! and a good reason not to use a real photo.) "Now the pirate cries," reads the text, referring to the 15-year-old's unaccountable smile as he was perp-walked Monday. Happily for all of us, "a judge wiped a grin off his face and left him in tears, realizing he faces life in the brig." This is the kind of gallows we all thrill to stand around. Go, Post!

And lest she be relegated to a footnote, the Post also allows us a glimpse into the psychosexual world of Lindsay Lohan: "Lindsay's new lovers" flags a Page Six item (also widely read yesterday on the Internet) documenting her rehabilitation: the "faux lesbian" is "drowning her sorrows" over her break-up with Samantha Ronson in a "sea of men." As Tina Brown would say: V. Hot!

General observations: We may think the Post could have done better on the Craigslist Murder, but the News was just a bore on the topic. And while Lindsay Lohan and pirates are both topics already rode hard and put away wet, it's hard to imagine Juan Gonzalez's piece about Riverside Church profits much from the huge display it got on the front of the News. Was the News afraid to go big for a second day in a row on the Craigslist Murder story? Because that's just silly. We'd love to penalize the Post today for underplaying the Craigslist Murder story yesterday, but yesterday's Post is not the one sitting right next to today's News on the newsstand. In the Wood War, every day starts a clean slate.

Winner: The New York Post

By Susan Kirschbaum

April 7, 2009 | 4:22 p.m

On Friday, April 3, hospitalized celebrity psychic Judi Hoffman announced that, despite three rounds of chemotherapy, her prognosis is not good.

Ms. Hoffman, 49, was diagnosed with throat cancer last August.

But she’s taking the bad news in stride. The Upper East Side clairvoyant is promising to answer the eternal life-after-death question, if and when she goes.

“She may appear to you in a dream, as an apparition, or in a vision, or in a manner still unknown to this world,” according to a statement from her publicist.

Her fee for services beyond the grave? Just $95—less than a fourth of her hourly reading rate.

Ms. Hoffman, a brash-talking yenta type with a penchant for leopard shoes and lingerie, has been forecasting the future for Oscar-winning actors, Vogue staffers, financial kingpins, and socialites for the past decade. She has boasted of accurately predicting Angelina Jolie’s twins, Lindsay Lohan’s “secret other lover, not a boyfriend,” and Eliot Spitzer’s downfall several months before the news broke.

She was admittedly wrong about the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl in 2008, however, humbly estimating her accuracy in an interview with The Baltimore Sun at around “65 to 85 percent.” (“Hey, if I could do it 100 percent of the time, I’d be living on Fifth Avenue, not Third,” she mused.)

The Daily Transom first found out about Ms. Hoffman through aspiring model Gisele Bundchen at a dinner back in 1999. “Judi said I was going to get this big contract,” said Ms. Bundchen, then 19. A few weeks later, she landed a multimillion-dollar deal with Victoria's Secret.

“I did see her for a reading years ago,” songwriter Denise Rich told the Daily Transom this week. “She was very on, accurate. She’s very intuitive.”

If Ms. Hoffman survives, she’s scheduled to star in the Animal Planet reality show Psychic in the City now under development. Otherwise, her brother, Miami travel agent Dean Hoffman, has advised her, “you need to come back and give me the winning power ball numbers.”

By Chris Shott

March 19, 2009 | 8:00 a.m.

The notorious West Chelsea nightclub where the actress Lindsay Lohan honed her pole-dancing skills may soon be back in business.

Real estate investor Robert Gans has purchased the shuttered Scores West building at 533-535 West 28th Street, where scantily clad dancers entertained numerous celebrities over the years, ranging from radio host Howard Stern to hockey star Mario Lemieux. (The actor Owen Wilson once pulled up on a bicycle!)

Property records show that Mr. Gans, who also owns the bawdy Penthouse Executive Club on West 45th Street, paid $9.58 million for the 10,000-square-foot venue.

That’s nearly half a million dollars less than prior owners Richard Goldring and Elliot Osher shelled out for the building in 2004—and many, many millions less than the rumored $40 million asking price.

Filings from the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission further reveal that Mr. Gans, who did not return phone calls for comment, has also spent an additional $400,000 to purchase a controlling interest in the holding company that licenses the famous Scores brand name to other clubs around the country.

A supposed club insider writing on an industry message board recently described the new management's aims thusly: "The owners of Penthouse want to bring back the old glory days of lap dances, bringing back the celebrity draw, the great customer service, drop-dead beautiful girls, and just a rip-roarin' great strip club experience. Really, that's what Scores was known for many (MANY) moons ago."

The building is currently undergoing renovations. A sign taped to the door reads: “DO NOT ENTER Construction Workers Only!”

A new liquor license for the venue is "pending," according to the State Liquor Authority.

The infamous club closed last May after regulators yanked its license as a result of a January 2007 police raid in which several employees were arrested on prostitution charges.

 

By Irina Aleksander

February 18, 2009 | 4:58 p.m

Mayor Bloomberg, Caroline Kennedy, and Joel I. Klein showed up Giorgio Armani's store opening last night because Mr. Armani is donating $1 million to The Fund for Public Schools. [WWD]

Recently separated Tinsley Mortimer, mostly absent from the society scene as of late, showed up at Baby Phat (of all places) with new bangs and heavy eye make-up. [The Cut]  

Yesterday's G-Star show ended with a reading of Joy Division's "Candidate" by actor Benicio del Toro. [WWD]

In Samantha Ronson's absence, Lindsay Lohan spent Sunday night partying with model May Andersen at Southern Hospitality. [Page Six] 

Opening Ceremony has finally launched its e-commerce website. [Refinery 29] 

 

By Caroline Bankoff

December 29, 2008 | 1:11 p.m

In response to daughter Lindsay's revelatory Christmas Eve Myspace dispatch, Michael Lohan finally launched his own blog at Mikelohanonline.com. Now that we think about it, we're kind of shocked that it's taken him this long. Though the site is only a couple days old, it already contains a wealth of content: There's a "Song of the Week" feature (this week's pick is "Dirty Laundry" by Don Henley [sample lyric: "I make my living off the evening news."]) and a sidebar slideshow that mostly consists of photos of Mr. Lohan and his girlfriend Erin Muller (and their puppies!), though there are a couple recent-ish looking shots of Ms. Lohan and her siblings.

We learn that Mr. Lohan has been invited to Sundance this year, where he will again attempt to compete for a good cause (his November boxing match was cancelled when his parole officer objected to his participation) in a poker battle against other "A-list celebrities." Also, there's the announcement that he and his daughter have declared a "truce," which means that "all sources, so called friends and mouthpieces" should "refrain from any more comments or suggestions on her blog." 

As for the blog itself, the inaugural post warns readers:

Meanwhile, in a video clip, he explains what it is about:

If you still have questions for Mr. Lohan, he'll be hosting a live chat tonight at 9pm. The topic is: "How the media, press and public opinion affect those in the spotlight." 

By Caroline Bankoff

December 24, 2008 | 12:09 p.m

As with many people around this time of the year, Lindsay Lohan is under a bit of stress. First of all, it now looks like girlfriend Samantha Ronson's recent hospitalization may have had something to do with a "nuclear" screaming match the couple had in their Los Angeles home. Immediately prior to Ms. Ronson's hospital visit, the two were reportedly up "wailing, with lots of obscenities" until 4 a.m., breaking glasses and exchanging jabs like "You never say you love me."  

This morning, in a pathos-heavy Christmas Eve Myspace dispatch, Ms. Lohan got reflective:

Also, in a traditional holiday move, it seems that dysfunctional father Michael decided to bring up that love child we were hearing about this summer:

She also included a shout-out to sister-in-arms Britney Spears, who "is an amazing talent and she has gone through a lot, (just as i have) in the public eye...which is not necessarily a bad thing.. It teaches young girls and boys that there are certain things in life that you should not let get in the way of your dreams and accomplishments."

Singing off, Ms. Lohan is sure to note that she will be spending Christmas in LA with Ms. Ronson. In a post script, she encourages readers to check out some of her favorite songs from Ms. Spears's new album. Among them, not surprisingly, is "Shattered Glass." 

By Irina Aleksander

December 12, 2008 | 11:30 a.m.

According to the Los Angeles Times, celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson is engaged in an unfortunate lawsuit with a lawyer she hired last year to protect her against the vicious things that blogs were writing about her alleged relationship with Lindsay Lohan.

At the time, Ms. Ronson wanted to file a defamation suit against blogger Perez Hilton, who called her "lezbot DJ" and suggested that the cocaine found in Ms. Lohan's car when she drove into some shrubs in Beverly Hills in May of 2007 belonged to Ms. Ronson. Ms. Ronson reached out to New York lawyer Martin Garbus, 72, who has represented a host of high-profile celebrity clients over his five decades in the business like Andrei Sakharov, Samuel Beckett, Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, Spike Lee, Salman Rushdie, and Don Imus. 

But then the two parties had a falling out. Ms. Ronson is suing her former lawyer for malpractice; he is counter-suing to recover his fees. And somewhere amidst all this Ms. Ronson lost out in her defamation lawsuit to Mr. Hilton and had to write him a check of $85,000 to cover his legal fees.  

A trial is scheduled for May in Los Angeles. But some say the legal proceedings will hurt Ms. Ronson's reputation more than they will her former lawyer. Mr. Garbus' attorneys are using Ms. Lohan as a witness in the case and have requested information regarding the two women's relationship, finances, drug use, alleged rehab stays, and even copies of text messages and emails between the women for the past two years.

And meanwhile, Mr. Garbus isn't concerned about how he comes off the press. 

"I'm not part of that world," he told the LAT about the kind of celebrity journalism that will inevitable emerge as each detail leaks out. "I'm very detached from it." 

By Caroline Bankoff

December 2, 2008 | 9:38 a.m.

It looks like Gossip Girl's Vanessa Abrams ("Jessica Szohr") has finally come around to Chuck Bass ("Ed Westwick")—the two were spotted "stealing" kisses at La Guardia Airport. [P6]

Meanwhile, Chuck may soon have a new half-brother—Lily van Der Woodsen ("Kelly Rutherford") is pregnant! [Us Weekly]

Ivana Trump is divorcing Rossano Rubicondi, her 36-year-old husband of seven months. Apparently, the couple has been broken up for a while, but Ms. Trump kept quiet because she didn't want to spoil his chances of winning I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! [R&M]

Kate Moss was overheard at a party explaining that the recently noted scratches on her face were not, as she had claimed, injuries sustained in a Christmas ornament accident, but the result of a "scuffle" with boyfriend Jamie Hince involving her "chunky ring." [P6]

At his false imprisonment trial, Boy George admitted that, while he "absolutely" handcuffed a male prostitute to his bed, he "certainly wasn't going to kill him." [NYDN]

In her newest Myspace update, Lindsay Lohan assures the world that she and Samantha Ronson are not breaking up. [Us Weekly]

By Caroline Bankoff

December 1, 2008 | 9:37 a.m.

Christopher Buckley will continue to work through his daddy issues with a new book about the death of his parents, William F. and Pat Buckley, which he predicts will "land hard in some quarters." [P6]

Cameron Diaz made a big deal of avoiding ex Justin Timberlake's current girlfriend Jessica Biel backstage at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, but Ms. Biel was apparently too busy showing off her hot dad to notice. [Full Disclosure, second item]

It's probably not a coincidence that Madonna and Alex Rodriguez are both in Mexico City right now. [NYDN]

Samantha Ronson's half-sister, 20-year-old Annabelle Dexter-Jones, has been asking Lindsay Lohan for advice on picking an agent. [Page Six Magazine]

Orlando Bloom and model Miranda Kerr are not engaged, in case you heard they were. [Us Weekly]

Metallica drummer (and art collector) Lars Ulrich doesn't do drugs anymore, but he still likes "bonding" with friends in bathroom stalls. [P6]

 

By Caroline Bankoff

November 21, 2008 | 9:36 a.m.

The still "very much in love" Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan have started attending couples therapy after a series of public fights. [P6]

At a divorce hearing yesterday, Guy Ritchie declined to go after soon-to-be ex-wife Madonna's money, opting instead to focus on obtaining joint custody of his children. [NYDN]

Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz named their son Bronx Mowgli. [Us Weekly]

Eliot Spitzer's 84-year-old father Bernard will be in court today testifying against charges that he fired four men from one of his apartment buildings for being black (and don't forget to tune in to Ashley Dupre's ABC interview tonight!). [Cityfile]

William Lauder, grandson of Estee, visited with the daughter he had with Taylor Stein, which it seems he has only done once since her May birth. [P6]