A little over a year ago, celebrity chef Rachael Ray was busy denying rumors that she and her husband of two years, lawyer-cum-rocker John Cusimano, were getting a divorce after the blogosphere began buzzing about his alleged penchant for bondage and prostitutes.

Things sure have changed since then. In June, the couple closed on a $2.9 million beach house in the Hamptons, the New York Post reported. And now they have bought a second co-op in their building at 49 East 12th Street, city records show.

Mr. and Mrs. Ray--eh, Cusimano--live in apartment 6G, and have paid $1.25 million for neighboring unit 6H, according to the deed that appeared today.  read more »

Thirty-minute-meals gal Rachael Ray, who is also the face of the "America Runs on Dunkin'" campaign, has offended America with her allegedly Palestinian fashion statement.

In a recently released ad, the chef appears wearing—gasp!—a black-and-white scarf that resembles a keffiyeh. This seemed to especially tick off Republican commentator Michelle Malkin, who wrote that the scarf "has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad." Malkin continued:

Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons.

But, according to a New York Times Style section article by Kibum Kim from Feb. 11, 2007, "Its newest wearers, who wrap it around the neck like a scarf, say they are less Fatah sympathizers than fashion party crashers."

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What doesBilly Crudup do when a panhandler approaches him in the street?

“As a New Yorker, you’re confronted with people who are in need in one way or another. Whether it’s people asking you for money or asking you for a meal—and it’s very difficult to make that decision on a moment-to-moment basis, day after day,” the 39-year-old told The Daily Transom last night. He was looking pretty good in a sharp suit and hair that looked like it was still slick with something like Kiehl's Creme With Silk Groom, sort of faux-shower-fresh, at the Metropolitan Pavillion on West 18th street for City Harvest’s 25th anniversary party.

The room was filling up fast with smoke from cooking chunks of steak as Mr. Crudup talked; there were little mob scenes at stations set up by restaurants on the order of Aquavit, Le Cirque, Blue Hill, Le Bernadin and Union Square Café.

“Typically, people won’t say specifically they’re in need of a meal," Mr. Crudup said. "They’ll say they’re in need of money, and I’ve made the decision to give my money to organizations. So typically I say, ‘I can’t help you today, but if you need some help, I know where you can go.’ That helps me to confront the issue with the person, and not have to ignore it and feel like I’m ignoring people in need, and not have to make New York a more abrupt place than it already is; and it helps me to put the onus of helping people on the people who are really qualified to do it and capable to do it,” he said. Deep breath! He'll spend the next four months in Vancouver filming Zach Snyder’s Watchmen.

Later, Rachael Ray took a few ‘Yummo’-free moments to dish about how hungry people in New York differ from people-in-need elsewhere.

“They probably have more challenges, I would think, just because an urban environment isn’t as conducive to people stopping and really taking the time to help you as a suburb environment,” Ms. Ray, 39. She was wearing a red dress and suede boots. “But I gotta tell you, I live a more small-town life when I’m in New York City than when I’m upstate. It’s ironic, but it’s true. There’s still that small village feel.”

Unlike Mr. Crudup, though, Ms. Ray makes a habit out of reaching into her deep pockets on daily basis. “We have people that we see frequently on our block and we never figure, ‘Oh we gave you 20 bucks last week!’ We always give them food, money. If I have money on me, I give it. I lived check-to-check for a long time and there but for the grace of god, literally, go I. Anybody could be homeless tomorrow!”