Martha Stewart | The New York Observer

Rucci Rucci Roo! At Ralph's Show, Sweatin' With Andre, Martha and...Steve Harvey?

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:08:51 -0400

When Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley arrived at the Chado Ralph Rucci show last Friday, he was, as is typical, dressed to impress. He wore a long white kimono with a stripe across the top.

The air outside was extremely humid--more so inside a tent overfilled by about fifty people.

When the Transom asked Mr. Talley if he was warm, he quickly replied, “Of course not, I’m freezing.” (As beads of sweat...

Axis Spies? Alex Who? Four Seasons Guys Get Treated Like Guests at 50th Anniversary

Wed, 06 May 2009 10:50:59 -0400

"With friends like you, who needs relatives?" quipped Alex von Bidder, co-owner of the illustrious Four Seasons restaurant, after enduring a rollicking tongue-lashing on Tuesday night, May 5, from such luminaries as Pete Peterson, Martha Stewart and Liz Smith.

Hotelier Jonathan Tisch and restaurateur Drew Nieporent also piled on, during a Friars Club-style roast of Mr. von Bidder and his charismatic partner, Julian Niccolini, in celebration of the renowned midtown power-lunching spot's 50th anniversary. It...

Julian Niccolini Turns 21 For the 35th Time as the Posh Four Seasons Turns 50 For Real

Fri, 01 May 2009 09:51:33 -0400

"Ladies and gentlemen, let it rock!" charismatic restaurateur Julian Niccolini announced as sultry singer Diego Garcia kicked off a special live performance at the Four Seasons on Thursday, April 30.

The occassion was Mr. Niccolini's birthday—his 21st, if you believe the winking invite.

"Fifty-six, actually," noted the irreverent impresario, dressed dapperly as ever in a pinstriped suit and red tie.

So that's, what, 21 shots plus 35 shots?

"Absolutely, I think we should do that!" the good-humored Mr....

At the Winter Antiques Show, Bovine Paintings and Martha Stewart

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:40:50 -0500

At the opening of the 55th Winter Antiques Show Thursday evening at the Park Avenue Armory, Martha Stewart was there to shop. Surrounded by a flurry of admirers, she diligently inspected all the goods, clearly more interested in the hunt than schmoozing. "I've been coming here for 25 years," said Ms. Stewart. "I've bought here before."

Besides the expected European wares of china, Faberge eggs, and assorted jewelry, there were a surprising number...

Will There Be No More Billionaires in the Year 2009?

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:05:59 -0500

As the year comes to a close, the Business Sheet has taken a tally of how much this city's moguls have lost in the great economic bonfire of 2008. The damage--which reaches into the billions--makes us wonder if when the economic cleansing is all said and done, if there will even be any more billionaires left in New York City.

So as you hit the bottle this holiday season, consider this: at least you...

Transom Week in Review: Narciso Rodriguez on Michelle Obama; National Book Awards Go Glam; Christian Siriano's Birthday Bash

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:40:49 -0500

The National Book Awards tried to glam things up, with mixed results.

Narciso Rodriguez told us about Michelle Obama's controversial Election Night dress at the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards.

We caught up with the MisShapes at Christian Siriano's birthday party at Citrine.

At the re-dedication of the Bridge Formerly Known as Triborough, we discovered that Nancy Pelosi isn't one for frivolous questions (but Martha Stewart is!).

We faced the new media reality and took...

Martha Stewart Would Have Fifth Avenue Named After Her; Glenn Close Says: 'A Dog Park!'

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:31:55 -0500

Wednesday evening at Pier 60, the dedication of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (formerly known as the Triborough!) attracted a long list of high-profile guests—Sarah Jessica Parker, Carl Bernstein, Matt Dillon, not to mention gaggles of politicians and Kennedys. And Archbishop Desmond Tutu! The Daily Transom wondered what kinds of Manhattan landmarks this sort of crowd would like to be named after them.

"A dog park!" replied actress Glenn Close, who during the dinner...

Transom Week In Review: Mary-Kate Olsen at the Accompanied Literary Society; Election Night Madness; Dominick Dunne Toasted

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:56:53 -0500

We channeled the spirit of Edgar Allen Poe alongside Josh Lucas, David Schwimmer, Arden Wohl, and Mary-Kate Olsen at the Accompanied Literary Society Halloween party.

The art world remembered Robert Rauschenberg at a Coalition for the Homeless benefit.

We spent an anxious Election Eve with Graydon Carter, Tina Brown, Salman Rushdie, Regis Philbin, and Nora Ephron at the New York Public Library’s Library Lions benefit.

On November 4th, we saw many people and...

The Juicy is Loose! Temple to the Sweatpant Gods Draws Gossip Girls... and Martha Stewart!

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:06:33 -0500

The label Juicy Couture is perhaps best known for outfitting young girls (and sometimes their moms who should know better) in cotton candy-bright velour sweatpants with the word "Juicy" written across the buttocks. Its clothes are often decorated with rhinestones and lots of hardware, combining the image of daddy's uptown little girl with a little bit of punk. Or, as Cintra Wilson wrote in the New York Times last month: "The girl for whom...

Transom Week In Review: Gay Talese, Michael Musto, and 'Dee-ahhn' von Eff

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:28:28 -0400

We talked mob money with writer Gay Talese at the screening of Gomorrah.

After months of speculation, we got to the bottom of Marquee's temporary summer shutdown.

We tallied gifts, drank absinthe, and chatted with godfather Michael Musto at nightlife heir Liam McMullan's 21st birthday party.

Russell Crowe got a little testy at the Body of Lies premiere--par for the course, we suppose.

We partied with Diane von Furstenberg,...

Fashion Week Hangers-On Make Birthday Wishes at Calvin's 40th

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:30:39 -0400

Last night’s Calvin Klein 40th Anniversary party was held in a John Pawson-designed, temporary structure on 10th Avenue and 30th Street built specifically for the event.

Adjacent to the space—fittingly, it seemed to be constructed from the same building material used to turn Manhattan living rooms into second bedrooms—was the new Highline Park, which guests were invited to tour during the party (the park is not yet open to the public).

Once inside,...

Morning Memo: Martha Stewart's Bad Luck; Kirsten Dunst Spotted Snogging Drew's Ex; Spike Lee Defends Barack Obama

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:54:52 -0400

Martha Stewart has been the victim of natural disasters this summer. First, Ms. Stewart's farm in Bedford, N.Y. was struck by lightning earlier this summer, and now her East Hampton home on Lily Pond Lane was also struck with a bolt, which fried her stereo system and her electronic driveway gate. [P6]

Kirsten Dunst was spotted making out with Drew Barrymore's ex Justin Long at Sunset Junction in LA, where she seems to have returned...

Chevy Chase Attends Martha Stewart's Peony Party

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:57:36 -0400

Once again Martha Stewart has chronicled her social life on her blog and posted photos from her Second Annual Peony Party at her farm in Bedford, New York. Yes, it was a party to celebrate a flower, which is a way for Ms. Stewart to show off her exceptional gardening skills. (Or those of her gardners.) "When my gardens are looking so amazing, I just love sharing with my friends," she writes. ...

Morning Memo: Simmons Robbed; Runway Renovated

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:20:24 -0400

A suitcase filled with $15,000 worth of Russell Simmons jewelry was reportedly stolen when one of Mr. Simmons' employees left it in the hallway of a Bleecker Street building for about 30 minutes. [P6]

Heidi Klum says that Project Runway will get a facelift on Lifetime that will include some more catch phrases and a "Hollywood flair." [Forbes via The Cut]

Jennifer Lopez stopped by Obama's offices to talk about "matters close to her...

Kanye West is so Blogging This

Fri, 30 May 2008 15:38:36 -0400

It's no Martha Stewart posting pictures from her trip to the Bahamas, but Kanye West has got himself a little blog. Sure, he's been at it for some time now, but it seems that Mr. West's blog hasn't quite found its...identity.

The post currently at the top of the site is an advertisement for the futuristic Placentero lounge chair with an attractive woman sitting in it, on which the rapper—or his assistant, more...

Martha Stewart Posts Her Own Time 100 Photos

Wed, 21 May 2008 18:29:57 -0400

We get so entranced by Martha Stewart's accounts of her horse's enflamed rear hock and white asparagus updates on her blog that we didn't even notice the photos she posted yesterday from the Time 100 gala that took place May 8. She even brought her own photographer!

Although posted a little late—you'll have to have a faster turn-around to compete on the Internets, Martha!—the post shows the domestic diva clinking Champagne flutes with "leaders...

Morning Memo: Martha Blogs Perez; Gisele Makes $35 M. a Year

Thu, 01 May 2008 09:41:11 -0400

Martha Stewart blogs, posts pictures of Perez Hilton at the White House Correspondents Dinner. [The Martha Blog via Daily Intel]

After Jessica Simpson cost Tony Romo a chance at the Superbowl, President Bush wants to send her to the Democratic National Convention. Sorry to ruin the fun Mr. President, but we don't think she's either of the candidates' type. [US Weekly]

Kate Moss may not be participating in New York's Fashion Week in September because she's...

Department of Justice Approves Sirius-XM Merger

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:15:27 -0400

The Associated Press reports that The Justice Department has approved Sirius Satellite Radio's plan to buy its rival, XM Satellite Radio, for $5 billion.

Sirius, which is home to Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Judith Regan, The Rolling Stones, and others, will incorporate XM's programming which includes Oprah Winfrey, E!, and Fox News.

"After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the [Justice Department's Antitrust] Division concluded that the evidence does...

Frédéric Fekkai: A Pleasant Surprise

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:31:48 -0500

Last night, The Daily Transom chatted with Frédéric Fekkai, the haute hair salon mogul, who was co-hosting a party with his wife, Shirin von Wulffen and Martha Stewart, who was absent because of the death of her mother, Martha Kostyra, last Friday. Guests at the cozy affair—held in the Galerie Mark, which sits beneath the soon-to-reopen Mark Hotel on Madison Ave. and 77th St.—drank to the publication of Sandy Hill’s new...

Martha Stewart Settles on Katonah

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:48:05 -0500

Residents of tony Katonah, N.Y., are willing to let Martha Stewart put the town’s name on her furniture, mirrors, pillows and chair cushions—but on nothing else. Paint? Definitely off-limits. Lighting and home textiles? No and no. The lifestyle mogul behind Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. has finally reached a compromise with the Westchester County villagers after concerns were raised by several individuals and groups—including Native Americans who were reportedly upset that the...

Plaza Celebrates 100 Years With Martha, Donald and ... Paul Anka!

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:21:05 -0400

Just after 8:00 on the evening of October 1st, with a large group of dapperly dressed guests gathered in Grand Army Plaza below, a 12-foot cake shining in the spotlight amidst them, and a small cast of hosts counting down from ten on stage, the first sparks of light erupted from the rooftop of The Plaza hotel. They flared into the air and then were followed by others of their kind,...

Hot to Trotter: Martha Stewart Teetotals at James Beard House’s Hamptons Jamboree

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:14:53 -0400

“I’m on the wagon,” declared domestic diva Martha Stewart with a laugh, clutching a glass of flat water as she strolled around winemaker Christian Wölffer’s 170-acre estate in Sagaponack on Saturday, July 21. “This summer I’m having very little to drink. But I don’t drink a lot, anyway—don’t tell the winery!”

Sporting chocolate-colored Capri pants and a tan cardigan, the Kmart spokeswoman and former federal inmate clearly stood out...

The Time 100 Double-Helix

Wed, 09 May 2007 10:40:51 -0400

“I’ve met an estimated 56 of 100,” said NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, surveying the crowd at last night’s Time 100 gala. “I always assumed I might come as a guest but not a lapel-wearing member.”

Oh, Mr. Williams, don't be so modest! Or quite so serious, either: he said he was most looking forward to meeting Elie Wiesel, author of Night.

When guests include the likes of Cate Blanchett, Martha Stewart, Michael J....

Meet the Junebug Weddings Contest Winner!

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:08:14 -0500

SHALINI: I received an email informing me that I was a JUNEBUG WEDDINGS CONTEST WINNER ($500 gift certificate to Tulip, one of my favorite Seattle boutiques). This made up for my car getting towed last week and the $230 ticket/towing fee. It doesn't stop there. Junebug has another great contest on their website this month: Visit www.JunebugWeddings.com on or before Dec.15th and enter to win a luxurious spa package from Frenchy's Day Spa,...

When I'm Not at Blockbuster, I Think of Movies To See...It's a Metaphor For Life

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 06:02:07 -0400

AMANDA: When I am not actually at the video store, I can rattle off ten movies I'm desperate to see. But when I'm at Blockbuster, my mind is a blank. Similarly, faced with registering for wedding gifts, the Williams Sonomas and Sur La Tables of the world paralyze me. I love to cook and I have a beautiful, big new kitchen that has a full-size oven, lots of counter space and a...

Monday: Martha Sells Turkey Estate, CNN Blows Bubbles

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 04:30:00 -0400

The mid-90s: a good thing. How the mighty have fallen! Ex-executive, ex-con Martha Stewart may sell her $9 million Turkey Hill estate to a "Connecticut-based local TV host." This personality, Mr. Mar Jennings, will own the hallowed grounds on which Ms. Stewart's not-impenetrable empire was built. (New York Post) Is "buzz"-happy Red Hook still the same neighborhood? Maybe. According to the Times, "local real estate agents" agree that the majority of residents still live in projects--and...

Single Housewives Don’t Have Hubby, Kids; Homemade Sorbet? Yes!

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Overlooked in the culture wars, a new phenomenon has been emerging: domesticity without family, or with family lite. I’m thinking of my friends who have elaborate, Martha Stewart–like (though not Martha-inspired) domestic situations, either without husbands, or children, or both. You could call it housewifery by choice. It used to be that women married for what was called “an establishment” in the 18th century: a house, a coach, staff and a social position. Now...

The Transom

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:00:00 -0400

After Martha On Thursday, May 26, Martha Stewart, mogul and homemaking fetishist, filed a lengthy and aggressive response to the charges in the Security and Exchange Commission’s civil suit against herself and her former broker, Peter Bacanovic. Those documents showed that she would deny all insider-trading charges. “The Martha Stewart thing was a very sad experience for me,” said Doug Faneuil later that same day, at a party in Chelsea Market. Mr. Faneuil...

The Transom

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The Best-Laid Plans...

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 05:59:01 -0500

LAURIE: My approach to organizing my wedding planning has been sort of like when I was about eight years old and wanted to be a veterinarian. I thought I should prepare for it, but really didn’t know what to do, other than keep going to school. I taped some pictures of dogs onto the outside of a cardboard box and stuck it under my bed, silently vowing to deposit into it any relevant photographs...

A Bomb Grows in Brooklyn

Sun, 21 Aug 2005 20:00:00 -0400

Chris Hackett wanted to have the bomb completed on Monday. But at 4 o’clock that day, he was still out shopping for parts. He said the strength of the bomb would be equivalent to “about four pounds of TNT. It doesn’t sound like much,” he allowed, “but it’s enough to kill everyone in the gallery.” Mr. Hackett, who is an artist, doesn’t like to jaywalk; he crosses the Manhattan streets with caution. He looks...

Celebrities: They're Just Like Themselves!

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 05:24:00 -0400

New York magazine, July 25, 2005 CELEBRITY PSYCHOS Celebrity and Its Discontents: A Diagnosis By Vanessa Grigoriadis Telephone rage, impromptu African sabbaticals, a trial that could only have taken place in Neverland—this season, our neurotic star culture seems to be suffering a complete mental collapse. Are only the crazy drawn to fame, or does fame make the famous crazy? Sidebar: See Our Diagnostic Celebrity Manual New York magazine, December 8, 2003 STARS GONE WILD Exploding Stars By Simon Dumenco Michael Jackson. Paris...

Dad the Psychoanalyst Doesn't Understand Why Writer Son Hates Words

Sun, 12 Jun 2005 20:00:00 -0400

I've had an argument with my father that's lasted 20 years. It's a friendly argument, though a spirited one, and it started when I was a teenager, intent not only on convincing him I was a bright kid but on pushing some buttons. It began when we were driving from our home in Brookline toward Cambridge (two towns lousy with adolescents afflicted with the same two goals). I don't remember the precise destination, yet...

Metaphysics of a Magazine

Sun, 22 May 2005 20:00:00 -0400

The invitation- my invitation-to the relaunch party for Radar magazine arrived in the form of Martha Stewart's head, in stiff paper, with a stick to glue it onto. Other invitees apparently received other celebrities (Gawker showed one that was Michael Jackson's head), but mine is Martha: luridly colored, like a tinted Daguerreotype, and with the eyes cut out to serve as a mask.

The head of Martha on a stick, with its empty eyes, is...

Desperate No More, Ex-ABC Boss Lyne Takes Stewart Gig

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 19:00:00 -0500

"This is the kind of stuff I did for fun, whether it's organizing closets or cooking or decorating my house. All that stuff I love," said Susan Lyne, 54, sitting in her brand new office in the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia headquarters on West 42nd Street. "Paint chips, I love.Fabric swatches. I love the drawer organizers that allow you to find things faster. I'm a catalog junkie. I always have been. I love Home...

Glitzerati Pump Apartment Costs, Fleeing, Flipping

Sun, 16 May 2004 20:00:00 -0400

On a recent Thursday evening, Louise Sunshine, president of the real-estate marketing and brokerage firm the Sunshine Group, held a gathering of about 100 brokers in her sales office 25 stories above Park Avenue. Flanked by Vornado Realty Trust chairman Steven Roth, who is developing a luxury tower on the former site of the Alexander's department store at 58th Street and Lexington Avenue, and Jacques Grange, the building's marquee interior designer, Ms. Sunshine circulated...

Curses! Foiled Again!

Sun, 28 Mar 2004 19:00:00 -0500

Martha Stewart can't get a break. In recent weeks, the convicted executive's efforts to unload her 3,300-square-foot penthouse in the Richard Meier tower at 173 Perry Street-just one of the beleaguered diva's vast real-estate holdings that stretch from Maine to East Hampton-fell through, and the property is now back on the market. Back in January, the New York Post reported that the doyenne of domesticity had sold her unfinished duplex at Perry Street for...

Deborah Norville, Steely Magnolia, Makes Another Comeback

Sun, 21 Mar 2004 19:00:00 -0500

If Martha Stewart needed one thing after her devastating court convictions on Friday, March 5, it was a little L.P.F.-what blond TV anchor and author Deborah Norville likes to call "Life Protection Factor," something to rub on the soul to protect from life's burning rays.

"It's called perspective ," wrote Ms. Norville, author of Back on Track: How to Straighten Out Your Life When It Throws You a Curve , on her Web site, "and...

Tripped Up by the '1001': Statute Spelled Martha's Doom

Sun, 14 Mar 2004 19:00:00 -0500

Hating, resenting, reviling Martha Stewart was always a guaranteed ice breaker. Bring up her name in a group, share your loathing and make some new friends. Maybe even get a hot stock tip.

I've always been rather stunned by the venom this woman provoked in otherwise mild-mannered people-men and women who, often enough, knew more than a little about thread counts and picking wall-paint colors. Martha's brand of gracious living was an obvious fake, impossible...

Bush Had Friends, But Martha Had None

Sun, 14 Mar 2004 19:00:00 -0500

It's a good thing to be king-as a certain disgraced diva might tell us-but not always such a good thing to be queen.

Even Martha Stewart's advocates found her conduct difficult to defend as she faced sentencing and, perhaps, the ruin of the company she has spent her life building. Yet the government brought no charge of illicit trading against her, and the court vacated the specious securities-fraud counts, despite suspicions that inside information...

Visiting Martha

Sun, 14 Mar 2004 19:00:00 -0500

It's about 27 miles and a felony conviction between Turkey Hill Road in Westport, Conn., and the Federal Corrections Institution in Danbury, where Martha Stewart is likely to serve her time in prison, should she fail in her promised appeal.

By law, federal inmates are granted four hours of visiting time per month. The length of visits and number of visitors at any one time are up to the warden's discretion. New inmates establish a...

At Martha's Trial, A Froufrou Fawn Nibbles Up the Scenery

Sun, 15 Feb 2004 19:00:00 -0500

Those who attend celebrity trials such as Martha Stewart's do so with greater and lesser degrees of urgency. At one end of the spectrum, there are the people who need to be there. The celebrity on the hot seat. His or her high-priced lawyers. And the government, or whoever is trying to expose their sins and put them behind bars.

On the other end of the spectrum are the old geezers, those who have made...

Doing Jury Time For White-Collar Crime: I Survived; You Can, Too!

Sun, 18 Jan 2004 19:00:00 -0500

If the 90's were all about excess, the 2000's are all about putting excess on trial. And with this wave, as with the last one, innocent people are getting caught in the middle. I'm talking, of course, about New York jurors, the people who once enjoyed easygoing, dim-sum-filled jury duties as a brief respite from their real jobs. No more.

Now that white-collar criminal trials are flooding lower Manhattan-the toga-filled trial of Dennis Kozlowski is...

Power Punk: Michael Schachter

Sun, 14 Dec 2003 19:00:00 -0500

Assistant U.S. attorney wants to see Martha Stewart decorating a cell!

On Jan. 12, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Schachter will argue before a jury of Martha Stewart's "peers" that the domestic diva is guilty of securities fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and lying to prosecutors during their investigation of her sale of ImClone Systems stock in December 2001. Ms. Stewart has looked wan and puffy-eyed as the trial approaches, but the prosecutor appears as crisp...

Janeane vs. Joe

Sun, 16 Nov 2003 19:00:00 -0500

"First off, I'd like to say a hello to MSNBC and Joe Scarborough, whose cameras seem to enjoy following me around," said Janeane Garofalo during a Nov. 5 speech at the New School's Tishman Auditorium to help promote Nation Books' It's a Free Country, which was edited by Artemis Records chief Danny Goldberg. "And I have to say, again: Joe, if you'd like to ask me out, you're going to have to find more...

Post-McMansions: The Once And Future Hamptons

Sun, 06 Jul 2003 20:00:00 -0400

As we trundle off on this July Fourth weekend-either to escape from a certain kind of madness, or plunge headlong into it-let us muse, for a moment, about the history of summer resorts in America.

In particular, I'm thinking about a place that was, at one time, the very epicenter of American society. It was a place where impossible mansions lined the water; where the newly minted oligarchs-the movers, the celebrities, the tycoons of the...

Martha Pays the Price For Being a Woman

Sun, 29 Jun 2003 20:00:00 -0400

To the satisfaction of many, the bitch got hers. That's how many people reacted to the news that Martha has been indicted for a trashy bunch of unimpressive federal charges. Martha is a bitch.

Even in her made-for-TV movie, they have scenes of Martha being richly bitchy to others, especially underlings. Stories abound of Martha acting badly, Martha screaming and carrying on like a self-centered, selfish person. I have never met Martha, never laid eyes...

On His Own

Sun, 29 Jun 2003 20:00:00 -0400

In the summer blockbuster X-Men 2, Alan Cumming's character, Nightcrawler, saves the day by harnessing his mutant powers of teleportation to whisk another character through an otherwise impassable door. In Chelsea, Mr. Cumming just pulled off another impressive teleporting feat-disappearing from a 430-square-foot studio and rematerializing in a 3,228-square-foot penthouse loft.

The 38-year-old actor closed in mid-March on a $1.925 million condo on far West 22nd Street. Actually, there are two signatures on the...

Meet Martha's Prosecutor

Sun, 15 Jun 2003 20:00:00 -0400

On a Friday morning a few weeks ago, the man who's trying to put Martha Stewart in jail was leaning back in his brown leather chair in his office downtown in the Federal Courthouse Building at 1 St. Andrews Plaza. Since his appointment by George W. Bush as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in January 2002, James Comey has racked up a record that would make even the coolest...

Ah, the Christmas Spirit: What a Crock of Humbug!

Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:00:00 -0500

The cursed snowflake is up and glowing over 57th and Fifth, and the Rockefeller Christmas tree is drawing the usual number of wide-eyed, gawking yokels from New Jersey. It's the green-and-red season: The green stands for profits and the red for losses. From all accounts, with Walmart leading the way, we're going to have a lot more green than red this year.

Which brings up a question: Did we just live through a recession? Never...