The New York Observer (New York, NY) back issues from August 2008:
Iraq, New Jersey Transit and You.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ "Okay, so how many billions a week are we spending in Iraq? Last I heard it was about $5 ...
Canadians in New York.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Since 2000, the number of Canadians living in New York City has more than doubled to over 21,000. In Manhattan alone, they make up the eighth largest population of foreign-born ...
Morning Memo: Michelle Williams Hearts Spike Jonze; Sean Avery's Dating Up; Katie Holmes in NYC.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Courtenay Semel (daughter of former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel) and heiress Casey Johnson are no longer an item after Ms. Semel spent an evening partying with Tila Tequila, Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson. [P6] Michelle Williams is reportedly officially dating ...
The Morning Read: Friday, August 1, 2008.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Although he mentioned no names, Jim Webb criticized Barack Obama's plan for Afghanistan in an interview with the Financial Times. The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes that Obama's comment about dollars bills yesterday was "Clintonesque." ...
The Round-Up: Friday.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ The House of Representatives tabled a resolution accusing Representative Charles B. Rangel of "dishonoring himself and bringing discredit to the House" by occupying four rent-stabilized apartments. [NY Times] A panel of experts concluded that the Indian ...
McCain's Attack Strategy Is Ugly But Not Stupid.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ John McCain seemed like anything but a typical politician when he burst onto the national scene eight years ago in a campaign that transformed him into the most popular public figure in America (if not in his own party). But now, less than 100 days before ...
What the Yankees and Mets Didn't Get on the Trade Deadline.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Both New York teams hit the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline with multiple areas in need of improvement. The Yankees did something about their problem at catcher, left field and even bolstered a bullpen that had already been effective. Only the largest of the Yankee ...
Events for August 2-4, 2008.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. State Senator Marty Golden leads cleanup of Brooklyn parkland along Shore Road; 83rd Street and Shore Road. 11 a.m. Council Member Tony Avella discusses the growing illegal truck traffic in New York City; intersection of ...
Elsewhere: Kaine's Coal, Yassky's Rocks Songs.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ The G.O.P. is trying to avoid the subject of the Minnesota bridge collapse as it heads into the convention, which seems tough. Tim Kaine fought hard to get a coal plant in Virginia, which the Wall Street Journal thinks is at odds with Barack Obama's position ...
The Afternoon Wrap: Friday.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ After more than a decade battling with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Skyloft building at 145 Hudson Street is finally ready for occupancy. Here's a look inside the sprawling, $34.5 million penthouse. [Daily Intelligencer] Hipsters are reveling ...
Sonic Youth Will Play Final McCarren Pool Party.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Williamsburgers will weep with sorrow at the end of this month when McCarren Park Pool closes its gates. On Aug. 30, Sonic Youth will play the final show and all the kiddies will have to say good-bye to their Sunday funtime activities. The New York Times wrote an ...
Sklar Comes Alive!
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Is the Huffington Post's media and special projects editor Rachel Sklar giving up media criticism for a career as a coffeehouse chanteuse? Heck, if Portfolio's Matt Cooper could be named Washington's Funniest Celebrity (a decade ago, back when there was something to ...
Fashion Roundup: Gisele Bundchen Makes a Calendar; Roberto Cavalli Segways Through Saint-Tropez.(Calendar)
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Halston, the '70s-tastic label revived last year by Jimmy Choo designer Tamara Mellon and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, has announced that it will show at the Museum of Modern Art during fashion week, even though designer Marco Zanini departed from the label recently ....
HBO Finds Their Hung Man.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Thomas Jane, the chiseled actor who has had bit parts in Paul Thomas Anderson movies and a leading role in The Mist, will be HBO's well-endowed hunk in Hung. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that HBO's new entertainment president Sue Naegle has made the ...
New York Solar Energy Execs Say Public Money Is Running Out.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ At a forum on sustainable energy yesterday at Hunter College, alternative-energy industry executives expressed concern that a public benefit agency whose mission is to help the state transition from petroleum to renewable energy sources is running out of money. ...
Expensive Summer Camp Epidemic Hits NYC!
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Fancy summer camps, it turns out, are expensive. On NYTimes.com, women's issues blogger Judith Warner decries the "affluenza" afflicting those who send their children to $10,000-a-summer overnight camps. Of course, in the universe of wealthy Manhattan parents, $10,000 ...
Is It Just Us?
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Maybe the heat's just getting to us, but is there something odd about the logo for Vanity Fair's VF Agenda Web site, where ...
Whitney Reportedly Selling Upper East Side Townhouses.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ The Whitney Museum of American Art is selling five townhouses by its Upper East Side museum, Crain's is reporting. The sale of the buildings, which are on 74th and 75th streets, come after the ...
Glossy Guidance.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Up For Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex and Starting Over By Cathy Alter Atria Books, 336 pages, $24 "How to lose 10 pounds in a week." "Six ways to simplify your life." "Never feel guilty about saying 'No' again." ...
Vanity Fair Does 15 CPW: Starbucks, The Horror!
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ We wonder if the staff of 15 Central Park West knows that New York City's swankiest new building will eventually have retail tenants like Best Buy and West Elm. Based on their reaction to a Starbucks cardboard coffee cup, we presume they may be in for a surprise. ...
The W. Morning Zoo.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ "I like President Bush," radio host and cigar (et cetera) aficionado Rush Limbaugh wrote in an email to The New York Times Magazine's Zev Chafets in a profile earlier this month. "[B]ut he is not a conservative. He is conservative on some things, but he has not led a ...
Henry Stern on Stanley Michels.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ From an e-mail sent out by Henry J. Stern about former councilman Stanley Michels, who died this morning at age 75: Stanley E. Michels, 75, a city councilmember from upper Manhattan for 24 years, died this morning at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He ...
Famous Authors' Work Spaces on Display in NYU Mural.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Painter Elena Climent has created a 10-foot tall, 30-foot wide mural for New York University's Languages and Literature building displaying famous New York authors' writing spaces. Washington Irving, Edith Wharton, Zora Neale Hurston and Frank O'Hara are ...
Bill Bennett's Latest Gamble.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Writing on The New Republic's Plank blog, Zvika Krieger alerts us to the fact that Bush 41 "Drug Czar" and so-called "Bookie of Virtue" William Bennett and former Bush 43 special assistant David Kuo are launching a conservative answer to Slate. (This comes via ...
Chuck Palahniuk Discusses Making People Cry, Porn, New Book Snuff.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Chris Ayres of Britain's The Times had an interesting interview with gross-out/thriller author extraordinaire Chuck Palahniuk in the Portland, Ore., airport's burger joint. The Fight Club author discussed his new book, Snuff, which was released on May 20 by Doubleday ....
Sarah Jessica Parker's Ivy Chronicles Gets Prada Writer.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Sarah Jessica Parker's The Ivy Chronicles will get a sinful treatment from the writer producers just hired. Aline Brosh McKenna, who scribed The Devil Wears Prada, will get typing soon. As we told you, Ms. Sex and the City will play Ivy Ames, an ...
Five Congress Members to Endorse Marty Connor.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Although it sometimes seems like 30-year incumbent State Senator Marty Connor is playing the underdog role in his race against young, Schumer-backed challenger Dan Squadron, Connor certainly has his share of establishment backing. And here's more! On ...
Outrage: Two Minutes on NBC Nightly News For Fit Mouse.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ With help from Romenesko, we now know that Gary Schwitzer at the University of Minnesota health news blog is shocked--shocked!--that NBC gave up so much time to the mouse-pill story. (A recap: A lazy mouse took two pills and showed increased endurance and fitness ...
McCain's Video Asks, 'Donde Qued Amrica Latina?' (Maybe Obama Forget!).
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Demonstrating the potential perils of making fun of other people's speeches, John McCain has this new Web ad that criticizes Barack Obama for not mentioning any Latin American countries during his Citizen of the World address in Berlin. The script, sent out ...
Happy Anniversary, Betsey Johnson! Where Does Your Downtown Grow?
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ On Thursday evening, at Betsey Johnson's 30th anniversary party for her eponymous label, almost everything was hot pink and yellow: the clothes, the glitter, the hair, the flowers, and, oh yes, the cupcakes. Running around her Soho store were lots of ...
Obama's Emergency Energy Plan, Bloomberg on Privatization.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Barack Obama announced an "Emergency Economic Plan" that would give $1,000 to every American family with money from a tax on oil companies. [Politico] Obama got heckled in Florida for not paying attention to black issues. [The Page] Michael Bloomberg warned ...
Furrowed Brows Are The New Black in Real Estate.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Pessismism is back! Raymond Torto, global chief economist for CB Richard Ellis, gives an unvarnished perspective of the global real estate market in his August "Global Viewpoint." Some choice tidbits: "The unwinding of the U.S ....
Amtrak, Others Critique Planned Rail Tunnel Under the Hudson.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ We've received a bit of feedback about a story this week on the Access to the Region's Core project, a $7.6 billion (at least) pair of New Jersey Transit rail tunnels slated for under the Hudson River--mostly criticisms of the project as currently planned. ...
'Economic Divorces' Up as Wall Street Slumps.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ We missed this a couple of weeks ago in the Post (a recent Economist story on London divorces jarred our memory), but a shakier Wall Street has apparently started to split up more Manhattan marriages. When Tom discovered Cindy had begun cheating on him since ...
Tribeca Sets Dates, Deadlines.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Mark your planners, film geeks: The 8th annual Tribeca Film Festival will be held from April 22-May 3. And for the future Quentin Tarantinos: You can submit your masterpieces starting Sept. 15. The early deadline is Nov. 14, with the official deadline on ...
The Way We Freak Now: Trolls.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ The New York Times has posted a preview of a story by Mattathias Schwartz from this week's Magazine about trolls, people (mostly young men, it seems), who enjoy wreaking havoc on the Internet by mocking the dead, hacking into MySpace accounts, harassing message ...
McCain Camp Compares Times Editorial Board to 'the Average Daily Kos Diarist'.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Where The New York Times sees an editorial scolding, the McCain campaign sees an opportunity. At issue is an editorial, which appeared yesterday on The Times blog "The Board," accusing the McCain campaign of "starting up the same sort of racially tinged ...
Cops Uninterested in Reining in L.A. Paps.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Yesterday, in Los Angeles, a bunch of people tried to figure out what to do about overzealous paparazzi. It's one of those problems in L.A. that--like freeway traffic, body dysmorphia and too many struggling actors--seems to come with the territory, but the paps' ...
J.K. Rowling Sells Wizard Tales for Charity.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Nerd alert! J.K. Rowling is releasing a book of wizard fairy tales, called The Tales of Beedle the Bard, for her reading charity. The book will be published Dec. 4 by Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in America. Amazon also plans a leather-bound ...
NBC Greenlights Dick Wolf Pilot.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Dick Wolf, Law & Order creator and producer, and godfather to New York City actors, is creating a new show for NBC. His subject matter will be familiar territory, according to Variety. The one-hour show, called Lost and Found (what, no ampersand?), will ...
Related Taps New Landscape Designer For West Side Yards.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Expect changes ahead in the renderings of Related Companies' planned $15 billion West Side rail yards development: The developer has brought on Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates to lead the landscape design, tapping a design firm widely known for its work on public ...
A Nod for Bloomberg, Klein, Booker, Sharpton in McCain Urban League Speech.
Aug 01, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ In a speech on education he's delivering to the National Urban League this morning, John McCain cites a few examples of programs he thinks work, drawing particular attention to Michael Bloomberg and Joel Klein's work in New York City public schools: The ...
Don't Hate On Canadians.
Aug 03, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ "I am Canadian and have lived here the past 8 years, entering with a TN visa, then obtaining an H1B Visa and now have my green card. I came here legally and I did not take a job from anyone, and yes, we do have to prove to Homeland Security that a job cannot be filled ...
Why Housing Market's Key to Saving Economy.
Aug 03, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Economic historian Peter L. Bernstein writes in the Sunday New York Times about the need for housing prices to turn around before the rest of the economy can: Nevertheless, the therapy must focus on the household sector, wrestling with the triple blows of ...
VP Speculation Is Much Ado About Something.
Aug 03, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Every four years, just as the speculation over potential running mates reaches a fever pitch, contrarian voices speak up to dismiss it all as much ado about nothing. They are wrong. Take, for example, this Sunday's Meet the Press. After discussing this ...
Weekend in Review: Bloomberg's New Deal, Moms on McCain Ad.
Aug 03, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Barack Obama said he may consider voting for a Senate bill that would lift the ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Republicans were quick to say he switched positions, but Frank James points out that John McCain switched positions on drilling, ...
Male Journos: Meghan McCain Will Not Attend The Next Radar Party With You.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ The Huffington Post's media vertical (don't you love when we talk nerdy to you?) tips us off to a breezy quote-heavy article ("quoticle"?) about would-be First Daughter Meghan McCain in this month's Glamour. Writer E.A. Hanks (who knows a thing or two about having a ...
Obama on Strategic Reserves, Ikea Irritates Park Slope.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Barack Obama released an ad that draws attention to donations John McCain receives from the oil industry. [Barack Obama] The McCain campaign says it's hypocritical. [The Page] Beth Reinhard points out there's nothing in the ad about Obama's ...
Morning Memo: Mary-Kate Might Dish; the Jolie-Pitt Twins Show Their Faces; Paris Hilton Shuns McCain.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Mary-Kate Olsen may speak with federal investigators regarding the January death of Heath Ledger, whom she was allegedly dating at the time, though she's reportedly requesting immunity from prosecution if she does. [NY Post] The first photos of Angelina ...
NBC to Air 3,600 out of 3,800 Possible Hours of Olympic Competition.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Over the weekend, Allison Romano of Broadcasting & Cable took an in-depth look at NBC's plans for broadcasting the upcoming Olympic games in China. According to Ms. Romano, this year's coverage of the games by NBC represents a "radical shift reflecting a ...
David Carr, Abusive Loverman and 'Truth Junkie'.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Jennifer Senior profiles her former colleague David Carr in this week's New York. In a welcome curveball, she focuses not on his recovery from drug addiction but on his transformation from misogynistic creep to loving husband and father, which she argues was "the real ...
The Morning Read: Monday, August 4, 2008.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Looking at what state lawmakers were doing while the economy worsened, Michael Gormley writes, "When Paterson succeeded Spitzer, who was snared in a prostitution investigation in March, the top goal in Albany wasn't policy or spending, but harmony." ...
The New Media Religion: 'Platform Agnostic'.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ It's probably inevitable that in these brutal times for news-gathering operations, a new lexicon would take hold to describe the baffling challenges of the industry. One phrase we're hearing a lot lately is "platform agnostic." The phrase seems ...
Reporter Finds Lucky Number.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Move over, man dates. (You too, massive manatee!) Not your week, Nevaehs. In Sunday's New York Times Style section, reporter and fortune cookie chronicler Jennifer 8. Lee wrote the story she was born to cover: "Marry Me at 8 on the 8th, O.K.?," all about the glut of ...
The (Big) Round-Up: Monday.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Even the worldliest of New Yorkers admits to feeling envy, not to mention territorialism, in watching international visitors treat their city like a "Walmart of hip." [NY Times] A permit to temporarily close a block long section of 78th Street in Jackson ...
The Local: From 5-0 to 311.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ On July 22, just a couple of weeks shy of the 20-year anniversary of the Tompkins Square Park riots, the Parks Department opened a $150,000 dog run, complete with a canine paddling pool, in what was once a refuge for the homeless and all manner of fringe groups. ...
Brooklyn, The Borough: Tour Bus of The Traveling Skintight Pants.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ "That's Brooklyn Heights over there," said the 47-year-old driver of a Brooklyn-bound double-decker Gray Line tour bus, pointing across the East River. "Wherever there's water, there's money, and I don't mean a puddle on the street." I had just boarded the ...
What's Bill Clinton So Mad About?
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ It's long been obvious that Bill Clinton believes he was wronged in this year's Democratic primary campaign, his words and actions deliberately twisted and distorted by his enemies and their accomplices in the press to turn him into someone and something he is not. ...
The Swish Boys Who Build Fashion Week.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ On Aug. 1, in a 40,000-square-foot warehouse deep in the industrial wasteland of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the ReadySet boys were let out to play. Armed with kegs of beer and cases of vodka; flanked by leggy girls and tattooed friends; accompanied by a cobra (albeit ...
Our Critic's Tip Sheet on Current Reading: Biography of a Nymphet; Dickinson's Dalliance; and an Orwell-Waugh Amalgam.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Literary biography has been wandering in curious directions, with fresh perspective the ever-receding goal. When I talk about books, I preach and practice a superficially naive gospel that puts characters from literature on equal footing with characters we ...
Events for Tuesday, August 5, 2008.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ 11 a.m. Congressional candidate Michael McMahon pumps gas and discusses energy issues; Gulf Gas Station, 1234 Forest Ave., at Jewett Avenue, Staten Island. 11 a.m. Bronx Chamber of Commerce announces annual banquet honorees; Mario's Restaurant, 2342 Arthur ...
Elsewhere: Obama's Clintonian Plan, Willets Point Falters.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ In The New Republic, Richard Stern writes that John McCain is "disgracing himself." The energy plan Barack Obama announced today, which includes releasing some oil reserves, is similar to what Bill Clinton did in 2000. Clinton, however, has ...
James Frey: 'There Isn't a Great Deal of Difference Between Fact and Fiction'.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ James Frey's Bright Shiny Morning comes out in the U.K. this week, and the press has started to come in. The most interesting thing so far is a dramatic little feature from the Times called "The US Antihero" by Alan Franks. Quotes from Frey are peppered throughout ...
Fashion Roundup: Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone's Vacation with Kate Moss; Eva Mendes' Topless Ad.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ Marc Jacobs and boyfriend Lorenzo Martone--whom we still think are not married--vacationed in Ibiza with Kate Moss and her mom, Linda. Ms. Moss's daughter, Lila Grace, was on hand to snap the party photos. [Fashionologie via The Cut] Diane von Furstenberg ...
The Afternoon Wrap: Monday.
Aug 04, 2008 ... <![CDATA[ The season five Top Chef contestants revealed (sort of). [Eater] On Sunday, hundreds of pseudo subversive rabble rousers celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Tompkins Square riots with the first of two concerts. [Neither more nor less] The ...