Bridgehampton

On the sunny afternoon of July 24, Bob Balaban held a meeting with a drainage specialist at his Brid  read more »

• First comes Tiffany & Co. on Wall Street, up next is Philippe Starck's Hermès ("a purveyor of leather goods"), and before you know it we'll all be enjoying downtown's "renaissance." (The New York Times)
• Maybe the good times have already spread citywide? This past year retail vacancies dropped to .4% in the Penn Plaza/Garment District, to 1.5% in Chelsea, and to a (projected) 5.5% in Harlem. This means, of course, that the price of city retail space will jump to nearly $110 per foot. (Crain's)
• Yet, luckily, the good vibes haven't spread to the Hamptons: indeed, poor little monoliths like Bridgehampton's "Three Ponds" are finding themselves unsold. The culprit here might be the "noise and congestion from the Mercedes-Benz polo matches"--or is it the $75m asking price? (New York Magazine)
• Things aren't going so well at The Times, but at least the company's shimmering real estate investment looks like it's paying off. The value of Renzo Piano's new tower is "so hot," in fact, that "About.com staffers will be staying in their less expensive downtown location." (NY Post)
• Straight from Oxford Circus, the British fashion giant Topshop will be opening a New York flagship as soon as next spring. This mecca of "disposable chic" is looking for 60 to 90,000 square feet, preferably somewhere "popular." It'll cost them--though fortunately the store usually rakes in $2,000 per square foot. (The New York Times)
• Back in reality, hundreds of New Yorkers gathered at a Monday hearing to protest the Rent Guidelines Board's proposal for a 3 to 8.5% price increase for rent-stabilized apartments. Tomorrow, head to Cooper Union's Great Hall for Manhattan's very own get-together, and call (212) 385-2934 by 1 today if you wish to speak. (NY Daily News)
- Max Abelson
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GABRIELLE: Saturday.

I wake up feeling sick today, nauseous and tired. I dry heave off the side of the bed uncontrollably. Todd rouses, "You OK?"

"I'm fine, just need to eat." I scamper to the kitchen and open the fridge. Nothing looks appealing so I grab a cold Poland Spring and head to the bathroom to get ready for the day. I close the door behind me, inexplicably crouch over, rest my head on the toilet and I cry. Saturday Afternoon.

We are at World Pie, a yummy eatery in Bridgehampton, excited to meet a potential florist. We're seated at an oversized booth, surrounded by crispy calamari and decadent veal parmigiana. (Fortunately I've overcome my nausea.) In between bites, Laura, the cute and spunky florist, shows us her designs: Pale pink tea roses in potted in terra cotta, sunflowers brimming with joy in tall cylindrical vases.

"Let's see," she begins, "you'll need seven bridesmaid's bouquets and one for each of your mothers and will there be any grandmothers present?"

"Yes," I say, "but no need to give her a bouquet."

"Well," Laura says, "it's nice to give her a bouquet."

"Right," I add, "but I'm not going to give her one."

Laura flips her straight blonde mane to the other side as she writes down "grandmother's bouquet."

"No," I repeat, "I really mean it, no bouquet for my grandmother." Laura smiles sweetly at me as if she wants to ship me to the loony bin.  read more »

To contextualize my grandmother, we all call her "the Godfather." Last Passover she sat at the head of my parents' extra long table draped with cousins, aunts and uncles, wore sunglasses through the entire dinner and did not say one word. Her favorite saying echoes Machiavelli: "It is better to be respected than loved." She can't stand Todd, ever since she convinced herself that he didn't want to sit next to her at Rosh Hashanah dinner two years ago. As a result she no longer kisses him or me hello at family functions.

• Frederic Fekkai recently purchased a duplex at 953 Fifth Avenue from billionaire John Kluge for $7.4 million. And Edgar Bronfman Jr. has dropped over $26 million for 3.4 acres in Bridgehampton. (New York Post)
• An East 65th Street townhouse, known as the "Murder Mansion," will soon be the home of heiress Terry Parker. Ms. Parker is purchasing the top half of the renovated mansion, which had listed for $12 million. (Page Six)
• Over at the Urban Glass House, things are heating up. Resort developer Sol Kerzner has agreed to purchase the $10.5 million penthouse in the Philip Johnson-designed building. (But does the purchase include the swanky tote bag?) And we already mentioned Scarlett's big deal in Tribeca last Friday. (New York Times)
• Publisher Jodi Della Femina, and her husband, are selling their Greenwich Village co-op $1.599 million). Tired of Manhattan, they simply "fell in love" with Brooklyn Heights. Aww. (New York)

- Michael Calderone

With two $50 million mansions currently on the market, here comes the $50 million co-op, according to the New York Times. No stranger to high-end deals, owner Francesco Galesi sold Calvin Klein a $29 million beach house a few years ago. Kelsey Grammer purchased a new house in Bridgehampton, according to the New York Post. And, like many celebrities before her, Sarah Ferguson is heading to One Beacon Court. New York’s cover story looks at home design throughout the city. Also, there are photos of Charlie Rose’s desk, Martha Stewart’s exercise bike, and more. Is there really any more to say about CBGB’s? Well, if you didn’t want to save CBGB’s before, check out the bathroom?  read more »

Those few who find themselves in a position to knowledgeably discuss the attendees of the Bridgehamp  read more »

What happened to Bridgehampton's blue-blood polo games? And what have the young turks, with their rap music and their hussies, done with all the old bluebloods? Says Hamptons chronicler Steven Gaines, "I realized that the people we used to call society are almost completely dead."

In today's Transom, bizarrely—err, intentionally! Right!—The Transom goes theatre! The oddest crowd (Warren Spector and Keanu Reeves?) gathered at the Public Theater's gala in Central Park. And hark! A small independent bookstore, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, is going out of business! But... no one cares, not even its owner.

Elsewhere in the paper:

The Transom laughed so hard it nearly hurt itself over today's piece on the Times encouraging its young reporters to resist the impulse to write, well, Timesily. The Transom had many, many, many questions about this.

Know your starchitects: Piano v. Gehry.

And Harvey Weinstein apparently sold, at a loss, one of what The Transom believes are his two SoHo apartments. (Or did Nicole Kidman just deed him the one adjacent to tempting, sugar-full Balthazar?)  read more »

And The Transom must give the last word to Mr. George Gurley, from the final item here:

Sometimes when I see a picture of Liv Tyler, I wonder if that big rabbity smile has less to do with her new baby or thriving movie career, and everything to do with just being superfucking rich, being able to spend a month in Tuscany or Mustique for no reason and just laughing her ass off the whole time. I'm sure she's always thinking, Wow, life just keeps getting better and better for me—every single day, another surprise. More money, more fame, one fun thing after another. I'm so ridiculously lucky, I think I'll take a dump on $10,000 in cash right now then set it on fire. Why not?"

The absolutely most luscious thing about working in an office is sharing the wealth of magazine subscriptions. Speaking of: The Transom purchased, actually paid for, a subscription to Hamptons magazine more than a month ago, and it has yet to arrive. Paging Jason Binn, your order fulfillment department is making The Transom very, very unhappy. Perhaps Mr. Binn should watch his step among the slippery divots of the Bridgehampton Polo Club this weekend.

Anyway.

In today's magazine mail comes August's Tatler, that tasty mag that always turns our minds to London emigration. (We do love the Brits! Although it's true that, in these quarters, some love them a little more carnally than others.)

Tatler—whose cover story is "How I Fell In Love With Tom Cruise: The Very Lucky Katie Holmes"— features a "100 Most Invited Top Party People" list, and it is making The Transom absolutely seethe with jealousy over the comparative state of society circuits.

A few fave excerpts:

Number 2: Ben and Kate Goldsmith, Eco-investor & earth mother Backgammon champ and the yummiest mummy in town. Made Drones Club totally hot after they bought it: the food is delicious and everyone is there. Often spend weekends at brother Zac's organic estate in Devon.

Number 8: Lady Gabriella Windsor and Aatish Taseer, Journalists Princess Michael's cool daughter and her man are mesmerizing the party set. She's a first-class wordsmith; he's dead sexy. Often eschew Kensington Palace for a grotty flat down the King's Road.

Number 17: Lady Eloise Anson, Model Whippet-thin stunna with eyes as blue as a swimming-pool. She's a dab hand at crazy looks...

Number 35: Andy and Patti Wong, Financier and Sotheby's director Enthusiastic collectors of Asian art who live in Battersea with daughter Skye. Andy is a naughty little schoolboy; Patti's the sensible one. Neither sunbathes. Their annual Chinese New Year bash is always the talk of the town—sushi was served on a nude model last year.

Also: Elton John and his lover, at number 51, beat out Madonna and her lover, who are down at number 54. Goodness.  read more »

Those entranced will be happy to know there's time enough to book on The Transom's favorite flight, American Airlines number 132, which is the 9:30 p.m. from JFK to LHR. There doesn't appear to be anything up front, unfortunately, but there's a number of empty aisle seats left for tonight. —Choire Sicha

Public-relations guru Dan Klores is switching Hamptons.  read more »

The estate of Kay Jeffords, the maverick owner of the star-chaser Lonesome Glory, just went to contr  read more »

On Friday, Aug.  read more »

Wednesday 24th Hawke hawks: You remember precocious young author Jonathan Safran Foer -he of the gor  read more »

Wednesday 1st Welcome to August!  read more »

WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE AFTER STARBUCKS AND THE GAP?  read more »

'Something's up with these lights," I say out loud to myselfinside the Hampton Jitney, idling on 40t  read more »

Though he says he would never in a million years actually do it, let's say, for argument's sake, tha  read more »

Asset No.  read more »

It was Saturday, May 6, a weirdly warm 85 degrees, and Noah Tepperberg, 24, and Jason Strauss, 26, t  read more »

It was Saturday, May 6, a weirdly warm 85 degrees, and Noah Tepperberg, 24, and Jason Strauss, 26, t  read more »

Scrooge isn't the only geezer to be visited by murmuring spirits at this time of year.  read more »

The Hamptons are beautiful and all, but lately, they are a source of great comic material.  read more »

He made partner at Goldman, Sachs & Company in December.  read more »