Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

We hear all is not well with Times reporter Alex Kuczynski and her husband of six years, financier Charles Stevenson. Rumor has it the Times journalist and reformed plastic surgery junkie is contemplating a divorce from the billionaire mogul, who is nearly 25 years her senior (and who has been married four times). Although there's been no official word of the split as of yet, Kuczynski has maintained a low profile in recent weeks. While she's probably rather busy these days now that she's a new mom—Kuczynski and Stevenson had a baby boy via a surrogate back in April—friends were surprised when she backed out of a scheduled appearance last week at a Diane von Furstenberg-sponsored spelling bee benefit that she usually attends every year. She's also been noticeably absent from the pages of the Times the last few months. Perhaps fittingly, her most recent article in the paper in early October was a book review of Alec Baldwin's book, A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce. "Divorce is a lonely business," Kuczynski wrote. "Divorce is hell. Lawyers are vultures." 

♦  Bella Sapir, the ex-wife of billionaire Tamir Sapir (pictured with the couple's son, Alex), paid $8.895 million for a penthouse apartment at the Veneto at 250 East 53rd Street. [Cityfile]
♦  Andrew Madoff, managing director of Madoff Investment Securities, paid $4.38 million for a five-bedroom spread at 433 East 74th Street. [Cityfile]
♦  Rumi Contractor, a senior exec at HSBC, picked up a two-bedroom pied-à-terre at 14 East 33rd Street for $1.67 million. [Cityfile]

Condé Nast announced yesterday it planned to scale back publication of Men's Vogue to two times a year. But not before Condé took one last opportunity to rope in Men's Vogue readers to renew their subscriptions! A reader was kind enough to send in this renewal offer he received last week, which offered two years ("20 issues!") for the price of one. But as he pointed out, when a Vogue title stamps "Free Gift Enclosed!" on the envelope and the gift turns out to be a flimsy bookmark, that's a pretty good sign the end is near.

It looks like private equity exec Leigh Abramson is holding up just fine amid the global financial crisis. The former Morgan Stanley Capital Partners honcho and managing director of Metalmark Capital picked up a duplex at 941 Park Avenue for $12.5 million, $2 million less than what the apartment was originally listed for back in April. (Abramson's timing also worked out in his favor: Metalmark was acquired by Citigroup in late 2007, back when the bank was still overpaying for acquisitions.) According to the listing, the five-bedroom apartment was the longtime home of the late pianist Arthur Rubinstein; now Abramson will get to chat about the unraveling economy with fellow resident Stan O'Neal, the disgraced former CEO of Merrill Lynch. Click through for a few photos and a floorplan of the spread.More

In 2000, New York magazine published a story by Mark Jacobson called "The Return of Superfly," which detailed the life and times of Frank Lucas (left), the drug dealer who cornered the Harlem heroin market in the late '60s and early '70s before he was brought down in 1975. The article was later turned into the movie American Gangster starring Denzel Washington, and now, eight years later, it's spurred a lawsuit. Late last year, New York republished "The Return of Superfly" on nymag.com and repeated an allegation by Lucas that the NYPD and DEA agents who raided his home also stole millions in cash. The retired cops, furious that they have been depicted as thieves, are now suing Lucas, Jacobson, New York, and Primedia (New York's former parent) for "no less than" $5 million for defamation and the "severe emotional distress" they've since had to endure. The full lawsuit is after the jump. But the ex-cops shouldn't be surprised if they don't get a timely response: The lawsuit was sent to New York at its former address on Madison Avenue, which hasn't been the mag's home for close to a year now.More

Lenny Kravitz's 6,000-square-foot penthouse at 30 Crosby Street has been languishing on the market for more than a year now. But it looks like Kravitz's resolve is melting ever so slightly: The price of the loft was just lowered from $19.5 million to $18.75 million. This isn't the first time Kravitz's longtime broker, Corcoran's Andrea Wohl Lucas, has toyed with the price of the lavish spread that's been home to Nicole Kidman and Denzel Washington in the past: After picking up the apartment in 2001 for $8.5 million, Kravitz put it on the market for $13.25 million in 2004, then dropped the price to $12.95 million later that year before finally pulling it off the market altogether in 2006. Kravitz then spent 18 months renovating the place (and addressing his longstanding plumbing issues) before putting it back on the market in the spring of 2007 with a $19.5 million price tag. Now it seems Kravitz is willing to cut prospective buyers a 750K break. How generous! A few photos of the newly-discounted pad after the jump.More

You probably won't find Carl Icahn reclining in a chaise lounge in the Caribbean this winter—at least not on the deck of his 177-foot yacht. In a grim reminder that even billionaires are feeling the pinch of the recession, this week Icahn put his boat up for sale for $37 million.  More

Islam Karimov is the autocratic leader of Uzbekistan and a man routinely described as one of the worst dictators on earth by the likes of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. (The group Common Dreams once suggested he's so bad that he made Saddam "look good.") Since taking over the oil and gas-rich country in 1989, he's plundered billions, held fake elections to keep himself in power, censored the media, and tortured those who dare to challenge him, often using some of the most barbarian methods to do so, like submerging them in boiling water. And now he's coming to visit New York! Not really. But we wondered: What would happen if one of the most evil tyrants did decide to come to New York. Would he receive a warm welcome from the local political establishment? We wanted to know. So we did what you'd probably do in such a situation: We printed up some official-looking letterhead and sent out letters to various City Council members and local congressmen to see if they'd take the meeting. And guess what? Lots of influential politicos have no objection to sitting down with one of the worst men on earth. Details on the people we duped—with audio of their calls to Karimov's "office"—after the jump. More

It seems hotelier Jason Pomeranc (left) and his two brothers have more to worry about than construction delays or declining demand for overpriced hotel rooms south of 14th Street. According to court documents filed this week, someone hacked into the Thompson Hotels email system two weeks ago by impersonating an employee, made off with confidential company documents, and is now threatening to disclose them to the public. The identity of the hacker is unknown, and the U.S. District Court complaint does not specify what sort of information was obtained—although judging by Thompson's reaction, we're guessing it wasn't a revised room service menu. Thompson's suit against "John Doe" after the jump. More

She spent the afternoon filming a segment with Katie Couric! Guess she'll have to wait until next year to atone for the sin of reuniting with Jimmy Kimmel. Have a photo/tip/story you'd like to share? Hit us up at tips@cityfile.com.  

This isn't a great day for Dick Fuld, the CEO of Lehman Brothers who watched his firm go up in smoke a couple of weeks ago: As if leading the investment bank into bankruptcy wasn't bad enough, today he's packing up his corner office to move to the Lehman office building on Sixth Avenue that's home to the firm's admin and tech support groups. It's been a wretched few weeks for Fuld. But we're also guessing it isn't that much fun these days being Richard Fuld III either. Dick's youngest child, 23-year-old Richie graduated from Middlebury last year. (His father serves on the school's board of trustees.) While it can't be easy watching your dad get pummeled by the press, here's hoping his dad's downfall doesn't tarnish his rep with the ladies or put an end to his very active social life. Photos of Richie chillin' with the babes and drinking beer after the jump. More

It looks like billionaire art dealer Guy Wildenstein has already found a new home now that he's put his apartments at the Plaza up for sale. Wildenstein has paid $32.5 million for former Primedia chairman William F. Reilly's 9,250-square-foot townhouse at 7 Sutton Square. The five-bedroom home, which is actually two townhouses that were renovated and combined 10 years ago, includes a three-story mezzanine, gym, sauna, rooftop garden, and 15-foot glass rotunda. Photos and floorplan after the jump!

Lobster-loving chef Rebecca Charles has lived just a few blocks away from her Cornelia Street restaurant, Pearl Oyster Bar, for years. But it looks like she'll soon be headed north: Charles closed on a Flatiron district apartment for $2.425 million, according to public records posted today. The two-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot loft at 14 West 17th Street features original maple floors, exposed brick, and, of course, a gourmet chef's kitchen. Charles' new floorplan after the jump.More

♦  Hairstylist-to-the-stars Orlando Pita paid $3.416 million for an condo at 101 Warren Street, the 35-story Tribeca building developed by Ed Minskoff. [Cityfile]
♦  Tom Freston has taken his Upper East Side townhouse off the market, just a week after he reduced the price from $38.5 million to $35 million. Freston purchased the 6 1/2 story manse—which was once occuped by Andy Warhol—in 2000. [WSJ]
♦  Alexander Tisch, the son of Andrew Tisch, sold his apartment at 42 East 20th Street for $3.025 million. The 2,222-square-foot pad had been listed at $3.3 million. [Real Deal]

New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is on the move. According to city records posted today, Lundqvist paid $3.9 million for a three-bedroom, three-bath duplex penthouse at 310 West 52nd Street. The 2,035-square-foot apartment features a terrace and a chef's kitchen, and it also comes with storage space, which will be perfect for all of Lundqvist's bulky hockey gear. We're guessing this means he'll be leaving his current digs—he purchased an apartment at the Bromley on the Upper West Side for $1.75 million in 2006—and so he'll no longer get to rub shoulders with Michael Moore in the elevator, but that may not be the worst thing in the world. [Cityfile]