Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

When will celebrities learn that if they step foot inside the crappy Upper East Side Italian restaurant Nello's, owner Nello Balan or one of his lackeys will dial up the New York Post six minutes later and make up an entertaining—but completely fictitious—story about them to drum up some press? When will Nello Balan realize that if he continues to sell out his customers, his already-struggling business will soon have to rely exclusively on tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of someone famous? Who knows, but New York's sleaziest restaurateur is at it again. This time the victim was Billy Joel and the Post's Cindy Adams aided and abetted Balan.More

Spotted | Billy Joel heading into a cigar club with "an unidentified pretty brunette" ... Madonna visiting a doctor's office uptown and later leaving the Standard Hotel with Jesus Luz in tow ... Samuel L. Jackson crossing the street in Midtown ... Adrien Brody chilling in the West Village ... Kelly Ripa picking up daughter Lola from school ... Taylor Momsen shooting scenes for Gossip Girl ... Carlos Leon kissing his girlfriend outside Café Gitane on Mott Street ... Frank Sinatra Jr. hanging out in Midtown ... Jerry Seinfeld and wife Jessica walking on Central Park West this morning ... Catherine Zeta-Jones walking to a rehearsal for her new Broadway show, A Little Night Music ... and Katie Holmes playing with Suri at a playground on Long Island.

Spotted | Billy Joel leaving his building and heading to Nello's (!) for lunch ... Michelle Williams walking daughter Matilda to school ... Blake Lively shopping downtown ... Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos attending a Rangers game with their kids ... Courteney Cox arriving at her hotel after an appearance on Regis & Kelly ... David Arquette leaving his hotel ... Kelly Rutherford on the set of Gossip Girl in Queens ... America Ferrera filming scenes for Ugly Betty ... Andy Samberg walking with girlfriend Joanna Newsom in SoHo ... Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen leaving ABC after an appearance on GMA ... and Alex Rodriguez walking with Kate Hudson to Serafina to have lunch.

• Jann Wenner and his partner, Matt Nye, will soon be moving into new digs in Montauk. The founder of Rolling Stone and publisher of Us Weekly and Men's Journal is paying $11.9 million for a 6,300-square-foot home on Old Montauk Highway. The waterfront property had been been originally listed for $14.9 million. [NYP, Corcoran]
• Whitney Houston has put her New Jersey home on the market. The 12,561-square-foot manse in Mendham Township is listed for $2.5 million; her guest cottage next door is no longer available, however. [Real Estalker, CB]
• Real estate developer Ara Hovnanian may have found a buyer for his fourth-floor apartment at 820 Fifth Avenue. Five months after the co-op's board rejected Jeff Blau's $31 million offer, the board has reportedly given the go-ahead to Ken Griffin, the CEO of Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group. The hedge fund billionaire is expected to pay "just under" $35 million. [NYP]
• It looks like Katie Lee is getting the West Village townhouse as part of her split from Billy Joel. The cookbook author is paying Joel $3 million for his share of the the Perry Street home, which the couple purchased in 2005 for $5.9 million. [NYO]

Spotted | Rachel Weisz bundled up in the Village ... Roberto Cavalli walking on Madison Avenue with Serafina co-owner Fabio Granato ... Billy Joel and daughter Alexa walking uptown ... Rihanna filming a music video in Washington Heights and later heading into into a recording studio in Chelsea ... Miley Cyrus shooting scenes for Sex and the City 2 with Kim Cattrall in front of the Ziegfeld ... Paris Hilton posing for photographers after an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show ... Jon Gosselin and Hailey Glassman taking a carriage ride through Central Park ... Uma Thurman shopping at in SoHo ... and Sharon Osbourne and Cyndi Lauper shooting scenes for Celebrity Apprentice.

• Billy Joel is looking for a buyer in Sagaponack. Now that he and wife Katie Lee Joel are splitting up, the singer is planning to sell the two oceanfront properties he bought for her in 2007. The four-bedroom mansion (No. 1) and smaller beach bungalow (No. 2) will be listed with Corcoran's Biana Stepanian for a combined $35 million. [NYP]
• Richard Bressler, the former CFO of Viacom and now a managing director at the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, went into contract to sell his duplex at 850 Park last month. Now he's picked up a new place. Bressler paid $7.15 million for a four-bedroom condo at 170 East End Avenue. [Cityfile]
• Mariann Florio, the widow of former Condé Nast CEO Steve Florio, has paid $1.65 million for a three-bedroom apartment at 235 East 73rd Street owned by former Bear Stearns exec Leo Tilman. She's still trying to sell her vacation home in Key Largo, Florida, which has been on the market for $8.9 million since last October. [Cityfile]

• Remember how Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn said they were divorcing a few months ago, but then changed their minds and announced they were getting back together? Yea, well, they're divorcing again. [P6, People]
• ESPN's Erin Andrews, the reporter who was filmed in the nude without her consent a few weeks back, can be seen in a new set of "dirty" photos. This time it was intentional, though. [NYDN]
• Celine Dion and the man she calls her husband (but who we always confuse with her grandfather for some reason) are expecting their second child. [OK]
• Leighton Meester was shouting and carrying on with her friends at Philippe in East Hampton last weekend, much to the annoyance of other diners present like NBC chief Jeff Zucker and billionaire Steve Schwarzman. [P6]More

• An Italian photographer is accusing Naomi Campbell of sending him to the hospital after she allegedly clobbered him with her handbag and scratched his eye with her nails. Naturally, this sort of behavior is totally unlike Campbell and couldn't possibly be true. [Daily Mail]
• Billy Joel is supposedly "completely distraught" over his breakup with Katie Lee Joel and is now trying to "rekindle the relationship." [P6]
• It looks like Mischa Barton is recovering nicely. She's "smiling again," according to the Sun. And Vanity Fair reports she made her "first appearance on the city’s social circuit" last night. [Sun, VF] More

• Is Andre Balazs the latest man to fall victim to Kelly Bensimon's feminine charms? Life & Style reports the hotelier and the "housewife" were seen getting cozy in Miami recently. [L&S]
• Kiefer Sutherland is in the clear. Prosecutors have dropped charges against him in connection with his assault on Jack McCollough back in May, since the designer has proved to be an "uncooperative witness." [NYDN]
• Mischa Barton is still in the hospital and may lose the role on the TV show that she was supposed to start filming this week. So what made her snap? In addition to all the drug stuff, she may be suffering from body image issues, too. [Sun, People]
• Ruth Madoff was supposedly spotted at LaGuardia en route to visit her husband in jail. And she was supposedly wearing ripped jeans, too. [P6]More

In the wake of Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel's big breakup last week, Jo Piazza takes a look at the trophy wife phenomenon for The Daily Beast today. And you know what? It turns out it's a pretty good gig. A "transitory stepping stone into a better life," the job doesn't necessarily have to last all that long; a trophy wife may only be forced to sleep with the creepy old man she's vowed to remain with for the rest of her life for a matter of months, in fact. "The shelf life for the typical trophy wife—the time it takes her to increase her monetary and social standing for the rest of her days—is typically two or three years," which, as Piazza points out, is less time than the time it takes to attend medical school. (And Lord knows training to become a doctor doesn't come with boozy afternoons at charity golf tournaments or trips to the Côte d'Azur.) More

• Rihanna is expected to speak about her alleged beating by Chris Brown for the first time this afternoon when she takes the witness stand at a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles. [NYDN, NYP]
• Both Katie Lee Joel and her rumored paramour, designer Yigal Azrouel, continue to deny reports that an affair ended Lee's marriage to Billy Joel. But Azrouel seems to have a rep for being something of a ladies man: He's "been known to sleep with fashion editors who can help his career." [P6]
• Sarah Jessica Parker was pulled over in the Hamptons. The trooper told her that her lights were off; she turned them on; and all ended well. Yay. [P6]More

• This is a bizarre one: Two police chiefs in Ohio are now under investigation for allegedly breaking into the home of the surrogate mom hired by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick in an effort to dig up dirt on the woman, which they then planned to sell to the tabloids or use to blackmail the couple. [Us, E!, NYDN]
• Madonna is gearing up for the arrival of baby Mercy. Gwynnie is helping to decorate and Mercy's room will supposedly feature "porcelain dolls, antique teddy bears, a library of leather-bound children's books and ancient maps of Africa to adorn the walls." [Sun]
• It looks like Lindsay Lohan is off the hook for that $400,000 jewel heist the other day. So at least there's one thing looking up for her. [NYDN] More

Poor Timing at TMZ | Yet one more reason to be a tad suspicious of anything you come across on TMZ: Just 24 hours before Billy Joel and Katie Lee announced that they were separating, TMZ reported that they'd heard from a "source" that the Piano Man was looking to buy his wife a restaurant in the Hamptons, and was currently "eying a spot in Sag Harbour [sic]." Guess not! The site's very juicy exclusive is below. More

In news that will probably leave you speechless with surprise, Billy Joel and third wife Katie Lee Joel confirmed this afternoon they're splitting up. "After nearly five years of marriage, Billy and Katie have decided to separate," reps for the couple told the Daily News. "This decision is the result of much thought and consideration. Billy and Katie remain caring friends, with admiration and respect for each other." Naturally, the decision to part ways had nothing at all to do with the rumors that Lee's been dating designer Yigal Azrouël. They've been doing a very good job keeping that one under wraps, clearly. [NYDN]