Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• It's official: Oprah says she plans to call it quits in September 2011. [ABC]
• Layoffs: The BusinessWeek cuts continue (and include a handful of the mag's more notable names); meanwhile the AP body count now stands at 90.
• Sarah Palin sold 300,000 copies of her book the first day, alas. [TDB]
• Condé Nast and Adobe are teaming up to bring Wired to electronic reading devices. Digital versions of Vogue, VF, and the NYer will follow. [WSJ]
• Vogue's design director is exiting the magazine after a four-year run. [WWD]
• In other Anna news, her de facto stepdaughter, Alexis Bryan Morgan, is leaving the Condé Nast family to take Nina Garcia's old job at Elle. [NYM]
• Cable mogul John Malone isn't happy about the idea of Comcast and NBC teaming up. Meanwhile NBC chief Jeff Zucker is staying mum about the deal.
• Another rumored Playboy bidder is denying interest in an acquisition. [NYT]
• Does Bonnie Fuller's new website stand a chance? [NYP]

• The New York Times Co. reported a $35.6 million loss for the third quarter as ad revenue plunged 30 percent. But it was better than what Wall Street analysts were predicting, so the stock shot up 22 percent today. [NYT]
• New York magazine's chief says there are no plans to sell the magazine following last week's death of owner Bruce Wasserstein. [AdAge]
• Newsday plans to charge $5 a week to access to its website. [NYT, [E&P]
• Fortune is cutting back on the number of issues it publishes. And Time Inc., Fortune's publisher, is planning another round of job cuts. [WSJ]
• On the same day Sarah Palin's memoir is published, the Nation will release Going Rouge, an identical-looking book that mocks the ex-governor. [Politico]
• As if losing billions of family money wasn't enough of a punishment, France says it plans to put Warner Music chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. on trial for insider trading in connection with the 2000 merger of Vivendi and Seagram. [NYP] More

Fashionistas Are All Foodies at Heart | Why did the Council of Fashion Designers of America just publish a cookbook? Because "food and fashion both start with an 'f,'" explains Diane von Furstenberg, adding that "all designers love to cook," which may very well be true but fails to explain why these designers haven't been sharing their creations with the stick-thin models that appear in their fashion shows up until now. More

All Those Business Books, Recapped | Perhaps you've noticed that there are about 48 books about the financial crisis that have magically appeared on bookstore shelves in the last few weeks? (And there are a bunch more to come, don't you worry.) Naturally, you can't possibly be expected to read all of them. (Let's face it. You'll be lucky if you make it through any of them, especially since several of the tomes clock in at 500 pages or more.) Fortunately, Moe Tkacik has summed them all up in a tidy 2,200 words, which means you might just sound like you know what you're talking about the next time the financial meltdown comes up in conversation. [Daily Intel]

Discrimination Suit or Publicity Stunt? | Did you hear about the $1 billion lawsuit filed against Greenhouse last week because the club allegedly denied entrance to a group of black partygoers? It turns out the crowd had turned up at the Soho club to attend a book party for Teri Woods, "a pioneer of the enormously successful urban or hip-hop fiction genre," and the author of the newly-released novel, Alibi. More

Ivanka Trump is no longer just a real estate executive, jewelry designer, proponent of "fresh-tasting, healthy" microwaveable meals, and real estate heiress about to settle down with a real estate heir. She's now a published author, too! Ivanka's motivational book, The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life, is now here (with a blurb by her almost-boss Anna Wintour, no less), and last night she celebrated its publication with a party at—where else?—Trump Tower. Naturally, all the Trumps turned out for the fête. But while papa Trump wasn't necessarily in tip-top shape (he's "put on a bit of weight around the middle," reports David Patrick Columbia), Ivanka was "radiant and remarkably composed," reports Vanity Fair, even though she's getting married in a mere 10 days. Her advice to other women who might have to juggle a wedding merging two billionaire families while also promoting a soon-to-be bestseller at the same time: "Be relaxed, try to enjoy the moment, and remember: it's just a great party!" [VF, NYSD]

The New Zagat Survey Reiterates the Obvious, Mostly | You're not going to believe this, but according to the new edition of the Zagat guide, which officially comes out today, "New Yorkers are eating fewer restaurant meals than a year ago, and when they do, they're skimping on appetizers, desserts and alcohol." Crazy, huh? In other shocking news, the survey reports that people are "finding better deals" when they go out to eat and are having an easier time getting reservations.More

Letterman's Loss Is Paul Shaffer's Gain | The last few days haven't been easy ones for David Letterman, naturally. Ironically, though, the scandal may end up benefiting Letterman's right-hand man, Paul Shaffer. The Late Show's longtime band leader's new memoir, We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga, officially goes on sale tomorrow. And while the "candid" book that takes readers "behind-the-scenes" doesn't contain any revealing info about Letterman—or address any of his dalliances with junior staffers—the book is selling briskly and has secured the No. 1 spot in Amazon's TV category. [Amazon]

• Time Inc. is "not for sale," says Time Warner boss Jeff Bewkes. [DF]
• Meanwhile, Time Inc., Condé Nast, and Hearst are looking to team up and create a "Hulu for magazines." Another winning idea, clearly. [FT, ATD]
• Miramax is fast approaching non-existence. Disney, Miramax's parent, is cutting 50 jobs at the company, leaving it with just 20 employees. [NYT]
• The pros and cons to a marriage between Comcast and NBC. [AdAge]
• The Washington Post and Bloomberg are launching a joint news service. [AP]
• TV Guide dismissed several execs yesterday, including its publisher. [NYP]
• Former Warner Bros. and Yahoo! chief Terry Semel was interested in buying the Nets, but he couldn't compete with Russian mogul Mikhail Prokhorov. [P6]
• Will the David Letterman drama ultimately hurt the show's ratings or send skittish advertisers running for the exits? That's unlikely, say observers. [THR]
• The cover of Sarah Palin's forthcoming (and already best-selling) memoir, Going Rogue, has been revealed. Try to contain your excitement. [AP]

Mob princess Victoria Gotti ran into a bit of financial trouble a few months ago and almost lost control of her gaudy mansion on Long Island, as you may recall. We're guessing it was the stack of bills piling up on her white marble coffee table that led her to sign a deal earlier this year to pen a book about her, uh, rather interesting life, especially since she'd backed out of a deal to write a similar "tell-all memoir" a couple of years earlier in order "protect" her family's "reputation." But the financial crisis changed all that and Gotti's book, This Family of Mine, arrived in bookstores this week.More

• Barack Obama's appearance on David Letterman's show last night helped the Late Night host score his second-highest ratings ever. [NYT, WP]
• Dan Rather scored a couple of victories in his suit against CBS: A motion by the network to dismiss the case was denied by a judge; and Rather's lawyers will be permitted to question Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone. [Reuters]
• Yesterday, activists handing out fake copies of the Post outside its offices were detained by cops. Today, the paper says it was "flattered" by it. [NYP]
• Book deals: Jenny Sanford, the estranged wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, is writing "inspirational memoir" for Random House. And Andrew Young, an aide to former Senator John Edwards, has landed a deal with St. Martin's Press' Thomas Dunne Books to publish his tell-all memoir.
• In an effort to keep more viewers tuned in, ABC plans to reduce—yes, reduce—the number of commercials in the premieres of its new shows. [LAT]
• Fox won the opening night of the fall season, a first for the network. [THR]More

The people you barely know—your dry cleaner, for example, or the guy you regularly see sweating next to you on the treadmill at the gym—are "consequential strangers," and they're actually important to your mental well-being, say the authors of a new book. According to Melinda Blau, co-author of Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter... But Really Do, there's a "relationship continuum" from strangers to besties, and a good chunk of people fall into the middle-ground. Many of those 800 plus friends you've racked up on Facebook? Yep, they're consequential strangers. As are the countless somewhat-familiar people we see on a regular basis, all of whom supposedly "make us feel grounded in the world."More

• Rumor has it Condé Nast isn't going to shutter several of its money-losing magazines like Details and Teen Vogue, after all. But the budget review that's taken place in recent weeks seems to have "scared fiscal responsibility into some of the highest-rolling titles at the glitzy empire." This means Graydon Carter won't be making it to London or Milan Fashion Week, sadly. [NYP]
• Irving Kristol, the godfather of neo-conservatism, is dead at 89. [AP]
• Oprah has picked the next big best-seller. The latest pick for her book club is a set of short stories by Uwem Akpa called Say You're One of Them. [NYDN]
• After a 72-year run, Guiding Light's final episode aired today. [Reuters]
• CNBC has canceled Dennis Kneale's 8pm show on the network. [NYO]
• The Emmy Awards take place this Sunday. Who's going to win? If you watched last year's telecast, you may already have the answers. [WP]More

• As expected, ratings for Jay Leno's new show are falling fast. [THR]
• Bloomberg LP appears to now be in the lead to buy BusinessWeek. [NYP]
• Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol sold 1 million copies its first day. [NYT]
• Don't try to talk to Vogue publisher Tom Florio about what changes are in store for the mag now that those McKinsey consultants have finished their review. (He's not talking about it.) Meantime, McKinsey's final report will be handed over to Condé Nast's management next week. [NYO, WWD]
• Fox News boss Roger Ailes collected $24 million in compensation last year, which is $2 million more than his boss, Rupert Murdoch, took home. [BW]
• Jay-Z has his 11th No. 1 album. That puts him ahead of Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most chart-toppers. But he's still behind the Beatles. [LAT]More

• So how did Jay Leno's new show do? He hit it out of the park ratings-wise, roping in an estimated 18 million viewers. The reviews were all pretty lousy, though, so don't be surprised if it's all downhill from here. [AdAge, LAT, THR]
• The sale of BusinessWeek: Bruce Wasserstein has dropped out as a potential acquirer of the struggling mag. And it's cutting 20% of its staff. [BW, NYT]
• ABC News has apologized to the White House for Nightline anchor Terry Moran's tweet about Obama calling Kanye West a "jackass." [LAT]
• Speaking of the White House, Barack Obama will be David Letterman's guest on Monday night; it's the first time a sitting president has done the show. [NYT]
• Oprah's season premiere scored big thanks to Whitney Houston. [Wrap]
• The House of Harvey has sustained another blow: Harvey Weinstein's 70 percent stake in the home-video distributor Genius Products, once worth as much as $400 million, is now pretty much worthless. [NYP]
• Speaking of the film mogul, The Weinstein Co. picked up the rights to A Single Man, designer Tom Ford's debut film, at the Toronto Film Festival. [THR] More