Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Vanity Fair's John Heilpern invited Eliot Spitzer out to lunch recently. Given VF's apparently recession-proof budget, the Spitz could have proposed feasting on a giant platter of caviar at the Four Seasons. Did he? No, he did not:

At his request, we dined at a hot-dog stand by Central Park, a short stroll from his office in Midtown Manhattan.
"You like it regular or special?" the vendor asked automatically.
"Just a little mustard, thank you," Mr. Spitzer replied.
The bill for two came to eight dollars. "It's a new era!" he declared amusingly.

Lunch in the Park with Eliot [Vanity Fair]

The David Paterson Fan Club Shrinks Further | Gov. David Paterson has never generated positive poll numbers, but every time the numbers reach a new low, another month passes and they get even worse. According to a survey conducted by the New York Times, Cornell, and NY1—the same one that found that while people generally like Michael Bloomberg, a majority aren't interested in having him serve a third term—just 21 percent of New York voters say they have a favorable view of Paterson, compared to a 26 percent favorability rating for Eliot Spitzer, and seven in 10 respondents said Paterson did not deserve to be elected in 2010. There was one bright spot for the governor who has vowed to make gay marriage legal in New York: Forty-six percent say they favor same-sex marriages, up from 38 percent a year ago. [NYT, previously]

Happy Birthday | Two politicians who have had a hard time keeping their pants up over the years are celebrating birthdays today. Eliot Spitzer is turning 50; John Edwards is turning 56. Other people blowing out candles today: Gina Gershon is turning 47. Elizabeth Hurley is turning 44. Eric Villency, the furniture store heir and husband of Kimberly Guilfoyle, is 34. Faith Evans is 36. ABC News correspondent Kate Snow is turning 40. Journalist Nat Hentoff turns 84. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is 38. Leelee Sobieski is 27. Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn turns 46. Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski is turning 27. Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey is 76. And nightlife impresarios—and business partners—Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm are 32 and 31, respectively.

Spitzer Family Update | It's been a year a half since Eliot Spitzer resigned as governor, but there's some fresh news today about his ties to the Emperor's Club V.I.P. escort service. Court records unsealed at yesterday's sentencing of Temeka Rachelle Lewis, one of the agency's bookers, reveal that Spitzer hooked up with Emperor's Club prostitutes for 18 months to 2 years, met the ladies in "cities outside New York and Washington," employed a variety of aliases, and often paid for their services via postal money orders. In totally unrelated—but interesting—Spitzer family news, WWD reports today that the former governor's daughter will be spending the summer interning at the Huffington Post. Let's hope more embarrassing Spitzer news doesn't surface between now and September. Things could really get awkward around HuffPo's offices! [NYT, WWD]

• Eliot and Silda Spitzer made their first public appearance together last night. The couple turned up at the Waldorf for the eighth annual Children's Benefit Gala and were spotted holding hands and making "lovey-dovey looks at each other." Unconditional love is a beautiful thing. [NYDN]
• The stress over the Kiefer Sutherland/Jack McCollough incident must be getting to Brooke Shields: She was spotted looking "upset, overwhelmed and stressed" at the Innocence Project gala on Wednesday night. On a related note, the desk appearance ticket Kiefer received yesterday means he will be a free man until he shows up in court on June 21. [NYDN, NYP]
• Lindsay Lohan's 15-year-old sister Ali has reportedly dropped out of high school so she can party full-time with her big sister. Good work, Dina. [P6]
• Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are expecting girls when their surrogate gives birth in a few weeks. [OK!]More

Paterson Plummets Further | A new poll indicates that New Yorkers would rather have disgraced former governor Eliot Spitzer running the show than current governor David Paterson. When given the choice to pick any of the last four governors to lead the state, just eight percent picked Paterson. It's unclear if this means that Paterson now more unpopular than ever, or if it's because Spitzer's campaign to redeem himself is finally paying off, but we'll leave that to you to decide. [NYP]

Spotted | Eliot Spitzer hailing a cab on the corner of 51st Street and 7th Avenue with his gym bag and tennis racquet in hand ... Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins heading into the Angelika Film Center ... Mary J. Blige arriving at LaGuardia ... Lily Allen walking around with a blanket over her head for some reason ... Terrence Howard leaving the movies ... Spike Jonze carrying Matilda Ledger on his shoulders in Brooklyn ... Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick leaving the Broadhurst Theatre on West 47th Street ... Josh Hartnett hanging out with his parents in Soho ... playwright Sam Shepard walking in the West Village ... and Jennifer Aniston standing under an umbrella on the set of The Baster.

• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie went to the Stop & Shop in Oyster Bay with two of their kids on Saturday and were "very friendly" to employees of the store. Please try to contain your amazement. [Us]
• Lindsay Lohan must be hard up for cash, since she's reportedly in discussions to star in a topless show in Las Vegas. Even worse: She seems to think it will "really revitalize her career and give her some serious theater cred." [Fox]
• Early Show anchor Julie Chen and her boss/husband, CBS chief exec Les Moonves, are expecting their first child this October. [P6]
• Speaking of kids, Amy Winehouse's rep says that the rumors the singer is adopting a child from the Caribbean are untrue. Be thankful for that! [DE]More

Spitzer Shoots Down 2010 | Sorry to crush your hopes and dreams, but contrary to reports earlier this week, disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer is not planning to run for office in 2010, or so says "a source familiar with Spitzer's thinking." This is most unfortunate news, since we were really looking forward to seeing Ashley Dupre make an appearance in a negative campaign ad, but we'll survive somehow. [NYDN]

• You didn't think Eliot Spitzer was planning to stay out of the spotlight forever, did you? Rumor has it the disgraced ex-governor is hoping to get his old job back as attorney general once Andrew Cuomo runs for governor in 2010. [P6]
• Mel Gibson and his wife Robyn have filed for divorce after 28 years of marriage, reportedly because Mel has been involved with a Russian singer named Oksana Kolesnikova. [NYP, OK!]
• Madonna's PR offensive continues: Not only is she hoping to win hearts and minds in Malawi by releasing pics of herself holding baby Mercy in her arms, she also has had her former nanny talking up her parenting skills to any reporter willing to listen. [DM, MSNBC]
• Uh oh! Rumor has it Gwyneth Paltrow is planning to spawn again. [Sun]More

• Is it finally over between Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson? Her mom and sister certainly hope so: The two were spotted with Sam at a police station yesterday to "look into filing a restraining order" against Lindsay, although LiLo appears to still be in denial, telling E! that they're just taking a "brief break." [Us, E!]
• Madonna was crushed to learn her adoption petition had been rejected by a judge in Malawi—"I can't believe I'm leaving my beautiful baby behind"—but baby Mercy's uncle is now supporting her appeal, for whatever that's worth. [MSNBC, Sun]
• CNN's Campbell Brown had a baby boy yesterday. [HuffPo]
• Who does Scarlett Johansson have to thank for her new bod? Gwyneth Paltrow, apparently, since she reportedly introduced Scarlett to her trainer Tracy Anderson who put her on a "rigid diet." [Sun]More

• The New York Times Co. says it will shut down the Boston Globe within a month unless the paper's unions agree to $20 million in concessions. [BN]
• Fox News gossip columnist Roger Friedman got axed after he reviewed a pirated version of Fox's new X-Men movie, Wolverine. [DHD, NYT]
• Vanity Fair is scrapping its annual "green issue." [Independent]
• Michelle Obama may be beloved by the media world, but she isn't a sure thing when it comes to selling magazines on newsstands, apparently. [AdAge]
• Playboy's former fashion director is suing the mag for discrimination. [NYP]
• Hearst's Country Living is launching a line of products. [MW]
• Michael Crichton died last November, but two more novels by the best-selling author will be published over the next year and a half. [NYT]
• Eliot Spitzer was on the Today show this morn, in case you missed it. [Jossip]
• Fast & Furious was No. 1 at the box office this past weekend. [THR]

• Bill Keller says that New York Times readers have offered to donate money to keep the paper alive, which is both very sad and very sweet. [Politico, NYP]
• Hearst has asked all of its newspapers to reduce costs by 20 percent. [BN]
• The launch of Oprah's cable network has been pushed back to 2010. [NYP]
• Eliot Spitzer will hit the Today show on Monday, presumably to talk about the financial crisis, not about his personal life. [NYO]
• Tensions are reportedly running high at MSNBC after the network decided to give Ed Schultz a show and bump Norah O'Donnell and David Shuster. [P6]
• Breaking! The media appears to be rather fond of Michelle Obama. [WaPo]
• Last night's series finale of ER generated big ratings for NBC. [NYT]
• Is Google about to acquire Twitter? Not so much, says Kara Swisher. [ATD]

Ashley Dupre has something to get off her chest! Or, rather, Russell Simmons wanted another publicity boost for his website and told Ashley that she had to come up with something ASAP if she expected another personal yoga session this week. In any event, Ash has lots of questions today, but she's still struggling to come up with answers:More

• Madonna's kicked boytoy Jesus Luz to the curb and is thrilled to be single again, reports Britain's Daily Mail based on the things she's been telling fans on Twitter. But as the Times reminds us today, lots of celebs only pretend to use Twitter, so you don't have to give up hope entirely just yet. [DM]
• In related news, Madonna is expected to arrive in Malawi this weekend so she can add another baby to her collection of human accessories. [NYDN]
• Agyness Deyn and Albert Hammond Jr. only broke up recently, but she may have already moved on: She was spotted at a "rebound dinner" earlier this week. [P6]
• More trouble for CNBC: The network's golden boy, Dylan Ratigan, may be heading out the door after clashing with management. [P6]
• Ivana Trump may have reunited with her ex, Rossano Rubicondi. [P2L]
• Mega real estate broker Kathy Sloane has been hit with $248K tax lien. [P6]More