Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Flu Flap | Did you hear that a handful of large Wall Street banks have been getting the swine flu vaccine to give to their "high-risk" employees, even though area hospitals have yet to receive it or are now running low on their supplies? A little public pressure seems to be paying off. Morgan Stanley says it will return its 1,000 doses to the city health department since some hospitals are still without the vaccine. But not every firm is following suit. Goldman Sachs is still "more important than you are," reports the Wall Street Journal. But you'd probably figured that out already. [WSJ]

Golden Goldman | More great news for Goldman Sachs employees: "A whopping 36 times in the third quarter, the firm generated more than $100 million in revenue in a single day just from trading stocks, bonds and other instruments. That translates to 55% of the time, considering there were 65 trading days last quarter. The number of days Goldman traders lost money? Just one." [Crain's]

Pete Peterson, Image Expert | If Goldman Sachs wants to redeem its reputation, it would have to donate "at least $1 billion" to charity, says billionaire Pete Peterson. "'Only a donation that size would 'have much resonance in the public,' Peterson, the 83-year-old co-founder of Blackstone Group LP, the world's largest private-equity company, said in an interview in New York yesterday." Fair enough. But we're thinking Peterson might need to rename a concert hall or build a new hospital if he expects us to not immediately think of his fame-obsessed grandson every time we hear the name "Peterson." [Bloomberg]

Wall Street CEOs make a fortune, as you're undoubtedly aware. Even the chief executives of banks that have been bailed-out by Washington or have gone bust usually end up doing nicely. But despite the riches and perks these men have accumulated and massive egos they've developed along the way, few of them would do all that well in a beauty contest. Because it's high time that Wall Street take advantage of the miracle of modern science—and because we care, dammit—we took the liberty of contacting Dr. Anthony Youn, a board-certified plastic surgeon who has made appearances on Dr. 90210 and the Rachael Ray Show, to ask him what procedures he'd suggest these titans of finance consider if they want to look their very best. Dr. Youn's answers and cost estimates—and our commentary—is below.More

Goldman Sachs announced plans last week to donate $200 million to charity, a move designed to quell criticism over the firm's massive profits (and the massive bonuses that will soon handed out to the bank's employees). The donation isn't a gigantic sum for the investment bank—Goldman makes $200 million every three days or so—but it's a big step up from last year when the largest of the Goldman-affiliated foundations, the Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund, gave out about $10 million. So which non-profit groups stand to benefit the most from the firm's increased largesse? The institutions that Goldman wrote checks to last year runs about 25 pages. (You're welcome to go through it yourself; it's embedded below.) We focused on the dozens of elite private schools and fancy boarding schools that made the cut, a list you can review after the jump. But before you go out and start piecing together a conspiracy theory, we'll point out that the school that Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein's two sons (and his wife) attended wasn't anywhere close to the top. (Ethical Culture/Fieldston received a measly $10,000.) And as for Dalton, which is pictured above, it didn't get a dime. More

Goldman Sachs announced third-quarter earnings today and, as expected, Lloyd Blankfein has good reason to smile. The firm raked in $3.1 billion in profits, which was three times what the bank made during the same period in 2008. And Goldman bonuses will set a new record when they're doled out in a few months: A whopping $5.25 billion was set aside this quarter alone to pay for them. (As several people predicted, the firm also announced it was putting a big chuck of money—$200 million—into its foundation this quarter in what appears to be an attempt to counter negative press over the big bonuses.) But travel a few miles north from Goldman HQ to the offices of Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and the mood isn't as cheery. More

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon shared some delightful news this morning. As expected, the bank posted super-solid earnings for the third quarter, generating $3.6 billion in profit based on $26.6 billion in revenue, results that were considerably higher than what Wall Street analysts were expecting. The House of Dimon also revealed that it's set aside $8.79 billion for compensation and benefits for the first nine months of 2009, just about enough to pay out $353,834 to each JPMorgan Chase employee. But don't think that's a good thing. It isn't! Because Goldman Sachs set aside $386,429 per employee for the first half of the year, and will likely put JPMorgan to shame when it reports earnings tomorrow. If you were thinking this world was unjust because millions of Americans don't have decent health insurance and a billion children around the world live below the poverty line, do yourself a favor and head over to JPMorgan HQ on Park Avenue later this afternoon and observe the people streaming out of the building. That, friends, is the true face of misery. [WSJ, Bloomberg]

Goldman Sachs Wins Again | Despite the drama of the past few months (and Matt Taibbi's best efforts), Goldman Sachs' reputation doesn't appear to have been damaged much—at least as far as job seekers are concerned. According to Vault.com—and for the 11th year in a row—Goldman was named the most prestigious banking firm to work for. [Crain's]

In Case of Emergency... | What should you do if you're downtown in the financial district and there's a massive crisis of some sort? Seek shelter at Goldman Sachs' new $2.4 billion, 43-story building on Vesey Street! It's the "the safest place you could possibly be" in the event of an attack, according to Michael Bloomberg. [NYP via Dealbreaker]

Goldman Sachs can't catch a break. Yesterday, Page Six reported that one of the firm's partners, Richard Kimball, upset his neighbors over the summer by throwing rowdy parties at his Southampton house, at least one of which featured the presence of topless women. Today, the paper directs our attention to this story in the British press about a Goldman exec who reportedly bribed a woman to leave her elderly husband and run off with him.More

Goldman Sachs partners were supposed to be keeping low profiles these days, as per instructions from the bank's CEO, Lloyd Blankfein. And Lord knows anyone related to NYC Prep's PC Peterson—even by marriage—would be well advised to avoid the limelight for a spell. But that didn't stop Richard Kimball Jr., a Goldman partner and the ex-husband of Manny author Holly Peterson, from hosting a series of "rowdy" parties in Southampton over the summer, at least one of which featuring topless women: More

Goldman Sachs has a image problem, as you may have noticed. The firm has been battered by bad press in recent weeks as critics have accused Goldman of having a hand in everything from the destruction of the cookie industry to the spread of nuclear materials to rogue nation-states. (Okay, the firm hasn't been accused of that last one just yet, but it's just a matter of time.) Now, as we head into fall and get closer and closer to bonus season, Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein is getting worried that it's about to get worse. But what to do? More

Luxury Cars in Crisis | Last week, the Post reported that the wife of retired Goldman Sachs honcho Ray Iwanowski had smashed her BMW into a tree and was later arrested for DWI. On Wednesday, the owner of a Bentley Arnage watched as his car mysteriously rolled into Lake Montauk and plunged to the bottom. Could there a trend here? Who knows, but since these things usually come in threes, you may want to be a little extra cautious if you're cruising around the East End in a luxury car today. [EHPress]

It's been a bruising few weeks for Goldman Sachs what with the tough questions about the role the firm played in the mortgage meltdown and subsequent bailout, and any special treatment it may have received from Washington officials like former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. But it looks like the firm's lawyers now have one more headache to deal with: the dude in Thailand who is selling unauthorized (and terribly chintzy) Goldman-branded "keychain watches" on Ebay for $9.95 a pop. "Makes a great gift for someone," reads the ad. It doesn't specify who this "someone" is. But if you're looking to give a friend at the firm a way to count down the minutes until his gigantic bonus shows up in his checking account, you probably should make a move before Goldman's lawyers do. [Ebay]

Goldman Sachs has been accused in recent weeks of plotting to make a fortune from the collapse of the American economy and then plotting with Washington insiders to hand the banking industry a massive bailout. Are Goldman haters now plotting against the firm's CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, and his wife Laura? A day after it was reported the banking chief had instructed Goldman employees to play it cool comes this doozy about Laura Blankfein's alleged antics in the Hamptons last weekend:More