Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

♦  Soon-to-be-single Madonna premiered her directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom, at the Sunshine Theater on Monday night. On the red carpet and/or the after-party at the Thompson LES: Lindsay Lohan (left), Jerry Seinfeld, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, Ann Dexter-Jones, David Blaine, Alan Cumming, America Ferrera, Brooke Shields, Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone, Glenda Bailey, Jessica Alba and Cash Warren, Juliette Lewis, Jason Biggs, Jeremy Piven, Vanessa Williams, Becki Newton, Malin Akerman, Lake Bell, Max Minghella, Padma Lakshmi, Terry Richardson, Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson, Joe Zee, Byrdie Bell, Fabiola Beracasa, Ferebee Bishop Taube, Zani Gugelmann, Katie Lee Joel, Beth Ostrosky, Eleanor Ylvisaker, Kelly Klein, Minnie Mortimer, Maggie Rizer, Chace Crawford, Amanda Cutter Brooks, Ingrid Sischy, Ross Bleckner, Nancy Jarecki, Derek Blasberg, Ed Westwick, Rose Byrne, Taylor Momsen, Debbie Bancroft, Terry Richardson, Bruce Weber, Guy Oseary, and Ali Wise and Jason Pomeranc. [The Daily, PMc, Wireimage, Style.com] More

Pomeranc Talks Up the LES | Now that he has the Thompson LES to promote, hotelier Jason Pomeranc has all sorts of great things to say about the Lower East Side. In fact, "the Lower East Side is my favorite neighborhood in New York," he tells Fashion Week Daily. No word on whether that means he'd actually live there himself—his loft happens to be located in SoHo—although if he does decide to move and elects to stay at the Thompson LES while in transition, we'd recommend that he not use the hotel's WiFi. [Fashion Week Daily]

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

♦  Nightlife impresario Noah Tepperberg (left) says bottle sales at Marquee have slipped 10 percent this quarter.  [GS]
♦  Jean-Georges Vongerichten is paying $1.75 million to settle a lawsuit brought by waiters over skimmed tips at his restaurants. [Reuters]
♦  Todd English's Libertine opened inside Jason Pomeranc's Gild Hall hotel last night. [NYO]
♦  The city's best restaurants are in Hell's Kitchen; the best bars are in the East Village. At least that's what Time Out says. [TONY] 
♦  Now that Dessert Studio has closed, Will Goldfarb is planning a move to Bali. [NRN via GS]
♦  Armed robbers are targeting Starbucks locations. [NY1 via Eater]
♦  JE Englebert, the owner of Suzie Wong and Prime, may sue the developers of the Gramercy Starck building on East 23rd Street because he doesn't like the small emanating from the McDonald's on the ground floor. [NYP]

• Inside The Libertine (left), Todd English's latest venture, which will open next week in Jason Pomeranc's Gild Hall hotel. [Eater]
• Johnny Utah's, one of the very few venues with a mechanical bull on the premises, is now being sued by an injured patron. [NYDN]
• Emeril Lagasse, who sold his company to Martha Stewart Omnimedia for $50 million in February, has signed a 10-book deal with HarperCollins. [Crain's]
• David Rabin says construction on the new Double Seven will begin next month. [NYM]
• Le Madeleine will be replaced by another French bistro. [NYO]
• A look at some of the restaurants that have tried to clone themselves and have failed in the process. [Zagat]
  
• Starbucks has a new line of healthier breakfasts, which won't reek like the chain's previous breakfast menu. [SeriousEats]
• A map of all the restaurants around town opening this month. [Eater]

Jason Pomeranc is heading East. His Thompson Hotels is planning its first property outside of North America, a 100-room boutique property in Seoul that will be designed by Ilan Waisbrod of Studio Gaia. The hotel will be equipped with a "golf area," which should not be confused with a "golf course." Jason's iteration features a driving range, putting green, and some sort of simulated golf set-up, but it will still cost $100,000 in initiation fees to become a member if you're not a hotel guest. If it's anything like his previous projects, you can expect it to be "done" in  about three weeks, but actually open to the public in September 2014, with the pool under construction until February of 2015. [HotelChatter, HD Mag]

Thompson LES, the latest addition to Jason Pomeranc’s hotel franchise, recently opened its shiny doors. (Well, prematurely half-opened: Before you book a room or head over for a drink, bear in mind that the pool, outdoor bar, and restaurant are still under construction.) The luxe lodge's rooms are equipped with mini-bars stocked by Dean and Deluca, Sferra linens, and Frette robes. But most importantly, guests won't be offended by badly-dressed staff, thanks to their Rogan Gregory-designed uniforms. But Gregory, who collaborated with Bono on the eco-friendly clothing line Edun, is far from the first designer to cash in by dressing the help. Employees at other swanky hotels, waitstaff at restaurants, athletes, and even the Boy Scouts can boast of high-end names on their uniforms' labels. For example:More

Thompson LES Gets Sexy | What does Jason Pomeranc find sexy? Apparently silk ties, lubricant, condoms, and vibrators from Kiki de Montparnasse, at least judging by the "sensuality kit" he's tucked into the minibars at Thompson LES. At $195 the kit might seem a little pricey—especially considering it doesn't come with any furry handcuffs, which totally would have fit in with the theme—but it's a whole lot cheaper than hiring Ashley Dupre to entertain. [HotelChatter]

• Meet the heavyweight political donors who live at River House.
• Have you looked inside Natalie Portman's apartment?
• Henry Kravis gave $5 million to charity last year. And he's still smiling despite the economy.
  
• Have you called George Whipple, Tom Colicchio, Jon Tisch, Cynthia Nixon, and Nathan Lane recently? We did.
  
• Jason Pomeranc's hotel has been delayed many times. But he's had other things on his mind.
• Have you heard about the Manhattan doctor who spent $10,000 on his dog's bark mitzvah?
• Meet Devorah Rose, New York's most relentless social climber.
  
• Nancy Jarecki's rather unusual new ad campaign.

Hotelier Jason Pomeranc takes some time to chat with the Observer this week and addresses the issue that always seems to be staring him in the face, namely the delays that have pushed back the opening of his new Thompson LES on several occasions now (not to mention made Pomeranc something of a running joke in the industry). But Pomeranc has good news! Three of the 22 floors will open this week, although if you'd like to use the pool or sample the restaurant on the second floor, you'll have to wait until October 15th when it will probably be too cold to swim anyway. "There are always unforeseen circumstances that cause delays in scheduling," Pomeranc tells Chris Schott. (Not addressed: The rumor that Pomeranc spends more time jetting around the world with his hottie publicist girlfriend Ali Wise, above, than he does at the office.) But if you think the delays and bad press may have humbled Jason just a little bit, well, don't get ahead of yourself.More

Thompson LES: 39 Days and Counting | If there's one thing Jason Pomeranc excels at it's swearing up and down that he'll open a hotel by a certain date and then failing to follow through. Now he's promised that his Thompson LES will open on July 15th—and, shockingly, it looks like actually might. There's a first time for everything, even when it comes to overly slick hotel developers. [Hotel Chatter]