Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Neil Hirsch, the man who founded Telerate (sold to Dow Jones in 1990 for $1.5 billion), co-founded the Bridgehampton Polo Club in 1995, and was once married to comedy club queen Caroline Hirsch, has put his five-story townhouse at 15 Sutton Place on the market. The 3,919-square-foot manse with patio, terrace, multiple balconies, four fireplaces, and elevator (and "enclosed by a 19th Century wrought iron gate"), is listed with Stribling for $12 million. [Cityfile, Stribling]
• Alex Roepers, the founder of Atlantic Investment Management, and his wife, Shafi, have paid "about $17.5 million" for ex-Warnaco CEO Linda Wachner's 4-acre parcel of land on Meadow Lane in Southampton. The couple is reportedly planning to use the land to build a new home, which will be designed by architect Peter Marino. [NYP]More

• Eve Weinstein, the ex-wife of film mogul Harvey Weinstein, has lowered the price of her sixth-floor apartment at 1133 Fifth Avenue for the second time since first putting it on the market in December for $13.5 million. The four-bedroom spread, which was reduced by $1 million in February, can now be yours for $11.9 million. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]
• Alleged scam artist James Nicholson's Meadow Lane mansion in Southampton has been seized by authorities. The oceanfront estate, which he purchased  from John and Lauren Veronis for $27 million in January—and unsuccessfully tried to resell for $33 million a few weeks later—has since been appraised for $25.5 million. [NYP] More

Hamptons architecture buffs, take note: Now would be a good time to get a last look at Dragon's Head, the gaudy 50,000-square-foot castle in Southampton that Calvin Klein purchased several years ago. It's just a few months away from demolition now that Southampton's Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review has removed the last bit of red tape and ruled its interiors have no historical value. What can you expect to find on the property a couple of years from now? A much more low-key and minimalist manse, of course, not to mention the lilting sounds of youthful Brazilian men speaking Portuguese. [Newsday]

• Lee Neibart, a senior partner at William Mack's Apollo Real Estate Advisors, and his wife Joyce, have paid $7 million for a three-bedroom apartment on the 16th floor of 15 Central Park West. [Cityfile]
• That was quick. James Nicholson, who paid $27 million for John and Lauren Veronis' Meadow Lane home earlier this month, has already put the property back on the market. It's now listed at $33 million, believe it or not. [Newsday, Sotheby's]
• Journalist Cathleen Trigg-Jones and her husband, plastic surgeon Michael Jones, have listed their 10-bedroom townhouse at 430 West 147th Street for $4 million. [NYP, PDE]

• Want to share an elevator with Rupert Murdoch? Today is your lucky day. Les Wexner, the CEO of Limited Brands (and onetime mentor to Jeffrey Epstein), has "discreetly" listed his five-bedroom apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue for $60 million with brokers Serena Boardman and Larry Kaiser. Wexner and his wife Abigail originally purchased the co-op in "fixer-upper" condition for $9 million back in 1997. [NYO]
• Christopher Pesce, a managing director at Steve Schwarzman's Blackstone Group and the former global head of prime brokerage at Bank of America, has paid $6.3 million for a condo at 101 Warren Street in Tribeca. [Cityfile]
• Who says the Hamptons real estate market is dead? John Veronis, a co-founder of the boutique merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson, has sold his six-bedroom, oceanfront home on Meadow Lane in Southampton for $27 million. [Newsday]More

Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen may have been willing to support Calvin Klein's plan to tear down his Southampton castle and build a more modern home on the site, but it seems their enthusiasm isn't shared by all of Calvin's neighbors on Meadow Lane. Bill Williams Jr., who recently retired as a partner at the white-shoe law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, filed a letter of complaint with Southampton's Architectural Review Board in advance of a public hearing earlier this week. Williams' objection to Klein's proposal, however, doesn't have anything to do with any interest in preserving the gaudy castle. He just doesn't care for Calvin's taste.More

A couple of weeks ago, it was revealed that Calvin Klein had asked for permission to demolish the ugly castle in Southampton he'd purchased a few years back for $30 million in order to replace it with a much more modern creation. So what does the notoriously fickle designer have planned for the beachfront plot? Intrepid blogger Sally Spanburgh filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out, and she now has an architect's rendering to show for her efforts. The sketch seems to be more in line with Klein's minimalist aesthetic; whether recommendation letters from Aby Rosen and Ian Schrager will be enough to get him approval from the Southampton Village Board of Historic Preservation has yet to be decided.

Some people dream of owning a castle; Calvin Klein wants to tear his down. Five years after the designer paid nearly $30 million for a gaudy 50,000-square-foot Southampton estate known as Dragon's Head, Klein filed an application this week to demolish it so he can replace it with a more modest (and much more minimalist) 17,500-square-foot number. To lend credibility to the plan, Klein had neighbors Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen write letters to the Southampton Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review on his behalf. We're not exactly sure how having someone who was in trouble for destroying an endangered bird habitat on his property this past summer bolsters his cause, but we'll keep a good thought for you, Cal! A few more photos of what's been described as "Disneyland on LSD" after the jump.More

♦  Socialite Carroll Petrie took a $500,000 loss on the sale of her four-bedroom Palm Beach house, which she bought for $3.5 million last year and sold to tire heir John Firestone for $3 million last month. She still has a 6,700-square-foot mansion a mile away, which she purchased for $7.45 million in May. [WSJ]
♦  Feminist author and activist Gloria Feldt and her husband Alex Barbanell sold their two-bedroom apartment at 200 Central Park South for $3.25 million. [Cityfile]
♦  The Meadow Lane home in Southampton that was home to Virginia and Billy Salomon (of Salomon Brothers fame) is about to hit the market. The six-bedroom, oceanfront manse will be listed at $38 million. [Newsday]