Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Mariah Carey must be determined to earn back the title of "world's most demanding diva." For an appearance at a London shopping shopping center to kick off the holiday season, she asked for 20 white kittens, 100 white doves, and confetti shaped like butterflies. She also requested a Rolls-Royce, pink carpet, pink podium, and a security staff of 80 to protect her entourage of 15. Then again all she asked for in her dressing room were a few bottles of water, so it isn't as if she's totally out of control, is it? [NYDN, DM]
• Jude Law made the unfortunate decision to move into a building next to an NYU dorm and he hasn't been too happy about the students who invariably look down on him as he plays with his kids or works out with his trainer. When Law recently noticed students waving at him from across the way, he responded by pelting their windows with oranges. That'll do it! [NYP]
• Madonna is still saving the world. But she isn't taking any chances while she does it, clearly. She insisted on wearing a bullet-proof vest under her jacket while touring a "lawless" Rio de Janeiro favela recently. [P6]
• Lindsay Lohan's gig at Emanuel Ungaro may be coming to an end soon. The company's chairman reportedly wants her out since he, like the rest of the world, wasn't impressed with the "cheesy and dated" outfits she debuted at Paris Fashion Week, and many stores are refusing to carry the line. Ungaro CEO Mounir Moufarrige wants to keep her, though, to save face. [P6]More

• The Lohan family drama goes on. Another recorded phone call has been released and this one features Dina Lohan telling Lindsay's father Michael that their daughter once punched her and kicked her out of the car. Naturally, LiLo quickly responded on Twitter and called her father a whole bunch of names. And now Papa Lohan has countered by promising to release even more tapes in the days to come. So, no, this saga is not even close to over. [P6, People]
• Alec Baldwin says he has "a great ass." Please make a note of it. [Us]
• Paul Johnson-Calderon, the bow tie-wearing social gay set to appear on Tinsley Mortimer's upcoming reality show, is in trouble again. He was caught on tape snatching purses on the LES earlier this year; now he's been caught on camera vandalizing a friend's Union Square apartment building. Calderon's defense? "It's not like rock stars don't vandalize hotel rooms and such all the time." Yes, but you're not a rock star, buddy. [P6]More

It's been a busy month for Bethenny Frankel. First she got engaged to her boyfriend Jason Hoppy; then, a couple of weeks ago, she confirmed she's a little more than two months pregnant. With the Real Housewives of New York City currently filming its third season, we thought it would be worthwhile to get some parenting advice for the mom-to-be from one of her costars. So, naturally, we reached out to model-cum-designer Kelly Killoren Bensimon—a mom with two daughters of her own, Sea, 11, and Teddy, nine—to offer parenting tips for Bethenny. Kelly's advice, thoughts on women who breast-feed in public, and why she wears shorter skirts now than ever before is below. Join us, won't you? More

Yesterday, Bethenny Frankel denied rumors she was pregnant. Today? The soon-to-be a real "housewife" now tells People—while "fighting back tears," no less—that the rumor is actually true, but she hadn't planned on revealing the news yet, since she's still in her first trimester. Or because it would get in the way of promoting her line of "Skinnygirl" margaritas or her book, which advises women to survive on a diet suitable for three-year-olds. Or because she hadn't had time to secure the cover of a tabloid to "announce" the news. In any event, she says she's now eating lots of pickles, so you can expect to hear she's been signed up as a Vlastic spokesperson any day now. [People]

• Jeremy Piven, now fully recovered from his bout with mercury poisoning, has been squiring lots of women around town in recent days. He was out with "a super-pretty African American girl" last Friday; a day later, he was at the Rangers season opener with "a gorgeous blond." Let this be another reminder, however, that short, balding guys can date whoever they want as long as they're on a hit TV show. [P6]
• Producers for Tinsley Mortimer's reality show are reportedly having a hard time getting her friends to sign on. Peter Davis, the Tinz's half-brother-in-law, wrote on Facebook that he has "zero interest in playing a warped, twisted version of myself on television." And socialites Zani Gugelmann and Dani Stahl have also passed. So far the only person confirmed is her sister, Dabney Mercer. So does that mean her ex, Topper Mortimer, is out, too? [P6]
• Padma Lakshmi has said she'd like to keep her pregnancy a private matter. And judging by pictures of her at various parties this week, she's barely showing. But none of that stopped her from telling a reporter that she needs to keep her belly "really lubricated" these days: "Every morning, there's a buttering ceremony after I get out of the shower," she said. "It's really like basting a turkey with body butter." [People]
More

Reality TV stars artfully bare their souls on camera and in the tabloids, and even better, they do it all without a script. But a TV show is only the first step to building a brand, and now countless pseudo-celebs are milking their 15 minutes and peddling products that you couldn't possibly live without. (Or so they say!) We compiled the most promising items from the brightest minds in faux-showbiz. With these ladies' designs in your style arsenal, your look will never be the same.More

The Housewives Have Formed a Debate Team | It's just what you've been waiting for: a chance to see the cast of the Real Housewives of New York engage in a spirited debate with the cast of the Real Housewives of New Jersey. The topic: Which state is cooler, New York or New Jersey? (You didn't expect them to be debating Iranian nuclear proliferation, did you?) More on this once-in-a-lifetime, $28-per-person, blockbuster event below.More

Simon van Kempen and wife Alex McCord of the Real Housewives of New York City spent much of Fashion Week attending parties for the free champagne and gift bags. One of his employees, however, clearly wasn't in the mood to party. Last week a maintenance worker at the crummy hotel that van Kempen manages, the Hotel Chandler, slapped the property with a lawsuit for refusing to pay workers for overtime, a violation of New York's labor laws. Does this mean Simon's chances of winning the award for "Hotel Manager of the Year" are now totally dashed? While you ponder that very real possibility, you can look at the full lawsuit after the jump.More

Just when you thought another person couldn't get in on all the Gossip Girl action, designer Anna Sui unveiled a line for Target inspired by none other than Gossip Girl. On Wednesday evening, Target previewed the collection at a Soho townhouse-turned-pop-up shop for a group of Anna's friends, GG cast members like Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, Michelle Trachtenberg, Penn Badgley and Jessica Szohr, members of the press, and assorted boldfaced names. Cityfile correspondent Douglas Marshall caught up with Real Housewives of New York City star Kelly Killoren Bensimon to chat about Gossip Girl and other important stuff like preparing for Fashion Week and achieving the perfect tan.More

• Speculation over the cause of DJ AM's death last Friday continues. People's sources tell the magazine Goldstein had eight undigested OxyContin pills in his stomach (and a ninth in his mouth) when he died, pretty clear evidence it was a suicide. TMZ reported a few days ago that the overdose was accidental, and it's sticking by its version of events. [People, TMZ]
• In the meantime, Goldstein's ex-girlfriend, model Hayley Wood, is denying rumors that he took his life because he was distraught over their breakup. [Us]
• Lindsay Lohan may now be leaving behind her LA home. But she may be leaving behind an unpaid $50,000 rent bill, too. [Radar]
• Kate Hudson is a little "clingy" when it comes to A-Rod, apparently. [MSNBC] More

• It's been a couple of thousand years since a man named Jesus "sparked a frenzy" in Jerusalem. But it happened again yesterday when Jesus (Luz, that is) accompanied Madonna to the Western Wall. [DM]
• Yesterday it was reported that Chris Brown had told Larry King that he didn't really remember beating up Rihanna. Now he says he does remember using her a human punching bag; it's just that the clip used to promote the show was taken out of context. [People]
• Filming has started on the new season of the Real Housewives of New York City. And the pressure is on, apparently. There are two "backup" housewives waiting in the wings in case the women don't perform and "the story lines are not interesting enough." [P6]
• Demi Moore would like to make it clear she's never had plastic surgery. It's natural that she looks like that at the age of 64. So back off. [Telegraph]More

• Real Housewives star Jill Zarin and her husband, Bobby, put their apartment on the market just six weeks ago. But they've already been forced to drop prices. The three-bedroom condo at 401 East 60th Street, which the Zarins put up for sale for $3.2 million in July, is now $2.995 million. [Cityfile, PDE]
• Former Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal and his wife, Barbara, have purchased an apartment at 1095 Park Avenue. The couple, who sold their former home at 550 Park Avenue to socialite Phyllis Mack in January 2008, paid $5.6 million for the two-bedroom apartment. [Cityfile]
• Fortress Investment Group co-founder Randal Nardone has dropped the price of his 4,456-square-foot condo at 240 Riverside Boulevard, six months after putting it on the market for $11.75 million. The former billionaire, who picked up a massive apartment at 101 Warren Street last November for $22 million, has listed his former pad for $10.95 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]More

• Cameron Douglas, the son of Michael Douglas, was arrested at the Gansevoort Hotel last week. The crime? He had about $18,000 worth of meth with him, which he was planning to sell. [NYP]
• Mischa Barton's return to the party scene this past weekend wasn't entirely drama-free. She got upset and talked "frantically" as she recounted an episode with a stalker. Then she had a drink spilled on her when she went to a party at the Cooper Square Hotel. [P6]
• So much for Bethenny Frankel's plans to star in her own reality show. She says she'll be back for the third season of Real Housewives of NYC. [People] More

The Real Housewives of New York City are back in the news (not that they ever left, really), since production on the next season of the show has been held up while four of the five ladies  bicker with Bravo over how much they're going to get paid. The only one who's agreed to participate thus far? That would be Kelly Bensimon, the least-liked member of the cast, at least according to the poll on Bravo's website. We'll all have to hope the dispute is resolved shortly and Kelly gets to reunite with her castmates in the near future. But in the meantime—and because we know you want to keep Kelly by your side all summer long—we took a bit of audio from her totally insane interview with ObsessedTV and turned her into a 12-second ringtone. Just because your fave NYC housewives won't be on the air for the next few months doesn't mean you can't be reminded of Kelly's generous spirit every time your phone rings. (Oh, and yes: that is the Exorcist theme playing in the background. For some odd reason, we though it was fitting.) Click here to download the ringtone. Or click on Kelly's pic above. Enjoy!

Kelly Bensimon Ringtone [MP3 download]
Kelly Bensimon Interview [ObsessedTV.com]
Previous ringtones: Anna Wintour & André Leon Talley, Isaac Mizrahi, Padma Lakshmi, Bernie Madoff.

• "Real Housewife" Jill Zarin has put her three-bedroom apartment 401 East 60th Street on the market. The 1,956-square-foot condo—which Zarin tackily gussied up last season—is listed with Prudential Douglas Elliman's Callae Brownstein and Howard Margolis for $3.2 million. [NYP, PDE]
• Dorris Carr Bonfigli, the Upper East Side hostess and Bernie Madoff victim, has dropped the price of her penthouse apartment at 930 Fifth for the second time since listing it for $11.3 million last December. The elaborately-designed spread is now priced at $9.8 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]More