Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Todd English's troubles with Erica Wang, his former fiancée (and the woman he was supposed to marry last weekend) continue: The chef filed a criminal complaint against her earlier this week, claiming she clocked him in the eye, a wound that he says required seven stitches to close. [NYP]
• A bit of better news for English: Juliet, his new club/restaurant on West 21st Street, is on track to open to the public next week. [TONY]
• Steve Hanson's latest venture, Bill's Bar and Burger, opens tomorrow. [GS]
• A list of other recent openings, including Daniel Boulud's Bar Pleiades. [Eater]
• Purgatorio, the giant club/theater/haunted house in Times Square brought to you by The Box's Simon Hammerstein opened tonight. The extravaganza features "more than 100 performers swooping from rafters, screaming obscenities and gushing fake blood." Sounds like fun, doesn't it? [NYP]

• Openings: Gansevoort 69 opened today in the meatpacking space formerly occupied by Florent. And Motorino's first Manhattan outpost is now open in was once Una Pizza Napoletana. A few more openings today are here.
• Also open, but just for private parties for the time being: The Boom Boom Room, the new bar on the 18th-floor of Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel, which will open to the public on September 22. [DBTH, UrbanDaddy]
• Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia are parting ways at Mia Dona. [Eater]
• Times Square's era of sleeze may soon make a return. The Box, the club co-owned by Simon Hammerstein, takes over China Club for two weeks next month to create Club Purgatorio, a "multi-level world of macabre fantasy." [GS]
• Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had lunch today at Il Mulino. In case you're wondering, the duo dined on "fish, pasta and salad." [NYT]
• Last night wasn't a great one for John Mayer. It seems he was forced to flee GoldBar after a guy at the bar was stabbed in stomach. [Page Six]

• After 37 years in business—and following several lease extensions—La Goulue on Madison Avenue will close its doors on Aug. 26. The owners say they're still hoping to reopen it somewhere else in the neighborhood. [NYT]
• Further evidence that this is a really tough time for media companies: The New York Times has licensed its name to a new wine club. [Reuters, release]
• Simon Hammerstein is hoping to revive The Box with some new talent. Joey Arias will be taking over hosting duties beginning next month. [P6]
• Like the many critics before him, New York's Adam Platt doesn't go easy on Monkey Bar: "A-list connections can't cover for D-grade cooking." [NYM] More

Cartier celebrated its 100th anniversary in New York last night with a big bash inside its Fifth Avenue store. The celeb-heavy crowd included Elton John, Kate Hudson, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Anne Hathaway, Rachel Weisz, Demi Moore, Eva Mendez, Ashley Olsen, Zac Posen, Martha Stewart, Graydon Carter, Jeff Zucker, Robbie Myers, Patti Smith,  Russell Simmons and Julie Henderson, Tory Burch, Thakoon Panichgul, Erin Fetherston, Nanette Lepore, Phillip Lim, Coco Rocha, Hilary Rhoda, Daniel Boulud, Eli Weisel, Bruce Weber, Henrik Lundqvist, Ingrid Sischy, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Cornelia Guest, Susan Fales-Hill, Marjorie Gubelmann, Thora Birch, Chiara Clemente, Alexis Bryan, Dylan Lauren, Kelly Klein, and Cartier chief Frederic De Narp. [PMc, Wireimage, WWD]More

Through the recession-blackened debris of our once great nation, there blows a consolatory treasure, a reminder, if you will, of what being American is all about: suing people! Thanks to the mass layoffs of lawyers—on February 12th alone, 800 law firm employees were let go—the cost of a lawsuit should drop "for the first time in history," explains Mark Penn, the CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller and the scandal-plagued strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Music to the ears, no doubt, of women who have ever been employed by Simon Hammerstein, or of waitstaff at basically any New York restaurant.

Following months of rumors and allegations about his bad behavior, pervy Box boss Simon Hammerstein has finally been slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit by the Porcelain Twinz, two of the venue's best-known performers until they quit last summer. The burlesque dancers have been putting on a kinky act for years, but they claim it never involved engaging in "incestuous sexual relations with each other," at least not until they met Hammerstein and he forced them to put on "twincest" shows at the venue. They also say he demanded oral sex in exchange for free housing and, later, so he would sign on as a guarantor on a rental apartment. That doesn't strike us as the worst deal in the world (even accounting for Hammerstein's all-around grossness), but we imagine a judge probably won't see it that way.

• The Cipriani family is planning to close the Rainbow Grill on January 12th, although the bar and banquet space will remain open. [AP]
• The troubled Palm Court inside the Plaza closed last week. [Eater]
• A pizza-making school is coming to Bleecker Street. [NYT]
• Upright Citizens Brigade is contemplating an East Village outpost. [GS]
• The success of Simon Hammerstein's The Box is leading more nightclubs to consider adding live entertainment. [NYP]
• Restaurant Week reservations are now being accepted. [NYCGo]

♦  New York takes a long look in this week's issue at The Box, Simon Hammerstein's infamously sleazy club. Don't read it if you're eating or you're easily offended by tales of snot and/or raw sewage. [NYM]
♦  Fresh trouble for the Cipriani family: The head of the State Liquor Authority, Daniel Boyle, says an aide to Governor Paterson tried to "intimidate" him into renewing the family's liquor licenses. [NYP]
♦  Opening this week: Macao Trading Co., brought to you by the team behind Employees Only; Carroll Gardens' Buttermilk Channel; and Perle on Pearl Street. [NYM]
♦  The Observer has put up its list of top 10 new bars. [NYO] More

♦  Yesterday evening the New York Women's Foundation Fall Gala took place at Gotham Hall: Michael Bloomberg and Diana Taylor, Iman, Joel Klein and Nicole Seligman, Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower, Felicia Taylor, Jamie Niven, Herbert Wachtell, and Jonathan Farkas ate, drank, and watched a performance from the American Ballroom Theater Youth Dance Company. [Wireimage, PMc]

♦  Last night Donna Karan celebrated her 60th with a party at The Box worthy of someone a third her age. Joining the debauchery: her daughter Gabby, Simon Hammerstein, Alan Cumming, George Wayne, Andre Balazs, David Furnish, Nadine Johnson, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Kelly Klein, Jackie Astier, Steven Klein, and many more. [GoaG, PMc]More

We've done it! We've figured out just what set into motion the financial crisis that has led to billions in losses, demolished two investment banks (so far), and led to tens of thousands of lost jobs. It all goes back to Friday, March 7th when sleazy club owner Simon Hammerstein, headband-wearing scenester Arden Wohl, gay party boy Derek Blasberg, heiress Amanda Hearst, and gala staple Claire Bernard turned up at the New York Stock Exchange to ring the closing bell. Clearly, their mere presence at the exchange unleashed some sort of vicious curse on the markets. Don't believe us? Below you'll find a chart that shows the price of Lehman Brothers since that fateful Friday—or "Black Friday" as the day will henceforth be known—and you'll have all the proof you need that this visit was what doomed the storied firm. More

• It seems The Box's Simon Hammerstein is quite the pervy, depraved boss, at least judging by all the complaints from female ex-employees. [Gawker]
• The probably-fake nightclub El Bano already has a probably-fake competitor called El-Elevator. [GoaG]
• Scott Conant is a fan of Anthony Bourdain and Jean-Georges; he's not so much a fan of restaurants in China. [Big Think via GS]
• The owners of Patsy's pizzeria in Harlem have won the legal battle with Patsy's in Midtown over rights to the famous name. [NYP]
• Four employees at 230 Fifth are suing the lounge's owner, Steven Greenberg, for paying below minimum wage and skimming tips. [GS]
• Greek superchef Michael Psilakis says he has weakness for rice pudding and he'll eat just about anything. [NYT/Diner's Journal]
• On-the-job injuries aren't restricted to professional athletes and coal miners—bartenders have it pretty rough, too. [TONY]

Simon Hammerstein, the hipster founder of the LES hotspot The Box, paid $1.27 million for a Financial District loft, according to property documents posted this morning. The fourth floor pad—located at 265 Water Street—features two bedrooms and 1,650 square feet of open living space. Check it our for yourself after the jump.More