out and about
Added: November 8, 2007, 10:58 am	Share    Print    Email

This is one of those "good news - bad news columns". Lots of bits have been coming Jen's way and I'm not so sure sometimes if I know the difference. So strike that. Let's just say I've got tons of dish to share and I'll let you be the judge of what is what. OK?

Samantha and Jamee Gregory. Photo by PatrickMcMullan.com

Forgot to tell you last week - maybe out of bridal envy - but the darling Samantha Gregory, daughter of social dynamos Jamee and Peter who never knew a cause they couldn't get behind, tied the knot at Mummy and Daddy's fabulous New York apartment. The lucky guy is Roberto Benabib, the executive producer of Showtime's VERY successful series "Weeds." Samantha, as you probably know, has been toiling in the PR trenches for pal designer Tory Burch. As VP for Global Communications, she's been branding Ms. Burch from Southampton to Singapore.

Rabbi David Posner of Temple Emanuel-el presided over the nuptials in the Gregory's posh pad. Well, you know that Jamee, who's chronicled the most gorgeous New York domiciles of the rich and the lofty in her beautiful coffee table book "New York Apartments: Private Views", certainly would have a "posh pad", don't ya think?

Good news? Definitely.

The TV star I would most like to understudy is Mariska Hargitay of "Law & Order: SVU". I hear she has snared a buyer for her downtown New York penthouse apartment - but not without settling for a lot less than she was asking. Insiders tell me the actress, who is the daughter of the late screen siren Jayne Mansfield and muscle man Mickey Hargitay, has sold her three-bedroom, 21/2-bath Beach Street duplex for $5.1 million. Meanwhile, friends out East tell me she is actively house hunting on the East End for a big piece of property for her little boy to stretch his legs, which if he takes after his mom must be very long indeed.
Chuck Close is still floating on air following his over the top tribute at the Whitney Museum of Art Fall Gala. Though some sneered at his choice of an all gray and silver décor theme, Chuck certainly knew what he was doing. What better way to display the mammoth blowups of his extraordinary portraits of his artist friends Cindy Sherman, Kiki Smith, Andres Serrano, and Philip Glass among them.

Chuck, who loves a good bash, was having one heck of a time whirling around the party in his wheelchair like a racecar driver! Watch out, he's coming around the columns now! Everyone loved it, as everyone loves Chuck, which you could see from the eclectic crowd that could not get enough of Chuck.

As guests arrived for the usual red carpet photos little did they know that the ever playful Chuck had arranged it so that each and everyone would be photographed and have their mugs posted on the ginormous screen overlooking the dinner! A few made a mad dash to repair make-up after they spotted their pores in all of their two foot diameter glory!

Beside the many generations of Lauders sprinkled around the room (and what would be a major art happening without at least three of the fabled art collecting family, all major and generous supporters of the visual arts) there was much to ogle, I confess I did, just a little. Singing Chuck's praises were the likes of Beth Rudin de Woody and her son Carlton de Woody, Christina Wasserman, Hilary and Wilbur Ross, Aby and Samantha Rosen, Laurie Tisch, Peter Norton, Jane Holzer, Lorne Michaels, Stephanie Seymour and Peter Brant, Thelma Golden, Andre Balazs back with Uma Thurman, Bob Pittman, and the B-52's Fred Schneider with longtime partner designer Robert Molnar.

This is most certainly, as Martha Stewart would say, "A good thing".

Oh gosh, now I've mentioned her and remembered that I had something big to spill. Miss Martha is taking a page from all of those Silicon Valley geeks, you know the ones who created My Space and Face Book and spun them off for gazillions. Our domestic goddess is soon to be launching a new website, get this, Marthapedia. Yes, a social network site billed as a site that would offer "millions of pieces of information" on anything from organizing a pantry to how to properly wash clothing so says Susan Lyne, the head of the empire known as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Sounds cool, it's just that OMNI in the title that still frightens me. However it pans out, MSLO had good news on the publishing front: In January, the circulation of Martha Stewart Living will increase from 1.95 million to 2 million.

That's a lot of quick cookie recipes!

Just so you know, the site initially will be seeded with existing content from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, such as Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook, but will open for information and suggestions from the public. Except that unlike My Space, Martha's eagle eye editors will be watching over postings very carefully. So don't count on your grandma's goulash recipe guaranteed to be webbed to Mongolia.

File this under the things I never thought I'd see - Philip Seymour Hoffman stark naked in the very first frame of Sidney Lumet's latest thriller, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." The Oscar-winning actor and an equally bare Marisa Tomei kick off the harrowing thriller with a steamy sex scene that had everyone talking at the Cinema Society screening of Lumet's 45th film. Hoffman, Tomei, and co-star Ethan Hawke were on hand for the screening and even stopped in on the star-studded after-party on the roof lounge of the Gramercy Park Hotel. I wasn't able to catch everyone's reaction to the daring duos nude romp, but I can tell you some of their responses would probably raise some eyebrows. On hand and not as jaw-dropped as I was were Lauren Bacall, Sheryl Crow, Patricia Clarkson, Tommy Clarkson, Tommy Hilfiger, Rachel Roy, Cynthia Rowley, Sante D'Orazio, and Julianna Margulies.

Just learned that quintessential rock star designer fave, John Varvatos has taken a long term lease on the legendary punk rock hangout CBGB and will turn it into a flagship for his growing fashion empire. John is even talking about having major acts perform there each month. Hope he's reached out to his star customer, Jon Bon Jovi.

This I know to be great news!

You have the stories and we hope you will share them with Jennifer and our readers each week! So next time Barbara Walters or Sarah Jessica Parker stops in your store, Diddy or Billy Joel grab your peaches, and you spot Kathy Hilton or Vera Wang looking fabulous somewhere, let us know and Jennifer will share it with our readers. Got a juicy bit to dish? Just send a quick email to ispy@hamptons.com, call 631-734-2393, or fax 631-734-2385.