Last Friday, David Paterson insinuated that he was the victim of racial bias, suggesting that a racially motivated campaign had been organized to keep him from running for governor this fall. A good deal of criticism immediately followed (and today Paterson attempted to back away from his remarks). But if Paterson had…

The Way We Live Now: In a cul-de-sac in Moreno Valley, California.The NYT has made it the national headquarters of recession-oriented media interest! Meanwhile, back in New York, the Hamptons crumble, and everyone's ready to kill to be a plumber.

• Billy Joel is looking for a buyer in Sagaponack. Now that he and wife Katie Lee Joel are splitting up, the singer is planning to sell the two oceanfront properties he bought for her in 2007. The four-bedroom mansion (No. 1) and smaller beach bungalow (No. 2) will be listed with Corcoran's Biana Stepanian for a…

Last week, the Post reported that the wife of retired Goldman Sachs honcho Ray Iwanowski had smashed her BMW into a tree and was later arrested for DWI. On Wednesday, the owner of a Bentley Arnage watched as his car mysteriously rolled into Lake Montauk and plunged to the bottom. Could there a trend here? Who knows,…

• Stephen Daldry, the director of The Hours, The Reader, and the Broadway production of Billy Elliot, The Musical, has picked up a new home: He paid $3.8 million for a five-floor townhouse in Chelsea. Daldry clearly has some work ahead of him. The 4,600-square-foot property located at 347 West 21st Street is…

Were you thinking that what the Hamptons really needed right now was another magazine with party pictures and "inside info" on cool things to do? No? Well, too bad. The Observer reports there's a new kid on the block called The Hampton Spy. Edited by a former Hamptons editor and Hamptons Style contributor, it bills…

Tory Burch must be in a good mood today. Sally Spanburgh reports that Burch's proposed plan to tear down her house in Southampton—the one she bought from her ex-husband earlier this year for $22.5 million—has been approved. Small sacrifices were involved, however. Town officials gave her the green light after her…

• Julianne Moore's West Village townhouse is up for sale. Moore picked up the five-story, six-bedroom home on West 11th Street for $3.5 million in 2003. It can now be yours for $11.95 million. [NYO, Sotheby's, Curbed]
• Emeril Lagasse has closed on the purchase of developer Penny Bradley's 6,900-square-foot townhouse…

• Private equity exec Chandler Evans has dropped the price of his duplex penthouse at 1165 Park Avenue (left) for the third time since listing it for $24.9 million last September. The four-bedroom spread, which Evans bought for $23 million in June '08, is now listed for $17.95 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• Developer…

• A sixth-floor apartment at The Dakota, which is owned by an unidentified "Wall Street executive," has been cut for the third time since hitting the market in June 2008 with a $24 million price tag. The four-bedroom co-op is now listed for a mere $12.5 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• Investment banker (and onetime…

• Arlene Farkas, the ex-wife of real estate heir Bruce Farkas, has dropped the price of her 14-room duplex at the River House, which she first put on the market in November for $15 million after a state appeals court turned down her ex-husband's appeal to retain ownership of the apartment. The co-op is now listed…

• Developer Charles Yassky has put his townhouse back on the market—and he's looking for $2 million more than he was seeking last fall. Yassky purchased 122 East 78th Street in mid-2008 for $13.2 million. He put it back on the market with Paula Del Nunzio just two weeks later for $18.9 million, before dropping the…

If you were worried it was too late to secure a spectacular rental in the Hamptons for the month of August—just 10 days left!—rest assured there is plenty of inventory to choose from. Curbed Hamptons has a roundup of the ten most expensive Hamptons rentals still available for the month, a list that includes Philip…

Ali Wise won't go down as the only member of the social set to spend time in handcuffs this month. Jules Kirby, the "champagne-swilling" party girl and perennial favorite on blogs like Park Avenue Peerage and Guest of a Guest—and ex-girlfriend of Nevan Donahue, Olivia Palermo's layabout cousin from The City—was…

• Ralph Cioffi, the former Bear Stearns hedge fund manager who will stand trial this fall for securities fraud and conspiracy in connection with the collapse of the fund, has gone into contract to sell his 7,000-square-foot home in Southampton. The estate had been listed most recently for $11.875 million. Given…

• Lee Neibart, a partner at Apollo Real Estate Advisors, and his wife Joyce, have closed on the sale of their 16th-floor apartment at 15 Central Park West, which they went into contract to sell back in May. The three-bedroom condo sold to a company called J & K Park Properties for $7.5 million, or $500,000 more than…

If Tory Burch is feeling the effects of the economic downturn, she certainly isn't showing it. The designer and social fixture is now petitioning Southampton's Architectural Review Board for permission to demolish the Meadow Lane home that she purchased for $22.5 million earlier this year.