"Before, if you wanted to have an iPhone, you had to be on AT&T, and they suck," Alex Hurley, a 30 year old construction manager, told the NY Post. "Verizon has the best service in New York City."

But the same story also featured Areial Callieham, 23, a publicist from Harlem, "I'm going to stick with AT&T. I've been with them since before the iPhone came out. I don't have a problem with AT&T service."

Wow, that's a new one. Is Harlem a little known haven for iPhone users? Real estate brokers take note, it's these kind of little perks that can really seal the deal.

Walking and talking on his iPhone didn't seem to 29-year-old Kyle Supley like a particularly reckless thing to do on Waverly Place near Christopher Street in the West Village late on a Tuesday evening.

"I shouldn't have had it out, probably," Mr. Supley would later say when the Transom reached him by phone. "But I work at Apple"--as a specialist at the Fifth Avenue store--"and I'm so used to seeing them all day that I wasn't really thinking about it being a problem, and I didn't think the area was really something to worry about. I've been in New York 10 years and am usually pretty street-smart, but I think the phone is very appealing."

On the 27th of July, at 11:50 p.m., three teenage men attacked Mr. Supley on that corner, threw an initially unidentified, sweet-smelling liquid in his face, put him in a headlock, punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground to obtain the sleek, fourth edition of the device, which had then only been out about a month.

Mr. Supley, who lives in Astoria, Queens, was walking from 14th Street and Sixth Avenue and talking to a friend over Skype when he turned down Greenwich Street. "This person walked up next to me too close for comfort, so I put my iPhone in my pocket, sensing trouble," said Mr. Supley. "I briskly walked across Waverly to get away from the guy, and when I turned around, I realized it was three guys." Here Mr. Supley's 3G iPhone, which he had borrowed from a friend for the interim, cut out and the Transom heard him say to someone near him, "Shit! The news are calling me about my mugging--"

The line reconnected and Mr. Supley continued, "The first guy tapped me on the shoulder and sprayed me with a water bottle containing what turned out to be Red Bull, which I guess is like ghetto mace or something."

The men surrounded him and one of them said, "Give it to us." Mr. Supley tried to escape, but one of the men reached into his pocket for the phone, and as Mr. Supley resisted, he received a punch in the face. His glasses fell off. "I have these vintage frames that I love, and I heard them hit the ground, and I kind of freaked out, like, 'Not my glasses!'" he said. "I grabbed them and threw them under a parked car so they wouldn't get broken."

The men snatched the phone and went for his other pockets. He pleaded that they take the money but leave his Diesel wallet--which contained a photo of his father, movie tickets and a gift certificate to the Olive Garden from his parents--but they took the whole thing anyway and fled north on Waverly.

While the incident was happening, Mr. Supley called for help to an older woman across the street, who didn't want to get involved and kept walking. A man named James, who lives in the neighborhood and asked that his full name be withheld, was walking home with his fiancée and wanted to run over and help, but his fiancée protested. "He got up, grabbed his glasses from underneath the car, and we ran up to him to make sure he was O.K.," James said by phone from the law office where he works. "He was pretty rattled. His elbows and nose were bloody. He was O.K. but pretty shaken and ticked off."

James lent Mr. Supley his phone--"I have a crappy little cell phone"--to call the police.

The teens were African-American and about 17 years old, wearing dark blue jeans. "They were bigger than him. He was pretty small and kind of skinny," James said.

Though the New York Police Department does not keep statistics on iPhone thefts, anecdotally the desirable device has led to more elaborate schemes. On the Upper East Side, for instance, there were recently a series of bicycle drive-bys, as a thief traveling at high velocity grabbed phones out of victims' hands and kept going. And there was the story earlier this month of the ballet dancer in San Francisco who took four punches, remained upright and pulled some violent ballet moves on four men attempting to steal his iPhone. The dancer prevailed.

Unlike other phones, which when stolen can be replaced for the same price for which they were originally purchased, a stolen or lost iPhone, according to an Apple spokesperson, costs between $499 and $699 to recover, since AT&T subsidizes the price of the phone only when you sign a two-year contract. A MobileMe function on the phone can help locate it, but the browser at the police station was too slow to pull up its location. It finally showed up 40 minutes later, on an L train near Wilson Avenue, just long enough for Mr. Supley to remotely lock the phone, and then the signal disappeared altogether.

"AT&T said if I had been mugged three days earlier, they could have reset my eligibility, but they couldn't help me," said Mr. Supley, adding that the service provider told him he had to talk to the retailer from whom he purchased the phone: Apple, his employer. He plans to talk to his supervisor about replacing the phone at the discounted rate. 

After the mugging, Mr. Supley retold the story to his 1,336 friends on Facebook. "I wasn't sure I would at first, but I decided I should just let people know to be careful." The post received 40 responses from his friends; at first they expressed concern for Mr. Supley, then they started sharing stories of other iPhone thefts.

"The cops who came said it was something that was on the rise," Mr. Supley said. "People are coming from the bad areas into the good areas. It's happening places where people don't expect it to happen, like midtown and the West Village. I guess people come down from way up north in groups and hang around that Christopher Street area now."

Mr. Supley has taken his vintage glasses, which suffered a few scratches, to several repair shops, and they are currently being fixed. And if he does eventually replace the phone, he said he will be more careful to keep his phone out of a potential thief's predatory gaze.

“The phone has GPS, it gives you directions, you want to walk and find where you’re going, or you’re texting or using Skype to chat with someone for free. It lives in your hand so you really have to fight the temptation especially if you’re alone and out and about,” he said.  “It just woke me up that some people, all they see is a $1000 bill waving around in your hand, not a phone.”

In keeping with prevailing theme of political independence, DiNapoli stresses a willingness to work with Republicans in the legislature.

DiNapoli also touts the role he played in helping Nassau emerge from its fiscal crisis after years of GOP control.

Coincidentally, that fiscal turnaround was also a central theme of the gubernatorial campaign of Tom Suozzi, who defeated DiNapoli in a race for county executive.

The rest of the letter is after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah


Dear Colleague,

Integrity. Independence. Experience. As I talk to our colleagues about the qualities they are looking for in the next State Comptroller, these are the words I keep hearing.

I am seeking your support to be New York's next State Comptroller because I believe that I possess those qualities and would be able to continue the bi-partisan tradition of independent Comptrollers that have served the State so well.

During my two decades representing the families of the 16th Assembly District, I have demonstrated my integrity and my character to my constituents and to you.

While I am certainly a proud Democrat, I have never hesitated to work with my Republican colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to support legislation in the public interest. I have always believed that partisanship must never get in the way of good government. My ability to be an effective, independent comptroller - to call it as I see it - is just a logical extension of that philosophy.

My experience in the Assembly has helped prepare me for this next challenge. I have been a member of the Ways & Means Committee for 15 years, working on State budgets, budget reform, debt reform, and other important statewide fiscal issues.

As Chairman of the Local Governments Committee, I worked with local government officials across New York and understand the fiscal challenges they consistently face. At the same time, the State needs to be cognizant that these local taxing jurisdictions must be made more efficient to alleviate an ever-growing tax burden on their constituents. That insight will help me in working with counties, cities, towns, villages, and school districts around the State both in terms of the Comptroller's audit function, as well as in working with local government officials to help them institute best practices and reign in costs.

I worked with the Comptroller's office and with Democratic and Republican State and local officials in helping to craft and enact the legislation that enabled Nassau County to emerge from serious fiscal distress and reach the improved financial condition it enjoys today. The oversight role and financial plan requirements of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority serve as an effective model for how the State can assist localities in reversing inefficient fiscal practices.

When I served as Chairman of the Government Operations Committee, I learned about the workings of the many departments and agencies under this committee's jurisdiction. The insights I gained from these assignments and experiences will be invaluable in the role of auditing State government. The Comptroller's auditing function is key to improving the accountability and efficiency of State spending and to helping agencies provide better services to taxpayers.

I also worked with the Comptroller's office to draft and pass stronger school district accountability laws in response to the scandals that exposed the theft of taxpayer dollars on Long Island. This was an important achievement for me. I served on a board of education for ten years, including two terms as board president. Years later, when I learned about the stealing of monies for our children's education in the Roslyn School District, I was outraged. As Comptroller, I will further strengthen the State's fiscal oversight of school districts to ensure that every dollar is spent wisely on our children's education and not lost to fraud, waste or abuse.

My extensive knowledge of State and local government is not all I will bring to the job of Comptroller. For ten years I worked in the private sector in the telecommunications industry. For most of those years I served in a variety of management positions. At the time of my election in 1986, I managed an office of more than 100 employees at AT&T. I also earned a graduate degree in management from The New School University in New York City, which further honed my skills in managing people to produce the best possible results.

That management experience will serve me well as Comptroller, supervising a staff of more than 2,000 experienced - and largely civil service - professionals who carry out the important functions of the office everyday.

I look forward to participating in the selection process that has been established preceding the vote of the Legislature to fill the vacancy in this critically important office. You will hear much more about my vision for the kind of Comptroller I will be when I testify before the joint fiscal committees next week. You should know now, however, that my top goals include:

* Restoring the reputation of the Office so that New Yorkers know they have a Comptroller of integrity;
* Ensuring that what has worked well at the Comptroller's office continues;
* Protecting and maximizing the returns on pension fund investments as sole trustee; and,
* Strengthening the audit process to help State entities and local governments match their practices with their missions by employing best practices to produce better results.

Finally, while the State Comptroller's independence must be beyond question - and mine will be - I want to assure you that I look forward to working with my partners in government. Though the "watchdog" role is central to this position, I will also work vigorously with the Governor to implement his vision for reforming State government. Similarly, working with the members of the Legislature - both houses, both parties - is crucial to gaining the successes we would all like to see achieved.

I am ready for this job. I have the integrity, independence and experience needed to serve the people of New York as our next State Comptroller. As this process unfolds and you learn more about my qualifications and views, I would welcome your input and I ask for your support.

Sincerely,

Thomas P. DiNapoli

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Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

On the heels of being sold to investors for $26 billion three weeks ago, and an announcement that it plans to shed more than a third of its radio stations, the Texas-based company has signed a 15-year lease at the former AT&T building at 32 Avenue of the Americas.

The lease is for 121,000 square feet, with rents at approximately $35 per square foot for the first five years, $39 a foot for the next five and $43 a foot for the last five, according to a source familiar with the terms of the lease. The company will get the first eight months rent-free.

Clear Channel will stuff its New York–based radio stations and D.J. boxes onto the ground, second, third and part of the fourth floors. The New York–based stations include Z100, Power 105.1, 103.5 KTU, Q104.3 and 106.7 Lite FM.

The space may offer the radio company some rich opportunities. The ground floor has an auditorium, and Clear Channel could convert the space into a performance area, a source said. The space currently could fit about 250 people, so there’s a chance artists like Kelly Clarkson or Kelis could throw concerts that might be broadcast simultaneously.

The move also means that local radio legends like Power 105’s D.J. Clue, Z100’s Paul (Cubby) Bryant and KTU’s bridge-and-tunnel god Goumba Johnny will be packing their bags and broadcasting from a new home. No word yet on whether Whoopi Goldberg, whose Wake Up with Whoopi is syndicated on KTU, will be moving too.

As Clear Channel veers away from its power-gobbling ways of the 1990’s, the asking rents downtown should be a healthy break from the asking rents of at least $70 per square foot at its three midtown offices: 1133, 1180 and 1120 Avenue of the Americas. (The company’s other two area locations are in Jersey City.)

And with all the scuttlebutt swirling about its recent business affairs, the company had hoped to keep this move a secret. Of course, in the gossipy corners of commercial brokerage offices, no deal—especially no deal over 100,000 square feet—is a secret well kept. CoStar noted the deal on Friday.

The space that Clear Channel will take had AT&T’s name on the lease, but the building’s landlord, Rudin Management, bought out AT&T and worked with Clear Channel directly, a source said.

The 33-year veteran and media broker favorite, Michael Laginestra of CB Richard Ellis, handled the deal for Clear Channel. Mr. Laginestra would not comment on the deal, nor would representatives from Rudin Management.

The 74-year-old Art Deco Tribeca high-rise that will be Clear Channel’s new home—nicknamed the Hub—contains a total of 1.15 million square feet. The building has a long and, at times, uneven history, once serving as a telephone-switchboard center that switched the first trans-Atlantic phone call.

Bill Rudin bought the building in 1999 and refurbished it, hoping to make it a telecommunications mecca amid the dot-com boom. Then, when those dot-com dreams died, Mr. Rudin’s grand ideas gave way to a more modest mix of tech firms and traditional office users.

That’s not to say the building doesn’t have its bandwidth-loving tenants, which include companies like Qwest, Tyco, T-Systems and DirecTV.

HOW EXHAUSTING. FIRST, THE TOY INDUSTRY industry learned that it’s getting kicked out of its longtime home at 200 Fifth Avenue to make way for—what else?—new residential condos. Then it found space on Church Street. Then it didn’t. Then it found space way on the West Side, on 11th Avenue. Then it didn’t.

Now, there’s a good chance that these babes may never find a city-based toy land.

“I’m very worried that we won’t find a home, and this will force the entire toy industry out of New York City,” said Steven Greenfield, the president at Salo Ventures, who has been leading the industry’s efforts in the city. “It’s been very tough and very frustrating, and there are very few choices available to us.”

“There’s clearly a possibility that the industry may survive with the temporary shows and the temporary locations every year, but whether that’s a longtime survival is a question mark,” said Moshe Sukenik of Newmark Knight Frank, who reps the industry.

It’s a tough deal to broker, because the toy industry needs show space—the type of space where you have (an ungodly) 200 tenants on a lease who display their latest toys during, say, the current holiday season. They also need a lot of that space. Mr. Greenfield said he hopes to find 150,000 to 175,000 square feet.

A nearly closed deal at 636 11th Avenue, for more than 150,000 square feet, fell through earlier this year when the toy industry couldn’t secure 50 necessary tenants, Mr. Greenfield said. This came right after an even larger deal fell through on Church Street last year.

Mr. Greenfield said the industry is now looking at a spot between 30th and 34th streets off Seventh Avenue—he wouldn’t confirm the address—but it may be a last-ditch hope.

Just like manufacturing generally in New York, the century-long toy industry’s stay may be rolling toward an inexorable end.

“Most of the landlords want deals with large law firms, not smaller and multiple tenants,” said Mr. Greenfield. “They’re quite greedy when things are going their way.”

Details on the deal -- plus the future of the toy industry in New York City -- in Wednesday's debut of Commercial Breaks, The Observer's new commercial real estate column.

- John Koblin

The organization claims to have made several requests to the AG's office asking for an investigation into allegations that the telecom giants, AT&T and Verizon, have shared millions of New Yorkers' telephone records with the National Security Agency. They mailed letters (one on May 24th, one on June 26th), sent petitions (the first with 510 signatures, the second with 4033), and followed up on the phone.

So far, they say: no response.

"The one person who has the best record of not being intimidated by the federal government is Eliot Spitzer," said NYCLU staff attorney Corey Stoughton. "So it would be really great if he could step up."

The NYCLU says the Attorney General 's office has the authority to look into whether AT&T and Verizon violated New Yorkers' privacy and consumer rights, pointing out that the New Jersey Attorney General issued subpoenas to five telephone companies, including AT&T and Verizon, last month and that Vermont's Attorney General is assisting with an investigation by the state's Department of Public Service.

But a spokesperson for the Attorney General just told us that all requests are processed and evaluated, and promised to check into the status of the NYCLU's letters and petitions. No word yet, obviously, on an investigation.

-- Lizzy Ratner

Update: Spitzer spokeswoman Juanita Scarlett called yesterday to say that the June 26th follow-up letter and petition from the NYCLU had not yet arrived, but that the NYCLU shouldn'th hold its breath for a positive reply. "Considering that Congress is looking into the matter and the ACLU has launched a lawsuit, it is not likely our office will open an investigation," she said.

Cheeky, Not Violent Say Cops

First there was pre-emptive war; now there's pre-emptive policing. And it was on display around 3 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue subway station. That's where an NYPD Critical Response Team, consisting of eight police officers and one sergeant, set up shop. Their mission was to catch the eye of anti-war protesters on their way to Central Park with anarchy on their mind.

"We were to be highly visible to prevent any disorderly group on their way to Central Park, since they were estimating such a huge crowd," explained one of the cops assigned to the unit.

As it turned out, the officers had no need for their "hats and bats"-police parlance for riot gear-which remained stowed in their van: The protesters were orderly, and some even elderly. "They were coming off the train, asking us directions to the Great Lawn and which way Central Park was, so I guess the majority of them were not from the city," the cop said.

She added that many were wearing costumes, some of them rather provocative. "I don't understand what the purpose was, but they were wearing ass cheeks on their asses," the officer said. "Now I know what people do upstate when they retire."

She said that while the protesters weren't throwing Molotov cocktails, they didn't try to hug the cops, either. "They didn't walk by and tell me to have a nice day," she said. "A lot of them had obscene signs. A lot of them were vulgar: 'My Bush smells like shit.' I don't think you can put that down."

The officer said that it never occurred to her to ask the demonstrators to explain the symbolism behind their anally themed outfits. "I don't entertain assholes," she explained, apparently no pun intended.

Divide and Conquer

Another cop who's been manning the barricades during convention week had a rather novel and counterintuitive theory for maintaining the peace: the more protests there are, the better it is for public safety.

"A lot of these people show up at the same events," he explained. "So hopefully, if there's a lot of them"-meaning protests-"fewer will show up at each one. They spread themselves thin."

The officer continued: "You start recognizing people you saw at a different event. A lot of them, that's what they do-we go to work; they go to a demonstration." He was thinking in particular of a Yippie demo held at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue on Aug. 22. "They were annoying but peaceful. They've been doing that for 40 years, some of these people. They're professionals. They smoke pot and protest."

G.O.P. at the Zoo

A lone demonstrator showed up to protest an AT&T-sponsored reception for delegates at the Central Park Zoo Monday evening. The protester, a musician who declined to give his name, was exhausted from hours of beating his drum at Sunday's anti-war rally downtown. Nonetheless, he had enough bile left to give it to the Republicans as they arrived for the party. "I tried to dig deep to summon up my Olympic protesting skills," he explained.

"ALL RIGHT!" he shouted as delegates arrived, their color-coded credentials flapping in the breeze. "NOTHING LIKE A COMPASSIONATE WARMONGER TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY."

He held up a coffee-stained cardboard sign that bore much the same sentiment. He said he just happened to be walking by when he got wind of the party, plucked the cardboard from the garbage and penned his protest. The coffee stain came with the sign.

"Unfortunately, it would have been nice if they had thrown some coffee at me," he said, before getting back to his yelling: "ALL RIGHT! NOTHING LIKE A BUNCH OF HOMOPHOBES TO COVER THE BIGGEST QUEER FACTORY IN THE NATION!

"They think I'm the first of many," he added, nodding in the direction of the zoo entrance where a half-dozen or so cops and plainclothes security agents kept a wary eye on him. "They said, 'Go over there and wait for your buddies to show up.'"

And sure enough, a few minutes later, one did-two if you count his companion, who crashed on a nearby bench, seemingly comatose in a bright blue T-shirt that read "Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents of War."

"He's here in silent protest," demonstrator No. 2 said of his prone buddy.

"Youracisthomophobes!" the musician shouted, clearly energized by the swelling of his ranks. "You got another protester here!"

Public opinion, at least in the form of traffic on Fifth Avenue, seemed about evenly divided between the protesters and the visiting Republicans. Several cars honked their horns in support of the demonstrators, but one cabby lowered his window and shouted, "You asshole!" And a couple of passengers wearing cowboy hats in a second cab-apparently delegates on their way to a different corporate-sponsored event-gave the protesters the finger, suggesting the Republicans are already starting to feel at home in the Big Apple.

The musician remained unfazed, even incorporating the Republicans tactics into his routine. "GO AHEAD, FLIP THEM THE BIRD!" he shouted at tourists sitting atop a passing double-decker New York Sightseeing bus. "YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!"

None heeded his call.

Ralph Gardner can be reached at RGard135@aol.com.

Thank you for requesting an application to our preschool.

As you are no doubt aware, the Prada-Blahnik school enjoys a singular reputation in Manhattan: Prestigious, but non-elitist. Progressive, but structured. Warm and creative, but cognizant of the need to prepare your 3-year-old for the competitive rigors of life ahead as a banker, lawyer or plutocrat.

Our non-sexist, multicultural, ethics-enhanced curriculum is designed to encourage the growth of the individual child, with a special emphasis on networking and anger management.

Naturally, we can't guarantee any child's future. But suffice it to say that graduates of Prada-Blahnik have gone on to some of our nation's most famous institutions of higher learning. And we can state with a high degree of confidence that-as of this writing-almost none of them are currently under investigation by the Department of Justice or the S.E.C.

What we're looking for, of course, are normal, well-adjusted children from all backgrounds, encompassing every race and strata of society. Money is not everything: In fact, this year, we're proud to be teaching a handful of children from as far away as Third Avenue in the 90's.

Unfortunately, because space at Prada-Blahnik remains at a premium, this year we've expanded our admissions application in order to pre-qualify worthy candidates.

Please take your time with the application. And remember: Although the $275,000 application fee is entirely optional, it is also non-refundable.

Section One: To be answered by children whose parents have a net worth of over $200 million.

1) I can walk and/or talk. (Please indicate "yes" by marking anywhere on this application in crayon, a Mont Blanc pen or bodily fluids. Don't worry about the rest. We'll bill you for tuition.)

Section Two: For children whose parents have a net worth of over $100 million.

1) Barney the Dinosaur is: A) Red. B) Purple. C) Beneath contempt.

2)Thomas the Tank is: A) A choo-choo train. B) Mommy's secret nickname for her personal trainer.

3) The book that most resembles my home life is: A) The Nanny Diaries . B) The Sum of All Fears . C) The Butler Diaries by Paul Burrell, which I've already read in galleys.

4) Please compare and contrast these two works of fiction: A) Your preschool E.R.B. test with B) Dad's most recent EBITDA filing.

5) Math Quiz: There are 16 apartments at 1022 Park Avenue worth an average of $8.9 million each. Assuming that A) Daddy receives his full Wall Street bonus this year, and B) Mommy's father finally dies, leaving her in control of his hinge-manufacturing business, what do you estimate the odds are of your family getting past the co-op board interview in this white-glove building?

6) My favorite sport is: A) T-ball. B) Soccer. C) Pilates.

Section Three: For children whose parents have a net worth of less than $10 million:

Solve Fermat's last theorem. Attach a separate sheet, if necessary.

Section Four: To be filled out by the child's parents or the parent's executive assistant:

1) In order to guarantee a place for my child at Prada-Blahnik, I would be willing to: A) Walk barefoot on bare coals. B) Underwrite a celebrity lecture series. C) Cynically manipulate the stock price of AT&T, decimating the retirement accounts and college savings plans of millions of small investors across America. D) Plead the Fifth in front of a grand jury convened by Eliot Spitzer, investigating answer C.

2) When I discuss "values" with my child, I talk about: A) The need to be a good, moral, warm, compassionate, sharing individual. B) The need to "take another look" at AT&T.

3) In order to foster an appreciation of international cuisine among Prada-Blahnik students, I would volunteer to: A) Shop at Zabar's for the ingredients and help out in a class where we bake gourmet cookies. B) Buy Zabar's and donate a professional kitchen with a full-time chef. C) Use my G-5 to fly my child's class to Paris for lunch. D) Use the G-5 to fly the faculty of Prada-Blahnik around the world, and bring back doggie bags for the rugrats.

4) My child will arrive at school by A) Town Car. B) Limo. C) Armored Humvee.

5) If called by a reporter from The New York Times to comment on the Prada-Blahnik admissions process, the correct response is: A) Hang up the phone. B) "No comment." C) " Estoy apesadumbrado. El señor y La Señora no están en la casa ."

6) My child will/will not (circle one) require additional locker space for his/her private security detail.

7) If called a second time by the Times reporter, the correct response is to: A) Tell her to call the Citibank public-relations department. B) Quote Claude Rains from Casablanca : "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here." C) Tell her you have a much better story about Episcopal.

8) Essay Question: In the spirit of Martin Luther King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," please write a letter to your child explaining not only why you chose Prada-Blahnik, but why you think the grand jury failed to appreciate the subtle nuances behind the phrase "No quid pro quo."

Section Five: For Prada-Blahnik board members and corporate benefactors.

Please circle the appropriate response: 1) I know these people and can vouch for the kid. Enclosed, please find $500,000. 2) I've never met these people, but I need the father's help to nuke a corporate competitor. Enclosed, please find $1,000,000.

Section Six: Final bonus question:

In the issue of Fortune magazine dated Nov. 25, 2002, Citibank C.E.O. Sandy Weill is pictured on the cover with a headline proclaiming "The Ultimate Pragmatist Is Now a Reformer." Do you find this: A) Accurate. B) Ironic. C) Hilarious.

Again, thank you for your interest. We may be in touch.

Sincerely yours, Tony Carnegie Hill, Headmaster.