Stephen Baldwin

Stephen Baldwin was arrested on Thursday for alleged repeated failures to file his New York state personal income tax. Mr. Baldwin, an actor, conservative Christian and younger brother to 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin, allegedly failed to file taxes for three years--2008 through 2010--and he may owe the state over $350,000.

CBS New York quoted a statement from Rockland County, N.Y., D.A. Thomas Zugibe, who said Mr. Baldwin's "repetitive failure to file returns and pay taxes over a period of several years" was just another element contributing to "the sweeping cutbacks and closures in local government and schools."

The actor, well-known for both his family name and his role in The Usual Suspects, is an outspoken conservative. Mr. Baldwin has appeared on Fox News as a political commentator. He once famously claimed in an interview with Fox that he'd "leave the country" if Barack Obama became president.

Mr. Baldwin has also had previous brushes with the law, most recently in August, 2012, when he was arrested in Harlem for driving with a suspended license.

If he is found guilty of evading taxes, Mr. Baldwin could go to prison for four years.

A veteran press agent assesses the week in ballyhoo.

FAKE FEUD:  Desperate for attention after ratings for last year’s duo of big butt (JLo) and big lips (Steven Tyler) began dropping faster than Justin Bieber’s voice, American Idol took a page from the WWE playbook and decided  to stage what appeared to be a catfight between new judges Mariah Carey and Nicky Minaj. TMZ just happened to be on the scene when pink fright-wigged Ms. Minaj raised a loud ruckus, shouting, “If I had a gun, I would shoot the bitch.” Ms. Carey whimpered on The View the next day that she was hiring “extra security”—hopefully smarter than the protection she had in Don’t Mess With The Zohan. The most rattled anybody gets in the TMZ video is Keith Urban holding up his hands for a few seconds (“It wasn’t me, boss!”), and rolling his chair back slightly. The media are always hungry for a nice juicy cut of beef, and the battle made the front page of the Daily News, along with numerous other venues. We may not be able to recall the champion of last season’s Idol—the finale was down 32 percent in viewership—but the show’s PR team deserves a round of applause.
Flackery Index: 5.

I’M OUTTA HERE: You can blame two of the Baldwin Bros for inspiring JetBlue’s new “Election Protection” promotion. The airline is giving away 1,006 round-trip tickets to any one of their 21 international destinations to registered voters on their site if the presidential candidate of their choice is not elected on November 6. Who can forget Alec in 2004, declaring that he would bolt for Canada if George W. Bush were re-elected? We’ve seen him a few times on 30 Rock since then. Not to be outdone in pining for foreign citizenship, Alec’s brother Stephen, star of Bio-Dome, threatened to ditch the states if Barack Obama were elected in 2008. For all we know he followed through on the threat; the guy has scarcely been heard of since. So what about JetBlue? Jumping on the Presidential campaign extremist bandwagon may have paid off handsomely in press coverage, but we’d trade all those round-trip tickets for three one-way tickets for the Kardashian sisters.
Flackery Index: 2

JAMES BOND TAKES A LEAK: How do you tell if a song has been really “leaked” by pirates on the Internet or not? Go right to the PR department of the label—if they are as angry as a beehive, then odds are it was pirate booty. So it was interesting when Adele’s theme song for the new James Bond movie “leaked” last week, that the Columbia Records PR department went dead silent about the incident—and more interesting still when the song’s producer and co-writer Paul Epworth practically endorsed the thievery on Twitter: “I hear a short excerpt of "Skyfall" leaked … I can't wait for everyone to hear the whole thing because Adele's performance is jaw dropping.” Remember, conspiracy theorists, nothing’s an accident!
Flackery Index: 2.

SCHICK AND THE ’STACHE: Do the math on this one—in one of the few reasons to show up at Citi Field last month, legendary Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez got his famous mustache shaved off by a barber outside the stadium before a game. Schick jumped in to donate $10,000 to the Jacquelyn Hernandez Adult Day Health Center in honor of his mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. So when the barber whipped out his blade in front of reporters, TV cameras, bloggers, and fans, the organizers made sure Keith had a nice big Schick Turbo logo sewn on his bib right where everyone could see it. With all that massive coverage, Schick got at least $500 worth of advertising time per whisker, a veritable bargain for a $10,000 donation!
Flackery Index: 3.

Drew Kerr, a longtime practitioner of the dark arts of public relations, is the founder and president of Four Corners Communications. You can follow him on Twitter at @drewkerr.

Courtesy W Hotel.

Remember that great Sean John ad Mark Ronson was in 10 years ago? The Observer loved that ad. Sure we could have asked the producer whether married life had changed him,  or “what’s next,” but all we really wanted to know was whether it was P. Diddy’s idea or his to let the toothpick dangle so lazily in that print advertisement we once saw ages ago in VIBE. And as electronic rockers Phantogram left the stage of Symmetry Live—the W New York-Downtown’s music concert series—we asked him.

Yeah. He didn’t remember either. As we fell asleep in his eyes, a girl with forty-three bracelets shuttled him to the DJ booth.

We were at the W for a VIP Event celebrating the traveling photo exhibition ROCKED, featuring the work of Mick Rock, the “man who shot the 70s.” He has taken every single amazing photo of every famous musician ever, and after a ruddy Brit gifted Mr. Rock with three scarves from his British scarf company, The Observer took the opportunity to ask Mr. Rock if it was true that he had the W Hotel staff rearrange his room so he could indulge his love of yoga. “Who the fuck told you that?” was all the confirmation we needed. He calmed down when he saw that both he and The Observer were wearing acid wash jean jackets and learned that his stylist and The Observer were old fencing teammates at Exeter. Egregiously we forgot to congratulate him on his truly impressive show, distraced as we were watching as our friend from Nylon hit on two unseasonably tan women at the bar.

At this point in the evening, a nice and healthy woman at the VIP reception recognized The Observer from somewhere neither of us remember and asked us if we would like to meet the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We couldn’t tell if that was Karen O. or someone who just looked like Karen O. (it turned out it was), so we focused our terrible reporting on Nick Zinner. We’d be remiss not to mention that the lead guitarist and YYY sound-architect is the sweetest human being ever. The last time we saw him was walking out of a sushi restaurant in Williamsburg, and upon mentioning this Wednesday night, his flush of embarrassment at having been to Williamsburg at all was evident to all the semi-attractive squinting toads standing around. While Mr. Zinnner remembered the night in question, he nonetheless sternly remarked, “I don’t go to Williamsburg.” Mr. Zinner is all types of cool and so fucking adorable and a strict vegetarian who really, really, really doesn’t like Williamsburg or talking about food and seems to have lost his smile in a Town Car, but never called the driver to go back and claim it.

The host of the evening was Michaelangelo L’Acqua, a terribly charming three-piece gentleman who is the W Hotels Global Music Director. “People like Janaelle Monae get it. Das Racist doesn’t,” he informed The Observer. (Having worked with scores of musicians for various projects, Mr. L’Acqua is well-learned on the subject of musicians who behave like jerks at the slightest curtain flap of fame.) I asked if he had heard that a previous W Hotels ROCKED performer, Theophilus London, almost drowned at Miami Art Basel last week? “No. But he’ll be here later tonight if you want to ask him about it.” (Which he was, but The Observer declined to pursue this line of questioning for fear of the musician’s height and the assumed sadness behind his dark and stylish sunglasses).

As Mr. L’Acqua rose and stood handsomely to leave we went to harass non-jerk Albert Hammond Jr. and his glowering lighthouse of a girlfriend at the DJ booth. We wondered why Mr. Hammond Jr. has never played at New York’s Petty Fest (an annual concert featuring dozens of famous actors and local musicians covering Tom Petty songs for one glorious night in October) despite being close friends and sometimes band mates with almost everyone who plays it. “I know, I know,” he sighed before changing the song to something knowing yet recognizable on his iTunes playlist.

The Observer turned our attention to the actor Stephen Baldwin, seen talking without the aid of his hands to a friend of ours. Nonetheless we approached with caution because we’ve never seen a wolverine in the wild and, well, The Observer has heard its share of stories. Yet despite Mr. Baldwin’s unforgivable sartorial misstep of wearing a black undershirt under a blue button down he proved to be a sporting partygoer, telling tales of shitty concerts he’s seen with aplomb. We showed him our notebook to prove our credentials, only for him to find it littered with such hard hitting questions for the other VIPs in attendance as “Challenge Chace Crawford to arm wrestle” and “Ask Penn Badgley if he remembered when the CW was called the WB and also if he too wants to arm wrestle?”

The reception portion of the evening ended with a spill and a photo alongside Mick Rock’s fetching daughter, Nathalie Rock after which we proceeded to a tented side lot to watch the Phantogram performance. The attractive musicians only cemented our fandom, and we’re happy to report that no one drowned in anything other than a sea of free scotch and poorly designed business cards. Then again, we hear Mick Rock almost drowned in a pool of scarves.

Well, Santa Claus came early this year. In what may be the biggest Stephen Baldwin news since his appearence in Slap Shot 2: Breaking The Ice, the brother of truly famous Alec is taking other more-famous person Kevin Costner to court over a oil cleanup machine they both invested in, The Telegraph reports.

The suit is asking Costner for $3.3 million to make up for the presumed value of the shares Baldwin sold for just $500,000 before BP purchased the equiptment for the oil spill relief. That deal made $38 million in profit, and Stephen Baldwin belives he is owed a larger cut.

This bromance between the two middle-aged silver screen figures, once partners in this investment, seems to have profoundly soured. But who would have thought that Stephen Baldwin could prove so thoughtless when it came to science and technology? He did, after all, star in Bio-Dome.

Click for What Twitter Taught Us: A Social Network Cannot Kill Morgan Freeman

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Tonight, Will Ferrell is expected to be in attendance to watch the Blake-Djokovic match. Giants QB Eli Manning will be here, as will a Baldwin! (Stephen). And amazingly, somehow, former Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas who oversaw the bleakest days in franchise history is going to be here tonight. Can't wait for the reaction from the crowd if they put him on the Jumbotron.

Last night, the Post caught Chelsea Clinton and her new hubby, Marc Mezvinsky, kissing. Here's a photo gallery.

Page Six Magazine caught up with Candis Cayne, who co-stars with the dreamiest Baldwin, Billy, on ABC's Dirty Sexy Money. Besides complimenting the penultimate Baldwin on his kissing skills, the transsexual actress says that Billy's wife Chynna Phillips, "is a very lucky woman. Billy is a great guy inside and out. He always makes me feel comfortable during our love scenes. It's not always easy being sexy with 10 crewmen standing around. I'm very honored to be working with such a professional—he's taught me a lot and become one of my very best friends." Jealous!

Next up is token conservative Stephen. Recently, Stephen has been making headlines on Long Island and beyond with his pro-Michael Lohan, anti-Barack Obama stance. Today, the brave people at Newsday have provided us with some video of a taping of his new radio show, which was broadcasting out of a Glen Cove, L.I., bookstore. Introducing the project as an "edgy, relevant Christian talk radio show," Stephen updates listeners on his film career (in addition to working with Ben Stiller on a movie, his production company is developing three television series) and explains why he thinks Barack Obama is a "cultural terrorist": "He's the only senator to vote against the Born Alive Act. If you line a hundred women up and you never touch them--conservatively, 80 new people will be on the planet. That's why abortion is wrong, in my opinion." We don't really follow his logic here, but inscrutability is definitely part of Stephen's charm.

Last, of course, is Alec, who appeared alongside Sarah Palin on this weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live. In a Huffington Post blog update, Alec asks, "What did some of you people actually think would happen with Palin on SNL?" It seems that some people have "decried" the show's decision to feature the Vice Presidential nominee, which he thinks is silly. He writes:

The post also includes a story about how, in 1998, Alec took the high road when he met "political opposite" Henry Kissinger, offering the former Secretary of State his condolences over the loss of his mother (rather than punch him in the face or something, we guess).

All of this information makes us hunger for updates on Daniel, who has kept a low profile after his abrupt departure from VH1's Celebrity Rehab (rumors say he was asked to leave after he sent housemate Mary Carey "inappropriate" text messages). Daniel, if you're out there, you know where to find us!

Watch the clip to see Mr. Baldwin's rant against Hollywood's support of the Democratic candidate and the reasons why he's backing John McCain.

When I called to book a table, I was told I was very lucky because they had just received a cancellation. The place was hot! But any sense of triumph at having made it past the velvet rope vanished with each step I took down to a small, stark room where the ceilings were low and the acoustics terrible. A boisterous party was under way along the banquette, which was filled with gorgeous creatures in henna tattoos and spaghetti strap dresses, all of whom were shouting. I would never have come back had it not been for the food. Maybe the basement is where people want to be. But I don't think the notion of split-level dining works in a place like this. People come here to see other people, and the bar–which not only has two-story ceilings, sofas and palm trees but people to boot–is upstairs.

As I discovered on my subsequent visit, the main-floor dining room offers an altogether different experience and to my mind a much more pleasant one than the rumpus room below. The restaurant wasn't particularly crowded on this occasion, although there were quite a few people hanging out at the bar where you can get caperberry martinis. Further back is the dining room proper, which is elegant and softly lit, decorated with a huge round mirror and impressive paintings in a vaguely Cubist style that our waitresses told us were by a 13-year-old prodigy, Alexandra Niechita. The tables have polished copper tops and are set with white cloths, votive candles and small vases of flowers; the name "Alaia" (after Stephen Baldwin's 7-year-old daughter) is beamed discreetly on a far wall. Even though the space is large, it seems intimate.

Alaia's premises have something of a jinxed past. For a while, they were another very trendy restaurant, the Markham, and then Mirezi, which was decorated with miniature TV sets showing Japanese cartoons, one of which still lurks in the wall downstairs. The entrance still has Mirezi's beautiful floor made of black pebbles.

The Baldwin brothers clearly want to create a restaurant that's not just about a trendy bar scene but focuses on the cooking, too. I liked chef Matthew Scully's Mediterranean-inspired cuisine when he was at Scully on Spring. He has brought some of his dishes to Alaia, along with his imaginative pizzas that include toppings of lamb sausage and grilled vegetables or bresaola, fontina cheese and plum tomatoes.

When you sit down, you are brought a basket of crusty country bread served with romesco sauce, made with peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, toasted almonds and hazelnuts, and a bowl of juicy, fat olives. If you ask for fizzy mineral water, it appears in a blue seltzer bottle with a silver label–and a nozzle for spritzing that immediately triggers childhood memories, particularly for those who were raised in New York City. Of course, in those days seltzer went for six bucks a case, not for a bottle.

We were off to a good start with tender pieces of char-grilled octopus served on frisée lettuce with gigante beans (those large, creamy Italian white beans), sun-dried tomatoes in a vinaigrette made with charmoula, a Moroccan sauce made with cilantro and spices. The crab cakes are also given a Moroccan accent in their spicing, and were served with shaved fennel and spiced orange aïoli. I found them strangely fishy-tasting.

But I loved the braised duck and walnut rolls, served with a rich, sweet and spicy apricot dipping sauce. The now ubiquitous tuna tartare, a dish I never tire of when it's done right, was also good, cut in chunks and served with a cucumber salad and sesame flatbread, giving it a nice contrast of texture. Carpaccio of beef was excellent, with crisp baby artichokes, arugula and a white truffle vinaigrette–how can you go wrong with this combination of ingredients?

There was a satisfying homespun quality to Mr. Scully's roasted cod, a snowy chunk garnished with green olives and capers and served with mashed potatoes. The grilled chicken was juicy and came with hot, crisp straw potatoes. Baked Chilean sea bass with preserved lemons was a better dish than the wild striped bass. The latter was disappointingly mushy, as if the person cooking it had gone off to answer the telephone and come back one minute too late.

Tuna in a lemon crust with glazed eggplant, coconut basmati rice and lobster curry sauce was a signature at Scully on Spring, where I found its Caribbean flavors a bit muddling. This time, I liked it better; the combination seemed more subtle. Slow-roasted duck was very tender and not at all fatty, with spinach and a blood orange sauce. The ravioli with smoked salmon, ricotta and morels was also delicious, as was a side dish of sautéed fiddlehead ferns.

Desserts were pleasant without being particularly memorable. I liked the chocolate cake with vanilla latte sauce, although the presentation was a little odd; it looked at first glance as though it were covered with stubbed-out cigarettes, but it was just decoration. I wasn't wild about the rather sweet banana "bombe" with white coffee mousse and hazelnut praline. The best choice was the creamy strawberry mascarpone tart.

Alaia may have pizza on the menu for around 10 bucks, but with main courses in the $19-to-$25 range, the food here is not exactly a steal. Whether next month it will have turned into a Turkish restaurant or a place for ribs is hard to tell. But I hope Alaia makes it, for it's a great looking place and I like the food, too.

Alaia

* 1/2

59 Fifth Avenue, between 12th and 13th streets

242-9710

Dress: Henna tattoos, spaghetti strap dresses, black shirts

Noise level: Fine upstairs, extremely noisy downstairs

Wine list: Reasonable

Credit cards: All major

Price range: Dinner main courses $19 to $25

Dinner: Daily 5 P.M. to midnight

Late-night menu: Thursday to Saturday midnight to 2 A.M.

* Good

* * Very Good

* * * Excellent

* * * * Outstanding

No Star: Poor