By Neville Galvin 11/15/12 5:25pm

Baby Don't Be Cruel

Kimberly Guilfoyle and Deborah Norvillee.

Annual Gala in Support of the Oldest Children’s Charity

“It’s the charity with longest, most difficult name to say” host Deborah Norville justified as she failed to get the name right at the first, second and third time of asking. The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children hosted its annual gala in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza on Tuesday testing all invitees’ verbal dexterity and generosity. “But it also does the most difficult work.” Good save Ms. Norville.

Founded in 1875, a time when there laws protecting animals but not children from cruelty, the NYSPCC is the oldest children’s charity in the world. It is perhaps surprising that this was honorees John and Margo Catsimatidis first appearance at the gala as they are prolific benefactors of children’s charities across New York. Sitting with them at a well positioned table from which they rarely left, we asked how they got involved.

“We have always been supporters of children’s charities and when we saw the great work that this charity was doing and we wanted to be a part of it.”

Why children’s charities we asked?

“They are our future and need to be nurtured.” Margo was, near verbatim, repeating the brief speech she made earlier in the evening. Read More

By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay and Charlotte Lytton 10/19/12 4:38pm

Shindigger

Swizz Beatz and DMC. (Shaun Mader/Patrick McMullan)

Money in the Bank: Rap Overruns The Plaza for Children’s Rights

We were exhausted—it was our third night in a row at The Plaza, and, quite frankly, we were becoming a little too familiar with the hotel’s ornate ballrooms at fund-raiser after frilly fund-raiser. The Observer loves schmoozing, but of late our calendar has left us rather harried—perhaps even unappreciative. As we arrived at the bedazzled edifice for the seventh annual Children’s Rights Benefit this past Wednesday, we quickly took notice of rapper Nick Cannon, slipping coolly out of a large black SUV with an entourage and bodyguards. At last, something seemed fresh, and unpredictable. While hip-hop stars and R&B producers are certainly no strangers to this old-school bastion of New York excess, it’s always exciting to see a touch of, er, young blood among traditional notions of prestige and privilege. With producer Kasseem David Dean a k a “Swizz Beatz” up for top honors that night, we anticipated that the hotel would be getting a much-needed dose of swagger.  Read More

By Kim Velsey 8/14/12 10:15am

Manhattan Transfers

Not a lot of visual noise going on here.

Pump Up the Volume! Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal Buys Pad At the Plaza

Greenwich can be lovely: it’s quiet. The houses are huge. The lawns come in lush expanses rather than pots or postage stamps. But it’s too quiet for some, or at least Dinesh Paliwal wanted a richer soundscape than what the tony suburb had to offer.

Mr. Paliwal, the president and CEO of audio systems giant Harman International, has purchased a two-bedroom, 2.5-bath apartment at the Plaza, according to city records. He and wife Ila are either picking up a new pied-a-terre or getting the hell out of the suburbs altogether. Read More

By Kim Velsey 7/26/12 7:38pm

Manhattan Transfers

5 Photos

Alain Levy Sells Plaza Spread

Former EMI Chief Drops Plaza Pad Like A Moribund Music Format

Former EMI chairman and CEO Alain Levy was apparently eager to make his 18th floor condo at the Plaza a thing of the past. He sold the one-bedroom for almost the same amount he paid for it back in 2008—handing it off for a mere $6.3 million, according to city records.

It was, apparently, time to move on. And Mr. Levy, no stranger to the winds of change, did not cling to his one-bedroom, 1.5-bath condo with its original marble mosaic patterned floors. That would be like clutching a case of CDs—or worse yet, cassette tapes—to one’s chest and pretending that the future was not here. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/15/12 6:17pm

Stratospheric Sales

4 Photos

Wynn Wins at the Ritz

Steve Wynn Gambles on Ritz-Carlton Penthouse, Wins for $70 M.

It looks like casino king Steve Wynn‘s unlucky streak with New York real estate has finally come to an end. After selling his pad at the Plaza a few years back, Mr. Wynn has reportedly scooped up a penthouse at another famed New York hotel, the Ritz-Carlton.

According to the Post, Mr. Wynn has put in a winning $70 million bid for Millenium Partners’ founding partner Christopher M. Jeffries’ $77.5 million pad. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 2/24/12 12:51pm

Plaza-tudes

5 Photos

Behold, the master retreat!

Plaza Penthouse Triplex Ends Its Years of Agony

The fraught penthouse which crowns the Plaza Hotel may soon have a new resident, having found a buyer after years of ups and downs befitting a children’s novel. In 2008, Russian oligarch Andrei Vavilov agreed to buy the triplex for $39 million and another duplex, but the deal fell through supposedly because his actress wife wanted a still larger abode. Mr. Vavilov then sued the Plaza for fraud, claiming the developers had altered the dimensions of the property on floor plans. Naturally, the Plaza countered with a defamation suit.

When the dust settled, Mr. Vavilov agreed to buy the smaller duplex, but not the triplex, which was put back on the market last April with a $37.5 million asking price. The most recent asking price was $33 million, but it remains to be seen what the buyer ultimately paid. Read More