Secret’s out

Jennifer Gould Keil

GIMME SHELTER

Want to live like a Victoria’s Secret supermodel? It’s not as expensive as you might think.

Runway-strutting Angel Lindsay Ellingson, who’s also modeled for Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana, has put her one-bedroom co-op on the market for $589,000. The 650-square-foot unit is in Gramercy Park Towers at 205 Third Ave. and comes with a renovated chef’s kitchen and ample storage, perhaps for the Victoria’s Secret perfumes and bras that Ellingson is the face of.

The full-service building has a landscaped roof deck, garden and gym. Listing brokers Eyal Amir and Rachel Alexander (a former model herself), of the new brokerage firm I & I Real Estate, declined to comment.

Getty Images for SWAROVSKI ELEME

Victoria's Secret Angel Lindsay Ellingson

The Aldyn residences

Ellingson — who studied biology at UC San Diego before she was discovered on the street — has, we hear, bought an 1,100-plus-square-foot duplex loft on West 19th Street for $1.67 million.

Saget full house

Lara Saget, the artist daughter of actor-comedian Bob Saget, is hosting an art installation today to celebrate the Chinese New Year at the Aldyn condo development on Riverside Boulevard (pictured). Saget will display her work — along with art by her friend Jing Chen, a Corcoran Group broker who has sold multiple units in the building to Chinese buyers — in a $13.9 million, 17th-floor corner duplex designed by Roman and Williams. The 6,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, 7 1/2-bathroom home, which comes with a terrace, features double-height ceilings and dramatic Hudson River views.

The Aldyn, which includes 40,000 square feet of amenities like an indoor pool, basketball/squash court, climbing wall and bowling alley, is where Knicks guard Jason Kidd paid more than $4 million for a four-bedroom.

Zoom with a view

Celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz, who’s worked with Kim Kardashian, Kirsten Dunst and Nicki Minaj, his put his stylish condo on West 24th Street up for rent at $8,900 a month. “I’m moving to horse country in New Jersey. I’ll be on 4 acres in a four-bedroom home with lots of space to possibly give my dog, Oliver, a sibling,” Ruiz says.

The 1,127-square-foot two-bedroom unit he wants to rent out in the Chelsea Stratus features lots of B&B Italia furniture — including a suspended wall unit that hides the TV. The building features an indoor basketball court and a lounge. Brokers Ralph Modica and Vickey Barron of Core have the listing.

DeLooking

Celebrity chef-restaurateur John DeLucie, of the Lion, Crown and the new Bill’s in the old Bill’s Gay Nineties space, is on the prowl for a new home.

He recently checked out a four-story townhouse at 115 E. 35th St., which Nest Seekers International broker Ryan Serhant had on the market for $3.99 million before another buyer signed a contract for it.

While DeLucie wasn’t able to snag that 3,664-square-foot, four-bedroom townhouse, it looks like he got some TV time out of his home search. Serhant is on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York,” and there were cameras present during DeLucie’s visit — filming for an episode that’s slated to air in May during the reality show’s second season.

We hear . . .

That real estate photographer Evan Joseph is signing copies of his latest book, “New York Then And Now” at 183 E. 73rd St., a stunning $22.8 million townhouse listed by Douglas Elliman broker Corinne Pulitzer. The five-story townhouse, built in 1866 and renovated by William Lawrence Bottomley in 1922, features a garden and brick patios. Currently a multifamily home, it is in prime shape to be “easily converted” into a single-family mansion, according to the listing . . . That the broker stars of two rival reality shows, Michele Kleier and daughters Samantha
Kleier-Forbes and Sabrina Kleier-Morgenstern of HGTV’s “Selling New York” and Fredrik Eklund and Ryan Serhant of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York” were well behaved in front of one another at an Eleven Madison Park shindig to launch Douglas Elliman brokers’ Melanie Lazenby and Dina Lewis’ new project, the Whitman. Douglas Elliman’s Howard Lorber and Dottie Herman were also at the launch party for the new boutique building on East 26th Street, where full-floor condos start at $10 million and the penthouse duplex is $22.5 million. The landmarked 1924 building was originally the headquarters for a textile company, Clarence Whitman & Sons.

Read More..

Caribbean cell phone company asks South Florida relatives to buy minutes for family back home

An Irish billionaire’s telecommunications company, which has revolutionized cell phone usage in some of the world’s poorest countries, is bringing it’s latest marketing pitch to South Florida.

Digicel is tapping into South Florida’s close ties to Haiti and Jamaica in a campaign that asks families stateside to send minutes home.

Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien has staked a claim in the telecommunication industry by building his cell phone company in developing countries in the Caribbean and South America The South Florida Digicel campaign includes bus bench ads, billboards and television spots. The message is simple: “Send minutes home.”

Customers stateside can pay to send airtime minutes to family and friends’ pre-paid cell phones in the Caribbean. The concept is not new, but Digicel is seeking to broaden it’s reach.

It is a nod to South Florida’s ties to the Caribbean and the financial influence of the region’s diaspora. Families in Haiti and Jamaica rely heavily on remittances from abroad.

Haiti received $2.1 billion in remittances in 2011, which represents more than one quarter of the national income, according to the Inter-American Development Bank . In 2011, Jamaica received nearly $2 billion in remittances.

“We understand the value of the diaspora,” said Valerie Estimé, CEO of Digicel’s diaspora division. “They are our lifeline.”

Typically the company relies on ethnic media outlets like radio programs and niche publications for advertising, but there was a gap in reaching second- and third- generation Caribbean Americans, who are more plugged in to mainstream media, said Andreina Gonzalez, head of marketing in Digicel’s diaspora division.

“There was an opportunity to step up and go a little further,” Gonzalez said.

The campaign comes at a time when the company is facing some public relations backlash in Haiti and Jamaica. Customers from both islands have taken to social media to decry shoddy connections and poor customer service.

In Haiti, the problems were so acute that Digicel released an apology letter to its customers in December. When the company tried to integrate Voilà, a competitor Digicel acquired, into its network, the integration caused system failures.

“Quite simply, we did not deliver what we promised and we did not communicate effectively with customers through the problem times,” Damian Blackburn, Digicel’s Haiti CEO wrote in the apology.. “We apologize for letting our customers down and want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”

In South Florida, the marketing pitch is family-centered and draws on the diaspora’s need to stay connected. Digicel representatives say airtime minutes are as valuable as the cash remittances families send to the Caribbean.

The advertising features members of a culturally ambiguous animated family smiling and talking on cell phones.

The ads that appear in Little Haiti, North Miami and North Miami Beach are largely targeting the Haitian community. In South Broward, the focus shifts to the Jamaican population.

A similar campaign has also been launched in New York.

Prices range for $7 to $60 to add minutes to a relative’s Digicel account. Transactions can be made online or at participating stores in South Florida.

“You’re able to make a very big difference with a very small amount of your disposable income,” said Estimé. “We know how important it is to be able to get in touch with a mother, a sister or a brother.”

The company recognizes that some of its older customer base prefer the retail model, while younger and more savvy consumers would rather send pay for minutes directly from their computers or cell phones.

“It was really impressive to see Digicel online,” said Geralda Pierre, a Miami Gardens resident who sends minute to Haiti. “It’s so convenient to add minutes for my dad in Haiti who is sick. It makes it easier for me to get in touch with him.”

For now, Digicel says it will continue to mix the old and new. The Creole-language advertisements on Haitian radio and Island TV, a Creole language cable network, are here to stay.

“We are bringing first world convenience in some cases to third world countries,” Estimé said. “Digicel has in a way improved the lives of our loved ones back home.”

Follow @nadegegreen on Twitter

Read More..

Gartenfeld named to Miami MOCA curatorial post

The Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami has snared a trailblazing young New York critic and curator with a keen eye for fresh talent to fill a new curatorial job, cementing its growing prominence as a nurturer of significant artistic careers.

Alex Gartenfeld, 26, who rapidly established himself as a go-to exponent of cutting-edge art after graduating from Columbia University, will work under MOCA founding director and chief curator Bonnie Clearwater to organize exhibitions, prepare publications and oversee the museum’s public programs, which include lectures and art education for youths and adults.

The Tuesday announcement of his hiring was also hailed as confirmation of the maturation of Miami’s burgeoning art scene.

“When a rising young curator chooses Miami for his next major position, it says everything about the quality of the contemporary art world in our community, and everything about MOCA,’’said Miami art collector Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has supported the museum financially. “He is certainly right in the middle of the zeitgeist when it comes to contemporary art.’’

Gartenfeld, who will officially assume the job on May 10, has been referred to as a “wunderkind’’ by The New York Times and was included on Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list of people to watch in the arts. He is senior editor for online at Interview and Art in America magazines, whose web presence he helped launch. He also co-founded an alternative exhibition space in his Manhattan apartment called West Street Gallery that showed work by up-and-coming artists and became a must-see art world destination.

As an independent curator, Gartenfeld has helped organize 25 exhibitions around the globe, including the forthcoming Empire State with curator Sir Norman Rosenthal at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, which features site-specific work by established artists like Dan Graham and Joyce Pensato.

At MOCA, Gartenfeld will help with administrative duties and extend the museum’s reach by boosting its website and organizing traveling exhibitions from its permanent collection of about 700 works.

Clearwater said MOCA, which opened in 2006 and has a full-time staff of 18, has grown to the point where she needed a second permanent curator. She said she immediately thought of Gartenfeld, and was amazed when his name kept coming up as she solicited recommendations.

“He is the brightest of the young and the brightest,’’ Clearwater said. “He understands the history of making art, and also how to approach new work no one has written about and even the artist maybe can’t explain.”

That track record for meshing rigorous scholarship and new art from the established and the virtually unknown makes Gartenfeld a perfect match for MOCA, Clearwater and Scholl said.

“They both are looking for what’s next. Bonnie has succeeded at that for 15 years,” Scholl said. “If what he brings to MOCA is anything like the Rome show, he’s going to have a great run here.”

Read More..

Poupon’s ‘pardon,’ part deux

Grey Poupon’s famous “Pardon Me” TV commercial is returning for a moment of Oscar glory.

After a 16-year hiatus, the mustard that mocked its own stuffy image in one of TV’s most famous commercials will once again take to the airwaves during the Feb. 24 Academy Awards show.

The spot comes as Kraft Foods looks to boost sagging sales of the Dijon mustard, which is facing competition from a growing variety of high-end condiments on supermarket shelves.

The new ad begins in the same way as the original — an aristocratic English gentleman is being chauffeured in the countryside, when another car pulls up alongside them at a stop. The back window rolls down and a second man asks in an over-the-top snooty accent, “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?”

MUSTARD COLONELS


Ad homage video still.

The first man courteously responds, “But of course” and hands him a jar out the window.

In the new version, however, the scene continues with the second car speeding off without returning the mustard.

Jokes aside, there’s a seed of truth to that higher-end image; Grey Poupon customers tend to be skewed toward household incomes of $70,000 or more.

Read More..

Best photo apps for Android devices

Whether you want to slap a simple filter on your photo or get granular and change attributes like color levels and saturation, we’ve got a list of the Android apps you’ll want to use.

Snapseed

The good: With its unique gesture-based interface, this offers an incredible level of control over its effects and filters.

The bad: The tools and interface aren’t intuitive, so it could take a while to get familiarized. Also, the lack of a zoom function makes it difficult to see finer adjustments.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: If you’re a serious mobile photographer looking for an app with which to fine-tune your photos, Snapseed is your best choice.

Pixlr Express

The good: Offers more than 600 effects that all work well and are easy to use. Auto Fix and Focal Blur (tilt-shift) are particularly effective.

The bad: The app doesn’t warn you before backing out, which can result in lost work. A Recent Files picker upon launch would be nice.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: One of the most powerful Android apps in its category. Despite its minor flaws, it should be your go-to mobile photo editor.

Instagram

The good: An excellent way to turn mundane images into cool-looking photos you can share with friends. Mapping features mean people can easily browse all your geotagged shots.

The bad: Photo Map features default to showing all your geotagged shots, which could be dangerous under some circumstances.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: If you like taking retro-looking shots and sharing them, Instagram is tough to beat. Mapping features and frequent updates to the app mean your pictures will have a longer browsing life span.

Photo Grid

The good: Offers a huge menu of grid templates and a dead-simple interface for combining photos into framed collages.

The bad: The app unfortunately doesn’t let you customize the thickness of collage borders or the level of curvature on rounded panels.

The cost: Free

The bottom line: Even though it’s missing a couple of nifty customization tools other collage apps have, Photo Grid’s simple interface and outstanding menu of predesigned grids make it the best collage app on the market.

Read More..

North Miami police investigating fatal hit-and-run

Police were investigating a fatal hit-and-run in North Miami Monday night that left an elderly man dead.

The accident occurred around 7 p.m. when the victim was apparently crossing at the intersection of North Miami Avenue and Northwest 123rd Street and was struck and killed, said police spokesman Maj. Neal Cuevas.

The driver failed to stop. Police said there appeared to be no witnesses to the accident.

The body of the black male was discovered in the middle of North Miami Avenue, Cuevas said.

Police said the fleeing driver only left behind a hubcap and pieces of shattered glass.

The victim’s name has not been released awaiting notification of next of kin.

Earlier Monday, the Florida Highway Patrol sponsored a Hit-and-Run Awareness event. They revealed that last year there were 20,000 hit-and-run accidents in Miami-Dade and Broward.

Read More..

Bachelor Sean Lowe Embarks on Hometown Dates

It's time to meet the parents!

AshLee, Catherine, Lindsay and Desiree are set to embark on the coveted hometown dates this week with Sean, but for some, the Bachelor bubble is about to burst.

First up is AshLee, who Sean admits has always been a frontrunner. After flying down to Houston, Texas to spend a romantic afternoon in an idyllic meadow with the 32-year-old personal organizer and her tiny pup, Sean tackles the dreaded meet-and-greet with his date's adoptive parents. Despite AshLee's father's initial wariness of his daughter's new boyfriend, the evening goes off without a hitch and Sean is even able to charm a marriage blessing from the previously distrusting dad.

Pics: 'The Bachelor' Scorecard (Did the Relationships Sizzle or Fizzle?)

The next hometown date goes to Catherine and the twosome spend an fun, affection-filled day at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. Although the carefree afternoon had Sean sure he could spend an eternity with the bubbly 26-year-old graphic designer, a nearly disastrous dinner with Catherine's mother, grandmother and disapproving sisters cast shades of doubt on their happy future. The family seemed skeptical of Catherine's devotion for the man she met on TV, Sean leaves without permission to wed his girlfriend and words of caution from Catherine's doubtful sisters who allege she's a bit of a flake in the realm of romantic love.

Lindsay is third to receive a visit from Sean, who meets the Army brat in Fort Leonard Wood, MO for some small-town shopping before meeting the 26-year-old graphic designer's intimidating General of a father. Dad turns out to be nothing more than a big softie who wants nothing but the best for his little girl. After falling prey to Sean's Southern charm, Lindsay's father gives his blessing.

Related: 'Bachelor' Sean's Sister Brings Perspective

Lastly, Sean meets Desiree in sunny California for the final round of hometown dates and the happy couple enjoys a hike before venturing off to her cozy home for dinner. While preparing a meal for Desiree's family, who are on their way, a seemingly crazy ex-boyfriend interrupts the peace and begs for a second chance with Des. Just when Sean is ready to step in and forcefully remove the belligerent ex, it is revealed that the whole scene is a charade and, basically, payback for the prank Sean pulled on Desiree in one of their very first dates. Unfortunately, the evening is all downhill here as Desiree's brother refuses to accept Sean as an option for his sister and ruins the mood by accusing him of being a playboy with bad intentions.

When it's time for the rose ceremony, Sean admits he is torn between his least successful hometown dates, Catherine and Desiree. Sensing Sean's anguish, Desiree interrupts the service, before it even begins, apologizing in private for her brother's bad behavior. Although he assures her that her sibling's actions don't reflect badly on her, Desiree is unconvinced she will leave with a rose.

After awarding AshLee and Lindsay with a stem, Sean brings the ceremony to a halt before delivering the final flower. After lengthy reflection in private, he ultimately bids farewell to Desiree and opts to keep Catherine.

Des has a hard time letting go (literally) as she hugs Sean goodbye, telling him repeatedly that he's making a "huge mistake" that he'll regret forever.

Pics: Meet 'Bachelor' Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies!

Tomorrow, Sean will sit down with host Chris Harrison for a special episode where he reflects on the girls he's cut loose including Tierra, with whom he has a few choice words for after watching her antics from the comfort of his home.

And next week, Sean embarks on overnight dates in Thailand! The Bachelor airs Monday nights on ABC.

Read More..

Times talks: Tesla test tellingly tainted

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is still fast — but far less furious.

After his dust-up with the New York Times, the paper’s public editor, Margaret Sullivan, offered her take on the now infamous Tesla test drive and found that the reviewer came up short.

In a blog posting yesterday, Sullivan said the reporter, John Broder, didn’t always use “good judgment” and that he took “casual and imprecise notes” during his cold-weather trip in the Model S sedan.

While Sullivan rejected Musk’s claims that Broder “faked” the story and set out to sabotage the test drive, saying he acted in “good faith,” her take bolstered Musk’s argument that the review was flawed.

AP

Tesla’s Elon Musk took a victory lap after the New York Times public editor dented the paper’s testdrive report on the Model S sedan.

“A little red notebook in the front seat is no match for digitally recorded driving logs, which Mr. Musk has used, in the most damaging (and sometimes quite misleading) ways possible, as he defended his vehicle’s reputation,” she wrote.

Her conclusions were enough to mollify Musk, who tweeted, “Faith in @nytimes restored,” shortly after Sullivan’s piece came out.

In a harsh review that ran Feb. 8, Broder reported trouble keeping the electric car’s battery charged during a drive between Washington, DC, and Connecticut in the freezing cold. Broder said the car’s power was significantly diminished after a night out in the cold, resulting in an emergency tow.

Musk fiercely attacked the article and published a blog post — complete with charts and graphs using data collected during the drive — to defend the car.

Sullivan was vague about what errors she found with Broder’s judgment, mentioning only the point in the trip when Broder stopped for an emergency recharge in Norwich, Conn., after the battery power was depleted from sitting out overnight.

kwhitehouse@nypost.com

Read More..

Open English expands across Latin America

Back in 2008, Open English, a company run from Miami that uses online courses to teach English in Latin America, had just a handful of students in Venezuela and three employees. Today the company has more than 50,000 students in 22 Latin American countries and some 2,000 employees.

To fund this meteoric expansion, the founders of Open English — Venezuelans Andrés Moreno and Wilmer Sarmiento and Moreno’s American wife, Nicolette — began with $700. Over the last six years, the partners have raised more than $55 million, mostly from private investment and venture capital firms.

Their formula for success? The founders rejected traditional English teaching methods in physical classrooms and developed a system that allows students to tune into live classes every hour of the day from their computers at home, in the office or at school, and learn from native English-speaking teachers who may be based anywhere. Courses stress practical conversations online and the company guarantees fluency after a one-year course, offering six additional months free if students fail to become fluent.

“We wanted to change the way people learn English,” said Andrés Moreno, the 30-year-old co-founder and CEO, who halted his training as a mechanical engineer and worked full-time at developing the company with his partners. “And we want students to achieve fluency. Traditionally, students have to drive to an English academy, waste time in traffic, and try to learn from a teacher who is not an native English speaker in a class with 20 students.”

Using the Internet, Open English offers classes usually with two or three students and a teacher, interactive videos, other learning aids and personal attention from coaches who phone students regularly to see how they are progressing.

Courses cost an average of $750 per year and students can opt for monthly payments. This is about one-fifth to one-third of what traditional schools charge for small classes or individual instructors, Andrés noted.

“We work at building confidence with our students and encourage them to practice speaking English as much as possible during classes,” said Nicolette Moreno, co-founder and chief product officer, who met Andrés in Venezuela while she was working there on a service project. “Students are taught to actively participate in conversations like a job interview, traveling and talking on a conference call,” said Nicolette, who previously lived in Los Angles, worked with non-profits to create environmentally friendly products and fight poverty in emerging markets, and was head equity trader at an asset management firm. “Students need to speak English in our classes, even though it is sometimes difficult. They learn through immersion.”

Open English has successfully tapped into an enormous, underserved market. Millions of people in Latin America want to learn English to advance in their jobs, work at multinational companies, travel or work overseas and understand the popular music, movies and TV shows they constantly hear in English. Many of them take English courses at public and private schools and learn little if any useful conversational English. While students at private schools for the upper middle class and wealthy often learn foreign languages extremely well from native English-speaking teachers, most people can’t afford these schools or courses designed for one or two students.

Read More..

FIU turns to partnership firm for international online degrees

With its state funding shrinking — and online college classes rising in popularity — Florida International University is banking on students from abroad to boost its finances and expand its academic reach.

In that endeavor, the college is turning to Academic Partnerships, an experienced, successful (and politically connected) player in the fast-growing Internet education industry.

FIU first teamed up with the Dallas-based company in 2009 — creating an online-only Corporate MBA program in which tuition revenue is split between the two parties. Now, FIU is poised to ink another deal: Known as “FIU Global,” the proposed new contract would create an online jointly operated degree program targeting students in Latin America and, eventually, maybe China.

The university’s international reputation could rise or fall based upon the program’s success, and if it’s a significant moneymaker for FIU, it will help shore up a school budget that has been battered by years of state funding cuts.

But the involvement of Academic Partnerships is drawing scrutiny. The company’s close ties to former Gov. Jeb Bush have raised questions of political influence, and FIU signed its first contract in 2009 without notifying faculty.

“I’m very concerned with FIU Global and our relationship with Academic Partnerships,” history Associate Professor Brian Peterson told FIU President Mark Rosenberg at a recent faculty meeting. “It seems like political pressure is being put on FIU to do this thing.”

Tuition revenues

Since 2009, FIU has made more than $18 million in tuition revenues from the Corporate MBA program — in which tuition costs $37,500. Academic Partnerships collected close to $20 million, initially taking about 70 percent of tuition revenues, though FIU later renegotiated that to about 45 percent. All state universities are allowed to charge higher “market rate” tuition for some graduate degree programs, with the goal of reinvesting the extra money into the university’s budget.

The FIU Global contract is in preliminary discussions, school leaders say. The questions of what degrees it will include (and how the tuition dollars will be split) have not been negotiated.

Some faculty are asking why FIU handpicked Academic Partnerships for both contracts, as opposed to using a competitive process.

Academic Partnerships’ founder and chairman is Randy Best, a close friend of Bush’s. Bush serves on the advisory board for another of Best’s companies, Whitney University System, and in 2011, the former governor co-hosted a “Future of State Universities” conference that was sponsored by Academic Partnerships.

‘Great opportunity’

On the company website, Bush and Best appear jointly in a promotional video in which Bush speaks of the “exponential growth” of demand for online degrees, particularly abroad.

“This is a time of incredible change,” Bush says. “Great opportunity, but also great peril for universities that don’t want to change.”

Bush and Best declined to comment for this report.

Rosenberg insists the contracts are not political. For the first contract, FIU leaders said they did informally consider at least one competitor, and they argue that Academic Partnerships has done a good job with the MBA program and deserves additional work. FIU administrators say they aren’t obligated to use a competitive process, and the state does indeed exempt various education-related purchases from that requirement.

Read More..