Investors who lost their money when they entrusted it to Bernie Madoff are likely to get "pennies on the dollar, if that," according to Stuart Gerson, a lawyer with the national firm Epstein Becker & Green. Experts say that most of this year will be spent tracing Madoff's funds and accounts and that it may up to three years before victim's of his Ponzi scheme begin to received anything. Investors and creditors of Enron, which fell in 2001, were still receiving payments last year. Those with money behind that fallen corporation, possibly Madoff's only rival in financial infamy this decade, received up to 50 cents on the dollar. But while Enron owned businesses with assets that could be liquidated, Madoff's money managing firm has very little in the way of tangible items attached to it. The only person whose furor at Madoff right now might be a notch below his investors is Matt Lauer, Maddoff's neighbor in his Park Avenue building who Radar reports is being driven "bonkers" with all of the attention, yelling at photographers and is "fearful for his kids." more ›

With Citgroup in serious trouble of being taken over as stock prices continue to plummet, will Citi Field, the Mets' new stadium set to open next year, still have its name by Opening Day? Citigroup's deal with the Mets calls for the financial company to pay the team $20 million annually for the name. The Hoston Astros were still playing in Enron Field when the company went bankrupt and was mired in an enormous scandal. But with other financial giants lining up as potential Citigroup suitors, could Queens become home to Goldman Sachs Stadium? It seemed that New Yorkers' ability to pretend it was called "City Field" softened the blow of the town's first major corporate handle for a hometown team's digs. Maybe now we'll just have to pride in not being San Diego, a city saddled with the Jenny Craig Pavilion. more ›

It's the New York banking equivalent of the Enron meltdown: Bear Stearns has agreed to sell itself to JP Morgan Chase at a fire sale price. When Bear Stearns' 14,000 employees left work Friday afternoon, the bank's stock had already plunged almost 50% in value, closing at $30 a share. But today they found out something much, much, much worse: their company has been purchased for a piddling $2 a share. That's $236MM for a company that was "worth" $3.54 billion on Friday. That's a 93% discount on Friday's closing price, and a 99% discount off January 2007's price of $170/share. Given that Bear Stearns' midtown headquarters had been valued as high as $1.5 billion, the firm's liabilities must have been enormous. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap : a stabbing at Surf & Stillwell Aves. in Brooklyn, a shooting at Simonson Ave. and Richmond Terr. on Staten Island, and an unstable wall on East 94th St. in Brooklyn.
• Fox 5's Good Day New York passed a boundary and Nick Lachey's "people" cancelled an appearance with the station abruptly.
• A Park Slope doctor has been arrested for fondling and sexually abusing a 56-year-old patient after hours at his office.
• The Times looks at how much trouble marriage is––getting married at the Bronx clerk's office.
• Nerve.com flashes back to 1999, when Enron was a wonder company, Internet startups were a ticket to riches, and J.T. Leroy was an actual author.
• Chalk one up for state attorney general Andrew Cuomo; he got a health club to refund money to its members for their defunct memberships.
• FBI investigators are placing a high priority on the investigation of threats towards Goldman Sachs, despite the previous determination that it was a low security threat. Disgruntled former employees are suspected.
• Dan Patrick leaves ESPN after 18 years.

Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly. more ›

- And Real Worlder Kevin Powell (RW New York, circa 1992) isn't running for Congress anymore - don't get any ideas, Eric Nies! more ›

- Governor Pataki's office said, "After almost eight years as Shelly Silver's silent partner in Albany, Rip Van Spitzer today awoke from his slumber to talk about ethics in government. New York's top law enforcement official needs to look no further than across the convention hall and see his pal Speaker Silver for the most obvious source of concern. From Michael Boxley to Ryan Karben, Speaker Silver routinely conducts the affairs of the Assembly majority with the secrecy of the old Kremlin and the ethics of Tammany Hall. New Yorkers deserve better. Even old Rip Van Spitzer knows that."Rip Van Spitzer! Plagues! Awesome! What with Spitzer calling Ground Zero's slow development an "Enron-style debacle" and an "abject failure," this might be an exciting war of the words! And Spitzer's running mate is State Senator David Paterson of Harlem - son of Basil Paterson, former NY Secretary of State and the lawyer for the Transport Workers Union on the arbitration panel. more ›

The NY State Democratic Convention is taking place in Buffalo today and tomorrow (the NY State Republican Convention is in Long Island on Wednesday and Thursday), and the gloves are coming off as the Democrats are looking to grab the Governor's house. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic frontrunner for the gubernatorial nomination, called the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation "an abject failure". Well, of course he would say that - didn't recently resigned LMDC chairman John Whitehead claim Spitzer had threatened him on the phone? Spitzer didn't mince any words: He called what's happening downtown an "Enron-style debacle." The LMDC said that Spitzer was continuing his vendetta against Whitehead, and Governor Pataki's spokesperson also used the word "vendetta" when criticizing Spitzer's words about a World War II veteran on Memorial Day, no less. Whitehead might be a WWII veteran, but a better question would be, what got done at Ground Zero? more ›

The weeks starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. more ›

With the verdict in on the fraud and conspiracy trial of Enron's Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, one thing is for sure: They are going to be old men in prison. Lay was found guilty on all charges while Skilling was found guilty on 20 of 28 counts (conspiracy, fraud, false statements, insider trading). So, Wall Street, when it's too good to be true - it just might not be true! more ›

DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi’s tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. more ›

Earlier this week kissy couples were wading through roses and red tissue paper deeper than an east coast snow dump and singles shook a tiny, lonely fist (no ring!) at it all. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Valentine's season is in the can, finally. more ›

Andrew Boyd, Cultural Activist and Founder, Billionaires for Bush more ›

Brian Reisinger, Swandivedigital more ›