But what will Eloise think?! The iconic Plaza Hotel appears to be for sale again. Eight years after El Ad Properties bought the Central Park anchor for $675 million, reports are swirling that they are about to unload it in an exclusive sale to the Indian Sahara Group conglomerate for a cool $600 million. Sahara will reportedly be paying $400 million for the hotel part of the building and another $200 million for the increasingly successful retail section below. more ›

Yesterday, Manhattan prosecutors accused a Canadian businessman of raping a Brooklyn bartender at the Plaza Hotel in 2010. And the businessman happens to be part of a "member of the traveling entourage of a Saudi prince." more ›

Finally, some good news for the Plaza Hotel. Princess's valuables may not be safe there, and the last Oak Room guests might have been too vulgar but at least the condo/hotel has a good thing going underground. Though people apparently weren't interested in buying pricy baubles in the Plaza's underground concourse it seems they love buying pricy food there. So not only is the Plaza Food Hall by Todd English getting an expansion (and new name) today—next year 17 more food options ranging from Sant Ambroeus desserts to Luke's Lobster rolls to No. 7 Subs will be turning the space into a giant upscale food court. more ›

When the Oak Room and Bar reopened in 2008 it was supposed to herald a new era of sophistication for the Plaza Hotel. But the hotel is suing the tenants, the Gindi brothers, claiming that the restaurant has become a sleazy den for drugs and loud music. Well, they did invite Lady Gaga. more ›

According to the Post, this is the biggest condominium sale ever: Russian composer Igor Krutoy bought a 6,000-square foot apartment at the Plaza Hotel for $48 million ($3,000 per square foot!). And, "While it has sweeping views of Central Park, it is not even a full-floor unit." Egads! more ›

Fresh off his divorce from ex-wife Camille Grammer, 56-year-old actor Kelsey Grammer wed 29-year-old flight attendant Kayte Walsh on the stage of the Longacre Theatre last night, where Grammer just finished up his run in "La Cage Aux Folles." The couple then arrived at the Plaza Hotel for their reception. Camille Grammer also wished the two well: "We spent many great years together and we've been through a lot. But at the end of the day, he's made his decision and I'll be fine." more ›

A fire broke out earlier this morning on the roof of the Plaza Hotel. It appears that the blaze has already been put out and firemen are now checking for any damage. When we called the hotel to find out more we were disconnected. Charlie, was this your doing? more ›

Today Charlie Sheen is probably planning tomorrow's turkey sandwich, but soon the NYPD's interrogation light may be killing his tryptophan buzz. According to the NY Post, cops want to interview the actor (along with his ex-wife Denise Richards) regarding that rowdy night at the Plaza Hotel last month. Since Capri Anderson filed a criminal-harassment complaint against Sheen on Monday, and there are plenty of lawsuits being brought to the table, everyone is suspect. Meanwhile, sources say Sheen "thinks he's the guy who isn't going to OD. Either he will OD one day or someone else is going to get hurt because he gets so volatile." more ›

Charlie Sheen's ex-wife Denise Richards is being drawn into the actor's latest real-life drama. According to TMZ, the NYPD wants to interview her about the events leading up to the incident at The Plaza Hotel involving Sheen and Capri Anderson. The site notes that she was with the duo hours before the incident occurred, and was staying across the hall from Sheen's suite, where it occurred; they report she "went inside [the room] after the incident... and saw what could be evidence in the investigation." Richards is expected to fully cooperate. more ›

Capri Anderson has been making the press rounds portraying herself as the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold that's been done wrong by the womanizing actor Charlie Sheen, and now what started in a suite at the Plaza a month ago is ending in a few lawsuits. Yesterday news broke that Anderson planned to sue Sheen, and was talking to the NYPD about pressing charges—but Sheen's lawyer said she has "no credibility. This woman never made any of these complaints when she was in front of the NYPD or the Plaza security." He also called her claims a "pack of lies." more ›

She certainly did not waste any time! According to TMZ, Capri Anderson is currently talking to the NYPD at her lawyer's office about pressing charges against Charlie Sheen. Along with the charges in New York, Anderson is allegedly filing a civil suit in Los Angeles and seeking monetary damages from Sheen, presumably for emotional and physical distress and the damage she claims was done to her purse on that fateful night in the Plaza Hotel. But Charlie Sheen has a different idea of how things went that night, and reportedly plans to countersue Anderson for "civil extortion." more ›

In interviews with ABC's "Good Morning America" and "Nightline," escort Capri Anderson (née Christina Walsh) announced that she will be filing a criminal complaint with the NYPD against actor Charlie Sheen and "suing Mr. Sheen in civil court" for assault, false imprisonment and battery for choking her and locking her in his bathroom early on October 26th. To recap, Sheen was found naked and doing coke in the bathroom of the restaurant he and Anderson went to, and after dinner the two returned to his room at the Plaza Hotel. Sheen then did more coke, accused Anderson of stealing his wallet and watch, and was found "frothing" and naked with Anderson locked in the bathroom. Here's how Anderson says things went down: more ›

It's not like anyone thought the naked girl locked in Charlie Sheen's hotel suite at the Plaza was, you know, not a porn star, but now it's been confirmed. The woman who escorted the actor that evening was Capri Anderson: 22-year-old hardcore adult entertainment actress. Sheen met her earlier that night at a bar inside the Plaza, before bringing her back to the Eloise suite where he was staying in (his children and ex-wife Denise Richards not far away). more ›

There really is no good way to spin this Charlie Sheen story if you are Charlie Sheen. In the end, the facts are that he had been partying, doing coke, and had a naked escort locked in the closet of THE ELOISE SUITE in the Plaza Hotel. (Hopefully someone has burned some sage to cleanse that place.) To top it off, his own kids, and the mother of his children, were down the hall during all of this. Now police sources have told the Daily News that he "was getting in everyone's face, frothing, paranoid, acting like a true [jerk]." Plus, he broke an Eloise suite chandelier, spattering blood all over the zebra carpet... innocence lost. more ›

The naked woman found locked inside of Charlie Sheen's Plaza Hotel suite's closet (it was the Eloise suite, btw!) was, unsurprisingly, an escort. She called the police a little before 2 a.m. when the actor (who was also naked) began to lash out and trashed the place. He voluntarily admitted himself to a hospital with ex-wife Denise Richards by his side; the two were sharing a vacation in New York with their children, who were also in the hotel (but in a different room) at the time. more ›

New York's Finest were called to The Plaza Hotel around 2 a.m. today, according to the NY Post, to find a drunk and naked Charlie Sheen amidst his trashed hotel suite. His ex-wife, Denise Richards, had been staying in a separate room at the hotel with their two daughters, and accompanied him to a hospital. According to TMZ, Sheen was "emotionally disturbed" and voluntarily went. more ›

The Plaza hotel, in all its French Renaissance château-style glory, opened in 1907, and since then has become a National Historic Landmark. The Beatles stayed there, Truman Capote hosted his Black & White Ball in its Grand Ballroom... so of course the next logical move is to get Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino on board as some sort of face for the iconic building. more ›

It's beginning to look like the glitzy, upscale Plaza Hotel may go the way of Tavern on the Green. After a century in the business, the landmark hotel and playground to Eloise is losing its cache, and its profits too. Where the Plaza's gilded halls are concerned, do New Yorkers want in with the new, out with the gold? more ›

Frank Bruni at the Times really wants to love the newly renovated Oak Room (photos), but the food is so erratic that dining there amounts to a very costly coin toss. His review is nothing like Steve Cuozzo's recent excoriation, but in this economy, it's not what the Oak Room needed: "It has been meticulously and gorgeously restored. An acclaimed French-born chef was recruited to supervise the kitchen. And those developments combined, on the best of the nights when I dined there, to produce a lovely experience of a rarefied sort. more ›

Writing for the Post, Andrea Strong feasts at Broadway East (pictured), the chic new Lower East Side organic restaurant with the dainty carbon footprint: The restaurant composts, filters and carbonates its own water, uses a green linen company, and donates waste cooking oil to the Environmental Energy Recycling Corp. Oh, and the food? Strong calls it “a brilliant compromise” between carnivores and vegetarians, “showcasing veggies along with organic meat and sustainably harvested and locally procured seafood.” more ›

At the beginning of March, the Plaza Hotel welcomed the public back after a three-year, $400 million makeover, which transformed part of the 1907 landmark building into private condominiums – where the super-rich tenants are complaining about how lonely and desolate their lives are. (Seriously.) And now reviews are trickling in for the famed Palm Court (pictured) and the new Champagne Bar, both under the auspices of chef Didier Viro. more ›

It's another story of emotional duress from a resident of the super expensive Plaza Hotel residences! This time, it's not about being lonely, it's about a resident being stuck in the trash room for seven hours. more ›

The NY Times' Styles section describes the lonely existence of new residents of the Plaza Hotel condos. Why lonely? Well, if you can afford the pricey digs ($6,400 per square foot!; an owner interviewed paid $5.8 million for a two bedroom), your neighbors are also rich people who probably have other residences and don't live there very often. more ›

Andrea Schwartz, the Brazilian ex-pat who settled in Manhattan and became a madam with powerful clients, is back in the news. And she's as saucy as ever, this time denying that she's a lesbian. Tell us more! more ›

Arthur Emil, the man behind the late Windows on the World and The Rainbow Room, has won the coveted contract to operate the famous Oak Room and Oak Bar (pictured) in the Plaza Hotel, which is near the end of a three-year, $400 million makeover. The 18 story landmark building opened in 1907 and operated as a hotel until 2005, after being sold for $675 million. After delays blamed on “red tape”, the Plaza is expected to open by the end of March as an upscale condominium with retail space and a smaller hotel. more ›

As noted earlier today, a number of consumer activists, sweatshop protesters and anti-capitalist agitators have for years been working to turn Black Friday into Buy Nothing Day. Spearheaded by the anti-advertising gadflies at Adbusters, the event calls on individuals to suspend purchases for 24 hours and engage in creative activism to highlight the unsustainable patterns of mass consumer culture. Naturally, New York’s anti-corporate performance icon Reverend Billy is all over this. We spoke with... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Sutter Ave. in Brooklyn, a water rescue off the Breezy Point Jetty in Queens, and a missing child on East 178th St. in the Bronx.
• Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is upset that Coney Island native and Knicks star Stephon Marbury donated 3,000 pairs of his new Starbury basketball shoes to male high school basketball teams, while ignoring the female players.
• The Brooklyn Paper reports that the Lincoln Plaza Hotel, which was advertised as a bed and breakfast but in reality was a by-the-hour brothel, is being renovated into luxury condos. Well-heeled eventual residents should not be expecting a welcome wagon, because neighbors are complaining they'd rather have a whorehouse on their street than rich condo-owners.
• Leona Helmsley moved into her final residence today: a 1,300 square foot space that featues stained glass windows with skyline views and 12 granite columns. The mausoleum is located in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Westchester.
• The Dept. of Health reported that of the 800,000 smoking New Yorkers who tried to quit the habit in the last year, only 17% were successful. Quitting aids like nicotine gum and patches will be distributed at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal Tuesdays through Thursdays from 3pm to 6pm for the next five weeks.
• The Gowanus Lounge has an update on the state of negotiations between vendors at the Red Hook ballfields and the Dept. of Health.
• SPIN has a page of photos and video of this summer's McCarren Park Pool Party concert.
• The manufacturers of Krasdale Gravy dry dog food are saying that some of their 5 lb. bags of dog food may be contaminated with salmonella. They are instructing to toss the food out and bring the bags back to the point of purchase for a refund. The tainted food was sold in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania and the packaging has the UPC code 7513062596.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A large fight at Heritage High School in Manhattan, a trench rescue in Queens, and a suspicious substance at Canal & 6th Avenue
• Aw, Hakan Yalincak, the NYU student who conned people out of millions, filed an ethics complaint against his lawyer; his lawyer's lawyer told Yalincak (who faces prison time), "You are the ultimate evil person. Have a good time in jail. Watch out for the bathrooms."
• Peter Rivera, assemblyman from the Bronx, wants to make "An Inconvenient Truth" required viewing for k-12 students, but there are many questions from the Empire Zone, like will kindergarteners understand and does this mean kids will have to see it every year for 13 years?
• Christopher Street at night is a "hell hole," according to Curbed readers hashing out what to do when youths hang out in and around the building
• Awesome: The NY Post Photoshops McGreevey into a priest's outfit as news that the former NJ governor may be headed to a seminary catches on
• State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver censured a Republican assemblyman from Buffalo after it turned out the married-with-two-kids Michael Cole spent the night in an intern's bedroom; Cole says he slept on her floor because he walked her home from a sports bar and felt too drunk to drive home
• Chinese authorities have arrested the head of a company that added melamine to wheat gluten that eventually ended up in pet food
• Spider-Man sold out? Go see Barbara Stanwyck at BAM!
• Staten Island police say that a man exposed himself to a woman in Silver Lake Park earlier this week, but the suspect, Russell Farriola, who happens to be the "number one graffiti vandal" on SI denies it

THEATER: Obie Award winner Adam Rapp has just unwrapped (sorry) his new play Essential Self-Defense at Playwrights Horizons. Set in a mean Midwestern town called Bloggs, the play has, fittingly, been generating big blog buzz. The “grim fairy tale” revolves around a disgruntled misfit “who takes a job as an attack dummy in a women’s self-defense class and finds himself mysteriously drawn to the repressed bookworm who’s beating on him. But all’s not well in Bloggs: with local children vanishing at an alarming rate, our hero, his lady friend, and a motley assortment of poets, butchers, and punk librarians prepare to battle the darkness on the edge of town.” With rock n’ roll karaoke! - John Del Signore more ›

In an effort to keep the United Nations in NYC, Mayor Bloomberg may revive an old plan to create more office space that could benefit both the U.N. and other city developers. The NY Sun reports that the plan would involve building "swing space" for the U.N. during the renovation of the Secretariat building. One possible place for the swing space: Long Island City. Picture it, ferries of U.N. employees across the East River! more ›