Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cheers! Lindsay Lohan goes bar-hopping in NYC

Lindsay Lohan didn't waste any time hitting up bars with pal Samantha Swetra though she's supposedly on a sobriety kick as of late.

Devaney/WireImage

Lindsay Lohan didn't waste any time hitting up bars with pal Samantha Swetra though she's supposedly on a sobriety kick as of late.

Lindsay Lohan is back in the city. A source tells us the troubled doll landed in NYC Tuesday and checked into a Times Square hotel instead of going to her family's Long Island home. Later that night, she was seen bar-hopping with good pal Samantha Swetra, who, as we reported, got into it last week with actress Paz de la Huerta. Lohan and Swetra stopped at Rose Bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel before continuing to The Cabin Down Below in the East Village, an ultra-exclusive bar disguised as a dive. (Mom Dina says LiLo is working on sobriety here, so the bars must be just a test)

Judgment(al) day

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel has revised his recent decision about former Bloomberg campaign adviser John Haggerty. In a March 14 ruling requiring Haggerty to stand trial on charges he stole $1.1 million from Hizzoner's 2009 campaign,

Zweibel raised eyebrows when he bluntly wrote that "the evidence of guilt, whether admissible in trial or not, is overwhelming." The line was shortened in a number of press reports to "the evidence of guilt ... is overwhelming," which read like a pretty decisive stance in advance of a trial.

Perhaps Zweibel regretted his initial exuberance, because, while reporting our story on Haggerty in Wednesday's column, we learned that the judge has since issued an amended decision, which softens his original assertion. The line, which we've truncated to spare you a lot of legalese, now reads: "the evidence of guilt ... is certainly legally sufficient, if not overwhelming, based upon this Court's review of the Grand Jury presentation."

A rose by any other name ...

Jayson Blair: Disgraced reporter or MTV heartthrob? Both, it turns out! An actor on "The Hard Times of RJ Berger" shares his creatively spelled name with the journalist whose plagiarized and fabricated articles caused a scandal for the Gray Lady in 2003. After resigning, that Jayson Blair recast himself as a "life coach"; this one plays a character he describes as "the a?hole jock everyone loves to hate."

The handsome actor, who's now shooting an unnamed pilot with "Traffic" director Stephen Gaghan, admits he's got a bit of a Google problem, but tells us, "I never really considered using a different name."

Janet's star may be waning

Do Janet Jackson's fans like her better when she's "Nasty"? A source tells us the singer's March 19 book-signing for her self-help volume, "True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself," at the Fifth Ave. Barnes & Noble wasn't exactly mobbed. According to the insider, after Simon & Schuster's Gallery imprint shelled out $30,000 for a stylist to primp Jackson for the signing, she autographed only 200 copies. We initially heard that even fewer sold, but a spokeswoman for the book insisted our story was "false." She wrote that 475 copies of "True You" were sold and Jackson presigned another 200 for the store, making the event "a huge success."

Sweet spots stay secret

Maira Kalman learned the hard way that state secrets are serious ? even when sweet. At a party honoring the artist and writer (whose work is displayed at the Jewish Museum), Kalman told guests that for her book "And the Pursuit of Happiness," she visited the White House kitchen and asked for their lemon layer cake recipe. The chef seemed agreeable, but when Kalman followed up from home, she was rebuffed by an underling. "They couldn't divulge it!" Kalman said. The event was dedicated to Learning Leaders, a public-school program in which Kalman and co-host Bob Morris volunteer. The event led Kalman to bond with "Fear of Flying" novelist Erica Jong about attending what's now known as LaGuardia Arts high school (once the "Fame" school). "I was a painter in those days," Jong explained.

Contact Gatecrasher:
Frank DiGiacomo:
fdigiacomo@nydailynews.com
Carson Griffith: cgriffith@nydailynews.com
Molly Fischer: mfischer@nydailynews.com

Ashlee Simpson Erica Leerhsen Hilary Swank Melissa Sagemiller Arielle Kebbel

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