Keeping still about it all
SEINFELD: “I’m 63. I love having too much work, too many kids, too much social stuff my wife wants to do.”
Bob Roth’s new book is “Strength in Stillness.” Seinfeld calls this Transcendental Meditation “the superpower I didn’t know I had.
“New Yorkers don’t have that. Self-abuse is what they have. Socialize to death. Run to every opening of every stupid gallery.” So what’s TM like? “Like NFL guys with oxygen on.”
Hugh Jackman, also a fan: “My wife and I have been meditating for 25 years. We’re happier, healthier, we look better. I was 5-foot-4 before I meditated.”
Trump atty talks
CRATES of custom blue suit wearers, French cuffs, nice ties, all call themselves “New York’s best lawyers.” One, Jay Goldberg, rep’d Donald versus Ivana, Willie Nelson,
Mick Jagger, Armand Hammer, Bess Myerson’s Andy Capasso, Steve Wynn, Kennedys about whom there’s much juice, mafiosos such as Jimmy Blue Eyes, etc.
At La Grenouille (“I won a case for them so I don’t pay here”), he said his autobio, “The Courtroom Is My Theater,” is now being auctioned for publishers.
“1990, Donald called me. Cold. About his divorce. He said he heard I’m a killer lawyer. I said, ‘I don’t handle matrimonials.’ He said, ‘I don’t care. I like you,’ and drove himself to our Hampton house.” Jay’s wife, Rema: “He stayed over and even made his own bed. I accidentally added salt, not sugar, to his corn flakes, and, still, he ate it. Such a gentleman that Ivana even gave me a spider brooch from her collection . . . It wasn’t expensive.” Jay: “Perfect gentleman. When something badly was said about Ivana, he said straight out, to Judge Phyllis
Gangel-Jacob, ‘You’re full of s - - t.’ Right in chambers. No grandstanding. The guy then grabbed his coat, picked himself up and left. It’s mind games. He manipulates.
“A quick study, a genius negotiating master, he comprehends complicated briefs and figures things out. He’s now same as he was then. No filter. Speaks straight out like a jackhammer. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy’s something.’
“Strong. Tough. He’d race ahead, letting Marla walk by herself. He likes to win. And talk about himself. So you realize love can be destroyed by marriage.
“Also, in 14 years Donald never required a bill. Never any written statement. My word and his were our bond. If $500,000, he’d lay it out immediately.”
Besides Trumpiana, can Jay teach us any legal shticks?
“With lawyers, it can be how many hours can we bill. If something’s not winnable, if a mistrial’s coming, it’ll drag on when litigants are wealthy. A hot case. After collecting whatever money they can, lawyers then settle. Listen, I can also list banks that launder clean money for dirty guys.
“And with Andy Capasso, he didn’t like one potential juror. A pretty Italian lady. He said, ‘She’s not good for me. Only Jewish women like me.’ We thought Juror 6 was OK. We picked her. During the case, he made eyes at her. When it was over, she called me for his number. She wanted to date him.”
Lunch was Thursday. Today’s Monday. Goldberg is still talking.
It’s the dog days
WESTMINSTER. Best of Breed time. Two American Kennel Club dudes. “I just got a Great Dane puppy. The kind that has the house broken before he is.” His friend: “I entered my dachshund. It was a circular track. What happened was he overtook himself.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.