WHILE Wall Street sheds billions in value, the rich are embroiled in a nice little dust-up. Who’s better at selling my art – Sotheby’s or Christie’s?
The venerable auction houses have waged a deep rivalry for more than two centuries over who better serves the gilded class, and thus would have bragging rights as the better choice to auction their art treasures to newcomers.
For decades, Christie’s and Sotheby’s ran neck-and-neck, with Christie’s often wining many a lap. But this year, it got testy.
When Christie’s on Friday announced that it was the winner of the 2007 art wars by selling $6.1 billion in art, Sotheby’s publicly protested that Christie’s had jumped the gun.
Although Sotheby’s final tally wasn’t due until next month, it made an exception Friday night, saying its sales were up 44 percent to $6.2 billion. So there. Paul Tharp
Kids’ hospital
Who says Wall Street financiers don’t give back to the community?
Billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen and his wife, Alexandra, just pledged a whopping $50 million to build a new emergency pediatric care facility the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in Washington Heights.
The new 25,000 square-foot facility, expected to be completed in two-to-three years, will offer world class emergency care to all children including those from the poorest and most undeserved areas of the city, according to a statement by the hospital.
In 2006, the Cohen family donated $5 million to the hospital to establish a chief of pediatric cardiology position.
Cohen founded SAC Capital Advisors, one of the largest hedge funds. It now has $15 billion under management. Zachery Kouwe
We hear. . .
And speaking of giving to good causes, executives at North Fork Bank are said to be jealous of Andrew F. Corrado, a senior vice president, who will be named a “Corporate Hero” next month at the annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner.
Corrado, who has helped lead the fund-raising effort for the Munson charity, which benefits the AHRC NYC Foundation, will be feted by Alex Rodriquez, David Wright, Craig Biggio and Knicks scoring machine Jamal Crawford, other stars.
Not too shabby for a Yankees and Mets fan who never got closer to a baseball diamond than coaching his nine-year old son’s Little League team. Richard Wilner
Apple softens
Steve Jobs must be wondering if he has to pull an iPhone out of his pocket every year. After introducing the smart phone category killer last year to wide acclaim, this year’s Macworld introduction, the wafer thin MacBook Air, got widely panned. And to boot, Apple’s stock dropped 9.7 percent the week Jobs gave birth to the Air. Richard Wilner
business@nypost.com