These are some blurry new photos of Tom Cruise in London yesterday. He was “taking meetings” about a new film project called All You Need is Kill. This is the “new” Tom Cruise that he wants us to see – the doting and loving father who books back-to-back movies, the powerhouse producer who doesn’t let Xenu interfere with his business, the consummate professional who will move heaven and earth to see his youngest child. Are you buying that image of Cruise? Eh. In an interesting coincidence-or-conspiracy moment, upon Tom’s arrival in London, Radar claims that The Church of Scientology will be distributing L. Ron Hubbard’s 1980 book, The Way To Happiness, to Olympic fans. Radar says that the CoS sent out a fundraising letter to help pay for 2 million copies of the book to be distributed for free. Apparently, CoS passed out the book during the World Cup and they claim that as a direct result, it was the “least violent” World Cup ever. So, is that what Tom’s really doing in London?

But on to this interesting little story about Tom in New York City… over the weekend, Page Six reported that Tom has begun looking for a new apartment in Manhattan, and sources claim he definitely wants to spend more time there.

Tom Cruise may have been absent when Katie Holmes first dropped her divorce bombshell, as he was filming in Iceland — but now sources say the “Mission: Impossible” star intends to be spending a lot more time in New York to be near daughter Suri, and he’s shopping for a bachelor pad for himself.

“Tom’s looking for a new home here,” says a source. “He wants a fresh start. He doesn’t want to go back to the East Village apartment where he was living with Katie.”

But while Holmes has settled into a new pad in Chelsea, Cruise is eyeing houses outside the city, as well as high-end residences in town.

“He’s looking for something that’s very private,” a source told us. “Where he won’t have to deal with going through a lobby, and people outside all the time.

“He also wants to have a nice amount of space for Suri, with outdoor space. That could mean high-end luxury apartments, but he’s also looking at houses outside of the city or in gated communities.”

Area brokers are buzzing with word that Cruise could be looking for a new mega-home. Holmes reportedly has primary custody of Suri, but the terms of the settlement are confidential.

Meanwhile, Cruise, who also has a sprawling Beverly Hills estate, is wary of going back to the space he and Holmes shared at the American Felt Building on East 13th Street.

A source pointed out that Cruise chose to stay in a hotel this week on his latest New York trip to see Suri. “Tom wasn’t staying in their old apartment, because that would have been strange,” says the source.

The source adds that Cruise wants to “be an active parent,” adding, “So, New York, get ready for a lot more of Tom.”

Besides enrolling Suri in school here, Holmes is becoming a further Big Apple fixture after her split from Cruise, signing on to star in the upcoming Broadway show “Dead Accounts” and showing in New York Fashion Week for the first time in September with the Holmes & Yang line.

Reps for Cruise declined to comment.

[From Page Six]

Tom has never really been a New York guy – whenever he’s not working on a film set, you mostly hear about him in LA, or you don’t hear about him at all, because when Tom flies under the radar, no one has any idea where he is. I always think of it as Tom’s “boy time” – and I would love to know if David Miscavige also “went missing” during those times too. Anyway, as for Tom’s new New York lifestyle – this too is part of The New Tom. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we learned that Tom had quietly hired some crisis-management firm or a war-time consigliere/publicist to advise him and help him with his post-divorce counter-attack and media blitz, the effects of which we’re seeing now. This is Tom’s “It’s All About Suri And What She Needs” counter-attack. It’s one of his most effective counter-attacks, so let’s see how it plays out.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.