Celebrities have to deal with a lot of hassles. It’s part of the deal with fame: you get a lot of cash, but you may get a lot of stalkers too. Or maybe just plainly creepy, unnaturally curious people. Some weirdo went through Mary-Louise Parker’s garbage can outside her Washington Square apartment in Manhattan. As if that weren’t creepy enough, the person then wrote to the New York Post to tell them all about it. They included photocopies of Parker’s prescription receipts from a nearby drugstore.

CELEBRITIES who live in Greenwich Village may want to run out and buy paper shredders. Their garbage is being sifted through by creepy trash-trollers who want to bare their secrets. One recent victim is Mary-Louise Parker, the sexy star of Showtime’s “Weeds,” who lives in a luxury apartment building overlooking Washington Square Park.

An anonymous letter was sent to Page Six from someone who claims to have sifted through the actress’ refuse and included photocopies of Parker’s drug prescription receipts from Bigelow Pharmacy on Sixth Avenue. They show that last year she shelled out a $20 insurance co-payment for a supply of 30 tablets of a medication that’s commonly used to treat low-thyroid function and prevent goiters. It was prescribed by a Manhattan internist.

A rep for Parker had no comment, but sources say the South Carolina-born beauty, 44, has been treated for an underactive thyroid for years. Other celebrities who live on some of the Village’s best blocks are even more vulnerable than Parker because they have private townhouses and place their trash in cans easily accessible to passers-by. They include Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Liv Tyler, Charlie Rose and Graydon Carter.

One longtime village resident told us, “This is incredibly creepy. It’s like nothing is sacred. I hope they find the nut job who’s doing this.”

[From Page Six]

It’s kind of unclear whether or not what this person did was illegal or just super, super creepy. Once something’s placed in the trash outside, it’s no longer your property. However I’ve heard of people getting arrested for going through people’s garbage cans… so clearly there’s something that could be done.

It’s pretty common practice in New York for people to go through other’s trash. A lot of poor people make money by visiting areas the night before recycling is picked up and collecting all the cans to get the refunds themselves. An old lady and her son do it along my street at about midnight every Wednesday, and they bring a van along. She pushes a cart and fills it up while he keeps pace in the van. I only noticed because at first I thought he was following her and got worried.

Pretty much everyone I know has some stuff in their apartment that they found on the street. Not being a New York native, I find this really, really disgusting. Not in a snobby way, but that’s a great way to transport bugs and God knows what else into your home. I am proud to say that the only thing that’s ever ended up going from the street to my apartment is a child’s chalkboard easel. Roommates do weird things when they’re drunk.

The point is, if you live in New York, celebrity or not, you know that people are going to go through your garbage. Absolutely no one is immune to it. I’m not sure what workarounds there are, but I’d think if Mary-Louise Parker were really private about her thyroid prescriptions, she would have shredded the paper. She probably will from now on, but as creepy as it is I doubt it’s going to be the next upcoming celebrity crime wave as the Daily news suggests.

Here’s Mary Louise Parker with son William and daughter Ash walking around Manhattan with a friend on August 23rd. Photographer: Anthony Dixon. Header at the ‘Showtime Showcases its Best’ reception at Gramercy Park in New York City on September 24th. Images thanks to WENN.

Britney Spears has taken New York by storm over the last few days. Earlier this week Britney made a comment on radio station Z100 about wishing she still had an apartment in the city and missing the energy. That’s left a lot of people wondering: might Britney consider moving back?

Britney Spears made an unexpected appearance at New York City-based radio station Z-100 this week. Her arrival at the station was entirely random: one rep for the station confirms that Z-100 received a call from the Spears camp saying she was just two blocks away and wanted to come in.

“Of course we were happy to have her,” says the rep, who also confirmed that her entourage was limited to one person — her on-again, off-again manager Larry Rudolph. During the course of the radio interview, Spears said that she wished she still had her NYC apartment. “Man, I wish I still had my apartment here still. But I love (New York City). The energy is crazy,” said Spears.

A source close to Spears says, “Britney always toys with the idea of going back (to New York). Obviously there’s no chance that’s happening unless Kevin (Federline, father of her sons) moves, too.”

Spears’ arrival at Z-100 was without much of the fanfare that comes with something as simple as a Starbucks run for her when she’s in L.A., but that doesn’t mean her appearance was paparazzi-free. One paparazzo hit a lamppost near the radio station while trying to nab a shot of Spears. No one was injured.

[From MSNBC’s The Scoop]

Britney’s made a pretty good impression while she’s been here. She went to see “In the Heights” on Broadway, and was ushered in without much fanfare right before the curtain rose – then taken out just as swiftly the moment the show ended. She posed for photos with the cast and chatted them up, and everyone had positive things to say about her. She also donated $10,000 to a Bronx school’s music program.

It definitely seems like Britney’s trying to ingratiate herself to New York City. I think the paparazzi would follow her around just as much here as an L.A. There’s definitely fewer of them, but there’s also fewer celebs, and Brit would certainly be one of the biggest. So hopefully she wouldn’t consider a move in an attempt to find a slightly less media-filled life. Still, there’s a pretty different feel from L.A., so maybe a change would do her good.

Here’s Britney in Manhattan on Tuesday. Images thanks to Fame.

Lance Bass has been getting a lot of bad press since he moved to New York City for a role in “Hairspray.” He gave an interview to New York Magazine, and they did a tiny little write-up as a result, mentioning that Bass wasn’t in love with the city, especially the real estate market. He’s also had many mentions on local blogs since moving here, all of which have stated that he’s been rude to fans.

“Lance Bass is here for a few months to star as Corny Collins in Hairspray. He’s not sure he likes New York so much. First off, it took three weeks, and three brokers, to find an apartment. ‘There’s a lot of pieces of crap here for a lot of money,’ he says. ‘And I don’t think anyone here has any style. I was looking at fully furnished places and it was like, you can either have a bunch of floral prints or some dusty couch from the 1960s.’ But he’s adapting. ‘My walking pace has picked up a lot,’ he says. ‘And apparently I’m ruder. I read that someone met me at a club and told me I looked great and I was like, “Don’t even think about taking a picture.” Which really sounds like me. And then they printed a picture they’d taken of me, which makes even less sense.’ He’s not hanging out at fellow ’N Sync alum Justin Timberlake’s barbecue joint. ‘I’ve been a few times,’ he says. ‘But it’s really up there. The Upper East Side? I’m not in college anymore.’ And, after coming out of the closet not so long ago, he has another startling admission to make: ‘I was the worst dancer in the band. I kind of hate to dance.’”

[From New York Magazine]

Lance didn’t like the quotes, and fired back on his MySpace page, along with issuing a statement to a few press agencies. That’s not really helping his image as a control freak. He’s now saying he “loves New York” and is really pissed by the “fake quotes” – saying the reporter, Jada Yuan, put “words in my mouth.” Oh his MySpace page [http://www.myspace.com/basslance], Lance wrote, “This dumb reporter just put words in my mouth and turned everything I said into a negative. I told her I love NY and I will probably be doing the bi-coastal thing now because I love it so much.” He responded to the quotes in an article in People today.

“As for what exactly got him so worked up, here’s a breakdown:

The claim: It took him three weeks to find an apartment. “There’s a lot of pieces of crap here for a lot of money,” he was quoted as saying. “And I don’t think anyone here has any style.”

His response? “I told her the first few apts I looked at were pieces of crap and the owners had no style at all… that turned into ‘Lance thinks New Yorkers have no style!’”

The claim: He’s not hanging out at fellow ‘N Sync alum Justin Timberlake’s barbecue joint. “I’ve been a few times,” he says. “But it’s really up there. The Upper East Side? I’m not in college anymore.”

His response? “I eat at Justins [sic] new place all the time, but it is really far away in the upper east side and always full of a college crowd. She turned that into ‘Lance doesnt [sic] go to Justins [sic] restaurant cause its too far away and he doesnt [sic] like it because he is not in college anymore!’ Um.. I didnt [sic] go to college, why the hell would I say that!”

[From People]

New York Magazine is highly respected. You can never know what an individual journalist will do, but they’re part of the New York Times – it’s not some freebie you pick up from a bin. They do a great job at deeply researched, in-depth pieces – along with the occasional New York entertainment related puff piece, like the article about Bass. They issued a rebuttal that was pretty funny for such a serious magazine. And they reiterate that Bass was a terrible dancer.

“We were going to be nice about this, because we’re actually quite fond of Bass, but then we heard that he called Ms. Yuan a dumb reporter on MySpace. So we invite Bass to breath deeply, stop reading Perez Hilton (who posted the story on his own site under the typically over-the-top headline, ‘Lance Bass Hates New York City’), and take some lessons in reading comprehension. Bass’s beef boils down to two points — he says he didn’t say New Yorkers have no style, and he does go to Justin Timberlake’s restaurant. Oh, and he really loves New York!

“New York would like to make the following points: (1) We stand by the interview; Bass was not misquoted. (2) Bass is not quoted as saying New Yorkers have no style — it’s clear that he’s referring to the apartments he looked at. (3) The piece also does not suggest that Bass doesn’t hang out at Justin Timberlake’s restaurant. In fact, it specifically quotes him as saying he goes there. (4) Though Bass’s quote about his dancing ability (”I was the worst dancer in the band”) has not been called into question, we’d like to reiterate that Bass was, indeed, the worst dancer in ‘N Sync. (5) Bass now says he’s going bi-coastal; he never mentioned that to us, but we’re glad to hear it! Welcome to New York, Lance.”

[From New York Magazine]

I don’t think pissing off a bunch of New Yorkers is a good way to get started. I live in New York, and these are scary, scary people. They will kick you in the head as soon as look at you, and if you dare to smile at one, they will glare and snarl “What the fuck is wrong wit chu?” This happened to me yesterday. And last week. And sixteen other times. Now I don’t smile anymore. And I don’t even have some upside-down looking face like Lance Bass, so I can only imagine what could happen to him.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Lance at the I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Premiere on 07/12/2007. Header image of Lance at the Hairspray New York City Premiere on 7/16/2007. Images thanks to PR Photos.