January 29, 2009 --

CAROLINE Kennedy is innocent - she did not have an affair with New York Times publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr. The rumor that their friendship was the "marriage problem" referred to by aides to Gov. Paterson couldn't be true - because the divorced Sulzberger already has a girlfriend.

Sulzberger has been seeing Helen Ward, a vivacious woman he met on a trek to Peru about a year ago.

"No comment," Ward told Page Six yesterday, then added, "There is only one woman in Pinch Sulzberger's life, and that is the Gray Lady."

A Times spokeswoman said: "Mr. Sulzberger is not and never has been romantically involved with Ms. Kennedy." What about Ward? "I'm not going to comment."

Caroline Kennedy has been married to interactive designer Edwin Schlossberg since 1986. They have three children. Sulzberger - who became the Times' publisher when his father, Arthur "Punch" Sulzberger Sr., stepped down in 1992 - has been separated from his wife of 33 years, Gail Gregg, since last March.

Helen is also separated from her husband, Kevin P. Ward, executive director of the Aspen Science Center. A friend said Ward is unhappy with the breakup: "Kevin is crazy bitter about the whole thing."

The Pinch-Helen romance seems to disprove the speculation that flourished after Paterson's camp leaked that Caroline had "a tax problem, a nanny problem and a marriage problem." Bloggers erroneously named Sulzberger, who is friends with Caroline, as the cause of the "marriage problem."

As it happens, Helen has her own Kennedy connection. The Wards were said to be close friends with Caroline's late brother, John, going back to the days when John was dating Daryl Hannah, and they all went on a trip out West to go helicopter skiing.


Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/01292009/gossi...