Gossip from Page Six

It didn't take Ellen Barkin long to annoy her new neighbors on West 12th Street, where she just moved into a $7 million townhouse. The West Villagers don't like the wooden stockade fence erected a week and half ago on a fourth-story patio. Neighbor Susan Gearhart said she was mystified by the eyesore. "Isn't that the most stupid fence in the world? It serves no purpose," she said. Others speculated it was to provide privacy for sunbathing. "If you are paying $7 million for a house, you're not going to be sunbathing in New York filthy City," Gearhart said. "She'll be in the Hamptons."

"Sin City" director Robert Rodriguez and his wife of 16 years, Elizabeth Avellan, are separating. "This is an extremely painful time for me and my family, and Elizabeth and I very much appreciate your understanding and patience," Rodriguez told the crew of "Grind House" in an emotional meeting on the movie's Austin, Texas, set. Rodriguez stressed that the separation was amicable and the couple plans to raise their five children together. The creative pair will also remain partners in their production company, Troublemaker Studios.

It was a "Brokeback" April Fools' Day on the set of Denis Leary's "Rescue Me." Peter Tolan, the show's executive producer and writer, wanted to play a trick on series' hunk Steven Pasquale. Tolan wrote himself into a script and had Pasquale's character "come out of the closet and tell him he loved him," our spy says. "When Steven read the script, he stormed off set, saying he had already done this on 'Six Feet Under,' and 'I'm not doing it again.' " Pasquale's character remains straight.

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