Seinfeld

"Seinfeld" is back ... linked to a guy who's been indicted for passing himself off as an architect, and the investigation is called "Operation Vandelay Industries." Seriously.

New York's Attorney General announced a 3-charge indictment Thursday against a guy auspiciously named Paul Newman -- yes, Newman -- for allegedly defrauding construction companies, business owners and others by pretending to be a licensed and registered architect.

The AG says Newman drafted bogus designs for over 100 properties in 3 NY counties since 2010, making tens of thousands in the process. He was also the only employee at his company.

George Costanza would be proud.

Jon Voight still has a vicious set of chompers ... 21 years after his infamous "Seinfeld" bite, he flexed his powerful jaws again.

Our photog caught up with Jon at LAX Thursday and talked about the 1994 episode where George compares teeth marks on a pencil to the bite mark Jon left on Kramer's arm.

You gotta see the clip -- Jon was happy to recreate the awesome Seinfeld scene. And yeah ... the pencil's definitely going in our TMZ hall of fame.

As soon as we get one.

A wheelchair bound woman is suing the famous diner featured on "Seinfeld" ... because she says the place isn't handicap-friendly -- and the owner doesn't deny she's right.

68-year old Carolyn Coleman is suing Tom's Restaurant in NY -- Monk's on Seinfeld -- for not complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act ... which requires restaurants to be handicap accessible.

The woman lists a whole slew of codes the restaurant is violating ... and the manager acknowledged to the NY Post they're not up to code -- and don't have any real plans to fix it anytime soon.

Coleman -- who's been in a wheelchair since '96 -- wants more than $30K. She's also looking for a court order that would force Tom's to comply with the ADA.

The NYC soup kitchen made famous by "Seinfeld's" Soup Nazi has an enormous problem with its stock ... a problem that has triggered a million dollar lawsuit.

It seems Soupman needed some quick cash, and a woman named Penny Hart came to the rescue. She claims in a new lawsuit she loaned Soupman a ton of cash ... in all she says she's owed more than $1.5 mil.

Hart says Soupman had 2 options -- either pay her back the money or give her 500,000 shares of stock in the company.

Short story -- Hart says Soupman screwed her and she's been stewing ever since. Now Hart wants payback.

A rep for Soupman says Penny will get the stock as soon as she holds up her end of the bargain. The rep didn't explain what she's supposed to do.

Loaning money to a soup kitchen is bisquey business.

Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander reunited Monday for a SECRET project ... inside the famous diner where Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer dished about nothing.

Someone on the crew told our photog Jerry and Jason -- and possibly Larry David, who was also there -- were filming a Super Bowl commercial.

But another crew guy said the shoot was for an episode of Jerry's webshow "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" -- but that guy got kinda hinky when we pressed him about the Super Bowl. If we had to bet, our money is on Super Bowl.

Jerry left through the front but was mum ... Jason and Larry snuck out of the side door.

No puffy shirts were spotted.

Jerry Seinfeld would probably not survive a zombie apocalypse ... neither would Jennifer Aniston or even Bill Cosby ... this according to "Walking Dead" star Norman Reedus.

The slayer of the undead was leaving LAX this week, when we asked the single most important question we may have ever asked any celebrity ... ever:

Which sitcom cast is best equipped to survive a zombie invasion ... Seinfeld, Friends or Cosby?

Reedus answered the question -- but he didn't pick one of our options. He put his money on a cast that's way more aggressive ... a cast that once got violent over Palestinian chicken.

Estelle Harris -- who famously played George Costanza's mother on "Seinfeld" -- says she's ALL GOOD after doctors found cancer on her nose ... telling TMZ they "got it all out."

Harris -- who also voiced Mrs. Potato Head in the "Toy Story" movies -- was out at the Arclight theater in Hollywood last night sporting a bandage on her face.

Harris was playfully telling fans she hadn't gotten a nose job -- but rather underwent a medical procedure to treat the cancer.

But don't worry, Estelle says she's conquered the beast -- and she's in great spirits about it.

In fact, when we asked her about her favorite episode of "Seinfeld," she gave us a pretty racy answer.

This woman is awesome.

John Pinette -- best known for his role as the fat guy who got mugged in the "Seinfeld" finale -- has checked himself into rehab after becoming addicted to prescription medication ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the venue in Canada where John was set to perform in next month says Pinette had to postpone the gig because he was checking into a rehab facility for his addiction.

The rep says John -- who also had his own Comedy Central special in 2011 -- underwent surgery earlier this year and got hooked to the prescription medication he was taking.

John has since tweeted to his fans about the situation -- saying, "Thanks to everyone for your concern and well wishes.. Want to apologize for having missed shows last weekend, but I hope you understand!"

In case you're not a "Seinfeld" fan (WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!?) ... Here's his famous scene from the super disappointing finale.

At least the reunion on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" kinda-sorta-not-really made up for it.

If you can't get Jerry Seinfeld to do it, who better to judge someone's Seinfeld impression than the man who played his best friend for nine seasons ... Jason Alexander.

Not only did Alexander tolerate our photog's attempt to do Jerry outside Spago yesterday in Beverly Hills, but the man best known for playing George Costanza even gave our guy a handful of constructive feedback ... and gave him a pretty good overall rating.

It's one of the most iconic scenes in "Seinfeld" history -- the parody of the magic bullet scene from "JFK" -- but the question is ... has Oliver Stone seen it?

Almost a week after "Seinfeld" star Daniel Von Bargen attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head, an episode of the show entitled "The Suicide" -- during which Jerry Seinfeld jokes about people who try and commit suicide, but fail (see above) -- aired on TBS.

The episode originally aired in 1992 and Von Bargen, who played Mr. Kruger, didn't begin his stint on the show until years later. The episode aired again last night. TBS had no comment.

So we gotta ask ...

As TMZ first reported, Alexander was involved in a car vs. bike collision in L.A. back in April -- cops quickly determined that Jason was not at fault.

Richards even signed a few autographs on the way out of the show -- including one for a guy in a BET shirt ... who happened to be white.

Still, progress is progress.

Richards made light of the rant on this weekend's episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." During one of the scenes, Richards -- playing himself -- blows his top at an African-American character, saying, "If only there were a horrible name that I could call you ... that would make you as angry as I am."

A group of spectators who witness the tirade instantly whip out their cell phones and begin to record. Richards, realizing the similarity of events, screams and bolts.

Couple of problems here: First off, the original tirade was shot on a DIGITAL CAMERA -- not a cell phone.

Second: Is Richards mocking himself ... or the digital-recording culture that exposed his greatest mistake? In other words, is Richards and "Curb" trying to make a bad joke out of a serious situation?