Alexa Ray Joel Hospitalized

Billy Joel’s 23-year-old daughter was rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan today after ingesting a large number of sleeping pills in what police consider a suicide attempt, The Post has learned.

Medics were called to Alexa Ray Joel’s Bethune St. apartment in the West Village at approximately 12:21 p.m. this afternoon, sources told The Post.

A female caller told a 911 operator that Joel had taken several pills and wanted to die, sources said.

A family spokeswoman issued a brief statement later this afternoon confirming Joel was in the hospital.

“Alexa is stable. Her doctors are assessing her needs and that’s all we can say at this moment,” said Claire Mercuri, Alexa’s and Billy’s personal publicist.

Joel was conscious at St. Vincent’s Hospital, and is expected to survive, said other sources.

Joel is the only daughter of piano man Billy Joel and his supermodel wife, Christie Brinkley. Brinkley and Joel married in 1984, and divorced in 1994.

A prolific songwriter since her young teens, Alexa Joel is also a talented pianist and singer. She’s among several celebrities scheduled to appear in a tree-lighting ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange this Thursday.

On her MySpace page, Alexa recently groused about how hard it is to meet men in the city and listed her mood as “forgotten.”

“Just Men. UGH!!! MEN!!!!

I don’t like dating!!! Wish I could be in a relationship again without having to date… I HATE going out!! I’m a homebody and a workaholic… I don’t like going out and drinking to meet men!!! I always have to drag myself out the door to get up the motivation to go out, and when I do go out, I don’t meet anybody!!!,” she wrote in an Aug. 11 post.

“Is anybody else finding it a difficult “dating world” out there? I’m so terrible at dating– I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it! And I HATE the game-playing! Can’t stand it. I live in the greatest city in the world and I can’t seem to meet an interesting guy who also happens to be NICE.”

-AP