To Slur, With Love: 'Ironic Racism' is More Than Just Taki
Strangers Among Us: The Protagonist of Nell Freudenberger's Novel Is New to America
The Unlikely Protesters of Park Avenue: Neighbors Jeer, Wave Sheets at Planned Toll Brothers Tower
That Massive 'Jews Against the Internet' Rally This Weekend Is Not Very Press-Friendly
Lewis Lapham's Gala Guests Are on the Right Side of History
Jimmy Kimmel Now Leading Leno and Letterman in Late Night
Joe Ricketts Would Never Call Obama a 'Metrosexual, Black Abe Lincoln'
Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, Dead at 63
Fairytale Satire for Russia, White Swans, Vodka and Jay McInerney: Janna Bullock Debuts "Allegories and Experiences"
The Unlikely Protesters of Park Avenue: Neighbors Jeer, Wave Sheets at Planned Toll Brothers Tower
The residents of Carnegie Hill are not particularly experienced in protest techniques—they are more likely to walk through throngs of the demonstrators than to walk among them. But a new Toll Brothers development on Park Avenue has inspired angry Upper East Siders to take up the picket.
In a vertical city like New York, simple signs on sticks do not do much good, so neighbors have resorted to a more high-flying technique for their “visual protest” this morning, unfurling homemade banners from one of their buildings that read “Save Our History.”
“We’re all rookies at this, not professional protesters,” said Lucinda Ballard, who lives in 1112 Park Avenue, right next to the two pre-Civil War townhouses that the Philadelphia-based Toll Brothers is almost certainly planning to replace with a tower, but has thus far refused to confirm. Read More
That Massive ‘Jews Against the Internet’ Rally This Weekend Is Not Very Press-Friendly
After three weeks of getting the run-around (“Uh, I don’t know, call this number”) it seems that the rally of “Jews against the Internet” at Citi Field on May 20 is looking to exclude reporters as well as women. We asked, not The Times? The Post? The Daily News? Nope.
In retrospect, we should have purchased tickets. The rally is organized by Ichud Hakehillos, an Orthodox Jewish organization aimed at educating the masses regarding responsible use of technology, and we realized gaining access would probably be a unique experience after the moratorium on vaginas.
But after taking our information down on three separate occasions and promising to get back to us, one of the organizers gave us a flat-out no. The last number we tried led us straight to a voicemail explaining that there are no more tickets available for buses to the event.
When we called asking for an email address, the man who answered said they didn’t have one because “we don’t have the Internet.” Read More
Lewis Lapham’s Gala Guests Are on the Right Side of History
Actress Anne Hathaway debuted a new pixie haircut at the inaugural Lapham’s Quarterly Decades Ball Monday night (to say nothing of her Les Mis-starved bod), but the most talked-about attendee was former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker.
Though less inherently glamorous, the economic adviser, whom we hear came with Jackie and Nick Drexel, is enjoying a moment of political celebrity after making JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon eat his anti-regulatory words. Read More
Jimmy Kimmel Now Leading Leno and Letterman in Late Night
Strange news from the late-night wars as a third army is now mounting legitimate competition to Jay Leno and David Letterman. Jimmy Kimmel’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC is beating Mr. Leno’s NBC Tonight Show, the traditional late-night leader, by four percent of viewers in the valuable 18-49 demographic; Mr. Kimmel’s second half (his Read More
Joe Ricketts Would Never Call Obama a ‘Metrosexual, Black Abe Lincoln’
Brian Baker, the president of Joe Ricketts’s conservative super PAC, the Ending Spending Action Fund, just released a statement on behalf of Mr. Ricketts renouncing “The Ricketts Plan,” a proposal to revive the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright controversy for President Obama’s re-election campaign. Read More
Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, Dead at 63
Donna Summer, a singer who rose to fame on the disco craze of the 1980s, has reportedly died of cancer at 63. Ms. Summer’s breakthrough hit in the U.S., “Love to Love You Baby,” was an over-15-minute-long club smash, featuring the singer’s then-scandalous moans. Other hits included club favorites like “Last Dance” and “MacArthur Read More
Fairytale Satire for Russia, White Swans, Vodka and Jay McInerney: Janna Bullock Debuts “Allegories and Experiences”
Yesterday evening, The New York Observer wove around the horrific obstacle course that is trying to find a cab in Times Square in order to jet up 14 East 82nd St. The partially-remodeled space, owned by Russian real estate mogul and artist Janna Bullock had been turned into a three-floored gallery for Ms. Bullock’s premiere exhibition, “Allegories and Experiences.”
Over bites of fried sage and copious amounts of vodka, we mingled with some of New York’s infamous jet-setters, carefully curated by publicist R. Couri Hay, Ms. Bullock’s publicist. Read More
Obama Camp Tries To Hang Jeremiah Wright Story On Romney
A bombshell in The New York Times today revealed that a conservative Chicago billionaire is planning a $10 million ad campaign tying President Barack Obama to his controversial former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
The plan, however, appears to be backfiring. Not only did news of the ad campaign leak before any political damage could be done, but now Democrats are trying to tie the story to Mitt Romney, accusing him of acting “tepidly” and failing to John McCain’s standards of behavior. Read More
Exit Art Closes in Three Days
Just a reminder that Exit Art, one of New York’s longest-running and continuously adventurous alternative enterprises, is shutting its doors after Saturday. That means you have a bit less than three full days to visit the Hell’s Kitchen space, which will soon become the new home of the Sean Kelly Gallery. Read More
The Facebookers Will Inherit the Earth
Report: Facebook Alumni Have Raised $271 M. in Venture Capital
A new report from CB Insights attempts to gather up all the ventures of the roving Facebook Mafia and put a number on how much money these Silicon Valley chosen ones have raised. “For those unfamiliar with the term, the Facebook Mafia refers to alumni of Facebook who’ve gone on to found new startup companies,” the report says.
So how much have these enterprising Facebookers convinced investors to give them? $271 million since 2006, with $130 million of it all in the first half of 2012 (Quora is responsible for $50 million of that). Momentum “appears to be accelerating,” the report says. Doesn’t it always? Read More
