On the first Wednesday in May, a rather large tent pops up behind the Vanderbilt Gate on Fifth Avenue between 104th and 105th Streets with the sole purpose of shielding the over-the-top headgear of 1,300 ladies who lunch, a handful of men and one Martha Stewart from the elements as they duke it out for millinery supremacy Read More
Last Friday, one year to the day after the death of the Beastie Boys’ Adam “MCA” Yauch, the Transom stood at the far west end of Atlantic Avenue, in a small but familiar neighborhood park in the shadow of the BQE, for a dedication ceremony in which Palmetto Playground would be renamed Adam Yauch Park. Read More
The sun was setting when we arrived at Westbeth, and as soon as we entered the labyrinthine corridors of the artists’ housing complex, we found ourselves dreaming about living here, in what a friend described as “a Hotel Chelsea that never dies.”
As far as impossible dreams go, gaining residence in the rent-stabilized complex, which sprawls across an entire city block in the West Village and offers studios with rent that starts around $600 a month, is one of the most heart-wrenching. The waiting list is not only seven to 10 years long but has been closed since 2007. (As if the rent weren’t appealing enough, Richard Meier was the architect who oversaw the building’s 1970 factory conversion.)
But at least visitors got a peek on a recent Friday evening, when residents in 20 of the complex’s 383 apartments opened their doors for the PEN World Voices Festival’s “Literary Safari”—a somewhat surreal pairing of the literary and the domestic. Read More
I hate department stores. They remind me of being a chubby 12-year-old with braces being dragged around by her mother to try on bat-mitzvah dresses at the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s located in the heart of Delaware’s Christiana Mall. (We eventually decided on an electric blue sleeveless number, and suffice to say I have vowed to burn the photobook of evidence the first chance I get.)
So sartorially misinformed was I that for many years I associated most department stores with the cheap and gawdy—obviously, I reasoned, most cool clothes come from stores that sold only their own brand, places like Ann Taylor, or Hot Topic. Up until embarrassingly recently, I didn’t understand what my so-called friends were driving at when they offered to take me shopping at Macy’s, Nordstrom’s or Bloomie’s. I just flashed back to Delaware and that blue dress and assumed that they were making some sort of ironic commentary on prom season.
But a girl can’t live in blissful ignorance forever, and by the time I was, oh, say, 28, I found out that, far from being tacky, New York’s haute couture was synonymous with, yes, Madison Avenue designer flagships, but also: Bergdorf’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys. I had never stepped into these hallowed halls of fashion. I had to take a Valium just to step into a Century 21, with its maze-like layouts, dressing room item limits and panic-inducing number of choices.
But I couldn’t wear jeans and sweaters with cat faces on them forever, and no matter how well that kitschy-cute skunk hat I had purchased last summer in South Dakota went over at a recent Broadway after party, I realized that eventually I would have to make peace with the luxury department store. Read More
The New York Times is on it. Seriously. When not floating out trend stories about this
I mean, but come on…they are only baby teeth. Though in the end, this story is all sound and fury, signifying nothing:
The study, carried out in Sweden, could not prove that the pacifiers laden with parents’ saliva Read More
Generally, we try to stay away from Hollywood gossip because a) We are a respectable operation that cannot compete with TMZ.com and Perez Hilton and b) We are not in Los Angeles, so what do you care what Khloe Kardashian is eating right now?
However, sometimes an event is so critical that it transcends the regional and becomes a national news story. Especially when the train wreck may be headed directly towards NYC. That’s right, we are now obliged, as a New York publication, to inform you: Lindsay Lohan is on the run from her rehab engagement–guess that Coachella sobriety stint didn’t take–and she might be making a break for it in the Big Apple.
And while this disturbing news does not have the city on lockdown quite yet, the silver lining is that this Lohandidty (meh, that’ll do) led to perhaps the best newspaper sentence all week, courtesy of The New York Daily News and Lohan’s attorney, Mark Heller. Read More
World-renowned concert pianist and painter Chau-Giang Thi Nguyen, known to her friends as Coco, spent last Wednesday morning running around her gigantic two-floor apartment in Soho preparing for an “artist showing” that was to be held in her honor that evening at the BoConcept store on Greene Street. There, the walls were being covered with the Vietnamese-born artist’s paintings: bright splashy watercolors, some of which had already been bought by the litany of notable New York names that make up the 37-year-old’s inner social circle.
“I’m having all my friends wear traditional Vietnamese dresses made by my friend Duc Hung,” Coco told the Transom, motioning to her own walls, where the exotic gowns hung like art. Mr. Hung himself sat quietly nearby, an old friend from the Hanoi School of Music and Fine Arts, where Coco studied from age 8. (It was still the morning, so Coco was in daytime Missoni.)
“We’re collaborating on an underwater opera as well,” she said, while Mr. Hung smiled bashfully. This type of collaboration is not unusual for Coco, who runs her home like a cultural salon for all types of creatives, from gallery owners and tech entrepreneurs to celebrities and artists. Read More
Ach, we really thought The New York Times was finally starting to get the picture with its April 28th piece, “Turning the Tables on the News Media Tease.” In it, Noam Cohen finally acknowledged the Twitter feed @NYTOnIt as being “prompted when a trend article from The New York Times seems too obvious or too generic.” Examples given in the article included “the arrival of fall, the use of staplers, and how night stands are becoming more crowded.”
Point duly noted, the Times seemed to be saying in this piece, showing that it was not above poking fun of its history of non-trend trend stories. But it turns out that the Grey Lady was merely blowing her media audience a raspberry, as Thursday’s Style section cover story is about…one man’s observations about Williamsburg. No, no catch, no angle: Just one guy, checking out the ‘burg to see what the big deal is and trying to blend in with the natives at Roberta’s. (Which still counts as Williamsburg, you know, metaphysically.) And yes, it’s supposed to be funny, which is probably the saddest part about this sad attempt that begins with–wait for it–the title: Read More
It’s not every weekend that Kerri Gristina, a schoolteacher living in the Bronx, manages to round up her three daughters and load them into the car for a Manhattan outing. When she does, she’ll take them to a Broadway play, to a museum or just to frolic around Central Park. But no matter what else they do that day, the busy mom always manages to carve out some time for one special stop along the way.
“They have natural options, organic options,” Ms. Gristina, who writes a blog called Raising Three Savvy Ladies, told The New York Observer of her favorite place to buy beauty products in NYC. “It’s like a designer store. Maybe it costs more, but having more variety is worth it.”
No, it’s not the Laura Mercier or Bobbi Brown counter at Bergdorf’s. Ms. Gristina’s guilty primping pleasure is Duane Reade.
Seriously. Read More
Video
Back in 1963, Willard Scott was not yet the famous weatherman of The Today Show; the predecessor to Al Roker. He was just a guy looking for a gig…any gig, as this newly unearthed McDonald’s commercial reveals. Brought to the light of day for the burger joint’s 50th anniversary, this television spot featuring Mr. Scott as Ronald McDonald raises way more questions than it answers. Mostly “How is that even a clown?”, “Is that a cup on his nose?” and “Will I ever sleep again?” Read More
