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By Drew Grant 2/01/12 11:14am

Profiles

Doug Liman has found his Pants

Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants: Doug Liman Goes From Bourne to Brooklyn, Puts Millennials Under Microscope

“I’m more inclined to see the villains’ point of view in my movies,” Doug Liman told The Observer on a brisk October afternoon over bottles of Poland Spring in the Tribeca studio of his production company, Hypnotic. “When you grow up in New York, you’re more inclined to see everybody’s point of view.”

Mr. Liman, who was raised on the Upper East Side and graduated from Fieldston and later Brown, was answering our question about how a local sensibility has crept into his Hollywood work. He does seem to have a soft spot for certain bad guys—say, Chris Cooper’s Conklin from Bourne Identity, whom the director based on Oliver North. “You identify with all the bureaucratic hassles that he has to deal with,” Mr. Liman told us. “People who believe they are patriotic, bypassing all these rules of law to get done what they think is right.” Read More

By Drew Grant 1/04/12 8:45am

Profiles

Mr. Arora with one of his creations

Selling the Sizzle: New York ‘Spice King’ Dhiraj Arora Lets It All Hang Out

Shortly after meeting The Observer in the lobby of the Ace Hotel last Wednesday, Dhiraj Arora—who is the owner of the spice company Arora Creations Inc., but is perhaps better known for losing his temper and a good portion of his clothing one wild night at the Four Seasons Hotel—offered up a sly word of warning.

“The last woman who tried to profile me was an editor at Trace magazine,” Mr. Arora said. The editor had overseen a 2007 article in the magazine called “Delhi Rising,” which profiled several successful South Asian Americans. A cover story on Mr. Arora was considered, he said, “but she was eventually like, ‘Yo, D., I can’t keep up with you!’” The two ended up dating, a whirlwind romance that saw the duo jetting around the globe. That was the last time Mr. Arora truly felt he was in love.

We were a little unclear about just what this disclosure had to do with us, until the handsome 36-year-old asked if we were currently seeing anyone. We were. Did our significant other treat us right? Did he take us all over the world? Well, as a matter of a fact, he did.

“That’s really great,” Mr. Arora replied effusively. Read More

By Drew Grant 12/20/11 12:00pm

Profiles

Aviva Drescher, who will not be a Real Housewife

Aviva Drescher: The Good (House)Wife

Update 4/5/12: Aviva Drescher has been announced as one of the new additions to The Real Housewives on New York City, Season Five.

Tucked into a back table at the Upper East Side pastry and panini shop Via Quadronno for brunch last Monday, Aviva Drescher, the 5 foot 10 inch, flaxen blond, part-time socialite, full-time mom and rumored new addition to the cast of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City, told us the story of how she lost her leg in a horrifying farm accident upstate at age six.

“It was a genius idea to go ride a conveyor belt in a barn that was meant to remove cow manure,” Ms. Drescher said, rolling her eyes.

Along with a black pencil skirt from Dolce and Gabbana paired with a burgundy bow blouse and cashmere sweater vest by Gucci, Ms. Drescher was sporting a pair of thigh-high black boots. She always wears thigh-high boots.

The initial amputation was not the ideal surgery, she recalled. “The problem was, as a child, they only amputated several inches above ankle, so the amputation was very awkward. I’d get abrasions all the time. I constantly had infections.” At 26, Ms. Drescher underwent elective surgery to remove more of the leg, which gave her more skin and padding. Read More

By Kat Stoeffel 9/28/11 8:56am

Profiles

michael

Barbaro at the Gate: Bloomberg’s Times Gadfly Lands on Romney

Bloomberg staffers and Wall Street Journal reporters can breathe a sigh of relief. The New York Times’ roving political reporter Michael Barbaro is off the city politics beat.

Mr. Barbaro has recently been called up to the national desk for the 2012 Republican primary, and for now, he’s covering its biggest player, Mitt Romney.

It’s a conspicuous but logical promotion for Mr. Barbaro, who for the past three years has made a white whale out of the city’s own superrich politician on the Times front page, even while routinely scooping the tabloids on the City Room blog.

When Mayor Bloomberg began a campaign to improve New Yorker’s diet and nutrition, rather than get every other politician’s opinion on the nanny state, Mr. Barbaro persuaded the manager of Mayor Bloomberg’s local diner to dish on Hizzoner’s snacking habits.

It wasn’t enough for Mr. Barbaro reveal that the mayor had missed a handful important city events due to his habit of skipping off to Bermuda on weekends. Oh, no. Mr. Barbaro spent a week on the island retracing the man’s steps, detailing what the mayor orders at the local four-star restaurant and relaying a choice bit of gossip from the local golf club: apparently the Mayor can be a little slow on the links. Read More

By Drew Grant 9/20/11 7:04pm

Profiles

blow

An Audience With Blowfly, Hip Hop’s Bawdy Caped Crusader

The Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village was nearly empty at 9 p.m. last Friday night, save for an old black man wearing a shirt emblazoned with the letters “BF” and a ratty orange hat that said “Big Day Out.” He was sitting in the middle of the lobby, serenading a handful of fans with an X-rated parody of “Hello Dolly” in which “It’s so nice to see you take a douche again …” was the only printable phrase of the song. This was R&B songwriter Clarence Reid, but soon enough he would don the sequined cape and mask of his doppelgänger, and when several members exiting the theater from another show filed past they would look at him warily, as if this crazy guy in a sparkly, befouled outfit might follow them out the door asking for money. In reality, they should probably be asking him for something—the autograph of the infamous Blowfly. Read More