Men in heavy overcoats and women wrapped in furs came in out of the cold and into the small underground theater, chatting about the eeriness of Mr. Koch’s death coinciding with the release of the film. “It’s spiritually bizarre,” said Upper West Side resident Meredith Gardner of the timing. “I liked [Mr. Koch’s] integrity, his bluntness, his energetic spirit. He was persistent, and he knew what he wanted and he went after it.”

The crowd consisted primarily of older Upper West Siders who remembered the days when the city’s streets were rife with crime and Mr. Koch would stand outside subway stations in the rain, asking New Yorkers how he was doing.

Longtime New Yorker Barbara Lippert said she remembered seeing Mr. Koch campaigning in the ’70s. “I actually thought he was rather obnoxious,” Ms. Lippert told the Transom. “I knew [that] in the black and the gay communities they didn’t really like him, but I thought he was a really interesting figure.”

Inside the theater, the lights dimmed and audience members settled into their seats for 95 minutes of footage of Mr. Koch’s New York, peppered with the former mayor’s often colorful remarks. The film’s end was greeted with enthusiastic applause, as was the arrival of Mr. Barsky, who took questions from the crowd.

Mr. Barsky noted that though the film’s contemporary footage was shot in 2011, many of Mr. Koch’s remarks now seem shaded by his recent death.

“A lot of the scenes and some of the lines now seem very different than when we made the film,” Mr. Barsky told the audience. “Almost omniscient, or morbid, maybe.”

As the evening concluded, Mr. Barsky reflected on the film’s reception.

“I think [audiences] understand the film,” the director told the Transom. “I think I got through what I wanted, which was really to honor the history of New York and give a three-dimensional profile of Ed Koch.”

When asked about Mr. Koch’s passing on the eve of the film’s release, Mr. Barsky cast his eyes down slightly.

“When I think about it, it was strange,” he said. “And unfortunate.”

This week, lunch at the Grill was totally booked, except for Friday when everyone disappeared for the long weekend. Pete Peterson was here only one day--he must have been too busy talking about the deficit! I'm surprised we're so busy for the time of year, but all of our events have sold out, too. On Thursday we held a private tasting for Brunello di Montalcino by Mastrojanni, a delicious Italian red wine. We had a lovely time--too much of a good time, with all that wine!

Ralph Lauren was here on Wednesday. So was Ms. Stewart and the actor Chris O'Donnell. Geraldo Rivera, who did his last wedding with us, also came in for lunch, and on his way out, he hugged Bill O'Shaughnessy, who was looking very charming as usual (but still no haircut!). On Thursday Tory Burch was here with a guest I didn't recognize, who was very stylish, of course.

We hosted a breakfast for Henry Kissinger, where he spoke at length about China and his new book. It was fabulous--the most well-attended breakfast in Four Seasons history. It shows that Mr. Kissinger is still in charge. Mr. Obama, you should listen to him!

Over the weekend, MasterChef Australia filmed at the Four Seasons, and I was one of the judges along with Paul Liebrandt and David Chang (Wylie Dufresne was supposed to come but he got sick!) We didn't even start filming until eleven o'clock at night, and were there until six a.m. but it was a lot of fun. The people who won made a chocolate gold cake.

I also got outside the restaurant this week--can you believe it? On Tuesday night someone invited me to Elaine's, two days before it closed. We drank bottles of 1996 Cheval Blanc that were outrageously inexpensive, and there were so many people I knew that I started to go around taking their orders--I was playing the maitre'd, and everyone thought I worked there! The best part about the night was the food. The last time I was at Elaine's was ten years ago, but the food was excellent. I had a steak that's as good as the one we serve in the Grill (don't tell anyone). I'm sad Elaine's closed--it's the end of an era. But at least I got to be there.

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