By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 4/30 7:33pm

Vagina Monologues

mandy

Gross Encounters of the Mandy Stadtmiller Kind

The first time The Observer met Mandy Stadtmiller at her Chelsea studio, the contents of her trash were strewn all over the floor. While Ms. Stadtmiller had been at a friend’s art opening, Samsung, her rescued pit bull, had thwarted his owner’s quickie attempt to clean up. Before we could examine the contents of the mess, Ms. Stadtmiller ushered us into the hallway to wait while she located a trash bag in a cabinet next to a pair of high heels and picked up the refuse.

Inside, her crystal collection sat on a shelf above a bin of bras. A couple of stuffed animals, inspirational sayings and books with titles like Use Your Body to Heal Your Mind decorated the room. A file cabinet served as a combination bedside and dining room table next to a double bed with a plush green velvet headboard. Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 9/04/12 7:12pm

off the record

Chace Crawford's name, misspelled by the post on the Post's header in the same way the press release misspelled it.

How Your Gossip Sausage Gets Made: Page Six Seems To Borrow Language–and ‘News!’–From Press Release

On Saturday, Off the Record received a press release from Los Angeles-based celebrity PR firm Sprock. It was pretty thin gruel: “Actor Keith Collins & Actor John Stamos” were spotted at Westside Tavern, with Mr. Stamos “discussing his performances in his always sold out Broadway Play ‘The Best Man On Broadway’ [sic, throughout].”

“Also at Read More

By Drew Grant 8/17/12 9:36am

Ashley Dupre

Ashley Dupre, prenatal (Patrick McMullan)

Eating for Du(pre): Spitzer’s Former Courtesan’s Got a Bun in the Oven And Another Formerly Married Man to Call Her Own

Ashley Dupre, Eliot Spitzer’s high-paid call girl-cum-New York Post love advice columnist (hey, we’re living in the era of MisAdvised, so we’re barely judging) announced to–where else?– Page Six today that she’s Jimmy Choo backless flats and pregnant. And no, it’s not the former governor’s, so let’s just get that right out of the way. Read More

By Foster Kamer 5/31/12 1:29pm

THE HIPPING POINT

rockaway beach

Rockaway Beach: The Page Six Bureau (and What It Means For You)

Rockaway Beach: A well-established Hipster Hamptons of sorts for the last few years, a place many thought would hit fever-pitch sometime this summer, the moment when—like Williamsburg and Bushwick and Red Hook and hell, the rest of the entire borough of Brooklyn before it—well-heeled Manhattanites discover it, and then, ruin the fun for those who were ostensibly there “first.”*

First came The Taco Stand.

Then, the Trend Pieces.

Then, The Hoteliers.

And now: The Page Six Item.  Read More

By Ted Gushue 5/08/12 3:05pm

As Seen in SCENE

Crash and Burn

If you haven’t met Priyantha De Silva, there’s still a good chance you’ve encountered him, perhaps when he was pretending to be someone else: cherubic cocktail chaser, uncredited Academy Award-winning producer, conspicuous Condé Nast editor, philandering philanthropist, ICM agent or the creator of the Kardashians. Some say that if you put your ear to a martini, you can almost hear his overdone debonair voice: “What do you mean I’m not on the list? Don’t you know who I am?” Priyantha De Silva was that really, really sweaty guy of Sri Lankan descent who successfully crowbarred his way into progressively higher social circles, ultimately crashing down into of Manhattan’s most closely guarded venues: Rikers Island.
Read More

By Drew Grant 2/21/12 2:32pm

socialites

Prince Pierre Casiraghi with Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, pre-fight (Patrick McMullan)

Updated: Was Paris Hilton’s Ex Stavros Niarchos to Blame for Bottle Service Battle and Prince Casiraghi’s Broken Jaw?

Updated: An earlier edition of this item suggested that Ms. Hilton was at the club at the time of the assault. She was in Las Vegas, celebrating her birthday and winning a lot of money. The New York Observer apologizes for the error.

Today’s biggest headline in the New York Post wasn’t about Jeremy Lin or Cardinal Tim Dolan. How refreshing! Instead, the story of the day is about a spat at the Meatpacking Club Double Seven club on Saturday night, between former owner of Hawaiian Tropic Zone, Adam Hock, and a group of very young adults with very old money. The night ended with a sprained shoulder for Mr. Hock and an alleged broken jaw for 24-year-old Prince Pierre Casiraghi, the grandson of Grace Kelly. Mr. Hock is now being charged with four counts of third-degree assault.

Fights between socialites and bar owners are usually relegated to Page Six. So how did Emily Smith‘s team make Saturday’s punch-up front page news? The answer might lay in a throw-away reference to the rest of the prince’s posse. 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