By Ted Gushue 3/28/12 3:16pm

The Wee Hours

This guy knows what time it is!

Time is on Our Side: The Royal Oak (It’s a Watch) Turns 40

Used to the more snug confines of downtown boîtes, The Observer approached the hulking Park Avenue Armory with trepidation last Wednesday.

We were there for what turned out to be a very manly party celebrating the birthday of a watch: the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak (starting price $10,500) was 40 years old, and some real guys were there to make sure the timepiece did not feel slighted on the momentous occasion.

Now, the nature of time is a subject we contemplate often—particularly as the sun creeps up over the ragged eastern edge of the city’s skyline—but never have we been confronted with it quite so literally. Read More

By Nate Freeman 10/11/11 7:29pm

The Wee Hours

Ms. Mulligan, Ms. Williams, Ms. Dunst.

The Wee Hours: Sex and Death at Alice Tully Hall

“Wow, this is it, this view, New York City!” Michael Fassbender said after opening the door to the roof of the Standard, where the glass buildings lining the West Side bound forth from the meatpacking district toward midtown.

It was Friday night, and The Observer had just watched the New York Film Festival’s screening of Read More

By Nate Freeman 10/04/11 6:37pm

The Wee Hours

"We were a bit dinged up."

Big Snare On Kenmare: The Wee Hours Tracks Down the Men Who Mugged Us

The unmarked cop car sped out into the late night cobwebbed streets of Nolita at 3 a.m., bursting through red lights, sirens blaring, and ricocheting around turns that shook us back and forth, east to west. We had to lay low in the back seat, even for the quick trip to the corner of Mott and Houston. We pulled up next to three cruisers, sitting hotly in a giant cough of simmering exhaust, tire tread and the flash of red, white and blue. Read More

By Nate Freeman 9/20/11 7:02pm

Fashion Week

Peter Oumanski

The Wee Hours: LiLo Crashes Marc Jacobs Bash Before Jagger Struts On In

The hotel guests at Dream Downtown had suitcases, satchels and children piled up next to the check-in counter, waiting interminably for a chance at a room, and as they did swirls of fashionable men and women speed-walked by without a word or a look—they were headed to the last big event of the week, the after-party for Marc Jacobs and his spring and summer collection. The hotel guests ventured an occasional glace at the well-attired cohort with the mysterious wristbands, striding confidently toward the tucked-away area in the back, but mostly they slouched on pieces of luggage and scratched at purple eyes, unknowing of the scene unfolding out of sight. Read More

By Nate Freeman 9/13/11 8:01pm

The Wee Hours

Alexander Wang x Busch Light

The Wee Hours: Fashion Gets Fratty for Alexander Wang's Keg Party

A few minutes before midnight on Sept. 10, The Observer walked along Pier 40 staring at the impaired skyline of Lower Manhattan, the lights from the buildings reflecting fuzzily on the water. Thus distracted, we failed to notice that  above the door of the pop-up structure that would host fashion designer Alexander Wang’s after-party were two Greek letters, not unlike those marking door frames on college campuses. We hadn’t realized that Mr. Wang had opted to forgo the usual Fashion Week postshow bash for something decidedly more sophomoric.

The most exciting designer in the world was throwing a frat party. Read More

By Nate Freeman 9/02/11 3:33pm

The Wee Hours

From the flyer, downloaded off the Internet.

It’s Ryan Trecartin’s House Party, We’re Just Living In It

Where do we go from here?

It was still the last light of a late August day but the cement courtyard of PS1, in Long Island City, had already been taken over by video artist Ryan Trecartin and his massive DayGlo cadre of manic creative types to celebrate the closing of his show Any Ever, the subject of breathless praise all summer long. The name of the party, hosted by Dis Magazine, was “DIS_RT [REALTIME/RETWEET/RYAN TRECARTIN]” Read More

By Nate Freeman 7:53pm

Dining

Diner off the rails!

The Wee Hours: The Last Days of M. Wells Diner

The general manager of M. Wells, perhaps one of the best-reviewed new restaurants of the year, didn’t want to talk about the sexual harassment scandal.
“The only people that know what transpired would be the server’s butt and the hand,” said Deven DeMarco.

The Observer sweated out the 7 train to Long Read More