Blake Lively isn’t really a resident of the ritzy New York Palace Hotel. She just plays one on TV!
“I don’t know if I could live in a hotel,” said Ms. Lively, whose character on the popular CW series Gossip Girl, Serena van der Woodsen, occupies the posh Palace’s penthouse. “I need a kitchen because I love to cook, but I love the Palace Hotel so much! I had my 21st birthday here. It was a black tie formal, and I had it downstairs in the Madison Room. It’s one of my favorite hotels in the city by far.”
Ms. Lively dropped by her fictional digs on Thursday night, May 28, briefly posing for photos with fellow actor Justin “I’m a Mac” Long—her Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley also made an appearance—at a splashy party on the Palace rooftop to celebrate one of the newest additions to the Manhattan skyline.
Actress Claire Danes stood with boyfriend Hugh Dancy, clutching a glass of Champagne and bobbing her head as the European band One Night Only counted down from 10.
At one, three 50-foot-long Burberry signs lit up across the street, above the fashion label’s new U.S. headquarters at 444 Madison Avenue.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared it “Burberry Day.” Actor Orlando Bloom, model Molly Sims and numerous others turned out to celebrate, many of them wearing—what else?—Burberry!
Mr. Bloom, who stuck around late into the evening, smoking cigarettes, gave props to the company’s creative director, Christopher Bailey: “Christopher called up and said, ‘Oh, we’re having a party, and lighting up the lights at the building across the street,’ and asked if I wanted to come along, and I was like, ‘Yeah, of course, man!’ I was on my way to L.A. He’s done a fantastic job. He’s an amazing artist.”
The rainy weather seemed only appropriate at a celebration for the renowned trench coat maker.
“The funniest story is when I was in Korea and they showed me one of the new dictionaries that came out, and if you look up trench coat, it says Burberry,” the company’s CEO, Angela Ahrendts, told the Daily Transom. “I mean, is that cool?”
Ms. Ahrendts smiled and tilted her head. “They are iconic. I love it when the young girls wear it, the young guys wear it, but I love seeing the executives and I love seeing the 80-year-old man walking down the street with his collar up.”
Even grouchy actress Rose McGowan seemed to enjoy the misty views from the hotel’s rooftop.
“I love New York but I hate gray weather,” Ms. McGowan told the Daily Transom. “It makes me want to cry and sleep. Even though I don’t tan, I like the bright lights. Tonight, though, with how this looks, the word ‘Gotham’ is perfect. It’s a perfect description. It literally looks like Batman should be sweeping off one of these buildings. That’s awesome, and that’s a great thing about New York.”
