Rosie Perez, Sarah Jessica Parker, and More Legendary New Yorkers Celebrate the City They Love
As this year draws to a close, we pay tribute to the city many of us at T&C call home. It’s a town that has taken an especially hard hit in 2020, and when we sent an incredible group of photographers, stylists, and writers into its streets to chronicle some of New York’s most indelible characters, we confirmed what we’d known all along: It’s the people.
This issue is really a salute to all the cities we love, the ones that we yearn to see again, that inspire us and teach us and feed us. But it’s a celebration most of all of city people, that fierce, resilient ragtag army of true believers. To butcher a phrase, if we can make it through this year, we can make it anywhere. — Town & Country Editor-in-Chief, Stellene Volandes
“They said that when I was a little kid, in the ’70s, during the post-Vietnam era, and during the crack epidemic, during the AIDS epidemic, 9/11—same thing. This pandemic hit, and it has hit us hard, no doubt, but I still have faith in New York. I still believe in this place, because this place is my home.”
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New York is not the birthplace of jazz but rather its town square, where discipline is sharpened and lessons are taught. In the late 1970s two brothers from New Orleans came to New York. First, the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis moved to Harlem, then his older brother, saxophonist Branford, arrived in Brooklyn. In the 40 years since then, the Marsalis brothers have done more than most to celebrate jazz in and through the city.
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“In my estimation,” says Sarah Jessica Parker,“there is no greater city than New York City.” The actress turned fashion mogul turned civic activist finds joy lately in working the sales floor at her new SJP flagship shoe boutique, which opened this July on West 54th Street, sometimes even delivering orders to customers’ doorsteps on her way home. She expounded on her love for New York in a recent Zoom interview. It all began in 1976, when she debuted on Broadway at the age of 11 and then moved to the city from Cincinnati with her family. Decades later she became a household name and fashion icon—and perhaps the most famous archetypal starry-eyed New Yorker—on HBO’s Sex and the City.
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The only bad thing about knowing Gay and Nan is realizing deep down in your heart that you will never, ever be as cool as they are. Above East 57th Street, they are the quintessential New York couple—effortlessly stylish, titans in their field, and they contain within them the shining myth of the city, or at least of literary Manhattan. — Alex Vadukul
If there were a runner-up to the Statue of Liberty, that almost-queen would be Lady Bunny. Her cotton candy hair, flawless dance moves, and scandalously short skirts are legend. In 1983 she hitched a ride with RuPaul from Atlanta to the Big Apple. Since then she’s clowned, go-go-danced, and DJ’d her way into the hearts of the Naked City. She’s a timeless treasure, and we adore her. — Mickey Boardman
“I’m always amazed at articles that declare,‘The Odeon is back,’” says Lynne Wagenknecht, proprietor of the iconic Tribeca restau-rant, which recently celebrated its 40th birthday.“We’ve always been here. The core business is neighborhood people.” — Jay McInerney
He uses Twitter to invite anyone who bears witness into the Black history of New York City. In doing so, he helps us all to better understand the greatness of New York—in all its complications. — Kimberly Drew
Sean is a surfer. The real thing. We met in L.A. decades ago, and he has been surfing the waves of New York ever since, with more aplomb than the waves of Malibu! — Michèle Lamy
Why do we love New York City? It’s full of energy, it’s fun, it’s surprising and glamorous and unexpected. All of those things are also true of Bevy Smith. There are people leaving New York right now, but nobody likes a quitter—and Bevy is definitely not a quitter. She’s the quintessential New Yorker, and the city is better because she’s here. — Andy Cohen
Alva and Christopher represent the energy of New York, its endless possibility. I met her through Giorgio di Sant’Angelo and Stephen Burrows, the designers who inspired me most when I first came here. Christopher worked for me right after school. I don’t often say this, but I told him to go out and forge his own road. I went to his first show and I was so proud. He’s an explosion of color and goodness and enthusiasm, just what this moment calls for.” — Diane von Furstenberg
The Metropolitan Opera is a village that impacts the cultural life of the city, the nation, and the world. We’re the largest performing arts nonprofit in the country, and there’s nothing I look forward to more than seeing that curtain go up again. — Peter Gelb
There’s so much wrong with the world that you have to respond with dance. There’s a desperate need to infuse your surroundings with joy. Is there a reason to dance right now? Yes, more than ever. — Robbie Fairchild
What keeps New York City going is the arts. Dancers have kept the vivaciousness of New York alive. You see resilience in dancers, and that same resilience is echoed in the city as a whole. — Danelle Morgan
This story appears in the December 2020 / January 2021 issue of Town & Country.
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