Vanity Fair continues to kill it on Jeffrey Epstein reporting.

Vanity Fair has a series of Jeffrey Epstein articles dating back to 2003 that I consider must-reads for anyone who is morbidly intrigued by this dumpster fire of a human. And by that I mean virtually all of you, don’t lie.

The Talented Mr. Epstein is a story about Epstein from 2003, i.e., right at the height of his bizarre powers, back when he was just sort of a strange enigma in New York high society who somehow wormed his way into a consigliere-type position for rich and powerful people.

”I Collect People, I Own People, I Can Damage People”: The Curious Sociopathy of Jeffrey Epstein is a story about Epstein right after he killed himself[*?] from the perspective of women and ex-girlfriends who knew him. Hint: he was a complete weirdo whose governing purpose in life appeared to be surrounding himself with powerful and attractive people. That’s an alternative way of telling you that Jeffrey Epstein would absolutely have tried to be part of this block association.

And then finally The Mogul and the Monster: Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Decades-Long Relationship With His Biggest Client came out three days ago and explores Epstein’s relationship with Les Wexner, the guy who owns Limited Brands, which in turns owns major retail brands such as Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie and Fitch, Express, and Bath & Body Works. Hint: Wexner was extremely lonely and completely mistook Epstein’s governing purpose; Epstein was able to manipulate him out of an extraordinary amount of money as a result.

Last hint: if you hit a paywall, try pasting the url into outline.com.

Sunday night conversation with Erik Bottcher (next Sunday, 6:30pm, my rooftop).

Some of you will recall the early days of this quirky little enterprise when we basically just consisted of a guy who threw together a website in a moment of madness, a girl with a Dalmatian who can ask you for treats in either English or Italian, and a couple who really needs your help in getting their story out about trying to adopt a baby.  Others of you will point out that everything I just said still seems 100% applicable right now and quite frankly you’re still struggling to figure out what exactly you signed up for.  And I really don’t have much to say to those in the second camp other than that I think you’re making some really solid points.

Anyway those in the first camp will recall an individual named Erik Bottcher, who graced our pages in the early stages regarding an initiative to help New Yorkers sign up for COVID vaccines and putting us in touch with the Parks & Rec Department for our community garden idea.  That’s a demonstrative way of telling you that Erik Bottcher was with us shooting in the gym, if you catch my drift, and I have a tendency to be a bit of an elephant about that sort of thing.  To re-introduce Erik, Erik is the former chief of staff for Corey Johnson, our current City Council Member for the Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, and West Village neighborhoods, and like Leslie Boghosian Murphy, he is currently running to be our area’s next City Council Member.  Remember that the all-important Democratic primary for that race is June 22.

Well, friends, fresh off a lively Sunday night conversation on my rooftop last Sunday, we’re going to hold a second Sunday night conversation with Erik Bottcher this Sunday.  The time will be 6:30pm.  The place will be my rooftop at 507 West Chelsea.  The vibe will be unceremonious.  All of my usual points of view about how to actually effectuate change in your community apply, which can be summed up by an old adage about lawyers: a good lawyer knows the law, a great lawyer knows the judge.  Neighbors, court will be in session once again next Sunday.  All rise. 

And all of my usual reasons for attending myself will also apply, which are that life can be rather short and worrisome at times.  There are a lot of way to distract yourself from that fact, and now seems like an appropriate time to tell you there will of course be drinks at the event.  But I believe that the very best way to distract yourself from that fact is other people, and I can assure you that there will be some very good ones in attendance.   

You can RSVP by responding. Given space restrictions and the fact that we already have a guest list going, I think you will need to RSVP rather quickly if you want to attend.

Drink a little, eat a little, talk a little with neighbors & Leslie Boghosian Murphy today at 5pm.

Ok everybody, we’re officially going out on my roof with Leslie Boghosian Murphy, who is running for City Council in our area, at 5pm today. You will notice that the “Have Fun” box is already pre-checked for you above. That’s how positive we are about this. I can also assure you that this will be extremely laid-back and non-fancy, because that is really the only way I’m trying to be outside of work.

You can RSVP if you haven’t already by replying to this email or texting me. When you get here, just tell the doorman you’re here for Brian—that should do the trick. I don’t think we’ll be out there for that long, so try to come as close to 5pm as possible. See you soon.

Posts you missed:

• Film shoots on our block: Ray Donovan and something called “Possible Productions, Inc.”

• The Parks Department showed a movie on a big outdoor screen in Chelsea Park last night.

The Parks Department showed a movie on a big outdoor screen in Chelsea Park last night.

The NYC Parks & Rec Department is showing movies outside at various parks this summer in a feature called “Movies Under the Stars,” and they put Dolittle on the big screen at Chelsea Park last night. You can see their full set of screenings this month here: Movies Under the Stars : NYC Parks (nycgovparks.org).

This is a cool thing and I wonder if we could get them to come back to Chelsea Park—or maybe even that grassy area around 23rd Street on the Hudson—this summer. Probably, if enough parents got on board. Won’t somebody think of the children(!)

Film shoots on our block: Ray Donovan and something called “Possible Productions, Inc.”

There were two film shoots on our block on Friday, June 4th, one for Ray Donovan and one for something called “Possible Productions, Inc.”

On Ray Donovan, I’ve heard of the show and I’ve definitely heard of the last name before, but I’ve never actually watched it. The show is evidently about a “fixer” for celebrities and powerful people who basically makes all your problems disappear. Think Michael Cohen for Donald Trump, I gather, but infinitely more competent and badass. The show was canceled in February 2020 after seven seasons, though a few months ago, Showtime decided to make a feature-length film to conclude the storyline. You can see the trailer for the seventh season, which was filmed in NYC, here: Ray Donovan Season 7 (2019) Official Teaser | Liev Schreiber SHOWTIME Series - YouTube.

On “Possible Productions, Inc.,” I’ve never heard of it before, but it looks like it’s a film production company that basically makes the video for big events—if you want your Super Bowl halftime show to look really slick and professional on TV, I believe you have to pay a company like Possible Productions to do it.

Anyway I’m more interested in the name “Possible Productions, Inc.” than whatever it does—it makes it sound hilariously noncommittal. Like, “we may be shooting something right now on your block, but maybe we’re not?” What are you hiding, Possible Productions, Inc.? Or perhaps I should take it more as a lack of confidence. Something like, “technically we’re shooting on your block right now but it’s nothing really and we really hope you like it and also we’re sorry for getting in your way.” You didn’t get in my way, Possible Productions, Inc., and from one possible block association to one possible film production company, you show know that at least on this block you are safe, we trust you, and we believe in you. Come back and possibly produce anytime you want.

Rescheduling today’s rooftop wine & cheese event to Sunday at 5pm?

Those of you near a window right now will notice that it is raining. That is a good thing for the lot on 29th & 10th—if the rain gods keep this up, we’ll have an full-blown, full-grown community jungle regardless of whether the tax gods ever grant a public use exemption to the current owners of the lot.

However it is a bad thing for the rooftop wine & cheese event we had planned with Leslie Boghosian Murphy today. The best laid plans of mice and men, and so forth. I originally thought it might make sense to move the event inside to a lounge in my building, but given that we’re still coming out of a bit of pandemic, my second thought was that moving it inside might depress turnout.

And so what we’re going to do instead is propose moving the event to this upcoming Sunday at 5pm. It’s supposed to be 90 degrees and sunny then, so that’s nice. Plus it would stave off my normal Sunday blues. That is also nice.

What’s not clear to me though is what proportion of our neighborhood won’t really be here this weekend—or any of the next few weekends for that matter—because you’re accomplished enough to use “summer” as a verb, etc., etc., and the like. So could you please respond to this email or text me at 585-200-2535 if you would make it at 5pm this Sunday? If enough people respond so that it’s worthwhile for Leslie, we’ll make it happen.

For those of you who are entertaining the idea of coming, allow me a few parting shots. First, if you are one of the people who has written in to me with a problem or issue you’ve identified in the neighborhood, keep in mind that in addition to very possibly being our area’s next NYC Council member, Leslie is on Community Board 4. That is the organization that has the ear of elected officials/city agencies and that is actually responsible for collecting the hot-button issues our community identifies. This would be like if the person who could actually help with your problem started knocking on your door and saying “hey I’d really like to understand your problem.” Open it.

And second, for those of you who like wine, cheese, and having a good time while not really doing anything at all, let me start by saying that I like your style. This would be like if a person with at least three things you like started knocking on your door asking if you’d like to be distracted from work or whatever else you’re worried about right now for an hour. I think you should also open it.

Happy Thursday.

What I think about change, and a chance to meet Leslie Boghosian Murphy.

You can RSVP to this event by responding to this email. Note that I probably told too many people about it already and my roof has limited capacity, so you should RSVP soon if you want to come.

Neighbors, what I’m certain about is very little. What’s worse is that what I’m certain about is actually decreasing as I get older. When I was 11 years old I was basically certain about what happens when we die; 20+ years later, holed up in my apartment on a rained-out Memorial Day weekend with my phone sitting at a precarious 2%, the only things I can tell you with any certainty are that you will lose track of a lot of umbrellas in your life and you should not buy off-brand iPhone chargers from the Rite Aid at 23rd and 10th.

What I believe to be true about the way things work is a bit of a different story, however, and one of my increasing number of beliefs is the following: Change—real change in your community that you can actually, tangibly feel on a day-to-day basis—is very rarely effected through bomb-throwing at people you don’t really know. Real change is also rarely effected through the literary equivalent of bomb-throwing, which is the strongly worded letter or email you send at the very moment you identify a problem or area of concern. Rather, I think that change which actually changes the temperature in your room is effected through forming genuine relationships with people before you need to ask them for something, and, of course, voting in your local elections.

That brings me to Leslie Boghosian Murphy, who has helped us with our budding community garden initiative and who is currently running for City Council in the Chelsea, West Village, and Hell’s Kitchen area. The Democratic primary for that race is June 22, and the primary will basically decide the whole election. I readily admit that I am too uninformed about the issues at present and too principled in my stance on never pitching about anything to give you some type of pitch for Leslie, but listen: We are going to host a meet-and-greet this Thursday, June 3, at 6:30pm at my rooftop at 507 West 28th Street (northwest corner of 28th Street & 10th Avenue) where you can eat a little, drink a little, and talk to some people, including Leslie. Regardless of who you plan to vote for or whether you plan to vote at all, I think it is worth it to stop by and check out the view.

The problem is that I probably already told too many people about this event and my roof has limited capacity. So you need to reply to this email with a bit of haste if you want to attend.

Post you missed this week (just one):

• “The Blacklist” is filming on our block next Tuesday (bonus: the actors will look like cops and will have prop weapons).  

“The Blacklist” is filming on our block next Tuesday, June 1.

The Blacklist, Season 8, is going to be filming on our block next Tuesday. I’ll let the flyer I saw outside provide the synopsis of the show:

In the show, a criminal mastermind aides the FBI in bringing down a network of previously unknown international villains and syndicates.

I gather that James Spader, who is one of those guys you’ve definitely seen in something before but can’t immediately remember what, plays the criminal mastermind. Here’s the teaser for Season 8, where Spader seems to play like a quippy killer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U_chX0Ml_o.

Bonus—the flyer includes the following disclaimer:

***PLEASE BE ADVISED, STUNT WORK WILL BE IN PROGRESS, ACTORS WILL BE IN POLICE UNIFORMS AND PROP WEAPONS WILL BE IN USE***

I’m here for it.

I checked out Little Island, that new little floating park on the Hudson.

Sometimes things that are popular and mainstream are popular and mainstream for a simple reason: they are very good things. Avocado toast and White Claws aren’t flying off the menu because of some mass millennial delusion or deep-seated carelessness by the younger set about the value of money. It is because they taste good and feel pretty clean on the way down. Occam’s razor will tell you everything you need to know about brunches in the East Village.

That brings me to Little Island, the little floating park on the Hudson around 14th Street that just opened last week. It was designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the same guy who designed the Vessel in Hudson Yards (you win some and you lose some), and is made to look like leaves floating on the water. It is basically a hilly little greenspace with some winding walkways, a ton of plants, trees, and flowers, and a very cool wooden amphitheater overlooking the water. I visited with my parents last weekend (pictured!) who came up to visit from Georgia.

My one real problem with Little Island is that I’m pretty sure everyone else’s parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. and every other living descendant on the family tree also came up to New York City last weekend and decided to visit Little Island. I mean this place was absolutely packed—it felt like Disney World out there. At some points you could hardly turn around and/or would get stuck behind those slow walkers with limited peripheral vision that typically hold their weekend congregations on the High Line.

But that is the price you pay for making a good thing, and my overall review is that Little Island is a good thing. Hopefully it will clear out a bit as fall comes into view.

Identifying with a townhouse.

It’s not often that I identify with a townhouse, but then again, it’s not often that I see a townhouse flying totally solo without a single other house in frame. This house sits at the southwest corner of 27th Street and 10th Avenue and has caught my eye since I moved to the area a few years ago.

Who lives in this place? Should I think of is as the first of something or the last of something? How angry are the owners about the new building that I’m typing from right now? I’m pretty sure the answers to these questions get progressively easier to infer.

I think the reason this house continues to grab my attention is because it seems to be going its own way regardless of whatever its neighbors or surroundings or you or I or whatever or whoever or whomever thinks about the situation. Stand tall, brick house with the red door on 27th and 10th—you’ve always got to be willing to go it alone and no one is coming to save you. We’ll be rooting you on from one block up.