THEIRS is a life above the mundane, their every move often recorded in the society pages of magazines and newspapers. Men in black, women wearing fabulous gowns attending fabulous parties Great Gatsby-style.
This is the lifestyle of the rich and famous so well chronicled in the New York Social Diary, a website that has now become almost de rigueur for those keen to follow the circle.
David Patrick Columbia, the man behind newyorksocialdiary.com, has been writing about New York society for almost 15 years.
He gets hundreds of invitations to dazzling parties, mostly sent out by people seeking publicity on the site.
For example, Frocks, Rocks & Cocktails: An Evening of Glamour & Wine is an event about fashion, gems and cocktails; in March, there'll be the Mad Hatters Tea Party in West Palm Beach, Florida, where women attending the benefit would wear their wildest hats.
Journalists often seek Columbia’s comments on what the Who’s Who are doing on the social scene.
He knows people from A to Z. The Hiltons, for example. Columbia has stories to share about their daughter Paris, whom he already knew when she was a mere 14-year-old.
“She didn’t do anything then except pose for pictures,” he said. In her early days, she would spend the summer with her sister Nicky in the Hamptons (a New York playground for the moneyed). “She was always willing to have her picture taken.”
One socialite who is gaining much attention these days is 39-year-old Gillian Miniter. “She’s getting involved in a lot of philanthropic organisations,” he explained.
As Columbia noted, philanthropic work has become an important device to get recognised. “It increases their standing in society.”
A check with The New York Times archives showed that Miniter, married to an investment banker, once spent US$3,500 (RM11,550) on a Hermès bag.
The New York Social Diary, which began seven years ago, gets about 500,000 unique visitors and 1.5 million page views each month.
That’s remarkable, considering that it encountered technical hitches initially which pushed co-founder Jeffrey Hirsch into going out to buy a “For Dummies” guide on how to go on the Internet just three days before its launch date.
Columbia and Hirsch are also editor-in-chief and associate editor, respectively, of Quest magazine, which reports about “New York from the inside”.
“The Diary has readers from all over the world, including Malaysia,” Hirsch said. The fascination was partly due to people’s interest about the lives of the rich and the powerful, he said.
“And a lot of people come to New York to pursue power and fame.”
New York, in short, is a very ambitious city. People generally are curious about the privileged set because they, at one time or another, dream of, and aspire to, such a life.
Readers also check out the Diary because they love the Big Apple and want to take a peek into its social life.
“There is a romantic notion of the city, which is part of its allure,” Hirsch said.
Columbia said the Diary appealed to a very broad demographics that included age and nationality.
“We try not to leave people out,” he said, pointing out that the Diary published a photo of the four housekeeping staff who cleaned their hotel rooms during their visit to Abu Dhabi in October last year when they were guests of the government at a conference that was attended by 16 Nobel laureates.
To the Diary, the housekeeping staff were witnesses to life on the fast lane.
“The Diary is very democratic. We want to include everybody,” said Hirsch.
But as expected, a picture speaks a thousand different words to different people.
“One woman, who isn’t fat at all, complained to us that her arm looked fat in one photo that we published. She thought we did it on purpose and wanted the photo removed,” said Hirsch.
Another woman, who just went through plastic surgery, did not want the Diary to use a previous photo of hers that would have portrayed her in her “former” look.
How do they handle such complaints?
“It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes we say we’re sorry,” he said. “We are not out to hurt people.”
Generally, most of the people they encountered were nice and pleasant.
“Some of the younger ones can be a bit snooty, but not the older set because these people understand the importance of our work,” Hirsch said.
Besides, the socialites know that they have to be nice, or at least fake it, as they would want to be liked, he added.
The glamour aside, attending all these fantastic parties is just part of the job.
“He has more stamina than me,” Hirsch laughed, pointing to Columbia.
Columbia responded: “We have deadlines. It can be stressful. Going to a party is just the beginning. I would have to write the stories, giving readers a feel that they were there as well.”
So, where are some of the places to be seen at in Gotham? Current hotspots include The Box, The Beatrice Inn and The Waverly Inn.
The term socialite is very much overused, according to Columbia. At the end of the day, it is all about socialising.
“You’ve got to go out a lot. In the New York scene, it’s all about going out. If people don’t see you, they won’t know you. It’s for men and especially women who want to seek that kind of attention.”
