Results tagged “thegreatgatsby”

       

The Jazz Age Lawn Party that was set to take place last weekend on Governors Island, actually took place this weekend, something we wish we had gotten the memo about. Katie Sokoler took the trip back in time to the '20s, however, and returned with some great photos. Visitors told the Daily News that the elegance of F. Scott and Zelda's day are lost in present times, and now events like this "evoke a world we wish we were a part of."

Arthur Emil, the man behind the late Windows on the World and The Rainbow Room, has won the coveted contract to operate the famous Oak Room and Oak Bar (pictured) in the Plaza Hotel, which is near the end of a three-year, $400 million makeover. The 18 story landmark building opened in 1907 and operated as a hotel until 2005, after being sold for $675 million. After delays blamed on “red tape”, the Plaza is expected to open by the end of March as an upscale condominium with retail space and a smaller hotel.

The Plaza, you know that place where the kids in Gossip Girl hang out, is turning 100 years old today. The date is marked by the first guest to ever check in to the famed establishment. Who was it? The fancy-named Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, and of course a PR-driven hotel manager was behind that. The NY Times reports that "His arrival was orchestrated by the Plaza’s first manager, who wanted the new hotel to open with a splashy, attention-getting stunt."

Recently Time Magazine picked the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. Now as these lists seem to come out about once a month and mean about as much as the prize in a box of cracker jacks we've learned to generally completely ignore them. In fact, we probably wouldn't have even registered this latest list if it weren't for this genius post on The Morning News.

Esquivel will be joined by actors Jimmy Smits and Daphne Rubin-Vega in a reading of the book tonight at the Borders Books at the Time-Warner Center, Columbus Circle. Smits and Rubin-Vega costarred in Anna in the Tropics on Broadway; he was good in NYPD Blue but Smits will always be Victor Sifuentes to us, and while Rubin-Vega is known for her fine work in many things, like Rent, Gothamist appreciates her small role in the underrated camp classic, Wild Things. And two weeks ago, to kick off the first day of The Great Gatsby being serialized in the Times, Gothamist's favorite lawyer-on-TV, as well as Nick Carraway in the film version, Sam Waterston, and his daughter, Elizabeth, read from Gatsby.

The dashing Steven Weiss of The Forward let us know about tonight's event at the Borders at the Time-Warner Building at Columbus Circle, between 6-7PM, with Sam Waterston and his daughter, Elizabeth, reading from the book, which will be followed by a discussion. Waterston, our favorite lawyer (Law & Order AND I'll Fly Away), played Nick Carraway in the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby. James McBride, author of The Color of Water, will be giving a reading on August 23. Here is the Times' press release.