Anna Wintour leads a protest

Wow...what a snob. Wonder why, exactly, she thinks it's going to attract "dangerous elements"? To...the West Village? Come on. And La Esquina is a pretty classy place, so I imagine that this will be as well. I can't imagine a bunch of thugs heading over to the West Village because they hear a new Jamaican place is opening up there!

@JenMac Clearly not. What a little harpie that Wintour woman can be...

And the fact that there was a community meeting about why this Jamaican place was going to be so dangerous to the neighborhood leads me to believe she's not the only one with such ideas. This probably happens a lot more than we hear about, as the only reason it even made the news in the first place is that this anti-Jamaican-restaurant meeting starred Anna Wintour.

@NeverSleeps Not sure, though. But I believe all new businesses have to go through a process of being approved at a community meeting. When I lived in Nolita I used to see notices posted in the neighborhood about community meetings held for the opening of various new restaurants. Not sure, but maybe it has something to do with liquor licences...?

It's hard to tell what exactly Anna Wintour's problem is with the restaurant.

Oh, I just saw that second article about AW being carried down the stairs by bodyguards. Boy, I bet that story did wonders for her reputation as a snob. I think people like her have publicists whose only job is to make up this kind of stuff and feed it to the press.

@Uraniumfish I think you have a valid point it must be because of the liquor license issuance that a public meeting is called before a restaurant can open in a particular neighborhood.

@DBlack that's bad press for Anna Wintour or is that any press is better than no press at all?

The image of tiny Anna Wintour being carried down the stairs by big, burly bodyguards is innately hilarious to me, if also somewhat distasteful.

I watched The September Issue - a documentary about how Vogue puts together a huge fall issue - and I have to say Anna Wintour's life seems pretty ridiculous, in a wow-this-is-what-you-are-contributing-to-the-world-? kind of way. She seems to think she is the queen of Sheba, doesn't she? I'm at a loss for words on the whole anti-Jamaican restaurant thing. If it didn't seem so prejudicial it would be very comical.

@uptowngirl Maybe it's good press because it just solidifies her image as a snob, which as a head of fashion you have to be seen to be. We don't want her to appear in any way human or humane.

That veneer she displays does seem entirely put on, but so does that of most people involved in that shallow - and yes, it is shallow - industry.

I think she likes the attention she gets for being a snob - no press is bad press, after all, and how else is she going to stay in the news?

It's one thing to like to look good, but it's another to spend money that you don't have in order not to look like you don't have the money you don't have.

@NeverSleeps Unfortunately we live in a world where this attitude seems to be becoming more and more prevalent People will do anything to have the next IT bag /shoes/ clothes for appearances seem to be all important in this day and age. The US is still gripped in a recession but in Asia this attitude is totally out of control. Its not uncommon to see young kids talking of flying only in business/ first class and having fancy foreign holidays for all their vacations. The first time I flew in business class when I was in college and that too I was upgraded on an Air Canada flight and my first overseas vacation was when I was out of school totally unlike today's kids who fly to Switzerland for ski holidays and what not.

@NeverSleeps Sounds crazy but apparently comes with the territory of certain kinds of glam jobs.

@uptowngirl Well, maybe certain of today's kids do that, who can.

@NeverSleeps, Uraniumfish Hah! Yeah, I bet a LOT of people do exactly that, especially in NYC where the idea of seeing and being seen is so much stronger than in the rest of the world. Except maybefor LA.

I'm glad I'm not in those glam jobs! Vintage shoes and inexpensive hole-in-the-wall trattorias are far more my kind of thing!

@uptowngirl @Uraniumfish I am so not into the live-beyond-your-means thing. And I have never flown business class! No fair!

@DBlack For real.

@ajadedidealist Completely agreed.

I've flown business class once! Still have no idea why - I purchased a standard-grade, run-of-the-mill economy ticket and just got escorted to a business class seat. They didn't announce they were upping my class or anything. Of course, I didn't complain.

The creepiest thing/thing that annoys me is in England, where super-crowded trains like the London-Oxford line are so full because they're oversold and people have to sit on the floor because they build so many first-class cars (which stand absolutely EMPTY!) because they want to "Make a profit." Grumble grumble nationalize the railways grumble grumble

Ha! Some friends and I were once kicked out of a first class car on a trip in Italy - we thought we were being so sneaky, and that it wouldn't matter as the thing was EMPTY. Sigh.

@everyone I fly business class when my husband pays for it and when I pay my own way I fly economy though last year BA on their own upgraded me on both my flights to and from London.. can't complain about that.

How does one get oneself upgraded? Are there any tricks to it? I would love to end up being upgraded.

@Uraniumfish according to the travel gurus you have to be decently dressed for your flight and it also helps if you are a member of the airline's frequent flyer program..

@uptowngirl That's interesting... Didn't you used to be able to ask for a free upgrade, like if they had seats available?

@BroadwayBK I forgot to add , your best bet to get an upgrade is when economy is overbooked.

@uptowngirl Ah, so it has to do with luck for the most part.

I was upgraded to first class once on Christmas Eve because they didn't get my bags checked on time so I didn't make my flight and I starting sobbing. I mean, wailing crying and saying that they were, literally, ruining Christmas. The guy felt really bad and silently ushered me into first class on the next flight . . . six hours later.

@JenMac I love when the airlines mess up and then they have to treat you well. Because of the snowstorm last winter they fed us and would have paid for the hotel if we needed to stay the night as a result of delayed flights. And they gave us vouchers for discounts on the next flight we book. I thought, it should snow like this more often.

When I had the ash cloud they offered to give me SIX NIGHTS in a swank-ish hotel in Dubrovnik, including food (keep in mind I'd previously had three nights in a 10 euro guesthouse). I took it for the one night, but ended up leaving for Vienna the next day...

I've never even asked for an upgrade! Obviously I need to start doing so. I think I will try the JenMac way and just start sobbing at the desk. Delta lost my luggage when I flew across the country for New Year's, but I didn't even think to start sobbing! Genius!

@Everyone Let me know how the sobbing tricks out ..will have to learn a few tricks since now my commute to NYC extends over 16 hours...

I suppose I'll have to keep trying my method of dressing well and checking my watch while looking importantly late for something. Even though it hasn't been successful so far, one of these days...

@DBlack: My dad always used to say that was the best method so I think you're on the right track.

@everyone according to a hugely popular airfare tracking blog airline staff actually sell cheap upgrades at the gates as they want to fill seats at any cost ..I have yet to see this but I am going to keep my eyes open for this.

@Everyone Anna Wintour really is the grand dame of NYC! the President on his latest visit attended a fund raiser at her home.. price of the fund raising dinner? 30k per head.. oh golly!
http://dnainfo.com/20100728/manhattan/anna-wintour-hosts-presidential-fundraiser-after-obama-snubs-wall-street

That is just ridiculous! It's one thing to donate that money to charity directly - but these fund-raisers just seem pretentious and silly

Yes. I hate when fund raising becomes a self-congratulatory event that has nothing to do with the issue at hand.

I was recently at one and they had set up a film screening in two separate, adjoining theaters, one was reserved for people who had donated thousands and all the famous people were seated there, and the other was for people who gave $100 or more, and it felt weirdly discriminatory. I thought, wow, you give a hundred bucks, just to get treated like a second class citizen. Not to mention that the fundraiser was not especially packed, and everyone who attended could have fit into one theater.

What an awful scene, I walked away feeling like I'd been slimed.

But I suppose that the money must do some good somewhere...even if the people donating it were mostly looking for a tax break.

Hopefully the money raised does do some good, no matter what the motivations of the people donating it. Fundraisers are all about self-congratulation, though, and that's a big motivator for people to give. Probably the biggest motivator of all.

My favorite fundraiser of all time was the Laguna Hills Landslide fundraiser. A bunch of rich people threw a fete to raise money to donate to the victims of the landslide. These people lost their 5 million dollar homes and some of their infinity pools were ruined; they really needed some financial assistance.

@JenMac LOL


@Everyone without these fundraisers what would Manhattan's Ladies who lunch set do???

@JenMac Oh man, I couldn't believe the audacity of that episode of Laguna Beach. Like those people didn't have awesome insurance!

@broadwaybk: right? Oh, and like people with those houses have no savings? It was such a joke. Help people who actually need it . . .

@Uraniumfish - that's ridiculous? What was the fundraiser for? Although it's not like I'd feel anything but gross boycotting it or anything like that- but just out of curiosity

Fundraising is its own world of money and slime. I believe we were recently talking about Washington DC? No matter how high-minded the politician (and most of them are pretty low minded to begin with) they ALL have to spend a substantial amount of their time sliming out the cash for their campaigns.

@Uraniumfish so true! though I often wonder if those mom's with the foreign nannies are high-powered executives who couldn't be bothered with something as mundane as child rearing.

@DBlack It does seem like setting up a political system populated by people who continue to thrive in office via campaign donations is just asking for it. We are just asking for it.

@JenMac Savings? Most of those homeowners were probably born with trust funds. And the rest could probably put their homes back together on their next paycheck. Ugh. What a despicable show.

A little off topic, but I was once hanging out with a friend who was house sitting in one of those Laguna mansions, and was surprised to see that the lady of the house had a subscription to Adbusters, which was displayed prominently in the bathroom. Like, really? These people paid $10,000 for a coffee table and they think they are against corporate America? Then again, maybe it was one of those know-thy-enemy sort of things.

@ajadeidealist The fundraiser was to help fight child trafficking and prostitution in Thailand. Sigh. They really had tote bags too, with childtrafficking-dot-org or whatever the website was, emblazoned on them. I was so depressed seeing all of that.

@uptowngirl I bet only one out of 100 are women with interesting lives, the rest are trophy wives.

My favorite "ridiculous rich people" story. I was tutoring a student in a really swank neighborhood of [undisclosed expensive city]. I was sitting in the courtyard of the house, which had been turned by judicious use of glass into an indoor room, and commented on the heat.

The response: "oh, ever since we installed that pool in the basement, it's been awfully warm in this room!"

That said, they were really lovely people, and heck, some of that ridiculous money was going to pay my totally fair salary, so I can't fault them. But seriously - a SWIMMING POOL IN THE BASEMENT? All else being equal - isn't it more fun to swim IN THE SUN?

Ahhh rich people. I know a guy here who haggles over his cable bill and owns three boats. We took one out one day and it cost him $700 to fill up the tank; but, he won't call a locksmith because he thinks the prices are ridiculous.