Kristina Stewart Ward, the newish editor of Avenue, stood in the lobby of a Hudson Yards tower last Wednesday, greeting party guests and reintroducing the society magazine after a yearlong hiatus.
She wore a vintage satin trench coat by Tom Ford for YSL, provocatively embroidered with breasts and buttocks. “Woven in by busy little atelier hands,” Ms. Ward said between air kisses.
Upstairs on the sixth floor, 400 schmoozy and well-groomed people circulated in a common space reserved for residents of 35 Hudson Yards, where a three-bedroom apartment is listed for $11.8 million. One room featured a virtual putting green, tequila bar and golf pro, although he apologized that the sensors were not working.
Another room was filled with tables of macarons and tiny chocolate éclairs. Waiters passed drinks to guests including Dorinda Medley of “The Real Housewives of New York City”; Bill Nye, the science guy; Nan and Gay Talese; Peter Som and Nicole Miller, the fashion designers; and Zuzu and Zunky, the small white “doggy influencers” with 20,000 Instagram followers.
Charles Cohen, the billionaire real estate developer who bought the magazine in 2018, was called away on business and did not attend.
If this strange mix represented the current state of “society,” some guests wondered, does it really warrant a magazine?
“One hundred percent, it does,” said Dennis Basso, the furrier. “There’s people who still want to be part of society, whatever that means today.”
A dozen dancers from the American Ballet Theater, including Calvin Royal III, who is featured in the magazine, were in high demand for photographs.
Keith J. Kelly, the longtime media columnist at The New York Post, surveyed the scene from a corner. “This is the first magazine launch party in a long time, it’s really extravagant,” he said, as a tray of hors d’oeuvres floated by.
And was he impressed by the food? “Small dishes,” said Mr. Kelly, sounding unmoved. “But that’s the trend these days.”
Name That NBC Show
Wasn’t that the guy who played a producer on “30 Rock”? And doesn’t he play a detective on “Manifest”?
At an NBC party at the Rainbow Room last Thursday, everyone looked vaguely famous, even if their names weren’t necessarily top of mind.
But for every Scott Adist and J.R. Ramirez, there were more familiar faces including Fran Drescher, who appears on “Indebted,” and Eric McCormack, from “Will & Grace.” Still, it would have taken a die-hard pop culture fan to recognize Eve Plumb, who played Jan Brady in “The Brady Bunch” more than 50 years ago.
The event, hosted by Cinema Society, celebrated the midseason return of many of NBC’s scripted programs, and united far-flung casts who film in Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver and elsewhere. Many of the actors had put in a full day of promotional appearances, starting with morning television.
“We did ‘The View,’ we did ‘Today Show,’ we did Seth Meyers — tons of interviews, jumping all around town,” said Terry Crews, a star of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” He also visited the Condé Nast headquarters, and was disappointed not to run into Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor. “‘The September Issue’ is one of my favorite movies,” he said, referring to the documentary about Vogue. “I love fashion.”
Other famous faces included Anupam Kher, Gina Gershon, Steve Higgins, Alex Newell and Retta. The bar served themed cocktails including a Peacock’s Pride, and around 9 p.m., a novelty cake shaped like a television was cut and passed around the room.
Ms. Drescher nursed a glass of water and admired the views of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and One World Trade Center. “People say, ‘You have such beautiful skin, you look the same.’ You are what you eat,” she said, after nibbling on a caviar canapé.
“I almost exclusively do organic, but I think that was O.K.”
