The Shame Game

It was 2006, and Damon Young had just met a woman on MySpace. Their back-and-forth was witty, flirty and easy. They went on a first date at Barnes & Noble, where they browsed books and continued to vibe. Things were going great, Damon thought. That is, until she called off their second date. Damon was…

Was This the Art Party of the Summer?

Gallery openings tend to be staid affairs. White wine, art-world hobnobbing and maybe dinner. O’Flaherty’s, a scrappy gallery in the East Village of Manhattan that’s named after a nonexistent Irish pub, sought to invert the whole notion of the summer group show. First, it held an “open call” in which anyone — starving artists, children,…

Keeping the Hippie Dream Alive

The guide stood before a small group in a dimly lit tepee. “Do you want to be entertained, or to go deep?” he asked. The answer came in giddy unison: “Go deep!” “Good,” he said. “That was a trick question.” The people got cozy on the pillow-strewn floor as the guide went to his keyboard.…

C’mon, Apple: Be the New New Celine

So Jony Ive, the former Apple chief design officer and consultant, and the man most responsible for the visual allure of Apple products — the man who helped transform computers and phones into objects of desire, who made them more than mere vectors of functionality, but rather badges of identity — and his erstwhile employer…

Sorry, Summer

Timothy Hale had high hopes for this summer. “Last summer was a tease,” said the 29-year-old hairstylist and freelance photographer, who goes by Tim Hell professionally. “I was hoping this would be the summer I could finally have fun.” After moving to New York City from Baltimore in February 2021, then finding himself cooped up…