The Vindication Of NYSocialDiary



(image via pbs)

We have been fans of David Patrick Columbia -- our favorite social chronicler -- for some time. He is having an ironic renaissance of sorts, mainly because although he is one of our foremost writers on what New York money does after hours, it is in this present credit crisis that he is truly coming into his own as the best journalist on his beat.

For years the only criticism that David's detractors could come up with consistently is that NYSocialDiary wasn't critical enough of the subject it covered, namely: The Monied. That, in this bloggers opinion, is a generational criticism and is sort of foolish. While people in their late 20s and 30s prefer the Gawker treatment of the rich and powerful, cutting them down into bit-sized morsels, that was never what NYSocialDiary intended. And those who know David know that he does not have that type of personality.

NYSD offers a daily glimpse inside the drawing rooms of New York Power. Oftentimes that picture is presented in a cool neutral, Vermeerish light. When the harsh light of reality intrudes, as in the case of a High Society scandal, then those social "kodacks" are then dutifully rendered in that light source. But the peek is always interesting and rare even without the snarky undercurrent that our generation has come to expect with our social commentary. And, quite frankly, no blogger/website presenting a serially snarky look at this guarded cosmos would be granted continued access for long.

Of late DPC has taken to chronicling the effects of the financial anxiety on the fortunes and well-appointed marriages of the New York monied. Those who heaped criticism on NYSD have gone strangely silent.

A sampling from today's NYSocialDiary:

"Out in the greener and cleaner pastures of North Shore Long Island, the current talk is about the heiress to a famous (household name) American fortune whose marriage (with children) has collapsed, along with (and like) the markets, amid rumors of a husband missing/disappeared, and a wife’s fortune missing/lost.

That’s how the story came to me: the guy had disappeared and the wife’s money went with him. Close but not quite. He didn’t disappear. She knew where he went and he didn’t take her money with him if for no other reason than he couldn’t get his hands on it.

The husband had been in business, investments, real estate. He paid the bills with his earnings and they lived in fine style to which his wife had always been accustomed. They bought a big house and spent a fortune making it bigger. They belonged to the clubs, had a family, and lived the forty-somethings’ uber-life of American Old Money even though his money was New and, it turned out, somewhat sketchy.

She: forthright, frank, strong, devoted friend and mother. He: successful businessman, great tennis player, devoted husband and father. A beautiful couple. In the last year or so, however, starting right about when the word 'sub-prime' entered the national dialogue, things started to crumble although imperceptibly to others. Close friends knew that all was not well because the vibes were off. Although nothing was said and no one asked.

However, the first inkling of trouble came with the phone calls to the house: strangers admonishing her that all was not well with her husband’s financials.

It wasn’t long before she found they were living on borrowed money and he on borrowed time."

More NYSD here.