Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Weber, and More Share Why They Love New York Inline
Photo: Bruce Weber1/4Cyndi Lauper, musician
“I was born in NYC. I travel everywhere but am always glad to come home. My home city has fashion, art, and music—not enough clubs anymore for young musicians, but it is still a beautiful city.
“There are many memories I have as a child walking with my father under the treelined street by the Museum of Natural History, on the 77th Street side, and then walking on the same street with my son in his stroller. Growing up and living in this city is a great gift to me. It feels like I have lived many lifetimes here. To me, NYC is a magical place filled with so many different kinds of people, there’s no way you can ever be bored here.
“I stood on a fire engine once, singing down Fifth Avenue with my sister and my mother and some dancers for Gay Pride in 2001. It was before 9/11. It was the first time we stood as a family celebrating our differences and celebrating my sister, Ellen.
“I got to watch the ball drop live on New Year’s Eve from a stage with Mayor Bloomberg and an Army cook captured and rescued from Afghanistan, Shoshana Johnson. I had come to watch the ball drop in Times Square when I was 17 with my friends—we had just seen the new musical Hair—but standing right there in 2004 was a much better view.
“I started a career here. I was blessed to work in the legendary Record Plant where I recorded the She’s So Unusual album. The Record Plant used to be on 44th Street, off of Eighth Avenue. In 2013, just around the corner, on 45th Street, off of Eighth Avenue, Kinky Boots [for which Lauper wrote the music] opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theater. I guess the next big thing I do should maybe be in the same neighborhood?”
Photo: Bruce Weber2/4Bruce Weber, photographer
“My affair with New York City began when I first went to the film school at NYU. Our school was on top of the Fillmore East and it felt as though anything was possible with the music I heard. Life in the city was so freewheeling then. As I took photographs and films of my beloved city, I could still feel its embrace and a tear ran down my cheek for a love once lost and again found. There is a song we use in one of the [Barneys] films with the lyrics about New York City—‘just made for a boy and girl,’ and I thought, Yes . . . but also made for a ‘girl and girl and a boy and boy.’ ”
Photo: Bruce Weber3/4Narayana, Eddie, and Bhagavan Angulo, stars of the documentary The Wolfpack
Narayana: “New York is a place where anything is possible because there are stories everywhere. One of my favorite NYC memories was meeting Crystal [Moselle, the director of The Wolfpack] on the street, not realizing then that she would tell our story.”
Eddie: “My most memorable moment in NYC was getting onstage and jamming with Marky Ramone at our NYC premiere. It made me think about what the punk revolution must have been like here and how old NYC is, the history it’s been through and continues to go through. To live here and be a part of it is something special.”
Bhagavan: “New York is a city of opportunity. You can’t be bored. There’s always something exciting to do.”
Photo: Bruce Weber4/4Ladyfag (far right), nightlife icon and performer
“I used to always want to go to the Barneys Warehouse sale, but I work at night throwing parties, so I usually get home when most people are just waking up, so I never got to go. Then one night, I made the slightly drunk realization that if I stay for the after-party, then by the time it’s over I could go to the sale and I’d probably be the first in line! It was pretty crazy to be in line while the sun had just come up, sobering up while waiting outside in six-inch stripper heels, a corset, wig, and full club makeup—but if it was crazy for me, imagine what all the shoppers in line thought! But, hey, isn’t that what makes living in New York so exciting?!”
