“A Currency for Paid Friends”

“Friend” is a flimsy moniker in New York. It might apply to someone one meets at a cocktail party and two lunches later is a “great friend” based on grand commonalities like the private schools admission process or renovation dramas.

Then there are the friends for hire, the innately personable service providers who are sought out to fulfill social obligations, provide companionship and offer court-like flattery masquerading as friendship to those who can afford it. Heartache, though, sometimes occurs when relationship demands and financial arrangements are at odds.

“There is a market, a currency for paid friends in New York,” the eternally youthful fashion designer revealed over pecan-crusted seitan at Candle 79. “Some people need the money, and some people need the friends.”

I don’t know what to make of this at all. It’s like an alternate universe to me. I’m just going to leave this here.

Photo: Sarah Buckley

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