LET TER FROM T HE EDI T OR DEAR READERS, When I took the job editing AVENUE in October 2016, I stuck a note of warning to a corkboard over my desk. “There are no arbiters anymore,” it read. I don’t want to be an arbiter. I don’t think New York can be defined anymore by a list of 400 names, no matter how wealthy,
“NOWADAYS, THE A-LIST IS AS UNSETTLED AS IT IS EXCLUSIVE.”
accomplished or well born they are. But, fact is, people like lists. I like lists. I like finding my name on lists, even as I profess not to care about them. So I think my challenge is to give readers what we all want, but in a way that is challening, rather than merely affirming what they already think. For instance, is the South Fork of the East End of Long Island the only place in our region that matters in summer? Certainly, the Hamptons are the most magnetic vacation destination here, the most remarked upon and marketable string of beach towns this side of
EJ Camp and Kit Keenan
Saint Tropéz and Capri. But is the Shinnecock Canal a dividing line separating New York’s A-List from everyone else? You don’t have to look too hard to see the C-List there, too. So this year, we’ve ripped up our long-running Hamptons A-List with its tired, predictable and often uncomfortable mix of incompatible names stretching from the Blue Book to Page Six. In its place, we’re introducing our Hot 100, consciously recalling the legendary (and more to the point, ever-changing) Billboard chart of hit singles. It lists 100 notables we find compelling in the Hamptons, but also in other lovely places where AVENUE society spends the summer. We’ve tried to maintain that exploratory spirit in our other features as well. We sent Senior Editor Ben Diamond to Fishers Island, an incredibly attractive speck of land in Block Island Sound that’s in New York but can only be reached from New London, Connecticut. It’s arguably (with a nod to Cleveland Amory) the last resort of an earlier, less inclusive social era, but its Old School values retain an undeniable appeal. And while we couldn’t ignore the Hamptons (and why would we?), our cover feature pays homage to 13 lesser-known but stunning East End faces. It was photographed by the renowned portraitist EJ Camp in collaboration with Contributing Editor Sam Bolton. Camp, who lives between the city and Orient, is showing her fine art seascapes this summer at Elizabeth Dow and the White Room. Her portfolio is our way of saying it’s important to look beyond the obvious and keep your eyes open. Because nowadays, the A-List is as unsettled as it exclusive. And isn’t that a delightful contradiction?
Michael Gross Editor in Chief
10 | AVENUE MAGAZINE • AVENUE ON THE BEACH • JULY 2018
ILLUSTRATION BY NINO CAPRIOGLIO
To me, the mark of a true A-Lister is an open mind.