New York Celebrities Worth Stalking

Sean Lennon

He looks like his dad, John Lennon, and is rarely ten feet away from his mom, Yoko Ono. Not only is Sean Lennon the hipster rock star you haven’t had a chance to listen to, but this is a guy you’ll rarely find outside of the island of Manhattan. He’s got two solo albums under his belt, and enough indie cred to last three more decades. Maybe he’s not a famous as his dad, but he sure knows how to wear a hat.

Julian Schnabel

“Um, uh… you’re Julian Schnabel.” This would be the part where Schnabel himself would raise his eye-brow at you and wonder when you’re going to be done. Kind of understandable when you used to party with Basquiat in the ‘80s as a world-famous painter. And then, in the ’90s, you helped shepherd the careers of Javier Bardem, Benicio Del Toro, and Jeffrey Wright as a filmmaker. Oh, and in between studio time in SoHo, you hang out with Sean Penn. "Uh, um… you’re awesome."

Lou Reed

I had a friend in college who believed that during the ‘70s, David Bowie used voodoo to suck all of the youth from Lou Reed’s face. Knowing the weird, glamorotti relationship those two shared… maybe. Lou Reed’s one of those guys who is quintessentially New York. His days with the Velvet Underground thrived thanks to Andy Warhol, and his tranny, punk rock solo career was no different. Reed even stood by his city during the aftermath of 9/11 and then volunteered at shelters downtown.

Kurt & Kristen

Hollywood got Nichols and May; so it only makes sense we get Kurt and Kristen. Kurt Braunohler and Kristin Schaal have blazed a trail of outrageous hilarity with their live sketch comedy and web series. In the last few years, they burned up the Lower East Side with songs like “Kristen Schaal Is A Horse” before taking their act overseas to the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Annie Liebowitz

I don’t know what you can’t say about Annie Liebowitz… short of, well, “jaw-dropping”. She’s a living legend in the world of photography and made her name photographing for Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and her own collections. Aside from being a brand name, she’s also called New York her home for almost four decades. Supposedly getting close to her is like trying to get a private audience with The Pope.

Belvedere Castle at Central Park

Conor Oberst

Mr. Wah-Wah himself, Conor Oberst. It must be hard being the one-man band of Bright Eyes, along with the fifteen other side projects he leads. Of course, you’ve got to give Mr. Proto-Emo some major credit for his political activism. Meanwhile, all those gut-wrenching, whiny, pop-centric ballads that made him famous were getting churned out in a tenement in the East Village or a brownstone in Brooklyn.

David Bowie

The Thin White Duke. Ziggy Stardust. Major Tom. The Earthling. You get the point. Yes, Bowie has been quite the globe-trotter, but he finally chose to settle in Tribeca in the last decade. Since then, he’s reached a creative renaissance that he credits to New York City. Also, once everybody found out David Bowie lived in Tribeca, the ’hood’s quiet days were effectively numbered. Anyway, I wouldn’t mind if he swung by to borrow a cup of sugar.

Dave Hill

He’s the King of Miami and one bada— mofo. He’s Dave Hill. Say all the derogatory statements you want about a New York comic wanting to rule another town. But Dave Hill already rules the streets of New York with his wildly popular live talk show, The Dave Hill Explosion. Among his past guests have included Moby, Rufus Wainwright, Ira Glass, and Martha Plimpton. No offense to Jimmy Fallon or Dave Letterman, but I want to Dave Hill bring the funk to my TV set. Sigh… one day.