What the Recent Obsession with Yachts Says About Class in America - The Assignment with Audie Cornish - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
00:00:00
Welcome to The Assignment, I'm Audie Cornish. You know, yacht season is a meaningless term to me, but this year it feels like the people enjoying yacht season won't shut up about it.
Bethenny Frankel
00:00:11
We're not allowed to say the word yacht, but like a yacht.
Audie Cornish
00:00:13
For example, this is Bethany Bethenny Frankel, grand dame of reality TV Housewives. Listen closely and you hear something very specific in this post. She's talking about the yacht as a public milestone of aspirational success.
Bethenny Frankel
00:00:30
I'm not broke anymore and I work hard and I'm getting a boat for me and the nepo baby and I am so excited. I recognize that people are not in this position, but I'm really excited. And it feels really good. I can't believe it. I can believe it like I did this. And one day you'll do it.
Audie Cornish
00:00:49
'This month, the Ritz-Carlton launched a new super yacht with a literal boat full of celebrities and rich kids of Instagram. It's imagery that goes beyond paparazzi long lens shots of A-listers sunning themselves. These are daily reminders that the super rich, they're not like us.
Evan Osnos
00:01:08
It's because these objects have become these symbols of the ultimate level of exclusivity, of luxury, of indulgence, of satisfaction. All of these quite abstract concepts that companies are desperate to try to be associated with have sort of settled and distilled into this one. Very distinct world of yachts that are the most expensive objects that our species has ever figured out how to own.
Audie Cornish
00:01:46
'So what makes this gilded age so different from the last one? Why is extreme wealth being disguised as aspirational, yet relatable social media content? Just what is the message for all of us normies? Evan Osnos from The New Yorker, has the answer, back in a moment. Evan Osnos literally wrote the book on this stuff. It's called 'The Have and the Have Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultra-Rich.' Full disclosure, we're friends. And so I say this lovingly, Evan is not rich, but he has this look about him, good hair and confidence probably, that allows him to, as the New York Times reviewer noted, pass as an insider among the super rich.
Evan Osnos
00:02:28
Something in the culture of the yacht is the idea that you'll find yourself in unexpected proximity with people who you might not assume you would know. And this is part of the appeal. I mean, I think many of us might remember a few years ago there were images of, for instance, the Obamas and Bruce Springsteen and Oprah. This is all on one particular voyage out on a yacht owned by David Geffen, the former Hollywood tycoon. And there was something about the odd combination of people where you would say what is it that this group and it was Tom Hanks and others and so there was something that appealed to our instincts to want to have different entry points into the pop culture moment. There were different kinds of viewers who would have looked at that scene and said, oh, I'd like to know what that conversation was like around the lunch table. And later when Oprah was asked about it, she said, you know, what happens on the yacht stays on the yard. And so that maintaining some sense of the perception at least of exclusivity is essential to the stew. That's part of what makes it appealing to people on the outside.
Audie Cornish
00:03:51
You know, one of the things I didn't get to hear you talk about in other interviews is below deck. Like the yachties, apparently they're called, the people who work on these ships. And every time I see a picture of a super yacht and then that weird looking boat that follows it, and you know what I mean, you got to explain to someone like, oh no, that's where literally the other half lives. Um, but tell me about the other half because I don't know what it must be like. To service this world of people enjoying this luxury.
Evan Osnos
00:04:25
'So the world of the yachty is a bargain that they make, which is that in exchange for essentially round the clock labor and a posture of complete and total service, they get adventure, they get life around the world in a luxurious environment and a salary that depending on where you sit in the packing order is either decent or... Pretty grim. If you are somebody who's at the lower ranks of the hierarchy, and boats are extremely hierarchical environments. I mean, they sort of borrow that from the rest of nautical culture. And so if you're somebody whose job is to clean the guest rooms, that's not just a regular level of cleaning. I've talked to a lot of crew members who describe the experience of, I mean, quite literally using a. A Q-tip, for instance, to clean the rim of a toilet in order to achieve the most maximal conceivable level of immaculate cleanliness. Or they'll use-
Audie Cornish
00:05:31
Slash humiliation
Evan Osnos
00:05:33
'And yeah, that's a big piece of the operation. I think this is part of it. And, you know, honestly, what's weird about working in this environment is you're in numerical terms, you're working for what is essentially a floating corporation that has no HR department that is subject to the whims of the captain or the owner and some combination of it at the same time, though, it can be to some of them, quite a nice environment. You're- you're- almost literally insulated from the worries of life on land. And so you can kind of get lulled into this sense of, all right, today it's the Mediterranean, next week it's The Caribbean. But then you try to transition from that into the quote unquote real world. And as some former crew members have said to me, it becomes very hard to explain to anybody outside of that what you've been doing for the last.
Audie Cornish
00:06:28
And not just because you're legally not allowed. Right. To face it, you have to sign an NDA.
Evan Osnos
00:06:34
Yeah!
Audie Cornish
00:06:34
I'm getting lulled into the conversation because the sound of your voice is very nice, but then there's lines in the book about like the petty tyranny people live under and the psychotherapist who's like made a business out of talking to the poor people who have worked in these places.
Evan Osnos
00:06:51
I spoke to one therapist in particular who had been a crew member on yachts and then she got into the work of therapy. She went to school and trained and then her first cohort that she specialized in were actually incarcerated people. She, and then, she discovered that having worked with captive populations that it was quite well suited to working with crew members because there are some things in common and, you know, she saw the irony in that. And there is a... World that is, frankly, and this applies to so much about the superyacht world, that is just beyond the horizon of our awareness in regular life. It is in all kinds of ways. Unbound by the laws that we live our normal lives under. I mean, almost literally. And if you're in international waters, if you are in the waters of some small island state that has a prime minister who might be friends, let's be honest with the owner of that yacht, you can find yourself in quite perilous straights when it comes to trying to. You know, let's say you've been mistreated at work, for instance, when you're working on it. Yeah, it can be very hard to try to see.
Audie Cornish
00:08:10
Like you failed to switch out the supplies of the incoming affair partner in the bedroom.
Evan Osnos
00:08:17
You are a close reader of the book.
Audie Cornish
00:08:21
I am a close reader, because I'm like, oh, the Coldplay situation's got nothing on this. Like, this is insane. You're getting your fancy melons helicoptered to you, and then you're getting your lover's helicopter to you. But then the whole ship, everyone is arranging the world to the way they need it to be. Right. It's like their own little Lego land. And they can move the people and move the pieces. And I know it sounds weird that I'm obsessed with this. But I feel like there is a clue in there about why the tech billionaires have suddenly gravitated to this space as well.
Evan Osnos
00:09:00
You're right about that. I think that if you are somebody, for instance, let's just speak theoretically. Let's say you've invented a company as a teenager, you dropped out of college halfway through and have spent, okay, let's forget the theoretical. I'm talking about Mark Zuckerberg. You've been able to then build your world around you, literally handpicking your lieutenants, building a company that reflects your values. In Zuckerberg's case, to give you a very... Concrete example, the reason why Facebook is blue, that very distinct royal blue, is because he is red, green colorblind. And so he created a world that quite literally suits his preferences and avoids his blind spots. And I think you can take that example in the most superficial way, the design aesthetic, and you can apply it more broadly to his perception of how society functions, of what friendship means, of how people want to build connections, of what the definition of hate speech is, of how violence travels through cultures. I mean, that is what his life has been. And it shouldn't surprise us that he has also, in the last couple of years, taken ownership of a yacht. According to the yacht trade press, he got it for a relative bargain in the 300 million range. And so somebody who has had that professional experience can now transport that same level of absolute control into their social and vacation life.
Audie Cornish
00:10:37
But isn't their obsession with being in our world a reflection of the limits of that power? Or, I don't know, or what happens when their own greed and psychology takes over, right? Like Bezos is not content to be a silent kabillionaire. New wife has to be in vogue, they have to have a wedding that has, like, every actor in it, whether they know them or not. Even Zuckerberg, all of a sudden being Mr. UFC guy. Like, they're actually not content with the power that they have. And I know I sound really biased talking like this, but I'm really wrestling with it, because I don't know how it's different from, like, the actual Gilded Age, the period of history we call the Gild'd Age, but there's something that does feel different.
Evan Osnos
00:11:25
'I have to tell you, the word that you just used is really the central idea of this project, contentment, or more importantly, the lack of contentment. What we find is that, and this is true both in our own lives in kind of small ways, and then it becomes simply truer when you get more zeros attached, that there is a level of unsatiability that is- Defined really by the competition and the sense of status competition that goes on between people So we might say to one another how could anybody who has already accumulated all of the possible You know toys and trappings and luxuries that a human being could ever seek to want Why do they then try to surround themselves with celebrities who they scarcely really know and is you know, what? How fulfilling could that really be? Well, because that person, if we're talking about the Bezos newlyweds, they are seeking to be in a way that perhaps they don't even fully appreciate, satisfied by the idea of being surrounded by the most famous and wealthy people in the world. For them, that's become, for the moment, at least. The threshold that they're seeking to cross. I think when I talk about insatiability, I mean that there is a level, and this has been true to human beings. And I think it's been a subject of some focus in faith traditions going back as long as history has existed. The idea that you may never find yourself satisfied with the earthly delights, no matter how many you accumulate. But we're living in a moment when you can actually see people trying to satisfy that place in their lives with objects that are as distinct and visible as a super yacht on the high seas.
Audie Cornish
00:13:33
More of my conversation with Evan Osnos in just a moment. Stay with me.
Audie Cornish
00:13:41
We've known each other for a while. Our families know each other.
Evan Osnos
00:13:45
That's right.
Audie Cornish
00:13:45
And the weird thing about being friends in America, I think is, well, maybe other countries too. We've never talked about money. I now know more about you and your history with money than in all the time we've known each other and it's weird because we're all doing a version of this aspirational dance.
Evan Osnos
00:14:07
That's true.
Audie Cornish
00:14:08
But nobody is honest about where their supplies come from. And I'm not saying that about you, but I remember reading a review of the book where someone made a joke that it seems though you could pass. Like that you visited this boat, you visited this world, but that you're not the kind of guy they would turn away.
Evan Osnos
00:14:31
Yeah.
Audie Cornish
00:14:32
There's aspects of you and your life and background that like fit. And I was wondering what that was like for you to read.
Evan Osnos
00:14:40
In my case, my life is this combination of two very distinct experiences of money. I mean, on my mom's side, I come from a kind of Midwestern waspy family where nobody ever talked about money. There was always a sense that there was enough in the background, but it was a very kind of, you would make a point of try to do it subtly. So it was, there was a lot of, shall we say, kind of. Threadbare cuffs. And then on the other side of my family, which is my dad's side, were descended from Jewish Polish refugees from Europe. I mean my grandfather was one of seven siblings and he's the only one that survived World War II. And so they came to this country with nothing and so had a very different experience of trying to rebuild a world that had been destroyed. And for them, that meant actually, no, you should try to get into the best apartment you possibly can. And I remember they spent $40,000 on an apartment in New York City and then over the years built up as much as they could of the things that have been lost, you know, the books, the carpets, the artwork that was some of it fake, some of real. And it was this collision of these two very different cultures of money that for me felt like it reflected different elements that coexist in the American relationship.
Audie Cornish
00:16:11
Oh no you don't, New Yorker. What did it mean for you? How did you feel as a kid?
Evan Osnos
00:16:17
I guess I felt both of those elements in my life. I feel frankly kind of at home in both. I mean, I think the idea that I can be comfortable in a place where there is either an allergy to talking about money, meaning it's all kind of right there in the background and nobody does it very explicitly. Or, you know, you get into this world where it's much more overt. It's funny, you though, because in my family, Nobody really was in the money business, particularly. My mother worked for a human rights organization. My dad was a book publisher, but we were working around the edges always of, I was very conscious of the money that was in our atmosphere. I grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, outside of New York City, which is a very rich suburb.
Audie Cornish
00:17:05
I was about to say, that's a lot of money in the atmosphere.
Evan Osnos
00:17:07
Exactly. And I remember kind of being very alert to the subtle distinctions of class, you know, what did it mean to be if you were in private school or public school, you know what kind of cars people were driving and, you know.
Audie Cornish
00:17:24
And it's like a weird, I joke that you learn to code switch.
Evan Osnos
00:17:28
Yeah.
Audie Cornish
00:17:29
Like for me, I was a kid in a working class community, but we were immigrants. But more importantly, I was bussed at one point to this community out in Massachusetts that has like very expensive high school. And that's when I sort of learned the tiers of class, right? It was like, I'm getting bussed to this place, which is supposed to be so great, but like, oh, public school, you know, like the people there are like, you're going to the public school.
Evan Osnos
00:17:54
Right.
Audie Cornish
00:17:55
'And then there's another other whole world of private school, and Volvos, and NPR, and all of these. Even reading the New Yorker, I didn't, Evan Osnos, I did not read or pick up or see the New Yorker until I was in my mid-20s and I was a working journalist. I did no know there was a whole world people who like tore out the covers and put them inside their cabins, right?
Evan Osnos
00:18:20
Yeah.
Audie Cornish
00:18:20
And the reason why I'm so obsessed with this is like For you, like, can you code switch or have you crossed over? Like, have you reached the point where you're so fully in this world that it's hard to remember what it was like to struggle?
Evan Osnos
00:18:35
'It's very much a code-switching experience in the sense that I feel like part of that, and I, at this point, you know, I'm 48 years old and so it's hard for me to know what is a product of my professional life, which in our business is so kind of complete. And I've spent my life as a foreign correspondent and a national correspondent, and that's different. For people who are outside of our business, I don't think they know, that's different than being like a lifer in Washington who covers that world and is like a part of that world. Like when you're a correspondent, you dip into different worlds and you try desperately to have them not kick you out. That is what it means to be a correspondent. And in a way, that's how I've spent my adult life in, whether it's in China or in the Middle East, or it didn't feel that different than when it came time to go to the Palm Beach International Boat Show and sort of sidle up to people and start chatting with them about boats. And the reality is, I had never, I don't know, the first, before this, I'd never been on a yacht. I had no knowledge of it.
Audie Cornish
00:19:39
Yeah, but I went to a book party and someone came up. And mention they had a boat, maybe. And you were like, ah, how many sails? And I was like, Evan? Evan? Como? Who is this?
Evan Osnos
00:19:53
Yeah!
00:19:53
What is this party? And I remember even feeling there like, oh, it's funny, all these people don't think they're rich, right? Like they're adjacent to their own thing that seems out of reach for people. Given all this writing you've done in this area. Given the conversations I assume you must have had with your parents after the book came out, if this kind of came around, how are you addressing wealth with your kids?
Evan Osnos
00:20:25
I really do find myself, and I think this is something that applies even to people who haven't written books on these topics, is like I was talking with my daughter this morning and I was talking to her about how we have to try to separate out what she admires of Taylor Swift for talent and what she admirers of Taylor Swift, for this phenomenon of fame that is such a, I think, really dangerous seduction for kids right now. We're trying to parse it out. And, you know, she'll roll her eyes at me. She's seven and she's like, all right, daddy, whatever. But I just want to be friends with Taylor Swift. But I'm like, yeah, but let's, let's focus. I'm Like, some of this is, is a celebration of art, of artistic power and of her ability to speak to people and to, to connect to their experience. And then there's this other thing, which is right now, our society is celebrating to an unhealthy effect of money, power, and fame. And I think I am trying to talk to them about it in a way that hopefully makes some of this seem like it's not God knows about the objects, but is about what it says about our society, which we care about.
Audie Cornish
00:21:37
'And about responsibility. And I think that has been one of the things I've struggled with to say, because my kids are growing up in a house bigger than the house I grew up in. I grew in rental apartments. And they are completely like, yeah, this is how life is. This is how we roll. And I'm like, uh-uh, little prince.
Evan Osnos
00:22:01
Yeah.
Audie Cornish
00:22:02
'There's an old school version that's like, this ain't your house, this isn't my house. You know, like, you're- But there's also a version that says, what's the responsibility of having this? And I know this sounds far off from where we started, but that's one of the things I think that most of us who are now maybe polling a little less interested in the billionaire class, it's that sense that they feel no responsibility to the rest of us, right? Like I'm gonna get on my boat and I'm going to do things to the environment and when something goes wrong, I'm to go to space. It feels very far from...The philanthropy age and all this other stuff. And somehow I have to tell my kid, like you can invent something and be incredible. And also you then have a responsibility to the people around you just because, right? And I literally have to explain that because I don't see anyone modeling it.
Evan Osnos
00:22:55
It is exactly the era that we find ourselves in and people have described it in different terms somebody described it as noblesse without oblige this idea that we're in this period when suddenly the there is a celebration of the accumulation and absolutely no talk about what are the obligations to society that come with that power and that's a dangerous evolution in culture. And so part of the what's happening now is that you've got all of these little aspiring Elon Musk's out there, you know, who have, they're building their fortunes. They're somewhere in Silicon Valley. We haven't even heard their names yet. And yet they are patterning themselves after individuals who have made it pretty clear that they don't see much commitment or responsibility to the thriving of a broader society. And I think part of the reason to document it in this kind of detail, it's sort of the anatomy of this culture, is to then be able to say, when we look back on this period, or even frankly in the present, is this really the way we want to be applying the wealth of society that's been accumulated into the hands of a tiny number of people? Is this really how we think it should be used as a culture? That's a plastic matter. That's something that can change with public acceptance or rejection and public pressure, and it can change internally too. You know, I remember once a CEO of a company in Silicon Valley saying to me, the thing I hate most about Silicon Valley is the conversations that people have about where we'll go in the event of a collapse of society, even if it's our own doing, he said. You know when that happens, I want to say to people, well, if you're so concerned about the pitchforks, what are you doing? To help the homeless in your community. And I think that there is a way in which talking about it, making explicit, putting it out into public view, what is usually shielded from view, is part of the process of pressure testing it.
Audie Cornish
00:25:04
That was Evan Osnos, journalist with The New Yorker and the author of "The Have and The Have Yachts" a book of essays that is out now. I want to thank you for listening, please do rate and review the show, definitely share it, it really helps. And I'll see you next week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Alien: Earth Boss Teases the Show's New Alien Species Designed to ‘Get Into Your Nightmares'
In space, you don't just have xenomorphs to worry about anymore. FX's new series Alien: Earth — premiering Tuesday, Aug. 12 — brings the Alien film franchise to the small screen with a fresh story about a research vessel full of alien specimens that crash-lands on Earth. Yes, the infamous xenomorph from the Alien movies is onboard… but so are a number of new alien species developed for the TV show, including a creepy-crawly centipede that crawls inside your body like the ear bugs from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and a jellyfish-like creature that sucks out your eyeball and takes over your body. Scared yet? More from TVLine Alien: Earth Boss Talks Bringing the Sci-Fi Franchise to TV - and Down to Earth for the First Time Casting News: Olivia Colman and Brie Larson's FX Drama, Jax Taylor Exits The Valley and More Casting News: Alison Brie's FX Pilot, One Tree Hill Vet Joins Emily in Paris and More 'One of the things that you can never reproduce in an audience that has seen an Alien movie is the feeling you had the first time you saw the life cycle of this creature in that first film,' showrunner Noah Hawley told a group of reporters at a recent press screening. 'It's just unreproducible. You know that it's an egg, and it's face huggers, it's chest bursters, all that. So that's where the idea for other creatures came from.' He wants Alien: Earth viewers to feel the same dread that moviegoers felt seeing the xenomorph for the first time: 'I want you to have that feeling, because that feeling is integral to the Alien experience. But I can't do it with these creatures. So let's introduce new creatures where you don't know how they reproduce or what they eat, so that you can have that 'I'm out' feeling multiple times a week.' When it came time to dream up the new creatures, Hawley says, 'some of it is just, 'What's the worst thing I could think of?' And the fun of it is not just: What's the design of the creature? And who do they kill? And what do they eat? But also, then you have the opportunity of, 'Well, how do they reproduce?' And that's going to be gross.' The new aliens are specimens in a space lab, Hawley explains: 'They're in a zoo, basically, but they don't stay in the zoo.' And every aspect of the creatures' design 'all goes to the 'get into your nightmares' part of it. Mostly, my hope is that people who watch the show will never do anything comfortably again. Like, 'Should I eat that? I should probably pick that piece of bread up. Look at what's under it.'' Best of TVLine Summer TV Calendar: Your Guide to 85+ Season and Series Premieres Classic Christmas Movies Guide: Where to Watch It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Die Hard and Others What's New on Netflix in June
New York Post
14 minutes ago
- New York Post
Where renowned LI chefs eat lobster rolls when off the clock
Some like it hot — and others cold. Renowned Long Island seafood chefs and restaurant owners are revealing to The Post their go-to places for lobster rolls when off the clock. 'There's a few places on the island that do a great job — and there are some that don't,' said chef Eric LeVine of 317 Main in Farmingdale. Advertisement 12 Chef Eric Levine with a tray of lobster rolls at his restaurant 317 Main in Farmingdale. Dennis A. Clark 'A lot of the time, I find that people will either overcook it, or the lobster will be oversaturated with mayonnaise and too much lemon,' he said. 'This is one of those things that when you find a good lobster roll, you continue to go there.' The experts' list spans far and wide, from the island's border with Queens to the far reaches of the South Fork, with a bevy of different styles and reputations that have been around for decades, and some newcomers, such as Jackson Hall of East Islip, exploding on the scene thanks to social-media clout. Jackson Hall Advertisement It's hard to avoid Instagram videos of chef Mike Landesberg's tantalizing eight — yes, eight — different styles of lobster roll that have brought in customers across the nation, including one city dweller who has said he rides his bike more than seven hours round trip for one. 'We're going through between 5 and 6,000 pounds of lobster every single week,' said Landesberg, a male breast-cancer survivor whose mantra is all about supporting other small businesses. 12 Chef Michael Landesberg showing off a lobster roll at Jackson Hall in East Islip. Dennis A. Clark Now well known as 'the crazy lobster roll guy' — having a first-of-its-kind Long Island roll topped with cajun honey butter, jalapenos and 'secret spices' — online attention and viral videos 'put me on the map,' Landesberg said. Advertisement 'It's been unbelievable. It's doubled sales,' he said of the half-pound product that uses knuckle, claw, and tail. 'We've become like this tourist attraction.' 12 Jackson Hall sells eight different kinds of lobster rolls. Dennis A. Clark When Landesberg leaves the kitchen, his first stop is LeVine's mainstay. 317 Main Advertisement Landesberg called the popular joint smack dab in the middle of Nassau County 'the best-kept secret on Long Island for lobster rolls. 'The meat is fresh because [they do] the tail, knuckle, and claw like I do. It's cooked perfectly, and he pops it out with 8 ounces of fresh lobster. It just melts in your mouth. I just had one last week,' the chef said. LeVine said his quest for the holy tail across the island inspired him to focus on savory simplicity. 12 LeVine sells an 3-foot-long lobster roll at 317 Main. Dennis A. Clark 'We do it with a little bit of salt, pepper, lemon, a little lemon zest and a touch of mayonnaise,' said the chef of his cold treat that's available hot on request. 'That is it.' Success with the sea dish inspired LeVine to start serving a 3-foot-long lobster roll on an onion brioche that quickly became a crowd-pleaser. 12 Landesberg called 317 Main the ''the best-kept secret on Long Island for lobster rolls.' Dennis A. Clark Advertisement 'It's become a talking point,' he said. 'It's a centerpiece. Tables or four or five look at it go, 'Oh, I want to have that.' … It's what separates us from everybody else.' As for LeVine, his go-to outside of his eatery is a few minutes west in Bethpage at Popei's Clam Bar. Popei's Clam Bar LeVine praises owner Joe Reale's role in providing simple perfection. 'It's great flavors, and it's just done right,' said the Farmingdale operator. Advertisement 12 Popei's Claim Bar owner Joseph Reale showing off lobster rolls at his Island Park seafood restaurant. Dennis A. Clark Reale emphasizes lobster tail in his hot and cold rolls and also brings in a zesty lemon flavor that's delightfully paired with Cajun waffle fries that happily evoke a nod to the seasoning used by Checker's. 'Throw it on a nice soft roll, toast it up, and out it goes,' Reale said. 'And it's something unbelievable.' When Reale is hankering for something away from the job, he makes a trip to the end of the line in Amagansett to the legendary restaurant Lobster Roll, a k a Lunch. Advertisement 12 Popei's Clam Bar serves both hot and cold lobster rolls. Dennis A. Clark Lobster Roll Reale said that a trip to Montauk and the Hamptons 'wouldn't be complete without stopping' at the South Fork icon, which opened in 1977 and is known globally for its neon 'Lunch' sign overhead. The roadside sit-down owes its unbeatable product to decades of old-school success in an area that focuses on the new and next, according to ownership. 'It's all about the lobster itself … cold water lobster,' said owning partner Andrea Anthony, a Levittown native and Hofstra University graduate who's worked out east since she was young in the family business. Advertisement 12 Andrea Anthony, the co-owner of Lobster Roll in Amagansett, with a lobster roll. Dennis A. Clark 'The recipe has not changed. We don't add herbs. We don't really get fancy about it. We feel the lobster meat speaks for itself. It's nature's best — there's no reason to alter it.' But Anthony said she would be in quite the pinch if she went public with the half-century recipe. 'We can't really talk about where, because it is actually proprietary,' she said of the hot and cold entrees' source. 12 The Amagansett restaruant is known for its neon 'Lunch' sign. Dennis A. Clark Anthony said her own ideal lobster roll when away from work is back in her old stomping ground at Jordan Lobster Farms in Nassau County. Jordan Lobster Farms The 'nostalgia' of the 50-year-old business, where customers can look and see gigantic tanks of their meal-to-be still swimming, is what keeps drawing Anthony back to the Island Park staple, not far from where she once lived in Point Lookout. 12 A sign outside Jordan Lobster Farms in Island Par. Dennis A. Clark 12 Steve Jordan holding lobster rolls made at his seasfood market. Dennis A. Clark Owner Steve Jordan said that fewer and fewer places toward the city limits are doing lobster rolls these days, which has brought an uptick in clientele that eats what's locally caught both hot and cold. 'We get people who will do the drive [from New York City],' he said, attributing 50 years of success to generations coming back with their little ones. 'It's a family place. … We try to keep the prices down, and the staff make a really good dressing,' added Jordan, whose eatery is currently playing off sharing a half-century anniversary with 'Jaws.' 12 Live lobsters seen at Jordan Lobster Farms. Dennis A. Clark They even made posters that read, 'You're gonna need a bigger bib.' Jordan's personal favorite is near Anthony's old area at the Point Lookout Clam Bar. He not only loves its incredibly 'fresh' served rolls but credits the nearby joint for having wonderful and friendly service.
New York Post
14 minutes ago
- New York Post
Greenpoint man on mission to litter nabe with stickers of dogs
Stickers of smiling local dogs have been mysteriously blanketing Greenpoint this summer — as part of a guerrilla-style campaign to inject happiness into the canine-obsessed nabe. The project is spearheaded by Nick Padilla, a seventh-grade math teacher who shares a passion for pups that is something of a requirement for living in the trendy corner of Brooklyn. 6 Math teacher Nick Padilla has been leaving stickers of dogs throughout Greenpoint. Stefano Giovannini 'People really love their dogs here. When you go into bars and people start talking about their dogs, they just light up and go and go and go,' Padilla told The Post. 'Dogs are the greatest thing in the world.' Padilla, 37, said some of the first stickers he plastered around town were of his own four-legged best friend, Hobbes. The teacher said he was forced to put down his tiny mutt — who was lovingly referred to as 'the Chief' because his bossy attitude greatly outweighed his small frame — in April after a series of health problems. He said the stickers serve as a small reminder of his beloved dog — and that he hopes other canine lovers can experience the same burst of happiness when they see their pets on them, too. 6 Neighbors are encouraged to submit photos of their pups to an anonymous email, and Padilla then turns them into stickers. Stefano Giovannini 'I feel like I would like it if I just got to go somewhere else and see my dog,' the teacher said. 'That's a really cool feeling because you get to see your dog in the wild. It's a stupid thing, but it's exciting.' He said he spent his July procuring pictures of his neighbor's dogs through an anonymous email, then printed them out and began stealthily slapping them across any sign, trash can and even bar bathrooms. So far, he's stuck around 100 mini hounds throughout the Brooklyn neighborhood as part of a project he says is driven purely through communal love of dogs and in hopes of spreading smiles. 6 'When you go into bars and people start talking about their dogs, they just light up and go and go and go,' Padilla said. Stefano Giovannini 6 Each batch of 100 stickers costs about $94 to print. Stefano Giovannini 6 Placing stickers on public property is a crime that comes with a $75 ticket. Stefano Giovannini The area is ripe for the project, the dog-lover said. 'You go to bars, and so many bars that let dogs in. My grocery store has dog treats,' Padilla said. 6 'Dogs are the greatest thing in the world,' Padilla said. Stefano Giovannini Although Padilla is not necessarily keeping his identity a secret, there have been no name exchanges between him and the pet lovers sending in pictures of the pooches. 'It's about the dogs,' he said. The Big Apple educator recently launched an Instagram for the project that features all the sticky hounds, as well as a list of their likes and dislikes. His ultimate goal is to blanket the area until each local pooch gains celebrity status and gets recognized on their daily strolls through McCarren Park. Each batch of 100 stickers costs around $94 — which is a little higher than the $75 price of a graffiti violation for slapping the doggie images on public property. But Padilla says the price is worth the happiness he aims to spread. 'I really, really love this neighborhood so much. It means a lot to me. I've been here for 14 years, and I don't have any plans on leaving, so if this is something, a little thing, I can do to make neighbors happier, that's really fun,' he said.
