More than 250 designers, television personalities, brokers, real estate executives, reporters and bankers gathered at The Swank Beautique Restaurant Across The Street from the Plaza Hotel last night to munch on hors d’oeuvres and sip on cocktails to ring in Luxury Listings NYC‘s first annual Summer Issue Soirée.
More importantly, the attendees got the chance to pose in red carpet photos with Jill Zarin of “The Real Housewives of New York,” who is featured on the current cover of the magazine in a story about her Upper East Side home.
Zarin, who will soon make another reality TV turn on “Celebrity Wife Swap,” brought her own entourage, including her parents, Sol and Gloria Kamen; her recent college grad daughter, Ally Shapiro; and fabric mogul husband Bobby Zarin.
Another former Bravo “Housewife,” Alex McCord, was also at the fete. Zarin and McCord recently generated some pop culture buzz after spending Easter Sunday together despite having previous personal clashes.
Other boldfaced names in attendance included Howard Lorber, head of Douglas Elliman, the city’s largest real estate brokerage. His son, Michael, himself a former reality TV show star on “Million Dollar Listing New York,” stopped by earlier in the evening.
In a small-world scenario, the elder Lorber chatted it up with Zarin’s whole family while standing for photos on the red carpet. Lorber has known Zarin since she was 8 years old; he and Zarin’s father are former co-workers. “I’m really going back to my roots,” he said.
Douglas Elliman’s president Dottie Herman also dropped by the party. She said she’s a long-time fan of Zarin from her time on “The Real Housewives of New York City,” and also knows her from the New York Friars Club.
Much of the conversation centered around the state of the New York and Hamptons real estate market. Herman said the Hamptons market was slow to kick into gear this year, but is now busy.
“Because of the bad winter, the season’s extended,” she said, adding that the weather made it difficult for many to head to the Hamptons to scope summer rentals.
Corcoran Group broker Tamir Shemesh said that in Manhattan “the market for new development is still very busy,” though the fact that sellers have too high expectations on the prices they should receive is preventing some deals from happening.
The party’s doors closed at 9 p.m., but guests continued to mingle inside the restaurant. One major arrival for this portion of the evening: Ivana Trump.
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