Howard Safir, NYC’s police commissioner 1996 to 2000, who then operated his own security firm: “I’m calling you from my car. A 3,000-pound vehicle. It has protection. Paperwork. Licenses. Insurance.
“Where’s protection when someone buys a gun? Ninety-nine percent are purchased legally. From gun dealers. Then stolen, resold, they get diverted to criminals. No record exists, no paperwork, no way to trace its path or original purchase.
“Issue this requirement. Once each year, every year, the original purchaser must bring that weapon in for an annual safety check. If not they are issued a fine. Plus, they need to explain. Gun lost? How? This gets reported to the police.
“The idea has been said before. Why have those measures not been instituted? Real reason is the powerful gun lobby. The NRA opposes it.
“Unlike owning a car, there exists no policy. Why no mandated insurance if someone owning a gun harms someone or does something illegal? Shouldn’t each purchaser be required to have insurance?
“Officials just make speeches while people continue killing people on the streets. I’ll tell you why. Because the gun lobby is that strong.”
NYC’s ‘Age’ less filmed
When creating a 24-karat series all is not always golden. HBO’s new shiny trinket “The Gilded Age” is now twinkling and glittering on TV.
The bejeweled cast — Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Nathan Lane — and Sir Julian Fellowes, its creator who created “Downton Abbey” — were filming this exactly one year ago. January 2021. Right here.
I know because I’d then made just a routine phone call to Julian. I hadn’t known they were here on the QT. Almost sequestered. He said he could not speak about it but they were working on his new series dealing with the old days, rich railroad tycoons and that this was set in the 1880s. In New York. But he, graciously, explained he couldn’t discuss it. And appeared happy to get me off the phone.
Came COVID. Crew guys turned up positive. Production was scrubbed. Folks were tested. And retested.
Now his newest big success phenomenon is hitting our TVs. To requote him exactly: “Only way people have any expectations of you is if you’ve written a flop. I’d rather have the big success.”
School staging
All-boys Regis High, alma mater of Colin Jost and fabulous Fauci, would audition sister schools for theatrical events. In 2002, Lady Gaga, then Stefani Germanotta at Convent of the Sacred Heart (different wardrobe than she wears now), played Adelaide in “Guys and Dolls” on Regis’ stage.
Now from same stage comes rapper Olivia Cabrera, Dominican Academy grad who played Madame Thénardier in Regis’ 2011 “Les Misérables.” She’s 28, seven years younger than Gaga and goes by another name: Sass (Instagram: @I_am_sass). Her new single’s “Lil Bo Peep.” If she’s losing sheep, she’s collecting fans.
In a royal jam
When the palace dissolves your title and favors and farthings, what’s life like? I’ve reported that, at the Waldorf, the dis-royal Duchess of Windsor once told me: “We have limited funds.” Exact words: “Our lifestyle will end up busting the duke and I. We can’t holiday here anymore. The rates are high. Everyone thinks the duke and I are rich. Not true. Right now he’s inside handling his investments.”
I later learned her attendance at certain VIP galas was in return for gifts of jewelry.
So ex-HRH Prince Andrew? If you invite him for a PB&J, he might accept shiny new cuff links.
Everyone in NYC is aware of crime in the streets. One out of towner on B’way and 17th Street asked, “How do I get to 23rd and Lex?” The dude on the corner answered: “Easy. You turn left on the next block, and if you make it . . .”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.