Neighbors

Friending your celebrity neighbor

Teri Rogers Headshot - Floral
By Teri Karush Rogers  |
January 7, 2010 - 11:14AM
celebrity neighbor.jpg

We have always thought that the loneliest place to live in an apartment building was on the ground floor, outside the social incubator of the elevator.

But the loneliest place may be in the public eye.

Over on UrbanBaby, one apartment dweller is seeking advice on how to reach out, in a non-creepy way, to a celebrity neighbor who seems so alone that she talks to herself (“I should go to the store before I go to the post office” and “That is too fattening”).  A commenter in another building agrees that her own celeb-in-residence seems lonely too.

The suggestions so far:

  • Ask her for coffee.  
  • Start a conversation about something local – like have you tried that new ? in the neighborhood 
  • Invite her to a gathering of other neighbors you don’t know well
We checked in with an Upper West Side friend who recently acquired a B-list celebrity neighbor.

“I was getting into the elevator yesterday with him but I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘hello’—I wanted to respect his privacy,” she says.  “The thing is, they are people first.  Would you say ‘hello’ if they weren’t famous?”

On the other hand, there is the snub risk to consider.

“They may be delightful or they may sneer,” says our friend, who speculates that less well-known celebs are more likely to respond with a cold shoulder.  “Would you want to have to deal with your faux pas every single day in the elevator?”


Related posts:

Why potheads make better neighbors

Why anonymous letters don't work

Teri Rogers Headshot - Floral

Teri Karush Rogers

Founder & Publisher

Founder and publisher Teri Karush Rogers launched Brick Underground in 2009. As a freelance journalist, she had previously covered New York City real estate for The New York Times. Teri has been featured as an expert on New York City residential real estate by The New York Times, New York Daily News, amNew York, NBC Nightly News, The Real Deal, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and NY1 News, among others. Teri earned a BA in journalism and a law degree from New York University.

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics: