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Reports from today's Post and New York Times confirm the obvious: Rich people are doing a hell of a lot better than non-rich people after Hurricane Sandy. Though celebrities and fashion industry notables like Mary-Kate Olsen, Anna Wintour, and Marc Jacobs had to flee their downtown apartments, they were all able to find places to stay uptown. And even though their hotels are (gasp) above 14th Street, they all sound pretty cushy.
The Mark on East 77th Street was apparently the place to be if you can afford a room for roughly a grand a night at the cheapest. The Post informs that everyone from Anna Wintour, Carine Roitfeld, Helena Christensen, Russell Crowe and Marc Jacobs all checked in. According to one of the paper's spies, "The scene at The Mark was buzzing with big names escaping the downtown blackout."
Grace Coddington, on the other hand, chose the Carlyle, along with Mary-Kate Olsen and Oliver Sarkozy. Elsewhere, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman checked into the Lowell Hotel on East 63rd Street with husband Harvey Weinstein. Alec Baldwin and his new wife Hilaria were there, too.
Chris Benz, however, opted for something entirely different. Fashionista reports that he chose to stay at a Marriott. He tweeted: "Not that it isn't always, but the Marriott Marquis Times Square is really the look in times of crisis."
But not everyone relocated. The Times writes that Nicole Miller stayed in her Tribeca apartment and was able to make fondue and coffee in the same pot. (Just not at the same time.) Arianna Huffington stayed in her Chelsea apartment, and explains that the whole blackout experience hasn't been that bad. "At night, it's incredibly romantic. I have hundreds of candles and it's wonderful reading by candlelight," she said.
One Watts Street resident, Amar Kuchinad, even went so far as to invent a new word for the whole thing: "glamping," which would mean glamour camping. He explains, "You are not in a tent in the middle of the woods—you have a lot of amenities."
Others, though, aren't enjoying it so much. Former model and Upper East Side dweller Dovanna Pagowski complained: "The worst thing that happened directly to me is that Susanne Bartsch canceled her annual Halloween party because she lives downtown and has no electricity."
· Stars flee from Sandy, head Uptown [NYP]
· Glimmers of Light Downtown [NYT]
· All Hurricane Sandy coverage [Racked NY]
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