Urban Zen Rocks the Eldridge
Thursday March 26, 2009 | Contributor: Jennifer Wright

A tiny but fabulous cocktail party hosted by the Scottparks Organization was held at The Eldridge to benefit Donna Karan’s favorite charity, Urban Zen. The oh-so-worthwhile organization focuses on integrating multiple therapies into patient care. A young and trendy crowd of socialites including Adrien Field, Alexandra Alexis, Anisha Lakhani and Tia Walker attended to show their support.



And we were all abuzz to be at The Eldridge this week in particular . . . As you may already be aware, this location has been popping up in gossip columns for days. In an act surrounded by huge question marks, socialite Paul Johnson-Calderon recently left the establishment with a purse belonging to a hostess at the bar (as caught on camera by Guest of a Guest in the shot seen below). When he was apprehended, the hostess elected not to press charges, and Johnson-Calderon’s family compensated her monetarily. It strikes me as remarkable, not simply how PJC chose to act (which seems mightily remarkable all by itself), but that he chose that particular location. The Eldridge is so tiny that of course people were going to notice items going amiss. I was relieved to see that – to the best of my knowledge – everyone left with their own belongings on the night of the Urban Zen party.



Of course, newly rising social stars Adrien Field and Alexandra Alexis have been experiencing their own mini-scandal. An ad was posted on Craigslist earlier in the week stating that the two were looking for an intern who would be able to hold their coats when they attended black tie galas. Both have denied this stimulus to the economy (and it does seem unlikely that they would ever have acted that way, because they both appear to be sane people, and surely sanity is the only qualification for not writing that particular advertisement) though their presence did lead to a certain amount of speculation about who did post it. Perhaps there will be more comments about the repercussions on their new web show, which you can find here: http://www.almostarrived.com/.



On a happier note, Anisha Lakhani seems prepped to do even more great things! Schooled – the delightful novel detailing the sometimes unsavory lives of teachers and tutors to Manhattan’s Upper East Side elite – is about to be turned into a movie. It’s certainly appropriately timed, as, in addition to Gossip Girl (the best show of our time), a program about prep school children in Manhattan is about to launch on Bravo. Anisha assured me that working at a private school in Manhattan really isn’t as bad as the novel makes it out to be, which should be heartening to any new graduate considering entering the educational field.



Amidst all the conversation, the champagne flowed freely. DJs Mia Moretti and M.O.S. kept the music lively, favoring a lot of classic, early 90’s tunes (like the Clash, and the Cure). Owner Matt Levine was in attendance to oversee the festivities, mingle with guests, and, well, let’s be honest, make sure that the only press The Eldridge received from this event was good press by keeping an eye on everyone’s bags. The evening, perhaps due to his watchful eye, or simply due to the lovely crowd assembled, couldn’t have gone more perfectly.