One needn't have been around during the Studio 54 days to know that you always accept an invitation from Ian Schrager, especially when he's been keeping the spirit of New York's most notable and notorious nightclub alive for the next generation of downtown It Kids.

On Tuesday, the perfect mix of A-listers, models, artists, weirdos, fashionistas, and creatives gathered to celebrate the reopening and re-launch of PUBLIC, the impresario's buzzy hotel hot spot which first debuted on the Lower East Side in 2017 but has been quiet since the pandemic hit last year.

A new Peruvian fusion restaurant called Popular, along with a "pisco bar and cantina," stand at the forefront of the overall re-launch, which Schrager has described as a more "democratized" approach to luxury. The ground floor watering hole served as the location for the big reopening bash, where the see-and-be-seen scene was set with live music from a Latin band, impromptu salsa dancing, and a steady flow of pisco cocktails.

Helena Christensen and Zachary Quinto were there, along with society darlings Athena Calderone, Zoe Buckman, and Chelsea Leyland. Art world insiders JiaJia Fei and Antwaun Sargent held court in a corner booth, while creative-cool types like Julia Fox, Richie Shazam, and Brooke Candy rubbed elbows with girls in candy-colored slip dresses. Downtown's editorial old guard (Lynn Yaeger, Michael Musto, Mickey Boardman) partied alongside the new (The Drunken Canal's Claire Banse and Gutes Guterman).

That is all to say that "democracy" did indeed seem to dictate the guest list, culminating in an energetic celebration of New York and its official comeback.

Click through for a look at what you missed!

[Photos courtesy Public by Ruvan Wijesooriya]

Lynn Yaeger

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