In New York City, celebrity sightings are not uncommon. although they certainly don’t happen as often as I’d like them to! Or maybe I’m not hanging out at the cool famous-people places, I don’t know. Now, I will be the first to admit that I am definitely more celebrity-obsessed than the average American so I usually have my eyes peeled and am on the hunt for a good ol’ fashioned star spotting.
So, just for the heck of it I thought it would be fun to look back at a few of the better ones I’ve had during my three-year tenure here in the Big Apple. My top five include:
1. John Stewart having lunch at the New York Times Cafeteria.
This is a cooler place than it sounds, I promise, and my friend spotted him as we were walking by, so bonus points for her eagle eyes and mad celebrity radar. I think everyone knows this already but he’s pretty short.
2. Bruce Willis on the Upper West Side.
Bizarrely enough, I’ve seen the Brucester three different times, all within about the span of a year (I think he had an apartment in the neighborhood while he was filming a movie.) The first time, he looked relatively normal, walking hand-in-hand with his then newlywed wife (sidenote: are they still together? Must look that up). The second time, he looked only slightly douchey, rocking a fedora and riding a vintage Schwinn down on Riverside Park. The third time, he looked extremely douchey, wearing a Russian fur hat and fur coat, walking down the street. Blech.
3. OJ Simpson, buying running shoes.
OJ did not look like this when I saw him…
Alright, to be fair, this one was not in New York City but (true story), I once sold him a pair of sneakers at the specialty running store I worked at in Miami a few years ago. I think the entire store stood completely still, barely daring to breathe during the 10 minutes he was inside.
4. Michael Jordan, riding an elevator.
Fine, this one was not in NYC either, but it’s still kinda cool. We rode up in an elevator with Mr Jordan at The Cove at Atlantis in the Bahamas while on vacation. Unfortunately, he lived up to his reputation for being a jerk. My Father-In-Law is a huuuuuge MJ fan and after a few minutes of shocked silence once we realized with whom we were sharing an elevator, he excitedly told Mike about his massive Jordan collection, only to be met with impassive silence and a gesture for the bodyguard to step in between us. Talk about obnoxious, eh?
5. Jane Krakowski (Jenna from 30 Rock), walking her A. DOR. A. BUL. 2-week-old baby in SoHo.
I don’t think this is the exact day I saw her but it’s a pretty similar shot
I didn’t even realize it was her because I was so intent on stalking her miniature bambino (What, you don’t do that too?) I sidled up to the stroller, gasped in delight over how tiny he was and then conveyed my adoration before looking up at whom I was speaking to. She is gorgeous and tiny in real life and was extremely gracious. Points for you, Jenna!
Those are probably my top five favorite encounters. Other slightly less exciting and definitely more random celebrity sightings include: Fat Joe (Twice! How random is that? Does anyone even know who Fat Joe is anymore?), Kevin from The Office, Tim Gunn, Shannon Elizabeth (of American Pie infamy) and Liev Schrieber (Naomi Watts’ husband, who, not to brag or anything, but I think a dead ringer for my husband!)
My number one dream celebrity spotting would be Jennifer Aniston, hands down. Maybe someday it will happen. That’s half the fun of New York City, you just never know who you’ll bump into…
Whose your best celebrity sighting? Tell me so I can be impressed, I’m a sucker for a good celeb story!
Edited to add: I swear to God, not 10 minutes after I posted this, I took my dog for a walk and ran smack in Robin Roberts, host of Good Morning America, exiting her building into a limo! She is tall and stunning in person, wowzas!
How crazy/funny is that?! Hmmm, maybe my next post should be about what I’d do if I won the lottery, don’t ya think?
I love talking about celebrity sightings! I have seen Rihanna, Kat Von D, Kevin Spacey, David Duchovny, and a couple of others. Rihanna was my favorite. She is just amazingly beautiful in person.
I didn’t know you used to work at a running store in Miami! Now you have me wondering if my last two pairs of running shoes have come from the same store as OJ’s…
Anyhow, I saw Bon Jovi at a restaurant in South Beach this winter, that’s probably the biggest celeb sighting of mine. Lesser “celebs” would be Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams QB and past Heisman winner), who I saw in high school when my school played his and then went to college “with” him, Toby Keith on a few occasions around Oklahoma, Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me guy – very nice too) when he visited my college, Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN Gameday) at a restaurant in Norman the day before a game and President Bush (Sr) when he visited my college.
I love celebrity sightings! Even after having lived here for 13+ years, I still get excited about them. I don’t know if this really counts as a random sighting, but I was in Cannes at the pre-screening of Oceans 13, and Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Andy Garcia and Matt Damon were literally 2 feet away from me. Like..right THERE. I’m pretty sure my pics are on FB – i’m not making this up! 🙂
ooh i love celebrity sightings! i saw john lithgow in nice matin on 79th street, and not being sure it was him, walked straight into his table in my efforts to see if it was him. another time i was late for something and frustrated that i couldn’t find an address around the christopher street station, asked someone for directions before looking at him, and realized it was phillip seymour hoffman. my first celebrity sighting in nyc was juliette binoche on the corner of w. broadway and houston. she was so beautiful.
Mrs Puma, I used to work at The Runner’s High, which is in Pinecrest!
Everyone else, I am jealous of some of your guys’ celebrity sightings, there’s some pretty major ones in there!