Karen’s Quirky New York Revisits Her First Photo Shoot with Philip Maier

What has changed in the past five years? One afternoon in the early days of the pandemic, I was chatting on Zoom with my Barre3 fitness friend Amy after a killer live-streamed 60-minute workout. During this brief period, when all the fitness studios in New York were closed, our instructors live-streamed solo from the Barre3 studio on West 8th Street. Two months into lockdown, we were socially isolated, so after class some of us liked to stay on Zoom to talk.

That day, it was Amy and me who lingered after class. I noticed a light umbrella in her apartment, and I asked her if she was a photographer. She told me her boyfriend, Philip Maier, was the photographer. One thing led to another, and I asked her if Phil might be interested in shooting my next column (outdoors, wearing masks, and six feet apart, of course!).

Amy, who prefers to remain mononymous, cajoled Phil, an avid street photographer, author, and artist. With some reticence, he agreed to try his lens at an outdoor fashion shoot—with the condition that Amy come along as his lighting assistant. The three of us met at the Garment District Alliance’s boarded-up info booth at West 39th Street and Seventh Avenue on a Saturday afternoon in June 2020.

My designer friend, Andrea Thurlow, joined us that Big Bang day, to help me display her galactical gown to best advantage. “Hands in pockets!” she cried, directing me to pull the skirt wide to reveal the full width of the fabric, which was a print of an abstract painting called Dominion Day by her friend James (Bud) Kerr. I mugged and posed, and Phil took glorious photographs.

“Louie, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” to paraphrase Humphrey Bogart’s character Rick Blaine in Casablanca. Five years later, Phil, Amy, and I have enjoyed a remarkable 60 creative collaborations, meeting at a new location every month, without fail, to document the wonders of New York City. And 60 times we have celebrated afterwards at bars, pubs, hotels, and restaurants throughout lower Manhattan.

That’s an astonishing feat! It speaks to their integrity and commitment. And during that period, I’ve worn a dozen gorgeous garments by Andrea T, which speaks to her generosity of spirit.

To celebrate the five-year anniversary as a “thruple” with Phil and Amy, this month we invited Andrea to join us again and recreate that magical day when our fruitful friendship took flight.

We met at the same spot, in front of The Garment Worker sculpture by Judith Weller. The tailor looked so lifelike, I half expected him to look up from his work at any moment and ask me to try on the blouse he was sewing!

He embodied the spirit of hardworking immigrants, building New York’s fabled garment industry. He also reminded me of my mother sewing clothes for my sister and me when we were kids. There was something simple and poignant about his concentration, with the fabric draping off the edge of the table.

The scene on the street was definitely busier than it had been in 2020. Now there was a constant flow of passersby and a nearby Halal cart drawing the hungry.

Five years ago, there was only a handful of people in the vicinity. The boarded-up kiosk for the Garment District Alliance had acid green walls, and the button of the sculpture above it was black. In 2023, the kiosk was removed (after a period serving as a pincushion), and the original Needle Threading a Button sculpture was replaced with the new, yellow Big Button.

With my crew viewing the original photo and directing me to adjust my pose, we tried to replicate the original pose as closely as possible. In the 2025 photo, I am older and hopefully a bit wiser. Elbows drawn in, perhaps a bit more beaten down by the vicissitudes of life. Maybe you feel that way too.

When I look at the photo of myself from 2020, even though we were in a frightening time, with New York at the epicenter of the pandemic in America and thousands dying every day, I remember feeling an optimism about life.

For the past five years, my resilience has been tested in various ways, and my store of optimism is depleted. I was surprised to read my column from five years ago and find this conclusion: An impossible precious moment of fantasy as the city trembles with hope on the brink of political reform and recovery from the pandemic.

On the brink of political reform! Remember, June 2020 was at the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement. Hope for change was in the air. Five years later, amidst continuing turbulence, I stand my ground and enjoy another precious moment of celebration and remembrance with friends.

I see the passage of time, and I honor the maturity that has come with it. A few days later, I watch thousands march along West Houston Street to protest the ICE raids. The people are stirring, hope is growing. The spiral of life keeps circling.

The inaugural column with Phil and Amy first appeared in my July 2020 Karen’s Quirky Style column.

Style Notes

This glorious galactical dress by Andrea T New York is the most spectacular garment I have ever worn! The fabric is a print of a painting called Dominion Day by James Kerr. This fascinating article describes the making of the dress. Only these rare Donna Karan Collection gold satin and red crocodile slides could do it justice.

Karen Rempel is a New York-based writer, model, and artist. Her Karen’s Quirky New York column illuminates quirky clothes and places in Manhattan. For past stories, see https://karenqs.nyc.