The Brits aren't just coming to New York, they have come and conquered. The city has been through periods when it liked its friends from across the pond, but rarely has there been a love-in of the kind we seem to be witnessing at present.
I am not just talking about a couple of celebrity British journalists, such as Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, or former Vanity Fair editor and current cable talk-show host, Tina Brown. I am not just talking about the chic set's discovery of the Mini Cooper, the establishment of a New York outpost of London's Soho House club for the in-crowd, or the British beer, fish and chips and soccer on TV that you find in a number of pubs. No, the Brits seem to be more than just a passing curiosity; they appear to have gone mainstream.
Now, I have to admit that I was sceptical that this was happening, despite hints from my British boyfriend. Now, I have to admit it is true. Take Broadway, for example. The hit musical of the moment is Monty Python's Spamalot, an adaptation by Eric Idle and John Du Prez of the 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It had advance ticket sales of US$20 million before opening two weeks ago. And it does not stop there - British directors are also behind three US theatre classics that have opened on Broadway in the past couple of months.
Then there is the media. Michael Cooke, the new editor-in-chief of the New York Daily News, the city's top-selling tabloid, is a Briton. And more than 20 British editors, designers and reporters have been brought in to revive The National Enquirer, the infamous downmarket tabloid. Its offices have moved to Manhattan from Florida.
Even the bad boy of British art, Damien Hirst, perhaps best known for putting rotting animal carcasses in glass cases, is here. His show The Elusive Truth is on at The Gagosian Gallery in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, and one of his most famous works, a 5-metre-long tiger shark in a tank of formaldehyde, was recently bought by leading US hedge fund manager Steve Cohen for about US$13 million.
Turn on the TV and it is the same. British music executive Simon Cowell's destructive wit in his role as a judge on the talent show American Idol is widely credited as making it a huge hit. And the American version of the top British comedy The Office has just started on prime-time TV.
