Name: Antony Hegarty
Age: 32
Neighborhood: East Village
Occupation: Musician, Antony and the Johnsons. Their fourth album, Swanlights, is out this week and you can catch them performing with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s October 30 at Lincoln Center.
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Jack Smith. He is the father of my city.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Bowl of lima bean soup, B&H Dairy on Second Avenue (can’t remember which day of the week they serve it).
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Shake.
What was your first job in New York?
Waitress at the Roxy, as a pregnant nun for Disco Interruptus by Brian Butterick and Dugwah! John Kelly performed as the Mona Lisa. Richard Move was go-go dancing.
What’s the last thing you saw on Broadway?
Ghosts of the Lenape.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
Sometimes. I just follow my instincts.
What’s your drink?
Dust and water.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
Once a week (breakfast).
What’s your favorite medication?
Fig.
What’s hanging above your sofa?
A photo of my friend Lola by Alice O’Malley.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
I hack away at my own hair, mostly. I get it dyed professionally by Lena at Ion, and she is amazing.
When’s bedtime?
Right now it’s midnight, because I am on European time.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
Old. Places like that only ever existed by default, the places that civilized society “forgot.” The Christopher Street Piers were the same, the wind in the winter, I would go out there and sing as a young adult late at night in the middle of the river and it felt like home to me. It was like an ancient burial ground, full of ghosts and memories. I like old places much more than new places, inevitably.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
I don’t think.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
Hearing loss.
Who is your mortal enemy?
Virulent late-stage capitalism.
When’s the last time you drove a car?
A rental unit two months ago. I was in Canada driving frantically toward the tundra.
How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
I had to pawn my diamond-encrusted cheesecloths.
Times , Post, or Daily News?
I am currently boycotting the Times. Now I read the Guardian online.
Where do you go to be alone?
To my secret garden.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
If you go out to a nightclub and the only people you know are the employees.
