The Locals: Meet Richard Boch
The Locals is an interview series with Roxy Hotel’s friends and collaborators. Here, they share their little black book of restaurants, bars, galleries and stores, along with a few anecdotes. Consider this your insider’s guide to New York.
Writer, artist and lifelong New Yorker—Richard Boch is all these things and more. The former doorman of the legendary Mudd Club, Boch has more than a few stories to tell, many of which are chronicled in his book, “The Mudd Club.” Today, you can find Boch conducting interviews with the likes of Christ Stein, Debi Mazar, Pattie Boyd, Christopher Wool and many others. Other days he might be updating another series of page paintings that incorporate phrases from his writing, while continuing work on his next book, which, as he puts it, is about “adventure and misadventure” in club land—sex, drugs, music, art— all of it! Stay tuned. But for now, read about Boch’s favorite New York go-tos for art, books, drinks, and more.
What would the title of your autobiography be?
Adventure and Misadventure.
What can’t you travel without and why?
iPhone, Drivers License, Passport—can’t go very far without them!
What’s your favorite travel destination and why?
Biarritz, and South Florida. My family lives there.
What’s your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon in NYC?
Eat a very late breakfast or an early dinner. Then relax and catch my breath.
If you could choose one person to show you “their New York City,” who would it be and why?
Debi Mazar…we would walk and talk and remember things we hadn’t thought of in years.
What or who has inspired you recently and why?
Ed Ruscha at MoMA. I love paintings with words.
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What are your favorite NYC restaurants? What do you order there?
Lupe’s for Enchilada Suizas, Soho Diner for breakfast, a Burger or the Grilled Salmon, John’s Pizza for you guessed it and Balthazar for Steak Tartar and Escargot.
What’s your go-to spot in NYC for drinks?
The Club Room, The Roxy Bar or the bar at The Odeon
What are some of your favorite NYC brunch spots? What do you order when you go?
Don’t do a big brunch thing, so maybe just a pumpernickel bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese in my own kitchen.
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Where do you get your art fix in NYC? Do you have a favorite artist?
Jeffrey Deitch on Wooster Street, Jack Shainman on Lafayette Street, Hauser and Wirth in SoHo, 303 in Chelsea and MoMA just because it’s MoMA. Favorite artists for the here and now—Walter Robinson, Cindy Sherman and Christopher Wool, but there’s always more!
What are some of your favorite late-night hangouts in NYC and why?
I generally prefer a late-night party to a hangout.
What are some of your under-the-radar must-do recommendations for NYC visitors?
If I told you and you told them those places wouldn’t be under the radar.
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What are some of your favorite NYC stores and why?
Bookmarc, The Cast NYC, Theory, Dover Street Market for fun, J Crew—and Prada, if I want to lose my mind.
What music are you listening to these days? Who are some of your favorite musicians?
Bush Tetras, Faith, early Jefferson Airplane and Rolling Stones, Roxy Music, Motown and Punk.
What album or song would you consider your soundtrack to NYC?
Talking Heads album Fear of Music. The song “Life During Wartime” in particular.
When you think of NYC, are there any particular emotions or memories that immediately come to mind?
Time passing. love and loss, joy and sadness—and standing outside on White Street and Cortlandt Alley in 1979 and 1980—all of that in no particular order.
PHOTOGRAPHY ©️Kate Simon