The Man Behind the Worst Dating Events in NYC
Jeremy Abelson's dating events for Pocketchange NYC—such as a cougar-dating night and the infamous Fashion Meets Finance clusterfuck—double as publicity stunts and are always overrun with press. It works pretty well because 80% of us get all outraged by the idiocy of the idea, 10% actually attends the event, and the other 10% is press. Joshua Stein gets to know the hustler in Page Six magazine. Revelations? He calls his redheaded girlfriend "Big Red" and sometimes plays the character of the site's spokesman, a fictional and obnoxious WASP called "Richard Nouveau."
"One of Jeremy's first stunts in May 2006 was to gather 100 women he'd met on J-Date, a Jewish dating website, at the Lower East Side bar Fat Baby. When the women showed—holding white roses to identify them to their potential date—they were instead met by the sinking realization that they had been stood up, and that they were all there for the same (nonexistent) guy. "We had a ton of fun with it," Jeremy claims. As for the girls themselves, he maintains they thought it was hilarious, and adds "they got a free glass of champagne."
Jeremy needed a spolesman for the site, and he found one in Richard Nouveau. For many of pocketchangenyc.com's readers, Richard is a relatable type: handsome, white affluent, crass. He studied at Princeeon and wears apurple pinstripe suit and a pink-and-white checked shirt. He looks like a young Jay McInerney. He says offensvie things on the Web site, like, "I lifted my dating embargo on Orientals (I've devied to overlook the constant squinting)." Richard is also completely ficticious. He's the brainchild of Jeremy, who even plays him at appearances. "Smart people understand it's a mockery," Jeremy explains. "Richard's a moron. [The site is] a mockery of the white upper class ignorance. "
OK, we get it! He's just as douchey as the people who pay handsomely to attend his events. Except Abelson is profiting off the whole ball of wax, so he wins!
