George Hahn loves New York. But in 2016, the author, actor and sartorial pragmatist wrote an essay about how the town — his residence for 22 years — had turn out to be unsustainable for his artistic life-style. He determined to maneuver residence, to Cleveland, Ohio, the place he marveled at his 1,000-square-foot house (with in-suite washer/dryer). But he grew to miss New York terribly. So when a Manhattan dermatologist provided him a full-time job, he returned — in January 2020.
By that March, he had been furloughed.
Mr. Hahn spent his newfound free time on Instagram and Twitter (he was the social media director for Joan Rivers), the place he largely expressed his reignited ardour for New York.
“It might be going down as one of the best loves of my life,” Mr. Hahn mentioned of the town. “To spend my money somewhere else when business is needed here would feel disloyal. To be among the counted when so many left, among those who stuck it out, is a privilege.”
Last summer time Mr. Hahn recorded a satirical video of New York as hellscape — “The streets are lined with people doing things like … getting ice cream … gay ice cream” — which went viral. “Then I started feeling the pressure: Is this my ‘Citizen Kane’? Or can there be more of this?”
He began recording his walks and his shaving periods — the place he’d talk about something from his sober, vegetarian life-style to politics — and posting every day “Good Morning” photographs, typically with a movie noir bent and involving espresso.
Mr. Hahn now has over 128,000 followers on Twitter, together with entertainers like Jane Lynch and Wanda Sykes. “This is all a total surprise to me,” he mentioned.
But he nonetheless has his day job — as a affected person concierge for a cosmetic dermatologist — which he returned to full-time final June. Mr. Hahn, 50, lives together with his two canines, Smokey and Lenore, in a 360-square-foot transformed lodge room on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. “It’s a very edited life,” he mentioned.
GOOD MORNING My day begins with espresso. My espresso technique is gloriously analog. I exploit a Chemex. There’s one thing nice about making your espresso with one thing that’s a part of the everlasting assortment at MoMA. I take my espresso black, straight, like I took my vodka.
On Sundays I don’t set an alarm, nor do I shave. I’m very fortunate to have two canines that aren’t crack-of-dawn canines. They are like youngsters. I’ve two cups of espresso. I learn the Times on my iPad. The canines get up. We rally and head over to Central Park.
SHOE BOX CHIC My canines eat this frozen uncooked meals. I put the meals of their bowls earlier than the stroll so it’s thawed out once we return. On Sundays, I attempt to do as a lot task-free and mask-free exercise as attainable. I put on a masks all week. So I spend time on this stylish little shoe field. It’s the one place the place I’m snug. I’ll pour one other cup of espresso. I’ll learn extra. I attempt to put a dent in that rising pile of New Yorkers.
BRUNCH I wish to go to the Viand or Tarallucci e Vino. I’ll placed on a pleasant pair of denims and both my Clarks desert boots or my chukka boots. I’m not a sneakers particular person.
STROLL I would go to the Strand, previously Book Culture. Most of the books I purchase are in digital kind; the final bodily guide I purchased was Jerry Seinfeld’s “Is This Anything?” I like the odor of bookstores, and it makes me really feel smarter simply to face in a single. I’ll additionally go to Zabar’s to choose up objects like rugelach, bagels, their lifesaving cream cheese, French/Italian roast espresso and perhaps considered one of their ready meals for dinner that night time.
RIDE I could go on a motorcycle trip in Central Park or down the river, if it’s not too chilly or raining; on the subject of temperature and precipitation I’m a child. I intentionally selected a bicycle that’s impartial when it comes to its apparel necessities. It’s like a Schwinn that somebody would have had within the ’70s. Leather seat, upright. I went to a proper occasion in a tuxedo on it.
REST The canines is likely to be due for one more stroll. After that, I really feel so free to take a nap, as a result of I’m so previous. I like them. I don’t know what I used to be combating in my childhood. My house is a lodge room, so I’ve set it up like a lodge room life-style. I’ll get on the mattress and nap as if I have been napping within the lodge room. There’s the TV, a desk, a lounge chair.
LISTEN Because I’m a podcast fanatic, this is likely to be the time slot for that. I like Pivot, with Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher. I like On the Media. The New Yorker Radio Hour. The New Abnormal. Here’s the Thing With Alec Baldwin. The War on Cars. Sway. I additionally hearken to a whole lot of NPR.
APPOINTMENT WITH MOM After my nap, I all the time name my mom. She’s in Cleveland. We often speak about what she needed to eat, the climate, what she’s watching on Netflix — if it’s received a British accent and a fancy dress, or if there’s a homicide, she’s a child in a sweet retailer. If she may dwell within the Agatha Christie universe she’d be very completely satisfied.
DINNER It bothers me that ordering apps take a big minimize from eating places. I’ll go to Viand or Motorino and get it and convey it residence, so that they’ll get all the cash. It’s such a trick bag. Because the supply staff must work, too. But it’s my choice to choose it up and convey it residence.
ON COOKING I’ve two burners and a convection microwave. It’s so restricted. It’s like asking a flight attendant to make you lunch. Amy’s frozen burritos are literally actually good. I by no means knew how a lot I loved peanut butter and jelly.
ON CLOTHING My wardrobe is extraordinarily edited. I’ve a typical closet with two rungs. My fits, my shirts that come from the cleaners, all the things is on these two rungs. I’ve lighter-weather stuff on the opposite rung. I’ll swap out when the season comes. In the summer time, my winter put on will go right into a storage field underneath my mattress. I’ve precisely 5 pairs of gown sneakers. I exploit a cream referred to as Saphir, it’s from France, to shine my sneakers. I exploit an previous T-shirt or an previous pair of underwear if that’s not too gross. Then I exploit one other T-shirt to buff them dry and a shoe brush. I’m very explicit.
AT NIGHT I’ll typically watch TV whereas I eat. The solely floor in my house is my desk. I’ll transfer the laptop computer and eat there. Or I’ll eat in mattress watching TV, like one would do in a lodge. There shall be a final canine stroll. A number of laps across the neighborhood. They need to occasion after that final stroll, so there’s an effort to dial down the temper. Smokey, who’s little, sleeps with me, and Lenore sleeps on her mattress or underneath my mattress. We handle.
THE BEST MEDICINE As I’m doing my comedown ritual — I’ll get into my boxer shorts and T-shirt, wash my face, placed on some night time cream, brush my enamel — I like listening to stand-up: Jim Gaffigan, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and considered one of my all-time favorites, Maria Bamford. And Tig Notaro. I’ll set the sleep timer on my Sonos. I’ll drift off, listening to comedy. It’s bizarre, I do know.
Joan Rivers mentioned that laughter is like giving somebody a trip. This pandemic has been hell. It’s been extraordinarily lonely. Listening to comedy earlier than going to mattress has been actually comforting.
Sunday Routine readers can comply with George Hahn on Twitter or Instagram @georgehahn, and on TikTook @georgehahnnyc.
