A Man About Town
New York is a city of exhibitionists. Documentary filmmaker John Wilson is happy to oblige.
Wildfire smoke from Canada has enveloped New York City. The sky is an eerie orange, reminiscent of Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. NYRA columnist Eric Schwartau wears an old N95 mask and breathes heavily as he approaches the Ridgewood, Queens, residence of John Wilson, which features prominently in his HBO series, How To with John Wilson. (Season Three premieres today.) He clicks the digital buzzer marked “Wilson, 2nd floor.”
ERIC SCHWARTAU: John!
JOHN WILSON: Come inside before it’s too late.
ES: Oh, my god, I can’t believe I made it. And you’re watching Blade Runner 2049.
JW: It smells so crazy outside.
ES: I felt like I had to pull out the old N95. OK, so I already started recording to do a preamble about me walking up to your house during this apocalypse, but this is not a Diane Sawyer type of thing. Anything you say, it’s safe with me.
JW: Okay. Do you want a seltzer?
ES: I would love a seltzer. I feel like in the show you portray your apartment as such a depraved space. It’s actually really cute.
JW: Well, yeah. I try t…
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