The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
Brooklyn pol Chi Osse says he wants to ‘eat the rich’ — yet he hobnobbed with stars at Met Gala
Brooklyn Councilman Chi Osse was seen decked out with the cultural elite and wealthy patrons at the Met Gala just a day before storming the stage and disrupting a Rent Guidelines Board meeting.
nypost.com
Brooklyn pol Chi Osse says he wants to ‘eat the rich’ — yet he hobnobbed with stars at Met Gala
By
Carl Campanile and
Nolan Hicks
May 4, 2023 7:35pm
Updated
A lefist Brooklyn city councilman who has tweeted in the past about “eating the rich” took in a taste of how the other half lives this week, when he partied at the high-priced Met Gala along with some of the Big Apple’s most moneyed elite.
Councilman Chi Osse, briefly stopped expressing disdain for the wealthy Monday to don a designer outfit that he said paid homage to fashion king Karl Lagerfeld, as he let loose at the yearly Vogue-sponsored event, for which tickets can cost as much as $50,000.
The inconstancy was jarring for some of Osse’s political rivals.
“All the public sees from this is ‘Down with the rich, unless they invite us to the right sort of parties.’ But this is just the norm from the Prada Politburo touting Soho House Socialism that goes by the name Progressive,” said Staten Island Republican City Councilman Joe Borelli.
Osse, 25 — who graduated from the posh private Friends Seminary school in the East Village — has a long history of publicly expressing disdain for wealth, tweeting in February of 2021 “Eat the rich!”
“Get ready for my ‘Tax the Rich’ speedo”,” the Democratic councilman cracked in January, 2022.
He also said “we need NY to tax the rich and do right by our New Yorkers! #InvestInOurNewYork” and that “I wish Biden were a socialist.”
Brooklyn Councilman Chi Osse was seen decked out with the cultural elite and wealthy patrons at the Met Gala.@advisry/TwitterOsse, who gets a free ticket to the gala as chairman of the council’s cultural affairs committee, also went last year, when democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed up wearing a white dress with “tax the rich” emblazoned on her backside.
His 2023 look even got a write up in Vogue, which said he “paid homage to Met Gala honoree Karl Lagerfeld.”
“I was able to work with the designer Keith Herron, a young, Black creative who designs and runs the brand Advisry,” Ossé told the magazine.
“And the garment that he put together—which referenced Karl’s 1983 Chanel collection, as well his own take on fashion—was just the most comfortable garment to wear. I felt amazing in it and received a lot of compliments.”
He hung out at the event with rapper Ice Spice.
A day after the Met gala, Osse showed up at the the proceedings of the Rent Guidelines Board at Cooper Union and joined protesters in bringing the proceedings to a halt for about 10 minutes by crashing the stage.
Nestor Davidson, chairman Rent Guidelines Board, sent a letter of complaint Thursday to Mayor Erc Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams about Osse and other council members exhibiting “threatening” behavior, jeopardizing the safety of board members at the raucous meeting.”
“It’s hypocritical. It’s clearly insincere,” said state Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar, a Brooklyn resident.
“It’s disturbing. He gets to hobnob with New York’s elite entertainment people while small landlords who can’t make ends meet get abused at a Rent Guidelines Board meeting.”
Osse defended his appearance at the Met Gala and his raucous protesting of proposed rent hikes at the Rent Guidelines Board meeting.
“As chair of the committee on cultural affairs, libraries, and international intergroup relations, I attend a wide range of events and fundraisers to support and celebrate New York’s unique culture and world class cultural community,” Osse said.
“My constituents also know I have been nothing if not a steadfast supporter of tenants,” he said.
Osse was raised by a well-heeled family.
His father, Reggie Ossé, was an entertainment lawyer who represented hip hop mogul Jay-Z, NY Magazine reported.
His mother, Akim Vann, was a co-founder of Bakery on Bergen in Prospect Heights.
Her father and Osse’s granfather was Grammy Award–winning record producer Teddy Vann.