The Manhattan real estate exploits of a Montreal mag tycoon
Suroosh Alvi, who along with two buddies founded the hipster how-to guide Vice magazine back in the mid-1990s, recently paid $2,125,000 for a 2,319-square-foot East Village apartment, reports The New York Observer. As the Observer’s Max Abelson points out, Vice, a startup launched in Montreal using government subsidies, became successful pioneering a “trailer-park aesthetic;” it has since moved to New York and now has a lucrative deal with Viacom, numerous foreign editions and an advertising arm. In a few days, the magazine will throw a $250,000 Halloween party. “At a certain point I stopped eating beans and started eating steak,” Mr. Alvi said a few years ago, “but that doesn’t matter.” Meanwhile, Gavin McInnes, a Vice co-founder and the staunchly obnoxious brains behind the magazine’s sensibility, split with the magazine, reportedly over the Viacom deal.