Jill’s vitals
Name: Jill Zarin
Born: Long Island
Lives: Upper East Side
Occupation: Owner of Zarin Fabrics and Home Furnishings on the Lower East Side
Marital status: Married to her second husband, Bobby, a real-estate developer
Kids: Allyson, 15, and adult stepchildren David, Jennifer and Jonathan
Jill’s thoughts
What’s the biggest challenge you face when it comes to raising your daughter in the city?
New York is a big city. Sometimes it’s hard to take Ally to certain activities that are far away. Chelsea Piers, for example, is at least 45 minutes away with traffic, and hard to get to during the week.
Is your world anything like the fictionalized drama Gossip Girl?
I have watched a few episodes with Ally and really don’t see it [as] realistic compared to Ally’s social life. Thank goodness!
Do you have any advice for parents of younger kids?
Know your child. Don’t try to put your child into a school he doesn’t fit in. Some parents think their children are geniuses, put them in the most competitive school and end up withdrawing them later, destroying their self-esteem.
Jill’s favorites
Brunch spot: Cafe 201 in the Meatpacking District
Tourist attraction: Times Square
Place to have a birthday party: Anyplace the child agrees with! Don’t go rock climbing just because it’s cool if your child hates it.
Playground/park: Central Park
Place to get your kid’s hair cut: Cozy's Cuts for Kids
Dessert spots: Serendipity 3 and Max Brenner
Vacation destinations: St. Barts, Boca Raton and Cabo San Lucas
Movie theater: The Ziegfeld—especially for premieres
Department stores: Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman
Jill’s daughter Allyson’s favorites
Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Kids’ shoe store: Little Eric
Dessert spot: Pinkberry
Vacation destination: Aspen
Forms of transportation: Walking and taking the subway
Quiet spot: Central Park
Check out the scoop on...
Alex McCord | Bethenny Frankel | Jill Zarin | LuAnn de Lesseps | Ramona Singer
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Watch Alex face when Simon Mc Cord is ranting and screaming and swearing on her birthday surprise being f-ing ruined. Her face shows she is used to being abused, bullied by this man. No wonder the kids are so unruly, they see their father out of control and obsessively controling his wife.
This is coming in late, obviously. But, I get such a charge at how many times LuAnn refers to her Countess title in an episode. It is hysterical and humiliating for her. In todays economy, I wonder how many of these shopping trips and vacations are being taken NOW!!!! Of course, LuAnn does NOT feel guilty about " feeling priviliged." Their Orange County friends are already in trouble over real estate problems, and way to many investments for their hateful , bratty, and ungrateful children.
She needs to get her own identity instead of an outdated husband's title!
Are they aware that "Count and Countess" ' have not been used as titles in Italy for at least the last 100 years, since the country was unifed. Perhaps that is why they favor living in the United States, where people are more impressed by titles.
Hey Akex, who id your favorite dentist? Do you ever go to the dentist?
My grandson of 8 is coming to visit me in New York for 6days. What do kids like doing here best, please?
The husbands are much more entertaining than the wives!!!!! It seems as thought the wives. Bravo should really focus in on what the husbands are doing and show more
why are the woman so fruggly(is that a word). Tlaking about cookie cutter. NY is known for its different ethincities and different looks. Rather then putting wealthy fruggly woman on there. They should of casted the hot, fun, woman that you see everyday in NYC. Im embarassed to say I am a NY woman.
Jenee, agreed. angelica, agreed. bravo is desperate. The group is homogeneous just what alex is running from. ridiculous.
Where are the women of color? NYC is THE most diverse city in the world and they could not find one housewife of ethnicity. Boring! What they should show is how its really done on the East Coast...with style, with flavor and from women of diverse perspectives...that's NY and that would be interesting.
All Bethenny's comments on children should be dismissed because she never gave birth. She doesn't know what it's like to be a mother.
Alex, guess what we don’t all live in the same houses in the suburbs. I’ll keep it simple for you. Some houses are big and some are small. Some are on the beach and some are not. You get the idea. Here we enjoy more diversity than you do. We have the opportunity to enjoy serenity and to hop in our gasoline guzzling SUVies and drive to Manhattan to Saks or Bloomies to buy our Channels and Valentinos. I bet you’ve never been to Nordstrom’s!!!! I almost forgot we hop in our limousines with our kids and go to American Girl, and Build a Bear, and Mars 2112 for our birthday parties in addition to the parties they get at KidzFest, Kiddy Palooza, etc. now that’s diversity. I guess you can take a girl out of a small town but you cannot “take out” her ignorance.
Sadly, she doesnt realize that Brooklyn basically IS a suburb of Manhattan! Many of her cronies pull the same ugly face when asked if they'd live in Brooklyn--UGH