Before an intimate Upper East Side funeral for the late Bill Cunningham, the Eiffel Tower was lit up blue on Wednesday night as a Parisian tribute to the beloved fashion photographer known for his blue French workman’s jackets. But New York’s own Empire State Building has yet to acknowledge the legendary lensman.
Also done up in a shade that’s known in certain circles as “Bill Cunningham blue” this week in tribute were spires on Manhattan buildings One Bryant Park and 4 Times Square.
But Cunningham’s devoted assistant at the New York Times, John Kurdewan — whose Instagram handle remains “workforbillc” — is pushing for another landmark to join the trend.
“If the Eiffel Tower can turn blue for Bill, why can’t a New York landmark like the Empire State do the same tonight?” he posted online Thursday, the day of Cunningham’s funeral, where guests included Anna Wintour, Carolina Herrera and Susanne Bartsch.
Kurdewan told us that while “I was shocked and honored that the French Eiffel Tower [turned] blue for Bill . . . I’ve been reaching out to the Empire State Building. But it keeps running into red tape. I submitted the paperwork and then . . . it all becomes bogged down.”
On Thursday, the Empire State Building’s “tower lights calendar” had nothing scheduled. A rep for the building didn’t get back to us. Recent lightings have honored Pride Week and the Belmont Stakes. Of note, in 2010, the Empire State Building caused a public outcry for refusing to light the tower for what would have been Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday.
Kurdewan added of the Empire State snub: “It’s the least they can do . . . Turn the switch, hit a button . . . Go ‘blue’ for one night, to say, ‘Thank you, Bill.’” And, “This man . . . dedicated his life to fashion, to individuals who express themselves through clothes.” Kurdewan further said that with all the many charity events Cunningham covered nightly, he was “doing good for the city of New York and the people of New York.”
Cunningham died June 25 at 87.