A Definitive Ranking of The Real Housewives of New York
Who reigns supreme amongst Manhattan's upper crust, and who barely makes the cut? Two society experts weigh in.
By Sam Dangremond
Getty/Designed by Michael Stillwell
Season 10 of Real Housewives of New York City is just around the corner, and in honor of the premiere, Town & Country asked two social commentators—Brian Moylan of Vulture and Paula Froelich, a former Page Six editor and founder of A Broad Abroad—to rank all the housewives in terms of their publicity, fame, power, money, and entrepreneurship. (We also asked famed society publicist R. Couri Hay for his opinion, but he declined to grade the ladies: "The show is one long champagne-fueled catfight. It is basically anti-high society.")
Here is our unscientific (but definitive!) ranking of the RHONY cast.
15. Cindy Barshop
Brian Moylan: She was on for one season and she is the queen of vajazzling, so I think that puts her very close to the bottom. She's like the help that did well, essentially, and was on a reality show. She did own a house in Quogue, but Sonja Morgan famously wouldn't go there—because it was in Quogue.
Bryan Moylan's Score: 1
Paula Froelich's Score: 0
Total Social Clout Points: 1
14/13. Jules Wainstein (tie)
Brian Moylan: She's a one-season reality show wonder with no connections and no dough to back it up.
Paula Froelich: I have no idea who that is.
14/13. Alex McCord (tie)
Brian Moylan: Alex McCord didn't even live in Manhattan, and nobody knows who she is, and her husband worked at a hotel. And now she's sort of taken herself out of it and doesn't want to be associated with Housewives anymore because she moved to Australia and became a psychologist. So she is out of the game entirely. (Editor's note: after Andy Cohen tweeted his congratulations last year, McCord clarified, explaining that she had finished her bachelor's degree in psychology but wasn't officially licensed. Now she's working as a guidance counselor for a group of nursing homes).
Paula Froelich
12. Aviva Drescher
Brian Moylan: Her kids go to a really good school, but everyone thinks she's a striver. She's trying really hard to get into that realm and they don't want her. She also had to rent a house because they wouldn't let her film Real Housewives in her co-op. That's pretty sad.
Paula Froelich: I'd put her somewhere near the bottom.
11/10. Jill Zarin (tie)
Brian Moylan: She owns a house in the Hamptons, which is key, and I think she knows a lot of people and she's around on the scene. She throws a big charity event in the Hamptons every year, which I would say qualifies you as being somewhat social, but it's filled with rejected reality stars—people like Aviva Drescher and The Real Housewives of New Jersey. It's not like she's really getting the A-list crowd for her parties.
Paula Froelich: I love her, but she's flatly in the middle.
11/10. Kristen Taekman (tie)
Brian Moylan: She's a Manhattan mom in Tribeca, so I guess she has some influence, but she never seemed like she was really trying to get into the real social world. Also, her husband was all up in the Ashley Madison scandal, so I mean, nobody wants him at their barbecues. Score: 4
9. Ramona Singer
Brian Moylan: She's a nobody from nowhere with no connections and a bunch of money, mostly that she made through crappy Christian jewelry. She's the bottom of the barrel.
Paula Froelich: Flatly in the middle, and only in the middle because she's just stayed around for so long.
Total Social Clout Points: 9.5
8/7. Dorinda Medley (tie)
Brian Moylan: Dorinda has some clout and access thanks to her ex-husband, but now she dates the guy that owns Madame Paulette. So she's taken herself out of the running and then sullied herself by being on a reality television program.
Paula Froelich: I'd never even heard of her. Somewhere in the middle.
Total Social Clout Points: 10
8/7. Heather Thomson (tie)
Brian Moylan: I think that she's successful and nice and cool, but she would turn her nose up at all of that and would rather just be comfortable at home in a cocktail dress than go to the ballet opening or what have you.
Paula Froelich: She's in the middle because she's the top of the one-seasonsers for me—she's an actual businesswoman who actually made her own money. And she also didn't embarrass the shit out of herself.
6. Luann de Lesseps
Brian Moylan: She has a house in the Hamptons that she owns and she's out and about around town on the social scene, but she has officially lost her title so she's no longer a countess. That probably knocked her down a few pegs. And she no longer has a house in Palm Beach, or West Palm, because that was Tom's place. And last time she was there she got arrested for assaulting a cop. The pluses even out the negatives, as it were.
Paula Froelich: She's like the car crash at the party. She stopped drinking, but she's probably still just as crazy. Just for theatrics, I'd put her a little above Ramona but below Sonja. Also because at the end of the night she might sing "Money Can't Buy You Class."
Total Social Clout Points: 12.5
5/4. Sonja Morgan (tie)
Brian Moylan: She was married to a Morgan and she will go to any charity function with an open bar.
Paula Froelich: No one even knew who she was before the show, like that crazy-eyed Alex from the first season. She's up there for the geriatric set, and she was married to a Morgan and has the house to prove it. Otherwise, you would think she would have just changed her name.
5/4. Kelly Killoren Bensimon (tie)
Brian Moylan: When she was married, Kelly Bensimon had some legit connections, but since then she doesn't really want to leave her house.
Paula Froelich: People still want her to do the parties and host a party, and her name will get a different sort of attention [than most of the other Housewives].
3. Bethenny Frankel
Brian Moylan: I think she's right in the middle because she's kind of a nobody from nowhere, but she's made a shit-ton of money. She uses it very charitably. I think her charity work in Puerto Rico certainly raised her up a few notches. She owns a house in the Hamptons that's very nice, but she'll always be the runner-up on the Martha Stewart Apprentice. No matter how hard she tries, I don't think she's going to make it into the firmament of New York society in the way that someone like a Tinsley Mortimer could. Score: 7
Paula Froelich: I mean, she can actually sell and get press. Bethenny is just kind of the ultimate social climber. And in some ways, you have to give her credit for that. She climbed and she climbed and she hung on and she did whatever to get there. Also, since Socialite Rank, who isn't a social climber in New York, you know what I mean? It's not like there are any Astors still alive. It's more like true society in a sense is dead.
2. Carole Radziwill
Brian Moylan: She's near the top mostly thanks to her connections to the Kennedys and all of her old journalism friends. She has lots of famous friends, like Andy Cohen, and Carole gets invited to a lot of really good dinner parties, I would assume. But I don't think she's looking to be a socialite in the traditional way that someone like Tinsley Mortimer is.
Paula Froelich: I would put her near the top because of an actual connection to the Kennedys and because she's still considered classy. She doesn't quite stoop to a certain level.
1. Tinsley Mortimer
Brian Moylan: Tinsley Mortimer is still a legit socialite because of all the stuff back in the day when she was in her prime. A lot of that has really dried up, but I think she still has the name recognition and residual social clout of someone who has been in that sort of position.
Paula Froelich: She's nice, but she's also a made-up socialite. The only reason people know about Tinsley is because of her ex-husband, but also: Socialite Rank.
Sam Dangremond Contributing Digital Editor Sam Dangremond is a Contributing Digital Editor at Town & Country, where he covers men's style, cocktails, travel, and the social scene.
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