Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
The Apple of Their iPhones
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Jun 24, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Jun 24, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The New York Post has an article today on the mania––in the truest sense of the word––surrounding the eventual release of Apple's iPhone, a device that is a phone, digicam, organizer, Internet browser, and iPod wrapped into one sleek-looking package. The Post found people willing to camp, pay, or have sex in trade for the latest and greatest in soon-to-be-ubiquitous personal technology.
Harris Levinson, 34, a video production supervisor for Conde Nast, is paying his brother and two friends $150 each to stand in line at Apple stores in three different states to make sure he gets at least one.
“I have to cover my bases,” said Levinson, who’s dispatched phone-buying surrogates to New York, Kentucky and Tennessee. “What if one of them doesn’t work?”
Levinson's other strategies included "jokingly" asking one of his female friends to sleep with an Apple Genius in trade for an iPhone and handing off his business card to an AT&T employee with a $100 bill attached. Neither gambits worked, unsurprisingly. A plastic surgeon from Long Island is offering to pay for people to wait in line overnight in order to get him a phone. He wants one right before he goes on vacation so he'll have time to "play around with it." If you're going on a 4th of July vacation with a Dr. Harris, get ready for some fun times.
A 21-year-old Pace University student is prepared to camp out on the sidewalk in order to get his iPhone. "It really makes a social statement. I want to be the first to have it.” It does indeed make a social statement.
Tagged
apple
conde nast
friends
fun
internet
iphone
ipod
long island
new york
new york post
pace university
people
sex
technology
the post
university
video
Dave Hogarty
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NJ Transit riders face 5 weeks of schedule disruptions starting Sunday
NJ Transit and Amtrak riders should prepare for cancellations, schedule changes and longer commutes as work continues on the new Portal North Bridge.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Oct 11, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET
For a Democrat in a traditionally red NJ district, how to woo Republican voters
The first-time Democrat says it’s still “a toss-up race” between her and incumbent GOP Rep. Tom Kean.
By
Mike Hayes
News
For a Democrat in a traditionally red NJ district, how to woo Republican voters
The first-time Democrat says it’s still “a toss-up race” between her and incumbent GOP Rep. Tom Kean.
By
Mike Hayes
2 pedestrians killed in Bronx crash after driver ran red light, police say
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Ann Givens
Rain could put a damper on NYC’s long weekend. Here’s when it will clear.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Holy civics! NYC schools' own comic books in the spotlight at Comic Con
By
Jessica Gould
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .