Hot N Spicy

Go Spice Shopping with Padma Lakshmi, Stop NYU Expansion

Spice girl.
Spice girl. Photo: Patrick McMullan

Superstar Top Chef host and concerned Greenwich Villager Padma Lakshmi has already spoken out against NYU’s 1.9 million-square-foot expansion plan, and now she’s pledged to spend two hours shopping for spices with one lucky, rich bidder as part of a silent auction being held by NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan. The reserve for this spree is only $2,500, and with proceeds going to NYU FASP’s efforts, it’s all for a good cause. The best one, in fact: “I can think of no worthier cause than saving the Village from overdevelopment,” Lakshmi says. Other lots include dinners at Carbone and PDT, and face time with boho celebrity types like Fran Lebowitz and Philip Seymour Hoffman. [Bedford + Bowery, NYUFASP]

Go Spice Shopping with Padma Lakshmi, Stop NYU Expansion