Party arty
$1M theft won’t stop publisher’s posh bashes
THE PARTIES will go on.
Alexis Gregory has no plans to do away with the lavish private parties he hosts for friends, even after someone pilfered nearly $1 million in figurines during a piano recital and art exhibit in his Upper East Side apartment.
“I’ll continue doing things the way I do them,” Gregory, 81, told the Daily News on Tuesday.
The co-founder of Vendome Press — a publisher of illustrated books on interior design, the fine arts, French culture and jewelry — invited 26 guests to his Fifth Ave. apartment Friday night.
After the party ended, a member of his staff realized the seven figurines — some dating to the 16th century — were gone.
Gregory wouldn’t discuss what police have told him, but said the art has value both sentimental and monetary.
“I collected them all over the world,” he said. “They mean a great deal to me.”
Police said party guests at the building near E. 72nd St. left around 11:15 p.m. There were no security cameras inside the three-bedroom apartment recently listed at $4.5 million. Gregory didn’t hire private security for the event at his 10th-floor apartment, which features a bed that once belonged to Napoleon.
Cops are reviewing surveillance video at nearby buildings, but had not reported an arrest by late Tuesday.
A miniature gold statue of Christ, an ivory angel statue and a gold figurine of a man in a bejeweled house were among the pilfered items.
Police urge anyone with information on the stolen items to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
Gregory’s friends “were astounded” when they heard what happened, but have been supportive since the big-ticket heist, he said.
Born in Zurich, Gregory came to the United States as a child. He graduated magna cum laude in 1957 from Harvard University where he studied art history.
Copper heiress Huguette Clark owned three apartments in the Upper East Side building until her death in 2011.