On a balmy Thursday night in Nolita’s enchanting Elizabeth Street Garden, Julia Fox and Nora Fried, co-founders of Rosebuds Reading Collective, hosted Garden Variety, a carnival with a cause. Proceeds were split between the garden, which recently won a 13-year battle for its preservation, and Rosebuds, which brings books and creative writing workshops to women incarcerated at Rikers Island.
Rosebuds is the dream-turned-reality of comedian Nora Fried, and its name comes from the Rose M. Singer Center at Rikers. Fried told Observer she was in a really dark place a couple of years ago. She was getting sober and felt alone, and reading was what helped pull her out. “And so, as one naturally does,” she joked, “my next step was, why don’t I start a book club in a jail?”
Fried, who was wearing an ornate copper-and-black, tapestry-like vintage Rose Taft dress, has always loved supporting women, and she started thinking about places where other women might feel alone. Jail made sense to her. She has flowing fire-red hair and punchy coral-red lips and admitted that once she gets an idea stuck in her head, she won’t let it go. So she started making calls. “Everyone was like, ‘Do you have a background in jail?’ And I was like ‘nope.’” She moved forward anyway.
The garden, with its winding paths, stone lions and coiffed foliage, felt both curated and wild on the night of the carnival. A glowing heart-shaped light presided over the scene, and performers and activations waited for guests around every turn: tarot and astrology readings, magicians, bookmark making, face painting and cotton candy vendors. There was Swedish candy from Bon Bon, bagels from Greenberg’s and drinks by Singers, plus popcorn and pizza. Electronic dance music by VTSS and DJ Griffin Maxwell Brooks filled the air. It was like Alice in Wonderland, minus the danger. All potential.
The event was produced by Vivian Pang, with Marjorie Kozloff as co-producer. Notable guests included comedian Julio Torres, actor Taylour Paige, TikTok star and singer Addison Rae, New York City Council member Chi Ossé, model Richie Shazam, Nicky Hilton and comedian Matt Rogers.
Rosebuds launched in February 2025. It started small, with six women at the first session, and now draws more than 30 participants per session, with plans to expand across New York City and eventually build a national program. Many of the books are memoirs or novels about getting out of your own head and finding a new vision, and a new version, of yourself. The first was Educated, the bestselling memoir by tara westover, who later visited the women at Rikers.
When Fried brought Fox’s memoir, Down the Drain, into the jail, the women loved it. Fried reached out to Fox, who said she’d love to visit. “She crushed it with the women.” Fried described Fox as relatable and vulnerable. “She feels like my work wife now. I can’t imagine things without her. She’s just the best.”
Fox connected deeply with the women. And when she met Fried, she saw a woman who was exhausted, lugging books around and running a one-woman show. “I can help you,” she recalled thinking.
Soon after, Fox, an actress and New York Times bestselling author, joined Rosebuds as a founding partner and its creative director, alongside Afrika Owes, a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk who had herself been incarcerated at the Rose M. Singer Center. The collective now offers biweekly book clubs, creative writing workshops with guided prompts and reflections and visits from the authors whose books the women read.
Fried focuses on the books, and Fox leads the writing workshops. “We talk about the book for probably 10 minutes, honestly. Then we talk about life, reflecting on what we’re doing, how we want to better ourselves or talk shit about men,” Fried said, laughing. “It’s a beautiful space to unwind and really get vulnerable.” Fox then gives the group a writing prompt.
As dusk settled in, the garden took on a Halloween-like air, minus the jump scares. A clown swept yellow flags through the air. A poet typed personalized odes on the spot. Near a Van Leeuwen ice cream stand, a long line formed for Fox to sign copies of her memoir. While they waited, readers could browse vintage clothes from Fox’s closet, most priced at $30. Half an hour later, Fox swapped places with fellow writer Anna Marie Tendler, who signed copies of her bestselling memoir, Men Have Called Her Crazy.
In a nook at the back of the garden, DD Fuego, who appeared on Season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, represented Betsey Johnson. She encouraged guests to bend their knees a little as they tried to toss small red rings around the necks of yellow rubber duckies floating in a pink kiddie pool. Prizes included Betsey Johnson handbags, wallets and jewelry. “The game is called Betsey’s Lucky Ducks, but you know how lucky they are?” she quipped. “Not very. It’s hard.”
Fuego, who wore a blonde wig with bangs modeled on the iconic designer herself, said that while Johnson couldn’t attend, she wanted everyone to feel the love she has for Fox and the cause, so she sent Fuego as her avatar. “Hence the hair.”
DD Fuego and Liam Downey. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
After several misses and one near hit, Observer caught up with Fox, who wore a vintage Alexander McQueen dress that looked like a red-and-white plaid button-down layered over a white T-shirt and tucked into a denim mermaid skirt, finished with sheer silver-sequined sleeves. It was all one piece. She carried a yellow fourth-place ribbon bag because, she joked, “I never win anything.”
Fox had pulled the whole event together in a month. “I directed and shot a movie in August, and this was harder,” she said. At one point she was panicking, wondering how they would pull it off, so she reached out to the community, local businesses and friends. “Everyone pulled through, even if it was like, ‘I’ll donate cupcakes or pizza,’ or ‘I’ll give you $5,000.’ It was so beautiful, the way the community came together. And now I’m like, with a lot more time, I could really throw a crazy banger of an event.”
For Fox, Rosebuds was meant to be. “You know what’s funny? I put on a jacket I hadn’t worn in two years, and there was a piece of paper. I pulled it out, and it was like my manifestation journey. And one of the things was helping women in jail. I totally forgot about it. So when Nora reached out, this was like a seed that I had planted, and now we’re here.”
After visiting the women at Rikers, Fox realized they weren’t so different from her. They laughed at the same things and shared the same references. “We’re like one mistake away from being each other.” According to her, many of the women are incarcerated because of substance abuse. “They were under the influence and they did something stupid. Allegedly.” Others are there because of abusive situations or survival crimes like petty theft and prostitution—“things that don’t hurt anybody.”
“Not to sound like a man hater, because I’m really not, even though everyone thinks I am,” Fox said, “the common thread through a lot of the stories I hear is that there was a man at some point. Beginning, middle or end, there was a man.”
Fox has witnessed tremendous transformations among the women who attend the workshops. Some arrive skeptical, sitting in the back without talking, sometimes coming just for the free food without having read the book. “But by the end…” Here, Fox interrupted herself. “I got goosebumps. I’m gonna cry.” She paused to wipe her eyes. “The way they change and are able to just get back to who they are. All we literally do is give them the space and support them, and they do everything else.”
Correctional officer Naomi Montgomery, who oversees the book club at Rikers and does the writing assignments herself, has noticed the changes, too. “They’re more patient and a lot more empathetic to other people,” she told Observer. They have also come to see her as a person rather than just an officer or authority figure. “I’m a woman first,” she said. When they’re upset, sad or lonely, Montgomery encourages them to “just put the pen to the pad and start writing.”
Frances Pine-Rinella, Charlotte Birznieks, Julia Padavona, Chloe Terlingen and Julia DiPretoro. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
The crowd was then called to the Elizabeth Street side of the garden, where G-Strings, a burlesque troupe dressed entirely in white, down to their eye makeup and mascara, wowed the crowd. Afterward, Fox and Fried took to a nearby stage, thanked everyone for their support and introduced Angela Winston, who was recently released from Rikers. (With help from Rosebuds, Winston hopes to start a book club of her own.)
Winston spoke about her journey with Rosebuds, including reading Down the Drain and then getting to meet its author: “Even though I was in jail every time I attended the book club, that was my time and moment to feel free. I was always accepted with open arms and never judged. That’s why I appreciate Nora and Julia for taking their time out of their lives to give us that time and space to be ourselves, vulnerable, sensitive, and most importantly safe and free.”
Angela Winston
Angela Winston. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Nora Fried and Julia Fox
Nora Fried and Julia Fox. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Charlotte Bendkowski
Charlotte Bendkowski. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Taylour Paige and Karina Milan
Taylour Paige and Karina Milan. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Saad Amer
Saad Amer. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Kendall Steph and Lisa Thora
Kendall Steph and Lisa Thora. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Julien Granel and Beau Glazier
Julien Granel and Beau Glazier. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Madeline DeFreece and Anastacia Clarke
Madeline DeFreece and Anastacia Clarke. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Chi Ossé
Chi Ossé. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Dorian Ferrer and Jazzelle Zanaughtti
Dorian Ferrer and Jazzelle Zanaughtti. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Richie Shazam
Richie Shazam. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Emily Eshoo and Addison Rae
Emily Eshoo and Addison Rae. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Anna Delvey and Sasha Yankovskaya
Anna Delvey and Sasha Yankovskaya. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Macy Trotter and Hannah Swayze
Macy Trotter and Hannah Swayze. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Genevieve Hannelius and Noa Fisher
Genevieve Hannelius and Noa Fisher. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Nealy Simms and Will Andrews
Nealy Simms and Will Andrews. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com
Lydia Russell and Naomi Montgomery
Lydia Russell and Naomi Montgomery. Maxwell Brown/BFA.com