Who

A blogger and music scenester known as Ultragrrrl, she's either "New York's premier tastemaker" (Village Voice) or "the music scene's Paris Hilton" (Idolator.com), depending on who you talk to.

Backstory

A native of Tenafly, Lewitinn got her break as an intern at Spin, where she earned some attention for her ability to spot future hitmakers, if not necessarily write about them very articulately. She launched her blog ultragrrrl.com in 2003, and shortly thereafter began writing a column for Spin called "Making Out with Ultragrrrl" in which she fawned over greasy-haired rockers. Lewitinn also became a fixture on the downtown club scene, DJing as part of a duo called Tarts of Pleasure and hosting a weekly party. She left Spin in 2005 to launch the Stolen Transmission label under the Island/Def Jam banner with veteran label exec Rob Stevenson.

Of note

Lewitinn built a reputation by championing the soon-to-be-wildly-successful bands My Chemical Romance (whom she also briefly managed) and The Killers. Some have said she's displayed a magic touch for spotting up-and-comers; others have questioned whether Lewitinn really anything to do with their success. Since founding her own label, she's yet to replicate the good fortune of her earlier favorites. But she remains a talked about if widely disparaged figure on the emerging music scene. She was named the 20th "Most Loathsome New Yorker" in 2005 by the New York Press. ("Once confined to her ultra-vapid sycophantic hipster blog Ultragrrrl, Sarah Lewitinn has somehow parlayed her love for wimpy bands and kitsch into a career as a record promoter and talking head about—two guesses—wimpy bands and kitsch.") The ever-servile New York went in the opposite direction in 2006, naming her one of the city's "Most Influential" and concluding, "She has more power than any print music critic."

Personal

Lewitinn lives on Rivington Street. Her tiny Brussels Griffon dog, Monkey, has achieved notoriety in her own right, being named the "Best Dog Owned by a Club Personality" by the Village Voice. A religious Jew of sorts (she keeps kosher/vegetarian), Lewitinn says she returns home to New Jersey every Friday for Shabbat dinner.

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