The Queen of Melrose Takes Us Back to ‘90s New York, When Going Out Was Actually Fun

Picture this: early ‘90s New York City, the air is thick with cigarette smoke, streets pulsing with energy, and nightlife a dizzying carousel of glam, grit, and chaos that Party Animal couldn’t do justice. It was a time before social media when gossip spread through payphones, club bathroom whispers, and a strategically placed beep (on a beeper, children, on a beeper!) to Michael Musto of The Village Voice. The city belonged to the hustlers, the dreamers, and the unhinged. And in the thick of it all? Cosmo Lombino—better known today as The Queen of Melrose.

This week on The Good Guys podcast, Cosmo joined hosts Josh Peck and Ben Soffer to discuss New York in the ‘90s, mafia-adjacent childhoods, the underground fashion scene, and why a good kielbasa will always be superior. 

Meet Cosmo Lombino: The Queen of Melrose

Before conquering  LA’s Melrose fashion scene, Cosmo was a New York City kid, growing up in Spanish Harlem, raised on mob lore and Jehovah’s Witness contradictions. “My father was in the mob,” Cosmo revealed on the podcast. “Well, mob-adjacent. He was always around the guys.” They described their grandmother’s transformation into a Jehovah’s Witness in the same breath. “No birthdays, no Christmas, no blood transfusions—what the fuck was going on?” Cosmo quipped, recalling how religious zealots unceremoniously tossed out their Barbie dolls.

Cosmo’s childhood was a bizarre fusion of street smarts and high fashion. They bounced between the gritty world of New York’s old-school mafia and the emerging glitz of the city’s club scene. Before becoming a beloved Melrose icon, they were just another hustler trying to survive the mean streets of NYC.

The New York That Was: Grit, Glam, and No Filter

If you weren’t there, it’s almost impossible to explain what New York was like in the early ‘90s. This was pre-Bloomberg cleanup, before everything turned into overpriced green juice and condos, and before gentrification resulted in every wannabe from West Virginia coming here with dreams of opening their own mustache pomade shop in East Williamsburg. It was still dirty, dangerous, and alive in a way that no longer exists.

“I remember Harlem growing up with the mafia,” Cosmo said. “It was literally a Martin Scorsese movie.” That’s not an exaggeration. Spanish Harlem in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s was still a battleground of old-school Italian influence, where The Godfather literally filmed in Cosmo’s grandmother’s apartment—for a measly $75 check, no less. “My brother was under the Johnny pump for two weeks during filming,” Cosmo laughed. “He got pneumonia right after he got his check.”

And while the streets of Harlem were filled with mob dealings and underground gambling rings, downtown New York was a different beast altogether. It was a wild playground where club kids, drag queens, and Wall Street wolves all partied under the same neon lights. “The Palm was THE spot,” Cosmo reminisced about the legendary steakhouse. “Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Merv Griffin… If you were anybody, you were eating there.”

The Good Guys Get the Tea: Mafia Stories, Melrose Madness & Ozempic Confessions

Once past Cosmo’s backstory, the conversation turned into pure chaos—because what is a Good Guys episode without absolute mayhem?

On relationships, Cosmo was refreshingly blunt. “I’ve been seeing the same guy for seven years,” they admitted. “Met him in the gym. I was on Herbalife and walking around Burbank with two fake asses. They called me Cosmo Kardashian.” 

The conversation spiraled into Hollywood gossip, mafia scandals, and a very enthusiastic discussion about Shaquille O’Neal. “Shaq called me and was like, ‘Who made that fucking outfit for you?’” Cosmo recalled of their work designing show-stopping looks for heavyweight boxing champ Deontay Wilder. One thing led to another, and suddenly, Cosmo was measuring Shaq for a custom DJ outfit. “He’s like Arnold Schwarzenegger meets Shaq. It was insane.”

And, of course, the conversation inevitably landed on Ozempic—the Hollywood weight-loss drug du jour. Cosmo tried it, but, well… it didn’t go great. “Had to get rushed to the hospital,” they admitted. “I can freebase, but I can’t handle Ozempic? What’s going on?”

The Queen of Melrose & the Art of Selling a Look

Beyond the stories and the scandal, Cosmo is, at heart, a true New York hustler. Their store on Melrose has become legendary, dressing celebrities, rockstars, and tourists looking for a piece of that iconic LA edge. “People come in, and I’ll dress them up,” Cosmo explained. “But some of these girls? They want to try on the whole store and not buy a damn thing. What are you, nuts?”

For Cosmo, it’s not just about fashion—it’s about transformation. Whether dressing Deontay Wilder for the ring, styling a tourist looking for their Coachella moment, or helping Shaq find the perfect EDM DJ look, Cosmo Lombino, the Queen of Melrose, understands that style is more than clothes. It’s a persona, an attitude, a way of saying fuck you to the world while looking fabulous.

And it is so authentically New York, in such a way that doesn’t exist anywhere else, and never will again. 

Only in New York, Only on The Good Guys

Listening to Cosmo on The Good Guys podcast felt like stepping into a time machine back to the New York that once was—a New York that folks say you weren’t there for if you can remember it (unless you, like me, were the default designated driver). A place where the mafia still had a presence, where you could run into Denzel Washington at The Palm, and where a kid from pre-gentrification Spanish Harlem could grow up to be a style icon in LA. (You may have taken Washington Heights, but you’ll never take the Bronx!)

Listeners in their 20s and 30s should take notes. You’ll never get another city quite like ‘90s New York, and you’ll never get another Queen of Melrose. But if you want a taste of both? Head to Cosmo’s shop on Melrose, buy something fabulous, and for the love of God—don’t try on the whole damn store without buying something. Have a little class!

Catch the full episode of The Good Guys with Cosmo Lombino wherever you get your podcasts.