Local Legend: Garment Designer Shines In 'Uncut Gems' Movie Debut

NEW YORK, NY — The break-out star of the Diamond District indie thriller "Uncut Gems" is Garment District businessman Wayne Diamond, who says he's always been "the number one f---ing guy."

Diamond's steal-scening portrayal of "Handsome Older Man" has since earned him a profile in GQ, more than 10,000 Instagram followers and a deep-rooted desire to pursue a full-time film career, he told Patch.

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Patch met up with Diamond as part of our Local Legends series, where we interview iconic New Yorkers about the neighborhoods they call home.

Diamond now lives on the Upper East Side with his wife and dogs — he's "a downtown guy" living the uptown life — but much of the conversation focused on Midtown's Garment District and Diamond's time in the dress business.

Here's what Diamond had to say about his favorite New York City districts:

Describe the Garment District in three five words.

The greatest show on earth.

What do you like most about living on the Upper East Side?

The Upper East Side is easy — it's easy. You get in your apartment, the building I live in they do everything for me. It's perfect. It's great. They do everything. Something goes wrong, one second and it's fixed. I love uptown for that.

Tell us about working in the Garment Center.

It was very, very good. I mean, I never knew any gangsters in the Garment Center, they were all good guys. They were all wonderful people and they treated me great — lot of Italians lot of Jews, we all got along great.

And then I moved on, I became the biggest and the greatest dress designer and manufacturer for those disco women, the clubs and s---. I was the number one f---ing guy. I was doing all that stuff for a lot of years. Diamonds Run, that was the business.

How has the Garment Center changed since you retired?

There is no more Garment Center. You got these Wall Street people that ruined New York — they're ruining New York. There is no more Garment Center, it's all overseas. Not just the production is overseas. They're doing it, they're doing the designing.

I mean look at the way people dress, look at them. Schleps. Garbage. The got the money to buy s---. It's not like the old days. People dress terrible. There's no more fashion, when I was in it everything was fashion. Every month you'd come out with new styles and hot looking s---.

What do you miss about the old Garment District?

I miss everything. I miss the buying, the selling, being with the people. It was an occupation that was a 24-hour day having fun. We enjoyed what we did so we all did well. It was the toughest business in the world.

How does working in the Garment Center compare to a movie set?

I'll tell you the similarity between the Garment Center of the old days and what they're doing in movies, these kids, they work 24 hours a day. They kill themselves. They put their whole self into the movie.

This interview has been lightly edited for style.