10.21.09: Individuals in the community

Individuals in the community

The crowd in front of Zabar's on 81st and Broadway. 1:30 PM. Photo: JH.

October 21, 2009. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny autumn day in New York.

New York is like this. I went down to Michael’s to lunch with my friend Emilia. Emilia and I have known each other since the mid-70s when I had a business in Pound Ridge, New York and she was a customer. After that I moved to Los Angeles, where I lived for fourteen years.

Returning to New York in the early 90s, Emilia and I would occasionally bump into each other, sometimes even on the street, and over time we’d lunch. Now all those years add up to a long friendship that has grown quite naturally with time and attention. Both Emilia and I have much closer friends, longer, more intimate relationships as well as significant others in our lives. She also has a husband.

But friendship that we all experience in our youth and young adult lives often loses its luster as time passes, and new friendships, developing friendships, after that early period in life, are actual phenomena. And a gift. I’m not talking about acquaintances, or people we know on a daily/weekly/ monthly/occasional basis. I’m talking about friendship. Knowing and caring.


A Tiffany window, 7:45 pm.

So what did Emilia and I talk about? Our opinions about the financials and Mr. Obama and some harmless gossip about a few other individuals in the community.

Last night the calendar in New York was overwhelming. For example: President Obama was in town speaking at a Democratic National Committee Healthcare Rally Event at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Over in the Alexey Brodovitch Gallery of the Hearst Tower Glenda Bailey, Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar, Stephen Gan, Creative Director of Bazaar, and Valerie Salembier, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Bazaar, hosted a preview of “Andy Warhol; The Bazaar Years – 1951-1964” with a catalogue introduction by Charlie Sheips.

Also, down at the Hilton, Asian Women in Business were holding their 14th annual Leadership Awards Dinner.

At the Plaza the Children’s Cancer and Blood Foundation was holding its 2009 Breakthrough Ball with Charles Grodin as emce and Jamie Niven of Sotheby’s conducting the auction.

At Cipriani Wall Street, the angel of the music business, Denise Rich was hosting her annual Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research (in memory of her daughter Gabrielle).

At the Metropolitan Pavilion City Harvest was hosting its annual Bid Against Hunger Benefit.

At Cipriani 42nd Street, they were holding the First Annual Benefit Gala Dinner for the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, chaired by Tina Brown and David Remnick.

At W New York Eve Ensler and Whoopi Goldberg were hosting a “Women of the Congo” Benefit event.


	Robert Lacey with his latest, Inside The Kingdom. Click to order.

While down at “21” Audrey and Martin Gruss were hosting a cocktail reception in honor of Robert Lacey and the launch of his latest book “Inside the Kingdom.” The kingdom being Saudi-Arabia. Mr. Lacey has written about the kingdom before and not always in way that curried favor with the Saudi royal family. That breach has been repaired, and he told me last night that he enjoyed his visits to the modern desert kingdom.

And then there was the Royal Oak Foundation’s 12 Annual Timeless Design Award (specially designed by Audemars Piaget) and Gala at the Metropolitan Club honoring Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, Lord Rothschild (as they put it on the program), which I attended.

Lord Rothschild oversees Waddesdon Manor which his cousin James inherited from a distant cousin earlier in the 20th century.

The property, which we visited last June (NYSD 6/9/09), was built beginning in 1874 by a distant cousin, Ferdinand Rothschild.

American are not as familiar with the Rothschilds as are Europeans. But the family bears a resemblance, lineage-wise to our Rockefellers -- large family now of several branches controlling massive financial assets and actively participating in the community politically and philanthropically.

The Rothschilds have been a financial force since the early days of Napoleon’s reign. Their origins began with Mayer Amschel Moses Rothschild in the last quarter of the 18th century. Mayer had five sons and the bright idea of positioning each in an important European country. (They established their interests in this country in the mid-19th century represented by August Belmont.)

Exterior of the parterre and south front of Waddesdon Manor.

Ferdinand de Rothschild with his favorite dog Poupon at his feet in what is known as The Baron's Room. A set of five Sevres vases sit on the mantlepiece. They are from a set of 15 purchased by Louis XV in December 1769. The Waddesdon Manor property was acquired by Ferdinand Rothschild from the 7th Duke of Marlborough in the 1860s.

Everything stayed in the family. Even the family stayed in the family. It wasn’t until the second or third decade of the 20th century that the members began marrying outside not only the family, but also the Jewish religion. So now they are the modern Rothschilds, a huge dynasty with continuing financial power in the world. Some believe their power is excessive and that it is beyond comprehension. Among the elite, however, they are highly respected and well-liked.


	Lord Rothschild with his award presented by Fiona Reynolds of the National Trust.

Lord Rothschild, or Jacob, as he is known to his friends, is a tall, somewhat rangy figure with a craggy face (painted in a Lucien Freud portrait now hanging at Waddeson) and a bright and kindly presence. The result is a youthful 73-year-old English aristocrat of German origins, a businessman, philanthropist, connoisseur and member of the community.

Lord Rothschild’s cousin James, or Jimmy as he was known in the family eventually turned it over to the National Trust, but the Rothschild family, through Jacob, continues to support the property in a variety of ways, as well as grow its collection of art, objets and antiques.

Waddesdon is an amazing house on many levels. Aside from the wealth of its creator, and the portfolio of its prominent guests – from Queen Victoria on; and its copious astounding treasures, it is the house of a life of a man. A man who was no doubt a very unhappy man a good deal of his life. And lonely. All of the aforementioned elements are present when you visit, making it a rich and intriguing as well as awe-inspiring experience (and even incredible when you consider the wealth and time that has gone into the creation of this estate).

So there he was last night at JP Morgan’s Metropolitan Club, in the vast and ornate first floor dining room a guest of The Royal Oak Foundation, an American organization that is an alliance with the National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The American allies raise funds and promote.

Annette de la Renta, Marie-Josée Kravis (Lord Rothschild behind), and Oscar de la Renta.

Sid and Mercedes Bass.

Alex Apsis and Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchil.

The tablescape.

Hugh Hildesley of Sotheby's conducting the fund-raising auction.

It was a black tie affair with about 200 guests. The highlight of the evening was Lord Rothschild’s “tour” (with slides) of the property as well as some history of not only the house but the man and the family behind it as well as some of collection. Lord Rothschild pointed out that the National Trust has 3.3 million members – more than all the political parties of the UK combined.

One of my dinner partners was Lady Henrietta Spencer Churchill whose father is the present Duke of Marlborough. The Waddesdon Manor property was acquired by Ferdinand Rothschild from the 7th Duke of Marlborough in the 1860s.

Coincidentally, the land on which the Metropolitan Club sits on, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 60th Street, once belonged to Lilly Warren Hammersley, a rich American widow who later became the 8th Duchess of Marlborough. She was succeed by another American heiress, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Henrietta's great-grandmother.

To learn more about the Royal Oak Foundation or how you can become a member, visit: www.royal-oak.org