11.23.09: Highlights of the fall season

Highlights of the fall season

Dinner in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life to celebrate the Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural History.

Last Thursday night, a highlight of the fall season in New York is the Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural History. It is the museum’s largest annual benefit and approximately 600 guests attended this year.

The black tie affair began with cocktails in the Roosevelt Rotunda (which I always misidentify – for obvious reasons – the dinosaur room). About an hour into the evening, guests moved down to the Blue Whale Room (officially, the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life) where they enjoyed a gourmet dinner (wines courtesy of Heron Hill Winery), and a performance by Dave Matthews.

Bagpiper leads guests to dinner

Dave Matthews performing

Host Tom Brokaw and Jamie Niven of Sotheby’s conducted an auction of extraordinary prizes. This year the winnings included an array of priceless items available only from the Museum.

The evening’s co-chairs were Jodie and John Eastman, Kathy and Tom Freston, and Alice and Lorne Michaels. They raised more than $2 million which helps support the museum’s very successful educational and scientific programming. Ask any kid who grew up going to the Natural History Museum if they ever learned anything (maybe everything?) from those museum programs.

Alec Baldwin bidding during the auction

Among the 600 attending were Museum President Ellen Futter and the Gala Chairs were: the Museum’s Chairmen of the Board of Trustees Lewis W. Bernard, Bono, Ed Burns,Christy Turlington, Timothy Hutton, Richard and Marcia Mishaan, John and Susan Hess, Caroline Kennedy and Ed Scholssberg, John Alexander and Fiona Waterstreet, Robert and Jennifer Carlock, Jimmy Fallon, Alec Baldwin, Carey Lowell, Jane Buffett, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Will Forte, Fred Armisen, Kenan Thompson, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Bobby Moynihan, Jenny Slate, Abby Elliot, Nassim Pedrad, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Roger Altman, Dick and Diana Beattie, Tom and Meredith Brokaw, Ralph Scholsstein and Jane Hartley, Nancy Garvey, Lynn Sherr, Claire Bernard, Scott and Roxanne Bok, Judy Cox, Chappy and Melissa Morris, Steve and Roberta Denning, Jill and Alan Rappaport, Steve and Sue Mandel, Judy Dimon, Marlene Hess and James Zirin, Pemmy Frick, Peter and Susan Solomon, Jonny and Kimberly Kravis Schulhof, Jamie and Lee Niven, Shawn Levy (Director of “Night at the Museum”), Jes and Deby Staley, Karen LeFrak, Kitty and Tom Kempner, Jessie Kempner, Jackie LeFrak, Francine LeFrak, David and Romy Coquillette, Roberto and Allison Mignone, Judy McGrath, Ted and Keryn Mathas, Shelly and George Lazarus, Valerie and Jeffrey Peltier, Candy Barasch, Robert Pohly and Julie Turaj, Bob and Eva Shaye, Tom Glocer, Coco and Arie Kopelman, Robert Zimmerman, Stuart Lane and Bonnie Comley, George and Barbara Bunn, Peter Blanchard, John Sykes, and Connie Spahn.

Tom and Meredith Brokaw and the Museum's Chairmen of the Board of Trustees Lewis W. Bernard

Museum's Chairmen of the Board of Trustees Lewis W. Bernard with Amy and John Griffin

Joella Lykouretzos, Allison Mignone, John Lykouretzos, and Museum President Ellen V. Futter

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bill Heder, and Shawn and Serena Levy

Tom Brokaw, Museum President Ellen V. Futter, Roger Altman, and Ralph Scholsstein

Charlie and Anne Mott

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Abby Elliot, Bill Heder, and Seth Meyers

Bobby Moynihan, Jenny Slate, and Andy Samberg

Bill Flanagan and Gala chair Kathy Freston

Bono and Museum President Ellen V. Futter

Shawn and Serena Levy

Allison Mignone, Anne Dias Griffin, and Amy Griffin

Gala chair Kathy Freston with John Sykes

Karen LeFrak, Peter Lyden, and Alexis Clark

Jamie and Lee Niven

Dave Matthews and Alec Baldwin

Museum's Chairmen of the Board of Trustees Lewis W. Bernard, Deby and Jes Stanley, and Museum President Ellen V. Futter

Stuart Lane and Bonnie Comley

Alan and Jill Rappaport

Dana Wallach Jones and Michael Jones

Claire Bernard

Rebecca Wright, Jason Sudeikis, and Ashley Harper

Gala chairs John and Jodie Eastman with Vanessa Eastman

Caroline Kennedy, Ed Scholssberg, and Museum President Ellen V. Futter

Allison Mignone, Tiger and Caroline Williams, Lyndon Byam, and Roberto Mignone

Arie and Coco Kopelman

Chappy and Melissa Morris

Nassim Pedrad and Kenan Thompson

Nassim Pedrad, Kristen Wiig, and Bill Heder

Carey Lowell with Lorne and Alice Michaels

Serena and Shawn Levy

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Ed Burns and Christy Turlington

Roberta Denning, Alan and Jill Rappaport, Steve and Sue Mandel, and Steve Denning

Dean of the Gilder Graduate School John Flynn, and Karen and Charles Phillips

Laura Aryeh Murawczyk and Laura Heintz

Gala chair Lorne Michaels and Jimmy Fallon

Gala chairs Kathy and Tom Freston

Valerie and Jeffrey Peltier

Jimmy Fallon and Gala chair Lorne Michaels

Photographs by © ../i/partypictures/11_23_09/D. Finnin & R. Mickens

The spirit of Bogie and Ingrid Bergman hovered over The Edison Ballroom as The Women’s Board of The Boys’ Club of New York evoked Casablanca at its 61st Annual Fall Dance.

Women in gowns and men in white dinner jackets donned red fezzes to turn back the clock to the film noir era where every man was a hero and every woman both noble and a bit of a femme fatale.

The Edison Ballroom, a night-club that dates back to the 1930s, glistened with Art-Deco sophistication with tables shimmering in black and white topped by extravagant sprays of white lilies and giant palm fronds designed by Andrew Pascoe. Casablanca played silently on the many monitors of the ballroom’s mezzanine while young DJ Charlie Clarke set the mood with romantic old tunes from the thirties and forties.

Outside the Edison Ballroom.

BCNY President Ed Rappa and family.

Alice Ross and Liete Eichorn led the caravan as co-chairs with the able assistance of vice-chairs Marisa Arredondo, Elisabeth Saint-Amand, Renaud Caumartin, David Rappa, and Remy Trafelet. Joining them at this latter-day Rick’s Café Américan were Boys’ Club supporters including Sara and Charles Ayres, Rachel and Ara Hovnanian, Renee and Mark Rockefeller, Travis and Nicholas Acquavella, Sherri and John Grace, Amy and John Griffin, Burwell and Chip Schorr, Carmen and Jarvis Slade, Jackie and Gene Williams, Ellen and Tristram Deery, Isobel and Struan Coleman, Muffy and Donald Miller, Tatiana and Thorne Perkin, Cosby and Timothy George, Calvert and George Moore, Kathryn and Bill Tyree, Shafi and Alexander Roepers, Alexia and Baird Ryan, Gigi and Averell Mortimer, and many more.

Going into dinner.

A dinner table.

The dinner scene.

A silent auction filled with treasures tempted the guests with names like Prada, Asprey, Cartier, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Olivier Cheng, VBH, and D. Porthault.

The Boys’ Club of New York is the nation’s oldest boys club, now in its 133rd year. Through its clubhouses and summer camp The Boys’ Club offers programs that help boys and young men stay in school and go on to college, discover their individual musical and artistic talents, and develop healthy bodies through all kinds of recreation. But most of all, The Boys’ Club builds future men of character, instilling strong values, discipline, and a positive perspective that counters the negative forces found on city streets.

Alice Ross and Liete Eichorn ...

Joelle O'Reilly-Higgins and Sherri Grace

Jacqueline Stahl

Cosby George and Nicole Perry

Kathryn Miller and Cynthia van Eck

Rachael and Ara Hovnanian

Dancing

Peter and Barbara Regna

Liete Eichorn, Cynthia van Eck, and Alice Ross

Marisa Noel Brown and Ara Hovnanian

Ritchey Howe

Mark Gilbertson and Monique Merrill

Muffy and Donald Miller

Jan van Eck (center) and his guests

Amy and John Griffin

Thorne and Tatiana Perkin

Rachel Hovnanian, Jackie Williams, and Helen Pardoe

Sara Ayres and Sherri Grace

Alexia Hamm Ryan and Jill Roosevelt

Heather Leeds

Monique Merrill, Ellen Niven Deery, and Shafi Roepers

Isobel and Struan Coleman

Liete Eichorn, Claude Barilleaux, and Alice Ross

Amy Griffin

The state government watchdog group Environmental Advocates of New York celebrated its 40th anniversary two weeks ago by honoring three extraordinary New Yorkers at its annual Advocate Awards Gala at the Yale Club.

The guest list included Veronique and Robert Pittman, Louise and Tom Middleton, Norman Selby and Melissa Vail, Joan K. Davidson, Kathy Doyle, Argie and Oscar Tang, Dana Tang and Andy Darrell, Susan and Alan Kahn, Carson and Joe Gleberman, Suzy and Carter Bales, Silda Wall Spitzer, Anupam and Rajika Puri, recently appointed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Director Judith Enck, and Tensie Whelan.


	Henriette Darrell, Andy Darrell, and Norris Darrell

Since 1999, Environmental Advocates’ Board of Directors has honored New Yorkers who have demonstrated exemplary service and leadership in protecting New York’s environment. This year, the group recognized the following for their work:

Carter Bales, a nationally recognized expert on the economic impacts of global warming. For more than a decade, he has worked address the threat of climate change by documenting and disseminating the fiscal consequences of inaction in articles and reports, including “Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost.”

As Chairman and Founding Partner of NewWorld Capital Group and as a former director of McKinsey & Company, where he founded the firm’s practice in environmental management, Carter Bales has used his experience and credibility in the financial community to impact corporate thinking on critical environmental issues.

Andrew H. Darrell, New York’s foremost expert on sustainable cities. Working with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and other groups, he is dedicated to revitalizing the city’s neighborhoods, parks and public areas for the enjoyment of all New Yorkers. As EDF’s New York Regional Director and Deputy Director of EDF’s Energy Program, Andy Darrell develops creative solutions to our most pressing conservation issues. He has helped shape EDF’s market-based approach to transportation and energy solutions, including a campaign to cut traffic and expand transit as part of New York City’s PlaNYC 2030.

Michael Gerrard, Judith Enck, Marcia Bystryn, and Jim Tripp

Recently appointed Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch has led the charge to improve New York City’s public transit system for almost 30 years. He has a long and distinguished history of working to solve the State’s most critical challenges, both fiscal and political.

Widely known for resuscitating the MTA, among other critical leadership roles Richard Ravitch has built tens of thousands of units of affordable housing, served as a troubleshooter under President Lyndon Johnson, and led New York State’s Urban Development Corp (now the Empire State Development Corp.) at the request of Governor Hugh Carey, while at the same time working to salvage New York State’s credit.

Cynthia Bing and Kathy Doyle

David Sive and Hamilton Kean

Willie Janeway and Brian Houseal

John Mylod, J. Henry Neale Jr., and John Buttrick

Bob Bourque and Steve Rosenberg

Paul Hartman, Jessica Ottney, and Natalie Aristy

Barrie and DeeDee Wigmore

Bill Ulfelder, Silda Wall Spitzer, and Matthew Nimetz

Lise Strickler, Alan Kahn, and Susan Kahn

Honoree Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch

Rob Moore and Honoree Andy Darrell

Oakes Ames and Charlie Kruzansky

Cynthia Bing and Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch

Honoree Carter Bales

Rich Kassel, Neil Giaccobi, and Mark Izeman

The Girl Scout Council of Greater New York celebrated its 17th Annual Women of Distinction Breakfast by honoring eight remarkable women: Kathy Brand, Vita M. Harris, Nancy Hill, Liz Kaplow, Meredith Moore, Myrtle Potter, Valerie Salembier and Susan M. Schor, Ph.D. at the Hilton New York. Deborah Norville served as the emcee. Cheryl L. Swiatkowski was the Breakfast Chair.

Vita Harris, Liz Kaplow, Valerie Salembier, Junior Girl Scout, Nitiya Walker, Brownie Girl Scout, Susan Schor Ph.D., Meredith Moore, Daisy Girl Scout, Nancy Hill, Kathy Brand, Patricia Stensrud, Carmen Dubroc, Cheryl L. Swiatkowski, and Dolores Swirin

Guests included Mary Phipps, Susan Nitze, Nina McLemore, Melissa C. Morris, Lisa Cuevas, Michael D. Donahue, Laura Bartlett, Edmee Firth, Joan Shapiro Greene, Carlotta Jacobs, Rachel Skiastis, Michelle Robinson, Julia Fry, Kate Maitland, Linda Donn, Chris Battaglia, Anita Volz-Wien, Walter Shay, Bernadette Grey, Carmen Dubroc, Ann Tisch, Heidi Manheim, Lisa Sivy, Sheri Wilson-Gray, Paula Saint-Amour, Patricia Farman-Farmaian, Sherry Matays, Angelique Mamby Pannell, Heide Gardner, Alyssa Moeder, Lynda Davey, Janet Nettleton Otto, Mercedes Pacheco, Rose Littlejohn, Barbara Brodie, Sara Queen, Reva Wurtzburger, Toya Wilford, Ken Arroyo Roldan, Marie Raperto, Robert Ouimette, Adrienne Germain, Melissa McClenaghan, Martin and Paula Zirinsky.

Diana Sen, Melissa McClenaghan Martin, Noorindeah Iskandar, Grace Teng, and Yadira Harrison

For more than 97 years, The Girl Scout Council of Greater New York provides New York City’s largest girls-only leadership development program reaching more than 22,000 girls aged 5 to 17. Approximately two-thirds of our girls are from low-income families and we reach girls in virtually every zip code of all five boroughs. Girl Scouts enjoy programs that include college prep and career exploration, financial literacy, science, community service and global citizenship. Today’s Girl Scouts are prepared to lead today as well as tomorrow, fulfilling our mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. Visit www.girlscoutsnyc.org to learn more.

Girl Scouts surrounding Future Woman of Distinction Nitiya Walker

Nancy Hill, Brownie Girl Scout and Deborah Norville

Deborah Norville reciting the Girl Scout Promise

Sara Queen, Cheryl Swiatkowski, and Andrea Wong

Carmen Dubroc, Melissa C. Morris, and Joan Shapiro Greene

Walter Shay, Heide Gardner, and Future Woman of Distinction Nitiya Walker

Valerie Salembier and Nina McLemore

Sheri Wilson Gray, Mary Phipps, Patricia Stensrud, and Carmen Dubroc

Deborah Norville with Girl Scouts

Patricia Stensrud, David Prince, Nancy Hill, and Bonnie Lunt

Julia Fry, Valerie Salembier, and Michelle Robinson

Brownie Girl Scouts in action

Heidi Manheim, Carmen Dubroc, Carlotta Jacobson, and Jadzia Zielinski Tirsch

Al and Kathy Brand

Madhura Gunasekera and Meredith Moore

Vita Harris and Liz Kaplow

On November 10th, nearly 500 healthcare, business and civic leaders attended HealthCare Chaplaincy’s 23rd annual Wholeness of Life Awards Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street, raising close to $1,050,000 in support of its innovative and evidence-based programs in research, education, and clinical practice.

The dinner honored healthcare professionals who recognize and tend to the whole person – spirit, mind and body.

Honorees included twelve patient care professionals from metropolitan New York partner institutions: HealthCare Chaplaincy and its Chief Executive Officer The Reverend Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J. Introducing Father Smith was Thomas R. Rochon, Ph.D., President, Ithaca College, and presenting the award was John M. Templeton, Jr., M.D., Chairman and President, The John Templeton Foundation.

Lifetime Achievement honorees were Kathleen M. Foley, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery and Clinical Pharmacology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University; Jean B. Case, M.D., Internist, Preventive Medicine at New York Physicians, LLP, and David B. Case, M.D., Executive Board Member, New York Physicians, LLP and an educator, researcher, clinician and expert in the field of hypertension.

HealthCare Chaplaincy is a national nonprofit leader in the research, education and evidence-based practice of spiritually-centered health care. It helps people find meaning and comfort—regardless of religion or beliefs—in stressful health crises. For nearly fifty years it has collaborated successfully with major academic medical centers and other professional organizations in understanding and integrating spirituality into the ways care is provided.

Lawrence and Sheila Toal with Jeanne Lee

Sister Elaine Goodell

Rabbi Harlan Wechsler and Naomi Friedland-Wechsler

The Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J., T. Michael Long, Thomas Rochon, and Dr. John Templeton, Jr.

Tobi Kahn, The Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J., and Rabbi Mychal Springer

Dr. Jean and Dr. David Case

Dr. Anne Moore and Dr. Arnold Lisio

James and Antonia Gorton

Gladys and Carter Dinkeloo

Arien Schitkamp, David Stewart, Janice Levy, and George Pine

Laura Landy and Robert Corman

Dr. Kathleen Foley

Jeanne and Chloe Downes

Lawrence Alleva, Elizabeth and Jude Curtis, and Brian Foreman

Catherine Long and W. Jack MacNeish, Jr.

Jesse and Nicholas Haines

Michelle Raisbeck and Jay Hickman

Nienke Padberg and Tasabbur Hasan

Sabina Theodore, William G. Spears, and Maria T. Spears

David Lewittes, Kip O'Neill, and Judith Lewittes

Harrison J. and Diana Goldin

Elizabeth Baltz

Jill Totenberg and Christopher Grisanti

Last Wednesday night, Phillip Bloch, Jennifer Creel, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Albert Maysles, Christophe de Menil, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Renée Rockefeller, Susan Shin, Mary Alice Stephenson and Lucy Sykes Rellie were among the hosts in the stunning Pool Room Terrace of The Four Seasons Restaurant last for Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur’s special screening of “A Passion for Giving,” a film by Robin Baker Leacock.

The 50-minute documentary feature film takes an in-depth look at the importance of giving, the passion and dedication of those who do give and philanthropy’s impact globally whether on a grand scale or in a simple act of kindness.


	Catherine Malandrino.	Emma Snowdon Jones.

From an astronaut’s eye-view of fire/dust clouds to the visceral experiences of the homeless on the ground, the film inspires help and hope. This uplifting film explores peoples’ passion for giving through touching vignettes, poignant quotes, striking and breathtaking visuals, original music and compelling interviews with a diverse group of people.

Subjects in the film range from street poet Mr. Smiley to Dan Ackroyd, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Donna Karan, Fran Liebowitz, Robert Thurman, Russell Simmons (Art for Life), Ross Bleckner and Bob Colacello (ACRIA), Gael Greene (City Meals on Wheels), Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels (The Felix Organization), Henry Buhl (Soho + Tribeca Partnership), Missy Hargraves (for Wildlife Rescue), John Sykes (VH1's Save the Music), representatives from the UN Millennium Project, Habitat for Humanity and more.

Albert Maysles, one of the fathers of cinema verité, introduced the much awaited film, noting that headlines are made on war and violence these days, not generosity and kindness, and that “this film is utterly necessary.” Guests included Lisa Anastos, Marisa Arredondo, Maggie Betts, Geoffrey Bradfield, Henry Buhl, Christine Cachot, Kipton Cronkite, Katherine Cohen, Lauren Ezersky, Elizabeth Fekkai, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Kalliope Karella, Barry and Karen Kieselstein-Cord, Anisha Lakhani, Euan Rellie, Lady Sharon Sondes, Tracy Stern, Sonja Tremont Morgan, Edward Tricomi and Joel Warren.

“A Passion for Giving” premiered nationally on PBS (WNET13) this past Saturday (11/21) at 1pm ET. Please see www.passiongiving.com for more information and national broadcast times and channels.

Bonnie Pfeifer Evans, Elizabeth Fekkai, and Sonja Morgan

Catherine Malandrino, Pialy Aditya, and Thuy Diep

Danielle Unruh and Phillip Bloch

Elizabeth Fekkai and Bonnie Pfeifer Evans

Edward Tricomi and Tracy Stern

Henry Buhl and Robin Baker Leacock

Pamela Taylor, Richard Leacock, Robin Baker Leacock, and Albert Maysles

Kimberly Guilfoyle and Anisha Lakhani

Chele Chiavacci, Lisa Anastos, and Jocelyn Greenky

Warren Schultz and Lauren Ezersky

Robin Baker Leacock, Susan Shin, and Carolina Zapf

Fay Ann Lee and Phillip Bloch

Douglas Marshall and Nick Deitz

Tracy Stern and Emma Snowdon-Jones

Euan-Reille and Judith Leber

Christopher Mason and Euan-Reille

Daniel Padilla and Natasha Allsopp

Photographs by PatrickMcMullan.com

Elin and Michael Nierenberg with Dale and Peter Claman, Kristin Fizulich, Alyssa and Cliff Greenberg, and Mara and Baron Silverstein hosted The 12th Annual Collaborating For a Cure to Benefit the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation held at the Park Avenue Armory.

The dinner auction benefited the Institute Without Walls, the worldwide collaborative cancer research program supported by the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF).

The annual fete was produced and managed by Robin Lathrop of byRobin and Edwafd Salas of Backstage Productions. The evening was headlined by Steve Winwood, with a performance by the Lost Trailers.

Steve Winwood

They raised close to $4.2 million to support the Foundatin’s research efforts to produce a cure for cancer. More than 1100 attended the annual evening which is often referred to as “The Waxman.”

During his keynote address, Samuel Waxman, M.D., Scientific Director of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, focused on the continuing work of the Foundation in developing treatments for reversing abnormal cancer cell behavior— the SWCRF is striving to develop therapies to prevent reoccurrence of dormant cancer cells, as it leads the field in understanding what makes cancer cells dormant and creating strategies to eradicate such cells.

Closing his inspirational speech, the doctor said: “I can assure you that cancer does not stop unless we stop cancer. Please join me in that quest.”