3.16.09: New York kick-offs | New York Social Diary

New York kick-offs

The Young Patrons Group of Save Venice held a benefit at Tod's that served as a kick-off for their upcoming March 27th annual Spring benefit at the Bowery Hotel.

Asia Society kicked off Asia Week in New York City with an exciting new benefit on Tuesday, March 10, “A Celebration of Asia Week.” Tony-Award winning actor BD Wong served as Honorary Chair for the evening, which featured chic cocktail receptions, an elegant Collectors’ Dinner for Patrons and festive “Bangkok Nights” supper club with dancing for Young Patrons and music curated by DJ Serebe.

Guests were treated to special performances by the innovative jazz saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa with guitar virtuoso Rez Abbasi and tabla star Dan Weiss, as well as Hao Jiang Tian, the world-renowned basso cantante and pioneer in the world of opera since the early 1990s.


	Sotheby's Auctioneer Henry Howard-Sneyd

They also enjoyed private access to the Museum’s exhibitions, Asian Journeys: Collecting Art in Post War America, Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest and Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. Sotheby’s Henry Howard-Sneyd led a lively auction of several extraordinary journeys to exotic Asian locales, the highlight of which was the “Thailand Dream Excursion” crafted by longtime supporters Joan and Edward Marcus.

All guests of the Celebration received a Golden Pass, an exclusive insider’s ticket to nearly 20 private gallery previews, curator-led tours, auction house viewings, lectures, and other exceptional events during Asia Week in New York City. Held March 11–20, Asia Week attracts top dealers and collectors of some of the most important Asian art on the market from around the globe.

Guests at the Celebration of Asia Week benefit included: Honorary Chair BD Wong, Co-chairs Janet Jacobs and Susan Shin and Young Patrons co-chairs Laura Begley, Ida Liu and Diana Sheng Hsu. Thai Consul General Piriya Khempon and his wife, Rattanprapa Disavantana attended. Also in attendance were: Princess Yang Chen of Sikkim, Betsy and Edward Cohen, Lois Collier, Scott Delman, Inger McCabe Elliot, Pam Gale, James Lebenthal, Pooneh Mohazzabi, Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky, Janet Ross (Mrs. Arthur Ross), Paul Tagliabue, Vivienne Tam, Marie-Helene Weill, Wesley Wang, Ali Weinberg, Arden Wohl and Victoria Wyman. George Hu, Governor Pattersons’ Assistant for Asian Affairs attended and presented a proclamation of Asia Week from the Governor.

Pam Gale

Paul Linder and Jennifer Greene

Diana Hsu and Nick Dietz

Attire for the evening was Asian chic/national dress. The Asia Society’s Garden Court was transformed into a Bangkok Nights Supper Club, transporting guests with modern Thai décor including and cushion/lounge furniture: serpentine cushion benches, illuminated end tables and highboys (guests will be greeted in the lobby by an 84” round ottoman with leopard bottom and fuchsia top).

The atrium’s weeping podocarpus trees were festooned with hanging Thai tapestries, and luxurious woven Thai silk fabrics and masks were used as accent pieces throughout the space. The Thai-inspired cuisine included including green curry dishes, pad thai, green papaya with chili lime sauce. Guests also enjoyed Thai beer and Thai wines, made possible by referrals from The Tourist Authority of Thailand and Thai Consulate.

Rick Friedberg and Francine LeFrak

Laura Begley and Ida Liu

Lief Anne Stiles and Masa Yamazaki

Thai Consul General Piriya Khempon and Rattanaprapa Disavantana

Vivienne Tam, Susan Shin, and BD Wong

Genevieve Bahrenburg and John de Neufville

Last Wednesday night over at Cipriani 42nd Street, Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education held its annual gala. They honored Robin Dubin Avram and Louis M. Dubin for the dedication to the arts in education; Sharon Dunn for her career in championing the arts in New York City public schools, and Martin E. Segal, Lincoln Center emeritus. Andy Rooney presented Mr. Segal wit his Doctorate of Imagination Award. The evening began with cocktails, followed by dinner with the awards and a performance by Los Lobos!

Sharon Dunn and Scott Noppe-Brandon

Reynold Levy and Ann Unterberg

Hermine Midgon and Sidney Midgon

Susan Rudin, Marlene Hess, Jack Rudin, and friends

Michael and Annette Simons

Joel Klein

Martin and Edith Segal

Richard and Louis Dubin

Louis Dubin and Robin Dubin Avram

Los Lobos

Rena and Stanley Silverman

Nancy Zirkin, Richard Dubin, and Elizabeth Dubin

Tatiana and Louis Dubin

Andy Rooney and Martin Segal

Sylvester Miniter, Nancy and Joe Missett, and Gillian Miniter

The Young Patrons Group of Save Venice held a benefit at Tod's that served as a kick-off for their upcoming March 27th annual Spring benefit at the Bowery Hotel. A percentage of proceeds from shopping that evening went to Save Venice.

Dana Gers

Lydia Fenet

Lara Meiland-Shaw and Lesley Schulhof

Melissa Berkelhammer

Alina Cho and Di Petroff

Andrew Fry and Sarika Rastogi

Amber Estabrook and Simone Poggi

Luigi Tadini, Susan Shin, Adelina Wong Ettelson, Blair Voltz Clarke, and Antony Todd

Meredith Darrow, Blair Voltz Clarke, and Bettina Prentice

Valeria McCulloch and Lesley Blume

BJ Topol and Kay Childs

Ashley Morris and Maneesh Goyal

Maggie Borner, Lydia Fenet, and Clare McKeon

Rayna Stubbe, Emmet Stubbe, and Sarika Rastogi

Florinka Pesenti and Adelina Wong Ettelson

Laila Chbib, PJ Pascual, and Elizabeth Pasternak

Amy McFarland and Jim Corl

Miguel Fabregas and Helena Khazanova

Tyler Heiden Jones, Andrea Karambelas, and Philip Gorrivan

Anastasia Rogers and Jessie Cohan

Dara Tomanovich, Charlotte Assaf, and Sandra Ripert

Helena Khazanova and Andrea Tese

Antony Todd, David Gruning, Emma Snowdon-Jones, and Matthew Marchak

Lady Liliana Cavendish

Chris Schumacher and Di Petroff

Krista Schulz, Elissa Lumley, and Carrie Cloud

Britt Sconzo and Mark Mullett

DJ Mel DeBarge

Sana Rizvi Clegg, Martin Dawson, and Grace Jachmich

Marco Giacometti and Nicoletta Giordani

Suzanne Fuller and Jared Clark

Sean Stevens and David Chines

The Cinema Society and Nextbook, together with The New York Observer and Grey Goose, hosted a screening of Defiance at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema and the party which followed at the new Thompson LES Hotel.

The film, directed by Edward Zwick, is the true story of the courageous Bielski brothers, who led thousands of Jews to safety during World War II. Descendants of the Bielski brothers joined Zwick and the film’s stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and Alexa Davalos for this powerful evening. The hotel’s owner, Jason Pomeranc’s family knew the Bielski brothers, and New York Observer owner Jared Kushner’s grandmother and her father were also saved by the brothers.

Jamie Bell

Satsuki Mitchell and Daniel Craig

Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir welcomed a star-studded group to the screening including Naomi Watts, Marc Jacobs, Martha Stewart, Donna Karan, Tony Bennett, Leelee Sobieski, Marisa Berenson, Eric Mabius (“Ugly Betty”), Ellen Barkin, Jill Hennessy, Melora Hardin (“The Office”), Milena Govich (“Law & Order”), Katrina Bowden (“30 Rock”), Judah Friedlander (“30 Rock”), David Rasche (“Burn After Reading”), Ana Gasteyer, Olivia Thirlby, Heather Matarazzo, Joshua Bell, Emily Best (“Nurse Jackie”), Agyness Deyn, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Ivanka Trump, Russell Simmons, Andre Balazs, Sante D’Orazio, Amy Sacco, Carson Kressley, Hana Soukupova, Irina Pantaeva, Larry Gagosian, Jay McInerney, Olivia Chantecaille, Mary-Alice Stephenson, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Zani Gugelmann, Rachel Roy, Nina Griscom, Christine Schwarzman, Ann Dexter-Jones, Marina Rust Connor, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Mick Rock, Amanda and Christopher Brooks, Rosanna Scotto, Eric and Kimberly Villency, Tiffany Dubin, Olivia Palermo, Yigal Azrouel, Dan Abrams, Dave Zinczenko, Bettina Zilkha, Nextbook Editor-in-Chief Alana Newhouse, Paramount Film Group President John Lesher, Clayton Frohman (who wrote the screenplay), James Newton Howard (composer), Pieter Jan Brugge (producer), Alisa Katz (producer) and Roland Tec (co-producer).