Celebrate Spring!

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The scene at The 2008 Brooklyn Ball.

They honored developer Bruce Ratner at the Brooklyn Museum’s annual Brooklyn Ball this past Thursday night and the marked it with the opening of the Takashi Murakami retrospective. As things can be when the Arts come to Brooklyn, this was very now/with-it/edgy even including a noticeable presence of protesters who object strenuously to Mr. Ratner’s real estate development plan for the Atlantic Yards.

The evening’s guests also encountered a mock-up of stalls just outside hawking the wares of Louis Vuitton. This is because the artist has a collaborative relationship with the luxury goods purveyor, a creation of L-V’s dynamic design director, the American fashion designer Marc Jacobs. There were cocktails by Nobu, Kanye West performing, a sitdown dinner, a special auction of specially created Louis Vuitton items by Mr. Murakami, and of course, Mr. Jacobs, M. and Mme. Bernard Arnault, L-V’s CEO, Yves Carcelle, Julian Schnabel, plus a bevy or artists, models, socialites, what-have-you, and bread-and-circuses. What’s it all about? Well Andy Warhol said it himself: The business of Art is Business. And it was all of that and more over in Brooklyn where bums used to be a word they were proud of.

Takashi Murakami, Kanye West, and Marc Jacobs

Teresita Fernandez and Stefano Tonchi

Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn

Jennifer Creel

Tinsley Mortimer

Amy Greenspon

Waris Ahluwalia and Chiara Clemente

Richard Epstein and Bette Yozell

Eva Herzigova and Marc Jacobs

Shala Monroque and Larry Gagosian

Roberta Myers

Terrence Koh

Eric Alger

Shiho Aoshima

Melena Ryzik

Kanye West

Katherine Ross, Guy Trebay, and Kristen Davis

Joe Schildhorn and Lesley Thompson

Joanne Factor

Amy Astley

Frank Gehry, Arnold Lehman, and Bruce Ratner

B. Mandelbaum, Shiona Turini, and Lesley Thompson

Kristen Davis and Yves Carcelle

Pietro Beccari and Anna Wintour

Glenda Bailey and Heather Vandenberg

Selita Eubanks

John McEnroe

Stellan Holm

Linda Evangelista

First Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris

Trista Delamere and Grace Coddington

Marty Markowitz

Thelma Golden

Alana Zimmer and Olivia Cuervo

Nicole Miller and Kim Taipale

Stephen Sumner and Glenda Bailey

Georgia and Ron Frasch

Stephan Marbury

Daniel Lalonde and Julian Schnabel

Jay Fielden and Katherine Ross

Also last Thursday night, the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (PDF) hosted it its first Celebrate Spring! benefit at Cipriani 23rd Street to raise funds for Parkinson’s research. The evening included cocktails and dancing and was followed by an after party at Marquee.

Young New Yorkers for the Fight Against Parkinson’s was created through the efforts of G. Pennington (“Penn”) Egbert III, Georgina B. Schaeffer, and Melissa Egbert Sheehan.


	Marissa Piropato, Georgina Schaeffer, and Ali Edwards

	Mariah Chase, Kate Earls, and Christina Alger

When Melissa and Penn met Georgina through mutual friends they discovered that both of their fathers suffered from Parkinson’s disease and had been treated by the same doctor, Lucien Côté, M.D. Georgina’s dad, Bayard G. Schaeffer, passed away from the disease in 1991 and George Egbert died from complications of the disease two years ago.

Parkinson’s, although a well-known disease, is a progressive neurological disorder that affects nearly one million people in the U.S. Although promising research is being conducted, there is currently no cure for or definitive cause of Parkinson’s disease. It is a long painful haul for both victim and family; a tragic and deeply sorrowful experience to witness.

The three hosts on Thursday night decided to find a way to do something – hence the fundraiser. They formed a group of nearly 100 members, many of whom have had their own experiences of family members and friends afflicted with the disease, and created the Celebrate Spring! event. Never having done this before, they had no idea what to expect. What they got what a Great Success. Several hundred bought tickets ($150 a piece) and they raised almost $100,000.

All funds raised from this event will be directed to PDF’s research program and, in particular, toward two projects identified by Lucien Côté, M.D. as particularly promising. Dr. Côté is a PDF-funded researcher and renowned Parkinson’s clinician.

This event also had generous sponsors: Pallini Limoncello, Goslings Rum, Boru Vodka and Marquee Night Club.

The Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF) is a leading national presence in Parkinson's disease research, education and public advocacy. They are working for the nearly one million people in the US living with Parkinson’s by funding promising scientific research and supporting people with Parkinson’s, their families and caregivers through education programs and support services. Since it founding in 1957, PDF has funded more than $70 million for scientific research in Parkinson’s disease, supporting the work of leading scientists throughout the world. Visit and learn; maybe you can help: http://www.pdf.org

Casey and Betsy Rodgers

Amanda Meigher, Kristin Koch, and Melissa Dunn

John Weiss and April McCollum

Caroline Rowley, Emily Hanna, Ariana Rockefeller, and Amelia Osborne

Emily Israel and Balaer Van Roijen

Diana Oldja, Anne Knopman, Christie Cabo, and Dani Lachowicz

Caroline Rowley and Emma Snowdon-Jones

Nishan Vartanian, Annabel Vartanian, and Tony Alexandre

Tatiana Papanicolaou and Chloe McClure

Lauren Borek and Marta Abbott

Shaun Lorraine, Sunny Jenkins, and Eric Klapper

Leora Hasas and Jodi Feigin

Jamie Korey, Edward Barsamian, and Nicole Hanley

Marc Biron, Frances Leidy, and Bernard de la Tour d'Auvergne

Marie Rentschler, Emily Israel, and Balaer Van Roijen

Marissa Piropato, Georgina Schaeffer, and Dana Charette

Savieria Baptiste

Thorne Berken, Tatiana Papanicolaou, and Marcia Schaeffer

Colan Kappeler, Emma Snowdon-Jones, and Antony Todd

Polly Ryerson, Alex Ryerson, and Zoe Tannenbaum

Chris and Jackie Keber

Jack Bryan, Phillip Thomas, and Melaoie Shanley

Peter Bender and Christopher Trump

Also this past Thursday night (did anyone stay home?), The Young Associates of the Chelsea Art Museum along with Young Orpheus and KiptonART and Kipton Cronkite hosted a private performance by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at the Museum on 556 West 22nd Street.

Brit Ivy, Jen Wekelo, and James Tunick

Jason Guercio, Ann Marie Gornley, and Wright Harvey

Christina Lopes and Heather Gude

Anait Bian and Jonathan LeWinter

Jessica Ashner and Ben Fink-Shapiro

Carrie Elston, Brad Leinhardt, Izzy Gold, and James Tunick

Kipton Cronkite, Carrie Elston, Graham Parker, and Tiffany Jones

Max Wang and Andrianna Campbell

Kelley Hoffman, Izzy Gold, and Summer Raj

Shannon Gulliver and David Griffin

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in action

Kipton Cronkite, Claude Morais-Ruffian, Brian Wolk, and Joe Scheftel

Amelia Osborn, Caroline Rowley, Avry Broadvent, and Viva Felmley

John Willingham and Jen Schiano

Nina Park and Lauren Vahringer

Mark Alverici and Robin McCoy

Kelechi Odu and Lauren Sercander

Rebecca Sinn, Michelle Edgar, and Alex Carl

Etta Shon and Rachelle Hruska

Brian Poillon, Shaun McNatt, and Rob Banning

Justin Shaffer, Nick Dietz, and Douglas Marshall

Laura and Harry Slatkin hosted an cocktail party to kick-off The New York Botanical Garden’s 16th Annual Antique Garden Furniture Show Preview Party & Collectors’ Plant Sale at their home last Tuesday evening.

Guests perused the selection of fine jewelry from Mish New York on sale along with the botanical inspired artwork of Jeffrey Rudell and participated in a silent auction that, along with all of Rudell’s artwork sales and 15% of Mish New York proceeds, went to benefit the New York Botanical Garden.

Among those attending were Susan and Coleman Burke, Cathy and Stephen Graham, Kathie Moore, Barbara Schumacher, Howard Slatkin, Mish Tworkowski, and Plant Sale Chairmen Joseph Singer and Marjorie Rosen. Also Pamela Gross and Jimmy Finkelstein, Jeffrey Rudell, Marjorie Reed Gordon, Ophelia and Bill Rudin, George Moore, Wendy Goodman, Richard Lambertson, Sabrina and Carl Forsythe, Heidi and Bob Valentino, Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond, Scott Nelson and Alex Papachristidis, Lisa and Philip Gorrivan, Carolyn Englefield, Laura Ballentine, Robert Rufino, Alison Mazzola, Skip Parker, and RJ Mulford.

The 16th Annual Antique Garden Furniture Show Preview Party & Collectors’ Plant Sale will take place Thursday, April 24. Tickets and additional information is available by contacting the New York Botanical Garden at 718-817-8775.