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Looking
north on 3rd Avenue towards 54th Street. 2:25 PM. Photo: JH.
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Yesterday afternoon we went, along with scores, maybe hundreds of
others, to pay our respect to the family of Estee Lauder who
passed away over the weekend. Mrs. Lauder was a legendary figure
whose intensely
focused sensory talents ultimately created one of the greatest cosmetic
empires of the 20th Century. She also, I was told, loved chocolate.
The subject of chocolates came up because among the canapes passed
around on silver trays by waiters in white jackets, were chocolates
... which were very good. I know because I helped myself to more
than one until
I had to tell the waiter to take them away ... although not before
asking him if he knew where they came from. A few minutes later a
very friendly man came by and introduced himself as Mrs. Lauder’s
cousin Owen.
These chocolates, he told us, were his discovery. He lives in the
Midwest, somewhere between Milwaukee and Chicago, and one day, years
ago, on a business trip he passed a small shop called Riverside Chocolates
and stopped in to sample the product. They were so good that he ordered
a box for his cousin who, on sampling, proclaimed them the best chocolates
she’d ever had.
A couple of years ago, passing by Riverside on another business trip,
Owen stopped in and ordered another box sent to his cousin in New
York who was by then, in her mid-90s, in frail health and homebound.
One afternoon, on her waking from a nap, Mrs. Lauder’s nurse
brought her a few pieces of the Riverside chocolate for snack without
telling her of their origin.
She took one bite and her eyes lit up: “why these are cousin
Owen’s chocolates!” she enthused.
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Timothy
White and Joe Pantoliano last night at The Plaza
for City Harvest's Practical Magic Ball
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Last night was a beautiful night in New York and a busy one as well.
There was a book party over at the Four Seasons restaurant for Tina
Santi Flaherty’s new book What Jackie Taught Us;
Lessons from the Remarkable Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Over
at Le Cirque, Nancy Curry O’Shaughnessy and Fordham University
Press hosted a party for the publication of William O’Shaughnessy’s More
Riffs, Rants, and Raves. Lots of interesting personalities
joining the interesting personality/authors of those two books – but
more on that tomorrow. Over at the Plaza the Skowhegan School was
holding its 33rd annual awards dinner. At the Metropolitan Club,
the London Symphony Orchestra was holding its centenary gala and
down at Gotham Hall on Broadway and 36th Street, the Boys Club of
New York was holding its annual Spring dance – this one called “Passage
to India.” You can guess what the costumes were like for that
one. But more on all that later in the week.
For I went over to The Pierre where City Harvest was
holding its annual fundraising gala, “The Practical Magic Ball.” If
you’re a regular reader of this column you already know about
City Harvest, but in case you aren’t let me reiterate.
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Topsy
Taylor, Kitty McNight, and Emilia Saint-Amand
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City Harvest is
in the business of collecting the food that’s
left over at the end of the day from restaurants and banquets (galas
like these) at hotels and clubs, and re-distributing it all over
New York. You may have seen their big white trucks with the green
logo around the town. There are fifteen of them running everyday
and they serve more than 800 community programs, helping to feed
200,000 people each week.
This year’s host was CNN’s American Morning co-anchor
Bill Hemmer who is new to the city and new to City
Harvest, although from the sound of him, he’s sold on both.
Special Guest for the evening was author and humorist Calvin Trillin who
gave a short but very funny talk on American cuisine, namely a once
ubiquitous
dish called “chicken a la king” which he claimed crossed
all boundaries and class lines in America. If I could remember his
monologue I could crack you up the way he cracked up the audience.
There was a three minute video presentation about a day in the life
of City Harvest driver, Angel De Latorre and introduced by photographer
Timothy White. Then there were two awards presented,
each to two honorees – The Star of the City Award which went
to Florence
Davis of the Starr Foundation and Leslie Koch, of the New York City
Department of Education, and the Heart of the City Award which went
to New York Times food writer Molly O’Neill and to actor Joe
Pantoliano, one of the stars of “The Sopranos” until
he was “offed” in a recent episode.
Like many of the
charity galas, this was a fancy dress occasion – many
of the women in long dresses, elegantly and fashionably turned out
and men in black tie. Honorary co-chairs were Glenn Close
and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Dinner Chair was Timothy White and Journal Chair was
Arthur Backal. The Co-chairs of the evening, the
women who make this engine run year after year after year and get
everyone else (including
yours truly) involved, are as fashionable and elegant as they come
and never fail to roll up their sleeves and produce a winning evening
(this year they raised $550,000) – Carol Atkinson, Joy Ingham,
Heather Mnuchin, Emilia Saint-Amand and Topsy Taylor.
A million and a half New Yorkers don’t get enough
to eat everyday without assistance from people like
City Harvest. Florence Davis, the straight-talking director of the
Starr Foundation presented the
picture very clearly. Four years ago they did a study which showed
that a family of two adults and two children in the Bronx needed
to earn $11.38 an hour to feed themselves daily (and take care of
their other basic living expenses). In Kings County (Brooklyn) that
figure is $16 an hour. In Upper Manhattan, it’s $22 an hour.
Minimum wage is still $5.50. Most jobs for people who are on welfare
don’t get much higher than $8 an hour. That means in order
to eat, other necessities have to be forsaken – be it rent,
heat, electricity or all of the above. And many of those million
and a half New Yorkers in need are children, or elderly who have
no chance of making a financial difference. City Harvest saves lives
EVERY DAY. As Mrs. Davis pointed out, it’s impossible for people – meaning
any of us – to rescue themselves if they don’t have
basic subsistence to begin with.
A good many of us are fortunate enough to be living outside that
realm of lack and loss. Many of us who’ve experienced it at
one time in our lives even forget what it’s like once we’ve
escaped it. It’s time to remind, to remember and to give. Give
back. City Harvest can help us do that.
www.cityharvest.org
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Emilia
Saint-Amand, Joy Ingham, Joe Pantoliano, Heather Mnuchin,
Bill Hemmer, Topsy Taylor, Carol Atkinson, and Julia Erickson
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Kitty
and Bill McKnight
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David
Scharf and Susan Blond
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Jon
Ingham, Betsy Bartlett, and Jones York
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Steve Cohen
entertains Arthur Backal and friends with a magic trick
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Rainer
and Regina Greeven with Eli and Barbara Hoffman
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Valerie
Romanoff and the Starlight Orchestra
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Joy
and Jon Ingham
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Calvin
Trillin
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Honoree Florence
Davis
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Honoree Leslie
Koch
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Susan
Bell
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Mimi
Sheraton
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Honoree
Molly O'Neill
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