Social Diary 9/9/04 - Yesterday in the Big Apple

Heating up in NY just like we said ...

Prepping dinner last night for the New York City Opera's opening night. 9:15 PM. Photo: JH.

A rainy day in New York, steamy humidity and remnants of Hurricane Francis. I went down to Grand Central Station at lunchtime to the Michael Jordan Steakhouse which is situated on the northwest balcony overlooking the great terminal (with the starry starry sky and its constellations). You can see it from the restaurant too. I can still remember the first time when I was a very little boy arriving by train on a Sunday with my mother and seeing this amazing ceiling – so much more vast to the little one’s eyes, but still vast, nevertheless. That was my introduction to New York and it was, and remains an apt articulation of what lies in store for any arrival.

The lunch was sponsored by The Week Magazine (“All You Need To Know About Everything That Matters”), and it was a panel discussion. I’ve been to these before and I’ve written about them before, in case this doesn’t sound new to you. Harry Evans, writer/editor/publisher was once again the moderator. Now Sir Harry Evans, has long been known in New York also as the husband of Lady Evans who used to be, and still is, Tina Brown. Fortunately for him and everyone else, he is exceptionally accomplished and an exceptional moderator.

Edwina Sandys

The subject was “Who Will Be Our Next President” and the panelists were Dick Morris, Mario Cuomo, Frank Newport, and Joe Trippi. Mr. Trippi worked in Ted Kennedy’s 1989 campaign for the nomination for the presidency, in Walter Mondale’s 1984 campaign running against Ronald Reagan, in Dick Gephardt’s 1988 campaign for the Democratic nomination and this past year as campaign manager for Howard Dean.

Mr. Morris is seen on the FOX Channel and wrote a memoir about being an adviser to President Clinton. Loyalty is not his thing. He was hired because he is a well known right wing political analyst and obviously Mr. Clinton thought he had something valuable to contribute to his presidential campaign. Mr. Cuomo was the longest serving governor of New York in modern history and currently practices law at Willkie Farr and Gallagher here in New York.

Mr. Newport is Editor-in-Chief of the Gallup Poll. I’d never seen him before and he has a very solid and resonant voice that reminds me of Bill Plante, the former CBS White House reporter. He’s been a guest on many television talks including O’Reilly, Chris Matthews and the Lehrer News Hour.

There were also call-ins from former Governor Dukakis who ran against George HW Bush in 1988 and Russell Simmons, the recording executive and businessman who has taken a strong interest in this year’s presidential campaign and getting out the vote.

The great thing about Harold Evans is that he is very diplomatic but asks direct, even nicely presented questions and doesn’t mind stopping the panelist if he or she talks too much.

This is what was presented and/or concluded: the main fear of Americans is terrorists. The Republicans present George W. Bush as the man who is tough against terrorists and the Democrats are somehow perceived as not (as tough). There was a lot of discussion about negative campaigning and the business of Mr. Kerry’s war record. Governor Dukakis said that when Big Lies are used against a candidate (as Willy Horton was used against him, as well as his allegedly being under the care of a psychiatrist), even though they’re not true, they tend to stick in people’s minds.

It was concluded that the Republicans are the ones who are famous for making the Big Lies. Monica Crowley, who was in the audience, and who is on FOX also made a defending statement about that conclusion saying that the Democrats were very negative too. Ms. Crowley who started out her political career as a handpicked biographer of the late President Nixon, has shed her demure persona after years of participating in those TV shoutdowns that people seem to enjoy watching.

Mr. Newport said that Mr. Bush was ahead in the polls. Mr. Trippi said, and Dick Morris concurred, that Howard Dean had changed campaign finance because he raised more money than any other candidate through the internet in such small increments that he was free of the influence of the Big Money Boys. Mr. Trippi predicted that in 2008, there will be a very strong third party candidate because the Republicans and Democrats are mired in their Big Money politics. You can say that again.

Mr. Morris made a pitch stating that Americans were going to vote for George W. Bush because he’d kept us safe from terrorism in the past three years.

Herman Badillo and Rick Friedberg

I spent a lot of time listening and looking up at that ceiling that so captivated my imagination when I was a little boy. From that perch, you could hear the masses down below, hear the activity of the arriving and departing train passengers. Although the station is air-conditioned, in that great space it was still quite warm and the back-and-forth certainly didn’t cool things off.

Americans will always vote for a wartime president, Mr. Morris said, which is why he thinks George Bush is the stronger candidate.

I remember the Second World War in only the vaguest terms for I was a toddler – my big sister collecting chocolate bars to send to her boyfriend (who later became her husband) in Germany. A big box of them and not a one for baby brother.

I remember the Korean War because another sister dated boys in uniform who went overseas to Korea and our great General Eisenhower campaigned in 1952 on getting us out of Korea (he won, and he did).

And then most of all I remember Vietnam because Vietnam changed everything for everybody in America. Nowadays it is fashionable to call it “The Sixties” and blame the turmoil that still eats into our psyches as the result of that decade. But it was the war in Vietnam which didn’t end until 1975. A lot of us didn’t want to go and for good reason. My first friend in childhood disappeared over there, never to be found again. Another childhood friend came back mentally scarred forever by the experience. A great many men in national politics, including our president, our vice-president, our attorney general, and our last president got out of it one way or another, as did this writer.

That was our last wartime, even though this era is referred to in those terms. No one ever thought of John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon at the time as wartime presidents, however. They were thought of as presidents (especially Johnson and Nixon) who escalated a war, yes, but were greatly burdened by it. It was like having a monkey on their backs. And that monkey was the war. In Vietnam. After Nixon left office and he was interviewed by Sir David Frost, he was asked at the end of the interview what he really thought was the cause of Watergate (which destroyed his political career). His answer was immediate and brief: the War in Vietnam.

The rain had stopped when I left Grand Central this afternoon. A friend offered me a ride home in her limousine. I opted for the subway because it was quicker in this heavy midtown traffic. It was hot in the subway, however and the train was slow in coming. I stood on the platform thinking about the cool limousine I could have been in. Although by that time, it didn’t matter; she’d gone and I was waiting in the station.

Caroline Graham and Richard Meier

Count Abe Hirshfeld

Georgette Mosbacher

Gale Hayman Haseltine

Mary McFadden

Sharon King Hoge

Then at six-thirty, it was black tie again and over to Lincoln Center – still raining where the New York City Opera was having its opening night at the New York State Theater. The opera was Daphne by Richard Strauss and Libretto by Joseph Gregor. I am not familiar with the opera although the house last night was full of those who know it well. It was the first time it was performed here in New York according to my hostess Brooke Hayward Duchin.

Dinner on the Promenade of the New York State Theater

It was written in the 1930s and there was a strong hint of Hitler in some of the costumes. Even if you’re not an opera fan or familiar with the household name operas, as is the case with me, the productions at Lincoln Center are stunning and compelling and I was very lucky to be there.

Afterwards there was a dinner on the Promenade and Mrs. Duchin’s husband, Mr. Duchin and his orchestra (with one of my favorite singers Roberta Fabbiano as his vocalist) were performing. They raised a million dollars last night for the opera company and it was a very happy evening for a lot of New York opera lovers, not to mention opera lovers everywhere.

Elaine Sargent, Jamie Figg, and Kitty Carlisle Hart

Jay Cantor and Brooke Hayward Duchin

Mary Sharp Cronson

Jay Kramer and Yung Hee Kim

Alex Hitz

Caroline Roehm and Nina Griscom

Elizabeth Peek

Louis and Gemma Hall with Lou Miano

Lionel Larner and Pamela Armstrong

Peter Duchin

Checking in the guests behind while preparing dinner below

Rosetta and Sam Miller

Anne Bass

The centerpiece

From the New York City Opera's production of Daphne

Have you subscribed to New York Social Diary?
Enter your Email address and click on subscribe to receive emails about the activities of NYSD. It's free!

Randall Beale and Carl Lana, interior decorators in Palm Beach, and NYSD readers sent us the following report from the aftermath of Hurricane Francis which walloped the Gold Coast island of the sheltering palms, along with some pictures they took of Mother Nature’s damage.

Dear David:

WORTH AVENUE/ EMPTY GALLERY

Returning to Palm Beach on Tuesday (September 7) we encountered a truly amazing sight. The luscious look of the island had been stripped away. Most old trees had lost their leaves and Palm Beach, under the still stormy skies, looks eerie and forlorn. Some houses which were never accessible to viewing from the road now stand exposed. Luckily we saw no significant damage to the houses. We drove the entire island yesterday and today and found little structural damage. There is something to be said for Palm Beach’s strict building codes and quality construction.

The greatest impact the storm had was on the beautiful specimen palms and other specialty trees here. The cause was the hurricane’s stalling here for hours before moving north. The hardest hit areas were the east coast of West Palm Beach and the lake side of Palm Beach. Some homes on the ocean side looked no worse for the wear.

However, when Francis hit, it surely did. Rows upon rows of formerly fortress like hedges had fallen like dominoes. Flooding on the golf courses. 100-year-old trees knocked over as if they were saplings (none seems to have fallen through any buildings though). Boats grounded on shores. In our condo, air conditioning units that had been installed on the roof were blown away, and they can’t be found! There is no sign of them anywhere. A small number of people did not evacuate, and to our knowledge everyone made it through.

BRADLEY PLACE/TOPPLED TOPIARY FICUS TREES IN FRONT OF BILTMORE

We are just starting to get power back to the island just today. Our building had power yesterday. Nothing is open. The bridges are patrolled. You must show ID to enter Palm Beach. People are beginning to move around though. Cucina del’Arte restaurant on Royal Poinsetetia Way was the only game in town last evening and today. Nick Coniglio, whose family owns Cucina and Bradley’s in WPB, opened and has been serving food and libation. His big warm smile is the most welcome sight of all. We PB’ers applaud him and his staff. Worth Avenue was stripped clean of merchandise or shuttered up to “hunker” the storm and possible looters. “Hunker” is the term being used by local reporters all through this.

Last night when we got home to our condo and looked over the scene from our windows, we could see only darkness. The Breakers, Flagler Museum, Royal Poinsettia Plaza were all dark. All we had for light was the crescent moon alone in the sky.

Randall Beale and Carl Lana
(917) 715-9484