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Looking
north on Fifth Avenue and 49th Street towards Saks Fifth Avenue,
St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Olympic Tower. 2:30 PM. Photo:
JH.
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Lunch
at Michael’s with Susan Silver, one
of the new additions to NYSD (“The Search for Mr. Adequate”).
I did not know until this lunch that the characters in the story
are real and in some cases real famous. Shhhh.
Oh-ho-ho. Eye-yi-yi.
Michael’s was Michael’s – Oscar de la Renta with
Etta Froio et al, Diane Golden with Jessica
Lange, George Malkemus,
whose name you may not recognize but whose company you do: Manolo
Blahnik; Maer Roshan. Anna Wintour was lunching with Leonard
Lauder; John Hart, Peggy Siegal, Howard Rubenstein, Sherry Westin,
Gayle
Winston with Ralph Destino; Candy Pratts Price,
Gil Schwartz, Michael Korda; Judy Price (no relation). At another table, Peter
Price (as
in Judy) with Anderson Cooper; Martin Poll with Arthur
Penn, Joni Evans with David Hirshey, Rich Blowe,
Steven Greenberg, Pamela Keogh, Ellen Levine, Sherri Fishbein, and on and on and on.
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Detective
Raymond Clare and Edwin and Michele Sayres with
Winston
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At seven I went down to the Waldorf for
the Animal Medical Center’s
annual Top Dog Gala. A lot of the midtown blocks are still closed
off because of the UN week. There were more than 500 attending the
AMC’s big night in the Grand Ballroom. They were honoring Richard
Fisher and his very chic mother, Emily Fisher Landau. It was and
is always a very glamorous event drawing many of New York’s
heaviest hitter dog lovers. Lots of familiar faces and JH
and the Digital were there but it is late as of this writing and so there
will have to be more on that later.
They were also honoring Winston, a black
Lab Retriever who is an “Explosive
Detection Canine.” This was a fascinating moment. Winston was
an abandoned dog who was rescued by the Lab Rescue Foundation in
Connecticut after having been found in a local shelter.
The shelter had notified the NYPD Bomb Squad that Winston, who was
a bit of a hyper canine at that young age, might be a good candidate
for training in bomb detection. He was assigned to Detective
Raymond Clare of the NYPD Bomb Squad who became his proud owner and handler.
Before 1997, members of the Bomb Squad were not allowed to take the
dogs home at the end of the day. That all changed with Winston. |
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The
Grand Ballroom at The Waldorf
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saw a short film of Mr. Clare and his best friend. Winston
loves catching and retrieving tennis balls. In fact, after
he’s performed his work, his reward is – the
tennis ball. He’s a beauty, full of that energy that
endear dogs to man. We had a short demonstration on how good
he is at his task. Detective Clare told the audience that
a tiny amount of explosive – less than a half ounce
had been concealed in one of the plants on the other side
of the stage. As soon as he was given the signal to search,
Winston went right to the spot. When he found it, he settled
down and sat by it. Then when Detective Clare tossed the
green tennis ball, he left the spot and caught it. That was
his signal that the job was done. |
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Nancy
Kissinger and James Marcus
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Wendy
and Stephen Lash
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Wendy
Vanderbilt, George McNeely, and Pauline Pitt
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Winston
turned out to be the perfect recruit for his job. Some of his
duties include protecting presidents and dignitaries, securing
major events, like the United Nations General Assembly (Winston
has been busy this week), the US Open Tennis Tournament, and
major league baseball games in New York. Winston has also been
utilized in searching for explosives in potential terrorist situations.
Winston goes to work each day with his master, and otherwise resides with him
in Huntington, Long Island. He was a big hit with the audience last night – dog
lovers throughout the room – an affirmation of the wonders and thrills
of having a pet/companion. Winston, who is quite handsome, is a big lumbering
guy, just very happy to be wherever he is and with whomever he is. |
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Rachel
Hovnanian, Cynthia Lufkin, Mark Glbertson, Calvert Moore, Andrew
Roosevelt, and Allison Rockefeller at the Museum of the City
of New York's annual fall gala
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the Gala began to clear out about ten-thirty (this
is an early crowd), I hopped a taxi up to 104th and Fifth
Avenue where the Director’s Council of the Museum of
the City of New York were holding their annual fall gala: “New
York After Dark.” A big cocktail party with dancing
and drinks and hors d’oeuvres. But more on that later. |
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Kirk
Henckels and Fernanda Kellogg
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Martha
O'Brien, Susan Bodnar, and Amy Hoadley
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Tara
and Michael Rockefeller
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Headin'
home
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