The Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless (ACE) celebrated its annual fundraiser — this year entitled “CelebrACE!” — on October 6th, in Capitale’s stunning Grand Ballroom. The 2021 honorees included Katy Rice, John Paulson, and Larry Leeds. In addition to those honored, ACE’s Director of PR & Major Gifts, Sandra Sanches, presented its founder, Henry Buhl, with the nonprofit’s Leadership Award.
Founded by Buhl in 1992, ACE works with New York’s homeless men and women to provide job training, work experience, and a lifetime support network to help them achieve their goals and establish economic independence. ACE’s contract services initiative provides critical employment opportunities for program participants, who have histories of homelessness, incarceration and addiction. The full-time employees are able to make their transition to independence while continuing to receive all of the program support that is available.
The evening’s hosts — Bravo’s Luann de Lesseps and iHeartRadio’s Rob Shuter — were joined by Josh “The Foodie Magician” Beckerman and Broadway star LaChanze who sang selections from her hit show, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Sotheby’s Benjamin Doller acted as the evening’s auctioneer.
Guests included Jorge Iragorri, Carlos Morrison, Allen and Heidi Roberts, Edwina Sandys, Candace Bushnell, Peter and Christy Quick, Jacques Azoulay, Nicole Miller, Leslie and Katarina Feldman, Sophie Sutton, Jeff Drubner, Francesca Amfitheatrof, Ben Curwin, Richard and Donna Soloway, among others.
With the help of its many supporters and patrons, the 2021 gala ended up becoming one of ACE’s most successful efforts to date — raising much-needed resources to combat the challenges faced by New York’s homeless population.
On Thursday, September 30, the Women’s Committee and Playground Partners of the Central Park Conservancy hosted their annual Play for the Park round-robin tennis tournament. The fall benefit raised over $145,000 to support the daily upkeep and ongoing care of Central Park’s 21 playgrounds, which provide New York children and families safe and accessible areas to play.
The participants enjoyed friendly competition on the Har-Tru tennis courts with breakfast and refreshments, including R.E.D.D. plant-based nutrition bars. Tennis professional and broadcaster Patrick McEnroe cheered on the players, who were outfitted in head-to-toe tennis gear from the event’s sponsor, Tory Sport.
“After the success of our first Play for the Park tournament fundraiser in April, we are thrilled to bring it back this fall to share our love of tennis and Central Park, all while raising vital funds for the Central Park Conservancy,” shared Yesim Philip, Women’s Committee President.
“Some of my greatest memories are with my boys in Central Park and I’m absolutely thrilled for Tory Sport to be sponsoring the ‘Play for the Park’ tennis tournament to raise money for Central Park’s 21 playgrounds,” said designer and Central Park supporter Tory Burch.
The event Co-Chairs were Leslie Brille, Stephanie Hessler, Tracey Huff, Kate Lauprete, and Marisa van Bokhorst, and attendees included Playground Partners Chair Heather McAuliffe, Playground Partners Vice-Chairs Mimi Ritzen Crawford and Austen Phillips Cruz, Women’s Committee President Yesim Philip and Betsy Smith, President & CEO of the Central Park Conservancy, were joined by tournament players and Conservancy supporters including Abigail Baratta, Katherine Birch, Shirin Christoffersen, Lise Evans, Emma Frelinghuysen, Krissy Jones, Michelle Li, Susan Millstein, Renata Zandonadi Quaglia, Babba Rivera, and Amy Tarr.
Victory was celebrated at the morning session by winners Aileen Bruner and Anne Prosser. Leslie Brille and Britt Wallach were the afternoon’s champions.
Floral displays, crafted by Ovando, decorated the Central Park Tennis Center.
Pegasus Books publisher Claiborne Hancock, son of Palm Beach doyenne Jane Armfield and the late William J. Armfield IV, hosted a book launch party for bestselling and critically acclaimed author Susan Nagel, whose Patriotism & Profit: Washington, Hamilton, Schuyler and the Rivalry for America’s Capital City, was released this October.
Who knew that the very first real estate developer President of the United States was the very first President of the United States? Patriotism & Profit is the untold story of how George Washington borrowed, leveraged, coerced and masterminded the creation the nation’s capital city.
Washington’s most formidable rival was also his best friend New York Senator land baron Philip Schuyler whose son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton, was caught hopelessly between his wife’s family and his surrogate father.
Bound to become a seminal book about our founding era, one reviewer hailed Dr. Nagel for writing “the human history of heroic times.”
Photographs by Jillian Nelson/AnnieWatt.com (ACE); Rommel Domano/BFA (Play for the Park); John Sanderson/AnnieWatt.com (Patriotism & Profit).
