Diary 12_19_25. Temps rose to the mid-40s yesterday which was noticeably not so cold as the days before. A relief in and of itself. However the town’s around. We have only six more days until Christmas Eve. For the kids — when I was a kid, anyway — it was a ‘Silent Night.’ And in our house, the tree went up in that late afternoon into the early evening.
After Supper, as it was called, the kid went up to bed, glad to be going to sleep because when I awoke I could see what Santa left and I could open it. Every year until about age 11, I got something specific that I asked for. At 11, I asked for something specific that I knew was out of the price range of my parents’ finances. In those days, there was damned little outside of the domestic bills.
However, the following morning when I went downstairs, the tree lights were on, and the packages from my parents and relatives were spread around and underneath the tree. Among them was a larger, totally wrapped box — too large to be a toy and too heavy for any toy. I ripped away the gift paper and there it was: a Smith-Corona portable typewriter. It was exactly what I had been hoping for, but had prepared myself to be disappointed.
That was the beginning of growing up. It was on that typewriter that I began to write — not my own diaries, but my imagined versions of the columnists in the two New York tabloids, the Daily News and the Daily Mirror, that my father brought home every day.
I was particularly taken by a really famous columnist named Walter Winchell. His column ran in the Mirror (which was the Hearst tabloid) five days a week. He also had a radio show on Sunday nights. His daily readership was in the many millions nationwide.
In retrospect, I played at my portable typewriter as if I were Winchell. It was a very affecting amusement and the beginning of my life of writing — although, looking back, it was also a kind of therapy to separate myself from the great and grave problems that went on under the roof over our heads.
The following year I also started going to another school preparing me for high school. My “Walter Winchell” stopped reporting from my Smith-Corona, and by high school and then college I continued on as another person.
At the time, it never occurred to me that the grown-up David would be doing what I am doing now with my New York Diary, which first began in Quest Magazine in 1993. Seven years later, in 2000, I launched NewYorkSocialDiary.com with my executive designer and manager, house photog, chief bottle washer and then some, Jeff Hirsch (JH).
Looking back at those early days of the New York Diary, it is the spirit of these long-standing New York traditions that continues to fuel our coverage. From a child’s first Smith-Corona to the grand stages of Lincoln Center, the city’s holiday magic remains as vibrant as ever.
On Saturday, December 13, 2025 New York City Ballet and The School of American Ballet joined forces, once again, for The Nutcracker Family Benefit – one of New York’s favorite holiday events for families. Shannon G. Caspersen, Rebecca Hessel Cohen, Katherine Eckert Grunder, Prue Hyman, and Shiloh Place served as Event Chairs, and Patricia Newburger served as the Grandparent Chair.
With over 700 guests in attendance, the benefit began with a performance of the timeless classic, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™, followed by a holiday party on the Theater’s Promenade where the Sugarplum Fairy and characters from the production signed autographs and mingled with guests.
The event, which raised over $1.2 million is a critical source of support for New York City Ballet and its Education and Outreach Programs as well at The School of American Ballet’s Scholarship Fund. The 2025 Nutcracker Family Benefit was generously sponsored by Aquarian Holdings.
While the city celebrates its seasonal traditions, the work of shaping New York’s future continues behind the scenes with a complex orchestration of our city’s infrastructure when just a few days earlier ReThinkNYC and the Empire Station Coalition gathered at The Purple Tongue Wine Bar to discuss the future of Penn Station. The evening featured Sam Turvey, Chairperson of ReThinkNYC, and Andy Byford, Special Adviser to Amtrak, who spoke on the transformative power of “through-running” transit.
Turvey emphasized that the “ghost” of the original Penn Station still haunts the city’s civic identity. He argued that through-running — a model allowing trains to pass through the station rather than terminating there — is a sustainable economic engine comparable to historic feats like the Erie Canal.
Andy Byford supported this vision, citing his work on London’s Elizabeth Line. He noted that through-running in London is credited with the addition of 55,000 new housing units, proving that transit connectivity is a primary driver for regional growth.
ReThink Studio’s Regional Unified Network (RUN) proposal which is being advocated for by ReThinkNYC is a multi-stage program to build a world-class regional rail network for the New York City Metropolitan region. When fully built, it will allow you to get from anywhere in the entire region to everywhere else via mass transit, either directly or with seamless and easy connections. The new operating model would be capped by a worthy above ground station in ReThinkNYC’s proposals.
By making a few crucial investments at key chokepoints, through-running unlocks the full potential of our mass transit system and lays the groundwork for further growth and expansion over the coming decades. By creating new transit hubs and more useful service patterns, it will allow the Tri-State Area to develop as a connected whole rather than a series of disconnected parts.
The event drew a diverse crowd of architects, transit advocates, and civic leaders, including: Jim Venturi (ReThinkNYC Studio Founder), Karim Ahmed, Richard Cameron, Pia Chadhauri, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Peter Cipriano, Kenneth Drucker, Sally Greenspan, Fred Knapp, Layla Law-Gisiko, Susan Marshall, John Massengale, John Mudd, Leslie Murphy, Cezar Nicolescu, Buz Paaswell, Damu Radheswar, Anthony Salvia, NYS Assembly member Tony Simone, and Lloyd Zuckerberg.
For more information on the RUN proposal, visit rethinknyc.org.
And then the conversation shifted from the future of transit to the future of our communities when The New York Women’s Foundation (NYWF) recently celebrated its mission to advance gender, economic, and racial equity with an elegant holiday reception of 75 guests, hosted and underwrote by longtime board member Jean Shafiroff at her New York residence. The gathering highlighted the Foundation’s ongoing work to uplift women through strategic grantmaking and community-driven initiatives across the city.
The festive evening served as a pivotal moment to reflect on the Foundation’s significant impact. Since its founding in 1987, NYWF has invested more than $130 million in over 500 organizations, championing economic security, health access, safety, and leadership development.
During the program, New York State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright presented Citations to both the Foundation and Jean Shafiroff for their outstanding philanthropic work and efforts to break the cycle of poverty. The holiday spirit was further enlivened by a special vocal performance from fashion designer Malan Breton.
Foundation leaders expressed gratitude for the community’s growing support and the enduring commitment of its supporters during this pivotal moment for equity and justice. As a leading gender-focused public foundation, NYWF continues to drive systems-level change for women and families throughout New York.
Notable attendees included: Ana L. Oliveira, Mary Baglivo, Sojourner Rivers, Kerry-Ann Henry, Kimberley Moore, Jean Shafiroff, Susan Gutfreund, Madeline Lamour Holder, James Meguerian, NYS Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, Jay Hershenson, Marc Rosen, Vanessa Noel, Malan Breton, Flo Anthony, Michael Spinks, and Maria and Kenneth Fishel.
To learn more about the work of The New York Women’s Foundation, visit www.nywf.org.
