On May 18th, 2022, the Police Athletic League (PAL) hosted its 48th Annual Superstar Dinner to honor PAL Board President David J. Arena with the PAL Superstar Award at The Pierre in Manhattan, celebrating his commitment and dedication to New York City’s youth.
PAL Board President since 2016, David Arena is the Head of Global Real Estate for JPMorgan Chase & Company, responsible for managing the firm’s global real estate portfolio with over 7,000 properties worldwide, comprising over 75 million square feet of space.
Co-Chairs of the benefit event were John McGinley, Head – Chase Real Estate, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Scott Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty. A special performance by PAL Board member Tony Danza and PAL’s Tap Dance Ensemble highlighted the evening, and Mark Simone served as Master of Ceremonies. New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivered special remarks, in addition to PAL Vice-Chairmen Robert J. McGuire and John A. Catsimatidis, and PAL Executive Director Carlos Velazquez. The event raised over $1.5 million with more than 500 PAL friends and supporters in attendance.
Founded in 1914, New York City’s Police Athletic League is a nonprofit organization that provides recreational, educational, cultural and social activities to 18,000 children and teens annually.
For more information, visit www.palnyc.org.
Manhattan School of Music (MSM) hosted its 2022 Gala on Wednesday, May 18th, 2022, at The Rainbow Room. The gala honored Trustee Emerita Carla Bossi-Comelli (HonDMA ’20) and celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the School’s prestigious Orchestral Performance Program (OPP).
Hosted by Isabel Leonard (HonDMA ’21), an alumna of MSM’s Precollege program and recently appointed member of the School’s Vocal Arts College faculty, the gala featured performances by faculty and distinguished OPP alumni from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera Orchestra, Harlem String Quartet, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic.
Notable attendees included: MSM Gala 2022 honoree Carla Bossi-Comelli; MSM President James Gandre; MSM Board Chair Lorraine Gallard; Katherine Aulitzky – Executive Director, American Austria Foundation; Tony Bechara – Abstract painter and Chairman Emeritus of El Museo del Barrio; Ambassador Markus Börlin – Consul General of Switzerland in New York; Noreen Buckfire – New York Philharmonic International Council Member; Veronca Bulgari – President, Washington Square Park Conservancy; Fabrizio Di Michele – Consul General of Italy in New York; Adolphus Hailstork – MSM alumnus, American composer; Daisy Soros – Co-Founder, The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans; Sylvia Hemingway – Trustee of the Friends of the Budapest Festival Orchestra; Elinor Hoover – Chair of the Board of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Dominique Laffont – An Advisory Director of the Metropolitan Opera Board and sponsor of the Met’s Laffont Competition; Ambassador Philip Reeker – Acting Assistant Secretary of State, European and Eurasian Affairs; So-Chung Shinn Lee; Adrienne Vittadini – Hungarian-American fashion designer and philanthropist.
Following the School’s Centennial celebrations in 2018–19, which culminated in an all-star Gala concert hosted by Alec Baldwin at Carnegie Hall, the School’s most recent two gala celebrations have been ‘virtual’ due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Gala represented a return to in-person celebration and a return to the Rainbow Room, where the school has held several Gala celebrations in past years.
For more information on the Manhattan School of Music, its history, and its curriculum, visit: www.msmnyc.edu/
NYC’s storied hotel industry celebrated an eagerly anticipated return to the spotlight during its annual “Red Carpet Hospitality Gala” hosted by the Hotel Association of New York City Foundation at Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan. The sold-out event drew hundreds of attendees as the HANYC Foundation honored Hilton Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Laura Fuentes and John Gore Organization President and Broadway League Chair Lauren Reid. Loews Hotels Chairman & CEO Jonathan M. Tisch introduced the honorees.
Hotel Association of New York City President and CEO Vijay Dandapani co-chaired the gala along with HANYC Foundation Chair and Regional Vice President for Aimbridge Hospitality Heather Davis and Hotel Association of New York City Chair Fred Grapstein.
A special performance by MJ The Musical delighted guests. Proceeds from the Gala support the HANYC Foundation’s charitable goals including ending human trafficking through the organization RestoreNYC.
The Host Committee included Steve Batta; Peter Clarke; Jim Connelly; Charles Flateman; Erica Gordon; Karambir Kang; Suri Kasirer; Lisa Linden; Tyler Morse; Mark Pardue; Charlotte St. Martin; Alan Steel; and Jonathan M. Tisch.
Today the Hotel Association of New York City is an internationally recognized leader in New York City’s $5 billion tourism industry, representing nearly 300 of the finest hotels with over 80,000 rooms and approximately 50,000 employees. https://hanyc.org/
The HANYC Foundation seeks to advance issues of importance to New York’s vital hotel industry such as economic viability, sustainability and corporate and social responsibility through educational and crisis relief initiatives. https://hanycfoundation.org/
On Thursday, May 5, the Parkinson’s Foundation held its annual Power Over Parkinson’s Gala at 583 Park Avenue. 150 people attended the event, which brought together leaders in Parkinson’s care and research, business and philanthropy for an evening of cocktails, dinner and entertainment and raised $400,000.
Led by Master of Ceremonies Willie Geist, host of NBC News “Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist” and co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the event recognized community leaders who advance Parkinson’s research and the philanthropic leaders who make these advances possible with their generous financial and volunteer support. The event also honored Paolo Fresco, president of The Paolo and Marlene Fresco Foundation, former vice chairman and executive officer of General Electric and former chairman and CEO of Fiat S.p.A.
The Parkinson’s Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure.
Photographs by Jill Nelson (PAL); Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan (MSM); Jonathan Heisler (Parkinson’s Foundation); Ronald L. Glassman (HANYC)
