5.19.10: On the planet in New York | New York Social Diary

On the planet in New York

Central Park at 88th Street. 2:00 PM. Photo: JH.

May 19, 2010. It rained in New York yesterday, steadily and light; and it was cool like early Spring, which it is not, so that in the apartment buildings across the city, the heat went on.

At noon I went down to the Plaza where the National Audubon Society was holding its Women in Conservation 2010 Rachel Carson Awards.

Honorees were: Suzanne Lewis, Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park; Isabella Rossellini, Actress, Director, Writer and Environmental Activist; Dr. Beth Stevens, Senior Vice President Environmental Affairs, Disney Worldwide Services; and Fernanda M. Kellogg, President of the Tiffany & Company Foundation. Emcee was Anne Thompson, NBC New Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent.

The luncheon in the ballroom of the Plaza.

Allison Rockefeller is the Founding Chair of the Rachel Carson Awards Council, and obviously very active in Audubon’s Women in Conservation. I’ve known Allison for a number of years on a casual how-ja-do basis but I got to know her better a few years ago as I learned of her interest in conservation.

Conservation to me means SAVING what we have; preserving to continue to support life, to support us on the planet. Once upon a time, for most of us, those words were the stuff of poetry and song. Today they are nitty gritty, more nitty gritty than most of us are aware of, or even more nitty gritty than most of us care to face.

Last night I was looking at a photograph on line of the oil slick in the Gulf as it flowed into the grassy wetlands on the coast of Louisiana, covering everything with its brown/black gunk. I recognized the grasses (as grasses) and the oil, as oil. Everything, however, even the bubbles on the surface was gunk. The message is clear: The End.

Michelle Ateyah and Liz Neumark.

Leslie Stevens, Mark Gilbertson, and Allison Rockefeller.

Yesterday’s luncheon, which was heavily subscribed, is a very gentle reminder of very grim, harsh facts. One thing that is a point for optimism: there are a lot of women and men out there who are working to turn things around (including the way we view life), even turn things up, stabilize the facts and foibles of man’s importunity on his environment.

It is quite possible, as many people believe, that we are now on the other side of the story – the downside, and heading downward. Most people I know still are unaware of the scope of the Matter of the Oil Spewing into the Gulf. They somehow see it as something that will eventually Go Away, disappear. The Conservationists aren’t among that group, that much I can tell you.

The conservationists have been following man’s foibles and fractious activities in the environment for a long time. Rachel Carson represents that. Allison Rockefeller represents that. Bette Midler (who was there yesterday) represents that. So do the honorees.

Allison Rockefeller and Suzanne Lewis, Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park.

Ms. Lewis with her Rachel Carson Award.

It was a lovely lunch, a pretty lunch (delicious; beautifully prepared and presented by Great Performances – the catering firm that is the hotel’s official caterer) about an ugly and potentially horrifying, life-threatening (human life threatening) subject.

We can turn away from this encroaching reality as much as we wish (right now) but it’s there and not going away but growing. If anything’s going to be going away, at this rate, it’s US.

The honorees were an admirable group. Ms. Lewis, who is head of Yellowstone, is in the business of not only protecting the lands, but of educating us – especially the children among us – about the land. So is Dr. Stevens from Disney. Isabella Rosselini – whom I’ve never heard speak before – has a charming Italian accent, made more effective by the simplicity of her descriptions and explanations.

Isabella Rosselini and Dr. Frank Gill, Chief Scientist and Interim President, National Audubon Society.

Allison Rockefeller and Fernanda Kellogg.

She told us that her father gave her a book about the creatures of the wild when she was a child, and she knew then that this was where her most profound interests in life would lie. She was especially charming with her foreign accent to these Amurrican ears, talking frankly about how when she had to go to work as a young woman, and because she “was a beauty,” she could earn her living modeling and acting. But now, as she put it, that she “is almost sixty,” those possibilities have ebbed dramatically and she can concentrate on the matters most pertinent to her, educating us (the children) about the wonders of nature and preservation and conservation of life on the planet.

Then Fernanda Kellogg, who heads up the Tiffany & Company Foundation (she was in on the founding) explained to us what the priorties of the foundation were – those matters which are important to Tiffany, the company and the business. The environment is at the top of the list – their merchandise basically comes from the earth – the gems, the precious metals, etc., and that these elements must be extracted carefully and humanely for the benefit of all, including the customers.

Dr. Beth Stevens, Senior VP Environmental Affairs, Disney Worldwide.

Laura Michalchyshyn, President of Planet Green, Isabella Rossellini, and Majora Carter (2007 Audubon Rachel Carson Awardee).

Proceeds from the Women in Conservation Luncheon (they raised more than $1 million) go to support Audubon’s Long Island Sound Campaign. Ten percent of our nation’s population live near, have access to, relationships with, Long Island Sound which is one of the most polluted and neglected bodies of water on the North American continent, with unprecedented pollution, habitat loss and ecosystem disruption.

These are our problems and if we do not gain control of them, they will gain control of us, and kill life. It’s that simple a matter despite demanding a far more complex solution. Many of us reject this idea, preferring to declare ourselves as “optimists,’ expecting to see better times evolving. This is an ignorant point of view and irrelevant to the matters confronting us, our children, and our survival. Women in Conservation know this and are confronting it.

Horse and carriage awaiting a rainy trip through Central Park on the north side of Central Park South, across from the Plaza Hotel, yesterday afternoon at 2:15 pm.

The Pulitzer Fountain across from Bergdorf Goodman.

Then last night, at the Pierre, The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center held its 3rd annual Spring Ball, sponsored by David Yurman jewelers. This particular evening is many things in the scheme of things in New York. It was such a hot ticket that they sold out and had a Waiting List.

The SMSKCC is, like the Women In Conservation group of the Audubon Society, a prestigious organization, activist and dynamic, focusing on assisting change and transformation. They raise money for Memorial Sloan Kettering for its research and for many other matters related to the hospital.

Mary J. Blige being interviewed during the cocktail hour before the dinner last night.

The Pierre Ballroom with its fantasy/butterfly decor by Bronson Van Wyck, for the Scoiety of Memorial Sloan Kettering's 3rd annual Spring Ball, just before the dinner hour last night.

Because of their work and their membership, this is one of the most sought after and alluring charitable organizations in the city. I use the word “alluring” measuredly because although their membership is open to anyone, their requirements are challenging to anyone who wishes to serve. They are serious. Their goals are serious and the matters they support are, like the conservationists, as serious -- and maybe even more specific -- as life and death. Much is expected of their volunteers, and much is garnered. As a result, they gather the troops and they march and fight.

Furthermore, as charitable events go, their annual do is a sparkling, glamorous affair. After all, this is New York, and their patrons are often from a wealthy and dynamic group. It was a fashion parade last night, as it always is, as you might expect of this crowd, with many of the faces that you’ve seen many times on the NYSD, and many of the women dressed in the fashions that predominate the day.

Heather Leeds, President of the Society for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, making the opening remarks at last night's Spring Ball dinner.

The ballroom of the Pierre, for example, was decorated by Bronson van Wyck of Van Wyck and Van Wyck (son, daughter, mother), known for their ingenuity, creativity and their Environmental Design and Event Production. Bronson and his partners possess the ability to amaze and astonish, and last night they did. That stuff you see floating mid-air in the pictures are butterflies (not real butterflies, don’t worry), creating a mood, a lightness, a colorama directing your eye to the stage which would be occupied by none other than Mary J. Blige, who had agreed to perform for the guests/contributors to the cause.

Heather Leeds, president of SMSKCC opened the evening, welcoming everybody and acknowledging the co-chairs Tory Burch, Shelley Carr, Dee Dee Ricks and Jamie Tisch. It was Tory Burch, through her friend, music executive Lyor Cohen, who was able to interest Mary J. Blige into performing. This was a coup. There were 450 guests. I’ve never seen the Pierre ballroom as packed.

Susan and Dr. Charles Sawyers, last night's honoree.

Drs. Varmus and Sawyers.

Honorary Chairs for the evening were Constance Casey and Dr. Harold Varmus (Mr. and Mrs. in real life) and Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Warner III. The honoree was Dr. Charles L Sawyers, Chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at MSKCC.

Dr. Varmus, who has worked with Dr. Sawyers for quite some time, described the honoree as a scholar from a farm boy background whose research in the subject of leukemia had made enormous strides in the development of drugs to cause remission of the disease.

Dr. Sawyers has the reputation for being a modest fellow who has made gigantic achievements in his field. Indeed, when he accepted his award, he reported to the audience that on this same day, his wife Susan had just completed her Masters at the Columbia School of Journalism, of which he was most proud.

Dr. Harold Varmus and Constance Casey.

The subject of the doctors was Human Genome Sequencing, something pioneered by Dr. James Watson, discoverer of the Double Helix/DNA. All of this remains a mystery and a miracle to this writer so forgive the vagueness of my descriptions. What is evident is that by Sequencing of the human genome, scientists can discover the flaws and weaknesses in an individual’s make-up and the diseases that are subject to those weaknesses can be treated accordingly.

When Human Genome sequencing was first made possible/created by Dr. Watson, the cost of an individual sequencing was $1 million. Today, only a few years later, that number is down to $30 – 50,000. Last night Jamie Niven, Sotheby’s Executive VP, long active in MSKCC as a volunteer/supporter, held an “auction” (for want of a better word) raising an additional $350,000 (besides the total of $1.5 million) for additional Sequencings.

After the presentations, then came the show. Mary J. Blige, the icing on the cake. She opened with Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” This was followed by three more songs to point where the room automatically rose to its feet. They moved to the dance floor which soon was crowded to capacity, and the evening rocked on afterwards to the tunes of DJ Cassidy. What a night.

The great Mary J. Blige in Concert for the guests at the Spring Ball last night.

Among those in the crowd along with the Co-chairs, Ms. Blige, Heather and Tom Leeds, Muffie and Dr. Sherrell Aston, Chappy and Melissa Morris, Michael and Eleanora Kennedy, Debbie Bancroft, Giney Burke, Lesly Smith, Michel Witmer, Derek and Nicole Limbocker, Chris and Sherman Meloni, Tara and Michael Rockefeller, Alexandra Kotur, Sara and Charles Ayres, Elizabeth Fekkai, Kirk Henckels and Fernanda Kellogg, Anne Keating, Dana and Richard Kirshenbaum, Leonard and Evelyn Lauder, Lee Niven, Marjorie Gubelmann, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Alexia Hamm Ryan, Marty and Jean Shafiroff, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Tory Burch and Lyor Cohen, Jamie Tisch, Mario Grauso, Gigi and Avi Mortimer, Renee Rockefeller, Caryn and Jeff Zucker, Ashley and Jeff McDermott, Julia and David Koch, Phil Geier, Arie and Coco Kopelman, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Jay and Tracy Snyder, Helene and Roman Martinez, Ruth Fleischmann, Bettina Zilkha, Alexandra Lebenthal and Jay Diamond, Couri Hay, Yaz and Valentin Hernandez, Jim Brodsky, Roberto and Joanne de Guardiola, Jennifer Creel, Betty Ann Gwathmey, Dee Dee Ricks, Hilary Dick, Richard and Marcia Mishaan, Alison Minton, and on and on into the glorious night; a great night for all.