10.16.07: New York in Full | New York Social Diary

New York in Full

Hudson River sunset. 5:45 PM. Photo: JH.

First things first. Ivana Trump and Rossano Rubicondi announced last night that they plan to marry next April 12. Rossano is the third Italian man in the life of the first Mrs. Donald Trump who went on to become her own woman and her own little empire, thank you very much.


	Ivana and Rossano last night at Jon Barman and Kelly Graham's.

There was Ricardo whom she married, and Roffredo (Gaetani) whom she never married but with whom she had a passionate affair, and now, for the past few years, Mr. Rubicondi with whom she has been sharing her life. There was a minute or two there last year when many believed it was over between the two, neither of whom can be characterized as having placid temperaments. Off-stage, out-of-context, however, they are both charming people and everyone wishes them the best.

It was a beautiful October day in New York. Sunny, and with temperatures in the low 60s. I went over to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Time-Warner complex to the Central Park Conservancy Board of Directors/Women’s Committee Annual Luncheon and Meeting. I was there as the Guest Speaker.

This particular annual luncheon I was told, is not a “fund-raiser” so much as “friend-raiser.” Committee members all convene and bring friends to perhaps interest them in the project. The Women’s Committee of the CPC is very influential and a very prestigious philanthropy to belong to and participate in. They wield real political power whether or not most recognize it as that. And that is because their efforts have actualized a superior metropolitan parkland that plays a big role in the emotional life of the city. It is an important place. It is a haven which dignifies. When you visit the park, especially on weekends when it is crowded with citizens, you understand its value and its necessity.

So the Women’s Committee of the CPC are the organizers of this municipal miracle. And whereas they may not see themselves in such a way, they have influence. They also often have rich husbands, a prosperous career, personal wealth or access to it one way or another. Through those channels they are able to raise money funds to do the work of maintaining as well as engage the male powers-that-be in the city.

Click to play video for highlights of DPC's interview at the Central Park Conservancy Board of Directors/Women’s Committee Annual Luncheon and Meeting.

I was a little nervous about this engagement because I had nothing prepared. It was planned to be a Q & A. Betsy Messerschmitt, the incoming president of the Women’s Committee, succeeding Nancy Paduano, was the interviewer. Everybody had a good time including this writer who always finds that he enjoys expressing his endless, heartfelt and assured opinions about almost anything. The audience couldn’t have been nicer about it and everyone had a laugh or two on or at me, so it was a successful gig.

The lunch, which came before the “talk” was delicious: Wonton Chips and Mustard Sauce, Vegetable Crudites with Blue Cheese Dip and Chive Hummus; followed by Miso Honey Glazed Free-Range Chicken Breast, Couscous, Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms. Followed by narrow trays of Mandarin Oriental Desserts. I was busying myself chewing on my own words on the dais. You can catch a glimpse of it on the Video included here.

I should add that the view from the 36th floor ballroom of the Mandarin is spectacular. It’s panoramic from the immediate north of the Trump Building and the new 15 Central Park West, over and across the Park to Fifth Avenue and to the left, immediately in front, Columbus Circle and Central Park South straight across Fifty-ninth Street to the far East Side. It always evokes awe and wonder.

Frannie Scaife, Margo Langenberg, Jessie Araskog, and Melinda Blinken

Suzanne Ircha and Samantha Topping

Kristi Witker, Jeanne Lawrence, and Annabelle Mariaca

Rachel Hovnanian, Doug Blonsky, and Betsy Messerschmitt

Giusetta Capriati, Julie Cummings, and Michele Oka Doner

Susan Lloyd, Anka Palitz, and Gigi Benson

Eleanora Kennedy, DPC, and Betsy Messerschmitt

Norma Dana and Mitzi Perdue holding her True Perdue Eggs. Mitzi will make one for anyone that donates $2,500 or more to the Central Park Conservancy.

Nancy Paduano and Betsy Messerschmitt

Beth Maher and Joan Timbers

Jill Goodman and Sherri Stephenson

Mary Durkin, Nancy Paduano, and Anne Kneisel

Priscilla Whittle and Donna Wick

Toni Peebler, Melinda Blinken, and Wendy Carduner

Mitzi Perdue and Karen May

Karen LeFrak and Jessie Araskog

Mai Harrison, Susan Fortgang, and Marjorie Fortgang

Anne Garonzik, Christine Patton, and Anne Curtis

Isabel Rattazzi and Norma Dana

Pam Miles and Gail Hilson

Sheri Babbio and Sharon Hoge

Ruth Woolard and Anka Palitz

JH, courtesy of Rachel Hovnanian

Elisabeth Tretter and Eleanora Kennedy

Gillian Miniter and Suzanne Cochran

Kamie Lightburn, Liz Cook, Ursula Lowerre, Elizabeth Dietz, and Susan Guttridge

Betty Sherrill, Pat Patterson, and Liz Gardiner

Julie Graham, Patti Fast, and Helen Fitzgerald

Robyn Joseph, Heather Leeds, and Warren Miller

Anne Harrison, Podie Lynch, Muffy Miller, and Gillian Steel

Barbara Dixon and Gillian Miniter

Goody bag contents: La Prairie Skin Caviar

Arthur Backal

Making a clean getaway (In the the elevator) with the luncheon table centerpieces

I started out the evening early to make it to Kelly Graham and John Barman’s party for Ivana and Rossano, in their all-glass apartment high above Park Avenue.

From there it was up Madison Avenue to 70th Street and The Frick Collection which was holding its Autumn Dinner, honoring Anne and John Marion.


	Eiizabeth Fondaras and Konrad Kessee

Mr. Marion was, for years, the premier auctioneer at Sotheby’s, selling many of the world’s great art treasures during his tenure including van Gogh’s Irises, Landscape with Rising Sun and Renoir’s Au Moulin de la Galette. His wife Anne is a Texas girl, Chairman of Burnett Oil Company and President of the Burnett Foundation which has provided important support for the endowment of The Frick Art Reference Library.

Anne Marion is also trustee of the Kimbell Art Foundation and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, as well as the founder and Chairman of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. She is also an honorary member of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, and has served as a trustee of MoMA here in New York.

The Frick has a special place in the world of museum and culture in New York. It is a legacy of one man’s vision enhanced by his heirs and their curators and directors. As a space it is intimate and yet imposing. It also shares vividly a sensibility from another time, a time which now seems almost outside our culture.

The Benefit Chairs were Donna and Bill Acquavella, Kay and Ben Forston Jr., and Suzette de Marigny Smith. Vice-chair was Sotheby’s. Benefactors were Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro and Bank of New York Mellon. Patrons for the evening were The Annenberg Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Sid R. Bass, John and Constance Birkelund, Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier, Mr. and Mrs. Glenn M. Darden, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Eberstadt, Mrs. Henry Clay Frick II, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Thomas A. and Elizabeth M. Renyi and Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Schwarzman.

Dinner in the West Gallery.

My seat was at one of two very long tables in the West Gallery. There must have been well over 150 at the two tables. The wine was white, because of the possible risk to the carpets (of the red). The candles were votive and not all of the masterpieces that line this beautiful gallery were lit. Some Rembrandts. Not others. So the light in the great room was very diffused almost to the point of dim. But grand, and capturing a mysterious quality in Mr. Frick’s scheme of grandness. It was other-worldly despite the very present of the guests.

The menu: Baby Lobster with Caviar, Pink Champagne Aspic, Lemon Mousseline and Lola Rosa with Lemon and Olive Oil. Followed by: Scallops of Veal with Morls, Bouquettiere of Vegetables, and Galette de Pommes de Terre Truffe. And then: Baked Alaska; Chocolate Hazelnut, Pistachio Ice Creams. Veuve Cliquot Champagne, and Chateau Olivier (blanc) Grand Cru Classe de Graves 2003.

I was seated between Katharine Bryan and Susan Gutfreund, two very different but very dynamic women in New York. There was no loss for words among us although there were moments when my partners were occupied with their other partners and so the scene was mine to contemplate and take in. The great gallery with its dark olive green velvet wall covering setting off the Collection. A touch of New York from before, of the world from before, a trip, a haven for the imagination. Who could resist?